Change's Gon Come

First off, let me just say that God is good, even when you don't want Him to be. This just has been weighing on my heart for a minute. I was talking to my friend the other day, ya know just catching up on what I've missed since we graduated. And she told me, very simply that all was well except that her cousin had been murdered in a gun fight. I couldn't believe that she felt comfortable enough to talk about such a topic so soon, so openly, and so calmly. Especially seeing as how we were talking via text message. I reacted emotionally. "Oh my God. Are you okay? Do they know who did it?" the whole nine. And she continued, they knew who did it because that's what happens in gang shootouts. She explained that the city she grew up in (I won't mention because some people will be mislead) is just like that sometimes. Violent. And the age we live in is a tough one, filled with hard truths and tough decisions. It was simply breathtaking to have a friend showing that glorious inner beauty that so many of our Black Women have had to muster for the continuity of our race. People talk all this about how hard it is in these streets. But some of us have no idea. Some people are living in it every day. And they can't swallow those half-assed stories about how it's always sunny on their side of town. Some of us live on the South Side, where shit always gets real. I just wanted to weep for my friend because my brother is one of those kind of gangbangers like her cousin was. And I think, how many people have lost their lives to gang violence? How many innocent bystanders have been struck down by stray bullets in a war that wasn't theirs? How many families have been torn apart by the ill decisions of one of their relatives? It's a shame this is how I had to spend my Wednesday, but I think it should not go without being said. There has been much progress that we as African Americans and minorities have made. And there have been great strides taken to combat the violence that flood our streets everyday. But Lord have mercy, we still have a long ways to go.

For more on gang violence check this article out
http://www.chicagodefender.com/article-2842-the-year-in-review-2008-in-chicago.html