Black Pastor Crusades Against Domestic Violence

Summary

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"Couples who have been in domestic violence are not aware that domestic violence is a serious disease," said [Richardson], who said he grew up believing domestic violence was normal after watching his own parents fight. "One person's hollering, the other person's hollering-two adults can't communicate. It could start there."

"If s the fear to go and the fear to stay," she added. "Some people say, 'Well, Fm going to stay for the kids' or 'I love him and nobody else is going to want me.'For me, I'm number one. IfFm in a situation where I need to get myself removed, Fm going to remove myself"

"He hit me once, and that was it," [Hall] said. "I want you to talk to me. You don't have to put your hands on me." She added, "It's a shame so many young women out here are being abused. And some young men are being abused, too, by the women in their lives. It's not just a female thing. It's a people thing. Get the help."

According to Crime in Maryland: 2006 Uniform Crime Report by law enforcement agencies, nearly 22,000 domestic violence crimes were committed that year. Richardson wants people to take advantage of domestic violence services offered by the Baltimore County Department of Social Services' Family Crisis Center, which provides long-term safe shelter, transitional shelter and group and family counseling.

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Black Pastor Crusades Against Domestic Violence

Bishop Cephas Richardson is a man who wears many hats-as a volunteer at a homeless shelter, an assistant at a civic association and as pastor of a Pentecostal church on West Baltimore Street.

But despite his activism and wide-ranging community involvement, Richardson had never considered volun...

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