Peace Pledge

Our preparation for National Gun Violence Awareness Day and the Wear Orange Walk included the honor of working alongside North Columbia community residents and partners to create a day of activism, enjoyment, and peace — this is truly a representation of the mission of the North Columbia Youth Empowerment Initiative. From this collective of dedicated individuals emerged the idea to craft a pledge that reflected our commitment to the vision we all share for a safer, more thriving North Columbia.

This Peace Pledge was built from the words and passion of survivors, those who have lost loved ones to violence, law enforcement partners, and community residents and organizations, including the Columbia Police Department, Moms Demand Action, the Wiley Kennedy Foundation, Koinonia of Columbia and the Belmont Neighborhood Association.

On June 3, 2023 – and every day hereafter...

We stand as many but united as one voice.
Speaking truth to power, speaking life to dreams.

With these words, we pledge to collectively commit our minds, our hands, our hearts, our resources, our energy, and our words to this:

To preserving life. We will fight for the lives of our neighbors and our youth by not picking up guns and encouraging others to do – and speak to – the same.

To recognizing that the lives of our neighbors, young and old are precious, deserving of love, dignity, safety, and the ability to live full, joyful lives free from violence.

To seeing beyond boundaries, real and imagined, that restrict our ability to work as one community to promote safety and thriving for all.

To nurturing wholeness and positivity, feeding our own faith and health, and opening our eyes to the possibility of better by treating ourselves and others better.

To improving lives and communities by encouraging education, prevention, and attention to risks, behaviors, and substance misuse that threaten our physical, mental, and emotional wellness.

To leaning on one another in times of celebration as well as hardship, seeing that what impacts one of us impacts us all.

To committing ourselves, to the best of our abilities, to be a part of building a community where youth can thrive.

To standing united with diverse members of our community, not just today but every tomorrow, with the shared goal of promoting peace and nonviolence.

To speaking up and out, using our voices for ourselves as well as the voiceless, and breaking the silence that allows gun violence to steal from our families and our community.

To fostering a community that overcomes our fears and is grounded in trust, support, and compassion.

To never lose hope that safety, hope, and healing are possible and that together, as a new movement and in a new formation, we can create a bright future for us all.