Koopersmith on Kevlar: “Don’t leave home without it.”
THE TOPIC:
Chicago Tonight’s Hour Long Crime in Chicago Segment. Useful Pointers here from a self-sustained
Crime Fighter: ASK: Adrienne Sioux Koopersmith.
Thursday, February
28, 2013 - 9:55 AM CST
Mr. Phil
Ponce
Host: Chicago Tonight
WTTW:
Window To The World - Channel 11
5400 N. Saint Louis Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60625-4698
5400 N. Saint Louis Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60625-4698
RE: Stopping the Crime Epidemic in Chicago
Dear Mr. Ponce: An individual left home with his/her credit
card (where this jingle initially came from) and often times was held up for
it. However, with Crime, Violence and
Gun/Gang warfare at the highest it has ever been in the History of Chicago, wearing
Kevlar is not a bad idea.
I’m looking
forward to this evening’ full hour dedication to this most pressing social
issue that has caught ‘Sweet Home Chicago’ in its grip.
MY HISTORY: Beat-up,
robbed and left for dead in a pool of blood (my own) in the lobby of my
apartment building on Mon., Dec. 23, 1991, I started a Comic Art Crusade called
CARTOONISTS AGAINST CRIME ©1991
that not only
had comic artists and contributors (from around the GLOBE help me to TOON OUT
CRIME©), but CAC received 3 Endorsements of President Clinton, Mayor Daley,
Gov. Jim Edgar and other governmental notables from around the USA for my
efforts in recruiting these people – as anyone anywhere can be(come) a crime
victim – even if they are only 10 steps from their apartment, as I was.
However, my
Incident happened over 20 years ago and Life in Chicago has not gotten any
easier, nor has it improved. Many of us
are only living on borrowed time.
What people do
not understand is that with dwindling jobs and high unemployment; a steep
discrimination & racism rate; a failed family structure and continuous gang
recruitment, a typical kid has no other alternative than to JOIN A GANG that
looks and is quite alluring.
As a sociology
major (having graduated magna cum laude from Washington University, a Top Ten
University in 1974), I have found that
if you are able to REACH a young person and offer him/her an alternative such as:
sports – arts – music - a passion that they grow to love
they are more
likely to pursue that PATH than to seek a life of crime. Kids are savvy these days. They know there are videos on each corner and
in each convenience store. Getting
caught works in the benefit of law enforcement.
A life of crime shatters all their dreams. HOWEVER, with the fiscal cliff of January and sequestration (happening tomorrow);
with schools closing and parents getting laid off or at dead-end jobs,
WHAT DO THEY HAVE TO LOOK
FORWARD TO?
WHAT DO ANY OF US HAVE TO LOOK FORWARD TO?
NOTHING. Being frightened
that we cannot go out on the street is NO way to live. Consider the aging of
Americans - the Babyboomers - as we grow older and frailer. That means our odds
of becoming a TARGET increases exponentially each year. This is NOT a happy
topic to think about YET, it needs to be addressed.
At the other end of the
spectrum is our children and neighbor kids who cannot even attend school in
fear of gangs and guns.
That, along with
the fact that ruthless drug cartels from Mexico and South America are streaming
in makes it all the more attractive to them to seek a life of crime that
ultimately involves violence against Innocent Residents, whether they are urban
or suburban in location.
“Saving
Chicago(ans) may be too late.”
It definitely has been for the loved ones
and innocent victims we have lost already.
I am planning on
relaunching CARTOONISTS AGAINST CRIME ©1991
if I can find a benefactor – venture capitalist who can back this
oppor-TOON-ity. In the meantime, I
remain on hand advising those about how to be safer in Chicago and around the
globe via my Blogs and Social Networking Posts.
As Mayor Daley
told me and I paraphrase: Together, we
can work towards a better Chicago. A
positive attitude and being a ‘big brother/big sister’ to those less fortunate or
those needing to be mentored is the first step that every person on every block
MUST do in order to safeguard our ‘Kind of Town…’
I am extremely
glad you are featuring this life or death topic as more and more people are
migrating and moving out of Chicago, which is extremely sad…but it’s expected
with growing stat(istics) like these.
This program
that you are airing tonight should become a regular feature spotlighting people
who can help. I ‘d be happy to join forces with you with my 21 year expertise
in this area of community involvement.
Sincerely,
ASK: Adrienne Sioux Koopersmith
Studio 1437
Chicago –
Illinois USA
847-630-9201 - Cell
847-448-0544 – VM
Askoopersmith(at)hotmail(dot)com
http://adriennesiouxkoopersmith.blogspot.com/
Facebook.com/Adrienne.Sioux.Koopersmith
Twitter.com/ASK_KOOPERSMITH
Li:
Linkedin.com/ASK: Adrienne Sioux Koopersmith
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