Just watched the very moving and inspiring 2011 documentary The Interrupters. The story of three violence interrupters trying to protect their Chicago communities. The same communities that they once caused violence in. I grew up in Chicago and attended its famed public schools, and I felt (every single day) like something terrible was about to happen, and it sometimes did. And that was on the Northside of the city which had lower poverty and crime rates than the West and South Sides that are depicted in the film. There is, of course, a lot to be talked about with regards to the tragedies that poor people, and especially people of color, are faced with (racism, absent parents, drug addiction, bad schools, etc). Building more prisons certainly hasnt been helping end the spread of violence. I really like how the organization Cure Violence, and its founder Gary Slutkin, look at violence as a disease. From their website: Cure Violence stops the spread of violence in communities by using the methods and strategies associated with disease control – detecting and interrupting conflicts, identifying and treating the highest risk individuals, and changing social norms. The movie ends with this beautiful song sung by soul legend Solomon Burke: https://youtube/watch?v=joXHmEOGy38
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 00:24:46 +0000
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