'People Power' pushed President Obama to visit violent part of Chicago?

Parts of the city of Chicago have been under siege for some time now, with the death toll from gun violence steadily rising. In 2012, 507 people died, and the New Year has started off competing aggressively to outdo that number. Fifteen-year-old honor student Hadiya Pendleton's was the 42nd life robbed by the brutal blast of a gun?at the hands of another teen?in the first month of 2013.

Yet no one in Washington was paying special attention, for I think the sentiment was, it?s just gangbangers shooting each other?we might be better off without those hoodlums anyway. Moreover, they are not in our neighborhoods.

Then, on Dec. 14 last year, the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting massacre happened and the country let out a collective gasp. This kind of horror is not supposed to happen in suburban towns. Our 6- and 7-year-old children are not supposed to be slaughtered like animals in an abattoir?well, at least not in places like Newtown, Conn., for kids of that age have died in the gun warfare being waged on the South Side of Chicago and other urban cities but the country just didn?t care to notice.

Newtown ignited a heated conversation about our gun-violence problem, but the killing in Chicago went on. Then a promising honor student was gunned down and the people were propelled into action. Whether it was her ?celebrity? as a band performer at President Barack Obama?s recent inauguration, I?m not sure, but something awoke in the masses that urged them to use their power to push the president to take notice. After petitions on the White House website, marches, rallies and online posts demanding action, Obama finally visited Chicago on Friday.

You see, we the people have more power than we know, than we use. This is a democracy, but I think we have forgotten how it works and how to utilize it for maximum action. We have become so used to our politicians in Washington dictating the rules or holding us hostage with their inaction and divisive tactics, that we have fallen asleep, given over complete control.

So while we have relinquished our power, choosing instead to divert our attention at the minutiae?the antics of reality queen Kim Kardashian and her baby daddy Kanye West, Rihanna and Chris Brown?s romance, Beyonce and Jay-Z?s Blue Ivy, songbird Taylor Swift and her 18-year-old lover, Lady Gaga's outfits and weight gain, reality train wreck Honey Boo Boo and other like-minded entertainment?our employees on Capitol Hill have turned into our employers. And despite the seeming intellectual deficiency and legislative impotence rampant among our politicians, we have left them in charge without any checks and balances.

Obama went to Chicago because the people let out a collective roar. Since the massacre at Newtown, more than 1,000 Americans have died from gun violence. Over 550 people dying on the streets of Chicago in less than 14 months is like having more than five Newtowns, and the president finally acknowledged that during his speech at Hyde Park Academy.

Don?t get me wrong, it is not all up to our politicians. We as mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, caretakers, grandmas and grandpas have a responsibility to do our part. It will take a collective and dedicated effort to clean up our streets and lead our children on the right path. They say there is no better teacher than ?good ol' example,? and so we need to be the change we want to see in our youths, in our communities, in our cities and in our country.

We are quick to complain about the young and what they are doing wrong?how they dress, sag their pants, listen to loud objectionable music, drop out of school, etc.?but what are we adults doing right? Look at the colossal mess we have made across the globe and here at home. Our legislators are incompetent, our deficit is out of control, our economy is still lagging; most of our jobs are outsourced, so youth unemployment is at an all time high; and our public schools are substandard. I could ramble on about our deficiencies, so let?s not be so hasty in writing off the youth. After all, we are gambling away their future.

So who is at fault here, those who live in the darkness, or those who created the darkness to begin with?

Source: http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/14059004-people-power-pushed-president-obama-to-visit-violence-ridden-part-of-chicago

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