By Tim Hogan
On Thursday April 11th Southside Catholic Peace and Justice invited Chicagoans from all over the city to St. Barnabas church in Beverly to talk about violence. Hundreds came to listen to a group of Chicagoans disrupting violence in their neighborhoods and Fr. Gregory Boyle, S.J., bestselling author and founder of Homeboy Industries, a gang intervention program in East Los Angeles.
From Burr Ridge and Tinley Park, from Oak Lawn and Rogers Park, people of all ages came from all over Chicagoland. The event was titled “You Are My Neighbor” and its organizing group, Southside Catholic Peace and Justice, was heartened by the attendance. SP&J and their partner groups had prepared the way for the evening at St. Barnabas with pop-up events including film screenings, book clubs and Lenten discussions sessions, but even they were surprised by the evening.
“A group from La Grange came 3 hours early to make sure they had a parking space” Cathi Hogan, a member of Southside Catholic Peace and Justice enthused. “After getting good responses from our lead-up events, I thought we might get a decent crowd, but the response to the evening exceeded our expectations.”
The evening opened with talks from a group of Chicagoans who are disrupting cycles of violence in their neighborhoods with simple, but profound actions. Tamar Manasseh, Jamal Cole and Fr. David Kelly are all working to break cycles of violence in Chicago. They all spoke to the need to engage violence and the conditions that lead to it.
After them Fr. Gregory Boyle spoke about helping gang-involved youth to leave violent situations and become members of larger communities. He saw in the events title “You Are My Neighbor” a great encapsulation of the ethos of healthy, non-violent communities.
“Here’s why I think you’re here tonight,” Fr. Boyle said, “you want the world to look different than it currently looks. You want your city, your block, your hood, you want everything to look different. You want to, together, imagine a circle of compassion and then imagine nobody standing outside that circle.”
While the speakers all came from different places and backgrounds, their talks all had an important thing in common. They all believed that, through love and support, cycles of violence could be broken. Hard lives breed hard communities. If people see their fellow Chicagoans as their community members, as their neighbors, they can engage with them and help lessen the persistent problem of violence we all share.
The Violence Disrupters
In 2015 Tamar Manasseh was a Rabbinical student looking for a way to fight gun violence in her neighborhood. She founded Mothers Against Senseless Killings (MASK) to interrupt violence and crime and teach children to grow up as friends instead of enemies. http://ontheblock.org/
Jahmal Cole started the social organization, My Block, My Hood, My City that takes teenagers from underserved Chicago communities on City-Wide explorations to foster a shared sense of ownership and belonging to the whole city. https://www.formyblock.org/our-team/
Fr. David Kelly, a 30 year chaplain in the Cook County prison system, runs Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation to help people who have been impacted by violence through an array of programs including restorative justice programs and community gardens. https://pbmr.org/
Fr. Gregory Boyle, S.J. is the founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation and re-entry program of its kind. Homeboy Industries makes opportunities for gang-involved youth including an alternative school and daycare and employment. www.homeboyindustries.org
Southside Catholic Peace & Justice is a group dedicated to opening the invisible barriers that separate our communities. They work with other churches and grass roots organizations to build relationships based on shared hopes for Chicago. They are always welcoming new members and new neighbors. http://youaremyneighbor.info/