PILSEN — In an effort to curb violence, Pilsen residents camped out overnight on a "hot block" in the neighborhood this weekend.
With a candlelight peace march, live Mariachi and dancing, about 100 Pilsen residents camped out on South Leavitt Street next to St. Ann's Catholic Church on Friday night. As part of an Increase The Peace Initiative, the block takeover aimed to unite the neighborhood in a stand against violence, said Berto Aguayo, a community organizer at The Resurrection Project.
Since October, the group has hosted events promoting peace in Back of the Yards, Humboldt Park and Pilsen, Aguayo said, and they are planning a camp-out in Little Village next.
"We had this radical idea... [what if] we just camped out on the hottest blocks in our neighborhood?" Aguayo said. "I want to be doing this as often as we can."
In the early morning hours on July 2, a 23-year-old man was wounded in a drive-by shooting in the 2200 block of West 18th Place near St. Ann's Church.
Since May 1, 29 people have been wounded and three people have been killed by shootings in Pilsen and Heart of Chicago, according to a DNAinfo Chicago map that tracks shootings.
This is the second time Pilsen residents have staged a march to protest violence in their neighborhood in recent months. In August, 100 Pilsen residents joined Pilsen Alliance's March for Peace & Justice from Dvorak Park to Harrison Park.
Chicagoans living in Englewood, Woodlawn, Rogers Park, Uptown and Little Village have also protested gun violence in their own neighborhoods this year.
Pilsen neighbors light candles ahead of a peace march Friday. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]
In an effort to curb violence, residents led a candlelight peace march through Pilsen this weekend. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]
A march Friday aimed to unite Pilsen in a stand against violence. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]
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