BY CHARLENE MUHAMMAD

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The National Action Network (NAN) and a coalition of families of victims of violence, gang intervention and prevention specialists, and religious leaders will raise a unified voice against gun and other violence with a National Day of Outrage on Nov. 23.

The action, spearheaded by civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton, founder of NAN, primarily stems from the Sept. 24 mob beating and death of Chicago teen Derrion Albert, but it further aims to call attention to what some consider a nationwide epidemic of violence in urban communities.

The peaceful protests will feature press conferences and rallies, spearheaded by NAN’s branch chapters in various cities.

The local rally is slated for 11 a.m. at the Expo Center on 3980 S. Menlo Ave., according to the Rev. K.W. Tulloss of the group’s Los Angeles chapter.

Rally speakers will include Tony Wafford (NAN director of health); Vickey Lindsey (Project Cry No More); the Rev. Eric Lee (Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Los Angeles); student minister Tony Muhammad (Nation of Islam); Pastor Lewis Logan (Ruach Christian Fellowship Church); and more.

“This is a call to action,” Tulloss said. “Join the intervention and prevention programs. Join your local community groups fighting for justice. Get involved in any way.”

After the rally, he said, the coalition will disseminate information on various organizations and campaigns to anyone who wants to join the fight for peace.

The coalition also intends to use the National Day of Outrage to increase support and resources for victims’ families and anti-violence advocates, who often toil long hours for safer communities with little or nothing. In addition, it will also spotlight several incidents, such as the murder of Sadie Mitchell, the 92-year-old Bronx, N.Y., resident, who was killed after being struck by a stray bullet in her home. 

Reports indicated that while Mitchell was walking from her kitchen to her living room to watch TV on Oct. 20, a .9-mm bullet pierced her hip and traveled to her lungs. She died several hours later at a nearby hospital.

“We must be just as vigilant against the shootings that are random, gang related, or intentional, because we are in a crisis state and too many lives are being forsaken,” Sharpton said in a press release. “We’ve got to come together across all lines to fight this battle.”

The coalition will also highlight the death of 19-year-old Jasmine Lynn, a Spelman College sophomore who was hit by a stray bullet, while walking on the campus of Clark Atlanta University (CAU).

Lynn’s parents, Constance Franklin and Clint Lynn, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against CAU, charging that the school had too little security.

“We want to take this opportunity to highlight the incredible amount of violence that is happening all around the country. We are outraged, not just from an Afro-centric perspective, but about, for instance, in Los Angeles, the Latina victim, who was stabbed to death while the police were right outside of her house. So this includes domestic abuse,” Wafford said.

He added: “Violence throughout America has become so commonplace that people aren’t even outraged anymore. It’s like, cool. The purpose of this action is to say that it isn’t commonplace and it is not OK.”