Yesterday at 4:30 in the afternoon Jontae Adams took his 7-year-old daughter Jaslyn to the McDonalds on Chicago’s Westside. While waiting in the drive-up another car drove up and shot Jaslyn 6 times killing her and wounding her father. Imagine! the murder of a 7-year-old on a Sunday afternoon at McDonald’s, the police say it was gang-related. What gang kills a 7-year-old? Two days prior to that a 17-year-old girl was shot in the head and killed – another gang-related killing. Of the more than 184 murders in Chicago so far this year, scores of victims have been teenagers. Of the over 937 people wounded, hundreds have been teenagers. It is sad to say this is not a new trend.

Last year in 2020 from January thru August, 30 children under 17 years of age were killed in gang shootings and over 222 were shot. The victims were playing in front yards, walking down the street, sitting in cars, sitting on couches in their homes, or walking down hallways. 24 children under 10 years of age and younger were shot in Chicago as of the end of July last year an increase of 36% over 2019, shooting victims age 10 and younger increased by 200% over 2019. Right now at this moment the number of shootings victims in Chicago over last year has increased by 70% and the murders have increased by 50%. One does not have to be a math genius to know that by the end of July this year the numbers of children murdered and shot will surpass last year’s horrific numbers.

Imagine being a child in the city and have already lost friends and acquaintances to gang violence, the sound of gunfire being an almost everyday occurrence the emotional scars that would leave. The World Health Organization says that homicide is the fourth leading cause of death for children 1-14 years of age and the second leading cause of death for youths 15 to 24 years of age. There is no question that Chicago’s numbers are far worse.

It seems that Chicago’s politicians are always trying to pick up the clean end of a pile of shit. There is no outrage over gangs, barely are they even mentioned by politicians who are constantly babbling, honking, and pontificating about being champions and the savior of the people, and yet not one thing is being done to reign in the thousands of gang thugs who are preying on those neighborhoods and luring children as young as 12 into the gang life. Soon after Rahm Emanuel became mayor of Chicago in 2013 he decided that in order to save money he closed over 50 Chicago Public schools. What Rahm didn’t know or care to know was that by doing so thousands of Chicago children would have to cross gang boundaries in order to reach the newly designated schools.

Anyone who is acquainted with Chicago gangs knows that being in the wrong neighborhood is often a dangerous and deadly undertaking. Immediately the gun violence escalated to a point where the President of the Chicago Teachers Union labeled Mayor Emanuel “MAYOR MURDER.” He then decided that the children needed protection and he started a new program called “SAFE PASSAGE.” Hundreds of people were employed to walk the children to and from school to limit the amount of violence. Yea! another 10 million dollars a year of taxpayer money to cover a major blunder. Safe Passage is still in effect. Emanuel is gone.

Will Chicago’s politicians ever wise up? Gang cancer is taking the lives of children both physically and mentally. Belief is a high hurdle to get over when it comes to believing anything they say. It’s gone on far too long and the gangs are winning. The City is in decay and city leaders are either blind or are completely overwhelmed. Those in power have to either lead, follow or get the hell out of the way. Chicago is running out of “LAST STRAWS”