I was born in Peoria Illinois, and after being raised by my grandmother in a small town about 45 minutes to the west, I came back to attend a local university and decided to stay after graduation. It was not the lure of great career opportunities that influenced my decision to remain, but the desire to be close to family. Over the last 28 years I have witnessed a slow decline to the city’s inner city areas. The recession did not help an African-American population already plagued by high unemployment, and has not since recovered. Communities of poverty are usually the breeding grounds for violence and this has been increasingly true of Peoria. While most of the country has seen the decline of violence, Peoria and Chicago have not. Chicago has managed to capture the attention of the nation for it’s high gang related gun deaths, but these similar cases have been growing here. The first gun death of the year occurred this past week and was the inspiration of this week’s podcast discussion. My guests are local radio personality Johnnette Johnson and returning guest and community activist Angennette Nathan. We explore some of the causes of tragedies such as the 22 year old man’s untimely death due to gang violence. It’s multi-layered dysfunction that begins in the home. The causes are many and solutions prove to be frustrating but we are not giving up on this city. Take a listen to our chat and please share your ideas.
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The problem is our law makers. Stop cutting deals with criminals first time offence 60 years and 5 years for each bullet fired .10 each victim. These fools know a gun case they get a break so they don’t care. And white society doesn’t care until it affects them directly. When you don’t care it don’t matter
I think the conversation was interesting from a female perspective but there were no men in this conversation. It is not just black females that have a perspective and a responsibility here it is primarily the men. Like fatherless homes you are having a fatherless conversation. And where are the young men in this conversation. How are they going to be heard if fear stops you from including them. Insurance is definitely a neccesity for the dead but we are not trying to bury them we are trying to save them. Maybe the next conversation will be one that includes men and women in the community because this devide though historical in our communities is the only way to heal this mental epidemic.
Great messages on your pod cast this week. First looking at how the community has changed and the struggles we are facing with the stores closing, now 2nd death in Peoria, and our responsibility to provide life insurance. In the poor community, life insurance will continue to be a problem. You already have people trying to just survive, life insurance is not a asset easily gotten by most. But this is a Avenue now churches must look at and members. We got the name of the agent and will pass her information on. Thanks for caring about the community and adding your voice.