Black Community Leaders Call for a 24-hour Ceasefire on Juneteenth

ABC6

Juneteenth is a time for the celebration of freedom for many people of the Black community. It commemorates the emancipation of slaves on June 19, 1865. But the state Columbus is in makes it difficult for people to celebrate the day. Columbus city officials have been working for months to try to stop the ever-increasing violence in Columbus, Ohio. Now, Black community leaders are contributing to the cries against gun violence.

Al Edmonson, owner of the barbershop called A Cut Above the Rest, hosted a news conference calling for a ceasefire. Edmonson alongside local government officials, buffalo soldiers, and members of historic Black fraternities and sororities are at the head of this movement.

Carter D. Womack, member of Phi Beta Sigma and president of Leadership At Its Best, emphasizes the need to build a stronger village. Edmonson says that if they can get people to put down the guns for 24 hours, it’s possible to reach 48 hours of a ceasefire, then 72 hours, and so on and so forth.

“Twenty-four hours is just a start because I think that if we can get this done and accomplish it and save at least one person’s life for that day, I think we can move forward and continue to do it more and more and more.”

Edmonson has high hopes and believes this can be accomplished. He claims that the call to end violence is more effective coming directly from the Black community itself, rather than government leaders standing behind a podium. They work closely with the families and kids in Columbus every day and are involved in their lives, while the government is seen as more of a faceless regime that does not resonate with the people as much.

“We’re the ground troops, we’re the people on the ground each and every day in our community, working with these families and working with these kids."

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