John Butts@JBMedia - Reports:
In an effort to end the violence, hundreds of Chicago gang members have been invited to a summit to broker a deal.
Rev. Gregory Tatum, who has roots in Chicago, says he hopes Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson will attend the Sept. 27-28
summit, especially since Jackson spoke at a gang summit two decades ago.“This is a historical moment, this is a national moment,” said Tatum, who grew up in the Cabrini-Green public housing projects in the 1960s.
Jackson’s spokesman says he was unaware of the invitation and Sharpton’s spokesman did not confirm whether the MSNBC host would be able to attend.
Tatum says he is planning to hold the summit at Salem Baptist Church on the Far South Side. He says he eventually plans to expand his gang summit initiative.
“Next year, we will go to Los Angeles, then Detroit,” Tatum said. “The whole goal this year is black on black crime in Chicago.”
In 1993, gang summits were used as a vehicle to negotiate truces between the Black Disciples, Gangster Disciples, Black Souls, Cobras, Stones and Latin Kings. After the summit, violence actually increased, then steadily decreased over time, so it is unclear what impact the summit actually had on gang violence.
Last year there were 506 k!llings in Chicago and it doesn’t look like crime in the city is going to end any time soon. Most recently, a 4 year old girl was shot while she was riding her scooter outside of her home. According to police, her family has ties to a gang.
http://www.yourblackworld.net/2013/08/black-news/chicago-hundreds-of-gang-members-invited-to-summit-to-end-violence/
