Community Violence does the Good Food movement play a role?!

Last night I watched three excerpts from the film,
The Interrupters at an event hosted by the Mayor of Chicago.
 http://interrupters.kartemquin.com/ 
Each bookended with a panel discussion with the filmmakers, leaders of Cease Fire! the Commissioner of Public Health for the City of Chicago and Mayor Rahm Emmanuel. What  amazed me about these conversations, was the level of understanding about the need to connect our youth with the belief and to create pathways to the distant view of downtown Chicago. You can see the skyline from most of the communities that are devasted by violence, Black on Black crime. Our youth do not see themselves downtown and being part of the city as a whole.


Ameena, she's pictured above,  one of the stars of The Interrupters of violence, talked about driving youth to a summit downtown, packed in her car and when they hit Lake Shore Drive, began to ask her what ocean was that? The teens shared that they had never seen the lake or had been downtown. She talked about them skipping rocks on the water and letting all that guard down.

This broke my heart. Just thinking about it and having experienced this often with the youth who have expressed similiar experiences.

Oh and by the way, have not eaten well and are often hungry and not well cared for.

Many of us work and live in communities that struggle with violence, youth who are in gangs, have been in prison, and all who know someone who has been murdered. Our youth witness systemic violence on almost a daily basis, PTSD, and other tramua induced mental health issues that our communities face.

This community based manifestation of internalized oppression, much like the other mechanisms of structural racism, we perpetuate the conditions that breed violence and subjugate one another.

"It can be tough to acknowledge just how bizarrely violent some big-city neighborhoods have become. There are places in Chicago and many other cities where the norms of civilized behavior have been driven all but completely underground."

“I would characterize parts of this city as under siege,” said the Rev. Autry Phillips, who is the point person for a number of local antiviolence efforts. “It’s sad when people are afraid to come out of their homes to walk the dog or wash the car because they feel they might get shot.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/08/opinion/08herbert.html?scp=1&sq=bloody%20urban%20landscapes&st=cse#

How can urban agriculture become the new peace keeping tool?

How can we align our efforts with groups like Cease Fire and other community based violence intervention strategies?

I will be talking about this for a few days.....

e.