ICYMI: Michelle Obama Addresses Chicago Youth Gun Violence

First lady says she struggled to console friends of a dead 15-year-old

Michelle Obama didn’t hold back emotions on Wednesday as she addressed Chicago residents on teen gun violence. The first lady was visibily choked up talking about Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old honor student killed days after performing with her high school band at President Barack Obama’s inauguration festivities in January. Mrs. Obama delivered her public remarks after meeting with students at Chicago’s Harper High School, a South Side public school that has seen 29 current and former students shot in the past year. Eight of them died. View video of Mrs. Obama’s speech in the player up top. (Reuters)

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We Can Do Better! Chicago Baby Gunned Down While Being Changed

Baby’s gang-affiliated father was the target of street violence, police say

Gang violence in Chicago has long passed the ridiculous threshold, but the latest headlines to come out of the city suggest nobody – not even local politicians and residents rocked by the violence – is taking it seriously enough. Jonylah Watkins, a 6-month-old girl, became the latest victim of Chicago gang violence on Tuesday. A gunman ambushed her father on Monday while he was changing her diaper along a street on the city’s South Side. The baby was hit by five bullets. Her father, Jonathan Watkins, who is a gang member with a long criminal history, was listed in serious condition from his injuries, Chicago police said. It’s as if the shooting deaths of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton and several others this year wasn’t enough to spring local, state and federal governments into immediate action. This is a state of emergency! (Associated Press)

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Chicago Mayor Wants More Prison Time For Gun-Toting Gangsters

Policy proposal said to include anti-gang mentoring and after-school activities

How do you know Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is short (no pun intended) on ideas to stem gun violence? He pitches some of the same old policies that have proven to not work in the past. On Monday, Emanuel asked Illinois lawmakers to increase the minimum prison sentence for gun crimes to three years. The proposal is part of a larger assortment of efforts that include more mentoring, after-school programs, policing and early childhood education. Gang-related gun violence contributed to more than 500 deaths in Chicago last year. The announcement comes after the weekend burial of 15-year-old Chicago high school majorette Hadiya Pendleton, who was mistakenly shot in a gang-related retaliation a week after she took part in inauguration festivities in Washington. The two men arrested in connection to the crime – Michael Ward, 18, and Kenneth Williams, 20 – are alleged gang members, police said, and one of them had been granted probation on a gun charge last year. The problem with filling up prisons with more young black men is that it has long been proven ineffective at stemming gun violence, stimulating the economy or educating and rehabilitating the young men. Someone should tell the mayor to think more about his increased “mentoring” proposals and less about the prison industrial complex. (New York Times)

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Petition Urges Obama to Attend Funeral of Hadiya Pendleton

The 15-year old, who performed at inauguration, was shot and killed after finishing her final exams.

What happened to Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old Chicago teen, was horrible. While taking cover from the rain, the young girl, who performed with her high school drill team at the Inauguration of President Barack Obama, was gunned down in what seems to be random gunfire. The White House acknowledged her death Wednesday. “The president and first lady’s thoughts and prayers are with the family of Hadiya Pendleton,” White house spokesman Jay Carney said.

But the people want more. A petition was created, urging the president to honor the brief life of the girl and attend her funeral. Carney said he had no knowledge of the petition nor of any scheduling changes. There is no word that he has addressed the petitions’ request. (NewsOne)

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Gunned Down Chicago Teen Appeared In Anti-Gang PSA

Hadiya Pendleton urged her young peers to say no to joining gangs

Four years ago, Hadiya Pendleton, the 15-year-old Chicago girl mistakenly gunned down Tuesday in a gang-related attack, had appeared in an anti-gang public service announcement. Smiling, she said: “Hi, my name is Hadiya. This commercial is informational for you and your future children. So many children out there are in gangs, and it’s your job as students to say no to gangs and yes to a great future.” News of Pendleton's death kicked off a week of more shooting incidents around the country and public hearings on Capitol Hill to address gun violence. See Pendleton's PSA in the video player above. To read more about the shooting, click here.

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