Chicago’s own Rhymefest led a vigil in his hometown to shed light on the gun violence that plagues the city this evening (October 9) at Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church.
He spoke about his initiatives for the vigil with Windy City Live earlier in the week.
“What we are going to do is a citywide therapy session,” he says. “We are going to de-stigmatize. We want police, we want young people, we want the seniors, we want the teachers and what we want to do is de-stigmatize coping techniques of just being a Chicagoan. Regardless of violence, just being a Chicagoan where many of us are overtaxed and underemployed.”
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The move comes from the Oscar-winning songwriter’s own experience when he was robbed at gunpoint in August and was ignored by authorities when he made an attempt to report the incident.
This led him to put the department on blast by publicly documenting his experience with the city’s authorities who were lax about helping him.
You wonder we don't report crimes? The police treated me disgustingly pic.twitter.com/fY9VQrqDpz
— Rhymefest (@RHYMEFEST) August 27, 2016
This caused the Donda’s House co-founder to demand a meeting with the superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.
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“Not only with me but with the people who are in this community, to explain that culture,” he told WGN. “I’ve never been in a situation where I walk in to report a crime and they look at me as the criminal.”
