The Violence Project

Action Now is launching a West Side anti-violence campaign at a town hall meeting of community members and government officials tonight at the Christian Valley Church on Chicago’s West Side. The town hall is aimed at opening a dialogue between residents and local officials on strategies to stem the growing tide of violence in west side Chicago neighborhoods.

Action Now plans to call upon officials to support the creation of a 100-block community saftey zone, and the implentation of strategies to get youth off the street and help re-intergrate the formerly incarcerated. Initiatives include:

• Creating more after-school programs
• Launching a summer jobs program for youth
• Improving police presence on the street with foot and bicycle patrols
• Establishing ex-offender re-entry program

Scheduled guests include 28th Ward Alderman Ed Smith, 24th Ward Alderman Sharon Denise Dixon and Cook County Commissioner Robert Steele.

When: 7:00 p.m., April 29, 2008

Where Christian Valley Church, 1237 S. Homan Ave., Chicago, IL

The paper of record brought its attention to the second city with a recent article on the deaths of Chicago students and the steps being taken to prevent more deaths from happening. It offers a very detailed overview for those who might not be familiar with the story, but ultimately stakes out familiar territory. We get the impassioned quotes from schools CEO Arne Duncan and Mayor Daley, balance from an expert and community resident, and, last but not least, a student. In the end, the article asks nothing or challenges the reader or those being interviewed. I felt led on by the beginning of the article because I thought the focus of the article would stay with the community groups who are escorting Crane Technical High School students to school, but by paragraph four it had already moved on. Left out again is the fact that many of these shooters and gang members are as young as the victims or/and drop outs. Left out again is the mention of students trying to organize and lead in their communities, rather standing idle as politicians and other leaders do the talking. Left out again are more community groups and churches who are marching and leaving their doors open late to save those on both sides of the gun. Not given enough depth is the issue of poverty and outside factors that are at the root of this violence.

Props to CLTV and Alexander Russo for shining a different light.

Chatham community marches for peace

Why Is The Mayor Of Chicago Destroying The Reputation Of His Own City School System?
Why Is The Press Letting Him?

The Chicago Tribune posted a very good story over the weekend looking at violence and its effects on children from a public health standpoint. The article is part of an ongoing series about chronic diseases and their effects on urban communities. The categorization of violence as a public health issue has been gaining steam with researchers over the years, similar to the belief that drug addiction should be treated as a disease instead of through immediate incarceration. One researcher who holds this belief is University of Illinois at Chicago professor Gary Slutkin, who also serves as executive director of the Chicago Project for Violence Prevention, at UIC’s school of public health, which oversees the group CeaseFire. The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention is a past winner of a four-year $1.2 million dollar grant from the MacArthur Foundation

Courtesy of eduwonkette

The blog eduwonkette recently posted an interesting piece that looks in depth at violence in Chicago schools. The article goes beyond gun violence and uses research to study overall violent incidents at school and students’ attitudes toward violence.

I’m happy to see it separate the recent gun violence and the violence that happens within many schools. Many media outlets — including this one– have all too easily tied the problem of students getting killed as one tied directly to the schools, but out of the more than 20 students killed by guns this school year, only two were on school grounds. Many have tried to use this fact to take away the blame for the schools and put it strictly in the hands of parents and law enforcement. On the flip side, a teacher recently told me in an interview that the Chicago Public Schools isn’t running away from these deaths but cynically embracing it in order to push for stricter gun-control laws.

What is the best first step forward? Maybe just talking about it and getting people to pay attention. The schools are part of these communities where these kids are being killed –just like a church, a mom-and-pop shop and other local institutions. Schools can’t think of themselves as not having a stake in this, since it is their job to educate these children, one of the most valuable jobs to have in a community. All too easily many (and even some churches) fail to see that point.

An excerpt from eduwonkette:

What long-term effects can we expect from this wave of violence in Chicago? This Science paper, “Firearm Violence Exposure and Serious Violent Behavior,” provides some insight. The authors analyzed data from Chicago, and argued that there is a causal relationship between exposure to firearm violence and subsequent perpetration of serious violence. The effects were quite large - “exposure to firearm violence approximately doubles the probability that an adolescent will perpetrate serious violence over the subsequent 2 years.”

Education bloggers (present company included) spill a lot of ink over the smallest details of accountability plans, but it’s important to remember that this is the context in which our schools are working. Community problems inevitably seep into schools, and the interventions that we spend the most time talking about do little to help kids manage the emotional toll of these events.

I wanted to share a comment from the previous incarnation of this blog. It is from the sister of Keith Stephens, one of the subjects in the book Class Dismissed. Stephens was shot and killed in February 2006.

Latisha // April 23, 2008 at 5:14 am (edit)

I happen to be the sister of Keith Stephens and I’m definitely up for the challenge…….There’s been countless murder’s in the Bay Area since Keith passed away and I’ve just became so numb Your eyes are never truly open to this problem unless homicide touches you life…..I was guilty of that before I lost my brother and you think this would never happen in your family but yes it can It happen to us. Keith was a good kid he had his troubles here and there just like any other kid but not in a million years I would have ever though someone would take Keith Stephens life…………..If you read the book you would know Keith was one of the most likeably guys you would ever come across. We should all dig a little deeper rather than saying “Oh that another dead Black Man”. Dig deeper you never know what an amazing person he could have been. My father’s worst nightmare came about when we lost Keith, he never wanted either of his sons’s to become a statistic and to some that’s all my brother simply is…………………

From AP:

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley says he’ll meet with more than two dozen officials from religious groups, police, schools and social service agencies to talk about a recent spate of gun violence in the city.

Although this blog is primarily about youth affected by violence, this particular story could not go without mention. Yesterday five people were found shot to death in the 7600 block of South Rhodes in the Park Manor neighborhood. The victims were three men and two men, all in their 20s. Park Manor is right next to the neighborhood I grew up in and continue to call home, Chatham. Both are in the 6th ward, represented by Ald. Freddrenna Lyle — who lives three blocks from where the murders took place.

The shooting brings the number of shooting victims since last Friday to more than 40, 12 of which are fatal. While many of the shootings have been attributed to gang tensions, this shooting is believed to be isolated.

My hope is that these murders do not reflect a negative light on Park Manor or Chatham. They are thriving communities with a rich history and countless people –young and old– who work to make things at least a little bit better. The area has been home to gospel legend Mahalia Jackson, former Chicago Cub Ernie Banks and continues to be the home of former Illinois State Comptroller and Attorney General Roland Burris, who was the first African American elected to a statewide office in Illinois.

UPDATE

The victims were identified as Lakesha Doss, Whitney Flowers, Donovan Richardson, Reginald Walker and Anthony Scales, a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. All the victims were in their 20s, except for Doss, who was 17.

James Edwards/Medill

Gage Park High School students wait to visit the Illinois House of Representatives in the state capitol last week.

A group of Gage Park High School students took a day off from school to learn the ins and outs of state government and lobby for more money for schools and a crackdown on gun violence involving young people.

From the L.A. Times:

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made a splash when he announced plans last week for ending L.A. Bridges, an anti-gang initiative under fire since the Riordan administration for failing to demonstrate clear results.

But in dropping the L.A. Bridges programs and shifting the money to his appointed “gang czar,” Villaraigosa put off yet again answering one key question: Are these programs, which last year received $13.2 million, successful in quelling violence and keeping kids out of gangs?

Full Article

This past weekend saw one of the most violent outbreaks across the city in recent memory. Reports vary on the total number of people who were shot between Friday and Sunday. The Chicago Sun-Times reports 37, while the Chicago Tribune and AP lists 32. What’s the same in each story is that six of the victims died, ranging in age from 18 to 65. The two youngest victims, Melvin Thomas and Rhonell Savala, were shot and killed right outside Free Salvation M.B. Churck on the South Side Friday night.

All but two of the shootings are reported to have been gang related. Police blame the rash of shootings on the warmer weather and gang tensions in different neighborhoods. They cited the last two years of the very same weekend to illustrate the cyclical nature of the violence. During the same weekend in 2007, 19 people were shot, while in 2006 the number was 21.

The shootings came in the wake of new report by the Chicago Police Department that showed crime down in the city for the first three months of the year, including a 1% drop in the murder rate in March of this year compared to March 2007. Police plan to deploy additional officers to what they call hot crime spots.

Overshadowed by the violence was the effort in communities to try and prevent it. One such event took place Saturday morning at Crane Technical High School, where student Ruben Ivy was shot killed one month ago. Students and other volunteers worked to clean the area around the high school and other designated blocks. In a press release, Ernest Gates, of the Near West Side Community Development Corp., stated:

“If something happens that involves a Crane student, there is a lot of negative coverage. The good kids are saying, ‘Hey, what about us?’ All the attention is placed on the kids with problems, but the vast majority of students are there to get an education and get on with their lives.”

Also on Saturday, La Dia de Los Ninos 3K Walk/Run was held to assist students at Benito Juarez High School with their future college education.

In addition, an e-mail campaign has recently surfaced calling for a citywide peace fast. No particular organization is mentioned, but it said to be the word of local-area ministers and clergy.

CITYWIDE PEACE FAST

‘A City United for Peace’
April 21st - 23rd, 2008
6:00am until 6:00pm

Thirty-one youths have lost their lives to gun violence this school year. Hence, the faith community of Chicago will corporately pray for unity and peace in our communities. Pastors and faith leaders are calling on all believers to deny themselves of something that will be a personal sacrifice from 6:00am until 6:00pm Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. You may deny yourself of food, meat, soft drinks, cell phones, or television but whatever you select should be something that is a sacrifice for YOU. Mark 9:29 says, ‘Some things come only by fasting and prayer!’ Therefore, we will fast and pray together as a city for three days for three specific things: 1. Provision, 2. Protection, and 3. Prevention. Jeremiah 29:7 says ‘Pray for the peace and prosperity of the city’. Violence anywhere is a threat to peace everywhere, so please JOIN US!

By all means, PLEASE share this email with everyone you know!

Thanks,

Proper Planning Prevents Poor Progress