Over 20 deaths have been recorded in connection to the protests that started after George Floyd died in police custody. The violence seen in the last few years encouraged one Chicago-native to create Heart Not Skin.
“HNS brings hope to the hopelessness,” said Fredrick Faith, the founder. “The mental health of the country so needs to be lifted up.”
The violent unrest left a stain on the “Black Lives Matter” organization, as many protests were organized by chapters around the nation. Most of the protesters killed in the 2020 riots were shot to death, and many of the incidents involved confrontations at protests that escalated and turned deadly when at least one of the people involved had a gun.
The founder of a Black Lives Matter chapter in Minnesota said he quit after learning the “ugly truth” about the activist group’s priorities.
“I believed the organization stood for exactly what the name implies…black lives do matter,” Rashad Turner, the president and executive director of Minnesota Parent Union, said in the video. “However, after a year on the inside, I learned they had little concern for rebuilding black families.”
Faith said his goal is to see HNS take off and to see communities come together under a common banner.
“When it comes to racial equality and the messaging that surrounds it, there is simply a lack of positive, non-political dialogue in today’s society. Now more than ever, we need to come together and collectively focus on the heart, not the skin. Heart Not Skin (HNS) was born as a color-blind message of love and acceptance for all. Finally, a message that we can all rally behind,” a statement on the website reads.
In spirit of Martin Luther King Day, Cities and Ty Smith, an on-air host and Bloomington father, has paired with the non-profit to launch a new message in the Bloomington-Normal community.
Faith said expected Barack Obama to change the course of hate. HNS’s goal is to reflect Martin Luther Kings Jr.’s message.
Photo courtesy to HNS’s website
“I just took MLK’s message and made it three-words,” said Faith. “A friend of mine made the graphic. I wanted the hand to show the shades of humanity. I have never done anything like this before.”
Faith lives in California but is from the Chicago-area originally.
