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May 9, 2008 10:36 pm US/Central
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Town Hall Meeting To Open Dialogue On Violence
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Experts in law enforcement and gang culture will meet on Chicago's South Side Saturday night to try to find solutions to the problem of violence in Chicago.
CBS 2 and WBBM Newsradio 780 will simulcast the event, Speaking the Truth: A Town Hall Meeting on Violence.
Dozens of young people have been either killed or wounded by gunfire in Chicago just in the past few weeks.
"We're getting attention of the horrifying numbers of kids that are killed," said John Horan, president of North Lawndale College Prep, a school recognized for maintaining peace on the city's West Side. "It's sort of captivated the public and governmental interest, but we have to do more than do a body count."
That's why Horan decided to participate in the town hall meeting.
"You teach it just like you teach anything else, but you have to believe it before you teach it and I think too many adults don't believe kids are capable of peace," Horan said.
It's a lesson his students take to heart.
"If we teach them to have a voice and we teach them to speak out for what they believe in, then they won't have to go out and shoot," said North Lawndale College Prep student Cordaral Millener.
"They lack the ability to fill idle time with something positive and something actually productive," added student Chris Frills.
"We must listen to them and find out what the problem is because they are living in those conditions," said Ron Holt.
Holt looks forward to hearing from young people Saturday night. His 16-year-old son, Blair, was gunned down on a CTA bus last year. He'll be participating in the town hall meeting on an emotional day.
"May 10, Saturday marks the first-year anniversary of Blair's death and I think that would do a service to his memory," Holt said.
Holt believes the key to stopping the violence that took his son, and so many other young people, is to open up a dialogue with teens.
"I would like to come up with ideas. What can we do to keep them occupied?" Holt said.
It's a sentiment shared by many others.
"They are facing pressures some of us never had to face," said Pastor Albert Tyson of St. Stephen African Methodist Episcopal Church. "We need to come up with new ideas... to help them cope and become leaders for tomorrow."
Mayor Richard M. Daley says all of us should reach out to kids and families who may be at risk.
"We have to say it's all our responsibility," Daley said. "Government will not solve this alone."
Nearly 300 community leaders, activists, police officials and teenagers are expected at Kennedy King College for the town hall meeting. All of those invited have a key interest or expertise in finding solutions to end the problem with gun violence in Chicago.
CBS 2's Susan Carlson and Anne State contributed to this report.
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