As an educator and gun violence activist, I sincerely appreciate and am heartened by youth and teachers rallying for their right to live and thrive in a country that promises so much, but has done very little to safeguard our communal spaces and our families. Instead, we've opted for gun laws that require little to no accountability for persons to their communities. We've let politicians who are responsible for this legislation convince us time and again that they are advocat

Who: Although Chicago has been experiencing unprecedented levels of gun violence, it is not the only US city suffering. In 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice called the violence happening in cities across the country “a national crisis.” The fact is 1 in 5 children in the U.S. have reported witnessing violence in their family/neighborhood and 83% of inner city youth report experiencing one or more traumatic events. What: When we think about the violence our first thoughts a