Last night, Camden Churches Organized for People (CCOP) held its first big-league action since Joshua started working for the non-profit. Well over 900 individuals from Camden showed up to share information with Anne Milgram, New Jersey's Attorney General . While she didn't agree to the demands the community made regarding the appointment of some key police positions and the implementation of community policing, the meeting ruffled a lot of feathers ... which, remember, is a good thing in community organizing work (tension = putting pressure on elected officials to do their job)."Milgram says Camden won't hire new police leaders", New Jersey's Courier-Post
The 35 empty chairs in front of the panel of speakers represent the 35 homicides Camden has endured this year. Each chair was labeled with the names and ages of the victims.
In a presentation by CCOP community leaders, it was reported that last year Philadelphia had over 400 murders. It was noted that if the crime rate per capita in Philadelphia was as bad as Camden, the city would have lost over 700 individuals last year due to homicides. This is an astounding figure -- more than two a day! The fact that such a relatively small city like Camden has such a high crime rate is disheartening.
Most of the meeting had great energy and, of course, included some group songs about marching. All great revolutions include songs about marching!
Even though many people left the meeting feeling frustrated that, once again, Camden's needs are being ignored, this is when Joshua's job gets interesting. Taking that frustration and turning it into more action is not an easy job, but an exciting one!
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