NEAR NORTH SIDE — The teen girls who organized a silent protest against police brutality last summer will host an open forum with Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson on Tuesday.
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Tuesday's discussion will be from 6-7:30 p.m. at Payton, 1034 N. Wells St. Register through Eventbrite.
In July, Natalie Braye, 17, Sophia Byrd, 17, Eva Lewis, 17, and Maxine Wint, 16, brought together hundreds of Chicago-area teens and adults for a silent protest at Millennium Park against the shootings of black men by police.
Students at the school also spoke against the shooting of a black man by an off-duty police officer in Mount Greenwood in November. The discussion was led by the schools Black Student Union.
The Youth for Black Lives group that the teens formed has been on a mission ever since to end racial oppression in the United States, Lewis said.
Natalie Braye, 17, Sophia Byrd, 17, Eva Lewis, 17, and Maxine Wint, 16 [Photo by Colin B Photography]
People will be able to submit questions 15 minutes before the event begins. Lewis said the group already has questions for Johnson.
“We’re asking about the statistics on death by police and how those stats are reflective of the current police system,” she said. “We’ll be inquiring about protocol for police and asking about keeping students safe.”
The South Shore resident and Payton student said that people of all ages, especially young people, need to get involved and fight for their rights.
“It’s important for us to advocate for our own situations because [adults] aren’t going to advocate in a way that’s going to affect us the way it needs to,” Lewis said.
The idea for the meeting started after Youth for Black Lives members wanted to meet with Johnson after the racial strife broke out in Mount Greenwood after the shooting.
December wasn’t the best month to begin, so they chose January, Lewis said.
“The whole goal is to hold him accountable,” she said, adding that they want to target people with power.
"The reason we chose Eddie Johnson is because he's the top cop, so that's a big role," Lewis said. "He has power over an entire institution. We don't want to meet with people at the ground level."
These meetings will be monthly with different guests and they hope to get other schools involved.
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