Local Youth Leader Says Grandstanding Was Unnecessary at Fenger

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by Lesley R. Chinn

A peace vigil at Fenger High School that turned into an ugly protest on Monday caught the ire of a Roseland leader, who often works to find solutions to help stop the violence that has taken the lives of so many youth.

Diane Latiker, founder of Kids Off The Block, Inc., was one of many invited guests to participate in a peace vigil at Fenger that was prompted by last Thursdays beating that took the life of 16-year-old Derrion Albert.

Derrion, an honor student at Fenger, was an innocent bystander near 343 W. 111th St. when a fight broke out on September 24 between students who live in Altgeld Gardens and a nearby neighborhood known as the Ville. He was allegedly kicked and punched by Silvonius Shannon, 19, Eric Carson, 16, Eugene Riley, 18, and Eugene Bailey, 17. The three offenders-Shannon, Carson, and Riley-were reportedly charged with first-degree murder. Bailey was later charged Monday with the beating and also accused of first-degree murder, according to reports from Cook County prosecutors. Police are reportedly looking for more suspects.

More than 250 individuals shouted at each other over whether a vigil should be held to memorialize Derrion or to have a protest about the violence that killed him. One of the protesters included community activist Queen Sister who reportedly demanded that the schools front doors be opened so that people could be let in. She was also angry at elected officials because she felt that nothing is being done to stop the violence.

I saw a lot of posturing and stunting as the kids would say. It was very disturbing because that was not what [the vigil] was forIt was about the family and friends of Derrion, Latiker recalled.

The moment was disheartening, Latiker described, because instead of uniting under one purpose which was to find solutions to stop the violence, the message ended up getting lost. If we dont [join together] any other time, we should have done so especially at that time for the family and we couldnt even do that, she stated.

A video of the Derrions fatal beating was taped by a witness and it has been shown on different media outlets. Seeing that video has everybody hurting, Latiker recalled. That was barbaric on what was done to Derrion. That was below the belt. When young people get to that point where they dont care about their lives, then theres something wrong [with that picture].

Latiker said that although everyone is hurt by Derrions tragic death, blaming people for the youth violence is not going to help matters either. We focus on that because we cant vent our own anger for what were not doing.

For past six years, Latiker has advocated through Kids Off The Block, Inc., that more needs to be done to reach the youth where they are. Until we find out from them why they are so angry and what pushes them to violence, we are going to continue to push things on them that they are not going to accept.

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