From Death to Life; Vigil for Quantrell Braxton and Rayjon Gomez

Post, photos, and video by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Last Sunday marked a vigil for Quantrell Braxton and Rayjon Gomez.  The organization From Death to Life was the primary organizer of the march.  I knew I would be in attendance, but part of me questioned why.  After all, this wasn't the first vigil I would attend around homicides and violence in my community.  God knows I hope it's the last, but how would my presence make a difference in that regard?  And I'm sure many people in attendance had other things they could have been doing on a nearly perfect late August weekend.  So why go?  What difference does my attendance make in solving the issues that lead to youth violence?

And that's when a thought hit me out of the blue...

Mayor Rybak at Peace Vigil: "Who is ARMING our KIDS?!"

Post and videos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

I don't know that I've ever seen Mayor Rybak express grief and pain and outrage like this before.  There will be more to say on the peace march today, but for now, these videos need to be shared.

Reflections on Recent Shootings

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, above video from Kare 11, video after the jump from EvenToddlers51 on Youtube.

First and foremost, my thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of the recent violence, and to their families and loved ones.  I can't imagine what they must be going through.  At a neighborhood meeting last night, residents spoke about how the spate of violence has rocked our community.  People don't feel safe in some of the most basic situations.  When neighbors see kids out on bikes, they are scared - either for the kids or worried one of them might have a gun.  Seeing our youth outside on bikes should be something we look forward to instead of something that causes fear.

There are other posts I plan on writing here on North by Northside, but it seems out of place to go about those posts without at least acknowledging the series of shootings this week.  A few thoughts...