Parkland group on Road to Change tour join peace rally in Chicago
Activists meet, collaborate and jointly advance shared priorities
Survivors of the Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland joined hundreds of people in Chicago on Friday to march against violence, demand changes to gun laws and to remember friends and loved ones.
At a rally before the march, many wore shirts saying “Enough is enough,” a message echoed by some of those who spoke.
Among those at the march, organized by St. Sabina’s Catholic Church, were entertainers Chance the Rapper, Jennifer Hudson and Will.i.am, and former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
“Something is happening across this country,” the Rev. Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina, told the crowd. “Young people are rising up, from the north to the south, to the east, to the west. They are taking action.”
As darkness fell over the South Side of Chicago, Hudson led the crowd in singing “Amazing Grace.”
The march came on the final weekend before classes end for Chicago Public School students, the start of what leaders of the South Side church say is the most dangerous time to be a young person in Chicago.
The rally was the first stop on the countrywide #RoadtoChange tour, inspired in part by the shooting that took 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The national bus tour will focus on registering young people to vote, organizers said, in the hope that they can help elect political leaders who will advocate for gun reform — or encourage young people to seek political office themselves.
“Four million people in this country turn 18 this year,” said Jammal Lemy, 20, who graduated from Stoneman Douglas in 2016 and lost two close friends in the shooting. “We have the opportunity to empower the youth and to push a voter registration drive.”
Youth leaders from Chicago are also part of the #RoadtoChange initiative, among them Roseland resident Trevon Bosley, 20. He is part of the youth-led, violence prevention organization Bold Resistance Against Violence Everywhere, or BRAVE.
“People do think that no one is fighting for change,” said Bosley. “The reality is there are a lot of people fighting for change. You just don’t always see them on the news.”
As of last Sunday, 1,138 people had been shot this year in Chicago, and 213 killed, according to Chicago Tribune data. Though these totals are smaller than they have been in previous years, they still concern the city’s youngest activists.
“(Some people) have become so desensitized to it, the violence,” Bosley said. “And if you’re no longer caring about the violence, then you most likely don’t care about initiatives to stop the violence.”
Bosley said he is happy both the Parkland students and violence prevention organizers across the country have been able to meet, collaborate, and jointly advance their shared priorities.
The night was not without friction. A man who said he was from Joliet attended Friday’s event carrying a large “Make America Great Again” flag.
I’m here trying to engage with people,” the man said. “We’re all in this country together.”
As he spoke to a reporter, Malcolm London, 25, of Austin, snatched away the flag. After a brief exchange, the man from Joliet left, without his flag.
“Young black people die every day because of the symbolism of white nationalism that is Donald Trump,” said London, wearing the seized flag around his neck. “I refuse to be disrespected by calling his opinion a conversation.”
Others said they looked forward to more dialogue with those who shared their agenda for a safer city.
“If you’re about what I’m about, if you wanna change the world around you, come out,” said 14-year-old Onastashia Baker, who is part of the young woman’s mentoring group, Giving, Empowering, Mentoring, Self-identity (GEMS), which is run through St. Sabina.
Bosley said he attended the March for Our Lives in Washington D.C., on March 24 with a group that traveled 13 hours by bus there. “But I was so happy to be there,” he said.
On Friday, however, Chicago was the destination for youth activists, and Lemy said he was honored to meet Bosley and others.
“These kids have to live this reality everyday,” said Lemy, who was marking his first visit to Chicago. “This has been their world forever … We’d be doing out purpose an injustice if we didn’t include as many groups as possible.”
eolumhense@chicagotribune.com