Marching for racial harmony, group unveils action plan for healing
Tired of the rise in hate crimes, racism, division and crime in America, Million Woman United Family March (MWUFM) officials are calling on women and families to join them in Washington, D.C. where their agenda is to end acts of physical and psychological trauma, especially gun violence. They say destructive behaviors are tearing our nation apart and destroying families.
In an interview with the Chicago Crusader, MWUFM Vice President Demetrius Whitney and board members Beatriz Colon and Evangelist Latice Porter explained that their vision is to “cultivate a global community united by empathy, understanding and respect, working tirelessly to eradicate all forms of violence, and build a future where love is the prevailing force, fostering harmony and peace in every heart and every corner of the world.”
The MWUFM will be held 10 a.m. Friday, August 23, at the Lincoln Memorial Monument, in Washington, D.C., five days before the 61st anniversary of Dr. King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered on August 28, 1963.
“We are reaching out to congregations across America to join us,” said Colon, including churches like St. Sabina where she is a member and the Apostolic Church of God headed by Dr. Byron T. Brazier.
Evangelist Porter said they are marching in unity for “love, celebrating the strength and resilience of women and families, standing together for equality, justice and compassion.” She, like other MWUFM board members, is concerned about the youth and the incarcerated.
“I’ve preached in Stateville Correctional Center to the men. I go out on the street now and talk to some teenage boys who were congregating.” She worries about groups of Black youth being arrested.
Porter said when the march is over, board members will work on calling for a teen summit because, she said, their issues are real, their crimes are rising and that the organization has a huge job of “healing a broken, divided and crime riddled community.”
She and Whitney said they will reach out to officials in the Illinois Juvenile Detention Center where so many youths are incarcerated for serious crimes, in an effort to mentor them. They are also calling for a teen summit where the youth can have input into what they hope will end or reduce teen crime.
“While marching matters, we still have work to do when we get home,” said Porter. “Our children are making adolescent calls that can be detrimental and dangerous.”
Questioned about the youth being arrested for serious crimes, like the 14-year-old girl recently facing four felony charges, or a young man the same age who back in December, 2022, faced 10 felonies including attempted murder in the first degree, Whitney, a volunteer at that Center, blamed some of the young people’s criminal behavior on “a lack of positive influence, guidance, substance abuse and issues where they are with a particular person, and they are fighting their conscience that’s telling them to do either good, evil, right or wrong.
“This has to be addressed not only in the African American community but abroad with teenagers and at-risk youth,” Whitney said. He is working to acquire abandoned buildings and turn them into “safe havens” for youth.
“They don’t have positive resources,” Whitney said.
“It boils down to poverty, including a lot of teenagers who have a lot of serious dental issues.” He told of one teenager who “committed a heinous crime to obtain some money to get a root canal fixed. He didn’t want to sell drugs because he didn’t want to get robbed.”
Whitney asked him didn’t he think about going to jail. The teen had not thought of the consequences of his actions, behavior he calls “tunnel vision.” Referring to a young MWUFM Puerto Rican board member, he said the youth wanted these and other issues affecting teens including transgender decisions and homelessness among teenagers to be comprehensively discussed.
“That’s a serious trauma,” Whitney said, citing homelessness as a negative in the teen community. “As an African American teen, you are shunned upon,” he said and noted a similar case with a Jewish teen.
Whitney further referred to a teenage girl who had AIDS but continued to have unprotected sex. When he asked her why, she reportedly told him, “Do you think anybody cared about me when they gave me this disease? If anyone wants this for money or personal purposes, then I’m willing to do it.”
Referring to rapper Sexyy Red, born Janae Nierah Wherry, Whitney said the rapper’s lyrics are demoralizing and culturally “shameful” like in her song, ‘U My Everything,’ “that tells you to engage in whoremongering.”
Whitney said there are many “culprits” out there who “place pressure on these teens” many of whom he said are homeless. As a volunteer at the Illinois Juvenile Detention Center he said, “We teach them how to play chess as a curriculum.”
Following the August 23 march Whitney said they will look for funding, needed to rehab vacant buildings then utilize them as community centers for the youth, providing them with cultural, social, and athletic experiences.
“We need to revitalize teenage Boy and Girl Scouts, make sure they have a year’s bus card, a tax write-off. It would change carjackings alone,” he said.
Colon said they are reaching out to multi-racial groups because their goal is to reach all ethnic groups. “We are a family of one,” she told the Chicago Crusader.
To register for the march, call 872.283.9062, or email [email protected].
