William Pryor: “1 year ago this month, a powerful new force joined together and it has since swept through the neighborhoods in…”

“1 year ago this month, a powerful new force joined together and it has since swept through the neighborhoods in Arkansas. Its members said enough to the homicides plaguing our streets, enough to the violence in our schools and homes and enough to standing by to watch our communities crumble. Members of the community saw that although African Americans comprised 12 percent of the national population, a staggering 45 percent of all murder victims in 2002 were black. A resounding 91 percent of those murders were incidents of black on black crime. Homicide was and is still literally tearing apart African-American families, serving as the leading cause of death for black men ages 15 to 24, and the second leading cause of death for black women of the same age group. Black-on-black crime remains an epidemic, having a devastating impact on our families and ultimately compromising the safety and quality of life in my great State of Arkansas. One year ago this month, community leaders, faith leaders, government officials, community organizations, and businesses did more than just say enough is enough. They formed the Black on Black Crime Coalition to inform and educate the citizens of Little Rock about black-on-black crime, but also to implement programs and initiatives to reduce homicides, reduce violent crimes and take back their streets and neighborhoods.”