By Howard Packowitz
BLOOMINGTON – It will take a paradigm shift in thinking to curb domestic violence, according to one of the organizers of a rally in downtown Bloomington Monday to combat the problem.
Mark Kotte, chairman of Mid-Central Community Action and retired Normal Police Lieutenant, said men must tell other men that domestic violence is unacceptable.
About 120 people, mainly men, gathered at the courthouse square, to mark the 30th anniversary of domestic violence awareness month. They formed a loop three-quarters of the way around the McLean County Museum of History.
They also heard from domestic violence survivor Tasha Davis of Bloomington, who said a boyfriend victimized her when she was 14, and she married into a violent relationship. Davis said she also wrote a book called, “Hope for the Battered Girl.”
“If you see someone, and you know someone who is going through this kind of thing, encourage them,” said Davis.
“There is hope, and we don’t have to be silent anymore. It’s time to stop sweeping it under the rug, and it’s time to reveal for what it really is. It’s not OK,” Davis said.
Pastor Frank McSwain of Mount Pisgah Baptist Church remembered as child when his mother gathered her sons and daughters to warn against harming the girls.
“If you hit them, you hit me. If you holler at them, you holler at me,” said McSwain.
Some of the community’s most prominent men attended the rally, including McLean County State’s Attorney Jason Chambers and Bloomington Police Chief Brendan Heffner.
Also there were Illinois State University football coach Brock Spack, men’s basketball coach Dan Muller, two of Muller’s players, and ISU Athletics Director Larry Lyons.
Howard Packowitz can be reached at howard.packowitz@cumulus.com
