Ashley Pharis's Blog
We Made the NEWS!! / 07.18.08, 03:27 PM
Earlier this spring I wrote about a series of Prayer Marches in North Lawndale I helped my supervisor Stanley Ratliff organize with local churches in response to the increase in gun violence this year. Well they have been in full swing, although the turn-outs have waxed and waned each time. We’d been working to get more police involvement in order to help bridge the emotional divide between residents and police officers in our neighborhood (there is much resentment towards the police in North Lawndale, a lot of perceived corruption on the cops’ end especially after a young African American male was shot in the back and killed by a police officer last August).
Well, when we showed up to the March at the sponsoring church (St. Agatha’s) this past Saturday, I was surprised to see several fully-dressed police officers. I approached them and thanked them profusely for their participation in the Peace Prayer March. Then I started noticing cameras and news crews. I was getting excited…our moment of glory had come!! Well….not really. Come to find out, a priest connected with St. Agatha’s had some connections and was trying to get the Mayor of Chicago to come out for the event. Well, he never showed, but the Chicago Police Department got wind of the event, and given the timing and the heat that the new Superintendent Jody Weiss has gotten for rising gun violence this summer, they saw this as the perfect opportunity for a publicity stunt to boost morale.
After realizing this, I was so angry, seeing how the police were merely using us to win favor in the public eye rather than actually WANTING to participate and show their support for the marches after we’d been on them for MONTHS to come out. And the way the news reported the event made it sound like Jody Weiss was a knight in shining armor riding in to save the day (never once did they mention St. Agatha’s, any of the organizers or any of the other marches that have been going on—-in fact the story quoted that Weiss “lead the march”!! see video clip here http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6261143).
But when it came down to it, we had a very strong showing of police officers on foot, bike, cars and segue ways, including several district commanders of the Police Department, at least 25, who marched the whole route with us. So the residents saw them. And that’s what we wanted from the beginning. Even if their intentions weren’t pure. So I’m realizing, as an activist, I have to get used to the politics. Like my Dad advised me recently, “Ashley, you have to learn to play the ‘game’.” I know what he’s saying, but I’m just not sure how much or if I’m willing to compromise my morals for the rules of this ‘game’.
I will let you know if the Superintendent or any other police show up at the next march. But don’t hold your breath.
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