Mayor Brandon Johnson debuted a new public safety initiative Tuesday that aims to stop the cycle of violence on Chicago’s South and West Sides. Hosted at the Chicago Cultural Center, the launch event for the program included city officials, community leaders and stakeholders.
The program, titled “Cycle Breakers,” focuses on supplying resources to the city’s youth, their parents and caretakers. City officials described the initiative as a collaborative effort.
Among the program’s objectives listed by the mayor’s office include building the conflict resolution skills of youth, assisting parents and caregivers in meeting basic needs and increasing opportunities for community members to participate in efforts that promote reform in Chicago’s communities.
“For far too long, senseless violence has harmed the very fabric and soul of our communities,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement. “The Cycle Breakers movement calls on all Chicagoans to engage in building safer communities and a safer city by ending these cycles of violence.”
The launch of the program comes after an especially violent holiday weekend in which more than 100 people were shot and 20 people killed, including in Austin and Greater Grand Crossing.
Johnson was joined by Chicago Public Health Commissioner Olumsimbo Ige.
“Help is available,” Ige said. “Love is available. Care is available. There is a community to make sure that you are safe. You are loved, you are protected, you are supported, and that you can thrive.”
The program also includes providing city youth, their parents and caretakers access to resources for mental health services and crisis intervention services. Safe space events, such as talent shows, movie nights and block parties, will be held by city officials with Cycle Breaker programming.
On display at the launch event was the work of Haman Cross III, a Chicago muralist, artist and community engagement advocate. Cross, a resident in Chicago’s West Side, says his work is focused on teaching young people of all ages about “exploring what it means to use your creativity to transform your neighborhood.”
The development for Cycle Breakers included more than 200 youth from communities across the city. Over the course of three focus groups, Cross said they spoke with many young people from communities across Chicago about what safety means to them and what actions need to be taken to break negative cycles of violence.
Cross’s mural, highlighted at the launch event, was created in part by the focus group participants. Hearing the authentic and thoughtful answers of young people who engaged in the focus groups was one of the most rewarding parts for him, Cross said.
“Art provides a different way to communicate your perspective,” Cross said. “You’re not always going to express how you see things through words … It’s important to provide an environment and an outlet to express whatever it is you want to express.”
Prioritizing the perspective of Chicago’s youth concerning what reforms need to be made to make communities safer is incredibly important, Cross said. While listening to the participants of the focus groups, Cross said it was refreshing to hear the diverse group of voices seeking the same objective.
“Even though we had all these different focus groups, who didn’t know each other, lived in different parts of the city, but they all had very similar views on what we needed to do to make the community safe, what they needed, and it was affirming,” Cross said. “If we ask our youth, if we engage them, we can really solve a lot of problems.”
Four teenagers participated in a panel at the launch event to discuss various topics surrounding violence prevention in Chicago.
“To break the cycle of violence, we just need to think before we act,” Jeremy Possley, a teen on the panel, said. “That’s what my mom always used to say. Just think before you act. Every action has a consequence.”
One panelist, Journey, commented her thoughts on a question regarding how one would approach resolving a conflict with either close friend or someone outside of your friend group.
“Outside of my friend group, most of the time, if it’s something little I just let it go,” Journey said. “But if it’s something outrageous like bullying…I’m going to have a conversation with you. I want to know why, exactly, do you feel this way about me and where can we meet each other to have peace. Because that’s all we want. We don’t have to be friends, but I think that we can work [together].”
In response to a question concerning how he would handle a conversation with someone that is struggling and in pain, and this person wants to express that pain violently on someone else, Possley referred to his own personal experiences.
“As somebody that has dealed with anger issues myself, the first thing I would tell them is that they are not alone,” Jeremy Possley said. “There’s many other people dealing with the same stuff … violence is not the answer. After violence, what you’ll feel is just an empty feeling and it’s not good. People shouldn’t be going through that, especially at a young age. There’s always somebody you can talk to and express your feelings to – to understand you. Because some people just need to be understood.”
