Gang Summit: How to stop the violence

Chicago, Illinois – On July 26, 2013 hundreds gathered at Chicago State University after members of the Congressional Black Caucus called an "emergency" national summit on urban violence.
U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, a Chicago Democrat elected to office this year, that violence in her district, specifically a Fourth of July weekend during which 74 people were shot, was the tipping point that prompted the summit. Though murders and shootings are down this year compared to 2012 in Chicago, crime is still having a major impact on much of the city.

The summit came on the heels of a night in Chicago when six people were shot. Friday evening into

Saturday morning, at least another five people were wounded in shootings citywide.


Members of the Black Caucus -- also including Reps. Bobby Rush, Danny Davis and Maxine Waters -- were joined by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and a number of law enforcement experts, academics and members of the public at the event.
As we had posted earlier this year Representative Bobby Rush was playing the blame game as homicides began to rise. The very same elected officials and political pundits were present at this summit were highlighted  in our blog post on September 7th, 2012. In that post we compared their legislative activities and press releases to see what they were doing to impact or improve upon the crime in their home districts. Feel free to read the post to see how often they were not present to vote on legislative action or propose legislation that might have a chance of actually succeeding. The actual results might shock you.
Rep. Bobby Rush began by asking, “Where are the wise men and wise women?” Then he answered: “I believe a lot of them are gathered here today.” There may be hundreds of wise people present, but will those “wise people” be heard by those who need to listen?
"We've asked the people who are gathering to come up with workable plans -- something that in the short term can show a difference," said Rep. Bobby Rush. Is that short term meaning to get past the summer into the next election cycle?
Representative Danny Davis who made statements at the summit how complex the issues are that face those communities, as a result there is not an easy solution. Representative Davis did state, to the Chicago Sun Times “It’s poverty, it’s school closings, its a lack of good education opportunities, it’s a lack of jobs and opportunity to work, it’s the need for parenting, it’s need to rebuild the infrastructure and so all of these things become a part of the comprehensiveness of violence."
Addressing the summit, Emanuel emphasized the city must continue to work to "make our streets safer so they  for the city's children to have a normal childhood , the Mayor called for "Common sense" gun laws are also needed, the mayor continued.

Some people at the summit remained skeptical of the members of Congress who convened the gathering. Activist Ezra McCann told ABC Chicago, "I can't say we need to just get rid of them, but we need to see something else different to work for our people.”  Mr. McCann may be right, the very elected officials who have been in office for years, have done little to impact the violence on the streets of the City of Chicago.


The gathering not only allowed concerned residents hear the politicians speak, but also offered them an opportunity to share their own ideas. It’s what the organizers wanted.
Among people in the crowd were the parents of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old Chicago girl murdered earlier this year, and the Rev. Michael Pfleger.  Pfleger brought with him a group of his church’s “Peacemakers,” including Charles Scott, 39, of Auburn Gresham.
Scott hoped officials really took in what was said to them by young community members.  “I think they really need to listen to a young person [who knows what’s going on] on the streets,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Cal.) urged the activists, ministers, politicians and others in the crowd to generate ideas.

“It is not about trying to press conference and having all off the answers in three minutes,” she said.  ”It is about the development of the plan that will come out of this and then let’s see how the Congressional Black Caucus, the White House, the Justice Department, the local mayors, the community activists all can play into the plan they develop.”

An assistant U.S. Attorney General was also among the speakers, but Waters reminded reporters that the Obama administration and the Democratic Party do not hold the keys to the U.S. House of Representatives or to spending priorities, as a result.  She placed the emphasis on the unorthodox, suggesting that negotiated “peace treaties“ between street gangs could help quell the violence.

One outside-the-box proposal came from veteran activist Wallace “Gator” Bradley, long known to be a conduit to imprisoned street gang leader Larry Hoover.  He suggested that a “delegation” be sent to Hoover that would include a prosecutor, a doctor, a UN Human Rights representative, the Rev. Al Sharpton and a cameraman, who would record Hoover holding his grandchildren and urging gangbangers to work with the community, stop the shooting and stand united in peace.

Is this a ploy for the imprisoned gang leader to try and exert control over the street gang organization he founded. Why would they need a UN Human Rights representative and Reverend Sharpton. If we were making this a message about peace why can’t a cameraman and a reporter shoot the interview. Because it has nothing to do about the gang violence in Chicago, it’s about Larry Hoover.

The summit was not the first such meeting of its type.  A similar brainstorming event occurred 10 years ago, and those who remembered it were mixed about the outcome. IN 2001 a summit was held in June of 2001. That summit offered all kinds of hope, present was Jesse Jackson, Wallace “Gator” Bradley, Jesse Jackson Jr, Bobby Rush and Danny Davis, issues were discussed but little was ever instituted by those who were entrusted to solve the problems. A similar summit in 1993, in which Jesse Jackson, Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan were present. It would seem that almost every 10 years a summit is held to stave off the realization that the elected officials at the local, state and federal level are doing little to nothing to solve the problems facing their constituents.

“The conversation that is created here will extend beyond here,” he said. Rush said he and the other members of Congress at the summit intend to follow up on the ideas offered.  We shall see Representative Rush, we will be watching and we will be posting about this.





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