Youth Alive in Oakland feeling increased urgency after Juneteenth shooting
OAKLAND — Lauren Greenberg has dedicated her career to fighting gun violence as the Director of Development and Communications for Youth Alive in Oakland.
"We're working on it. We're healing people. We're preventing violence. We're saving hundreds or thousands of lives every year," said Greenberg.
This mission feels even more urgent today, almost a week after a violent outbreak during Juneteenth celebrations in Oakland. According to Oakland PD, fourteen people were shot, one person suffered an injury not related to a gunshot, and several officers were assaulted after a sideshow broke out into fights and then gunfire during the Juneteenth celebration in the 400 block of Grand Avenue last Wednesday.
"We were sad and upset because this is our city, and Juneteenth is an important holiday, and it should be a time of jubilation, so we do what we do in these situations. Some of our folks out there were trying to calm things down," said Greenberg.
But Lauren emphasized that the only way to stop this gun violence epidemic is through prevention, which they are addressing with programs like Teens on Target.
"The violence prevention curriculum is youth-created and operated. In it, there are different modules about how to prevent violence and how to de-escalate conflict, which include communication skills, emotional intelligence skills, and some cognitive and social learning," she explained.
This push for greater awareness and action comes as the U.S. Surgeon General declares gun violence a public health crisis.
"My hope is that if we understand this as a kids' issue, that we will raise it on the priority list, and we will see it not as a political issue but a public health issue that should concern all of us," stated Dr. Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General.
For Greenberg and her team, this declaration underscores the importance of their work and the need for continued community support.
"Whether it is taking our high school students and exposing them to what opportunities might present beyond what they have imagined for themselves or it's going to the hospital bedside of a gunshot wound survivor and saying, 'Hey, I'm gonna figure out how to get you out of this, how to return you to a community that can embrace you and hold you,'" Greenberg concluded.
