FOR Presents MLK Peace Award to SOS
On Thursday, May 26th, the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) represented by Executive Director, Mark Johnson, presented the Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Award to Save Our Streets (SOS) – Crown Heights at a special event in Brooklyn.
The MLK Award was established by FOR more than thirty years ago to recognize unheralded persons or groups working in the United States in the tradition of Rev. Dr. King. Recent winners include such luminaries as Medea Benjamin of Code Pink (2010), George Lakey (2008) the founder of several social justice initiatives, and Samina Faheem Sundas (2007) of the American Muslim Voice. The Save Our Streets team was selected this year for their brave and strategic work to encourage nonviolence and eradicate gun violence in their neighborhood of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York.
SOS organized the awards event
at the Launchpad, an art gallery at 721 Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights, to announce and award the winners of their multimedia contest - Art To End the Violence. The contest engaged talented youth and adult artists to create public service announcements, video and radio shorts, and posters to be a part of SOS’s public education campaign that conveys the message that “shooting and killing are not acceptable in Crown Heights”.
An aggregate of SOS supporters were there to view the dynamic art, applaud the winners, and to enjoy refreshments and music provided by DJ M Dot. FOR was honored to be included in the program, and delighted to celebrate the work of SOS in the presence of their community.
