'Peace Pioneers' Seek Cure To Violence

Two days after 19-year-old Justin Murray was shot and killed in Evanston on Nov. 29, a small group gathered in front of Boocoo, holding signs that read “Stop the Violence” and “Peace Now, Peace Always.”

That small rally was a first step toward what the group hopes is a larger movement. Immediately following the gathering at Boocoo, Evanston residents Justin Blake, Mandy Eason and Kimberly Frazier decided to start a group dedicated to promoting nonviolence, hoping to carry the momentum of that gathering forward. 

Called Peace Pioneers for Evanston, the group’s stated goal is to unite the community, empower young people, support existing programs and create more programs and activities for teens and young adults. 

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Two more shootings following Justin Murray’s death have only made the group’s mission more urgent, organizers say. A 20-year-old man was shot and critically injured on Dec. 8, and on Dec. 12, 23-year-old Javar Bamberg was shot and killed. Police believe all three shootings are part of an extended family feud, and that some people involved may have gang ties. 

“We are trying to build and not destroy,” says co-founder Mandy Eason, who cautions that the group is not taking a stand or expressing an opinion on the immediate causes of previous shootings. “We already know there’s a disease, and we’re here to work for a cure.” 

A couple dozen members of the group sat at tables set up in a U-shape at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Center on Thursday. Punctuated by the sound of basketballs in the gymnasium next door, they spoke up one by one to offer their suggestions for improving the community and reducing violence. 

A newcomer to Evanston from Chicago, Neticia Blunt-Waldron said she hoped to put together a concert organized by teenagers and young adults, that would feature local artists and music with a positive message. 

“Our kids are listening now to violent music that encourages them to live like it’s their last day,” said Blunt-Waldron, who attended the meeting with her elementary-school-aged daughter.

Fellow parent Nicole Williams said she had been seeking input from her own children and their friends. The kids said that Evanston needs more “reachable” black men in schools, and more men in outreach or mentorship programs. The kids she spoke with also said they believed more men didn’t participate in community programs because it seemed “soft,” Williams said.

“Men—it’s OK to be soft sometimes,” she said, addressing the group. “We need that. 

Williams said she had also canvassed local parents, who suggested expanding mentorship opportunities and creating more programs to help parents understand what they should be aware of in teen’s lives. For example, Williams said she would like to understand kids’ slang terms, so that she’d know what to watch out for. 

Additionally, she suggested creating a hotline kids could call when they were feeling down, where someone on the other end could talk them out of doing something stupid, or simply lend an ear. 

“People just need to talk without feeling as if they’re telling on someone,” agreed fellow parent Elliott Hall.

A longtime Evanston resident, Hall had brought his own two children to the meeting as well. Summer, age 13, suggested more weekend basketball scrimmages and shootoffs, to keep kids off the streets, while Jacob, age 8, talked about how the recent shootings made him feel.

“I’m kind of scared because there are a lot of people who are passing away,” he said, bringing tears to the eyes of many in the room. “I want to take away all the weapons that we have.”

Evanston resident Stacey Moragne said that the people who needed the most intervention were the toughest to reach, because they wouldn’t listen to just anyone. He said the community needed former gang members who have turned their lives around to serve as mentors. 

“We’re dealing with people who love guns and blunts,” he said. “We need people who can tell them there’s consequences—either with God if you believe in God, or within the penitentiary.” 

Lonnie Wilson, who worked at the nonprofit Family Focus for 18 years, said he believed economic issues were at the root of problems like gangs and violent crime. 

“You are less likely to go to jail if you are pulling a check,” he said. Wilson suggested that the city could start a program to make Evanston’s many old homes energy efficient, providing jobs to young people in the community.

Dereck Wood, a longtime coach with Evanston’s FAAM (Fellowship of Afro-American Men) youth basketball league, said he believed that parents deserved some share of the blame for what their kids did.

“I know all these kids,” Wood said. “It starts in the home. The accountability starts at home.”

While many people made suggestions for ways to prevent future violence, former deputy police chief Sam Pettineo said change would be very hard to come by.

Now Pettineo said he had attended more than 20 funerals for shooting victims since December 1980, when a man was shot and killed on the steps of the Fleetwood-Jourdain Center.

“Thirty-years ago to this day, this room was full of people talking about violence in this community,” Pettineo said. “We can’t pray our way out of this, we can’t talk our way out of this, we can’t march our way out of this.”

The Peace Pioneers group is planning to meet again after the New Year, organizers say, when they hope to start putting some of their ideas into action.

“We’re not going to meet, meet, meet and have nothing to show for it,” said Justin Blake. “That’s already been done.”

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