LINCOLN PARK — A vigil this weekend in Lincoln Park will honor every child killed by gun violence in Chicago over the past year while raising awareness on how wage theft perpetuates violence.
Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church, 600 W. Fullerton Parkway, will hold its seventh annual Vigil Against Violence 4-6 p.m. Sunday, led by the Rev. Otis Moss III, senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago.
“The purpose of the vigil is to bring people together from all over Chicago to remember the youth victims of gun violence in the past year and to engage in conversation and action around the systemic injustice that ultimately leads to gun violence,” said pastor Beth Brown.
Photos of every young person killed will line the church’s yard, where people can stop and pray for them. People are invited to stop by starting at 3:30 p.m.
“If you have lost a child or young person in a shooting this year or in any year, we invite you to come and join in the healing and bring a framed picture of the lone or ones who have died,” Brown said.
Inside, Moss and Brown will be joined by speakers:
- Erica Nanton, community organizer with the Faith Community of St. Sabina.
- Marvin Slaughter, Jr., a reparations researcher.
- LaCreshia Birts, co-founder of the Black Remembrance Project.
- Kevin Brown, co-founder of Evanston Against Racist Reparations.
The speakers will discuss how denying communities wealth, from enslaving people to redlining and contract buying, has led to violence in Chicago neighborhoods and how reparations can help people flourish.
“We can’t change the past, but we can change the present and the future together,” Brown said. “We can do so much more together than we can alone.”
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