Interrupting Violence

I watched this program the other night after the kids went to bed. It was one of those programs that I thought I would watch an hour - I couldn't turn it off. The stories are riveting. I can't seem to embed it here at the moment, but you can view it on the pbs website.

I will say - this is one story about people living in Chicago, on the South Side of Chicago. There are many stories of people living in Chicago, dealing with community and sometimes with violence. There are many stories of people living in urban areas, in areas with high poverty, and urban areas with great wealth.

This story is an important story to tell. It's just not the only story out there.

One part I appreciated was where they mentioned that most of the issues are not gang issues, but interpersonal issues. By addressing the violence, the interpersonal conflict, the cycle of revenge - they are able to stop the killing. Or at least attempt to halt some of the violence. Recognizing that everyone has a grievance, but they're not able to see the consequences of a response.

That and the people they have working on the project have walked the walk (as it were). They've been there. It's not people outside the community imposing their own solutions (as many of us sometimes want to do).

I like that they have a goal and they work towards that goal. Things like religion are mentioned in the documentary (and their work) but they are not the focus. The focus of stopping the violence is pretty simple.