BALTIMORE — Although Baltimore has seen a recent decrease in homicides and youth violence, there have been a few deaths that have been a concern for community leaders.
This past weekend, there were two murders: 12-year-old Breaunna Cromley and 14-year-old Jasper Davis, both shot to death.
"For the two kids that just recently lost their lives in our neighborhood, killed because of the fact that they were, wrong place wrong time maybe, wrong crowd wrong time, maybe but they hadn't grown within themselves," says Eartha Harris.
It's one of the reasons the Save a Youth, Stop the Violence coalition has been working to put on a talent show for young people.
The organization believes that giving the youth more activities and spaces to use their unique talents may help keep them out of harm's way and bring the community together.
"It encourages them to be able to express themselves; whether it's dance, whether it's rap, whether it's music, whether it's instruments, they express themselves to express our community," says Victor Clarke.
On Wednesday, organizers officially announced the talent show and opened up another chance for the youth to sign up before the event this Saturday.
The organization is getting support from the city.The mayor's office of neighborhood safety and engagement has partnered with the non-profit for the talent show.
"It's really important that we're here to support efforts like this; we can't build a safer Baltimore just in government. We need collaborators at the community level. We need people who are spending time and investing in young people and their promise. Today, young people are not just our future; they're our right now, and so it's important that we do everything we can to support efforts like this one, which are about enriching opportunities for our young people." Stefanie Mavronis, director of MONSE.
Reverend Willie Ray, who has been leading the coalition for the last 40 years, hopes to make the talent show an annual event to save more of the youth.
