Billie Castle and Gabe Jones, graduate research assistants with YVPRC, shared the group’s three-year social norming campaign kicked off last month and aimed at reducing youth violence in Louisville. The media/social media campaign focuses on practicing  and is aimed at reducing violence by opposing the perception that violence is normal, accepted and expected, particularly among African American youth.

Master P, a rap artist who is part of violence prevention work in Louisville and New Orleans, hosted a and the Hope NOLA Celebrity Basketball Game during the . He invited the family of Dequante Hobbs Jr., the slain 7-year-old from Louisville, along with the facilitators of the Louisville Dirt Bowl to take part in the rally.

“We were at Dirt Bowl this past weekend and they were excited about our message and gear and asked if they could take our campaign materials to promote what we’re doing here in Louisville while they are in New Orleans,” said Monique Ingram, MPH, director of the Youth Violence Prevention Research Center. “Participating in this event will be a great opportunity to spread the message, extend partnerships and get more people talking about how important it is to address youth violence at multiple levels, particularly paying attention to social conditions that make violence more likely.”

Castle and Jones represented the YVPRC at the rally, distributing campaign materials, promoting the campaign message and sharing the experience via , and . They also exchanged ideas about strategies for reducing violence and developed partnerships with individuals involved in similar work in New Orleans.

“I hope we can connect the efforts we are doing to the efforts in cities facing similar things,” Castle said. “We are impacted in similar ways with New Orleans in that social context impacts reasons for high crime rates and youth violence.”

SPHIS received a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2015 to , led by Monica Wendel, DrPH, MA, associate dean for public health practice.

Through this center,  were hired to help create and test the media/social media campaign aimed at reducing violence by opposing the perception that violence is normal, accepted and expected, particularly among African American youth. The campaign aims to combat violence by making youth aware of their own pride and history. It also seeks to foster community dialogue around difficult issues such as racial and social injustices. In doing so, the YVPRC hopes to raise critical consciousness in an effort to promote racial justice and reduce youth violence.

The media campaign features the youth fellows in YouTube videos, television commercials, radio ads, neighborhood billboards, bus shelters, print ads, , and social media platforms using #YVPRC. This particular media effort concludes at the end of December 2017; the overall  campaign continues through spring 2020.

from the campaign kick-off held at the Louisville Central Community Centers on Saturday, May 20.