The fatal
shootings of Robert Anderson and Jovan Saffore -- both gunned down this week in
separate incidents on the West Side -- implore the graveness of the need for
the anti-violence organization CeaseFire, or the “Interrupters” as they are now
known.
Anderson,
38, was shot and killed Sunday while inside a car in the 4900 block of West
Hubbard Street. Saffore, 17, was gunned down Monday in the 5500 block of West
Cortland Street. The teen is the 27th murder victim in the Austin neighborhood
this year.
By now
you've seen “The Interrupters,” the critically-acclaimed documentary about the
Chicago-based organization that leads anti-violence marches, does outreach work
and conducts conflict mediation between gangs to calm tension.
And, just
about every block your own has some form of CeaseFire signage, such as
"Don't Shoot. I Want To Grow Up."
Jason
Harrison is a prime example of how the documentary has made an impact since its
debut earlier this year.
“Man, I
can tell you some stories. I was so close to giving someone the business, but
something just clicked in my head and I thought about the movie about
CeaseFire. I just couldn't do it. I had to slow it down,” Harrison told the
Defender.
He was
stunned to realize the effect the documentary had on him. It wasn't until that
heated moment about a month ago when he knew not only was the other person's
life saved, but his own, he said.
“I'm
telling you, it was going to be either me or him. I walked away,” he stressed.
CeaseFire
started nearly 11 years ago on the West Side and has spread to at least 16
communities throughout the state.
Daylight
vigils and rallies are most popular, but, are also less threatening to those
that are on the corners selling drugs, engaging in gang and other criminal
activity. More often than not, the organization's “violence interrupters” take
to the streets during non-conventional hours to help stave off violence.
“We go to
the belly of the beast,” Tio Hardiman, director of CeaseFire Illinois, has said
many times.
Hardiman
said one of the keys in stopping crime in historically violent areas is to
“change the mindset” of individuals when it comes to violence and more
community members should be trained to help stop violence and help police.
Ameena
Matthews, an interrupter for CeaseFire who is also featured in the documentary,
which she coins as a “real life documentary in a Black ghetto where hope isn't
lost,” shows no mercy when she's on the streets, or in the virtual world.
One teen
said she wished she had someone like Matthews in her life a few years ago when
she started “wilding out.”
“I
started fights almost every day because I felt like it. I really didn't have a
good reason and I didn't care if I got in trouble. I was sort of like the girl
in the movie that Ameena
was
trying to help all the time,” Kyana Hart said.
The
16-year-old said watching the documentary felt like she was looking in the
mirror. It was an eye-opener, she said.
“At first
I started laughing, but then as Ameena kept trying to help her, I didn't find
it funny anymore. I was looking at Kyana. I needed someone like that to check
me. I guess watching the movie made me check myself,” the girl said.
On
Twitter Hardiman lauded Matthews as “the 21st Century Harriet Tubman.”
“The
Interrupters,” directed and produced by Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz, has
been nominated for Best Documentary at the Independent Spirit Award. It's
scheduled to return to the Gene Siskel Film Center Dec. 16 - 22.
