Sponsored by the Bristol County District Attorney's Office, the Fall River Shannon Community Safety Initiative, Saint Anne's Hospital,  Southcoast Hospitals, United Neighbors and Partners, this year's event offered an opportunity to hear from the Truthworker Theatre Company (TTC) a social justice based, hip-hop theatre company for high school and college aged youth in Brooklyn, NY. TTC is a safe space for young people to be the subjects, not the objects of their stories-narrating their own experiences & unique perspectives in ways that unpack, problematize, & shift the dominant, often stereotypical narratives in mainstream media. The performance at B.M.C. Durfee High School followed the presentation of the annual Heroes of Peace Awards. Click here for a 45-minute video of excerpts from the performance and the discussion that followed. Click here for photos and video of the discussion the evening before at the Boys and Girls Club. For more information about Peace By Piece, contact Wendy Garf-Lipp at 508-324-7900 or Fall River Youth Services Coordinator Christian McCloskey at 508-679-0922, Ext. 110.

(Top row) Theatre Company Director Samara Gaev introduces the presentation of "IN|PRISM: Boxed In & Blacked Out in America" based on the book That Bird Has My Wings, the story of Jarvis Jay Masters who has been on death row since 1990 and recalls the neglect, abuse and hopelessness that relegated him to prison by age nineteen. (Bottom row) The group is applauded for their performance before responding to questions from the audience composed of students from Durfee High School, the Resiliency Middle School, Saint Vincent's Home,  and the YouthBuild programs in Fall River and New Bedford.