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.
Source: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/21553768-418/urban-violence-summit-held-at-chicago-state.html
Source: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/07/26/frustration-apparent-at-summit-to-end-urban-violence/
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