On the 4th of July in Chicago in 2020, 7-year-old Natalia Wallace was playing on a sidewalk at her grandmother’s house when a car pulled up. Three men got out and started shooting up a holiday gathering.
Natalia was killed, joining a growing list of children slain in cities by criminals. In Chicago that year, over the 4th of July weekend, 87 people were shot, 17 of them fatally, including Natalia and a 14-year-old boy who was killed when four masked gunmen opened fire at a gathering in Englewood.
They were among nine children under the age of 18 shot dead in Chicago in 2020 between June 20 and July 8.
Nathan Wallace, who is the father of Natalia and three other children, has asked why there haven’t been protests on behalf of victims like his daughter the way Black Lives Matter has staged events castigating police.
Nathan will be one of several speakers at a special event in Chicago to be held by STAND in which we will implore public officials to do something about the rampant violence that is killing children.
The Save the Children Conference will be held on Saturday, October 15, in Chicago at New Beginnings Church of Chicago, where its pastor, Corey Brooks, has taken a leadership role in highlighting the violence against inner city children and tackling urban blight. He founded Project H.O.O.D. which provides mentorship, training and community for residents of Woodlawn and Englewood.
I will give the keynote, and other speakers include Pastor Brooks, Cecil Blye, Pastor of More Grace Ministries in Louisville, Kentucky and a STAND Vice President, along with Pastor Iverson Jackson, of Zoe Bible Church, in Little Rock, Arkansas, also a STAND Vice President, Dallas Police Sgt. Demetrick “Tre” Pennie, President of the National Fallen Officer Foundation, and Jennifer Wallace, who heads Black Families Matter and co-founded Freedom’s Journal Institute with husband Dr. Eric Wallace.
Also speaking will be Angela Gregg, who lost her 4-year-old son MJ to a drive-by shooting in Chicago in September 2021. MJ was sitting in a chair getting a haircut when gunshots exploded from a passing car. He was shot in the head twice.
My friends, I cannot express how wrenching it is to see young lives snuffed out and their families in mourning.
The police are not the problem; they did not create a system that destroys families and leaves children vulnerable to a criminal-dominated environment.
On Wednesday, October 12, a 12-year-old girl was killed while helping her mother unload groceries from her car in Milwaukee. On Oct. 4, a 9-year-old boy in Oklahoma City was killed in a drive-by shooting.
Here is a list of the top 10 cities in child killing since January 2020:
1. Chicago (56 murdered children)
2. Philadelphia (21 murdered children)
3. Memphis (16 murdered children)
4. St. Louis (11 murdered children)
5. Louisville (9 murdered children)
6. New York City (7 murdered children)
Tied at 7. Atlanta (6 murdered children)
Tied at 7. Los Angeles (6 murdered children)
Tied at 7. Dallas/Ft. Worth (6 murdered children)
Tied at 7. Milwaukee (6 murdered children)
Tied at 8. Washington DC (5 murdered children)
Tied at 8. Detroit (5 murdered children)
Tied at 8. Minneapolis (5 murdered children)
Tied at 8. Richmond, VA (5 murdered children)
Tied at 8. Houston (5 murdered children)
Tied at 9. Baton Rouge (4 murdered children
Tied at 9. Kansas City (4 murdered children)
Tied at 10. Indianapolis (3 murdered children)
Tied at 10. Toledo (3 murdered children
Tied at 10. San Antonio (3 murdered children
This horrible trend has to be stopped. More people must express outrage at the sheer carnage of innocent children that the media overlook while demonizing police.
There is no easy answer, but we do know that if we want to halt the violence and keep kids safe, we must have a revival of faith in God, help restore the two-parent, mom-and-dad married family, and help police restore order in lawless neighborhoods.
Bishop E.W. Jackson is president of Staying True to America’s National Destiny (STAND) in Chesapeake, Va., head pastor at The Called Church, also in Chesapeake, and the host of this weekly national conference call.
A Marine Corps veteran and graduate of the University of Massachusetts Boston and Harvard Law School, Bishop Jackson has authored several books and appeared as a commentator on national news networks such as C-SPAN, Fox News, and MSNBC.
He hosts a daily program, The Awakening, on American Family Radio from 1 to 2 p.m. ET, and a daily podcast, and directs the Awakening Hearts and Minds Project, an outreach to black, Hispanic, and other minority voters.
E. W. and his wife Theodora have been married since 1970 and have 3 children, Earl Jr., Rebecca, and Jaquelyn, and one granddaughter.
Please join us for this stimulating, informative conversation.
