Benson High School Magnet student Tierra Conyers is fed up with the recent spike in violence in Omaha, she says.
In 2015, the city has seen its highest murder rate in 20 years including more than half-a-dozen double-homicides and a woman found murdered in her home Saturday morning.
The 17-year-old is joining a youth coalition to host a discussion, “We Got This,” at the Malcolm X Foundation tonight from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
"Often we're spoken for,” Conyers says. "So, like adults speak for us. Numbers speak for us. Demographics speak for us. We never really get to speak for ourselves. We're never really heard.”
Based on social media, people around the metro have also expressed they are tired of seeing this rise in violence.
The meeting comes at a time when organizers say people are done with talking about solutions, according to Kara Warner, an event organizer.
"They want action. And the passion that comes from our teens – I really believe that it's their time and season to come forth and act upon what they're passionate about which is the community,” Warner says.
When asked what sort of call-to-action could the youth offer, Conyers says that just being at the table assists in stopping the violence when most often society expects young people to not be engaged.
"We can talk solutions,” she says. “We can also talk how to prevent this. Like prevention steps and just talking about our feelings and how it affects us."
