PEACE EVENT UNIFIES COMMUNITIES
SAN FRANCISCO, California (September 25, 2021) – The African American Art and Culture Complex (AAACC) hosted the 6th annual “Choose Peace, Stop Violence” event on Sept. 25 at their Fillmore Western Addition center in San Francisco. Hundreds came to support the message, pick up life saving resources, and enjoy art and entertainment in the outdoors where face masking and social distancing were practiced to keep everyone safe during the pandemic.
“Now more than ever, we need to come together to celebrate the positive things in our lives and do all that we can to uplift some of our most marginalized voices,” said San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston, who attended on Saturday. “Events like this bring back unity and love during a time when it is needed most.”
Event organizer Terry Taylor has been committed to bringing together communities and strived for a “happy event because we see nothing and hear nothing but negative things surrounding our communities.” He is motivated by seeing the accomplishments of young people and the faith that change can be made for violence to stop.
Community leader and anti-violence activist Mattie Scott, who is also on the Board of Directors of AAACC, lost her son to gun violence in 1996 around the corner from her house on McAllister Street. “For years, I couldn’t even come down that street,” she said. “I choose peace with the work God has called me to do to help ‘stop the killing and start the healing’. This is what this day represents.” She commended the event organizers and community leaders for their compassionate, heartfelt work in making the neighborhood a place where youth and families thrive, adding, “It’s about all of us or none of us.”
AAACC is headed by co-executive directors Melonie and Melorra Green, the twin sisters who are San Francisco Pride’s 2021 Community Grand Marshals. AAACC was selected as the organization to oversee the city’s investment in Black and African American arts and culture through the Dream Keeper Initiative, which includes supporting youth, families, seniors, and members of the Black LGBTQ+ community.
Photo by Don Bowden/AAACC.