By Safiya Merchant
JJIE.org
CHICAGO — (UPDATE: Thursday marked a new development in the effort to provide the United States with comprehensive gun control reformwhen the Senate voted 68-31 to debate on President Barack Obama’s proposed measures to heighten gun control and reduce gun violence.)
First Lady Michelle Obama visited her hometown of Chicago Wednesday and made an emotional plea for providing the city’s youth with opportunities in order to curb violence in their neighborhoods.
At the Wednesday luncheon of business executives and community leaders held at The Hilton Chicago, she stated while all the city’s youth had enormous amounts of potential, a home address and the distance of a few blocks could determine the life chances and opportunities offered to children, thus changing their futures.
Besides exposing business and community leaders to the issue of gun violence, the Wednesday luncheon also spotlighted Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s new Chicago Public Safety Action Community Fund, a city initiative introduced in February that will allocate $50 million to providing more community resources to at-risk youth to steer them away from violence.
The initiative has already raised $33 million.
Full story: First Lady Rallies for Solutions to Crime During Chicago Visit