BEVERLY — The Rev. Michael Pfleger will be one of three speakers at a Beverly group discussion meant to address violence in Chicago.
Pfleger, a social activist and the pastor at St. Sabina Church, will be joined by the Rev. David Kelly, executive director of Precious Blood Ministries of Reconciliation, and Chicago Police Chief Eugene Williams.
The three speakers will lead a discussion from 6-8 p.m. Feb. 27 at St. Barnabas Parish at 10134 S. Longwood Drive in Beverly. The event is being coordinated by the "Thou Shalt Not Murder" campaign that began organizing last spring, according to the Rev. Karen Mooney of the Beverly Unitarian Church.
The campaign kicked off with a petition drive last month by about a dozen religious and community leaders in the 19th Ward, including Mooney. The group initially asked folks to sign on to make Easter Sunday to be a day without a murder in Chicago.
The campaign held its first event on Jan. 16 at St. Barnabas and drew roughly 120 people for a discussion on racial issues and violence that was specifically scheduled just ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Mooney said.
She said the petition drive has since evolved. Organizers once hoping to have 30,000 signatures by March 27 are now looking for individuals to simply sign on to "lend a voice in outrage by the number of murders going on in this city," Mooney said.
She is asking folks who sign the petition to vow to stand behind those working to counteract the violence throughout Chicago. She also pointed to numbers released Monday by the Chicago Police Department showing 51 people were murdered in the city in January — up from 29 murders in Chicago in January 2015.
"We can't say it is someone else's problem. It is all of our problem," said Mooney, referring to the comparatively low crime rates in Beverly and Mount Greenwood.
She believes Pfleger is in a unique position to speak about these issues both as a pastor in Auburn Gresham as well as a father who lost his son to gang crossfire on May 30, 1998.
Mooney said she knows that Pfleger can be a polarizing figure but believes his opinions ought to be heard as Chicago looks to navigate away from its current crisis of street violence. Indeed, organizers of the campaign also sought to draw attention to their cause early on by reaching out to other big names, including Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Archbishop Blase Cupich.
But the lesser-known members of the upcoming panel also bring a unique perspective on the violence in Chicago, Mooney said.
She said she met with youth participants of Kelly's Precious Blood Ministries of Reconciliation on Friday in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. They told her that mentors, jobs and a positive outlook are all needed to help people living in their area.
Meanwhile, Williams, chief of the department's Bureau of Administration, will share his insights from a public safety standpoint, Mooney said.
She believes the discussion will lead to some real breakthroughs for audience members and will further fuel the momentum for the campaign that seeks to shed a light on the violence in Chicago.
"We are all struggling to try to find our way forward," she said.
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