Facing Violence; Breaking the Cycle; Part 1

<v Woman Voiceover>[music] America is a violent country. People in American culture learn to be violent. <v Woman Voiceover>You have a neighborhood where resources <v Woman Voiceover>are tight and then you have a crisis. <v Woman Voiceover>If you begin to think that law enforcement cannot <v Woman Voiceover>protect you, you're going to fortify yourself in your home and forget <v Woman Voiceover>about the rest of the neighborhood. <v Woman Voiceover>That is when you get this increased threshold of violence. <v Woman Voiceover>And it's- it's cyclical. <v Man Voiceover>I mean, this has to be a collective eff- uh effort. <v Man Voiceover>If we don't do it, then what will happen is this problem will unravel <v Man Voiceover>and unravel, unravel. And then ultimately our communities will suffer from <v Man Voiceover>it. Surely we will suffer from it, more than what we are now. <v Man Voiceover>If you want someone to say no to something, they have to have something to say yes to. <v Man Voiceover>You don't want them to believe that it's better for them to stay in the house and not do <v Man Voiceover>anything than to try and come out and do something. <v Man Voiceover>Is a whole community something to say yes to? <v Man Voiceover>[music]

<v Warner Saunders>Tonight, we discuss a disturbing reality, the high rate of violence committed by <v Warner Saunders>African-Americans against each other. <v Warner Saunders>Good evening, I'm Warner Saunders. <v Warner Saunders>In fact, homicide is the most common cause of death among young black <v Warner Saunders>men, and recent events here in Chicago are certainly bearing that sad fact <v Warner Saunders>out. Every weekend we hear of more gang shootings and murders, <v Warner Saunders>particularly in the poorest black neighborhoods. <v Warner Saunders>With each newscast we shutter and we think, will this ever stop? <v Warner Saunders>More to the point, we wonder, am I in danger? <v Warner Saunders>Because even if we work in the loop or live in so-called safe neighborhoods <v Warner Saunders>like Lincoln Park or Winnetka or Oak Park or Hinsdale, we worry <v Warner Saunders>if this violence will expand to where we live, to where we work, to where we drive <v Warner Saunders>or even where we play. Better put if you are not black, male <v Warner Saunders>or poor, do you need to be concerned?

<v Warner Saunders>Well, let me introduce you to my guests. <v Warner Saunders>This is Prince Asiel Ben Israel, co-spokesman of the Gang Summit and United <v Warner Saunders>in Peace. I want to ask you this question. <v Warner Saunders>You have chosen to go to the shooters, to the gang bangers, to the people out on the <v Warner Saunders>streets and say, stop the violence. <v Warner Saunders>Well, in all due respect to you, Prince Asiel, I ask this question, why would they <v Warner Saunders>want to listen to you? What's going to stop them from committing crimes on the streets? <v Warner Saunders>What is going to stop the anger that is in them? <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>I think we've tried to separate African-American people from world problems. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>I think that whenever we're trying to resolve conflict, you have to go to the people who <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>are involved in the struggle. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>I felt that it was important that I find out who and what the problems were. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>And I brought to the table the integrity of 30 years of experience, of being sensitive to <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>the problems of my people. <v Warner Saunders>Commander Leroy O'Shield is commander of Chicago's 15th District in the Austin community <v Warner Saunders>and a police officer for 27 years with experience with the Chicago Police Department. <v Warner Saunders>Now, I ask you the question from the standpoint of law enforcement, is that workable? <v Leroy O'Shield>Is it workable?

<v Warner Saunders>Yes. <v Leroy O'Shield>Um, Yes, it's workable. But the other issue is whether or not we're going to be able to <v Leroy O'Shield>make things happen with the individuals who are selling drugs and they've got to stop <v Leroy O'Shield>selling drugs. It's not going to work if the continued <v Leroy O'Shield>discussion about stopping the violence while drugs continue to be sold. <v Leroy O'Shield>It's an unconscionable predicament right now. <v Warner Saunders>Artensa Randolph is chairperson of the Chicago Housing Authority Central Advisory <v Warner Saunders>Council, and you've been a resident for 32 years in public housing. <v Warner Saunders>[Artensa Randolph: Right] It just seems all of this violence is coming from there. <v Warner Saunders>How did it all start from- or how is it so much escalating from public <v Warner Saunders>housing? <v Artensa Randolph>I wanted to- Let me say this. When those developments were built, <v Artensa Randolph>there were no negotiate- the negotiating with any black <v Artensa Randolph>person then. It was all politically done. <v Artensa Randolph>And so we're stuck with it now. <v Artensa Randolph>Uh, when we first moved in, we had problems, but not like we have now. <v Artensa Randolph>Because everybody look at people like in the south, living

<v Artensa Randolph>in public housing are like living on an island. <v Artensa Randolph>Don't look like nobody says, 'I'm sitting beside, Dr. Bell. <v Artensa Randolph>But, I don't know how he feels, but I know how I feel <v Artensa Randolph>about it. If I'm sittting beside Dr. Bell and he's a doctor and I'm a resident of a <v Artensa Randolph>public housing, I don't feel that he feels comfortable sitting beside <v Artensa Randolph>me because of where I live.' <v Warner Saunders>We'll find out if he will in just a second. <v Warner Saunders>Dr. Marcus Alexis, professor of economics and management at Northwestern University. <v Warner Saunders>Now, you research the impact on social policies and reducing economic inequalities <v Warner Saunders>for black people. Is there an economic reality to gang violence? <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>Yes, there is a economic reality to gang violence in the sense that gangs are partly <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>an economic form of organization, that they distribute <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>drugs, as the commander said. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>And that this is a very profitable activity. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>And that's where we find many older people who are associated with gangs as compared <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>to years ago when they were mostly teenagers.

<v Speaker>Mel Reynolds is the U.S. congressman from the Second District. <v Speaker>He's a strong supporter of the Three Strikes, You're Out Crime Bill and proposes <v Speaker>that we get tougher on crime. <v Speaker>The current policies and the solutions are workable. <v Speaker>Are we too soft on crime? <v Mel Reynolds>I think that when we say get tough on crime, we have to do it in a balanced way. <v Mel Reynolds>When I say we need to get tougher on crime, I mean, we need to get tougher on prevention <v Mel Reynolds>measures as well as punishment measures. <v Mel Reynolds>Currently, our prevention measures- our efforts in that area are too soft <v Mel Reynolds>and quite frankly, some of our punishment measures are too soft. <v Mel Reynolds>So I think as we move forward, we have to look at both of those as a balanced approach. <v Warner Saunders>Dr. Carl Bell is professor of psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago and <v Warner Saunders>president of the Community Mental Health Council. <v Warner Saunders>Now you've been in the forefront of black on black attacking each other for years and <v Warner Saunders>years. Is there more to this violence thing than simply gang members against <v Warner Saunders>gang members? <v Dr. Carl Bell>Of course, the gang related homicide rates have been going up. <v Dr. Carl Bell>Currently, they're about 13 percent. <v Dr. Carl Bell>If you go back 6 years, they were running maybe 6 percent.

<v Dr. Carl Bell>25 percent of the murders in Chicago occur within the family, and another 30 <v Dr. Carl Bell>percent occur between 2 people who know one another who get into an inter-personal <v Dr. Carl Bell>altercation. So more than half of the violence is not <v Dr. Carl Bell>criminally motivated at the start of the violence. <v Dr. Carl Bell>It starts as an argument. So we've got to be very specific in order to intervene <v Dr. Carl Bell>in the problem. And we just can't focus on gangs alone if we want to face violence,. <v Warner Saunders>You know, I think a definition is important right here before we go on, because violence <v Warner Saunders>may very well be like Christmas. It may mean something different to everybody. <v Warner Saunders>What do you see violence as? <v Dr. Carl Bell>I think that violence, if you read the studies, if you if you talk to the police, if you <v Dr. Carl Bell>talk to people in the emergency rooms, they'll tell you that violence is <v Dr. Carl Bell>drug related. They'll tell you that violence is gang related. <v Dr. Carl Bell>They will tell you that violence is predatory. <v Dr. Carl Bell>That is people who are criminally intended, who go out of the house and <v Dr. Carl Bell>rob somebody. And if the person gives them trouble, they will shoot and kill that person.

<v Dr. Carl Bell>And then you have the interpersonal altercation, violence, the family friend violence, <v Dr. Carl Bell>which again, is the bulk of the violence in our society. <v Warner Saunders>Let's really take a graphic look at homicide rates. <v Warner Saunders>We're gonna put that up right now. Dr. Bell? <v Dr. Carl Bell>What you see on this graph is that white females have low <v Dr. Carl Bell>rates from 1950 all the way <v Dr. Carl Bell>up to 1990. And then you see white males. <v Warner Saunders>Now, what about the other part of it? <v Dr. Carl Bell>How do you mean? <v Warner Saunders>The black males and black females <v Dr. Carl Bell>The black males and black females- you'll notice that the black female homicide rate <v Dr. Carl Bell>is higher. This is homicide perpetration rate is <v Dr. Carl Bell>higher than the white male rate. <v Dr. Carl Bell>And you see black males at the top. <v Dr. Carl Bell>And you'll notice how it was around 45 or so in the 50s. <v Dr. Carl Bell>It popped up real high in 1970 and then it started to go down. <v Dr. Carl Bell>If you were to extend that graph a little further, you see it going back up again

<v Dr. Carl Bell>in the early 90s. <v Warner Saunders>Is this a new phenomenon? <v Dr. Carl Bell>The homicide rate differential in terms of <v Dr. Carl Bell>the the rates of blacks compared to whites have been 6 to 12 <v Dr. Carl Bell>times higher for blacks than for whites since 1929. <v Warner Saunders>But you look at it from the same- but I better clear this up right now. <v Warner Saunders>Dr. Bell, you really do not feel uncomfortable sitting next to Mrs. Randolph here. <v Dr. Carl Bell>This is- these are the people that I take care- I went to black medical school <v Dr. Carl Bell>[laughter]. <v Warner Saunders>See Mrs. Randolph. So you're at home wiht us? <v Dr. Carl Bell>They taught me to take care of my people because my people are gonna be the only people <v Dr. Carl Bell>who got to take care of me. <v Warner Saunders>You know, you've been around for a long time, and it is your wisdom that I guess we're <v Warner Saunders>seeking right now. You said to me a long time ago, you said it wasn't like this a long <v Warner Saunders>time ago. It wasn't- this kind of violence was not that way then. <v Artensa Randolph>Well, I'll say when I was growing up, I guess I'm the oldest around the table. <v Artensa Randolph>I never saw this kind of violence. We never had television or <v Artensa Randolph>radio that focused on guns and all this kind

<v Artensa Randolph>of stuff. We didn't have that in our neighborhood. <v Artensa Randolph>We were a close knit neighborhood. <v Artensa Randolph>If anything happened, we went to the church and the pastors helped <v Artensa Randolph>us resolve some of this. <v Artensa Randolph>I never knew of all of this kind of criminal stuff until I come to Chicago. <v Warner Saunders>Now, you got to understand that is a perception. That is one perception. <v Warner Saunders>It does not support what Dr. Bell is saying. <v Warner Saunders>But obviously that is a perception that- and perception is truth in the minds of <v Warner Saunders>many people. <v Dr. Carl Bell>I think so. And right now, the perception is being dominated <v Dr. Carl Bell>by the media, and the media will lead- leads you to believe that drive by <v Dr. Carl Bell>shootings are the most common homicide. <v Dr. Carl Bell>The media would lead you to believe that gang related violence is the most common <v Dr. Carl Bell>homicide, drug related violence. But again, family friend <v Dr. Carl Bell>are really the lion's share. <v Warner Saunders>Gentlemen, let me just read something here to you. I want you to pick this up. <v Warner Saunders>7 conditions. Think about the 7 conditions. <v Warner Saunders>You're homicide within the last 5 and 10 years tend to be found in younger age groups.

<v Warner Saunders>More victims under 25. The American public has grown more sophisticated regarding <v Warner Saunders>homicide as a public health issue. <v Warner Saunders>Violence is more in public areas, drive by shootings at this point. <v Warner Saunders>There are more weapons out there on the streets. <v Warner Saunders>So lots of things have changed to change the phenomenon and also the perception <v Warner Saunders>of what violence is. <v Mel Reynolds>Well, you know, what's interesting about the perceptions, and we can talk statistics all <v Mel Reynolds>day. And we can say that- I don't think it makes people feel any more <v Mel Reynolds>comfortable to- to be told that it's really people who know each <v Mel Reynolds>other that are killing each other at the highest rate. <v Mel Reynolds>And then there is some killing at the lower rate. <v Mel Reynolds>We need to talk about the day to day lives of people who live within those- <v Mel Reynolds>the killing zones in our city and how they feel about- and how <v Mel Reynolds>I feel about as a person who lives in the killing zone on <v Mel Reynolds>74 Street and South Shore, where I live, where two children were shot <v Mel Reynolds>in August, right out in front of where we live, how do we feel

<v Mel Reynolds>as- and as a people, we need to turn this inward <v Mel Reynolds>and start talking about it on the table. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>I think- I think one of the things that we have to do is one of the things that I think <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>we gathered around this table. Each one of us are bringing the perspective and hopefully <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>deep insight into looking at the problem from different levels. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>I think heretofor the leadership who are trying to resolve the problems have been in <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>conflict, and so therefore correct information won't flow. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>For instance, when one asked the question whether or not I should or men <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>like me should get involved in talking directly those involved. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>The question is, of course, because we've got to get to the root problem of it. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>When we talk about legislation, the people got to feel comfortable that the congressional <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>level is impacting with the laws to protect those citizens who need it. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>I'm saying from a medical point of view, you can analyze, as you said correctly <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>congressman, that we need to focus on who's being impacted, not so much what the data is <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>saying. When we go down- and I go to Mrs. Randolph's question. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>We need to ask her, how did you hurt?

<v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>She was absolutely right. The patients in the housing need to be asked, what's <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>the problem? And then we can say this is the medicine we have. <v Leroy O'Shield> The, uh, community at large, not only in public housing, but the community at <v Leroy O'Shield>large, also is hurting. And the perception contributes to that hurt <v Leroy O'Shield>because they perceive that there's violence out there. <v Leroy O'Shield>One of the reasons for their perception of-of the violence is based upon the fact <v Leroy O'Shield>that they want to go to work, come home safely and lock themselves in their home. <v Leroy O'Shield>[Prince Asiel Ben Israel: They can't do that, they can't do that] They lock hemselves in their homes <v Leroy O'Shield>because they feel as if they're out on the street. <v Warner Saunders>Is that abnormal behavior? That seems to be normal behavior for an abnormal situation. <v Warner Saunders>[Unkown speaker: Right] <v Leroy O'Shield>In healthy communities, I would believe that individuals would be outside articulating <v Leroy O'Shield>with other individuals from the community, caring for their homes, caring <v Leroy O'Shield>for their- their children, and in supervised activities where there is a <v Leroy O'Shield>viable economic system going on in the community. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>That's an ideal solution that you're talking about, commander. You see, we're talking <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>about a community ?inaudible,?

<v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>the congressman rasing the issue that- that in one of his areas in Ford Heights that <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>out of 400, almost 30 children born in the last three years, 380 <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>were born out of wedlock. You're talking about a dysfunctional teenager having <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>a child developing children. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>So I'm saying the mentoring program that we are talking about, Dr. Bell can <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>substantiate this, that when men or women get involved in the lives of individuals, <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>whether they're their parents or not, they have a better chance of survival. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>[people talking over each over] <v Warner Saunders>But Dr. Alexis would- Dr. Alexis would- would counter by I think saying that what <v Warner Saunders>happens to the poverty, the syndrome of poverty, whether you talk to people or not, <v Warner Saunders>they're poor, they're hurting. Doesn't the- doesn;t the economics of the situation have <v Warner Saunders>anything to do with this? <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>Well, a lot's been said here. And I- cuold we should start with the first comment you <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>made between perception and reality. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>And perception can differ from reality. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>For example, that we are told that actually the United States with detention on crime <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>to the crime rates are falling. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>That's interesting. Now the question is it may not be falling everywhere, but nationally

<v Dr. Marcus Alexis>as a phenomenon, crime rates are falling. Yet there's heightened attention to crime <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>for reasons that people perceive that they are less safe than they used to be. <v Warner Saunders>[people speaking over each other] We've got some time- we've got- we've got some time to <v Warner Saunders>speak. I did want to bring a graphic up. I want to show a graphic that supports that. <v Warner Saunders>[Dr. Marcus Alexis interjecting] Go on. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>But the comment I wanted to make, which is related to what the commander said, is <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>economically, we are devoting large amounts of resources for <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>security to protect ourselves which could be used to enhance people's <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>lives in other ways. So people have alarm systems on their homes, on their cars. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>You go into a shop and you see they have security guards. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>This kind of spending of our social product is not a helpful <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>way for a society to use its resources. <v Warner Saunders>Let's- let's take a- let's take a short look at a graph here that talks about the <v Warner Saunders>hotspots of where crime does take place. <v Warner Saunders>And I think. Well, Dr. Bell why don't you speak to that a little bit. <v Dr. Carl Bell>Wll again here you see the high rates of robbery. <v Dr. Carl Bell>If you look at demographics of neighborhoods, what you'll <v Dr. Carl Bell>find is that often where you have a middle class neighborhood next to a poor

<v Dr. Carl Bell>neighborhood, that interface zone is where you see a lot of the robberies. <v Dr. Carl Bell>And in poor communities, you know, robberies. <v Dr. Carl Bell>The issue of- of murder is another issue. <v Dr. Carl Bell>I think we've got to be clear that when we were worried about people <v Dr. Carl Bell>abusing our children, when we were worried about rape, everybody had a stranger-danger <v Dr. Carl Bell>mentality. And I'm saying that we have the same stranger-danger mentality <v Dr. Carl Bell>about crime. But if people think about the last time they got beat up, who <v Dr. Carl Bell>beat them up? They'll come up with a family member or friend. <v Warner Saunders>But what about aggravated battery? That's the gang kind of activity that people are so <v Warner Saunders>afraid of. When you look at that graph, you see that really interfacing <v Warner Saunders>with the same spots that you have, the other kind of behavior. <v Dr. Carl Bell>Right, and that's because if you control for poverty, what you find is <v Dr. Carl Bell>that the 6 to 12 times difference in black homicide rates compared to <v Dr. Carl Bell>whites drops out. <v Warner Saunders>What about for domestic homicides and domestic violence?

<v Warner Saunders>Would the same areas be impacted? Yes, they would. <v Dr. Carl Bell> Same areas, same areas. <v Dr. Carl Bell>But again, if you look at Latinos, Latino men rarely kill <v Dr. Carl Bell>Latino women, but black men and black women get in <v Dr. Carl Bell>the interpersonal altercations- <v Mel Reynolds>If I could just make a point on that- on the graph. <v Mel Reynolds>In fact, black men die at the highest rate [Dr. <v Mel Reynolds>Bell: the highest rate] in domestic violence. <v Mel Reynolds>[Dr. Bell: Right] and second to- second to that are black women. <v Mel Reynolds>But black men across the board, it appears in every area of death- <v Mel Reynolds>black men are leading and that even if it's at home death. [Dr. Bell: Right] <v Warner Saunders>The most frightening statistic is the high rate of violence <v Warner Saunders>affecting young black males ages 15 to 19. <v Warner Saunders>If the African proverb is, 'It takes an entire community to raise a child,' <v Warner Saunders>we have to remember to all of us that our communal responsibility toward the young. <v Warner Saunders>Then it is a cruel irony that the strongest influences on <v Warner Saunders>our many young black men is the violent gang community.

<v Speaker>I would like to stress something. <v Kareem Gray>?Traveling to? school it's like it take a long time. <v Kareem Gray>But then I get some place, I get scared. <v Speaker>13 year old Kareem Gray faces a situation typical to many young <v Speaker>black males in Chicago. <v Speaker>In order to get to school, each day he must pass through several street gang territories, <v Speaker>gangs who are hostile to nonmembers and looking for <v Speaker>recruits. <v Carol Gray Hingleton>It's a very long way, um his travels, <v Carol Gray Hingleton>like an hour 20 to 30 minutes all depending on the CTA system. <v Kareem Gray>Sometimes ?you've got to? know the hand signal or the handshake. <v Kareem Gray>Sometime if you don't know that, they hit you. They beat you up. <v Speaker>Those close to Kareem say that daily obstacles are starting to take their toll. <v Linda Gaddis>One thing I noticed about Kareem that's different this year is he's <v Linda Gaddis>a little more distant. He doesn't seem to be as interested in his work

<v Linda Gaddis>as he used to be. He has to go through a lot of different changes, <v Linda Gaddis>not just transportation, but he has to bypass <v Linda Gaddis>a lot of peer influence. <v R. Olomenji O'Connor>We have to understand that peer cultire is very important, OK, to <v R. Olomenji O'Connor>young people in this generation, perhaps even more so than another generation. <v R. Olomenji O'Connor>I'm not convinced that young people want to be violent. <v R. Olomenji O'Connor>It's something that just happens because they've not been taught another action. <v R. Olomenji O'Connor>But one thing that is dangerous and that is we don't want our young people to <v R. Olomenji O'Connor>believe and they should not believe that violence is normal. <v R. Olomenji O'Connor>That is not normal. <v Speaker>The need for kids to be accepted by their peers exists in all neighborhoods. <v Speaker>However, the peer culture kids like Kareem have to deal with often clashes with values <v Speaker>instilled by caring adults. <v Linda Gaddis>I think Kareem is confused at this point. <v Linda Gaddis>The gangs want him bad and I keep telling him they don't want you

<v Linda Gaddis>any more than we do. <v Speaker>Yet even with adults looking out for them, some kids don't make it. <v Ken Butler>Skip, his nickname- His real name is Senequa Wright - is <v Ken Butler>young man that unfortunately lost his life on Christmas <v Ken Butler>Eve. The incident that occurred was- it was not gang <v Ken Butler>related in which we were told. <v Ken Butler>What happened was there a group of guys come to McDonald's, was messing with his car. <v Ken Butler>He came outside, some words ensued, and he got <v Ken Butler>shot in the back of the head is on his way back inside. <v Ken Butler>It really hurt to see a young man that I work with, um, to pass <v Ken Butler>away in such a violent manner. <v Ken Butler>I remember going to bed that night, and I found myself crying in my sleep, I kept saying <v Ken Butler>what is that I could have done to help this young man make it? <v Speaker>But the environment facing many black youth often overpowers individual adult <v Speaker>efforts. For many young people, violence is their reality. <v Ken Butler>They'll see something happen, and it becomes so natural,

<v Ken Butler>so normal that they seem- seem to take it in as part of everyday life. <v R. Olomenji O'Connor>The community has to take a position <v R. Olomenji O'Connor>that violence against its children are most inappropriate and that it's <v R. Olomenji O'Connor>not acceptable. <v Warner Saunders>Since the taping, gang intimidation has forced Kareem Gray's family to <v Warner Saunders>transfer him to a school near his home, his family feels that it is safer <v Warner Saunders>for him for now in the new environment. <v Warner Saunders>But of course, he regrets that he has lost an important institution, <v Warner Saunders>a caring teacher, an educational environment that was familiar and was nurturing <v Warner Saunders>to him. How can our community help? <v Warner Saunders>What can be done? <v Leroy O'Shield>There's many things that can be done. First of all, communities have to get involved, get <v Leroy O'Shield>involved, working with the police, working with individuals, schools, churches, community <v Leroy O'Shield>organizations. We have to be involved in the nurturing of the young <v Leroy O'Shield>from cradle through grave. <v Warner Saunders>What about your positive alternative program?

<v Leroy O'Shield>The positive alternative program is a program that is a demand reduction initiative <v Leroy O'Shield>aimed at-. <v Warner Saunders>Wait a minute, demand reduction initiative. <v Warner Saunders>What's that, officer? [laughter] <v Leroy O'Shield>A demand reduction initiative aimed at keeping those young people, uh, <v Leroy O'Shield>who are o- who are free of drugs and free of gangs away <v Leroy O'Shield>from ever becoming involved in drugs and gangs. <v Leroy O'Shield>Youcan empower young people to be able to resist the stresses and pressures of drug of <v Leroy O'Shield>gangs and drugs by dealing with issues of self-esteem, values clarification, uh <v Leroy O'Shield>making proper choices, and by enhancing their educational opportunities <v Leroy O'Shield>so that they have the skills to be able to articulate in society. <v Leroy O'Shield>I also would like to address an issue that, uh, Prince Asiel made about <v Leroy O'Shield>having-. <v Warner Saunders>Wait just a moment because I want to ask you- I want to know the scope of what this gang <v Warner Saunders>problem is from the standpoint of the police. <v Warner Saunders>How big is the- how big is it? <v Leroy O'Shield>Well, it's- it's an enormous problem.

<v Leroy O'Shield>In the Austin Police District where I command, <v Leroy O'Shield>there's one big gang. And at this particular point, the gang is doing an awful <v Leroy O'Shield>lot of recruiting. And they're recruiting because they're- there- they're involved <v Leroy O'Shield>in-in trying to increase their area to sell drugs. <v Leroy O'Shield>And they want to get the younger people because they use the younger people to sell <v Leroy O'Shield>drugs. They use the younger people to do crimes for them and to be couriers for <v Leroy O'Shield>the- for drugs. <v Warner Saunders>Well, take a look at gang killing from 1965 to 1990. <v Warner Saunders>The graft is frightening. Dr. Bell, frightening. <v Dr. Carl Bell>Well, again, if you look at 1990s number, you're talking- <v Dr. Carl Bell>even though you're talking 100 per 100,000, you're talking <v Dr. Carl Bell>13 percent of all the murders in Chicago. <v Dr. Carl Bell>I think, again, we've got to be clear to try to focus <v Dr. Carl Bell>on what we're talking about, because we've got a lot of problems. <v Dr. Carl Bell>We've got domestic violence problems. We've got interpersonal altercation problems.

<v Dr. Carl Bell>We've got gang problems. We've got drug economic problems. <v Dr. Carl Bell>But to intervene and prevent, you've got to know the motivation for the violence. <v Warner Saunders>Yeah, but Carl 13 percent is a lot [Unkown voice: But commander] [people talking over <v Warner Saunders>each other] <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>That's 120 murders last year that were allegedly identified as gang murders. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>What percentage were black? <v Leroy O'Shield>I don't have that statistic, but I don't think- <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>[speaking over each other] The reason I'm saying it's important, because we're painting <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>crime as young black youth across America. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>It's being projected as this new phenomena that is a monster. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Now, I'm saying as we lay out this data, let's make it clear to the people <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>what we are talking about in terms of who's dying. <v Mel Reynolds>Let me interject if I just could. <v Mel Reynolds>Let's- let's be very clear about something. <v Mel Reynolds>In the black community, we have a problem with violence. <v Mel Reynolds>[Unknown speaker: absolutely] Until we in the black community, whether it's in the church <v Mel Reynolds>or in the schools or in individual apartments and homes, until we as a community <v Mel Reynolds>say enough of this, we're going to have that problem. <v Mel Reynolds>Let me just make one other point on the statistics.

<v Mel Reynolds>1991 in Chicago, there were 925 people killed. <v Mel Reynolds>[unknown speaker: Mhmm] 705 were African-American. <v Mel Reynolds>602 were African American males. <v Mel Reynolds>The rest of that breakdown where African-American women. <v Mel Reynolds>Of those killed and arrested for the killing or suspected in the killing, <v Mel Reynolds>90 percent were African-American. [Unknown speaker: right, ok] So I don't care <v Mel Reynolds>if we just say it's only 13 percent or it's only this. <v Mel Reynolds>It is a problem that we are devouring ourselves. <v Mel Reynolds>[Prince Asiel: Absolutely. But that's why Dr. Bell just said-] The brightest minds are <v Mel Reynolds>being snuffed out at 13 and 14. <v Dr. Carl Bell>But let's go a little deeper. [Prince Asiel: We've got to go a little deeper] Let's go a <v Dr. Carl Bell>little bit deeper. If the gang related violence is 13 percent. <v Dr. Carl Bell>What's the other 87? <v Dr. Carl Bell>And if you look at the other 87 and it- you've got to break <v Dr. Carl Bell>it out in the age. If you look at teens. <v Dr. Carl Bell>Let's look at teens. 35 percent of black teens are killed from gang related violence. <v Dr. Carl Bell>What's the other 65 percent?

<v Dr. Carl Bell>The other 65 percent are teenagers who get in to- friends <v Dr. Carl Bell>who get into an argument that have got a gun around, and they shoot one another. <v Dr. Carl Bell>I'm not putting one above the other. <v Mel Reynolds>There's no doubt about that. In that same statistic, the killing was mainly done by-by 18 <v Mel Reynolds>to 22 year olds. <v Dr. Carl Bell>[speaking over each other] I don't think we need to focus on the circumstances. <v Warner Saunders>You agressive males are not giving Mrs. Randolph an opportunity here. <v Artensa Randolph>With Congressman Reynolds, I was happy to <v Artensa Randolph>hear him say that there was some shooting up in your area. <v Artensa Randolph>The media seem to focus that there is no killing, no other place <v Artensa Randolph>in the project, as they call it, which makes me very angry <v Artensa Randolph>when somebody say I live in the project. <v Artensa Randolph>But I must say, I'm a victim. <v Artensa Randolph>My grandson was murdered two years ago, just two <v Artensa Randolph>doors from home. <v Artensa Randolph>Some says the drive by shooting. <v Artensa Randolph>Some says uh, a case of identity.

<v Artensa Randolph>We have not solved the problem. <v Warner Saunders>What is that? What are you doing-. <v Artensa Randolph>He was only 14 <v Warner Saunders>He was only 14 years old. That is a sad- that is a sad fact. <v Warner Saunders>What is happening inside of the CHA housing developments that is positive <v Warner Saunders>in terms of trying to solve this problem? <v Artensa Randolph>Well, trying to solve the problem, we have quite a few activities which the mayor <v Artensa Randolph>spoke about this morning. I was at a press conference. <v Artensa Randolph>Mass midnight basketball, a Mama Said program <v Artensa Randolph>which will help the young mother. <v Warner Saunders>Mama Said? <v Artensa Randolph>A Mama Said program are the young mothers that somebody said <v Artensa Randolph>are 16 years old are having babies don't know how to raise them. <v Artensa Randolph>So when we were coming along, we had to go to school and we would call them by our names. <v Artensa Randolph>But now I hear parents calling children out of their names. <v Artensa Randolph>And so this one thing that we got to get educated back to family values. <v Mel Reynolds>Well, that's a- Mrs. Randolph, you couldn't put it any better. <v Mel Reynolds>This entire thing about values and our community.

<v Mel Reynolds>Saying about it takes one- it takes a whole village to raise one child. <v Mel Reynolds>Let's go beyond that. We've been saying that long enough. <v Mel Reynolds>It takes the parents of that child to raise the child before anybody else <v Mel Reynolds>in the neighborhood can do it. How many times have you heard all of us sitting around <v Mel Reynolds>this table, heard somebody say, 'He's 14 years old, I can't do nothing with it?' <v Warner Saunders>Yeah, but they're not there. The very people that you're talking about being parents are <v Warner Saunders>not there. <v Mel Reynolds>But that's the point. We need to say to that person that's saying he's 14 or 15 years old <v Mel Reynolds>and I can't do nothing with him. You brought him in the world, you ought to be able to do <v Mel Reynolds>something with him. <v Warner Saunders>But just saying that doesn't- just saying that doesn't. <v Mel Reynolds>We've got to confront them on it- we've got to confront that with 'em. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>Hold on, hold on. [Unknown speaker: But no, but one-] It is possible- I <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>mean, I really take exception to some of this. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>It is possible for good parents to have uncontrollable children. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>I just don't buy this notion that good- that only <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>bad parents have uncontrollable children. <v Mel Reynolds>No one is suggesting that. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>OK, let's make it clear. [Mel Reynolds: No one is suggesting that] The second part about- <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>well, well I want to add to that. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>The second part of that is that children are not just the responsibility of their

<v Dr. Marcus Alexis>parents. They are the responsibility of all of us. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>No doubt. And it's the society's responsibility to give children decent alternatives. <v Mel Reynolds>Well, whose responsibility is that then? [people speaking over each other] <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>The responsibility starts first with the parents. <v Speaker>The main institution in the community has been the church, the mosque, the temple, where <v Speaker>the value system that the congresman is talking about is established. <v Speaker>That's one of the reasons that through the Push Project <v Speaker>and through the Minister You Move that we have organized ministers, temples and churches <v Speaker>across the city to begin to take the men who are supposedly the good men <v Speaker>who go to work every day, who go to church, who take care of their children, to get back <v Speaker>involved in mentoring a block, mentoring a community <v Speaker>from a holistic point. <v Warner Saunders>Are there other choices, Carl? <v Dr. Carl Bell>I think we have to do something about the domestic violence that occurs within our <v Dr. Carl Bell>community. <v Warner Saunders>How can you do anything about that? You can't walk into somebody's house and tell 'em how <v Warner Saunders>they ought to live. <v Dr. Carl Bell>When someone goes to the emergency room for a busted lip, the <v Dr. Carl Bell>doctor could offer her some services.

<v Dr. Carl Bell>Such as- [Warner Saunders: Like?] Such as some counseling, such as are you in danger? <v Dr. Carl Bell>Do you need a safe house? Do you need to be in a shelter? <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel> A medical doctor can do that? <v Dr. Carl Bell>Why not? <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Because the nature of medicine in America is for profit. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>That's what the whole thing is. <v Warner Saunders>Well, the other points is that they got so many waiting out in the waiting room, they say <v Warner Saunders>I can't counsel everybody. <v Dr. Carl Bell>We're changing that. We're trying- Finally, I mean, the National Medical Association <v Dr. Carl Bell>has been advocating that black physicians who are treating black women for injuries <v Dr. Carl Bell>by their husbands, more husbands send their wives to emergency rooms and all the car <v Dr. Carl Bell>accidents, rapes and muggings combined. <v Dr. Carl Bell>How are you going to get to that child with the mentoring if he's in a violent home? <v Dr. Carl Bell>So we've got to attack this problem from a multi-faceted <v Dr. Carl Bell>approach. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>[talking over each other] Can we stop at this point in our discussion and realize that we <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>all trying to say the same thing. But if we can just pull out the areas in which we are <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>clearly the experts on and that we we're doing the work in so that the people can see <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>some solutions.

<v Leroy O'Shield>But also an answer to that question, there's a couple other things that we can do. <v Leroy O'Shield>And uh, we in the police department, when we partner with the community to address <v Leroy O'Shield>these all of the issues and we bring in the social service agencies who can address <v Leroy O'Shield>those issues, we can, uh, we see repeated instances of <v Leroy O'Shield>domestic violence, when we see instances where our children are not being properly <v Leroy O'Shield>cared for, we can reach out to the community, as Prince Asiel suggested and <v Leroy O'Shield>as Mrs. Randolph has suggested. <v Leroy O'Shield>The whole community working together, we can address these problems. <v Dr. Carl Bell>They can be contacted to the mentoring programs. <v Warner Saunders>Can I- can I bring this back to an issue of economic violence, economic viability <v Warner Saunders>of gangs? And I talk to Dr. Alexis at this point. <v Warner Saunders>If there is a huge economic viability. <v Warner Saunders>In other words, if I got to work at McDonald's or I can stand on the corner and sell <v Warner Saunders>drugs and make one hundred bucks and I work at McDonald's for $4 and 25 cents an <v Warner Saunders>hour, I'm picking the standing on the corner every time. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>Well, that partly depends on your self-esteem and your- and your values.

<v Dr. Marcus Alexis>[Unknown speaker: tell' em] [laughter] That's part, I mean- I <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>mean we are not mechanistic driven devices. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>So that's one. It certainly is true that the better your alternatives, <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>the less inclined you will be to go to criminal activity and the gang related. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>There was a time in America when literate <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>high school graduates could get good jobs. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>I think by Chicago when we had the steel companies, U.S. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>Steel employed 23,000 people, good paying jobs, jobs you <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>could raise families [Unknown voice: National Harvest] Good jobs, jobs you could <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>send kids to college on, take family vacations. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>So we've had a change in the nature of work, not only <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>in black communities, white communities as well in America. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>And what we are finding is that the opportunities <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>that are left behind-. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>With that change in the demographics and the economics, what are you saying as an expert

<v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>that can be brought back into the inner city to revitalize it? <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>What what efforts? <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>I think that, frankly, one of the reasons that we have so much problems is <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>because we have not spent the resources inside the ?inaudible? <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>We have to have good schools. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>But we are marching every year saying that the schools are inproperly funded, we <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>demonstrate against it every year. <v Leroy O'Shield>What we need to stop making excuses-. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>Funding doesn't mean- [talking over each other] <v Leroy O'Shield>And one of the things in this program, if not any other program [talking over each other] <v Leroy O'Shield>need to- what we need to do at this particular point is to send a message that there <v Leroy O'Shield>is no great amount of money to be to be made by the <v Leroy O'Shield>99 percent of the individuals involved in the trade of drugs. <v Leroy O'Shield>[Prince Asiel: Right] [Warner Saunders: you're saying that's a myth?] [talking over each <v Leroy O'Shield>other] And why is it that so many young African American men who <v Leroy O'Shield>are doing this have opted to do to this community <v Leroy O'Shield>while other people could not do it? That's just to destroy the very fiber and to destroy

<v Leroy O'Shield>us as a people. <v Artensa Randolph>I would just like to say this. <v Artensa Randolph>I get confused when they said poverty- poverty causes <v Artensa Randolph>violence. Because where I came from, we were very poor [Unknown speaker: Been poor too <v Artensa Randolph>long time] and no big jobs, no nothing. <v Artensa Randolph>But there was the violence doesn't matter, just like some of the things that <v Artensa Randolph>you are poor don't have and that caused violence. <v Leroy O'Shield>[people talking over each other] They also did not just want to be predators where we <v Leroy O'Shield>would- we would rise on another person's misery, but we were always help- <v Leroy O'Shield>helping people. And we were not individuals who would-who would- <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>But it's drugs- If you look at the graphs, when- when the violence changed, it was the <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>introduction of cocaine into our society at a very <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>commercial kind of level where-. When it was first introduced, it was introduced as a <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>social kind of drug, an aphrodisiac. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Cocaine was two thousand dollars an ounce. Now a kid can buy some crack for <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>almost a dollar. I'm saying the very nature of the monster that have invaded

<v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>us have to be looked at a different way. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>You said take responsibility, I agree. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>But can't we begin to lay out areas of responsibility <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>if in fact, you say that the abundance of violence against black Americans that the <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>congressman spoke about is interpersonal. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Tell us what should be done to deal with that area. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Let's not- <v Mel Reynolds> But we need to do something and talk about something, I think, before the good doctor <v Mel Reynolds>gets into that. And that is we- there was- there was a peace summit here this past <v Mel Reynolds>summer. And without taking exception to any of the leaders who put the peace summit on. <v Mel Reynolds>I took exception to the peace summit. <v Mel Reynolds>And let me just talk about that in relation to this now just for just a moment. <v Mel Reynolds>So we needed to have a summit, but we need to also have the leaders <v Mel Reynolds>of this summit. And this is why I took exception to because this didn't happen. <v Mel Reynolds>If you are gang leader, then you need to sign a document. <v Mel Reynolds>If you lead that gang and say you're not gonna run drugs anymore. <v Mel Reynolds>You're not gonna- [speaking over each other] let me finish.

<v Mel Reynolds>You're not- You're not gonna run guns. <v Mel Reynolds>You're gonna apologize for terrorizing the very community that has nurtured and raised <v Mel Reynolds>the people that are in that- and the summit. <v Mel Reynolds>The summit did not even approach coming out as unity and <v Mel Reynolds>saying we're not gonna kill our people anymore. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>That's not true. [Mel Reynolds: There was an attempt]. Let me respond to that. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>[Mel Rynolds: Did you hear that?] Let me respond. Let me let me tell you- Let me tell you <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>that it happened. So that's why I'm saying it was important that we begin to talk. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Before I and the community leaders got involved a five page statement <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>was read to the press saying exactly what <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>you said. A five page statement documented. <v Leroy O'Shield>We didn't hear any of that. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Commander- commander even if you didn't hear it, I'm telling you, that's what I'm trying <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>to say. If my credibility is not enough to say that it happened and Henry <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Hardy and all of the others that I could name is that credibility is not <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>enough. <v Leroy O'Shield>Let me ask you something, do you believe community leaders should listen to the community <v Leroy O'Shield>that they say they represent? And if so, why were they so completely

<v Leroy O'Shield>far out of touch with the real feelings of the community? <v Leroy O'Shield>[laughter] <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>If you just listen for a moment, because I'm trying to say that the question that the <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>congressman raised, I went to Alderman Beavers, who's the chairman of police. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>I went to 9 or 10 of the others. I went to Reuben Clemens. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>I can name all of them who other community leaders that are legitimate. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Then I went in to the prisons. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>[Mel Reynolds: Nobody came to me] Only because of what I said earlier. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>That was the perception that we were on different sides of the table, and not because <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>of anything that we've ever discussed going back to what you said during the break. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>I said today, as a man coming to a leader in our community, <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>we need to talk so that you could know what is taking place, and I can understand your <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>pain. <v Mel Reynolds>That is one of the reasons why we put together 100- And Dr. Bell, I'm gonna shut up so <v Mel Reynolds>you can say what you want to say, because I hear you [Dr. <v Mel Reynolds>Bell: Thank you]. But that is why we put together 100 African-American males <v Mel Reynolds>who grew up in the same neighborhoods as some of these young men who are strutting <v Mel Reynolds>around- [Prince Asiel: That doesn't change the reality- That is why it

<v Mel Reynolds>does and does not] [speaking over each other]. It does change the reality that that <v Mel Reynolds>reality is this. <v Mel Reynolds>Not all young black males are involved in that. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel> Tell me this, what is the unemployment rate in your district right now? <v Mel Reynolds>It's high. [Prince Asiel: How high?] in the African-American. <v Mel Reynolds>[Prince Asiel: How high?] <v Warner Saunders>Let me ask you this question. Let me ask you this question. <v Warner Saunders>Should we fundamentally be working with gangs, jumping into the gangs, <v Warner Saunders>supporting the gang? <v Mel Reynolds>Depends on our approach to the gang. If we're gonna go to gangs and coddle the gangs and <v Mel Reynolds>say what you're doing, it's okay. And we understand that- [speaking over each other]. <v Warner Saunders>You're not suggesting he's not. <v Mel Reynolds>I'm not suggesting. But others have/ <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>I'm telling you I'm not doing it. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>I'm not doing it. <v Leroy O'Shield>What we should do is put anybody who's going to break the law in jail. <v Leroy O'Shield>And we we should go to the gangs and we should just ask those of you who <v Leroy O'Shield>who want to live and be law abiding citizens, come on out. <v Leroy O'Shield>All of those of you will want to be committed to that. <v Speaker>[Everyone speaking over each other] <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Only because you know that down in the areas that we are talking about from 22nd

<v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>on State to 55th, there are no re-recreational activities <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>to give <v Leroy O'Shield>There are tens of thousands of young people in those same areas who are trying to go to <v Leroy O'Shield>school, who are working, who are who are not part of the problem, who are being <v Leroy O'Shield>victimized by individuals, not gangs. <v Speaker>I'm going to have to say-. <v Leroy O'Shield>Look for for their benefit. <v Warner Saunders>Time out, time out time. <v Warner Saunders>Let me just ask- let me ask you this, because I think it's very important. <v Warner Saunders>You have raised the issue of domestic violence. <v Warner Saunders>If that is the preponderance of violence within that community, <v Warner Saunders>I'm gonna put the- the bell around your neck, Dr. Bell, [Dr. <v Warner Saunders>Bell: Go ahead] How do you do something about that? <v Warner Saunders>You're walking into somebody's domain, their house. <v Warner Saunders>You're changing- how are you going to change the violent pattern within the household, <v Warner Saunders>which obviously, if it could be change, will filter out into the streets. <v Dr. Carl Bell>Listen, I hear the discussion about the gangs. <v Dr. Carl Bell>And again, I need to say to us, if we stopped all the gang <v Dr. Carl Bell>related murder in Chicago, [laughter] we would still

<v Dr. Carl Bell>have 85 percent of homicides in the city of Chicago. <v Mel Reynolds>And I'm not just suggesting that we focus on gangs. <v Dr. Carl Bell>No, I know. But-but what I- what we need to do [Mel Reynolds: I understand that] - is we <v Dr. Carl Bell>need to do be clear about where the problem is so <v Dr. Carl Bell>that rather than operate on what the perceptions are, we can bring <v Dr. Carl Bell>some rationality reality and some science. <v Warner Saunders>You have brought another one of your statistical pieces of information to share <v Warner Saunders>with us. And that has to do with domestic violence. <v Warner Saunders>I'd like you to speak to that. <v Dr. Carl Bell>Here you see the domestic violence ratess, and if you look <v Dr. Carl Bell>at black males and black females, you see 5.8 and 3.5 black <v Dr. Carl Bell>domestic violence rate is 8 times the white rate in Chicago. <v Dr. Carl Bell>So- so that I think we've got to break the problem. <v Dr. Carl Bell>We can't talk about violence the same way we talk about sex. <v Mel Reynolds>This isn't just violence. This is homicide. <v Dr. Carl Bell>This is murder. [Unidentified speaker: This is murder] This is murder.

<v Dr. Carl Bell>Right. And if you look at non-lethal assaults, they tend to follow the same <v Dr. Carl Bell>pattern as lethal assaults. <v Warner Saunders>You mean beating up someone? <v Dr. Carl Bell>The violence is the- the- the 16,000 shootings <v Dr. Carl Bell>and stabbings in Chicago per year. <v Dr. Carl Bell>[Unidentified speaker: Right] follow the same pattern as the 950 murders follow. <v Dr. Carl Bell>It's mostly family, friends. <v Dr. Carl Bell>So we can get very into the gang issue. <v Dr. Carl Bell>How do you work with gangs? But we miss out on an opportunity <v Dr. Carl Bell>of 85% of the murders. <v Warner Saunders>Well, that's what Mrs. Randolph is saying. She's talking about interpersonal <v Warner Saunders>relationships. I think that's what you're saying. <v Warner Saunders>That's very, very important. <v Artensa Randolph>I am saying most of us have lost family value. <v Artensa Randolph>When I was coming up, I never heard my father and grandfather curse <v Artensa Randolph>their wife or beat 'em. <v Artensa Randolph>But now, where is the family value that this man got to whip <v Artensa Randolph>this woman or this woman got to kill that man. <v Warner Saunders>Is it because they don't have a job?

<v Artensa Randolph>We never had that. <v Speaker>Well, you know-. <v Artensa Randolph>The family value is gone. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>I'd like to be romantic about it. But the fact that these things have been going on <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>for a long time. I think what we're really concerned about- [Dr. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>Carl Bell: What things?] I mean abuses within families. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>I mean, Dr. Bell tells you that the black murder rate <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>has been 6 times the white since 1929. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>So what we're talking about is not the relative disparities as much as <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>also is that the absolute magnitude, the sheer numbers are things <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>that- that- that concern us. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>I'd like to say to the commander, you know, when you get these young people out of these <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>gangs, what you've got to do is give them assurances that they will be protected <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>on the street, that they have to feel secure and that they don't have <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>to be in a gang. <v Warner Saunders>At this point. We're really not just talking about gangs. <v Warner Saunders>We aren't talking about interpersonal violence. [Dr. Marcus Alexis: OK] And what I'm <v Warner Saunders>asking at this point is if this is indeed- and I'm going to accept <v Warner Saunders>your statistics are correct- [Dr. Carl Bell: Ah, thank you] if this indeed is where the

<v Warner Saunders>majority of the problem is, how do we solve that? <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Let me just ask the doctor a question then. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Why is it- why is it so- why is it less within <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>the white family that does violence? <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Why? What's so unusual about the black family? <v Dr. Carl Bell>If you control for poverty, [Prince Asiel Ben Israe: OK] the difference in homicide rates <v Dr. Carl Bell>between blacks and whites drop out. <v Dr. Carl Bell>To deal with the interpersonal altercations. <v Dr. Carl Bell>If you consult- <v Mel Reynolds>Doctor, tell us what that means -tell us what that means. <v Dr. Carl Bell>It means I can show you a poor white community outside of Boston-. <v Warner Saunders>And you have the same voilence. <v Dr. Carl Bell>That the homicide rates are just as high. <v Speaker>So is there an economic issue [everyone talking over each other] I just want to make it clear- Goes back to what we said <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Well, if that's the root of the problem, economics is the root of the problem. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Then it goes back to the congressman. What then, as a political leader, can you <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>then affect from your position to alter that reality- <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>that if you bring in the economics that automatically the violence and the murder <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>rate will go to.

<v Mel Reynolds>There's no automatic solution. There's no panacea. <v Mel Reynolds>Let me just address the point of- [Prince Asiel Ben Israel: economics you said]. There's <v Mel Reynolds>no automatic panacea. <v Mel Reynolds>If Dr. Bell and I believe in statistics because I've seen them. <v Mel Reynolds>In fact, we talked about 'em- your statistic before you even shown 'em, showed them here. <v Mel Reynolds>If it's 13 percent amongst the gangs, if it- if the rest is in other kind of <v Mel Reynolds>violence. But the fact of the matter is, is that the preponderance of violence is <v Mel Reynolds>among black folk. [Dr. Carl Bell: Yes] That is what we really ought to discuss for a <v Mel Reynolds>moment. [everyone talking over each other] <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>But he's saying the reason for it is economic and a separate issue. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>I think Congressman Reynolds is right. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>Look, the issue is one is that there's a tremendous impact of violence <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>within the black community is black on black [Prince Asiel Ben Israel: Yeah. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>He's saying it's economic] but now the base may be that poorer people are more likely <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>and it may feel frustration or lack of other opportunities. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>Because they have not had the same skills in in resolving conflict.

<v Dr. Marcus Alexis>But the other point is we have to remember is that the battered woman syndrome <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>is alive and well in the north suburban communities of Wilmetka <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>as well. And part of this is a statistical artifact. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>I would guess because there was probably an underreporting, <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>a greater underreporting in affluent communities. <v Warner Saunders>[Everyone talking over each other] But it doesn't have the same public effect? <v Mel Reynolds>But in Chicago, we don't have like- like- like we in Chicago, we don't have what they <v Mel Reynolds>have in Boston. We don't have a very large, very poor white community <v Mel Reynolds>like say in Charlestown [Warner Saunders: I understand] So what we have to deal with in <v Mel Reynolds>Chicago is the large, poor black community. <v Mel Reynolds>that has created this problem. <v Warner Saunders>Prince Asiel- Prince Asiel has asked a very legitimate question of- of a political <v Warner Saunders>figure. <v Mel Reynolds>Absolutely. And so- and so let me- <v Warner Saunders>We'll give you the minute because these are the days that we are passing our taxes in to <v Warner Saunders>you guys. There is something that we want to ask, where is our tax money going <v Warner Saunders>for the purpose of solving this problem?

<v Speaker>[everyone talking over each other] <v Mel Reynolds>Let me respond directly to it. <v Mel Reynolds>What we have to do in this society is get away from this notion that the only way that <v Mel Reynolds>we're going to solve crime is by being tough in an area of punishment. <v Mel Reynolds>We've got to get away from that. I am one of the people that believe we've got to have <v Mel Reynolds>tough punishment, but we can't just have that. <v Mel Reynolds>Yesterday, we approved 12 million dollars to come to <v Mel Reynolds>the Chicago Housing Authority in this city for boys and girls and girls <v Mel Reynolds>clubs so kids can get together and have fun. <v Mel Reynolds>It's you know- people are shocked when they find out the difference. <v Mel Reynolds>Well, let me finish my response. <v Mel Reynolds>People are shocked when they find out that we don't even have these kinds of basic things <v Mel Reynolds>in CHA. That's a solution. <v Warner Saunders>That's a solution? <v Mel Reynolds>That is just apart of it. <v Mel Reynolds>[Everyone talking over each other] Let me go further. Let me go further. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>But before you go further-. <v Warner Saunders>Let him- let him complete [everyone talking over each other]. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>I want to go back. Not on the children's end.

<v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>I want to go back on the adult end. <v Warner Saunders>He's coming there. Let him complete his thought. <v Mel Reynolds>Now quickly. Next- next- next week, we're going to- we're going to vote on the crime bill <v Mel Reynolds>and took it- And you've heard all this about the three strikes and this and that. <v Mel Reynolds>But also in that bill is 7 billion dollars in prevention programs, <v Mel Reynolds>1.5 billion dollars and 15 model programs that will go out into 15 <v Mel Reynolds>model communities that are the most violent. <v Mel Reynolds>And Chicago would definitely be one of those communities. <v Warner Saunders>Does it speak to domestic violence? <v Mel Reynolds>Yes, it does. [Leroy O'Shield: Look, let me- let me- let me- let me address this-] go <v Mel Reynolds>ahead. <v Leroy O'Shield>Intervention- you can look at the- the calls <v Leroy O'Shield>for service for police agencies and to police agencies on homes where there were <v Leroy O'Shield>domestic problems. And after a certain number of calls on domestic <v Leroy O'Shield>violence issue, you can predict that there will be a homicide in that particular <v Leroy O'Shield>location. So where there's preventi- intervention and police can be <v Leroy O'Shield>a triggering point, they can work with the other social service-. <v Warner Saunders>Speaking to that, do you have a unit working on that? <v Leroy O'Shield>In this particular time in the third district, the third police district, there is a

<v Leroy O'Shield>pilot program going on. <v Warner Saunders>What's it called? <v Leroy O'Shield>It's a domestic violence intervention. <v Warner Saunders>What do you guys do? What do you do? [everyone talking over each other] What do you do? <v Leroy O'Shield>The officers. What the officers do? <v Leroy O'Shield>It's calls for service are tracked. <v Leroy O'Shield>And when they- when it reaches, it reaches a certain point [Prince Asiel Ben Israel: What <v Leroy O'Shield>point? How many?] Three or four, I think. <v Leroy O'Shield>[everyone speaking over each other] And then the the social service agency kicks in to <v Leroy O'Shield>give us social services. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>That's a great example of - But I want to go back. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Because if you're saying, Doctor, that domestic interpersonal violence <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>connected to an economic reality, I'm still going back to how <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>do we change, not give kids- children midnight basketball. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>I understand that. How do we make a grown man and woman <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>be able to maintain themselves? <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>And I'm saying, is there a plan Congressman, with this <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>1.5 billion? Is there an enterprise, economic empowerment <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>from 22nd and State to 51st?

<v Warner Saunders>You're asking if jobs are available-. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Not just jobs but other monies to come in and reinvest in the community to revitalize the <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>community. <v Speaker>Here we go again- Here we go again with the key issue here. <v Speaker>The money is going to be available, but the government can not run the communities. <v Speaker>The government is going to have to rely on the communities to fashion their own programs, <v Speaker>and we will fund them. This is not going to be something where the government says, well, <v Speaker>I walk in this in my community, say this is the way you got to do it. <v Speaker>[ Prince Asiel: What agency will have this 1.5 billion?] It will go through the Justice <v Speaker>Department and go through HUD, go through the Health Department as well. <v Speaker>The United States Health Department all through ?inaudible? <v Speaker>[people speaking over each other]. And there's one other last point Marcus, if I could <v Speaker>There's 1.3 billion dollars also coming in that same bill that will be for <v Speaker>getting children to stop joining gangs, to reduce gang membership so <v Speaker>there you have children for - for - for boys and girls clubs. <v Speaker>You have crime prevention zones that affect adults and then you also have teenagers- he <v Speaker>money at 1.3 billion that will go to gang membership that <v Speaker>is key. But it's community once again.

<v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>You said something about gang members during the break. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>We've talked about- you said that 90 percent to 95 percent of those involved in gangs, <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>if they get some mentoring or get some support mechanism, they would be turned around. <v Mel Reynolds>Yes. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Now I'm saying if we are saying that and we keep talking about <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>what the congressman touched on, why don't we then focus on that which <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>you just said and make that part of a component that we developed. <v Warner Saunders>Prince Asiel, let me just ask you this question. <v Warner Saunders>Do you think that what you are doing is getting the kind of respect from the necessary <v Warner Saunders>authorities in the community to help and abet, you know, aid and abet <v Warner Saunders>you in what you're doing? Is that what you're pleading? <v Warner Saunders>That's what I'm hearing. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>I'm saying to a commander and to a congressman that the kind of men and women that we <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>brought together. Mrs. Randolph would tell you- for 5 years I've been joining her every <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>year to help in that effort to cut- articulate this issue. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>We are not an illegitimate element. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>The commander and the congressman, if we talk, we would find out we're saying the same <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>thing. I'm just there mechanism in the community. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Yesterday I met with several of the key political leaders, Warner, and <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>said to them. Let us look at this strategy and see how we can best effect it.

<v Warner Saunders>Well, perhaps after this is over. You all ought to really get together and talk about <v Warner Saunders>this. [everyone speaking over each other] Dr. Marcus, is this enough money? <v Warner Saunders>That's what I'm asking you. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>Well, the question, is it enough money? <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>Around this table, it's been said many times. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>It's not just money, but it's it's a matter of the internal drive. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>It's the sense, it's the reinforcement that comes about by knowing that you have <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>a caring police superintendent. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>I mean a commander- sorry, I didnt' mean to promote you [laughter] I <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>mean, I must say that you are really unusual <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>in your approach as a police officer of high rank. <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>I mean, your vision is really is really something, to be <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>sure. You know, I think the the other part about it is <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>that the reality of federal budgets, as I see them, <v Dr. Marcus Alexis>is there's not going to be a lot of money for poor communities. <v Warner Saunders>So that at bottom rung out is not going to. OK.

<v Warner Saunders>Let's just go back to one thing, because I hate that your name is Bell in some ways, <v Warner Saunders>because I'm going to put the bell around on each one of you cats [laughter] next if you <v Warner Saunders>want to say. There are people who are sitting out there saying, 'Yeah, this is a very <v Warner Saunders>wonderful conversation. These people are extremely sincere. <v Warner Saunders>They want to do everything they possibly can.' But what about individual <v Warner Saunders>responsibilities? What about the person having the responsibility for themselves? <v Warner Saunders>What about solutions from the standpoint of individual responsibility? <v Warner Saunders>You want to try this one? [Dr. Bell: I think. I think- that] everybody's got a shot at <v Warner Saunders>this one. <v Dr. Carl Bell>If you look at some of the things that we're trying to do in the schools, <v Dr. Carl Bell>as well as in the juvenile detention centers [Unidentified Speaker: Such as?] In the <v Dr. Carl Bell>schools, University of Illinois Prevention Research Center is trying to teach young <v Dr. Carl Bell>children social skills so that they can take the responsibility. <v Dr. Carl Bell>If they get into an altercation, they can resolve the altercation with a win win <v Dr. Carl Bell>scenario rather than with a gun [Warner Saunders: conflict resolution] I'm a member of <v Dr. Carl Bell>the National Commission on Correctional Health Care. <v Warner Saunders>It's infinitesimal though. Look at all the kids versus how little of it is going on.

<v Dr. Carl Bell>[Mel Reynolds speaking over other speakers] We make a difference. <v Warner Saunders>You make a difference. <v Dr. Carl Bell>There are so many efforts going on in the African-American community <v Dr. Carl Bell>to strengthen us that there is a difference being made. <v Warner Saunders>Individual difference. I mean, individual responsibility. <v Artensa Randolph>I still go back to family values <v Artensa Randolph>but what ?inaudible? <v Artensa Randolph>in there. There will be more money filtered in to public <v Artensa Randolph>housing. Well, what we need is somebody to sitting around a table <v Artensa Randolph>like this with that, helping us to solve some of the problem, giving us <v Artensa Randolph>some instruction, how we going to run this program, how <v Artensa Randolph>we going to run this program rather than getting on TV, say we <v Artensa Randolph>give CHA a 1,000 dollars. <v Artensa Randolph>What did they do with it? <v Artensa Randolph>We need to come up with a plan, and we need help planning the <v Artensa Randolph>plans that how we got to help our individual people.

<v Warner Saunders>You know, they ask the astronauts they say if you had 10 seconds to avoid a disaster, <v Warner Saunders>what would you do? And most people that the astronauts said we'd use nine seconds <v Warner Saunders>to plan. And one second to get out of the disaster. <v Warner Saunders>Most other people say we get out of the disaster without any planning. <v Warner Saunders>So her point is absolutely well-taken. <v Warner Saunders>But where is the planning for that? Who does that planning and how does it get it done? <v Mel Reynolds>The people and the communities get involved and they do the planning. <v Mel Reynolds>But I would try I just could just say one thing about- thought the <v Mel Reynolds>question was, what is the individual responsiblity at the <v Mel Reynolds>of the day? At the end of all the statistics- At the end of all the programs- Is there <v Mel Reynolds>any individual responsibility? And that is what we become- when you talk about stopping <v Mel Reynolds>the cycle of violence, what about stopping the cycle of silence <v Mel Reynolds>in our community? Nobody wants to talk about my personal <v Mel Reynolds>responsibility. If I have a child, I must take care of that child. <v Mel Reynolds>And there's no mitigating circumstances other than maybe I'm mental and I can't find the

<v Mel Reynolds>job. <v Warner Saunders>Mel you have people who are incapable of doing that. You have 17 year old mother with <v Warner Saunders>three children cant do that. <v Mel Reynolds>But- but- but we have to start with individual responsibility. <v Mel Reynolds>That 16 year old or 17 year old child needs to know that you have to be responsible. <v Mel Reynolds>If you have that baby, you've got to take caare of that baby. <v Mel Reynolds>[everyone talking over each other]. <v Warner Saunders> But how are you going to enforce thaat? <v Mel Reynolds>I'm not saying that that that I'm not sympathetic to this. <v Mel Reynolds>And it doesn't happen to my own family where people have children out of wedlock. <v Mel Reynolds>But you have to be responsible for your own actions. [Everyone talking over each other[ <v Leroy O'Shield> I think there's some other answers to. <v Leroy O'Shield>One of the answers that I would like to submit to this group <v Leroy O'Shield>is the the answer of empowerment. <v Leroy O'Shield>We must- we must empower ourselves and not rely on other folks. <v Leroy O'Shield>I say empowerment is teaching you to do. <v Warner Saunders> I guess what I'm asking you and I agree with what you're saying, but I'm saying <v Warner Saunders>if I'm going to hammer a nail, I need a tool. <v Warner Saunders>I got to have a hammer. Show me a tool. <v Warner Saunders>Give me a tool. What are those tools? Give me a tool. <v Mel Reynolds>One, the two. Back to- back to- back to-

<v Mel Reynolds>back- get to a solution real quick with the tools is a cliche- is education. <v Mel Reynolds>We know that 75 percent of all African-Americans male- [Warner Saunders: Education <v Mel Reynolds>specifically] all African-American males are in jail, didn't finish high school. <v Mel Reynolds>[people speaking over each other] We need to focus on getting kids through high school. <v Warner Saunders>Ok then Prince Asiel the bell is around your neck. Give me a specific tool. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>I'm gonna give you some tools. The men and the women at this table are doing things <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>that work. The problem is, is that-the people who are doing the solution. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>This is a commander that is sensitive to the community in which he serves as a policeman. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>What we are hearing now from the congressman is that his influence and his ability to <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>influence money that comes specifically to Chicago that can impact upon the change. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>The thing that the doctor is talking about in the economics of poverty. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>I'm saying what I'm doing and what others like me are doing. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>We are doing workable programs.

<v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>We are turning people around civically. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>My number one answer to those who are involved in criminal behavior that <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>there will be no discussion. If you do not deliver the shooters, <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>if you do not deliver those who are dysfunctional and destabilizing the community. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>My responsibility was to go out there and take that stand and put my life on the line. <v Mel Reynolds>Therefore you and I agree totally. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>I'm also sayin to the mother, 'You know, your son is selling drugs, <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>call the police on him.' [speaking over each other] <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>And you know his brother brought home ten thousand dollars. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Tell a responsible person in the family so that they can begin to do. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Individual responsibility is not to wait until the courts or the system. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>I'm tired of seeing grandmothers and mothers standing in these courts crying when the men <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>are nowhere on the scene. <v Warner Saunders>Tools, tools, Dr. Bell. <v Dr. Carl Bell> Tools, the Chicago Housing Authority <v Dr. Carl Bell>and some black professionals are getting together to develop a conflict resolution team <v Dr. Carl Bell>so that if there is any interpersonal altercation or any other sort of thing that jumps

<v Dr. Carl Bell>off, there will be people there who are grassroots and professionals working <v Dr. Carl Bell>together to resolve the conflict in a win win scenario. <v Warner Saunders>What about Alcoholics Anonymous? What about drug rehabilitation programs? <v Warner Saunders>If alcohol is such a huge problem in the community, drugs are a huge problem in the <v Warner Saunders>community. Why are not there Ala-teen organizations within the school? <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>[everyone speaking over each other] We're hypocritical. 400,000 Americans die every year <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>from cigarette smoking 40- every year. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>And we sit in here debating about something infetsimal We need to look and reassesses <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>what Mrs. Randolph said the whole value system in which we are functioning as a people. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>Alcoholism. Alcoholism caused more death and more people away from <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>jobs. Over 10 billion a year. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>We need to assess this whole. <v Warner Saunders>Well, I think that's precisely what I'm talking about. <v Leroy O'Shield>I agree 100 percent. And I'm in my district. <v Leroy O'Shield>I would- I would venture to say that 98 percent of all crime is directly or indirectly <v Leroy O'Shield>related to some types of substance abuse.

<v Warner Saunders>But then are there any tools that are set in place to help both adults and kids who are <v Warner Saunders>caught in the trap of alcoholism. <v Leroy O'Shield>There are so many tools, there are self-help there. <v Leroy O'Shield>And one of the things that we're trying to do. <v Leroy O'Shield>We don't have money. So when we do, we do what we got. <v Leroy O'Shield>There are individuals in the community who are developing those programs. <v Leroy O'Shield>Alcohol or not, as most Narcotics Anonymous then and then <v Leroy O'Shield>networking with the other agency says, I've got to do it. <v Mel Reynolds>It may seem- it may seem old fashion to say, but we need to get our people back. <v Mel Reynolds>Those who do who are Christian and who-who- who are Muslim or who are Jewish, <v Mel Reynolds>we need to get our people back to going to church now and getting back to some <v Mel Reynolds>basic values that were taught to all of us. <v Warner Saunders>Those who are outside of the church say, show me something inside of the church that I <v Warner Saunders>should come back for. <v Mel Reynolds>And I'm saying that the ministers and I'm not- I don't just stop there. <v Mel Reynolds>The ministers need to go out and need to meet with folks and get involved with people. <v Mel Reynolds>I think that's important. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>That's why we call an ?inaudible? in the streets. <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>That's why over 50 ministers and 2,000 men took to the community <v Prince Asiel Ben Israel>last week to inspire, not confront, but to inspire the men in those areas.

<v Warner Saunders>Settle down. Hold on a second. <v Warner Saunders>I just want to show you this this little bit of tape. <v Warner Saunders>What can a community do to weed out the criminal element? <v Warner Saunders>Well, like the American proverb or the African proverb says, where <v Warner Saunders>I make a living there is my home. <v Warner Saunders>There are ways to put away fear and reclaim neighborhoods. <v Warner Saunders>Check it out. <v Craig Moore>There were some kids across a vacant lot, little parking lot from each other, throwing <v Craig Moore>rocks at each other, and up until this point hadn't hit anybody or really <v Craig Moore>hurt each other. But to me, that was shocking because I figured that there was plenty <v Craig Moore>of other things around here for them to do. <v Craig Moore>But then as I looked, I saw that there was not- there actually was nothing for them to do. <v Host>Craig Moore is a 29 year old businessman living and working in Chicago's South Shore <v Host>neighborhood. Married and the father of two children, he has not retreated from <v Host>his community, but has chosen to play an active role in rebuilding. <v Craig Moore>And so I approached the alderman's office to try and get a block party going

<v Craig Moore>and get some hot dogs for the kids and just get some social- <v Craig Moore>social interaction with each other going on and not throwing rocks. <v Host>Morris initial efforts turned him into an activist. <v Host>He is now organizing neighbors and community groups to push for the reopening of a youth.