this loss of life is terrible, but it points to something bigger.
that we need to list all these accomplishments to make this life worth grieving.
since when does a brown man shot in the “ghetto” worth so much attention?
once his life is made valuable by participating in the institutions most people like him are excluded from.
and if you notice, many of the articles say that this occurred in Logan or the near-northwest side.
failing to mention Humboldt Park as if it would justify this violence.
i’ve never seen so many articles about someone’s death in this neighborhood.
when i come home and see the police cars on my block i can hardly find a source that thought violence in this neighborhood was newsworthy.
frankie worked with the men of color initiative and his life shouldn’t be simply memorialized after the parade of mourning.
we can make his loss into a necessary sacrifice to start a very real dialogue about the day-to-day fear of random violence for many of the men he sought to help.
these are the realities that keep our men out of college. these are the tragedies that keep our communities from reaching greatness.
getting “out” going to college will never be an escape. they teach us that we learn to move beyond these things. they teach us that these are the reasons we can’t go back.
but I want to go back
after i’m done with these stale classrooms, these dead literatures
i want to come back to never forget how lucky i am.
any of us could have been him.
como esperanza cordero dice: “I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out.”
