A Writer’s Commentary
The gun violence in America is out of control. Let me repeat this statement with both infuriation and disgust, “The freakin gun violence in America is out of control” !!
Early this morning while listening to the Joe Madison show on satellite radio I was sincerely touched by the anger and passion that he and the far majority of his callers conveyed to the listening audience as they discussed the senseless shooting death of six-month-old Jonylah Watkins.
Early Monday afternoon on Chicago’s South Side at approximately 12:45 central time, multiple shots rang out on the 6500 block of South Maryland Avenue.
At that fateful spot at that ill-fated time inside a minivan were Jonathan Watkins and his six month-old daughter Jonylah. Jonathan Watkins was busy changing Jonylah’s diaper when the shooting began.
When the gunman stopped firing, both the infant and her father laid next to each other badly wounded. Although shot five times Jonylah clung on to life as she was rushed by paramedics to Comer Children’s Hospital. On Tuesday Jonylah succumbed to her gunshot wounds and died. Her father is reported to be in serious but stable condition at Northwestern Hospital.
Police are looking for the killer, who reportedly jumped into a blue van after the shooting and drove away.
Jonylah’s tragic death accentuates just how badly the “leaders” of the city of Chicago, Illinois have failed their citizens.
In my mind I keep asking, “What did this infant do to deserve such a violent death? What type of monster indiscriminately shoots and kills an infant?”
Jonylah’s senseless death accentuates just how badly the U.S. Congress has failed our country by turning a blind eye to the gun violence that is killing poor Black and Brown children in poor neighborhoods across the United States.
If a father and his six month-old daughter living in Chicago’s affluent suburbs had been gunned down in the streets by a Black / Brown suspect I guarantee no stone would go unturned while police scoured the area including “areas beyond the burbs” going door-to-door demanding answers.
Why aren’t the gun deaths of poor Black and Brown children being reported by the national media with the same amount of zest, anger and shock that was given to the children who were slain earlier this year by gun violence in Newton, Connecticut?
Why aren’t the gun deaths of Black and Brown children worthy of receiving our nation’s full attention? Are Black and Brown children not worthy of receiving national empathy? What makes their life less significant than the child born on the “other side of the railroad track”?
And where are the boisterous and determined voices of leaders in Chicago’s Black churches? Have you no courage, no intestinal fortitude to organize within your own communities and flush out the pestilence that’s destroying your own congregation? If your congregation is being killed by gun violence who will give your church the tidings you need in order to buy you that new Jaguar and upscale home?
People who live in the communities you pastor to have a right as Americans to live a life without fear of being shot. Where are your voices?
To the Chicago Police; look for clues and tips for the unknown gunman at the barbershops and at the hair and nail salons, someone knows something about the crime.
To the people who are caught in-between the gunfire, make a positive difference in your life, in your family’s life and in your community.... talk to the police. If a person will shoot a six month-old infant five times, they don’t give a damn about you and it’s only a matter of time before either you’re shot and killed or someone you know.
It’s not snitching when you save a life.
My final rant
One last comment goes out to Chicago’s mayor Rahm Emanuel. Sir, you’ve failed the people who elected you to protect them. It’s time for you to (1) declare martial-law in your city, (2) establish curfews and (3) call in the National Guard. Once you’ve contained the violence in Chicago, start using your international clout and bring businesses to the “hood” that will hire and train young people. It’s simple, the more people that are working and can visualize a future other than what the streets have to offer, the less crime for you to have to contend with. It’s not rocket science sir. Chicagoans deserve better.
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