BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – NEVIS will experience the hurtful but touching experience of Operation Future’s Peace Concert when crosses in remembrance of victims who faced violent deaths will be mounted at the Villa Grounds, located below the Charlestown Primary School, this Saturday, June 23.
This time 141 crosses will be displayed.
According to a press release, following the positive feedback they received for the Peace Concert held on June 2 at Independence Square, Operation Future felt that it was imperative for them to reach out to the people in Nevis.
“This is a difficult event to put on; it requires a lot of time and dedication not only from members of Operation Future but also from the artistes and performers. However, the members of Operation Future were overwhelmed by the way the concert was received and agreed that it had to be done again to broaden the exposure,” the release stated.
The concert will be held from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
At the June 2nd concert 139 crosses were mounted in Independence Square where mothers, children, other family members and close friends gathered in remembrance of their loved one, bringing pictures, flowers and other tokens.
Many were in tears and few stood there, staring at the crosses with photographs that again brought into focus the life of their son, friend or relative.
One mother stood close to the crosses that bore photographs of two of her sons who were both shot to death on two separate occasions, while another sat near her son’s cross and showed his son (her grandson) his father.
In an interview with SKNVibes at the event, President of Operation Future, Lauston Percival said that it was a bitter sweet experience.
“When you look at the parents looking at their dead loved ones, it is real sorrowful, real bitter; I saw a lady kneeling by the cross of her son for a half an hour, crying. So that touched me a lot. It is sending the message we want to send. We don’t want people to forget what took place in the past,” he said.
An impressive lineup is planned for the upcoming concert to encourage peace and an end to violence.
The concert will be hosted by Lauston Percival and Toni Fredericks and any family member of the lost loved ones who wish to make a plea to the youth to lay down their guns and put an end to the violence.
Operation Future is a group of police officers and community members who are desirous of changing the face of the police by bringing back that community/police relationship.
“We thought it best to get members of the community involved to build that police community relationship. We also go to the schools and speak to the children and do many community presentations on anything from sexual abuse to drugs to bullying and gangs,” said Percival.
