Last year, Chicago native Chance The Rapper launched an anti-violence campaign over Memorial Day weekend dubbed #SaveChicago. The movement went viral, and the city had 42 consecutive hours without a reported shooting.
Chance is back at it again this year, blowing up Twitter with pleas to keep the three-day weekend non-violent. Last weekend, more than 40 people were wounded in shootings across Chicago in what was one of the most violent weekends of 2015. If this year's #SaveChicago is anything like last year's, you can expect those numbers to take a sharp turn.
We finna party and protest and protect all wknd. I watched the city go 42 hours without a reported shooting this same wknd last year
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) May 21, 2015
On top of a heavy social media push, Chance and his brother Taylor have compiled a list of safe community events around town. He's also teaming up with the Mayor's Office to try to keep the weekend peaceful (Chance's father, Ken Bennett, is associated with Rahm Emanuel's administration).
Chance grew up in the South Side neighborhood of Chatham and attended Jones College Prep in the South Loop. Following a 10-day suspension from the school, he released his first mixtape, #10Day. Since then, his fame has only grown. In his first full-length album, Acid Rap, he dug into Chicago's epidemic of violence in a harrowing track titled "Paranoia." If all goes well, Chicago will be a much less paranoid place than last weekend.
