Remember when you were growing up and you fell and injured yourself, some brilliant relative or friend would tell you to "walk it off" and you (boo-boo the fool) walked it off? Well, how did it feel?

Did it work? Did you feel better? For many of us it did. It gave us the opportunity to confront the pain in the injured limb directly and not pacify nor pamper it.

In some situations, we preferred to sit and play victim to the injury, but we learned that playing victim only made us a slave to the injury. Even doctors believe in the theory of confronting your injury by working it in physical therapy.

From January until the end of August, we accelerated to 47 murders territory-wide. That equates to approximately 6 murders per month, or 1.5 murders per week. Since hundreds of you walked with me in the first Peace Walk at the beginning of September, we had six murders. That equates to 3 murder per month or .75 murders per week. That is a reduction of murders by 49 percent. Though that number is still 6 murders too many, our 7-mile walk was not done in vain and it sent a message to the community.

Criminals have long been the boldest people among us, who are willing to take drastic measures to fulfill their needs. Well, that rainy morning we also proved that we are willing to go the extra distance to display our boldness in the spirit of combating crime.

It was an uncomfortable walk, but the rain helped to highlight how determined and fed-up we are as citizens. Despite the discomfort in the journey, we have been able to rest comfortably in the recent peace.

The work is not done. We must stay prepared to confront the community's injuries in order to maintain what we have demanded.

Our bravery is not to be placed back into our closets. We must continue to walk, shout and fight if we have to in the name of obtaining peace. We must unite, protect and report crimes that we witness. We must call, visit or write our elected and appointed officials who are supposed to be part of the solution.

We must digest the thought of taking back the serenity of our islands by all means necessary. If we refuse to do so, we will not only be walking the streets, we will be running from our homes!

St. Thomas native Devin "Dutchie" Robinson is a six-time author and columnist. He can be reached at the web site www.devinrobinson.com.