A lot of students look out the window and look into the city
and think that its beautiful. When I end up looking outside…I see a city full
of pain, regrets, revenge, envy and injustice. When I talk about Chicago, I
don’t talk about the suburbs I mean downtown but instead including the south
and the west side. Where the gang violence has destroyed the lives of brothers,
sisters, mother and fathers. In a cycle that never seems to end. I am here to
inform you of three things: the amount of violence, what is causing the
violence and what can we do about it.
Is the violence in chicago bad at all? Let me show you, In
2014, there was 2, 589 shootings in Chicago. 83% of those shootings had gang afflictions.
456 people died from the shootings. The youth in Chicago nicknamed the city Chiraq
because there was twice the amount of people killed in the streets then in Iraq
in 2012.
Half of you are guy don’t care and half of you guys are
asking what is causing the violence.
This problem has been developing when the city took away the projects
from low income families. For example, In 2000, the city
took away Cabrini green, housed 15,000 people and turned it into high rises. A
lot of the gangs were located in this place and destroying these building
giving these people section 8 and basically sent them out into the ghettos. The
city took away the systems that the gangs had and is making them run wild in
the ghettos by killing each other’s. The problem is getting worse when the “new
Chicago” plan is closings schools, closing projects, closing homes to turn into
more high rises and business which is
forcing families out into the hood. In this environment, where the fathers are
the best at playing hide and go seek but never coming out to play in their
child life, where finding a positive male figure is harder than to finding waldo, where any second a flying bullet could be screaming your name.
The youth aren’t really thinking about the future because they are in the
survival mindset and only trying to make it through the day without being six
feet deep. A lot of the youth explain it by saying “it’s a war out here and
we’re fighting to live.” It is obvious
in the genre of Drill music…which started in Chicago and is becoming popular
all over the United States. Drill music is mostly about rappers that rap about
violence that happened to them or that they are going to cause. Artist like
Chief Keef, Lil Mouse, lil reese represent different gangs in the south side of
Chicago and the radio stations are putting these songs full of violence and
threats all day long. In a way the music industry unconsciously are promoting the
violence in Chicago.
To be honest with you, I don’t have all the answers but I do
have some ideas how we as Moody students and even more as Christians could make
a difference. The violence in Chicago is being muted in the news and overlooked.
But why? All people are hearing and thinking about the violence is “its another
black or Hispanic boy gone, gang related victim” Michael pledger, a catholic priest
that is a big activist against the violence in Chicago, said “If white children
were being killed in the numbers of brown or black children then we wouldn’t be
here sitting talking about violence” X2 We have to speak out for the oppressed
and voiceless by bring awareness. Also be willing to listen to other people
stories. Guys when we go into our PCM or talk to any youth we have be a father
figure in their lives because you could be the only positive father figure they
ever see. Ladies be a positive female leaders shows the girls that someone
believe in them and that they do something in their lives. Church, we have to
get out of four sided building and step into people lives and live life with
them and be willing to share the gospel and being transparent about our
struggles. Moody students, lets step out of just being in downtown all the
times and invest some our free time in west or south side churches or even one
kid that would know that somebody believes in them.
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