Peace Is a Journey, Not a Destination
On a balmy and breezy Saturday in early September, the fragrance of peace filled the air. The scent of patchouli and music of meditation greeted more than 200 residents as they entered Cooper Park located in the historic Maple Park neighborhood on Chicago’s far South Side. They journeyed to this urban ashram for a “Passport 2 Peace.”
Through a series of strategic, community engagement conversations, Maple Park residents acknowledged that community safety was their number one quality of life concern. Out of these conversations, a local design team was created composed of residents, the Maple Park Neighborhood Association, Chicago Police 5th District CAPS, the Chicago Park District and area communities of faith, and it was out of this team that a “Passport 2 Peace” was born. Significant collaborative input from the Goldin Institute’s Chicago Peace Fellows and the Chicago Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) Collaborative’s Neighborhood Interns helped shaped the event. The Maple Park Passport 2 Peace Neighborhood Summit is one of 3 such events in different locations on the South Side.
The concept behind the Passport 2 Peace is that peace is an “inside job” that begins within each of us. The Passport 2 Peace is an inward journey to promote the place of peace that resides in every person and an outward journey to build community. Massage therapy, mediation, yoga and tai chi demonstrations and reflexology stations staffed by certified experts provided the tickets on the journey to inner peace. One participant remarked, “It was amazing to see children doing tai chi.”
As participants moved from station to station, Peace Ambassadors clad in sky blue t-shirts applied stickers to individuals’ passports and served as hosts for each activity. The children played on the playground and did face painting while the adults explored their inner peace. After sharing a community meal to promote community peace and facilitate relationship building, more than 50 people participated in three Inter-generational Peace Circles led by Nehemiah Trinity Rising, a grassroots consultancy specializing in restorative practices leadership training.
On the Sunday prior to the Passport 2 Peace, a Peace Makers’ Sabbath Celebration was held at Maple Park United Methodist Church. The event organizers were invited to come and pray for peace. The Peace Makers’ Sabbath encouraged participants to pray, preach and act for peace. Passport 2 Peace was the action step.
Passport to Peace Draws Together 200 Neighbors
On Saturday, September 7, the Chicago Peace Fellows gathered in Cooper Park in the West Pullman community on the Far South Side to spread peace. Hosted by Pastor Robert Biekman, this event was the second of the Passport 2 Peace series, one of the Chicago Peace Fellows’ summer projects. Each event in the series is being held in a different community but all include peace building activities such as intergenerational peace circles, yoga, mediation and entertainment. The final event will be held Saturday, September 28.
The Cooper Park event was attended by over 200 community residents who participated in activities such as Tai Chi, reflexology and meditation. Each guest received a “passport” with the task of visiting booths and participating in the activities, which would earn them a stamp. One Peace Fellow, Robin Cline, came very close to visiting each activity, and many at the event went from station to station learning more about what peace feels like.
Fellow Gloria Smith, executive director of the Black Star Project, commented, “I loved every minute of it, including the tai chi exercises and the intergenerational peace circles. I also really enjoyed the camaraderie among the people in attendance.” Gloria was part of the planning team for the event, and worked closely with Robert to put the event together.
Robert noted that several years ago, the Cooper Park playground had been the location of a horrific incident in which two young men were shot. Because of that incident, the park was saddled with a reputation as a violent place and many neighborhood residents refused to utilize it. Robert envisioned hosting Passport 2 Peace in the park, therefore, to challenge that narrative and have people actively think about peace in that park.
“Passport 2 Peace exceeded our expectations!” Pastor Biekman reflected.
