Grassroots groups want Nashville to spend some of its coronavirus relief funds on violence prevention.
The city has already set aside about $2 million of its normal budget for anti-violence programs. But many activists say that’s not enough.
When the federal government passed the American Rescue Plan this past spring, it told state and local officials they could use some of their funding to curb violence. Since then, more than a dozen cities — including Atlanta, Baltimore and St. Louis — have allocated COVID relief money for community-based safety programs.
Now, local groups are asking officials here to do the same. At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Pastor Dwayne Lewis of New Season Church in North Nashville said, with proper funding, peace will come.
“We need interrupters. We need de-escalators. We need peacemakers,” Lewis said. “If you’re holding onto some things, why don’t you let it go into our community? We need to allocate money to our communities, right, to promote prevention of gun violence.”
Clemmie Greenlee is frustrated that the city hasn’t dedicated more money to this work. She was recently awarded a $5,000 city grant for violence prevention, but she wants officials to give more to her and the other grassroots groups.
“We’ve been bamboozled, we’ve been robbed and we’ve been tricked,” she said.
Greenlee thinks the city is setting them up for failure, instead of giving them the resources they need to succeed. And she said they will fail if they don’t work together.
“Whether we work together or not,” she said, “we’re going to all lose together if we don’t.”
The pastor leads a prayer, urging those w/ power the money they need to stop the violence. The prayer ends with a hearty “amen.” pic.twitter.com/sC2g7kjxyy
— Samantha Max (@samanthaellimax) November 18, 2021
The press conference was part of a national tour organized by Fund Peace, which helps groups across the country access resources for community-based public safety models.
“It’s our duty, our job and our pleasure to stand shoulder to shoulder to ensure that you get funding and that we begin in Nashville to fund peace now,” said Dr. Chico Tillman of Fund Peace. He started as a violence interrupter almost two decades ago and has helped multiple up-and-coming groups launch their own programs.
“I applaud you for the efforts you’ve done with scarcity, but that time is up,” Tillman said. “It’s time for us to put robust funding behind Black and brown people on the ground putting their life on the line every day, day in and day out to do this valuable work.”
The city is still in the process of divvying up its COVID relief dollars. No money has been earmarked for alternatives to law enforcement yet. But the mayor’s office says it is “committed to supporting community responses to violence” and plans to request funding when the COVID-19 financial oversight committee meets next month.
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