2009 Peacemaker Awards

Indra // March 10, 2009 // Advertising, Branding, Social Media // No Comments

 “We need people to flood our community in Southeast San Diego with this energy and attention. This is important for us. Please don’t let it end here.” That was the last thing she said and it touched me deeply. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

This Thursday, March 12th, the 21st Annual National Conflict Resolution Center’s (NCRC) Peacemaker Awards will honor La Chanae McAfee, a senior at Lincoln High School. For those of you who don’t know San Diego, we have our tough neighborhoods just like every city and Lincoln High is in one of those hoods. La Chanae, the youngest honoree in the history of Peacemaker, earned the recognition for being brave, for wanting to remember her dead friends, and for trying to stop gangs.

Last year, La Chanae lost two of her friends in a gang-related shooting and decided to hold a rally to honor the memories of her friends. She also did it to try and stop more gang retaliation; to give kids a place to express their emotions safely rather than through more violence. Smart girl.

It worked, until this past December, when La Chanae lost another friend to a gang-related shooting. La Chanae is tired of seeing “In Loving Memory” in the back of her school yearbooks. So she started PAUSE – Peers Advocating Unity, Safety and Equality. The goal of PAUSE is to pair freshman and sophomores with juniors and seniors so they can have a mentor and learn there is another way, that doesn’t involve gangs. Now, other high schools in San Diego are starting their own chapter of PAUSE.

La Chanae is 17 years old and while she does extraordinary things, she is also a teenager, who does the things that teens like to do. Like run track, write poetry, teach dance to middle-schoolers, act in plays, be vice president of the black student union at her school, and….in her spare time, text her friends.

And that quote at the beginning of this post? La Chanae’s mom, who has every reason to be both proud of her daughter and concerned for her future, recently said that at an NCRC board meeting. I hope you will join us in honoring La Chanae, if not by attending Peacemaker then perhaps by supporting PAUSE, or another worthwhile community organization, like NCRC, which has provided community mediation, free of charge for more than 20 years in Southeast San Diego. Congratulations La Chanae!