2022 Spring Community Event Wrap-Up

May 9, 2022

GCC’s Spring Community Event & Fundraiser on April 21st was a huge success! We enjoyed soulful Balkan and Appalachian music performed by the Athens Mountain Singers, followed by upbeat traditional Latin American tunes from Beto Cacao and Incatepec. Our Executive Director Danny Malec took to the stage to speak about our progress and partnerships in the Athens community along with Julita Sanders from Juvenile Offender Advocates. To wrap up the evening we had Commissioner Mariah Parker aka Linqua Franqa join us for a special a’cappella performance centered around social justice and awareness. After all was said and done, we raised just over $2,000 to support GCC’s work in Athens and beyond!

A huge thank you to Terrapin for graciously allowing us to host our event in their space, Montu Miller for keeping the show flowing, Homero and Vieney Elizalde for providing delicious food, all of our talented performers, and finally to all of you. Without the support of our community the work done by the Georgia Conflict Center and Juvenile Offender Advocates would not be possible. 

Our Board President Caroline Sharkey said it best by stating, “When we’re in community with one another, we have real conversations about how people feel so we can work towards not just justice, but a sense of togetherness.”

Enjoy these photos from the event and click here to see some videos of our performers and speakers!

Beto Cacao and Incatepec

Athens Mountain Singers

Linqua Franqa

other blogs and recommended reading

“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending.”― Thich Nhat Hanh

Each time we choose to draw near, rather than to send away, we are actively building a new way to be in community together. As we model this way of being in schools, we are shining a light and showing a way for what can be possible in the community as a whole.

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Restorative Justice

Elderly and Imprisoned: 'I Don't Count It as Living, Only Existing.'

A recent opinion piece from The New York Times discusses the peril of elderly incarcerated individuals. As the article states, the ACLU estimates that "by 2030, people over 55 will constitute a third of the country's prison population", even though elderly people are significantly less likely to reoffend.

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The Stories We Create

When we’re working as a team, we can start in one direction, but we may end up in a completely different direction by the end of the year.

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How Do You Know What You Do Not Know?

Introduces GCC's partnership with the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities.

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Suffolk District Attorney to Pilot Restorative Justice Program

Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden is piloting a restorative justice program in Chelsea District Court and the Charlestown and Roxbury divisions of Municipal Court.

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