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Washington, DC – The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI), a faith-based coalition of 34,000 churches comprised of 15 denominations and 15.7 million African Americans, says that the Mayor of Chicago’s plan will not work because he and the police lack moral credibility to move the citizens to those levels of engagement. No one in Chicago trusts Mayor Emanuel. He has proven to be a liar, someone who has withheld evidence and probably constitutes as an unaudited felon. Let us remember that the city of Chicago is under investigation again in its 100 year history by the Department of Justice. This is not the first time and will not be the last time. The Black community is very clear that we will not be trusting any white murderous cops as community partners to bring endeavors of peace to Chicago.
This is the city of Chicago, Mayors give money away, not to reach program objectives in this case crime prevention but this money is used as hush money. A few brothers and sisters will be paid off to be quiet while the rest of the community goes to hell. This should not have been his first step, the very first step is to have met systematically with community leaders to hash out a plan that is going to have relevance in the areas where they are needed. The plan that the National Black Church Initiative offered was a 5-year plan and required a commitment of 100 million dollars thus putting available 20 million dollars a year for the continuity of reducing crime and restoring hope in the most ravished neighborhoods in Chicago.
We just pointed out two main reasons why the Mayor’s plan won’t work: 1) he has no moral responsibility and 2) there is no venture to make this a sustained effort. Lowering the crime rate will take more than 36 million dollars if it is to be a sustained effort and any social scientist will tell you that his plan is destined to fail. NBCI’s 16 point action plan underscores what a comprehensive crime prevention plan should look like.
Rev. Anthony Evans, President of the National Black Church Initiative says, “The Mayor’s plan is complete window dressing and is written to please the white members of the Chicago Chamber of Congress as opposed to the Black people of Chicago. Our churches will not participate in that charade. We will continue to push our 16 point action plan until we find an angel funder.”