We Are Not Alone

David Nekimken

 

We Are Not Alone*

 

I

Gunshots shatter the night

Bleeding youth

Wailing ambulances,

Death by gang symbol

Death by street boundary

Death by mistaken identity

Death by stray bullet

Shards of life dreams.

 

Sobbing mothers

Despairing fathers

Avenging siblings,

Daily occurrences as

Dead-end every days

Police intervention

(often too little, too late, too insentitive)

Youth ERs and funerals.

 

An all too grisly picture,

Chicago youth violence

Black and Latino youth violence

Splattered across the evening news

Splashed in Chicago newspaper headlines.

 

II

Community leaders

Youth leaders

Saying “NO” to violence,

Saying “YES” to

self-empowerment

a voice for their stories

acts of positive contributions,

Becoming their own role models.

 

Youth taking control of their lives

Their communities

Alternatives to gangs

Gang violence,

Intervening to

Save lives

Build bridges

Start community enterprises.

 

Transformation in the communities

Starting from one youth

One step forward

Banding together

To forge a powerful force for change

And youth living out their dreams.

 

David Nekimken  6/28/11, is a poet of our times and our communities

 

*A campaign to unite Chicago’s black and Latino communities and their news media, to transcend violence  www.chicagoistheworld.org/notalone