ABSTRACT
On June 1, 2013, a group of community activists rallied outside of San Francisco’s City Hall to usher peace into San Francisco’s most violent neighborhoods. On a loud speaker, the activists could hear Tupac’s popular song “Changes” on repeat. At the top of the stairs leading into City Hall, two young people proudly held up a large white canvas banner that read in red letters “Healing the Hood”. The annual “Silence the Violence” rally and march began in Oakland in 2006 when the city’s homicide rate had reached its highest in years. Nicole Lee, a long-time community organizing and founder and Executive Director of Urban Peace Movement, located in Oakland, California, wanted to honor those that had been killed from violence, while also raise the awareness of the importance of peace rather simply violence reduction. Nicole’s idea was simply to coordinate simultaneous vigils in Oakland calling for an end to violence, and honoring those who had lost their lives to violence. What was supposed to be a simple idea soon caught on to other cities around the county and is now a national vigil held in cities across the country.
