I’m For Peace: Students Lead a Peace Initiative to Disrupt Violence in Chicago

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My name is Obieze Agbo and I am one of Billy’s new interns. I’m proud to say that I am a product of the windiest city in the Midwest. You’ll never guess who’s behind a large movement to stop the violence in Chicago.

“6 shot in South Shore: We can’t even go to the laundromat”
– Chicago Tribune

Can’t even go wash your clothes without being shot. Imagine that!

For those of us who call Chicago home, headings like the above are nothing new. In fact, they’ve become so frequent that it’d probably come as a complete surprise if any of the local news segments didn’t include a report on a recent killing. Now that would be some “Breaking News.”

Don’t get me wrong, every major city has its own issues with violence but when your city is crowned the nickname “Chiraq,” things have been taken to a very different level. To say that some of our neighborhoods have become warzones is an understatement. There are rules to war. There are no rules to violence in Chicago.

Now as Chicagoans, we can either sit back and watch our great city reenact scenes from mob movies or we can stand in the face of adversity with no intent of compromising.

“I’m for Peace! Are You?”

2,300 students from Perspectives Charter School want to know if you are for peace cause they absolutely are. So much so that they’ve planned a tremendous movement with the help of local leaders. Isn’t that great?! These courageous students are the brains behind the “I’m for Peace” campaign which entails a city-wide march and Kickstarter campaign for a student-led documentary demonstrating “peace practices.”

The march takes place on Thursday June 5,^, 2014 at 9:30am and begins at 2200 S State st while ending at 36^th and Wabash. Local leaders will be joining the march as well including Steve Pemberton (Chief Diverisity Officer at Walgreens), Adrian Griffin (Chicago Bulls Assistant Coach), and David Storch (Chairmen and CEO of AAR CORP.).

Join their march and/or help their cause in any capacity. It’s all up to us to save Chicago.