What happened to the millions allocated by Pres. Clinton designating Englewood as an impoverish Zone?
Where is mayor Daley on assertive crime cleanup?
How can Chicago host Olympics being Murder Capital?
Where are the aldermen on aggressive community cleanup,e.g alleys and boarded-up buildings?
Where are the jobs,family centers, crisis intervention resources,after-school programs,good schools, good teachers, parents,churches that just don,t sing on Sunday,new business(black owned),Park District programs e.g. track,golf,swimming,billards,woodshop,roller skating ,ice skating,dressmaking,culinary art?
When your community looks hopeless(dirty alleys,boardups)and feels hopeless(little policing,inadequate programs,inadequate schools,no jobs,no commerce)you also feel hopeless and depress.
Others outside the community(aldermen,mayor,police,teachers) feel apathy.
CLEANUP ENGLEWOOD!!!

What needs to happen in Englewood and every community around the nation is that the communities need to come together. Ceasefire is on track to doing this very thing. Once the community can band together as one to help their neighbors out then we have it beat. We need to work with the gangs to help us give the streets back to us. We don’t need more cops on the streets we need more community on the streets. We need more help with ourselves. Let’s not be greedy or an individual because that is what dominates us as a person and a community. We need to step up and help are neighbor fix their houses when needed. If you see a boarded up home lets step up and fix it. We need to try to get more businesses inside the communities to create more jobs and bring some income inside the communities. Instead of selling dope on the streets lets help out the ones that need the help. That can draw the focus off the violence that is going on in the streets. To make something like this work we need to reach out the youth and the people in the communities...

The first problem is the parents, especially the absent fathers! Our race also lacks positive “black” role models. The older men need to be ashamed of themselves. Most gang bangers are 40+. The second is more policing. That ridiculous 10:00 p.m. curfew should be changed! I’m old school. What worked for me will work for the rest of the kids. If a kid is not working (which anyone under 16 needs a work permit) they should be in the house where their parents can monitor them more closely. After coming home from school, homework is to be done, chores, dinnertime, bath time, maybe there will be a little t.v. time after then BEDTIME. Parents need to give their kids structure before letting them out into the world allowing the streets to raise them. I have seen a kid on the way to school smoking a blunt! Not even a block a way from school (10’). In broad daylight on 87th Street where every one can see, bus lines, other students, grown-ups who walk around the park. Again, more policing could help. The city needs to also start enforcing the law that other cities have on making these kids pull up their pants and maybe, just maybe, they will try to get rid of that “thug mentally”. Maybe fining them and/or sending them to swap to clean up the those neighborhoods where they throw trash, beer bottle and cans all over the place and have no respect or love for. So of these kids don’t even attend school. Another thing that has fell by the waist side. Public aid and the school used to communicate with each other. If a kid was not in school (provided truancy officer is on staff – which is on longer) that parent was not allowed to get assistance. The parents are the first to be held accountable for their kids. But the police could patrol a little more. I know they are short staffed but something needs to be done.

Englewood,Woodlawn, South Shore and communities likes these, where the proverty rate are high, and mothers are trying to raise their children without a male role model consist of crime. I grew up in Woodlawn where my mothers house windows was shot out because a gang member that disliked the gang members I hung out with decided to tell his gang leader that I told the police where the drugs and guns where at. So they decided to shot my moms house windows out with several different gun. Thanks to God no one got hurt. 61th and kimbark is a war zone the residents are afraid to walk out there homes. In South Shore everday someone is found died. Lets not just talk about one hood lets talk about them all and solve the issue.

I worked in Englewood for five years. In that five years I have seen atleast 20 youngmen shot, some died and others survived and were right back on the corner in a few weeks. The problem is there isn't any jobs for the young men in that area. Most have criminal records and their aren't any after school activities for the teenagers. Plus the fact that crack cocaine arrived their in 1988 and destroyed hundreds of families with addiction and street violence. From 1988-1993 there were over 200 shootings in Englewood, just check the stats with the police department. They need to vote the area dry. The middle eastern culture has open too many liquor stores, the worst is located at 69th S. Ashland. You don't need alcohol stores on every corner. Also their are so many store front churches that many take religion as a joke, which is ashame. The police station which is located at 6120 S. Racine st. is over worked and the officers are rude. I been in there for a traffic report and the mostly white officers talk and treat everyone like a criminal. They need to sell the boarded up properties for a cheap price so investers will purchase them, invite Wal-mart, Home Depot or Jewels to the area with a large tax break and offer free schooling and training for the young people with felony record, that would be a start to improve the area.

Englewood has always been a trouble spot for the the city. Now that the 'projects' have been torndown many of the southside residents went into Englewood and other 'hot'spots throughout the southside. The city officials lied to the residents of the south and west sides claiming more police would be provided for extra support and security, didnt happen! The city had gotten a gift from D.C. in the form of 400 plus officers, already trained and falmiliar with the troubled residents. The city refused to to accept the police officers because they were minorities, blacks and latinos and poor whites! I know because I was one of them!

Many issues arrive when you discuss poverty stricken areas. Every one of them want outside help to fix what they have done. No one wants to take the blame and not enough help from the inside. The neighborhoods didn't start of this way, they turned into this. Not because of poverty because of laziness. The people in these areas sit back and watch killings of the ones they love and their friends, but what are they telling the police? "I didn't see nothin!" How do you expect to get outside help when you won't even help yourselves? They have all this time on their hands? Use it to fix things! Instead of buying a hundred dollar pair of shoes, get a window. Some of it is that simple. If you look at the way the people are dressed, how poverty stricken are they really? They are complaining about the rest of us being so greedy? I refuse to spend more than thirty dollars on a pair of pants. I shop at Kmart, Walmart, etc... for clothing and food. The schools have lowered their standards to meet those needs of less educated students.Perhaps that is what we don't need to do. Get those kids in schools regularly and they might have a clue what's going on. This makes me extremely upset. Especially if you bring certain funding into it. There are more than enough jobs out there. Yes you will have to work some crappy jobs that are not going to make in a year what you are making in a week selling on the street. Yet these people that are not working or contributing in any way continue to get all the breaks. Funding from DHS is just an example. I, a single white woman, cannot receive medical funding because my children do not live with me, I am able to work, and I do not collect social security. However, I attend school, work part time, have no medical benefits, like most, available to me. If you ask me, the people in the areas need to begin by taking care of their streets on their time.

This is a very disturbing situation. We have a very beautiful city that was once filled with a promise of good movies, and plenty of entertainment. We once had plenty of parks and places where children could play safely. However, times have changed. The economy is bad, and people just don't have all of the answers. Unfortunately, it will take the hand of God to bring us out of this situation. I pray for all neighborhoods worldwide, and I say an extra prayer for the neighborhoods with extreme violence. There is no 1 person to blame for this problem, and guess what, we would never find all of the culprits. We really need to come up with a way to stop this devastating violence. I pray that God will fix this situation, or direct us to a resolution. Praying hard!

Whats happing in englewood is proverty no jobs ! A lack of hope as well as broken homes. when people are pinned in corners what do you expect. and by this i mean if the parents in some of these homes are not doing well most of them give up and allow their kids to rasie themselves. in which these children in up making bad choices, which leads them to give up and not care about anyone or anything not even there on selves. I seen it too many times a cycle repeating its self . what ever happen to meental health services,and or couseling services for trouble teens. (oh Yeah). I forgot this is the new america. we only care about ourselves these days.And everyone wants to know whats wrong.with or society today .Well people its full of Greed and envy,along with selfishness and not enought or the right people to care about more than just themselves.(BUT GOD).