THIS IS NOT A WAR ZONE.....

Yesterday, during rush hour a man was shot at close range in downtown Chicago by State St. and Wacker Drive. There have been numerous senseless murders in Chicago this year, heck this week even and its only Tuesday. 4 children were shot on Sunday in the early morning. A 6 year old girl and a teenage boy were fatally shot and killed in different neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago.

The quote by Carl Burson Jr. 32 bothers me, "This is not a war zone, this is downtown Chicago. We don't do that down here." It bothers me because I want to know what that means. If violence and crime affects one person, area or neighborhood in Chicago we should all feel the effects and want to do something about it to help. Not say oh, this doesn't happen downtown but it happens in Englewood, the Austin area, Humboldt Park, Gage Park, the Wild 100's etc. As if when it happens in those areas its ok. Sadly, there are people that are used to gun shots and have become immune to it but it is still not ok.

I refuse to accept crime in any area and become immune to a rising epidemic in the city of Chicago. Do I have the solutions? No I do not but I believe if we all come together there can be a solution. Do I believe crime will completely disappear? Of course not. However, I do believe it can be curbed and reduced.

I think of the newspaper article I was reading about the Kenwood/Hyde Park area because 4 people have been shot in that area this year alone. Many in the area were outraged and attended a police meeting they weren't invited to, to speak on it and ask the police to do something about it. There reasoning, prior to this it had been 2 years since someone was shot in there neighborhood and they want the matter addressed now before it gets out of hand.

One solution - we have to stop being selfish, we have to stop focusing on me, myself, and mine. Me and mine are ok, I will focus on us and what happens in my home. We have lost our sense of community. I think of the old African Proverb "It takes a village to raise a child." How many of us really know the people on our blocks, in our immediate neighborhood, many of us don't even know our next door neighbors.

I do agree with Burson in the fact that downtown Chicago is not a war zone. I will take it one step further to say that no area in Chicago should be a war zone.

If we are not a part of the problem, we are apart of the solution. Do whatever it is that we can do to be the change needed.

"I will waste not even a precious second today in anger or hate or jealousy or selfishness. I know that the seeds I sow I will harvest, because every action, good or bad, is always followed by an equal reaction. I will plant only good seeds this day." Og Mandino

Lets all plant good seeds today, remember your thoughts and words give out energy. If you are filled with negativity you are putting that negativity into the atmosphere, it is gravitating to others, and continuing to grow and manifest.

Be a blessing and be blessed,
Epiphany Essentials