The Community Plan to Reduce Violence in Chicago
Reprinted from The Black Star Project
Published: July 14, 2014
Inspired by the peacemaking efforts of The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in Chicago, the Fruit of Islam men of Muhammad Mosque No. 45 in Houston took to the streets to promote peace on July 16, 23 & 28, 2012. The brothers visited the Southwest Side. And also Crestmont and Villa Americana Apartment Complexes in the Southeast area. (Photo by Jesse Muhammad).
Jesse Muhammad
The Community Asking for a Re-direction of $100 Million in Police Force Over-time in 2013 to $100 Million in Community Literacy, Mentoring, Parenting and Employment Programs to Reduce Violence.
The Community Plan includes:
1) Establish and fund 8 Community Enterprise Zones for $12 million each with police overtime money, which will include job training, entrepreneurship, small business development, jobs and corporate/community partnerships in the communities with the highest rates of violence. A community advisory board made up of community members and some government officials will govern the Community Enterprise Zones.
2) Establish Community Safety Patrols of community members that will operate on main thorough fares, in business districts, at transportation hubs and in the communities with the highest rates of violence. These men and women are not police officers will not have police powers. Their job is to promote community safety in ways that the police cannot. We would request The Nation of Islam to do the training of the Community Safety Patrols.
3) Establish a street corner mentoring of young men that puts mentors in the lives of young men on street corners, at liquor stores, at barbershops and other places that these young men frequent. Arm these mentors with resources that include educational opportunities, fatherhood programs, employment opportunities, expungement, recreational activities, gang deactivation programs and other needed resources.
4) initiate a "Ban the Box" legislative initiative to de-criminalize citizens who are returning to their communities from prison. They have served their time. This will help rebuild the workforce and family units in these communities.
5) Establish a Community Clean-up Corps of young men cleaning, building and beautifying the communities of which some of them are now terrorizing.
Please call Chicago's City Hall at 312.744.5000 and ask for the Mayor's Office or go to www/cityofchicago.org and click on "Contact us" to request this plan. Please request that the City of Chicago support and implement the "The Community Plan to Reduce Violence!"
Click Here to see the men from the Nation of Islam, Mosque No. 45 bring discipline, order, peace and hope to the streets of Houston.
Please call The Black Star Project at 773.285.9600 for more information about this plan.