Peace in Motion: Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities Hosts CVI Film Festival at Metropolitan Peace Academy

A recent film festival at the Metropolitan Peace Academy (MPA) brought light and voice to the organizations across Chicago and the nation that are transforming lives and creating safer communities through Community Violence Intervention (CVI). Presented by the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities (PSPC), City Club Chicago and Everytown Community Safety, the evening was a special opportunity to show CVI’s impact in action through several short films.

The short films screened included Pieces of the Puzzle from the Everytown Community Safety Fund, Peace Portraits from the Illinois Peace Project, License to Operate: Violence Interrupted from filmmaker Rubye Lane and gun violence prevention advocate Chris Patterson, Choose Peace from the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago (INVC), The Story of Chicago CRED from Chicago CRED; and Agree to Agree from The Ad Council.

The event was a continuation of PSPC’s recent 10-year anniversary celebration and brought together funders, CVI practitioners, partners, civic leaders, and community members to reflect and connect over the future of violence prevention. Each film highlighted distinct but intersecting movements for peace from across the city and nation, from the courageous individuals preventing violence on the ground to those who coordinate and support their efforts.

The screenings were followed by a discussion with leaders in Chicago’s violence prevention efforts, moderated by Eddie Bocanegra, Chief Program Officer at Centers for Employment Opportunities. He was joined by panelists Benny Lee, CEO and founder of the National Alliance for the Empowerment of the Formerly Incarcerated; Nekenya Hardy, Associate Director of Outreach at the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago; Marcus McAllister, CEO of McAllister Consulting and Training; and Rubye Lane, founder and principal producer of Mustard Seed Vision LLC.

“CVI works,” shared Hardy, who emphasized the impact the work has had on both his trajectory and that of his community members, through essential services like street outreach, workforce development, and more. “It’s not a fairytale story. It’s not a scam. It’s actually changing lives.”

“A lot of people who started off from the streets, their lives changed dramatically because of CVI,” he continued. “We have people who were really traumatized, and gone in the streets, because we didn’t have direction. Now we know which way we want to go. We’re able to show our participants, not just with our words, but with our actions.”