CBS News Bay Area: Youth Alive! Responds to Juneteenth Celebration Shooting

CBS Bay Area News’ Jose Martinez interviewed Youth Alive!’s Director of Development and Communications Lauren Greenberg about how Youth Alive! is responding to the tragic mass shooting that took place during Oakland’s Juneteenth celebration and what the agency does every day to disrupt the cycle of violence.

“We’re working on it. We’re healing people. We’re preventing violence. We’re saving hundreds or thousands of lives every year,” said Greenberg.

This mission feels even more urgent today, almost a week after a violent outbreak during Juneteenth celebrations in Oakland. According to Oakland PD, fourteen people were shot, one person suffered an injury not related to a gunshot, and several officers were assaulted after a sideshow broke out into fights and then gunfire during the Juneteenth celebration in the 400 block of Grand Avenue last Wednesday.

“We were sad and upset because this is our city, and Juneteenth is an important holiday, and it should be a time of jubilation, so we do what we do in these situations. Some of our folks out there were trying to calm things down,” said Greenberg.

But Lauren emphasized that the one of the best ways to stop this gun violence epidemic is through prevention, which they are addressing with programs like Teens on Target.

Watch the full interview here.