‘I feel your pain’: African-Nova Scotians react to violence in U.S.

After a deadly week of gun violence in the United States, African-Nova Scotian community leaders are sharing their thoughts on the impact violence has.

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“Returning violence for violence, just multiplies violence,” Quentrel Provo said, the founder of Stop The Violence, an organization that works to decrease violence.

Provo knows firsthand how devastating the effects of gun violence can be — his cousin was shot and killed in 2014.

That inspired hime to create Stop the Violence.

“If violence continues it becomes a cycle that never gets broken and this isn’t the way to get justice,” Provo said.

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Provo says despite the anger people may feel after two black men were shot and killed by police officers in Louisiana and Minnesota, retaliating with violence is not the answer. He says he’s disturbed by some of the social media reaction he’s read.

“People were practically happy that someone actually killed police officers forgetting that these are people. That these people have families and that a few bad cops, doesn’t label all cops,” Provo said.

Members of CeaseFire Halifax, a community outreach program that works to reduce gang and gun violence, expressed their views on the shootings and their violent aftermath.

“Most of the families, a lot of the black families have been touched by violence somehow or another, mine included,” Mel Lucas, a project manager with CeaseFire Halifax, said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Most of the families, a lot of the black families have been touched by violence somehow or another, mine included," Mel Lucas, a project manager with CeaseFire Halifax, said.

As part of their training, they participate in “talking circles,” where they discuss ways to diffuse violence before it escalates.

“The intent of the circle is to calm everyone down and make people look within themselves. We want to work to heal everybody who’s involved in the discussion process,” Lucas said.

It’s a healing process that Provo says he can relate to.

“I feel your pain and I’m angry and upset being a young black man but we have to try and stay positive and not use violence.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I feel your pain and I'm angry and upset being a young black man but we have to try and stay positive and not use violence."