It will be all about peace Saturday at a rally and festival at the KLEO Family Life Center, 119 E. Garfield Blvd., as the Washington Park Consortium and K.L.E.O. Community Development Corporation hosts the first Back To School Rally and Peace Fest.
It will be all about peace Saturday at a rally and festival at the KLEO Family Life Center, 119 E. Garfield Blvd., as the Washington Park Consortium and K.L.E.O. Community Development Corporation hosts the first Back to School Rally and Peace Fest. The day begins with fun for the children and free food for all. An afternoon political discussion will feature community leaders talking about crime and violence in the Black community, particularly in the Washington Park and Bronzeville areas. Event organizers were moved by a recent report indicating Garfield Boulevard and State Street, just blocks away from where Saturday’s festival will be held, as one of the most deadliest corners in the nation. “We decided we needed to do something to help stop it,” Torrey Barrett Sr. told the Defender. Barrett is head of the KLEO center. City leaders confirmed to attend the event include Mayor Richard M. Daley, Ald. Willie Cochran–whose 20th Ward includes the KLEO Center and parts of Washington Park–Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd) and Secretary of State Jesse White. The discussion will look to develop a plan for peace for the city’s South Side. After the political forum, the festival will host an Apollo Theater-style open mic show where participants will be able to show off their rapping, singing, spoken word, dancing, poetry reading or other talent. The day will also include free health screenings, including diabetes testing and a backpack giveaway. Barrett said the event, which he looks forward to making an annual one, speaks to the core mission of the KLEO Center. The non-profit community organization’s acronym stands for Keep Loving Each Other but also an eponym for his late sister, former Cook County Sheriff’s Deputy Kleo Barrett, who was killed in 2007 in a domestic violence incident. “(My sister Kleo) and the Center look to help stop violence by fostering an atmosphere of love,” Torrey Barrett said. Other partners in Saturday’s event include the 20th and 3rd Ward offices, LISC and CNE. ______ Copyright 2009 Chicago Defender. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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