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The InspireNOLA Charter Schools combined playbooks, putting Cougars and Mustangs on the same team in a student led prayer and call to action.<\/p>\n
NEW ORLEANS \u2014 Before Edna Karr and Eleanor McMain tipped off Tuesday night, there was a moment of unity on the hardwood for a much different tipping point in New Orleans. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really depressing honestly because it\u2019s sad to see your classmates or somebody you grew up with to go leave,\u201d said Eleanor McMain senior Robert Johnson.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cI know a lot of people who have went to funerals back-to-back. You lost your brother on Tuesday, you just found out you lost your cousin last Thursday,\u201d said Edna Karr senior Mya Butler.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
The InspireNOLA Charter Schools combined playbooks, putting Cougars and Mustangs on the same team in a student led prayer and call to action for an end to youth violence and crime.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cEven when we do take all these Karr clothes off and McMain clothes off, we\u2019re still the same people,\u201d Butler said. \u201cWe still come from the same places.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Hours before this prayer, the very reason for it. An SUV, with a woman and two kids inside was shot up near the intersection of Broad Street and Orleans Avenue. The woman was shot, the kids were not hurt. With increases in violent crimes, especially shootings, carjackings and murders, city leaders are on a mission.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cWe are really laser focused on trying to figure out how we\u2019re going to solve our crime problem,\u201d District B councilmember Lesli Harris said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Working with every element in the city\u2019s criminal justice system, Harris knows that won\u2019t happen overnight.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not only prevention, but it is providing opportunities to young people, to show young people there is a future in New Orleans and that there are opportunities beyond the criminal justice system,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
According to numbers form the police department, there were 218 murders in New Orleans last year. One of them was 18-year-old Caleb Johnson, a senior at Edna Karr, killed in a triple shooting.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cHe was a football player and I just saw him on the field. Stuff can happen that quick in this city,\u201d said Edna Karr senior Tayelor Kees.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Johnson\u2019s girlfriend, also a student, was shot but survived. Because violence isn\u2019t just an adult problem, the teens want to be part of the solution.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cWe need a connection not just between the youth, but between the adults and between the public officials,\u201d Butler said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cYouth are the future, we are the future and we want to see each other succeed,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re hoping this event keeps going, the idea of this event keeps going, between all ages, between all ethnicities,\u201d Kees said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n