_Speaking Truth to Power: 
Dismantling Urban Violence

The Violence Prevention Initiative @ the College of Alameda will gather the stories of impacted low income communities and communities of color to re-write history that is being lived today. Through the lens of surviving violence our stories will be used to publish a reader for our Violence Prevention Initiative. The practitioners and community members who are currently in the program will be guided by the project director to collect stories using audio and video. These stories of resilience and resistance will be presented to the community at the end of the project in three different forums.

Samples of our Collective Successes

VIDEO 1: This is a video of our October 2011 Stakeholders Meeting that was held at the Alameda County Public Health Department in Downtown Oakland.
VIDEO 2: In 2010 Crystallee Crain created this video to tell a residents story about her views on local violence prevention policies being handed down by the City of Oakland, City Attorney's office.
VIDEO 3: With partnership and guidance with Tracey Quezada Productions, Crystallee Crain created a video about Heal the Streets and the young people impacted by violence in Oakland.

Our Purpose

In partnership with the College of Alameda & Tracey Quezada Productions, the Violence Prevention Initiative will co-create Speaking Truth to Power: Dismantling Urban Violence.

With the expertise on staff at the College of Alameda and the years of experience in documentary film making with TCP we will be able to create a community forum, organizing efforts (through gathering stories) and a space for solutions, action and the cultivation of peace.

Our Goals

1) Engage community members who are impacted by all forms of violence by offering a safe space to discuss their trauma, experience and share strategies of healing
2) Develop multi-media curriculum materials from the stories (anonymously) that will allow the stories of the marginalized experience to be told in our histories, in our classrooms and to our community
3) Engage the East Bay community in three community forums. One @ the College of Alameda that will present the issue through our audio and video stories, discuss and create intentional space for dialogue and create solutions and action steps to prevent all forms violence everyday.
4) Academically pursue the following question: How do people survive & thrive within the context of institutionalized oppression and its manifestation through violence?

About Our Partners

First and foremost, see our list of our stakeholders! These community partners have been with us from the beginning in the creation and implementation of the Violence Prevention Initiative. 

For this project our major partner is:
Tracey Quezada Productions
Tracey has over eight years of professional experience in video, television, multimedia marketing and the non-profit sector.  As an independent video producer Tracey has produced and directed promotional videos including her weekly television series which airs on Berkeley Community Media.Tracey is currently producing a documentary film that shares true stories of survivors of child sexual abuse,broadens our response beyond the criminal justice system, and show's how society’s inability to effectively address child sexual abuse impacts not only individuals, but whole communities and society at large.