>From courant.com >-------------------- >Kissing Violence Good-Bye, Desmond Green's Way >-------------------- > >Susan Campbell > >July 5, 2006 > >Let's say - just for the sake of argument - that part of Hartford's >antidote for its addiction to violence lies in its residents' diet, and in >their breathing habits. > >Add to that the self-talk practiced by the residents of Hartford - what >they say to themselves when no one else is listening - and their focus and >purpose in life. It makes sense, once you've talked to Desmond D. Green, a >Jamaican native who arrived, with wife Dawn Vaz-Green, in Hartford's North >End to start the Reverence for Life Foundation on Westland Street. > >The foundation, housed in a storefront just off Barbour, is not a cult, nor >is it a church. There is no dogma, only seven principles the Greens are >trying to teach their neighbors that include exercise, self-acceptance, and >showing a spirit of generosity. Psychologist and minister Green - whose >cohorts call him the honorary "Dr." - created the first Reverence program >for Jamaica's correctional system in the mid-'90s. The slight and energetic >man is credited with helping shift that country's penal system from >corrective to rehabilitative, at least for a time. In prison, Green >encouraged the formation of musical groups - vocal and band - among the >inmates, whom he called "teammates." The teammates were then told they were >responsible for themselves and their actions. Recidivism dropped, as did >violence within the jails. > >When Green came to Hartford a few years ago to visit family, he thought >what works among criminals might just work among people besieged by >poverty, violence, and hopelessness. He opened the Westland program a few >months ago. > >Already, the Greens are building good will in the neighborhood. The >foundation offers computer training, video classes, a dance troupe, a rap >group. The neighbors - mostly young people - are drawn to the activities, >and then, sometimes, intrigued by the message. > >"We are spiritual," says Dawn Vaz-Green, an artist. "We are not religious. >We believe you come with what you need. We believe you are your own >enlightenment." > >On a recent rainy Sunday, five young women under the tutelage of Leal >Williams, a 20-year-old dancer, practice their routine for an upcoming >show, a fundraiser for which the neighborhood women have promised to cook. >Williams, who just had a birthday, is wearing a tiara. Her mother, also a >dance instructor, bought it for her, and Williams says she's going to wear >it forever. She puts the dancers through their paces once, twice, a third >time. The song on the boom box is "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye," which the >organizers have renamed "Kiss Violence Goodbye." It's hard to escape such >cultural harshness. Some of the rappers expected to perform in the upcoming >show use questionable lyrics, as well, but they will still perform. While >the bullets fly, at least they're off the streets. > >As the young women dance, Green stands in the door, watching the water >collect in the streets. > >"Look at him," says Dawn Vaz-Green. "He still gets up every morning and >does his push-ups. He's 67, and I can hear him do his self-talk: `I am one >with God. I am one with the universal spirit.'" > >Later, Green sits on a folding chair - but just barely - talking to the >dancers. He claps his hands together, hard. > >"That can be annoying because he does that to me, too," says Dawn >Vaz-Green, and her husband smiles. > >"We have to respect the lives that we have," he says. "Nobody else is >responsible for us." > >That just might work here. > >The idea is to attract neighbors to the center's various programs, and >teach them the movement's seven principles. Where they go from there is up >to them. Williams' father, Angelo Brown, is the program director. He says, >"Even in the midst of madness, there can be peace." >Copyright 2006, Hartford Courant >