Group takes strong stand against Long Island gang violence

Hundreds of people rallied in Hempstead Sunday, using songs and speeches to call for an end to gang violence. S.T.R.O.N.G. Youth held the rally, which featured personal accounts from gangsters-turned-students

News 12 Staff

Oct 30, 2006, 12:01 AM

Updated 6,523 days ago

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Hundreds of people rallied in Hempstead Sunday, using songs and speeches to call for an end to gang violence.
S.T.R.O.N.G. Youth held the rally, which featured personal accounts from gangsters-turned-students and others. Member Hykiem Coney was scheduled to speak, but was silenced when he was gunned down outside a Uniondale bar last weekend. Participants honored Coney?s memory by sharing his message of hope. Amory Sepulveda, 25, called on politicians to allot more funding for after-school programs. The Uniondale woman is paralyzed from the waist down from a drive-by shooting.
Former gang member Ronnie Howard, 20, says S.T.R.O.N.G. changed his life. Howard now has a job and is going to college. The group says it?s important for other gang members to know they also possess the power to turn their lives around.
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