‘Stop the Violence’ balloon release this weekend

The seventh annual Stop the Violence and Celebration of Lost Loved Ones Gathering is scheduled from 4 until 8 p.m. Sunday at the Good Times Event Center, 1814 Junction City Road.

The community event is presented by Brothers Making Changes — a local nonprofit organization that mentors teenage boys and young men —, along with several sponsors, to provide families in El Dorado, Union County and south Arkansas with a platform to honor the memory of loved ones they have lost to violent acts.

The celebration is free and open to the public.

The day will include a balloon release; guest speakers who will share their personal experiences with violence; and a banner on which attendees may write the names of lost loved ones.

Attendees are asked to wear T-shirts in memory of lost loved ones, all of which will be recorded in a video to commemorate this year’s celebration.

The family-friendly event will also include free food, a DJ and a bouncy house for children.

Michael Jackson, founder of Brothers Making Changes and Mr. Mike’s Productions, said the Stop the Violence and Celebration of Lost Loved Ones Gathering not only serves as a space in which families can remember loved ones whose lives have been cut short by violence but also to show how violence can have far-reaching effects on the community.

“It’s the family of the victim that’s dealing with planning a funeral and the family of the defendant who, like the victim’s family, now has to deal with the legal system,” Jackson said.

“It’s families and children being left without mothers, fathers. It’s so much that people don’t think about in the split-second it takes to end someone’s life,” he continued. “Hopefully, someone will hear what people have to say here and stop and think before they act.”

Jackson said several people in the community have expressed gratitude for the annual celebration and the opportunity to share their stories and memories with others.

He said many attendees are repeat visitors who have said they look forward to the event each year.

Jackson has long advocated for peace in the community and has worked with other local groups and individuals who are working to achieve the same goal: to stop violence in El Dorado and raise awareness and education about the impact such incidents can have on the community.

One way Jackson has tried to help is by intervening in local beefs that unfold and escalate on social media. He has called on others to do the same.

“A lot of times, we see this stuff go down and it all plays out on Facebook or Instagram. A lot of us know the people who are involved and if we can get to them before something happens, it’ll cut some of this stuff out,” he said.

Such work is part of what he does with Brothers Making Changes and with young people who frequent his music store, Mr. Mike’s CDs and Tapes/Music and Artwork on East Hillsboro.

The Stop the Violence and Celebration of Lost Loved Ones Gathering comes just prior to the first organizational meeting for 40 Days of Pray, another, annual community-wide event that focuses on curbing violence in El Dorado.

Launched in 2015, 40 Days strives to unite local residents in the power of prayer to help improve the quality of life in El Dorado and Union County.

Violence is the core reason behind 40 Days but the campaign has expanded over the years to include other prayer topics and issues in the community, such as drug abuse, homelessness and others.

The first organizational meeting for the 2021 campaign will be held Monday in City Hall.

40 Days will kick off Oct. 1 with daily prayer topics that were submitted by the community, selected by coordinators and will be disseminated through various avenues, including local media, word-ofmouth and social media.

Other groups that work that to quell violence in the community include the SHARE Foundation/ Union County Violence Intervention Plan and the South Arkansas Stop the Violence Coalition.

El Dorado City Council Member Willie McGhee, who has also been a longtime advocate/activist of promoting peace in the community, is a member of the South Arkansas Stop the Violence Coalition and a frequent guest speaker at the Stop the Violence and Celebration of Lost Loved Ones Gathering and other such events.

For more information about the gathering on Sunday, call Jackson at 870-866-7441. For more information about and updates on 40 Days, visit https://eldorado40.com.