It’s a sunny summer evening on the corner of 75th and Stewart, in Chicago’s South Side. Kids are running around and playing. Hot dogs and chicken are browning on the barbecue. A group of moms in hot pink T-shirts are sitting around, chatting, soaking up the evening rays.
It’s a pleasant if unremarkable scene. But this is Englewood, one of the roughest neighborhoods in one of the USA’s most violent cities. Since January 1st, the number of fatal shootings in Chicago has reached more than 2,700.
As one of the moms, Tamar Manasseh, says:
“There have been children murdered in their beds while they were sleeping, as bullets penetrated the walls. Englewood is generally a place where no one feels safe.”
But things are changing for the better. Tamar Manasseh is now able to report:
“Since we posted up on the corner of 75th and Stewart, there have been no shootings on that block. No shootings, no murders, there hasn’t even been as much as a fist fight.”
Manasseh is the founder of Mothers Against Senseless Killings (MASK.) She started it a year ago, after a mother in her thirties was shot dead while trying to break up a fight. Manasseh says:
“I didn’t know her, but I was outraged. And I felt like, at this point, if mothers are being murdered something has to be done.”
Just three days after that shooting, and despite warnings of the possible danger, she and a group of moms set up their social group and cookout on the very same corner.
Manasseh explains:
“Being there and being a presence, and having eyes on the street and eyes on the children, would interrupt and prevent a lot of stuff that could potentially happen.”
In an interview with local radio station WBEZ, she added:
“‘This isn’t just about stopping violence. It’s about building community,’ she said. ‘You want to know your neighbors. When you know your neighbors people don’t die. That’s how that works.'”
MASK has been flourishing ever since, with regular gatherings and events. Offers of food, help and manpower are now coming from all over the city. New groups are springing up in other parts of Chicago, and even extending to other cities such as New York.
The initiative has been supplemented recently by a male patrol group, Men Against Senseless Killings.
But now there’s a snag. The property company who owns the building where the moms and kids gather has told them to move on. Manasseh’s reaction was understandably angry:
“But there are lot of people who come into areas like this, they buy property dirt cheap and they really do exploit the residents in these areas because they feel these people can’t do any better. They aren’t going to say anything. They’re not going to complain. So they can get away with whatever they want to do. They can do whatever.”
Chicago police stepped in and brokered a compromise: The group can continue here for now, with the possibility of buying a vacant lot across the street next year.
For now, as summer draws to an end and the kids go back to school, they’re wondering if they’ll have a safe place to play next year.
Watch the story of MASK and Tamar Manasseh here:
Featured image: YouTube screenshot
