CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Some moms are pampered and waited on this Mother’s Day but a few Chicago women wanted to share the spotlight with their sons and other young men of color.
Several mothers stood under umbrellas outside the DuSable Museum on the South Side wearing masks that read ‘Mother & Son march’ and sharing resources for jobs and opportunities for their sons as well as calls to stop violence against young men at the hands of police or gangs.
Jil Ross is a playwright and author from the Southwest Side who organized the Mother’s Day rally.
Ross said she came up with the idea after seeing coverage of the deaths of Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo.
“I just felt heavy on my heart about sons and young men and boys and I just want them to have a chance at life and the same considerations, the same understanding, the same ability to make a mistake and then learn from it and grow like everybody else,” Ross told WBBM Newsradio.
As for whether she plans to make this an annual event, Ross said she hopes there isn’t a need to.