The Other War

Monday night when Mae and I got home from the Sox/Twins game we had a very cryptic message from our friend, Sherry. The message said, "I assume you have heard about 'S'. If not, stop by the [Uptown] ministry tomorrow and talk to Pastor Bob." Mae and I were trying to figure out who S was (I am not usinging his full name). She remembered he was one of the kids she worked with at the ministry.

Yesterday, she spent the day going through photos with Sherry for S's visitation and funeral this weekend. S was the victim of a drive-by shooting on Sunday. His mother, a dear friend of Mae, did not find out until 3 hours later. By the time she got to the hospital her son was dead.

Dead. 18 or 19 years old.

This is the war going on our own land. Gang warfare has taken so many lives so soon.

How can we confront this? How do we fight it?

I think a major thing that can be done is to make this news. I could not find any archival reports about this murder in any of the local newspapers.

The other is to continue the fight for civil rights. While Blacks and Latinos and other minorites have made great strides in the last 50 years, there is still much to be done. But, there is a new 'ism that is emerging. Especially in the urban areas. Classism. We have the super rich and the super poor. There is such a disconnect between the two groups that reconciliation seems impossible. We need to open our heart and minds and arms to those less fortunate than us. We need to be employing people from within our neighboorhoods instead of outsourcing jobs. We need to work to created community businesses instead of mega low marts opening up and putting all the mom and pops out of business. We need to work to developed poor areas, using people who will live there to build, union workers. We need to control housing costs.

There is so much that can come together to end this war, we just need to start.