About 13,000 items of orange cloth lined the fence exterior Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church, representing each little one killed by gun violence within the U.S. for the reason that 2012 Sandy Hook taking pictures in Newtown, Connecticut.
Inside, throughout the church’s fourth-annual anti-violence vigil Sunday night, folks learn the names of younger Chicago victims within the final yr. With every title, they tore one other piece of orange cloth to be added to the fencing.
“We’re here tonight because kids keep dying by gun violence in Chicago,” mentioned the Rev. Beth Brown, pastor on the church.
At the vigil two years in the past, 102 youths killed by Chicago’s gun violence had been being remembered. This yr, nearly 58 had been being honored.
Strips of orange cloth, representing kids killed by gun violence in Chicago, had been tied to a fence exterior the church lined with about 13,000 different items of cloth representing each little one killed by gun violence within the U.S. for the reason that 2012 Sandy Hook taking pictures.Jake Wittich / Sun-Times
“We’re trying to get to zero. Fifty-eight is way too many. Not one youth should die by gun violence in Chicago,” Brown mentioned as tons of within the viewers applauded.
The crowd included activists and households affected by gun violence, interfaith neighborhood leaders and primarily North Side residents, whom Brown inspired to “come to terms with and change what’s happening in our city.”
“Gun violence is not something that only needs to be addressed by the neighborhoods experiencing it,” she mentioned. “It’s related to the systemic racism, segregation, disinvestment, government-led poverty [and] lack of access to jobs, health care and food that plagues our city.”
Youth from Kuumba Lynx, an city arts youth improvement group on the South Side, then carried out “Black B4 Green,” a bit mixing dance, music and spoken phrases to debate the causes of violence in Chicago.
The efficiency explored how racism, an absence of sources and policing may perpetuate violence of their communities. They referenced the youth-led #NoCopAcademy motion protesting a proposed $85 million police and hearth coaching facility within the Garfield Park neighborhood and objected to metropolis funding that might place extra law enforcement officials in Chicago Public Schools.
The vigil featured three audio system, which included Xavier Ramey, CEO of the social influence consulting agency Justice Informed, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, pastor of the South Side’s St. Sabina church and hometown rapper Che “Rhymefest” Smith. Mayor Lori Lightfoot was scheduled to talk however needed to cancel as a result of she’s sick, Brown mentioned.
From left, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, Justice Informed CEO Xavier Ramey, hometown rapper Che “Rhymefest” Smith and the Rev. Beth Brown all spoke about ending gun violence Sunday at Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church’s vigil.Jake Wittich / Sun-Times
Ramey inspired folks to begin at residence by analyzing how their very own lives and actions contribute to perpetuating violence within the metropolis.
“The reality is that gun violence does not start with a bullet. Boys don’t pick up guns because they’re missing their dads and that’s it,” Ramey mentioned. “Let’s stop talking about guns and start talking about the way we live our lives that created [violence].”
Pfleger referred to as on North Side residents to play a extra energetic function in preventing the town’s downside.
“I think people are disconnected. Not because of lack of concern, but because of lack of urgency because [violence] is not a part of the North Side’s everyday life,” Pfleger mentioned.
Pfleger spoke in regards to the disparities he sees when touring from North to South Side communities. He mentioned folks want to take a position extra in communities most affected by gun violence.
“If we discovered cash for the South Loop, West Loop or Lincoln Yards, then we rattling properly higher discover cash for the South…