National News

'Our children have the right to be safe!'

By Ashahed M. Muhammad -Assistant Editor- | Last updated: Nov 18, 2015 - 1:56:11 PM

What's your opinion on this article?

Community mourns as nine year old is laid to rest, the latest victim of Chicago’s bloody slaughter

tyshawn-michael-lee_11-24-2015.jpg
Cover of the obituary for young Tyshawn Lee.
CHICAGO - A heavy sadness filled the sanctuary of Saint Sabina Catholic Church on the South Side, just a few blocks away from where 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee was brutally gunned down a little over a week prior.

Father Michael Pfleger, an activist priest who leads St. Sabina, serves as a spiritual advisor for many who have lost children to gun violence. The city has again been brought together at “the uncomfortable intersection of pain and anger,” marking the death of another victim of gun violence in the city, he said.

Father Pfleger said Tyshawn was not “in the wrong place at the wrong time,” as some in the media have reported. He was doing the right thing at the right time, coming from school, going to play basketball, down the street from his grandmother’s house. Even as many of Tyshawn’s classmates cried as they held basketballs on which they wrote personal notes to him, his death left many wondering if anything can be done to protect the young and vulnerable?

“Our children have a right to walk our streets! Our children have a right to play in the park! Our children have a right to sit on their porch! Our children have a right to expect to be safe wherever they are in the city of Chicago!” said Father Pfleger Nov. 10 as many rose to their feet, shouting and shedding tears. “Tyshawn was not in the wrong place! The murderer, the executioner, the assassin—he was in the wrong place at the wrong time!” 

Tyshawn’s death Nov. 2 was the latest in what many observers have called an epidemic of violence that has gripped Chicago for years. People are confused and hurt wondering how society and those within the community have stooped so low that a young boy could be mercilessly filled with bullet holes. There is currently a reward of $54,600 being offered for information leading to the capture of the killer.

tyshawn-michael-lee_funeral_11-24-2015b.jpg
Mayor Rahm Emanuel stands with Father Michael Pfleger viewing the body of young Tyshawn Lee at Saint Sabina Church, November 10. Photo: Ashahed M. Muhammad

At the funeral, many of Tyshawn’s grieving family members broke out in loud cries with his grandmother nearly inconsolable. Her loud sobbing and wailing was heard throughout the sanctuary. The young child was buried with a basketball in his small casket. For those present, it did not seem right to see a young boy who liked watching SpongeBob Squarepants, dressing up and playing basketball would be lifeless in a coffin.

“Tyshawn, like so many of our children, are victims and they are martyrs of a society that has lost its conscience,” said Father Pfleger. “We must, Chicago, find the killer of Tyshawn. We must capture any individual who stoops so low that it is almost unspeakable to comprehend,” he added.

Father Pfleger called on the people to have the courage to confront the National Rifle Association and those profiting from gun sales that are “running to the bank while blood is running in the streets,” as well as music executives for companies such as Sony, Universal and Interscope who continue to distribute music many believe glorifies violence and killing. “You are pigs pimping our children for your money,” he said.

After the funeral, standing on the steps of St. Sabina, Tyshawn’s father, Pierre Stokes, and his mother, Karla Lee, released white doves into the air. Once his tiny casket was placed into the carriage which was hitched to a lone motorcycle rider, many said their last goodbyes snapped images with their cell phones, and then the deep roar of the motorcycle’s engine filled the air as it pulled away.

Present at the funeral was Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who stood with those who came to pay their respects. He shared brief private words with the family and some community organizers present.

tyshawn-michael-lee_funeral_11-24-2015.jpg
Youngster’s casket is carried from St. Sabina following funeral. Photo: Haroon Rajaee

Actor Nick Cannon, star of the upcoming controversial Spike Lee film “Chiraq” looked serious and somber during the entire funeral service. Also present was U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, 17th Ward Alderman David Moore and 18th Ward Alderman Derrick Curtis. Father Pfleger said Mr. Lee and Chicago Bulls Center Joakim Noah called to express their condolences, with Mr. Lee reportedly pledging to add substantially to the reward being offered to those with information leading to the capture of Tyshawn’s killer. 

Aleta Clark, 26, of Englewood wore a t-shirt of a community organization she and Kelvin Moore, 32, were moved to start after Tyshawn was killed called #HugsNoSlugs.

Ms. Clark has a six-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter. In fact, she said her son was traumatized after hearing news and discussions regarding the shooting. It affected him so much, they made a short video that is circulating on social media in which he’s heard pleading for an end to the violence and to “put the guns down.”

“We’re trying to get everybody to come together to let the kids live,” said Ms. Clark. “I mean we’re grown and make our own decisions but the kids should not have to account for it, and that’s what’s important at the end of the day because they’re our future,” she added.

“We can’t wait on the media to step in and do something. It’s going to take us. We can’t even wait on the police,” said Mr. Moore. “It’s going to take the people in the community to get it started. We know it’s going to take time and effort, sweat, tears and all of that,” he added.

Young Tyshawn was described as a creative, artistic, charming, helpful, tech savvy youngster who “had an imagination out of this world,” said Alene Mason, the principal of Scott Joplin Elementary School where Tyshawn was a student.

Much of the focus has centered on the alleged gang ties of Tyshawn’s father, and some criticism was leveled at his mother who had purchased a new car as funds were solicited for Tyshawn’s funeral. But the young mother denied using any funds and defended her decision to buy a car out of fear she could be targeted by gunmen. According to police, her son was killed in connection with other deaths and retaliation tied to his father’s involvement with a gang. The father has denied any gang ties. Police say the boy was lured into an alley by his father’s gang rivals and intentionally shot to death.

Some feel there has been more interest in assigning blame, instead of finding solutions.

“It shouldn’t be who is to blame. The only concern right now should be justice,” she added,” said Ms. Clark. “This could have happened to anyone of our kids then who would have been the blame? The problem is putting the guns down and that’s where we want to start. We don’t need to point the finger; we need to hold hands.”

Congressman Bobby L. Rush, also an ordained minister, had just returned from meeting with two of the most prominent and legendary street organization leaders in Chicago, Larry Hoover and Chief Abdul Malik Ka’bah (formerly known as Jeff Fort). Rep. Rush traveled to ADX Supermax Prison in Florence, Colorado to speak with them. He told The Final Call  his meeting was a productive one aimed at finding a way to end the bloodshed.

“They are a part of the solution and not a part of the problem,” said Rep. Rush. “They are very upset about what happened especially when their names are being used. They repudiate that action. They repudiate all those who are doing drive-bys and  all this violence in our community.  They want to have peace.”

It has been reported in the media that factions of the Gangster Disciples and Black P Stones are battling, and law enforcement says young Tyshawn was a casualty of that war.

Rep. Rush said far from warring, the two men Hoover and Chief Malik have found common cause behind bars. It is thought that a word from those prominent individuals might make a difference and influence some of the younger members of street organizations to change their ways.

“Jeff and Larry have bonded tremendously inside the prison. They are brothers in the real sense.  They look out for each other and support each other; they got each other’s back inside the prison,” said Rep. Rush.

Wallace “Gator” Bradley makes no secret about his past as a high-ranking member of the Gangster Disciples, and it is that knowledge and experience that makes him an effective interventionist and now, social and political activist. There is still a street code in which young children are off limits, and those who killed 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee violated it, he said.

“They violated the code, that doesn’t mean the code is not there. It shows that they violated the code,” said Mr. Bradley. “The individual that did that violated and those who are harboring him are in violation too,” he added.

Manski, a hip-hop artist and businessman who in the past was affiliated with the GDs, recalled in his era children and innocent bystanders were not to be harmed. Now there is “no structure, no guidance, no order,” which causes incidents like the one involving young Tyshawn, said Manski. Tyshawn’s killer would not still be on the loose back in his day, he added.

“They would have made him turn himself in,” Manski continued, “what else would have happened, I really can’t even say— but he would have been dealt with in an orderly fashion.”

He is praying the boy’s death does not turn into a bloodbath in which many other young children are targeted.

“Crime is wrong, but it’s rules to things,” said Manski.

Community activist Jedidiah Brown and Quo Vadis Green were both circumspect as they thought about the condition of the city and their communities.

“This is a painful experience for me because I don’t just think as a Chicago resident, I think as a villager. I feel pain maybe not as much as the direct family members are but it is a shame that our city allowed another life to be taken,” said Mr. Brown. He came to support and encourage Tyshawn’s mother and father during this trying time.

“It’s not what we do after but it’s what we do before that prevents these kind of days,” said Mr. Green. “It’s the actions that take place before the shooting, before the trigger is pressed; before we put the kids in the ground. We come together for one day and after we put them in the ground it means nothing if we don’t go back into our communities and do something to stop another parent from sitting on that front row.”