Poverty: The Silent Community Killer

Poverty: The Silent Community Killer

Following a wave of violent crime in South Florida, State Rep. Shevrin Jones and Florida Senator Oscar Braynon II hosted a Choose Peace/Stop Violence community town hall meeting. It was at this meeting that I listened to a mother’s tragic story of the loss of her son to gun violence. This mother was all too familiar with violence in her community, as she had relocated to South Florida from one of Chicago’s crime saturated neighborhoods to provide a better living environment for her kids. She continued to discuss the importance of keeping our youth engaged in extracurricular activities, for it is in those idle moments that our youth fall into trouble. She wanted desperately to keep her son in after school activities; however, her finances could not sustain it. As she told the story, her son would later get involved with the wrong crowd and fall victim to a violent crime. Already moved to emotion, the mother then closed out her statement with something that pierced my heart, she asked if she had not been so poor and had the economic means to keep her son involved, would her son be alive today. The room was silent….Read More

Source: The Village Blog

Blogger: Kerline Jules