CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Community activists in Charlotte are launching new initiatives to combat youth violence, arguing that black leaders must take greater responsibility for addressing what they describe as a crisis affecting the city's African American community.

James Barnett, founder of the organization Stop The Killing, is calling on community leaders to step forward and provide role models for young people who, he says, feel abandoned by their own communities.

"The youth don't have any role models because we are not leading; the majority of the killings are done by us," Barnett said. "We should be able to say we got a problem, but we are doing something about it."

Barnett's message resonated with parents like Gwendolyn Brown-Johnson, who said the constant sound of police sirens respon

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