kimtheveteran

The increase of violence in Chicago, where more than 20 students have been killed since the beginning of the current school year, has prompted a myriad of advocacy groups to unite.

Among the groups in search of solutions to the outbreak in crime include National Women Veterans United (NWVU), a group of female vets in Chicago whose rallies against violence date back to 2006, when several veterans were killed in random street murders after serving in Iraq.

The women veterans are also concerned about active duty members who are parents and how they might be affected by leaving their children in Chicago while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Retired Army officer Dr. Constance Edwards, Ph.D., R.N., who served as a nurse in Vietnam, believes that the availability of greater communication via the media and internet is adding to the worries of those troops serving in combat areas.  She says that this is not only an issue for Chicagoans but for the nation, as well, and might be impacting combat vets on a greater level.

“Suicide rates for those currently serving in combat and for those returning home are at an all time high,” said Dr. Edwards during a women’s town hall meeting on violence on May 31.  “If you are fighting for the country and then return home to violence in the country, you can imagine what that can do for your head.”

NWVU hosted the town hall meeting in Chicago, where more than a dozen panelists discussed: Identifying factors that contribute to violence; Parental involvement; Available programs to deter violence and other possible solutions.

In addition to community activists and local veterans, panelists included representatives from Women Eye (co-host), the Illinois African-American Family Commission, Chicago Commission on Human Relations-Women’s Advisory Council, the Black Star Project, Juvenile Court of Cook County, Lakeshore Hospital, Probation Challenge, InnerVoice, Jobs for Youth, the Stay Focused Foundation and Soldiers on a Mission.

The group discussed at length the issues of single parenting and the lack of parental guidance.

“We have not taught our parents how to be advocates and not adversaries in our schools,” said Dr. Ida Cross-Pruitt, commissioner, Illinois African-American Family Commission, who insisted that educating parents is key to curbing violence among children.

The women veterans united with Veterans Against Violence in 2006 after the deaths of Iraqi veteran Ricky Martinez, shot after attending a Cubs game, Jesse Franklin, a U.S. sailor shot in Englewood while home on leave, Marines Amanda Carrithers and Jordan Barrow, both Chicago natives killed at
Camp Lejeune, NC.

Rochelle Crump, NWVU president, issued the following statement:

“It is imperative that every citizen is involved in seeking solutions to the nation’s crisis of violence. Our men and women in uniform should not have to worry about the safety of their families as they defend the freedoms of this nation. As women veterans we have been taught to be confident leaders. Well and healthy women must step forward to provide a nurturing relationship with children that are not their birth children. Drugs and alcohol have destroyed the family structure and the moral and ethical decisions of a great population of African-Americans. The children are reeling in alternatives for survival and they have not failed us, we have failed them.  The interpretation of laws defining neglect has thus missed the emotional suffering of common families.”

Meanwhile, the violence in Chicago continued this past weekend—spilling over from the children attending school to the teachers who nurture them.

Tawanna Ford, a 17-year-old Proviso East High School senior, was fatally shot in the head while sitting in a car in west suburban Maywood.  In a separate incident, Erika Prince, a 32-year-old special education teacher at Chicago public school Dixon Elementary, was also fatally shot in the head as she sat in a car on the city’s south side.

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