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Friday, September 22, 2017

Day Two:The Life of Kenneka Jenkins and The Life of Zaire Kelly

Okay, so yesterday I wrote while I was still processing what I had read regarding Kenneka Jenkins.

Earlier today I sat and watched television news for at least 30 minutes solid and saw a number of topics except for what recently took place in Chicago.

I kid you not, there was a story about a gentleman's missing wedding photographs...and zip, zilch, nada about the unfathomably gruesome death of  a 19 year old. She was one of us. When I say us, I mean to say that she was part of the larger human family.

The idea of having a life expectancy of 19 in the modern world is absurd. That sounds like something from the neolithic era.

According to the World Health Organization, "Today there is a 36 year gap in life expectancy between countries.;" with the ages ranging between 47 and 83. So how does that break down when you start talking about the varying demographics that make up our world, our country, our local communities etc...

The Center for Disease Control publication, "Deaths: Leading Causes for 2014," includes a section entitled, "Deaths and Percentage of Total Deaths for the 10 Leading Causes of Death, by Race: United States, 2014;" using the categories of  American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic,Non-Hispanic Black, Non-Hispanic White and White. This publication states that Assault (Homicide) was listed as the cause of death for thousands of  individuals in five of these categories. Given that there are only seven categories, that speaks volumes.

10:51 PM
While sitting here about to finish up my post today, I just read about the death of another young person, this time in Washington, DC. Information regarding 16 year old Zaire Kelly can be viewed via NBC Washington. The area that is made mention of in the reporting available through the aforementioned link is one metro stop away from where I used to live in Washington, DC.

I think this is enough for one night.

This is profound.

My aim was to post more information about one death and I am now writing additional content about yet another death, both of which have occurred within the space of a few weeks.

Okay, so I see we as young Black American people are walking a tightrope.

What kind of support systems can be built up to prevent these kinds of things from happening?



In Peace-The 50 Co-Op















Thursday, September 21, 2017

19 Year Old Kenneka Jenkins


Think for a moment what you can remember from when you were 19 years old.

Several media outlets have already reported on the death of Kenneka Jenkins of the Chicago area. I keep seeing content about the fact that she was at a party rather than who she was as an individual, what she meant to her friends and family and what her life was like outside of the context of this tragedy.

Keeping in mind the importance of writing responsibly regarding such an important matter, I thought to simply provide a link to a statement from her family.

The family of 19 year old Kenneka Jenkins has released a statement via the Chicago Tribune which can be viewed at the link below:    

Chicago Tribune
http://trib.in/2hmMYLV

The Huffington Post has also reported on this story and you can view their coverage at the link below.

http://bit.ly/2haPqsl

Here is what the New York Times has to say:
http://nyti.ms/2wZmgTk

Earlier today I was thinking about how we can become better as a society, how we can treat each other better and how there are so many circumstances in which you can certainly say, "People deserve better."

Social Media news coverage from the Chicago Tribune can be viewed using the handle
"@chicagotribune".

In Peace-The 50 Co-Op