PREP’s Peacebuilding Our City seminar series emerged from the recognition of the clear peacebuilding deficits in the United States and a desire to acknowledge and learn from people doing phenomenal work at the community level to address those needs. Sam Adler from New York Peace Institute (NYPI) and Keli Young from VOCAL-NY joined us for our final event of the academic year to discuss how their organizations operationalize their strategic initiatives and advocate for justice within an often unsympathetic political system.

The New York City budget was an important topic of conversation, and both Sam and Keli weighed in on how their organizations address diminishing investment in community services while the budget of the NYPD balloons to $11B. VOCAL-NY plays an “inside-outside” game, educating communities on the city budget and how it is spent and then informing elected officials on what their constituents actually say is doing to make their communities feel safer. Sam agreed that “endless grassroots organizing and being involved in local politics,” is essential to instigate a shift in budget priorities. 

Despite the fatigue that being in a “crisis mentality” might bring, Keli urged that it was essential to acknowledge that New York City is in a state of emergency – of homelessness, drug addiction, mass incarceration, HIV/AIDS, etc. – in order to effectively address these intersecting crises. With this acknowledgement, the root causes of these issues can be identified and addressed through means that actually make our communities more safe, such as through the mediation services NYPI provides. According to Keli, “safety is created through civility – through housing, through healthcare, through education,” and we need to reorient the city government to acknowledge the root causes of these crises and put resources into the solutions, not into the NYPD.

Rewatch the conversation here!