Clergy Pray For Detained Youth

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Members and supporters of Clergy For Community Change, led by its president, Rev. Kenyatta Smith, center, held a prayer vigil Dec. 28 outside the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, 1100 S. Hamilton Ave. Also attending was Bob Love, Chicago Bulls community relations director. The vigil was held to send a message to the youth held there that they are loved and are not forgotten. (Photo Credit:Chinta Strausberg)
Members and supporters of Clergy For Community Change, led by its president, Rev. Kenyatta Smith, center, held a prayer vigil Dec. 28 outside the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, 1100 S. Hamilton Ave. Also attending was Bob Love, Chicago Bulls community relations director. The vigil was held to send a message to the youth held there that they are loved and are not forgotten. (Photo Credit:Chinta Strausberg)

Rev. Kenyatta Smith didnt want youth locked in the Juvenile Detention Center to feel forgotten or pushed aside this holiday season. On Dec. 28, he and few supporters of the Clergy for Community Change organization --- including Bob Love of the Chicago Bulls --- gathered outside the detention center, 1100 S. Hamilton Ave., and held a prayer vigil.

Smith, president of CCC, told the Chicago Citizen that he came up with the idea to hold the prayer vigil when he reflected on the number of youth dying in some of the citys most violent neighborhoods. He explained that no one pays attention to the youth in the detention center around the holiday season unless its on camera.

We want to pray for our children so they will have programs that will prevent them from being housed in facilities like (the detention center), he said.

Smith further criticized Mayor Rahm Emanuel for not publicly calling attention to the carnage in the streets involving underage youth. Smith said the community has to step up.

We need not be reactive, we need to be proactive when dealing with youth and violence, Rev. Smith said.

The church is the heart of the community, said Smith, pastor of Another Chance Baptist Church. He added that effective crime fighting and deterring would include more than setting up community programs.

The CCCs coalition of hundreds of churches statewide is reaching out in communities to be a haven for youth and a help to families, the pastor said.

The pastor explained that Love got involved with the prayer vigil after hearing about Smiths plans. Love is the community affairs director for the Chicago Bulls. Also joining the prayer vigil was Earl B. King, a former NBA player, now head of the No Dope Express Foundation.

Education first, sports second. We must take the leadership that will prevent our young people from living in these kinds of conditions, Love said, referring to youth housed in the detention center.

by Rhonda Gillespie

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