Sept. 23, 2006 — There is a message in sheer numbers, and on Saturday a large crowd on wheels sent an anti-violence message to those who would wreak havoc on innocent lives via guns, drugs and domestic abuse.
"The numbers of vehicles we have here says people are fed up and they want peaceful communities," said St. Croix Unity Coalition President Annette Scott, speaking near Juanita Gardine Elementary. Nearby, children and adults busied themselves tying brightly colored balloons to vehicles, marking the 19th annual National Night Out.
We wanted this Night Out to be different, Scott said. Past events included marches and candlelight vigils, but this year organizers tried a motorcade instead. On National Night Out, residents symbolically take back their communities against drug, gang and gun violence.
"This is the first motorcade we've had, but it's one of the largest turnouts,"
Scott said, noting that nationwide statistics show many young people, especially young men, die needlessly.
According to murder statistics from The Source, the Virgin Islands have seen 30 homicides so far this year. Ten of those victims were under age 25. The youngest killed was 13-year-old Ahiem Kareem Huyghue, who died from a gunshot wound to the head while in his mother's home about 2:30 a.m. Jan. 22. His slaying remains unsolved. In March, 22-year-old Sherett James sustained multiple gunshots to the body in a domestic violence incident.
Violence has decimated one family. In less than two months a mother lost two sons to gun violence after losing a third arrested on charges of killing a police officer. One son, 20-year-old Rupert Berrios, was killed Sept. 11 while visiting a relative at the Walter I.M. Hodge Pavilion housing community. On June 24, younger brother David, 17, was found dead in the Ralph deChabert housing community. Their older brother, 21-year-old Reinaldo Berrios, has been in federal prison awaiting trial along with three others charged in the April 17, 2004, killing of V.I. Police Officer Cuthbert Chapman.
Scott hopes the multiple messages of National Night Out will help stop that kind of family disintegration.
"With this Night Out against crime and violence, the message we want people to take with them is one of reuniting families by cutting down on the influence of drugs and alcohol abuse, of domestic violence and through awareness and education of HIV/AIDS," she said. "We want to see a decrease in crime, especially among youths and especially young men."
To deliver that message on Saturday, the motorcade left the Estate Richmond area to wind its way through the John F. Kennedy housing community and down King Street in Christiansted to the D.C. Canegata Ballpark. Events there included anti-violence speeches and entertainment. Some participants enjoyed slices of pizza while others milled about the educational booths, picking up brochures or souvenir items such as pens and pennants.
As the motorcade made its way to the park, many people came out of their homes and businesses, while others stood on the roadways waving and offering thumbs up. McGruff the crime-fighting dog waved from his perch behind a truck.
Denise Lewis, coordinator for the Grove Place Weed and Seed, was among those marching alongside, albeit briefly. She praised the large turnout for the motorcade, which included vehicles for the gubernatorial team deJongh-Francis and Senate candidate and V.I. Police Officer Naomi "Sandra" Joseph.
"This was extremely large and we always hope that more people turn out and help us in taking back our communities," Lewis said.
This year's event was held in memory of Police Corporal Sheila Middleton, a founding member of the St. Croix Unity Coalition and a teacher in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program. Middleton died this summer. Through DARE, Middleton had touched the lives of thousands of Virgin Islands children. The coalition presented her family with a plaque in her memory on Saturday for her dedication to guiding children away from drug use.
According to Scott, 35 organizations comprise the coalition, including civic, private and public agencies such as the Grove Place Weed and Seed Program, the Department of Health's Mental Health and Substance Abuse Division, the V.I. National Guard, the Department of Justice and the V.I. Police.
Among Saturday's featured speakers was Tionne Veira, 19, a senior at the University of the Virgin Islands and a DARE graduate. She directed her message to the young people in the audience.
"They do not have to resort to a life of drugs and crime to be somebody," Veira said. "It's possible for anybody to make it or to be successful in life no matter where they come from. It takes hard work, dedication and focus and, for me, a strong belief in God."
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