In early February as the nation’s eyes turned once again to Chicago after the killing of Hadiya Pendleton, I found myself feeling progressively more frustrated. While the media and politicians were talking about gangs and more police, I was hearing anger and in some cases despair among the youth and adults with whom I interact regularly. I wrote about the source of some of the anger from youth here.

Usually frustration with the status quo leads me to hatch a new idea or plan. I took to my personal facebook page and asked my friends if they would be willing to join me in creating an audio collage that would assemble multiple voices of Chicagoans speaking about the impact of violence in just ONE SENTENCE.

My friends Lewis, Sarah, Sharmili, Martin, Rachael, and Bryan stepped up to help with this project and we were on our way. Sharmili created a Thunderclap that ultimately reached over 60,000 people on Twitter and Facebook. Lewis and Sarah volunteered to edit the audio collage. I created the google voice account and our website. And we all spread the word to our friends and colleagues through social media inviting them to participate in Uproar Chicago.

I am excited to invite everyone to the unveiling of the final audio collage on Wednesday April 24th at 5:30 p.m. Details are here and below. The event will also include a peace circle where participants can talk about the impact that violence has on us as individuals, on our communities, and on the city as a whole.

I am profoundly grateful to my friends who helped make this project a reality. I am deeply appreciative of all of the people who shared their thoughts and words with us. For a sense of how powerful the audio collage will be, listen to just a short sample of the voices that we collected. Join us on April 24th to hear more…