Anton Abele
Anton Abele, was born in 1992 in Stockholm, Sweden.
He is an activist and debater who committed himself to work against street violence after the death of 16-years old Riccardo Campogiani, who was beaten to death at a party in the centre of Stockholm in October 2007 [1]. Abele created a Swedish Facebook group called "Bevara oss från gatuvåldet” (Save us from street violence). In one week, the group grew to having more than 100,000 members. In addition, on October 12, 2007, Anton Abele arranged the protest manifestation “Stop street violence” with more than 10,000 young people and adults participating in Stockholm [2]. Simultaneous with the massive manifestation in Stockholm, anti-violence manifestations were also held in other major cities in the Nordic region.
Achivements
The initiative of Anton Abele has been rewarded several times. Among other things, he received the MTV peace award “Free Your Mind” at the European Music Awards gala in Munich in November 2007. The rapper Snoop Dogg handed him the prestigious prize, which has previously been given to the likes of Bono, Bob Geldof, Amnesty International and Greenpeace [3]. In January 2008, two major Swedish newspapers independently awarded Abele the “Stockholmer of the Year 2007” prize.
The Swedish King H.M. Carl XVI Gustaf paid tribute to Abele´s initiatives in the televised Christmas speech on December 25, 2007. In the same speech the King also said that “Nobody can do all but everybody can do something“. In May 2008, Abele and his Swedish campaign “Stop street violence” received “This year's most important communication effort” award.
Anton Abele has held a number of speeches and presentations. On April 30, 2008, Abele held the traditional Spring Speech at Skansen, Stockholm. The theme for the speech was "Change”. At the manifestation against street violence in October 2007, Abele held a short speech to over 10,000 people, who gathered in Stockholm to show their disgust against violence. Anton Abele is a frequently invited speaker at various events. These events most often have the escalating violence and actions against it as topic.
As a result of this initiative, triggered mainly by young people to young people, the topic of escalating violence and insecurity among young people has been lifted to governmental level. More people than ever are now engaged in this matter and actions on all levels to stop violence, are initiated.
Non-profit organisation
Abele founded a non-profit organisation called Stoppa gatuvåldet (Stop street violence), which now operates several projects against violence. The main focus of the group, is to increase the understanding of the medical and legal consequences of violence mainly among young people. The group also works with ethics and change of attitude. The group, which is politically and religiously independent, has both young people and adults as members. On February 10, 2008, the group organised a conference "Stop street violence" that brought together over 1,000 young people and adults in the Stockholm City Hall [4]. The group also has a website www.stoppagatuvaldet.nu and an international forum on Facebook called “Save us from street violence”.
References
- Young Swedes fight street violence
- Tens of thousands to demonstrate against street violence
- The Swedish Crownprincess Victoria participates in amnifestation against street violence
- MTV honours 15-year old Anton Abele from Stockholm
- ^ ""Young swedes fight against street violence" sweden.se".
- ^ ""Tens of thousands to demonstrate against street violence"thelocal.se".
- ^ http://ema.mtv.co.uk/voteNow/FreeYourMind#%7Ctitel="MTV honours 15-year old Anton Abele from Stockholm ema.mtv.co.uk}}
- ^ >""The Crown Princess Participates in Manifestation Against Street Violence royalcourt.se".