Communities In Schools of Camden New Jersey March for PEACE.

Reported by Shani Johnson, Project Director, Communities In Schools of NJ

The peace walk or "Journey to Peace" was created in 2008 as a powerful effort towards Global Youth Services Day. Children from CISNJ's after school program at the R.C. Molina Elementary School walk along with close to 150 other students from surrounding area schools. The entire month of April is draped with discussions about peace--inclusive of poetry, music, and art work.

The month ends with a powerful demonstration known as the "Journey to Peace." They culminate on the steps of the Walt Whitman Arts Center. This year-2009-350 participants celebrated peace in North Camden.

This year we also remembered Jamarr Cruz, a fourth grader who was murdered in April by his mother's boyfriend. Students wrote a song for him and letters to their parents -asking them to keep them safe. 

"Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal."  Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Young Man (above) dreams of PEACE!