As a maturing child, I always had dreams and aspirations of getting out of my inner-city Chicago neighborhood for several reasons. Some of those reasons included my wish to become a world-traveler and be immersed in several different cultures, my desire to attend a top academic university, and most importantly, the longing to get out of the neighborhood where crime was high and the level of education was low. The reason I am speaking of my childhood desires is because it shows a great connection with the realities of today. Over the last two years, I have constantly seen headlines such as: “Another Chicago Student Killed,” on the front page of the Chicago Sun Times and other periodicals. In fact, some of those murdered students were either friends of mine or attended my high school. The fact that two or more years can equate to today’s current event in the news is completely unacceptable.
Last year, thirty-two Chicago public school students were killed and this year the numbers are just as high. Why should those my age have their lives taken before they are able to reach their full potential? Why should they have to forfeit their dreams? In my published poem entitled “What’s It Like,” I expressed some my feelings of what was occurring around me:
“So its starts as so - blood and tears, blood and tears. Why does it seem to be the only thing youth has shed in the last few years? Gun violence rages through our communities, like a never departing shadow. It's time for us to stand up, our pride and fear, we evidently must swallow.”
I recall the time when I was writing this poem, the way the tears rolled off my face like the rain from the clouds above. It’s so hard getting through something that seems like it will never end. I know the hurt and pain that I feel inside does not come close to comparison with the victim. So I begin to wonder, am I next? Will I be the next student to be shot down because I was caught in crossfire? Will I have those around me grieving because another Chicago student was killed or because Alex was murdered? At this point in time, I completely detest reading the newspaper because crime and murder is all I read.
I feel like I am here for a very special reason. My name is Alex Echols which additively means ‘protector of mankind’ on this ‘battlefield.’ As a college student and growing young adult, I will continue to profess the need for the decreasing of violence and the increasing of mentoring. I will continue to live fearless with my guard up. I will continue to pray for the victims around me. At a young age, I knew if I wanted to get out of my neighborhood, I was going to have to work. By God’s grace, I made it through high school and hopefully will make it through college and come out as a wiser soul. So you ask me, “Why is this news so important to me?” It’s because I hope that at the end of my journey, I would have saved at least one life. For once, the headline of the Chicago Sun Times would read, “We made it!” Ultimately, this is for the sixty-five Chicago students whose lives were taken. God Bless.
