Sadness

Although I always knew that someone died everyday, I never actually empathized with the idea. But living in Chicago has made me face violence and death in the face. So much so, that I find myself getting immune to both subjects. One day I found myself shrugging my shoulders at a story of a fight where someone was killed and thinking, "just another day in the neighborhood." Shame on me. I have awakened and am no longer immune. The violence and death is noticeable and uncomfortable again. In Chicago, Black people are killing each other at rates that are unimaginable to me. Today, violence and death came close regarding a boy who was raised at the youth center where I work. He was shot at his home and later died in the hospital.

The feeling is starting to return...I know why I am here.