Another Life Lost

Memorial Day Weekend was in full swing. Warm weather- check, list of cookouts to attend- check let the fun commence. That all quickly changed when the phone rang at 7a on Sunday morning. Im always a little nervous when the phone rings early in the morning or in the middle of the night- never know what I might hear from the other end. This call was one of those. The news was that Cory Johnson, a family friend, more like a brother to me, had died. My heart sunk and my mind immediately went to hoping it wasn't by violence. The voice on the other end confirmed that it was by violence- Cory was shot to death. How could this be? Cory wasn't in a gang, actually he often stayed to himself. At 27 years old his life was more about his two beautiful daughters than what was going on in the streets.

Words can't fully describe how I feel at this moment- but one word that keeps surfacing is ANGRY. Im angry  that my community/ our community is a war zone, that at any moment no matter how good of a person you are it could be your last moment, angry that we are raising youth that don't understand the value of a life, that our voice is not being heard... Im angry that no matter what I seem to do- work for an organization to make change, volunteer, sit on a board, speak up- NOTHING IS SAVING MY COMMUNITY. At the end of this week I will stand by and have to watch another young man be buried because of this senseless violence. Tonight when I go home I will have have to look at his 2 little girls again and know that although they don't fully understand it now, they have been robbed. Not of riches but something greater- knowing the man that truly loved them.

So what do i do from here?  I turn this anger & pain into a stronger force. I work harder, I step up and speak out more, I try to be a role model for more youth- I let them know there is more to this beautiful world than what they see now, I keep pushing forward trying to make a difference. Hoping that one day it will all be worth it. And I start now by asking you WILL YOU HELP ME? Lets go together and ask our city for a curfew, mentor a youth- take them by the hand and show them there is more,sit on a board of an organization that works in the trenches to make change. The list can go on- but can we start with this? Im begging everyone to get involved- as we would say here at United Way. LIVE UNITED.