The Topic was Murder

        Greetings people who still (apparently) visit this blog. It's been awhile since I wrote here but felt inclined to do as such. Most recently life has taken me to the windy city of Chicago, Illinois. It's nice here, people are polite and the city is full of energy. Definitely up my alley. However, violence here jostles a part of me that I'd rather not express. Anger, pure and unbridled anger.

        Today, in one of my writing classes, my professor gave us an assignment to write a quick 400 word opinion piece about the word "Murder." So I wrote this out and felt like it was something that should be shared, albeit just my opinion and not entirely about traveling. Anyway, enjoy and mow it over. Without further adieu...

            "If I earned a penny every time I got angry over murder in Chicago I would be a millionaire. If a star blinked out of existence every time someone was affected by violence in this city, children would have nothing to wish upon. I can’t imagine what they wish for now as they hide in bathtubs while bullets rain above them.

            Firearms killed over 500 people last year in Chicago. 2,500 were shot. Countless more are wounded without even being at the scene of the crime. Families are torn apart and 15-year-old girls are shot in the back at parks.

            We make excuses for murder. Blame it on the weather, bad parenting or poor education. We spend thousands of dollars trying to save a baby, barely a year old, her organs obliterated by a single bullet. All the while the father misleads police about “who dun it,” and worries about his street cred. It’s pathetic and an outright injustice to everyone.

            Our answers to combat the violence are worse. We flood streets with young police officers, which are helpless to actually prevent any murder. How can we expect them to prevent murder when the people who are victimized see them as the criminals? How long till the police get too tired to care?

            Our politicians don’t know what to do, and we put them in office. What a joke local politics has become; corrupt, uncaring and unashamed. We tell them that we need change and justice should be available to all. But their biggest concerns are how we can get more income into Wrigleyville. What is the best way to advertise in an airport?

            People refer to the Chicago as the murder capital of the world. Doesn’t matter that Rio de Janeiro, Brazil has gangs who run swathes of the city wholesale. People don’t talk about San Pedro Sula, Honduras or Durban, South Africa. People talk about Chicago.

            People talk about Chicago because Chicago doesn’t care. Not enough of us anyway.

            When something happens as blatantly and commonly as murder does in this city, we become immune. It’s a fact of life. It just comes with living in a city. None of that is true. But we believe it to be. Can anything change when we believe that a part of living here is that someone you may not even know one day can just kill you?

            No, nothing can change. I’ll just get angrier."