Oakland community aims to stop violence at Love Life night; Mistah F.A.B. 1 of 4 given key to city
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Oakland leaders held a Love Life night Thursday in front of City Hall. The goal of the night was to honor four community leaders who have dedicated time to stopping violence in the city. It also was meant to have the city come together and move past all the violence.
"The mission statement is to spread love, even in the midst of the hate or the misplaced hate," said rapper Mistah F.A.B., who was honored with a key to the city for his involvement in organizing various community outreach events throughout the year.
Mayor Libby Schaaf presented him, and three others, keys to the city. All of them had a message about ending violence in the city.
"Through love, as we exhibit and we exude, we continue to make a difference," Mistah F.A.B. said. "Even in the midst of all the violence, there is still beautiful moments. For every after-dark night is a bright day."
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The three other recipients were Bishop Yvette A. Flunder, founder of Ark of Refuge, Inc.; Marilyn Washington Harris, founder of Khadafy Washington Foundation for Non-violence and; Russell Jeung, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate.
Oakland has seen extremely high levels of violence recently. Many shootings have led to over 100 homicides this year. Community leaders hope tonight's event leads to a city where they all come together.
"That is a problem that is going on in the city where a lot of people don't feel love," said Antoine Towers, one of the leaders with the Oakland Violence Prevention Coalition. "This is an example of how we can come together as a community and feel love. As long as there is more people that have that energy to invest into the community the ways these individuals are doing, that'll get us closer and closer to that place where we can be proud of how our city will turn around."
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