'Peace Carnival' held to help prevent summer violence in Chicago

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Memorial Day weekend can sometimes be violent in Chicago.

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On Saturday, youth leaders and teenagers held the first annual Peace Carnival to help prevent summer violence.

The event went off without a hitch as teens said it's truly a blueprint for a violence free summer.

The event was created to give Chicago youth something fun to do in a safe place.

"After school, a lot of us don't have nothing to do," Robert Walton said. "It's easy for us to just hit up the streets and chill with people - waste time. I've been there. I know how that feels."

The event was held at the parking lot next to St. Sabina Catholic Church in Auburn Gresham.

"The civil rights movement with Dr. King had the youth come upfront and be the ones who were leading it when things changed," Father Michael Pfleger said. "I think the same thing Chicago - the same thing in America.

The community carnival comes as the city marked the Memorial Day weekend, which can sometimes be violent.

"This weekend, we understand the importance of having events for our youth, for our young people to be active and have somewhere safe to go," said Trevon Bosley alumni of Brave Youth Leaders.

Groups like I Care For Peace, GoodKidsMadCity and St. Sabina youth leaders are among the event's organizers.

The group said they want to use the carnival to address the uptick in youth violence happening during so-called "teen takeovers".

"We don't need to be reckless to make memories. We deserve more than just rules and restrictions," Zariah Boykin said.

The teens here say they need more community centers, even more summer jobs and programs instead of a new downtown teen curfew.

This week, a Chicago city council committee approved a "snap curfew" proposal that would let police impose temporary curfews on teens in response to large or disruptive gatherings.

In the meantime, organizers said they are planning more events throughout the summer.

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