Violence Prevention Prize Goes to State's Attorney
By Jackie Kucinich
Sentinel Staff Writer
WASHINGTON, DC, October 29—At a luncheon ceremony here Friday, Prince George's County State's Attorney Glenn Ivey accepted the first annual Hamilton Fish Institute Violence Prevention Award for his work with violence prevention education.
"We celebrate his commitment to making schools safer for high achievement," said Dr. Beverly Caffee Glenn, executive director of the Hamilton Fish Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan organization, as she presented the award to Ivey. "Mr. Ivey has furthered efforts to make our communities safe by supporting things like after school programs [and] gang prevention issues."
During his acceptance speech Ivey addressed several different issues that he is currently involved with, focusing on the proliferation of drugs and violence among young black males.
He said that throughout the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, African American men were incarcerated at record rates, and because of that, it became more accepted within their communities. Over the past 40 years politicians have shied away from determining and talking about the cause of this social acceptance, according to Ivey. He credited Bill Cosby and his controversial remarks this year with opening up the forum once again. While socioeconomic conditions and society are factors in the explosion of violence within this demographic, they are just the surface of a much larger problem Ivey explained.
"Even in those same communities, if you look back 10, 20 years ago, same kids, same conditions, just as black as these kids are today, they weren't killing each other in the numbers that they do today," he said. Ivey stressed it was critical to find a way to "break the cycle." He said that in some communities where there had been a long history of crime and violence, there was just an "expectation" that one-day everyone would go to jail. Along with the expectation is the notion that if an individual has not gone to jail, then they are not a "man" Ivey said.
He touched on several cases where young people where killed in disputes about girls and other frivolous, seemingly innocent matters.
"One of the points that is really troubling me, [is] the violence I saw in the early 90s seemed to be about 'business', drug dealers have disputes with other drug dealers...not good, but there was a rational to it," Ivy said. "[Today] there is no way to grasp what's driving [the violence]."
Ivey outlined possible solutions to the problems such as examining the cultural aspects and suggested starting a national campaign through the media to try and reverse some of the damage done by society's influences, such as negative rap music.
He criticized politicians for not taking up the issue of urban violence. He described the effort in the house to repeal DC law as "incredible" and said the effort was purely for political gain. He also criticized some of the large churches in Prince George's County who have refused to take part in an anti-domestic violence campaign, which is a problem at the heart of many of these larger issues of teen violence.
Ivey has several measures that will be introduced to the General Assembly this year and that are currently in full swing in Prince George's County. Among them are helping obtain federal funding for the Boys and Girls Club that would create an anti-gun violence program out of Northwestern High School and another in Suitland, a Gang Intervention and Prevention Partnership, domestic violence programs and helping develop a public school anti-crime curriculum.
HFI, serves as a "national resource for the research and development of school violence prevention strategies." HFI also serves as a memorial for the late New York Republican Congressman Hamilton Fish, who championed civil rights legislation. He served in the Congress from 1968 to 1995.
According to Glenn, Ivey embodies not only the qualities that the organization represents but continues to promote Fish's legacy through his work with violence "prevention and intervention."