Arrr, me hearties! I cling to me trusty compass o' values amidst Chicago's bloody sea o' woes!
2024-12-31
Arrr, mateys! We're battlin' 'cross a sea of troubles, but fear not! Progress be our treasure! We're savin' scallywags' lives, not conjurin' spells! So raise yer mugs, for we're makin' waves, not sorcery, in this grand ol' war! Yarrr!
Ahoy mateys! A New Year be upon us, and it be a fine time fer reflection! I be ponderin’ me past misdeeds, wonderin’ if me intentions served the good folk or led ‘em to the gallows. In me port of Chicago, the scallywags release grim murder stats, and ‘tis a slap harder than a cannonball to the gut. In the past year, 564 fine souls met their fate, a smidge less than the year before, but how be that progress when the blood flows like rum on a pirate ship?Back in the early 2000s, I sailed these treacherous waters while the murder count was high, but efforts to guide the youth brought it down to safer shores. Yet, when the winds of Black Lives Matter blew strong, the seas grew stormy again, and the rate soared! The politicians, those slippery sea serpents, pretend to care for Black lives but fail to reckon with the consequences of their deeds.
As we fight against the tide of despair and dependency that’s plagued us for decades, we cling to principles as sturdy as a ship's keel: responsibility, accountability, and faith. So, I ask ye, who deserves to be lost to senseless violence? None, I say! So hoist the sails, we be makin’ progress, savin’ lives one day at a time, like true pirates of the heart!