BEVERLY — A coalition of churches and activists in the 19th Ward envision Easter Sunday to be a day without a murder in Chicago.
The group of roughly a dozen religious and community leaders on Far Southwest Side has launched an online campaign called "Thou Shall Not Murder."
The website asks for signatures on a petition calling for March 27 to be "a day free from murder of any kind," according to the group's website. Organizers are hoping to have 30,000 signatures ahead of Easter Sunday.
To kick off the online petition drive, the peace and justice commission at St. Barnabas Parish will host an event titled "Following In Big Shoes ... What is Ours Yet to Do?" from 2-5 p.m. Saturday.
The event will be held in the church hall at 10134 S. Longwood Drive in Beverly and will include a presentation by Kelly Harris, professor of African-American Studies at Chicago State University.
The discussion is purposefully slated just ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and will begin with a prayer. The presentation will focus on the legacy of the Civil Rights movement.
A question-and-answer session will wrap-up the event, and the evening will conclude with participants being asked to sign the "Thou Shall Not Murder" petition.
"As people of faith, we are against all violence," said the Rev. William Malloy, the pastor at St. Barnabas.
He said the petition drive came after a group of area ministers and activists saw a map of shootings that occurred throughout the city in 2014 and 2015. The 19th Ward was largely spared from such violence but that is no reason to ignore the problem, Malloy said Monday.
"Obviously, something very special is happening here, but we don't live in a bubble," said Malloy, adding St. Barnabas is the largest church involved in the coalition as well as the only Catholic presence.
He hopes some 250 people attend the event at his parish on Saturday. At least two more rallies are planned ahead of Easter Sunday, according to the Rev. Karen Mooney of the Beverly Unitarian Church. The church at 10244 S. Longwood Drive in Beverly is also involved in the campaign.
Organizers of the petition drive are hoping their awareness efforts eventually draw city-wide attention, perhaps with the help of big names such as Mayor Rahm Emanuel or Archbishop Blase Cupich.
Still, the goal is both simple and attainable, Malloy said.
"We have to start very small — one day of no violence," he said.
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