Opelika officials and residents united together to take a stance against the violent acts that have occurred in the community.
Opelika City Councilman Larry Gray organized the march called “S.A.V.E." or Stop All Violence Eternally. Attendees marched from Bethesda Baptist Church on South Fourth Street to the city’s Courthouse Square.
“Violence obviously adversely impacts the crime rate in our community,” Larry said. “It also affects our economy, the ability to recruit new jobs, tourism and our quality of life. I feel that to effectively combat this plague it will take citizens from all walks of life.”
Jeremy Gray, owner of Elevate Your Grind, a company dedicated to elevating people from the inside out through the body, mind and soul, was invited to speak to the marchers at the event by his cousin Larry.
The march took place June 10th.
Jeremy’s message to the citizens was to inspire them to self love, be spokesmen of God's word and understand change only happens when individuals look within.
“Violence has no color, gender or location,” Jeremy said. “It’s a community issue not a color issue. You are either a part of the solution or a part of the problem.”
Jeremy spoke to the crowd about solutions, and he said he believes people need to watch what they let in to their bodies to avoid a violent state of mind including certain television shows, the role models they look up to, the environment they place themselves in and self hate.
“Anything that brings awareness to the problem is a step forward, and to me it’s better then not doing anything at all,” Jeremy said. “Sometimes you just have to be the change you want to see, and that can become a trickle-down effect.”
By taking these initial steps the community hopes to see a change occur and violence eventually eradicated.
City and community leaders said they will continue to move forward and spread awareness.
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