Mobilizing, activating and empowering young people, in grades 5-12, to get organized and use their voices for peace and social change.
CHICAGO—(ENEWSPF)—May 28, 2015 — From June 4th to 6th, Chicago will host the first Chicago International Youth Peace Conference at Chicago Theological Seminary, 1407 E. 50th St, and at Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S Cornell. The conference is being organized by Chicago International Youth Peace Movement and a coalition of faith-based groups and individuals led by Jessica Disu (@FMSupreme), who was recently chosen by Chicago’s mayor Rahm Emanuel to lead the city’s “Summer of Faith and Action” program.
The conference’s global leadership training committee will facilitate enlightening discussions that motivate and empower students to become agents for social justice, nonviolence and education through peer to peer mentoring. This committee consists of accomplished social justice leaders who have the skills to help young people build creative solutions to combat violence and facilitate peace in Chicago and around the world. Over 350 Chicago youth and young adults from some of the City’s most impoverished neighborhoods are expected to attend.
Objectives of Chicago International Youth Peace Movement Conference:
Serve youth and provide Millennial role models of success
Educate and empower youth through organizing and activism workshops
Create a platform and space in which youth dominate and “own” their voices to create solutions to combat violence in communities
Improve the educational outcomes for Young Men of Color
“If you’re looking for solutions to violence in Chicago and around the world, you should look to the young people who are the most disproportionately affected by it,” says Jessica Disu of Chicago International Youth Peace Movement. “The message of the Chicago International Youth Peace Conference is, if you want young people to put the guns down, you need to give them something else to pick up. Our goal is to mobilize, activate and empowering youth to get organized and use their voices for peace and social change.”
The Chicago International Youth Peace Conference is supported by generous donations from community partners including: Campaign for Black Male Achievement, Chicago Theological Seminary, Chicago Urban League, I Grow Chicago, R.A.G.E, Kids Off The Block, JP Morgan Chase Fellowship Initiative, Derrion J. Albert Scholarship Fund, Hyatt Corp, Mayor’s Commission for a Safer Chicago, and Casey Family Programs.
Despite generous community support, the Chicago International Youth Peace Conference is still greatly in need of donations and hopes to raise $20,000 by June 4th. Donation link: http://www.gofundme.com/ChicagoYouthPeace
Recognized members of the academic, faith and entertainment communities are supporting the conference, including: Dr. Iva Carruthers, Shawn Dove (Campaign for Black Male Achievement), Dr. Mahalia Hines (Think COMMON Entertainment), Isiah Thomas, Lil Herb and others.
Special guests at the conference will include: Dr. Michael Eric Dyson; Andrea Zopp, Chicago Urban League; The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, Trinity United Church of Christ; Phillip Agnew, Dream Defenders; Isha Haley, Heart & Soul LLC; FM Supreme, Chicago International Youth Peace Movement.
In March, Jessica Disu and the group she founded, Chicago International Youth Peace Movement, partnered with ABC 7 Chicago to write and perform in “Still Believe, Yeah” a Public Service Announcement to promote peace and encourage conversations about nonviolence and hope: http://abc7chicago.com/entertainment/fm-supreme-launches-still-believe-psa-promoting-peace/539810/
Chicago International Youth Peace Movement is presently touring Chicago elementary and high schools, producing “Peace Talk Workshops” and screening their new PSA to empower young people and young adults to become the change they wish to see.
Chicago International Youth Peace Movement, a peer to peer mentoring and youth leadership advocacy group, empowers, inspire and activate youth and young adult voices for nonviolence and social change. Our mission is to creatively promote peace and nonviolence through the arts, mentoring, civic engagement, and youth led and young adult facilitated programming.
Source: Chicago Interational Youth Peace Movement
