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A new year is upon us. It is a time of reflection for most of us. I often use this time to reflect on my actions in the past year. What did I do to serve people the right way? Were my intentions, no matter how good, correct? Or were they injured? What can I do to improve myself and those around me? How can I continue to promote My relationship with my Lord?
But this time of reflection always comes with a slap in the face if you're a Chicagoan who serves people like I do: the release of last year's homicide statistics. These tragic numbers make national news to shame us and remind us of our shortcomings as human beings and neighbors. All those killed were not just abstractions, but individual lives that were worth saving and could have been saved. But we didn't do that.
Last year, through December 18, 564 Chicagoans lost their lives to homicide. This is 43 fewer casualties than in 2023 and much fewer than in 2021 when 797 lost their lives. There are people like Mayor Brandon Johnson who might try to sell this as progress, but how do you go from 797 murders to 564 murders? Especially when most of it was self-inflicted?
The real reason is that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is working hard to resist Trump
When I first started My job is in Chicago In the early 2000s, the homicide rate was reaching the 1960s level. After I and others began serious efforts to reach out to youth and gang members, we were able to track homicide rates mostly in the 40s over several years.
Then we saw the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement in the 2000s, and the years following Michael Brown's death saw a massive spike in the homicide rate. It jumped from 425 homicides in 2014 to 778 homicides by 2016 – largely due to police withdrawal due to anti-police sentiment among activists and politicians.
Then he came The death of George Floyd And the police defense movement. In 2019, before the world even heard Floyd's name, 498 murders occurred. Then 772 in 2020, the year he died, and 779 in 2021. We have lost hundreds of Black lives because of the Defund the Police movement, which was formed in the name of saving Black lives, but in reality has only put more power in their hands. Self-serving politicians. The tragedy here is that no politician or activist will face justice for their disregard for black lives.
Chicago crime crisis: The first murder of 2024 occurs just moments after New Year's Day
Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot supported the movement. Current Mayor Johnson supported the movement. They both claim to know the interests and lives of black people and claim to believe that black lives matter. If this is true, why did it not matter to any of the black people, who lost their lives as the chaos grew in the wake of George Floyd?
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks during a science initiative event at the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, US, July 23, 2020. (Reuters/Kamil Krzaczynski/archive photo)
It matters to me and to a lot of people in my community on the South Side and also the West Side, where most of the 564 murders occurred. It matters because many of those killed were young and in the prime of their lives. The ages of 91 of the deceased were between 0 and 19 years. The ages of 177 of them ranged between 20 and 29 years. One hundred and forty-five people were aged between 30 and 39 years. Four hundred and twenty of them were black and 110 were Latino. Four hundred and ninety-four were male. Five hundred and five of them were shot dead.
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The only good thing about George Floyd is that he exposed the immorality of politicians and activists who exploit black lives to gain cheap power. Even though we were foolish enough as Chicagoans to elect The worst mayor of my lifeWith Johnson in office, there are many of us, from community leaders to concerned citizens, who recognize that the time to act is now.
We know that the Black Lives Matter movement is a lie. We know our politicians won't fix our failing schools — after all, what do you expect from a mayor who refuses to return a $150,000 donation made to him by a rapper facing murder charges? We know that the damage caused by the police defense movement continues. We know that our youth are growing up believing more in the US government than in Jesus.
Beyond that, we are fighting the disastrous effects of 60 years of liberalism. We are fighting the culture of dependency that has been ingrained in many families, generation after generation. We are fighting the culture of despair.
We are fighting on many fronts in this war, but we are making progress. We save lives. What we are doing here is not magic. We use old American principles: responsibility, accountability, meritocracy, etc. We preach faith in Jesus, and if they are of another faith, we still encourage them. Most of all, we emphasize that one must have confidence in oneself.
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These are the values I always come back to every year after I hear Thwarting the final number of murders For last year. I pray for all the families of the victims and I pray for the strength we will need for the coming new year to continue our work to reverse the political, cultural and educational negatives in our culture and lower the murder rate. To zero.
Call me an idiot if you want, and if you want, answer me this: Who deserves to lose their life to senseless, preventable violence?
