On the Other Side of the Tracks

ON THE face of it, a ceremony honoring people who work for peace, like the one at Englewood Technical Preparatory High School in Chicago, seems like a nice idea. The award ceremony was the finale to a five-day United In And For Peace summit. However, the “Nation Leaders” who were honored are more conventionally known as urban street-gang leaders, and the summit, endorsed by NAACP Executive Director Ben Chavis and attended by the Reverend Jesse Jackson and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, was hosted by the mega-gang Gangster Disciples (GDs, which some now claim stands for Growth and Development).

Convention participants are part of the much-heralded “gang truce” movement. Chicago, like New York, Los Angeles, and Sarajevo, obviously needs a gang truce. But, although there have been more than 15 announced ceasefires, Chicago’s gang-related homicide rate continues to rise.

AP

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ArLynn Leiber Presser

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ON THE face of it, a ceremony honoring people who work for peace, like the one at Englewood Technical Preparatory High School in Chicago, seems like a nice idea. The award ceremony was the finale to a five-day United In And For Peace summit. However, the “Nation Leaders” who were honored are more conventionally known as urban street-gang leaders, and the summit, endorsed by NAACP Executive Director Ben Chavis and attended by the Reverend Jesse Jackson and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, was hosted by the mega-gang Gangster Disciples (GDs, which some now claim stands for Growth and Development).

Convention participants are part of the much-heralded “gang truce” movement. Chicago, like New York, Los Angeles, and Sarajevo, obviously needs a gang truce. But, although there have been more than 15 announced ceasefires, Chicago’s gang-related homicide rate continues to rise.