Victim Allies Project digest
Date: Sat, Mar. 20, 2010
Nothing can prepare you for the shock of receiving a phone call or a knock at the door, and learning that your father, or your cousin, or your friend, or worst of all your child has been violently killed. Hundreds of New Orleanians receive that phone call each year. It is the greatest tragedy in our city, and the most shameful of our legacies. SilenceIsViolence was founded in the shock of such a loss, as families and an entire cultural community reeled from the murders of two beloved artists, Dinerral Shavers and Helen Hill, in late 2006 and early 2007. Yet after a thousands-strong march to City Hall, after the outrage and the tears had subsided, we found a further darkness: a crushing lack of resources, respect, and justice for the families who had suffered these losses. Dinerral Shavers and Helen Hill are gone, and nobody has been held accountable for either of their deaths. Families have been torn apart, and nobody is available to help piece their lives back together. This, too, is a trauma that hundreds of New Orleanians suffer each year—and this time, the shame is squarely on the city. We have a tradition of inequitable law enforcement and criminal justice, with conscientious attention only to “high-profile” cases. Families are left largely out of the process of justice, sending the message to thousands that their lives, their children, just don’t matter. And yet we feign surprise when the cycle of violence continues. Since early 2007, SilenceIsViolence has sought to help victim-survivors of homicide through the aftermath of their loss, and through the vagaries of the criminal justice process. In 2009, in partnership with V.O.T.E. Nola and Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans, we formalized our victim assistance efforts into the Victim Allies Project. The Victim Allies Project is dedicated to seeking respect for victims of homicide and their families. Volunteer partners help victim-survivors navigate the criminal justice process. Through partnerships with the NOPD, the District Attorney, the Criminal Sheriff, and the Department of Justice, we hope that VAP will help to heal the relationship between victims and the system, and ultimately strengthen the ability of the system to provide justice and comfort to victims. For more information on the Victim Allies Project, visit www.victimallies.org. The Victim Allies Project was founded in memory of Chauncy Smith, who was murdered following a community basketball game in Treme on August 13, 2008. Please join SilenceIsViolence at noon on the steps of City Hall today, Friday, January 22, to remember and honor the victims of homicide during the past year in our city. www.silenceisviolence.org
