Tonight,
I will be attending a screening of the documentary "Chi Raq" just
like the moniker the city earned from the frequent gun violence and gun related
deaths. The documentary is the work of a London-based filmmaker who turned his lens on
people most affected by it living on the city's South and West Sides. The
interviews in the film include the men pulling the triggers, the people trying
to stop them and the families of those caught in the crossfire. I hope my
emotions can handle this.
The
documentary screening event and discussion will be hosted by the Chicago Urban League as
their final documentary screening for their 2014 Black History Month Film
Festival. I was only able to attend one other screening and panel discussion,
but I truly enjoyed the conversation about Dark Girls, a fascinating and controversial
documentary film that goes underneath the surface to explore the prejudices
that dark-skinned women face throughout the world. (In March, expect a post
about that conversation).
Chicago
has a gun violence problem that In one weekend in 2013, Chicago saw 46 people shot. In
2012, 443 people lost their lives to gun violence
and 65 of those victims were 18 and under.
And now in 2014, the city reports that homicide rates are down. When summer
hits, will that rate remain low?
Regardless
if more or less people die this year, gun violence is a problem, especially
here in Chicago. Some argue that Chicago's violent crime levels are not
exceptional when compared to other major cities, but the death of nearly 500
people a year because of guns is significant enough to be classified as an
epidemic, in my opinion.
After
the screening, I'm hoping tonight's panel discusses a few questions I have:
- How are we going to end segregation in Chicago and bring people out of poverty?
- Is the availability of guns the main contributing factor to the gun violence?
- Are stricter gun laws a solution to ending Chicago's gun violence?
- How do we stop making youth a target for gun violence? ( According to the Chicago Reporter, from 2008 through 2012, nearly half of Chicago’s 2,389 homicide victims were killed before their 25th birthdays.)
- How do can we use our collective power to end gun violence in Chicago?
- What questions do you have about Chicago's gun violence?
I'll
be sure to write a post-event write up about the event and mention what was
discussed.
