to tell us how he s trying to break this cycle of violence is one of the stars of power and will gardener and blue apple poetry network and school for disadvantaged young people, please welcome omari hardwick. good evening. on the streets of brooklyn, a good doctor knows what all of us should know, violence is a menace to society and public health emergency. that is what dr. rob gore saw as a 10-year-old boy walking around with box cutters for protection as a grown man trying to save patients in the e.r. with a different set of cutters. when the same young people kept appearing with stab wounds, gunshot wounds and broken dreams, he did more than stitch them up, he made their lives his priority. he started the kings against violence initiative, kiva and in
recovery, they are assigned hospital responders quote unquote to pave the way for a better future, folks and three brooklyn high schools and a middle school respectively he offers conflict resolution. we all need that. he offers these classes so students understand how to better build a new way. see, we all know how to stop the cycle. we know what we have to do but what we don t know always how to do is be fearless like dr. gore. connect the disconnected, connect the dots, folks. embrace those lost and a word dear to my heart, empower the lives, determine to break free. how are you doing? how are you feeling? all right. i ve been in brooklyn most of my life. it s like a landmark. what s going on? a very distinct flavor and spirit to it. i ll see you tomorrow. it s why i make it my home.
knew how to deal with it was to retalia retaliate. we focus on conflict resolution and mediation. every time some stuff goes down is it always i ain t got nothing to do with it? is it you can actually do? don t hesitate to speak. it might reach somebody. conflict isn t avoidable but violent conflict is. you want to make sure they know how to process it and deal with it and overcome with it. how many of y all are graduating? don t have to feel angry all the time ready to fight all the time. the change i made in my life is crazy. i know it s cool. this is good stuff. i m proud of you, man. what is violence? dr. gore helps me think how we can actually get change in this community. i want people to be able to live and heal. i want to make sure our community can thrive. [ applause ]