2nd annual Peace Conference on Saturday
By George P. Hassett

Speaking from a wheelchair, Terrell Walton had done the near impossible: he had a crowd of 600 teenagers in complete silence. They were gripped by his personal story of gang violence and his call for change.

‚ÄúLike most teenage kids I thought I couldn‚Äôt be touched. I thought that nothing could hurt me. Even the day that I got shot, I still felt that I was invincible. I chose not to run. I still believed in my mind that nothing was going to hurt me. I knew the kids were coming back to see me and I could have chosen to stay in the house. 

‚ÄúBut I chose to stay outside, thinking there was a chance the kids weren‚Äôt coming back.  But they did come back and shot me five times in front of my family.‚Äù

The words were heard at last year’s First Annual Somerville Youth Peace Conference. On Saturday, Teen Empowerment will present this year’s conference at Somerville High beginning at 11 a.m.

The topics are serious: drug abuse, death at an early age and homelessness. Others aren’t quite as grave and are unique to teenagers, such as gossip and generation gaps between parents and kids.

But they all come from the same place: the youth organizers of Teen Empowerment. Wendy Weiser, director of programs for Teen Empowerment, said staff members help the youth develop their speeches, spoken word and musical pieces but the ideas, energy and content for the conference comes from the kids. 

Last week, the youth organizers met with staff members to work on the event’s theater piece which plays out in Foss Park and touches on a range of issues from armed robbery on the bike path to the skyrocketing cost of housing in Somerville.

Teen Empowerment Executive Director and founder Stanley Pollack implored the teenagers to stay in character and make their presence on stage known.

“Theater is different than television and film. The audience is going to be right there with us. When theater works, it’s engaging like the others can’t be,” he told them.

Weiser said the subject matter is tough at times but the act of the teenagers coming together is what make the events positive.

At last year’s conference Walton told the crowd of the shooting that left him paralyzed from the neck down. But he closed his speech by detailing his own redemption and asking for help in ending youth violence. He said:

“We need to stop living in a way that leads to so much suffering and loss. I decided that after my accident it was time for me to make some positive changes in my life. Going back to school was one of those changes. Although it is not easy to get up everyday and go, I do my best to make it here. I have actually never done as well in school as I am doing now. I have learned that my education is the key to my future, and even though I am in a wheelchair there are lots of opportunities for me to succeed. After all I have been through I am hopeful about the future. And I’m dedicated to making the most of the life I have been given. I finally got it, but I had to lose my ability to move to learn it. I urge you to learn a lesson from my experience. You are not invincible and you only get one chance. Use it wisely.”