It was about three in the morning Friday night when I was beginning to nod off on my couch when a sea of red and blue lights suddenly flooded my apartment, sirens not far behind. Looking out my window onto Halsted St. in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, I counted three fire trucks quickly pull west onto 18th, screaming down the street in the early morning hours of Saturday morning. The next day, I checked the news to find the story of seven fires set only a few blocks from my own home. Fires that killed one resident, threatened the lives of dozens more and left twenty-five Pilsen residents displaced without a place to go.
Driving in the car this morning, listening to DJ Hot Sauce on WGCI, the topic came up about yet another police-involved shooting video that a judge was ordering shown to the public. It’s crazy what you can get used to, the news simply the latest in an increasing trend for the Chicago Police Department as the noose gets tighter with the Department of Justice bearing down on them by the day. Listening to the radio as the morning DJs talked it over, one call-in struck me in it’s simplicity. One resident of the south side simply said, “I’m just tired of my city getting dragged through the news across the country everyday because of the people who are supposed to be on our side.” Truer words have never been spoken on the matter.
The City of Chicago is in an unprecedented time in it’s history.
Yet again, protestors have taken to the city’s streets to call for the resignation of Mayor Rahm Emanuel in the wake of the release of video showing Chicago Police Department officer Jason Van Dyke shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times before trying to reload his weapon. Continue reading Protestors Take To Streets Demanding Mayor’s Resignation→
Jake Krzeczowski 