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As part of the Nationwide Vigil to End Gun Violence, Vision Quilt will host a local vigil at Sew Creative on December 3, 2017, from 2PM to 4PM. Beginning as a tribute to the victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy, the annual vigil has become a nation-wide time of remembrance and gathering to honor all victims of gun violence. Since 2012 more than half a million Americans have been injured or killed by gun violence.
The local vigil at Sew Creative will be a time to honor, remember, and reflect all those impacted by gun violence. At 2:30PM there will be a formal reflection and discussion. The focus of the vigil is not political, but rather will provide space for anyone impacted by gun violence to reflect, grieve, and connect with others. “The national vigil is an important way to come together in our local communities to honor those whose lives have been affected by gun violence,” says Cathy DeForest, director of Vision Quilt, the locally-based nonprofit working to prevent gun violence. “Whether you have experienced an injury or loss, or are concerned about the prevalence of gun violence across the nation, everyone is welcome to attend.” The Nationwide Vigil to End Gun Violence is organized by the Newtown Foundation, the charitable arm of the Newtown Action Alliance, and numerous partner organization. In 2016 there were 330 related vigils and events across the country. This year the Newtown Foundation’s main vigil will be held on December 6 at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. The local vigil will be held from 2PM to 4PM on Sunday, December 3rd, at Sew Creative, 115 E Main St in Ashland, Oregon. The event is free, and all are welcome. The gathering will be hosted by Vision Quilt, whose mission to empower communities nationwide to create their own solutions to gun violence through the power of art and inclusive dialogue. Questions about the local vigil can be directed to Rachel Lee, lee.rachvq@gmail.com.
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One of the key inspirations for Vision Quilt is the work of the Cure Violence, founded by epidemiologist, Dr. Gary Slutkin. According to Cure Violence, the issue of violence prevention should be treated like a contagious disease. They use a model in which they detect and interrupt violent conflicts and use outreach workers to identify those at highest risk to reach and maintain a non-violent path to conflict resolution. Furthermore, Cure Violence engages communities in rejecting the idea of violence as an acceptable behavior to resolve conflict.
Vision Quilt celebrates the international success of Cure Violence and encourages communities to adopt their model to help prevent violence.
We at Vision Quilt are deeply concerned by the recent emboldening of white nationalism, neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, and other hate groups in the United States. In the wake of Charlottesville, awareness of such extremism has been a topic of national conversation, but racial violence has long played a shameful yet significant role in U.S. history. Our country was born from a vision of freedom and equality for all, but this vision has fallen short of its promise for too many people. This vision stops short amidst the country’s legacies of slavery, displacement and genocide of native peoples, years of hostility toward a host of ethnic, religious, and migrant communities, the ever growing disparity between the prosperous and the poor, and more. As the poet Langston Hughes wrote, “America never was America to me.”
Vision Quilt received great feedback about our spring 2017 exhibition at The Prevention Institute:
"Prevention Institute and Vision Quilt formed a partnership at an opportune time. We were thrilled to be able to display a Vision Quilt during the 2017 meeting of our UNITY Network, a network of cities and counties around the US all working to prevent and reduce violence using a collaborative, multi-sector, public health approach. The display helped to ground us in hope, our shared purpose, and our vision during a particularly challenging and uncertain time for many of us who focus on violence as a public health issue. It brought a sense of community strength and connection into the meeting space, and created an ideal backdrop to inspire further collective action from the network.” - Injury and Trauma Prevention Team at Prevention Institute Stay tuned for Vision Quilt news from Chicago and New York City!
By creating beautiful handmade journals, Albie, Barbara, Bridget, Suzanne and Mary provide Vision Quilt participants with a means of reflection and introspection, a place where the youth can document their impressions, thoughts and feelings evoked by the Vision Quilt workshops. The bookmaking team has created journals for our youth in Chicago, at the Lighthouse Charter School in Oakland, and for the incarcerated youth at Camp Sweeney.
 Note: This blog is the second of two entries about Vision Quilt’s experiences in working with students at Lighthouse Community Charter School in Oakland, California. In the first entry, Founder Cathy DeForest shared her thoughts on working with students in the classroom. In this blog, Board Member Jack Harbaugh shares what it was like at the student exhibition. By Jack Harbaugh, Vision Quilt Board Member What an inspiring day. The eighth graders from Lighthouse Community Charter School were hosting an exhibition at E 14, a cool, new art gallery in Oakland. You could see and hear their excitement as they set up for the event that evening. The exhibition was the culmination of their three-month learning expedition on gun violence. Vision Quilt had been an important part of this journey, and many of the panels created by the students would be on display. Families and friends of the students were invited to attend so there was a lot of pride and energy as they went about their tasks of getting the various booths constructed, the musical instruments set up and tuned, and the information tables organized.  Students worked for hours to curate their exhibit. The students were curating the exhibition themselves, and while the teachers were there to give direction and lend a hand, the eighth graders were responsible for getting everything ready for the event.
They also prepared themselves to be docents for that evening, rehearsing what they would say to each guest as they viewed each exhibit.  By Cathy DeForest, Vision Quilt Founder Sometimes there is a moment when you realize the work you are doing matters. It is making a difference. You can see it, feel it, hear it in the voices of those around you. This is happening for me every time I walk into Lighthouse Community Charter School in Oakland, California.  Eighth grade students at work on their Vision Quilt panels. Over the past couple months, Vision Quilt has been working with 7th and 8th grade students and teachers at the school as they study gun violence. It is an extraordinary three-month expeditionary learning program, and Vision Quilt is honored to be a part of it.
We are sharing the mission of Vision Quilt with these young students and we are working with them as they made their own panels. Many of these students are exposed to gun violence on a regular basis and to hear them talk about it is powerful and sobering.  The 6th Biennial Book Fair took place at the amazing Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, California. Over 200 artists and vendors represented 23 countries from all over the world. By Cathy DeForest, Vision Quilt Founder Upon returning from the Codex Book Fair I feel energized, even exhilarated. With more than 200 exhibitors from 26 countries, Codex is one of the largest's book and fine arts fairs in the world. Lasting the better part of a week in Richmond, California, I was thrilled to be an exhibitor, surrounded by so many creative and inspiring people. It was also an opportunity to introduce the Vision Quilt to more people.  This mural at RYSE Youth Center depicts youth overcoming challenges through working together in Richmond, CA. With dozens of panels from the Vision Quilt on display, we shared the project's message with hundreds of people, and I met a number of inspiring individuals also working to prevent gun violence. Individuals like Francisco Rojas and Jed Rodriguez from Richmond's Ryse Youth Center, who work to create "safe spaces grounded in social justice that build youth power" with a focus on empowering young people to "love, learn, educate, heal and transform lives and communities." Ryse Center staff visit hospitals to support gun violence victims and their families as well as offer young people counseling, academic support, job support and opportunities for artistic expression.
 We want to share a quick photo blog from the Women's March in Ashland, Oregon. There was a huge gathering for our little town-- a great feeling of community and support. Dozens of people chose to wear Vision Quilt panels as they marched. Gun violence is a women's issue!
 Vision Quilt Coordinator Lynne Prather of Oakland, California in front of the White House. Vision Quilt is joining the Women's March in our local communities and in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, January 21. We are marching with our mothers, daughters, sisters and our male friends to send a bold message to our new government that women's rights are human rights.
Why is it important for Vision Quilt to march? Because we know that gun violence is a women's issue. The statistics are staggering. Guns make it more likely that domestic abuse will turn into a violent situation. The presence of a gun increases the risk of homicide for women by 500 percent, according to a comprehensive report compiled by Everytown for Gun Safety. |
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