Tuesday
Featured StoriesSakyong Meets the Interrupters
photos by Breton Hoagland
At the University of Illinois campus in downtown Chicago the Sakyong was invited to be a part of a meeting of CeaseFire “Interrupters” and volunteers. CeaseFire is an anti-violence program and initiative of the Chicago Project for Violence Prevention aimed at reducing street violence by using outreach workers to interrupt potentially violent situations. These violence interrupters work on the street, mediating conflicts between gangs and intervening to prevent retaliatory shootings and killings.
At the meeting, the room was overflowing with 50-60 members of the organization. The Sakyong began by talking about how we can see the humanity that is in ourselves and others and then shared how he wanted to listen to what brought these amazing men and women to this type of work. Many shared intimate stories about their experiences where they lived and personal transformations from lives of violence to lives of wanting to contribute to their culture and communities. The meeting ended with the Sakyong being asked to lead a meditation. The full story can be read in the Chicago Tribune article below along with some additional pictures from the meeting.
For those interested there is also a documentary chronicling CeaseFire’s work called The Interrupters.
Click here to read the Chicago Tribune article (unavailable outside of the US, unfortunately).
May 6, 2013
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….and I just read it in Canada (Halifax) by clicking on “here.”
Apr 30, 2013
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Just read the Chicago Tribune article from Spain. It is possible!