I wanted to give a special nod to the Chicago Tribune’s recent investigative piece on taxpayer money targeted for after-school programs being squandered on things not related to school or after-school.

The juicy details:

Powerful Senate Democrats quietly gave out the money to handpicked nonprofits, schools, businesses and churches. The lawmakers funneled the money through the Illinois State Board of Education, which rubber-stamped the choices.

But a Tribune investigation found that nearly half of the 48 groups that got money this past school year were running dubious programs, or declined to show how they spent the money. Only 11 of the grants went to established programs with a history of tutoring or mentoring school-age children.

Singled out in the article is Illinois State Sen. Rickey Hendon, who is the main sponsor for these grants in question. Hendon responds further in the article by saying, “yeah, I take chances on people. I’ve had success and failures.” If half of the 48 programs are squandering their $20,000 grants or are not able to show how this money is being spent, we come to a situation beyond a simple success or failure.

In a year where close to three dozen young people in Chicago (not counting the suburbs) have been killed, it is an outright shame to find such little disregard from a public official we elected to serve in our best interests, not his or his friends and associates. What will Sen. Hendon have to say if a child in his district is shot because they had nowhere else to be other than the streets since the money for their promised after-school program is in someone else’s pockets instead? Another simple failure? Try telling that to the child’s parents, or the parents who have already had to live the nightmare of losing a son or daughter.

Over the past two weeks we have seen more shootings, more marches, and a gun turn-in day that saw more than 6,800 guns exchanged for gift cards.  In the end the number of young people killed this summer has risen to nine.

Third teenager since June shot within several blocks on Far South Side

Teen slain on Albany Park street

2 wounded in South Side drive-by

Mother, 18, charged with murder in newborn’s death

Chicago, IL, July 29, 2008 — The first annual film festival dedicated to peace and non-violence premiers Labor Day Weekend at the new Victory Garden’s Biograph Theatre, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, Friday August 29 - Sunday, August 31, 2008.

PEACE ON EARTH FILM FESTIVAL (POEFF), is presented by a non-denominational conscious awareness group, New Thought Chicago, and is not intended as an anti-war forum; its focus is to present realistic alternatives, setting the tone for a culture of peace through possibilities for change. “Our thoughts set in motion actions; thoughts can change when alternatives are entertained; we choose to foster a new imagination through the art of filmmaking, to entertain a culture of peace for all humanity,” states Executive Director and retired film actor and television star, Nick Angotti.

The art of filmmaking can promote peace and non-violence to citizens around the world. POEFF encourages filmmakers, videographers and animators to build peace by telling the stories of people who have opened themselves up to new ideas, made a change, and have positively impacted society. Documentaries on environemtal issues, Chicago students addressing guns and gang violence, films on women’s rights in Iraq, a new direction for post civil war Rwanda and a broad sweeping inter-denominational cooperative to supply drinking water to remote villages in Indonesia are some examples of the films in the festival.

For up-to-date and detailed festival information, visit:

www.peaceonearthfilmfestival.org

And they say hip hop can’t be positive. Here’s a little something from Chicago-area artist Kidd Russell.

Kidd Russell “Dear Shooter” from Courtney Harris & Eric Almond on Vimeo

Sorry for the delay. The site suffered some technical difficulties, but everything is back and running like normal.

Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Good read from today’s New York Times on the alarming number of young people falling victim to knife violence.

Tidbits:

Knife crime, most often involving weapons like simple kitchen knives, has dominated the headlines in recent weeks, with reports of fresh cases every day. But statistically, the picture is more murky. Violent crime over all has actually decreased by 41 percent from a peak in 1995, according to the British Crime Survey, in which citizens report their exposure to crime.

Yet the survey accounts only for people 16 and older, and evidence suggests that young people in poorer areas are increasingly likely to carry knives, and increasingly likely to use them. The Daily Telegraph, which examined data from three-fourths of the police forces in England and Wales, reported recently that nearly 21,000 people had been stabbed or mugged at knifepoint so far this year.

Here’s an article focusing on the rise of UK hospital admissions for violence, which is mentioned in the New York Times article.

(Luis Torres / Diario de Juarez)

Here is an interesting article on the consequences of the ongoing drug war in Mexico. It looks like the problems we see here aren’t confined to our own backyard.

Chicago Defender

By now, most of you have read about Mya Lyons, a 9-year-old girl found stabbed to death Monday night. There is no need rehashing the tragic details of her death. When I first heard about it, I felt a bit of deja vu, recalling the murder of 11-year-old Ryan Harris, whose death will be approaching its 10-year anniversary in August.

It is moments like these that the issue of youth violence shows itself to be more than the back and forth we have seen play out in the press this past year. There’s no fight over guns and gun-control in the death of Mya Lyons. There’s no fight over gangs. There’s no fight over after-school programs or jobs in the community. What we have here is something so brutal that it’s unanswerable. And you know what? That’s alright. Everything doesn’t have an easy answer, or what we personally think is an easy answer. Sometimes things are so complex and a shock to our system that all we can do is think. Maybe a little more thinking is a good thing for us, because we have a lot to think about in our communities. The death of this little girl is more than a problem that can be fixed with simple legislation or protest.

This is what is missed in the debate we have about guns and external problems in relation to youths who die by gun violence. Guns are only one component of the problem. Chicago has had a gun ban for more than 25 years. How far has that gotten us to stopping the violence if we see a march or rally to stop it almost every weekend?

Numbers of murders (homicides) in Chicago per year:

• 1990: 851
• 1991: 927
• 1992: 943
• 1993: 931
• 1994: 929
• 1995: 827
• 1996: 789
• 1997: 759
• 1998: 704
• 1999: 641
• 2000: 628
• 2001: 666
• 2002: 647
• 2003: 598
• 2004: 448
• 2005: 449
• 2006: 467
• 2007: 435

That is not to say there is a need for some type of gun control, but we can’t ignore the bigger picture in this story. What is that bigger picture? I don’t know, honestly. I’m still trying to figure that out. I have to admit that sometimes I wonder if it is a battle worth fighting. I’m sure some of you feel the same way at one point or another. A little voice says, “Something will happen whether or not I do anything. So, what’s the point?” But another voice soon follows, rebutting, “If not you, who?” So for those who nonetheless feel outrage or a sinking feeling over this senseless tragedy, remember you are not alone. Remember these words from the poet Aeschylus:

“Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.”

Opacity.us

The Chicago Defender recently published a compelling cover story about one mother’s struggle to protect her son from the influence of gangs in their neighborhood. The boy, who is only 10 and learns at a slower pace than other children at his school, is the type of child gang members look for when taking in new recruits. Sadly, this same story is found not only in neighborhoods across Chicago, but in cities across the U.S. Situations like this are no different than the stories we read of children forced to become soldiers in places we consider a world away from ours.