Amid 'Incredibly Unpleasant Uptick In Violence,' Nicetown Welcomes Back 17th Annual Give Back Festival This Weekend
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A Philadelphia community will come together this weekend for a free event aimed at stopping the violence and taking back their streets. Nicetown will welcome back the 17th annual Give Back Festival and Walk for Peace this weekend.
The free two-day festival will feature a variety of performances, community activities, vendors and health resources -- with an important emphasis on stopping the violence that's continuing to plague city streets.
"This year, there's been an incredibly unpleasant uptick in violence so one of the big events that we really are highlighting is our Walk for Peace. The whole emphasis on peace is really what's the selling point this year," Sandra Harman, of Nicetown Community Development Corporation, said.
"This is the 10th anniversary of the loss of my oldest son," Zakariyya Abdur-Rahman said.
Abdur-Rahman not only lost his oldest son, but his youngest son as well to what he calls senseless violence.
His personal pain and loss has driven him to spearhead the Nicetown Community Development Corporation, an all-inclusive approach to tackling crime in the neighborhood by creating educational and economic opportunities for residents.
"That is what Nicetown is about right now -- beautifying and securing the area and making sure business and community engagement all come together as one," he said.
The community festival and walk comes on the heels of two national tragedies -- mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas.
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With gun violence weighing heavily on the minds of people around the country, community activists in Nicetown are doing their part to create a positive environment in their own neighborhood -- free of violence.
"These are the things that impact the community. These are the things that have positive impact on the community. These are the things that within the City of Philadelphia we need to continue," a police officer said.
The Nicetown Give Back community festival kicks off on Friday at Nicetown Park on the 4300 block of Germantown Avenue and continues on Saturday with the Walk for Peace.
