Events To Stop The Violence In Chicago

With over 600 homicides, politicians and groups of individuals have been trying to create events and/or groups and even resources in order to put a stop to the violence. The gun violence within Chicago is out of hand. This problem needs to be addressed and taken care of. Many individuals feel that we should not try to stop the gun violence since the violence is coming from individuals within their own communities. But in reality that is more of a reason to help these surrounding neighborhoods because innocent people are becoming victims to this gun violence. Innocent families are losing their loved ones due to gang affiliation. For example, according to the Chicago Tribune, around 2:20 in the afternoon, there was a van that drove down the south side of Chicago and killed 12 people by spraying bullets at them. This proves that the violence is happening at any time. Most individuals believe that the violence is taking place late at night but in reality, the violence is happening during the broad daylight too. Another thing is that families are losing their loved ones, while the individuals who are committing the crime are not being caught. The media has shed some information about these incidents from gun violence, but they have not shown how the communities are trying to put forth their best efforts in order to stop this violence. There has been a lot of talk about continuing the war on guns within Chicago but strengthening and making gun laws more strict but in reality continuing the war on guns is not solving anything due to the fact that most of the guns within these communities are unregistered. Individuals within these communities know how to get a gun regardless on if they legally should have it. Many individuals have gathered together amongst their streets in order to protests against this violence. There have been multiple protests and rallies within these communities in order to get the medias attention on these tragic events. One known protest that has taken place within Chicago was known as the “Save Our City” rally, where thousands of individuals gathered together to protests about the fact that it is up to them to save their own streets. People gathered the streets and formed a two-mile long chain from Greenwood Avenue to the Dan Ryan Expessway. Families who have lost their significant others, siblings, or children laid in the streets of the expressway in order to show that they have lost a loved one to gun violence. One individual at this rally stated according to WGN TV, “We’ve got to look at ourselves and decide we are not going to allow shooting and killing to go on in our streets on our blocks while we live there while we walk there”(Lowe, Mike). Another individual also stated within this WGN TV article, “Every time you pick up a gun, every time you take a life, you’re affecting all of us”. These protests are not the only way that individuals have been trying to get the gun violence off the streets. There is an upcoming event on January 16 in the upcoming year 2017, from 1:00 in the afternoon to 9 in the afternoon. This event will take place in Wicker Park, and it is a free event. This event is made for individuals from all ages, and all religions. The event is called “Stop the Violence”. The overall idea behind this event is to present the communities with a chance to speak up about the last year, 2016 which has the highest amount of homicides and shootings. The idea is to present this idea that 2016 is over and that the amount of homicides within these communities will not continue and does not represent the surrounding communities of Chicago as a whole. On the event page it is stated that, “This event will feature presentations, break-out sessions, and open dialogue to promote violence prevention and to help empower communities that face the challenges of gun-fire. The day will culminate with a multi-generational sports tournament”. This event is great especially because it turns a serious situation, such as gun violence and the harms of gun violence, into an event that individuals can feel comfortable enough to speak about the uncomfortable and tragic events that have been taken place around Chicago. Another event that is used to prevent violence within these communities is the Youth Violence Prevention Plan. This is an after-school event and summer program that is ran by volunteers within the communities. This event discusses with the younger generations the consequences of joining in the violence, and how it violence will affect their families negatively if they choose to go down that path. This event also helps guide the younger generation into programs that will take up their time. It is better to have sports take up a child’s time instead of a gang taking up their time. This event takes children on sporting events, and shopping and takes them on field trips in order to show that there is more to their lives then the violence that surrounds their communities. It is a great idea to try and stop the violence while their young because then they are less likely to engage in the violence once they are older. Hopefully with all these events and protests, the violence within these surrounding communities will take a turn and we will not see families on the Chicago news at night crying that they fell victim to gun violence. We need to see a change, and we need to see the change happen now. Communities that work together to stop the violence, and will hopefully see a solution happen in the near future. Lets keep guns off the streets, and keep our children safe!

Chicago Violence

Chicago is a wonderful city that is known its massive tall buildings, creative festivals, and cultured environment but aside from those great characteristics; Chicago is also known for the violence within the surrounding communities. In a large city with a population that has over 3 million individuals, violence has been an ongoing issue within this diverse city. Many families lost children, family members and friends due to this outrageous violence. 2016 has been one of the worse years when discussing violence within the city, the number of killings are unbelievable. According to CNN has compared the city of Chicago to war zone because innocent people are getting killed due to the gun violence. There have been 616 homicides within the city of Chicago. CNN stated, “October closed with 78 killings, 353 shootings and 427 shooting victims, authorities said. Earlier this year, Chicago saw its deadliest month for gun violence in 20 years: Ninety people were killed in the city in August. By September, the city had more homicides than in all of 2015” (Zenteno, Rolando). The violence has become so out of control that the Mayor, Rahm Emanuel, is trying to control he violence by adding more Chicago police officers to patrol the streets of Chicago in order to try to prevent the violence, but that has not been successful. Everyday when you watch the news, there will be a story about the gun violence within these communities. Many individuals have tried to create solutions in order to lower the violence, but it only seems the violence is getting worse. Before these most recent years, the violence within Chicago use to be only on the west side and south side of Chicago, but now gangs are going to the nice parts of Chicago, Michigan avenue, and the north side completely drive byes’ killing innocent individuals who have no part of this violence. When comparing Chicago’s violence to other large cities, such as New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, there is no comparison, Chicago wins when it comes to the amount of individuals being murdered on a day-to-day basis. According to ABC news, this is the statistics of Chicago homicides compared to New York and Los Angeles, “The statistics on such slayings in Chicago are staggering. There were 316 homicides from January 1^st to June 30^th of this year. No other city cracked the 300s. The nation’s largest city, New York- which has a population about three times Chicago’s- had 161 homicides in the first half of this year. There were 244 homicides in Los Angeles area, according to numbers from the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department” (Shapiro, Emily). These statistics are obviously very alarming, and with that being said there has been talk about bringing in the National Guard to Chicago in order to lower these numbers. We need to do something about the violence, and we need to do something immediately. According to NEWSONE there are many options such has more jobs for youths, and strengthening gun laws. Which ever solution Chicago decides is the best one, needs to be put in place immediately. We as a city are tired of seeing innocent individuals crying over their children, family and friends. Something needs to be done, we need a solution.

Chicago is GREAT!

When I first came to Iowa to attend school I quickly learned that the culture here in Iowa is very different than the culture I grew up in up in. I am from a suburb that is 30 minutes south of Chicago, Plainfield Illinois. I pretty much have experienced the city life my whole life because my parents are always constantly bringing my siblings and I, and my friends and I are always in the city. For example, we just went home last weekend to stay in Chicago all weekend. Chicago is very fast paced city, there is no such thing as walking slow or stopping in the middle of road to catch up with another individual. Chicago is a great city, but the people are less friendly because they are always on the go. In Iowa, everyone is friendly and wants to stop and wave but in Chicago individuals barely look at each other. Since everyone is always on the go, everyone in very assertive because you have to be if you want to survive the city. Chicago is also known for being urban, and is very diverse. Chicago has many different cultures within one huge city all the way from Little Italy, China Town, Greek Town, and many more. Chicago culture is also revolved around sports. With Chicago have many championships such as the recent Chicago Cubs, and Blackhawks winning; Chicago is passionate when it comes to their sports. If you were in Chicago within the last few weeks during the World Series, you would find the streets of Wrigley Ville filled with tears and smiles. Another example is last week I attended the pep rally for the Chicago Cubs at Grant Park that was filled with over five million people just to celebrate The Cubs winning the World Series. Another thing about the culture in Chicago is that driving through the city is hectic because every individual is driving crazy. If you are from Chicago, you know that even when the walking signal turns on you still need to look around your surroundings because the drivers in Chicago do not care and will accidently hit a pedestrian. Chicago is also filled with individuals who cannot agree on things, walking through the streets of this city you are more than likely going to see if not one, but multiple individuals arguing with one another. For some reason, individuals from Chicago are very verbal and have no shame in expressing their anger to surrounding individuals. The last thing that needs to be discussed about the culture in Chicago is the violence that is constantly shown in the media. Chicago is having an issue where there are bad parts of the city where shootings and violence is taking place, but that does not represent the overall culture of Chicago. Chicago is a massive city with so many different individuals that conflict and violence is bound to happen. With every great part of the city, bad parts of the city come along with it. You just have to remember to be aware of your surroundings, and enjoy the great city that it is!