Joliet peace celebration and walk inspires individuals to take action

Emotions ran high at the International Day of Peace Celebration and Peace Walk in Joliet, especially after Joliet City Council member Cesar Guerrero and state Sen. Rachel Ventura, D-Joliet, burst into tears during their speeches.

The International Day of Peace Celebration and Peace Walk in Joliet featured speeches, tables with informational literature and a walk showing attendees’ commitment to peace.

“We need to make sure we are promoting peace in our community, state and country,” said Nicole Lurry, Joliet Township community engagement coordinator.

The event was hosted by Nonviolent Cities Project-Joliet in partnership with Joliet Township Government’s Community Violence Intervention in the Joliet Central High School gym and aligned with the United Nations’ 25th anniversary of the Declaration and Program of Action on a Culture of Peace.

Joliet Township Violence Prevention Director Keshia Ellis said during her speech that guns were the greatest threats to the community, and that bringing nonprofits and grassroots organizations together “are the best way to make the biggest impact in small cities.”

Peace and social justice go together. You can’t have peace if you can’t have a decent life.”

—  Joyce Ruhaak, Pax Christi Will County

The speakers gave a range of reasons for the increased violence: racism, mental health struggles, a history of violence in homes and schools, bullying, and environmental and societal issues.

Although solutions included access to funded programs, most agreed that eradicating violence begins with individuals.

‘It is ultimately up to each and every one of us’

Brooke Lynch, a case manager with the township’s violence intervention team, discussed the team’s mission as she distributed information to attendees.

Lynch said the team walks the neighborhoods to spread the word about programs, establishes pop-ups when a shooting occurs to help “ease the blow,” and interacts with people with gang associations.

“I’ve personally helped individuals struggling to find employment and single mothers who can’t find child care,” Lynch said.

During her speech, Joliet Township Supervisor Alicia Morales expressed dismay that the community “had to deal with” the recent threat toward students at Joliet Central and Joliet West high schools.

“Our most innocent and most vulnerable were targeted,” Morales said. “This is sickening.”

Morales said many school shooters struggle with mental health, bullying, and/or physical and verbal abuse at home, and she called attendees to action.

“You don’t need to have a formal title or college degree to do something,” Morales said. “We are sick and tired of the violence in the school and our community. But it is ultimately up to each and every one of us to do something.”

Guerrero read his essay on “What It Means to be a Peacebuilder” from the podium, which he’d written as a fourth grader at Joliet Public Schools District 86. As a child, Guerrero felt being a peacebuilder meant being a good friend on the playground and a good brother at home.

“But as you grow, the scale also grows,” he said.

Guerrero said the solution isn’t a hero who “waves a magic wand” but teaching “the values of peace [and] of kindness at home at the small scale.”

“It needs all of us solving one problem every day to take care of our little piece of the world,” Guerrero said.

Guerrero said he started his political career during the time of the George Floyd protests.

“And yet, four years later, we are still dealing with many of the same issues,” he said.

Ventura said peace starts from within. She urged people to stop chastising themselves when they make mistakes. She encouraged people to pause when stressed instead of pushing through a situation. Arguments, fighting and “generational trauma” are rooted in a lack of self-love and self-care, Ventura said.

“Native Americans understood the importance of taking care of the plants, the animals and each other,” Ventura said.

Doug Kasper, chair for the Nonviolent Cities Project-Joliet, said during his speech that nonviolence isn’t pacifism but is being proactive. He said issues pushing “the doomsday clock closer to midnight” include nuclear annihilation, the environmental crisis, global warming, soil erosion, water contamination, overfishing and the gun endemic.

“I think we all agree there is just way too much violence,” Kasper said. “And we’d all like to live in a much safer community.”

Kasper referenced the murder of 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi on Oct. 14, 2023; the eight murders on West Acres in Joliet in January; and the 2-year-old recently stabbed to death in his Joliet home.

“Things have to change,” Kasper said. “Dr. Martin Luther King taught us that darkness cannot end the darkness. Hate cannot end hate. Violence cannot end the violence. It seems we have a little trouble understanding that.”

Society needs ‘a cultural revolution’

Keynote speaker and author Ernest Crimsoned III called for a restructuring of society’s values. If we want peace in the world, tax money can’t fund wars, he said.

“We need to have a cultural revolution,” Crim said.

Schools can’t tell students, “You’re a terrible person expressing yourself with fists” while others in the U.S. talk “with guns and nuclear weapons,” Crim said. He wants an end to racism and segregation. He wants systems of justice in place and children feeling safe in schools.

“So, what is it going to take for us to create this system?” Crim said.

Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant spoke briefly about the funds allocated from the American Rescue Plan Act to Guardian Angel Community Services to provide rental assistance to victims of domestic violence, Stepping Stones Treatment Center to support treatment for substance abuse and to the behavioral health division of the Will County Health Department for crisis intervention training.

“These are not just numbers on a spreadsheet,” Bertino-Tarrant said. “These programs are making a difference in our community.”

Joyce Ruhaak, a lifetime Catholic, filled a table with information about Pax Christi Will County, which she leads with her husband, William Ruhaak, a conscientious objector. Joyce Ruhaak said before the event began that her longtime drive for promoting peace in the world stems from her faith.

She’s served as a church musician, liturgist and pastoral care member. She’s sung in church choirs and taught religious education. She’s learned mediation skills and taken mission trips to third world countries. And she’s the former parish outreach coordinator for the Diocese of Joliet’s Peace and Justice Ministry.

In 2016, she and William received the Joliet Franciscan Heritage Award for visiting federal prisoners monthly for 18 years, conducting training sessions for forming parish social justice committees and working to end the death penalty in Illinois, according to a news release form the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate.

And as “the oldest in a family of six,” Joyce Ruhaak always wanted to contribute, she said.

“When I taught school in the inner city, I saw many people work hard, struggle and not get ahead,” Joyce Ruhaak said. “Peace and social justice go together. You can’t have peace if you can’t have a decent life.”