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One central Alabama anti-violence community activist is working to keep young people busy and safe during the summer break while also acknowledging more work needs to be done. Harry "Traveling Shoes" Turner has been on the front lines of the effort to steer youth away from crime for years. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop," Turner said. "I feel like if they're skating with me, they ain't shooting at each other."With skates on the floor at Bessemer's Roller Motion Skate Center on Thursday, Turner kicked off another year of summer skate nights, part of his outreach initiatives to keep young people having fun and safe. Even though skate nights are focused on having fun, Turner explained it's also vital to speak to young people about what is going on around them and the violence that often hits close to home. "We've got to do more than just skate with them," Turner said. "We've got to pray with them, we've got to talk to them about morality, we've got to talk to 'em about forgiveness, we've got to talk to them about walking away from conflict because right now they are dying at an alarming rate."Stay up-to-date: The latest headlines and weather from WVTM 13 Over the holiday weekend in Fairfield, two teens — one 15-year-old and one 17-year-old — were killed in two separate shootings that authorities believe may have been related."They are all our kids," Turner said. "You don't have to know the mother or the father. When you hear about them girls in Fairfield. I'm sure everybody in this city's heart broke — 15 years old, don't even know life, will never know life."Though Turner believes nights spent rolling around the rink are important, he acknowledged his worry that the bloodshed will continue if more members of the community don't step up soon. Follow us on social: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube"It's going to take a whole lot more or we're going to have one of the bloodiest summers, 2023, that we have ever seen," Turner said. Turner also gave out 100 gun locks as part of his partnership with UAB's trauma center.
BESSEMER, Ala. —
One central Alabama anti-violence community activist is working to keep young people busy and safe during the summer break while also acknowledging more work needs to be done.
Harry "Traveling Shoes" Turner has been on the front lines of the effort to steer youth away from crime for years.
"An idle mind is the devil's workshop," Turner said. "I feel like if they're skating with me, they ain't shooting at each other."
With skates on the floor at Bessemer's Roller Motion Skate Center on Thursday, Turner kicked off another year of summer skate nights, part of his outreach initiatives to keep young people having fun and safe.
Even though skate nights are focused on having fun, Turner explained it's also vital to speak to young people about what is going on around them and the violence that often hits close to home.
"We've got to do more than just skate with them," Turner said. "We've got to pray with them, we've got to talk to them about morality, we've got to talk to 'em about forgiveness, we've got to talk to them about walking away from conflict because right now they are dying at an alarming rate."
Stay up-to-date: The latest headlines and weather from WVTM 13
Over the holiday weekend in Fairfield, two teens — one 15-year-old and one 17-year-old — were killed in two separate shootings that authorities believe may have been related.
"They are all our kids," Turner said. "You don't have to know the mother or the father. When you hear about them girls in Fairfield. I'm sure everybody in this city's heart broke — 15 years old, don't even know life, will never know life."
Though Turner believes nights spent rolling around the rink are important, he acknowledged his worry that the bloodshed will continue if more members of the community don't step up soon.
Follow us on social: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
"It's going to take a whole lot more or we're going to have one of the bloodiest summers, 2023, that we have ever seen," Turner said.
Turner also gave out 100 gun locks as part of his partnership with UAB's trauma center.
English (US)