Cedric Huntley - 21 Who Made a Difference in 2021

Cedric Huntley - 21 Who Made a Difference in 2021

As gun violence permeated Providence and murders hit near-record levels in 2021, the workload and responsibility to end the violence seem to be pushed over and over to two organizations — the understaffed Providence Police and the Nonviolence Institute.

For Cedric Huntley, who was brought in to head up -- and to stabilize and elevate the organization -- it has been a complex year.

More and more, government and elected officials look for Huntley and the Institute to solve the issues of gun violence.

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The organization walks a fine line balancing building trust with drug dealers and gang leaders and having a functioning relationship with the police.

Huntley served as a staffer to then-Governor Bruce Sundlun in the early 1990s and built a career working as a senior staffer at The Met school and in the City of Providence’s recreation department.

He built a network that has gained the support of the Congressional delegation as well as corporate donors.

But, the Institute has also drawn critics. In June of 2021, GoLocal reported how one former streetworker for the Nonviolence Institute said he believes the organization’s close ties to the Providence police department have hindered its ability to diffuse violence in the city. 

“I don’t think the public really knows what’s going on,” said Angelo Adams, who worked with the organization for several years more than a decade ago. 

So for Huntley and the Institute, the challenges have never been greater.

"Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love," said Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Editor's Note: An earlier version stated that Huntley worked in the Clinton Administration - that was incorrect.