Today, this headline in the Chicago Tribune stopped me cold, “3 kids die, 5 hurt in rash of shootings: City schools chief cites ‘heartbreaking’ weekend.”
 
Kadeidrah Marsh, 15: Shot Sunday night. A victim of a vendetta.
 
Paris Bassett, 16: Shot Sunday night. His death may have been gang-related.
 
Jose Garcia, 18: Shot Saturday night. Killed in a parked car.
 
These kids bring the death toll of Chicago schoolchildren up to 17 this year. Last year there were 18 kids killed in the same period.
 
What is going on here? More importantly, what are we doing to stop what is going on here?
 
A couple of months ago, I saw this picture spray-painted on the sidewalk in Logan Square, by the California stop on the Blue Line.

Photo by Brenna Ehrlich
 
I wondered who put it there. I’m not a religious person, but at times like these I remember this painting and wonder and wonder: Where is this person? Who is he? And is anyone listening?