Do you know the feeling when something that seems so far removed from your life instead becomes very personal to you? That didn't make much sense. For example, when the planes hit the World Trade Center on 9/11, it knocked me off my feet but still seemed far removed from me. Then a plane hit the Pentagon, and there was concern of another plane heading for DC. At that time, my sister worked in an office down the street from the State Department, so what had been something horrible, but outside of my life, took a turn and stepped right into my sphere.



Yesterday morning as I scanned the local news on my office computer, there were headlines reporting a large number of car accidents and a few murders that took place over the weekend. Typical weekend in Memphis is what most of us would think. But as I scanned the information, I felt like I had been punched in the stomach as I recognized a name. Someone that I knew. All of the sudden, what had been so distant from me became quite close. A momentary news headline reminded me that behind every senseless killing there is a family, countless lives are forever changed, and very often parents have to make funeral arrangements for their children.



I am embarrassed at how callous I have become to the suffering of families who lose a loved one to violence. It took reading one name to jolt me back to reality. Many of you will go through life and never know anyone who is murdered. That is a blessing. If, however, we start to act like every murder victim in Memphis is a friend, or family member, or even someone we just met once, maybe we can start to make changes. There are many ways to affect change: contacting your legislator to demand laws giving harsher penalties to gun crime, contacting city and county leaders to fight for increased funding of prevention programs and gun control programs, mentoring kids and helping them see alternatives to violence, mentoring parolees to help have access to alternatives to violence, hiring young men and women at your place of employment for internships or other entry level jobs to give them opportunities to better themselves, vote for civil servants who make crime prevention an agenda item and have a decent plan to work with, give to non-profit or charitable agencies that work to reduce crime, go clean up a neighborhood and paint over gang graffiti...I really could go on.

There are two things that I think could make a major change for the better in our city: 1) take every murder seriously as if it were your own loved one, and 2) get involved in crime prevention in some way, big or small.