Ten pastors and their flocks will march along one of Jacksonville’s deadliest streets to pass out water bottles in the Saturday sun.
Organizers are hoping the gesture helps quench the violence plaguing their community.
Standing among hundreds of water bottles bearing the phrase “quench the violence,” on Thursday, 10 prominent Jacksonville preachers announced they'll take to the streets to plead for peace this weekend.
Bernard Brown is a twice-convicted murderer who credits religious mentorship with his reformation. He now runs his own mentorship program and says most violence stems from ignorance.
“Most of the young people, they have took [sic] the word ignorance to define as being cool,” Brown said. “You know how they wear their pants, and the things they do, some of the words they say. All of them are ignorant.”
Brown says the key to stopping violence is making violence “uncool,” and meeting young people where they are, on an individual level. Organizers will start their march at the Disciples of Christ Christian Fellowship Church near the corner of Edgewood Avenue and Moncrief Road at 11 a.m. Saturday.
