Dance 4 Peace XII
Dance 4 Peace, held at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium last night, was started in 1996 when young people in Lowell got together to try to do something about violence in their community. With the help of area agencies, they created and produced an event that is still going strong twelve years later. More than 800 young people helped in the organization, the audience was filled with their friends and peers, most wearing green Dance 4 Peace t-shirts, and all the performers were young people from the area. The acts included jazz and belly dancing, rap and funk music, and more. A well-produced powerpoint presentation featured planning committee members visiting Boston’s Garden of Peace and shows a close-up of the stone dedicated to Quoc Bao Le, an outstanding student, graduate of LHS, UML business student and youth leader who was murdered in 2001. The young MCs called for a moment of silence in memory of Quoc Le and other victims of violence, including those from the Virginia Tech massacre, and announced that all proceeds from the event would be donated to Quoc Le Scholarship Fund. The presentation ended with this quote:
“Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.” -Spinoza
Dance 4 Peace is supported by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Lowell, Lowell Community Health Center, the United Teen Equality Center (UTEC) and the Lowell Memorial Auditorium.