Anti-Violence Ventures, a group of African American men and young boys in Los Angeles, aims to eradicate abuse and violence in our community by holding workshops and meetings to create a safe environment for Black men.
Ambassador George Wesley Granbury III along with Inglewood JPMorganChase Vice President and Community Manager Christopher Beene held a gathering titled “Pursuing Peace and Prevention,” an event that allows those who may have been affected by domestic violence to educate the community on domestic violence prevention.
Explaining how the event came about, Beene says, “October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month so our organization is tasked with the charge of reaching out to the community to create space to talk about forms of anti-violence.”
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“We saw fit to create space here [Chase Bank Crenshaw Community Center] to give the community a chance to talk about their experiences,” Granbury III adds.
“[It’ll] hopefully create or empower some people to become advocates and create more awareness around the challenges that we face with domestic violence in the community.” He also wants to remove the stigma surrounding domestic violence in the community.
“I think there’s a stigma in the community with domestic violence in general,” notes Granbury. “The statistics that we have often are underreported because there is a stigma surrounding abuse for men and women. It’s always interesting to see the type of response that we have to these types of events.”
The event commenced with a soothing yoga session, which Program Manager Alyssa Young explains helps the advocates relax.
“It’s a really unique way for us to bring men together. A lot of people may not think men do yoga or men do these sorts of things,” she says.
“So, it’s really cool to bring this stuff together for them to have that moment of decompression and to even sometimes find a new way to do that in ways they didn’t expect.” Not only is yoga giving a positive result in wellness but, the advocacy and message is reaching the most important group in our community – the youth.
Youth Ambassador Jeremiah Salazar joined the group due to the positive impact the advocacy has on the community.
“Just having a strong desire to be a positive role model within my community. I feel like my community has always brought out the best in me, so I want to do my best to bring out the best in my community and the people in it,” Salazar says.
“I feel like the Anti-Violence Venture does an extremely well job of shaping young adults and young kids into leaders and just giving them that platform to become that type of role model.”
Salazar has also witnessed domestic violence firsthand. “I saw my mother go through an abusive relationship at a young age,” he says.
“I knew that I wanted to have the strength to go out and bring those voices that are low and lift them up and show them that they have a support system, that they have a team, and that there’s just people behind them willing to help them out.”
Case Manager Facility of Men’s BD Class and attendee Eric Powell feels that more in the community should become informed about domestic violence and other types of abuse against others.
“So many people are under-educated about domestic violence. Like, my first initial thought of domestic violence was just the physical aspect,” Powell says.
“But then I learned about the mental, the emotional, the spiritual, the financial, and the sexual abuse. So, I think a lot of people, especially men, are under-educated.”
Powell, who also experienced domestic abuse, feels that the stereotype applied to domestic violence usually makes society side with women.
“In the grand dynamics of everything, men get treated differently and it shouldn’t be like that because that’s not always that case. But we’re always portrayed as the abuser and aggressor.”
Granbury states why the group does seek adolescents mostly. “Our demographic is young black men and boys. So that’s a targeted demographic for a reason,” he says.
“Obviously, the experiences that we have growing up shape us. So, we tend to get a lot of engagement within the community on a month-to-month basis.”
He also explains how the program helps some to broaden their awareness.
“I would say [our program results in] a growth mindset, knowing that there was something that happened, but you can come out of it no matter what that may have been.”
