The Verbal Renaissance: July 2009

I live in the South Suburbs of Chicago; and for the past three years, I have been looking at the violence that has been plaguing our communities. It's sad. A soldier came home from Iraq to be shot on the street like a dog when he was deliberately trying to avoid the confrontation between two guys. A shame. Simeon Sanders had to come home to die after he risked his life fighting for our country.

Just last night, there was a 6 year old boy that was shot twice while playing in his room. This kid wasn't bothering anyone. A couple of weeks ago, a nine year old girl was killed while washing her dog outside with her father. Again, a shame...and the list grows longer with each day. And these are the cases that we KNOW about.

I'm tired of it. Sick of it. Most of this activity has been attributed to gang bangers. So I have a question for you: What the hell are you fighting for? It's the biggest damn mystery known to man right now. Can't these issues be squashed?

I'm not familiar with gangs and stuff like that (and if you can explain it to me...please do) but it sounds real petty to me. I've heard a couple things and again, it sounds real stupid, so please educate me.

We fighting over our territory: Please....you don't own shit...I'll repeat...you don't own anything. Do you pay taxes or a mortgage? If you don't...keep it moving.

He/She disrespected me: Okay...I can halfway see your point on this one. But why does disrespect equal death? I mean...really, is it that serious?

This is the real world...and that stuff only works in the movies and rap songs...Too many innocent people are dying because folks want to be ignorant...It's just frustrating. To close this, take a look at this poem by Gemini, and ask the question: What are You Fighting For?