MILWAUKEE -- The Sojourner Family Peace Center at 6th and Walnut is hosting a peace summit Thursday for local youth and youth-serving leaders.
The summit, which runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., features diversity expert Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr. as a keynote speaker.
While the gathering was planned long before this month’s violence and unrest in Sherman Park, Moore said he will speak with local teens in attendance about the recent events.
“We have to look at forgiveness and love when we’re talking about leadership,” Moore said. “This is a rough time. Different people are seeing things in very different ways, and often these times can create more division than inclusion.”
Topics on the agenda for Thursday’s summit include leadership, self-confidence, bias and race relations, Moore said.
Carmen Pitre, the president and CEO of the Sojourner Family Peace Center, said the organization wants to emphasize to local teens that they can play a role in achieving peace in Milwaukee.
“Engaging young people in conversations – meaningful conversations – about healthy relationships is really critical to preventing violence,” Pitre said.
Eighteen-year-old Elishah Fields, a recent graduate of Waukesha South High School, said he’s worried all young people in the area are getting a bad name because of the violence and looting in Sherman Park.
“That’s one of the biggest reasons why I’m here today,” Fields said. “To show people that not all of us are like that."
Fields will soon be a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“I would like to succeed and to bring others from that position to my position, which is to get an education and make a change that way,” Fields said.
