Cruel Summer: Chicago Moves Forward From Homicide Epidemic [GALLERY]

Since the start of the year, Chicago has been plagued by gun violence. More than 340 people—the brunt of which have been teenagers—have been killed since the top of 2012, but once the summer months rolled around the shootings picked up steam.  By late August, six homicides were reported in one day, tying the city’s Feb. 19 record for the most killings in a single day.

In an effort to make a change leaders in the area have been doing their part to call for an end to the gun violence, but with many of the those committing the crimes belonging to a younger generation, the message sounds like white noise.

Nation of Islam leader Mr. Louis Farrakhan walked through the city’s West Side, which has been the location of much of the violence, telling residents to bring an end to senseless killings.  Additionally, Tio Harman, director of the anti-violence organization CeaseFire Illinois, announced that both he and Farrakhan would hold a “Peace Summit,” to bring about some form of change.  Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel also attended a  global youth violence prevention event in Chicago, attended by the likes of actor Sean Penn and President Bill Clinton.

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Photos: NY Times/AP/HipHop

“It’s always been a situation, a right of passage, this rivalry thing,”- Anthony ‘Twilite Tone’ Khan

Submerged in criticism for not doing enough to curb the epidemic, Emanuel went on the defense, stating that “nobody can be comfortable” with the loss of so many lives.

For those actually on the front lines, and native to the city, there’s a deeper reason behind the many shootings.  “It’s always been a situation, a right of passage, this rivalry thing,” says producer Anthony “Twilite Tone” Khan. Tone grew up in Chicago and has worked with the likes of Kanye West and Common, but is not far removed from the climate in his birthplace. “When I was growing up it was more fighting and possibly stabbing, than shooting. When you throw artillery in the mix then that kinda intensifies the amount of carnage that you’re gonna have.”

According to Tone, unearthing the motivation behind the shootings means looking at history, from slavery to the breakdown of the Black family, the Black Power Movement, and the lack of parental guidance in the home has been replaced with the Internet and music. “So why is it so much killing? Let’s bottom line this: there’s so much killing because this sh-t has been simplified, it’s been McDonald’s-fied.  It’s like money, a–, drugs, ‘I don’t know if I’m gonna make it to tomorrow, f-ck that n-gga from the other side.’ Now you got access to making money, drugs, and then guns, so there you go.”

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Tone’s word mirror that of Charles Smith the cousin of rapper Lil JoJo. The teen, who was engaged in a rivalry with Chief Keef, was killed not long after video  of an altercation between him and Keef’s crew was uploaded online. At JoJo’s funeral, Smith placed some blame on record labels who have swarmed the city to pluck out potential talent, thus promoting the violent disposition in the music of the very youngsters that they are itching to sign.

“These kids were reaching for a false dream, and these record (companies) are coming to our city … and telling them that they’re going to be superstars. And they’re not looking at giving these kids guidance or artist development,” he said.

JoJo’s death remains unsolved, but Keef’s tweets were investigated after authorities learned that he made jokes about the incident on the social networking site.

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Roman Morrow, who ran for alderman in the city, has worked tirelessly to get young people off of the streets and into after school programs and other activities in an attempt to stop the violence.  “I think [the violence is a result of] the lack thereof, when there’s a lack at the home, a lack of parenting,” Morrow tells Hip-Hop Wired. “[When] I was growing up we had a mother and a father at home and it was less mothers and fathers that was out there that was strung out on drugs. Drugs is the epidemic or the epitome or like a growing cancer in our neighborhood, it’s destroying black families.”

Morrow also wants the Hip-Hop community to take some responsibility for the role played in glorifying violence. Gone are the days of widely known empowering tracks like “Self-Destruction,” released in 1989. In Morrow’s view, the influx of the “thug era” changed Hip-Hop and it’s collective message. “When the thug era begins, and I hope people know exactly what I’m talking about, when you have that you basically look at, and I’m not saying all music is bad, I’m not saying all music, all Hip-Hop, is bad, but I strongly believe that artists should take a strong responsibility when it comes to their music.

“I’m not blaming it on Hip-Hop, but Hip-Hop plays a bigger role than ever before when these artists sit there and say, ‘Well they can turn it [the music] off’ how can you turn it off if you’re walking down the street and somebody’s blasting it, if radio stations are playing it day after day?  I really think Jay-Z is a hypocrite, and the reason why I’m saying it is you’re going to call women out of their names on albums, but as you soon as you give birth to a daughter you’re going to stop? It’s the same things that goes on and one. ”

A potential solution to the message in the music,  Morrow suggest is that producer Quincy Jones team with rappers to release collective song promoting peace, for each region of the country. “If some record producer like Quincy Jones can step up to the plate and create a thing called, a new version of ‘Self-Destruction,’ and also have one for the Midwest, and have one for the West Coast, so you have different versions of it, you can have the the ‘Self destruction, Stop the violence.’

“If old school artists can do it then why can’t Jay-Z, Kanye West , [or] Lil Wayne, why can’t they do the same thing?”

Rather than merely giving an opinion Morrow is actually doing something to give children alternatives. Earlier in the year, Morrow proposed a curfew for youngsters unders a certain age, but the idea got little coverage as the only station to publicize the plan was Chicago’s WGCI.

“I’m an executive director for a non-for profit called Because I Care, president, a free program. The YMCA has to pay for the park district, this is a program you can come for free get their homework done, go on trips. Our focus to restructure, we teamed up with Phillip Jackson [of the Blackstar Project to hold] Saturday university. We make sure that young Black men and woman get the type of education, get the type of help that they need. You can’t find that nowhere else for free. I give kudos to a vision that Margaret and James Spearman, that got a chance to see a problem and used their own money, and built it up on their own pocket to get these kids off the street. In doing that we’re going to WNBA games, Chicago White Sox [games], I think it’s very important that the kids in the community, get out of the community [to see other areas].”

“We had five consecutive months of shooting reductions, and now in the month of September, we’re down 30% in the murder rate, so something’s working.” -Police Supt. Garry McCarthy

Only time will tell if a change will actually be made, but there is good news on the horizon. The murder rate in Chicago was down for the month of September, a number which Police Supt. Garry McCarthy takes credit for. “I can’t go back and change what happened in March. I can’t do it,” he said making mention to the violent start that Chicago got off to at the top of the year. “The shooting rate was up 40% and the murder rate was up 66% at the end of March for the year to date.

“We had five consecutive months of shooting reductions. We had a very average month of August, and now in the month of September, we’re down 30% in the murder rate, so something’s working.”

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“Drugs is the epidemic or the epitome or like a growing cancer in our neighborhood, it’s destroying black families.” -Roman Morrow

However,  police presence isn’t the only way to bring about change. “There is hope,” says Morrow, who will be holding a Halloween party for parents and children who don’t want to go door-to-door and face any potentially violent run-ins.

“I think there are people out here that’s working day in, day out, barely getting their bills paid to help the community. To the  people that’s fighting the fight, I’m going to say, ‘Thank you.’ They are the ones who are the unsung heroes trying to make a diff and getting little to no credit. I hate to call people activist, I always call them community professionals, and activist will sit there and march on the street [no matter what is going on], a community professional is somebody who’ll step up if somebody needs to step up.”