Model and Strategy
Faith in Action’s LIVE FREE Campaign works to end mass incarceration and gun violence through local, state, and national policy change by mobilizing the faith-based community to change the policies and systems that criminalize people of color, drive mass incarceration, and enable high rates of gun violence. LIVE FREE leverages action in three domains to achieve complementary goals:
• Policy: Advance policies that reduce gun violence, roll back mass incarceration, restore rights to the formerly incarcerated, and create opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals and youth caught in the school-to-prison pipeline.
• Programs: Replicate proven models of violence prevention across the U.S. – both by securing increased funding for Ceasefire and other proven programs and by organizing to promote effective implementation.
• Proclamation: Use our moral voice to challenge the dominant narrative that violence is inevitable in communities of color and that black and brown lives are expendable.
Impact
Traditional police practices have proven far less effective in reducing gun violence than community-oriented approaches, particularly targeted and evidence-based strategies like the Ceasefire model. Though cities like Chicago and Baltimore continue to make headlines for rising homicide rates, the epidemic of gun violence goes beyond just a few communities and is a truly national crisis. Today, it is more important than ever to unite communities of color to stand up and defend their neighbors and families. Yet, few overarching organizations with the capacity to step in to leverage this diverse population exist today. This leaves power on the table – making the movement as a whole vulnerable to divide and conquer strategies, whether from national power brokers, police, or local politicians. The LIVE FREE campaign adds significant capacity to mobilize communities that are most impacted by mass incarceration, police brutality, and racial and economic inequity by leveraging a strong faith voice to help us move the needle on preventing gun violence and reforming criminal justice policy.
The LIVE FREE campaign’s theory of change is rooted in its work to deploy the prophetic voice to mobilize a multi-faith coalition to action. As critical masses of individuals are organized, they move into local, state, and national efforts to advance specific policy changes and violence reduction goals. This organizing effort includes voting your values, encouraging others to vote, and advocating for evidence-based gun violence prevention models such as Ceasefire.
Leadership
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Pastor Michael McBride
Director, LIVE FREE Campaign
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Scott Reed
Executive Director, Faith in Action