Black People : Clergy to city: Fund our programs to fight violence, or else

carlhurd

Well-Known Member
REGISTERED MEMBER
Oct 7, 2002
51
10
Detroit
By Brendan O'Shaughnessy
brendan.oshaughnessy@indystar.com

About 50 mostly black ministers threatened Wednesday to slow work on the new Colts stadium unless the city pledges $25 million a year for community-based anti-violence programs.

The ministers said they were frustrated that Mayor Bart Peterson has so far declined to commit to their plan to pour money into programs run by the faith community.

Bishop T. Garrott Benjamin of The Light of the World Christian Church said the group wants to work with the Peterson administration to help stop crime. But he criticized the city for supporting a $1 billion project for a new stadium and expanded Indiana Convention Center while not finding a fraction of that amount to invest in its citizens.
"The city seems enamored with bricks and mortar," Benjamin said. "We love our city and our Colts, and we're excited about the new stadium, but it becomes for us a symbol of our oppression."

The ministers submitted a plan to the mayor Wednesday. The plan suggested five "impact" groups: youth programs, job training, family services, gun violence and substance abuse programs. But it appeared to be more of a framework for managing spending rather than a detailed budget.

In response, city officials said they want to see a more specific spending plan from the ministers. They also want to wait until a blue-ribbon panel that Peterson convened issues its recommendations in December.

Peterson has worked closely with the ministers' group so far, joining them for peace walks and other activities to push community ties.

I'm a little torn on this issue. Indianapolis is on pace to beat it's record of murders set in 1995 of 166. The city had only 88 murders in 2005. Although I believe there needs to be a major overhaul I don't believe that this is the right tactic. I think there should be more debate and a program that will end with funding that will go to groups that will effectively serve the hardest hit communities as a whole. I don't think "Faith Based" should be the only focus.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...610190467/1006
 
Here we go again begging and looking for others to do the job that we should be doing let’s look at the math there are 50 ministries, right? Who is asking for 25 million from the city, right? Now if you divide 25 million into 50 it comes out to 50000 per ministry.
Now maybe they are trying to bite off more than they can chew instead of trying to tackle more than one thing maybe if they choose one part of the so called five part plan youth programs, job training, family services, gun violence and substance abuse programs and make it work then maybe others would want to contribute. Now if you divide each program up it is approximately $5 million I am sure that out of the 30,000 members that the ministers represent they can contribute $16.00 per month (including the ministers) the program could be implemented. Of course put the money in a Black bank or maybe in a mutual fund that can pay dividends. We need to stop begging and protesting and start utilizing the resources that we already have. Until we put value into our people as we expect others to do then we will still continue to beg and plead from others to take care of the work that we can do for our selves. You can’t beg and fight at the same time it doesn’t add up.
 

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