KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bishop John Birmingham of Harvest Connection International Ministries can recite the cross streets of multiple recent homicides. He often knows where and who’s involved.
“It breaks my heart to see all the killings,” Birmingham said. “I want to do more than just be afraid. I want to join, I want to be proactive, I want to get in the fight. There was a child that stabbed another child, and that child died. That violence is reaching into our schools and claiming our babies.”
Birmingham and other members of the KC Peace Patrol stood at 39th and Prospect, a street corner that has seen historic violence, on Saturday to spread their message of peace between red lights.
“We’re handing out paper, literature, Bibles,” Birmingham said. “We’re crying out with the bullhorn, 'Stop the killings, stop the killings diminishing human race.'”
The group hopes to spark a greater conversation about violence and the young lives it has claimed in Kansas City.
“My hope is this, that it will start people thinking, especially our young men,” Birmingham said.
As of April 22, 2022, the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department reports 46 homicides this year. More than half of the victims are reported to be Black males between 25-45 years old.
“If we have saved at least one life, we have accomplished our mission,” Birmingham said.
The next KC Peace Patrol rally will be held at noon on May 5 at the Country Club Plaza.
