Rev. Frederick Williams talks with civic club about Stop the Violence

ALBANY — The brutal slaying of Johnnie Williams at age 58 by an intruder who broke into her home in East Albany in 2009 devastated her family, but from it came an effort that has changed other lives

Johnnie Williams’ younger brother, the Rev. Frederick Williams Sr., coordinated and still leads the Stop the Violence movement in Albany. He spoke recently to the Kiwanis Club of Dougherty County about the effort.

“A young man who had some mental challenges broke into her house and took her life,” Williams said. “It was such a shock to our family, a shock to the community. We decided, after we grieved for a while, to come up with an idea for helping other people with similar situations. One thing we came up with was Stop the Violence.

“We were able to bring together the heads of a lot of different departments as well as the spiritual leaders from all denominations (and) ask for their help to strengthen the community. As an African-American man, I became concerned about the neighborhood which we came up in. I am one of those who believes that a lot of problems have to be fixed from within.”

Stop the Violence has focused on a number of local issues, including encouraging education, but, Williams said, “Something else that has happened is a lot of people who were locked up, incarcerated, got out and could not find their way back into society. We took them, helped them with their GED. Some even got into college or technical school, found work, got their records expunged. We have tremendous return on that program.

“We had a lot of opposition (initially). Opposition from people who were in a position to cause the conditions that (threatened) our community. We kept thriving and working together until we changed (minds and convinced) people to take responsibility for their area.”

Stop the Violence, he added, “is not a race thing, it is not a particular area thing, it is a community thing, because when crimes arise in the city, we all pay” through the costs for security, law enforcement, the legal system and housing inmates.

A father of six and grandfather of three, Williams described his mother, who is now 84, as a “dynamic woman” who successfully raised seven children.

“What we want to do is show her that we pay it forward. We pay it forward for the people that have made bad choices. I am constantly surrounded by people that have made bad choices but should not be penalized for that for the rest of their lives. A lot of people have great potential, but they sometimes don’t get the opportunity to display it because of choices,” he said.