I grew up in the City of Philadelphia, and although I no longer live in the city, I will always have a heart for it. The energy, the diversity, the culture; it makes some feel alive and for others, it makes them feel afraid.
There are two political candidates doing a lot of talking, but no one is standing against the carnage that is Chicago.
500 homicides. 9 Months. 1 City.
Celebrities are silent as well.
Kayne was given four minutes to be Kanye at the MTV Music Awards and spent all 10 minutes of them talking about everything, and really saying nothing, especially about the tragedy of his home town CHI-Town.
This country loves to debate the Colin Kaepernicks of the world and we all play right into the media’s hand for ratings and rebuttals, driving the wedge of division deeper.
If we woke up today to headlines of 500 dead in New York City, to a terrorist attack, we all would be heartbroken and outraged; but why do we ignore this self-inflicted terror in the midwest?
This is not a black or white thing.
This is not a gun control or peace thing.
This is not a democrat or republican thing.
This is about who is going to do the right thing for those who are hurting.
I don’t know even know what the right thing to do is.
Maybe it’s talking about it, praying about it, or simply acknowledging it.
That it exists.
That violence is a problem.
That people, no matter what their zip code, they MATTER.
Can we be a nation of people who don’t play into the hands of news stations and talk shows and side step the divisive Facebook statuses?
Can we be more passionate about raising awareness than getting Likes?
Wade, the 12-time NBA All-Star who recently left the Miami Heat to sign a contract with his hometown Chicago Bulls, took to Twitter to mourn his cousin's death.
Some people with pull and platform have been vocal.
Dwayne Wade left the Miami Heat to come home to the Chicago Bulls and has been very outspoken, speaking at the Espy’s and on his social media.
"My cousin was killed today in Chicago," Wade said in one tweet. "Another act of senseless gun violence. 4 kids lost their mom for NO REASON. Unreal. #EnoughIsEnough."
To wrap your head around 500 deaths of how much weight that number carries for the city -- not just in quantity, 2016 is now the deadliest year in two decades.
The ironic thing is that Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws.
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, recently signed a new gun control law that imposes harsher penalties on those who bring in guns from out of state to sell and do not have gun-owner ID cards.
I think local Chicago Pastor Ira Acree, is on the right track.
"If you really want to stop this epidemic of violence, the best way to stop a bullet is with a job.”
Transformation has to begin from the inside out, to not over estimate what we can do in five years and not underestimate what could be done in ten years.
It is amazing how the words of the Prophet Isaiah still cast a long shadow over injustice,
“Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.” (Isaiah 1.19 msg)
Instead of focusing on who is sitting down, may we look to ourselves for the courage to stand.
