Gun Violence In Chicago
Gun violence has been a controversial and widely known, topic of discussion here in the US. The definition of gun violence is as follows: Violence committed with a gun. This includes homicides, assaults, and suicides. The lack of reform is one of the many factors to assist in the rising number of gun-related deaths.
It’s apparent that mass and school shootings have become rather prevalent in today’s society. According to authors at the Chicago Tribune, there are over 2,500 victims of gun violence. That’s a bit more than twice the amount of students enrolled at the middle school I attended my eighth grade year.
Are we prepared to just accept the statistics and ignore the consequences? What about those who lose their family members, loved ones, lifelong friends? Where is their peace of mind?
My partner, Emoni Harris, had the privilege of connecting with a gun violence victim, Tonja Yarbar. Tonja and Emoni begin by listing the positives of growing up in a dangerous city like Chicago.
Always being around family, having close relationships with neighbors and their family’s neighbors, couldn’t beat the terror Tonja witnessed. As she goes into depth about the first time she witnessed a violent gun-related incident, the trauma that followed never fell to the back of her mind.
“I was 16. She looked like she was about four of five. I was stuck. It’s a messed up feeling because you wanna help and make sure she’s okay, but you can’t touch her because of [your] fingerprints.”
Emoni and Tonja continue to talk about the severity that gun-related issues bring up. How the constant fatality only progresses and generalizing ideas for what we can do to prevent it from rising.
Though gun violence is indisputable, the grimness seems temporary to many. According to Dstasi and Micah Materre at WGN, what seems like a typical Chicago day includes eight people being injured every three hours in Chicago due to gun-related incidents.
It’s no doubt that the Chicago has had a past with violence killings, but why are we so willing for it to continue? For more information on Chicago’s history of gun violence, seek the article linked below.
For some, the reality of gun-related violence is very much present every single day. It wasn’t too long ago, another gun violence incident occurred on August 4th, of this year.
This is only one of many casualties news outlets have reported over the year. The trauma, leaving an even bigger outcome.
“That feeling of constant threat takes your comfort away” — Corniki Bonds, 40, West Side of Chicago
To simplify the complexity of Chicago’s gun violence history, we’ve created a timeline for the number of homicides from 1960 to 2015. The numbers range anywhere from 300 homicides to over 800.
The timeline shows the highest number of homicides occurred throughout the 1980’s, whereas the lowest can be seen in the 1960's.
The video below reinforces the cruelty that gun violence has on all of us, not just those who are directly affected. Though this article focus’ on gun violence in Chicago, gun-related violence happens everywhere.
So, what can we do to really make a change? I’m happy to mention the many ways you can get involved.
One organization you might fairly recognize is a group of protesters who go by the hashtag, #BlackLivesMatter. After a young African American boy, Trayvon Martin, was shot once while on the phone with his girlfriend by Caucasian male, George Zimmerman.
The killing sparked media attention all over the US, attracting an immense amount of energy for the justice of Trayvon Martin, who begged and cried for his life to be spared.
Protesters took the streets as one after another innocent African American victim is shot and killed, leaving their families vulnerable and weakened.
To get involved and help create a voice, visit the link above to learn more about what you can do to make a difference in your community.
Lastly, I’d like to suggest the most influential decision you can participate in. It begins with voting. There is never a better time to become advised about the candidates for the 2020 election than now.
Get informed, don’t take others opinions but instead, form your own with the image each candidate presents for themselves.
Whether you’re a democrat or a republican, voting for a candidate that aligns with your morals and values can impact our society greatly. Informing others of your choice respectfully, can influence others to hop on the bandwagon of change.
Change is inevitable. So why not encourage impactfully powerful change for everyone’s greater good?
