Dearest Chicago,
I’ve written about the affinity that I have for you on a number of occasions, most recently in a well-received tome that I penned during a flight home last year. Unfortunately, it seems that I can always count on you for being in the news for all of the wrong reasons.
The latest controversy du jour takes place against a backdrop of what seems to be a never-ending drum roll of police accused of being overzealous in their use of lethal force.
I won’t bore my regular readers with regurgitation of the facts in the Laquan McDonald case, but my greatest fear is that it will get worse before it gets better.
And – I’m inclined to think that my beloved city deserves better than that.
Dearest Chicago,
Are we naive enough to turn a blind eye to the annals of your history?
Many people still see Chicago as a extension of Al Capone – a hopelessly corrupt city that is beyond redemption.
The influence of late Mayor Richard J. Daley still looms large, his heavy-handed manipulations of the levers of power are the foundation of what many contend burdens the city to this day.
The unrealized promise of the late Mayor Harold Washington and the Council Wars that followed showed that electoral muscle could trump the divisiveness that threatened to rip the city apart.
The 22 years that his son, Richard M. Daley served as Mayor seemed to place the proverbial stamp of “Daley” on the city, but his legacy is a mixed bag, colored by fiscal issues that will burden the city for the foreseeable future.
Dearest Chicago,
I love you in spite of your warts and all, there is “no me without you” and for that, I am so appreciative. I’m inclined to think that I understand you better than most who purport to hold you in high esteem.
I too, echo the cries of Rahm Emmanuel to “resign” his post (as he can’t impeached). Rahm should “resign” as he is indicative of a larger problem, but when the opportunity to was presented to “retire” Rahm.
A strange thing happened.
Less than 40% of your children showed up at the polls to flex their electoral muscle.
My dear Chicago – does this mean that 60% of your children are just as guilty as the main characters in this debacle?
Are those who shout – doing so in an effort to deflect their culpability?
Can this “shouting”, effect change that could take the place of speaking to the establishment in terms that it can understand and respect – better than manning the voting booth?
Does shouting make a movement or is this merely a case of treating the symptoms instead of the cause?
Shun P. Writes... dot com 
I really enjoyed this. I wonder the same thing with regards to your last question. That’s one of the reasons why I try to promote solutions that may seem unrelated to the problem but actually have a direct effect on the system that allows such horrid treatment of people of color. I slip in the solutions directly and indirectly on my website and throughout my social media. I also try to take accountability of my own actions and do what I can to improve my situation so I can be in a better position to help others – one day at a time. I feel like one method is more reactive (shouting) and the other method is proactive (sharing solutions). Both can bring about change to a certain degree but it seems like “pro-activity” (made that up…feel free to use it lol) has been lacking in our community which is why it’s hard for us to sustain any lasting change. That’s my two cents.
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I think you are on to something!
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