"Mama, I'm shot." Those were some of the final words spoken by Sandra Parks, a 13-year-old Milwaukee student. Parks was at home enjoying time with her family the night before Thanksgiving when she was gunned down.
Instead of preparing to give thanks, Sandra's family had to steel themselves to give a her eulogy instead.
Sandra's story is made even more poignant because she was a dedicated student and avid writer. In 2016 she wrote a piece for her school district's Martin Luther King Jr. essay contest earning her third place honors. In it, she spoke about the horrors of being a child and living in a city sick with gun violence.
She wrote:
"We are in a state of chaos. "In the city in which I live, I hear and see examples of chaos almost every day. Little children are victims of senseless gun violence."This promising young girl who had hoped to change her city for the better unfortunately became the latest victim.
According to Newsweek, since 2016, 12 children from public schools have been murdered in Milwaukee, Sandra is the seventh since January. Parks started off her powerful essay expressing her desire to sit back and escape from what she saw and heard every day. But it isn't that easy and for young Sandra Parks, there was no escape from her city's chronic gun violence problem.
It is no secret that gun violence has gotten out of control in America. For some, we only see its consequences on the nightly news, others experience the tragedy of random and senseless mass shootings, but there are those — like Sandra and millions of others — that live in areas that have no respite from gun violence.
For many of us it is often easy to forget the fact that gun violence is rampant, but for them, it is an actual fact of life.
We cannot forget Sandra nor can we forget the words she wrote depicting her life surrounded by gun violence.
That's why we are asking the Chicago Tribune to publish her essay in full and share a story with the entire world. Sign the petition if you agree. 