News stories about youth victims of violence in Milwaukee inspired 17-year-old high school student Zoe Chambers to do something positive.
Earlier this month, she hosted an event called “Youth Pray Over Youth” in Sherman Park.
There, young people could fellowship, eat, play games and take time for prayer.
The event was in response to the shooting death of 4-year-old Ralph M. Taylor in the Northridge Lakes neighborhood, and the abduction of 7-year-old Jamal White on the north side of Milwaukee.
What inspired you to organize this event?
We often feel like we need pastors to pray over us or adults to pray over us. I had a realization I could pray over myself, and so I wanted to highlight that in the event because, I'm like, our prayers don't have to be perfect. We don't have to sound like each other. Everybody's going to talk about different things, we don't have to shout. We don't have to cry. God just wants us to have a simple conversation with him and I just really wanted to highlight to youth that we can pray over each other and that we could also pray over ourselves too, really encouraging people that prayer is important because we don't have to be perfect. God wants us to come as we are and that he hears us and that his promises are that he will always respond.
So, I want to keep talking just a little bit about what the youth in Milwaukee are experiencing. Violence, of course, we always talk about that. But what else is going on that you think people don’t know about or maybe aren’t paying super close attention to?
I feel like it's like what everybody's going through. Like it's not just like youth specific issues. Like we're going through things a 50-year-old person could be going through. And I feel like the biggest thing that I want to highlight is that this could be for really anybody.
Like the biggest part I want to highlight are the solutions to that about like getting to the roots. I did a presentation at my mom's job at their youth membership launch called "Getting to the Roots and Giving Grace." I feel like that's a really big thing that we need for all the issues that we are dealing with. I feel like people deal with these things all the time whether that's grief, whether that's homelessness, whether that's violence, whether that's abuse — emotionally, physically, spiritually — but I would just say what I keep telling people it's like giving grace is really important because you don't know what someone could be going through.
I feel like also youth are neglected so much and that's also another reason why I wanted to do the event and made sure that there was a spotlight from the news because we're often highlighting so many of the negative things. I was like no, you guys need to see a positive event, the youth need to see a positive event on the news. The adults need to see a positive event on the youth because they're often like, "Oh my gosh! The youth! They're doing this, this and that." And often not asking like, "How can we help you? Why are you doing that? When was the first time you felt like you were angry? Why? How do you deal with your anger? Why do you deal with your anger like that? What's another way that you could deal with your anger like that?"
I feel like that’s a really big thing, getting to the roots. It’s also not easy because often you don’t know the answers to a lot of your reflections or questions you may be asked. But adults or other youth asking each other those questions — I feel like that can be a segue to people giving grace and not just blaming someone. That could also be the start of a reflection, where you’re like, “Hmm, why have I been doing that? How can I be better? I want to be better.”
I was just talking to my friend on the phone, she was just telling me how she wants to be better. She feels like it's always something. She was telling me how different ways how she deals with things. I didn't sit there and say, "Oh my gosh why do you do that?" I asked her, "Well when did that start? How does that make you feel when you do that? What are some things that you want to do to be better?" Instead of sharing the blame and just saying like what should be happening.
