As a resident of Chicago, Illinois for my whole life I wanted to make a post about something I have experienced or a topic that I wanted to write about. I have seen how violence in my hometown has affected my community, my family, and even strangers. As I found articles on my topic I saw the line, "Chicago Has the Highest Murder Rate in the US." So out of all the metropolitan cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, etc, we have been given the title where homicide happens the most. Sadly to say it did not shock me. I attended a public high school, Morgan Park High School, in a college preparation program. We had a pretty good athletics program along with two highly regarded academic programs, World Language and the International Baccalaureate Program. It was often overshadowed, along with the accomplishments of many other Chicago Public Schools, when we would hear that another student had been shot and killed. "Since 2008, 80 percent of the 530 young people under the age of 21 felled by gun violence lived in the city's South, Southwest, and West sides, which are highly populated by African Americans and Latinos," (Terrell, 2012).
Derrion Albert, one of the most shocking displays of violence in the Chicago area, was beaten to death in front of his school as someone videotaped. There have been initiatives implemented such as providing grants to various schools to restore and place safety initiatives into these schools. There have been marches held, candle light vigils, and memorials held. My church, St. Sabina, even had a silent march where 32 wooden coffins were carried signifying 32 youths that had been murdered. The question remains what will work? Because instead of decreasing, these rates are on a steady rise. What is working and what isn't? I have no answers and I don't know what will stop what is going on. It seems that people have become to immune to hearing once again that another young person has been killed in some type of crossfire.
I experienced first hand how violent and tragic Chicago has gotten. On August 14, 2011, my cousin, Darius Jones, was shot and killed by his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend as he stood in front of his house on a Sunday morning. With his dying words he was able to identify his shooter and with members of our community who came forward, two of the men were apprehended and charged with first degree murder. He was scheduled to start college just a week after he was killed. I know this is a rare occurrence; many times people will not come forward to tell what they have seen and this is a problem. I know my faith in the criminal justice system has been restored. My worst fear was that Darius would be forgotten like so many others. There are still countless families who are waiting for their justice.
My question to all of you is what programs or initiatives to do you think can be started to decrease the violence not only in Chicago but in other areas where the crime rate is high? Have you been affected by gun violence?
My own Tragedy
