Written and originally published on our affiliate site City on the Take by Joel Radwanski.
In one of the most heartwarming stories in the history of Chicago sports the Jackie Robinson West Little League All Stars are United States Champions. The boys have grown into young men in front of a city’s and country’s eyes and has made every Chicagoan proud. They have shown that when a community invests in their children amazing things can happen.
After winning the Great Lakes championship to earn their trip to the Little League World Series JRW became the first team from Chicago to go to Williamsport since 1983. The team left for Williamsport with the intention of capturing a championship, not the hearts of a city and a country. However, with their display of sportsmanship, character and never give up attitude they have created more than just civic pride, they have created hope. The watch parties in their Pullman neighborhood were full of joyous onlookers celebrating everything the boys of JRW did.
All of Chicago owes these young men. We can start when Darold Butler’s team arrives back at Midway airport on Monday after being in Pennsylvania since July 31st. Lets give them a city they can be safe to walk the streets in. Children should never be concerned with random bullets and the constant threat of violence. Children should be able to walk safely to school, attend practices and do all the other neighborhood things that make adolescence so special. Children shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not if they cross the street they’re in a different gang’s territory and wrong to be there. We owe the young men of the Jackie Robinson Little League a safe city to return to.
While JRW was winning the U.S. championship and the hearts of a country, they were in a bubble at the LLWS. Coach Darold Butler spoke about how the kids didn’t know the impact they were having back in Chicago. Butler, said, “Been living in a bubble, no cable, no tv in the dorms. It hasn’t hit me yet, so it hasn’t hit the kids.” The boys have been taking in all the festivities that come with attending the spectacle. They stay in dorm rooms among the kids from the other 15 teams at the event with activities all day long to keep them occupied. Only their messages on social media have clued them in on the love they’re getting in Chicago.
I doubt any of the boys on the team knew that while they where there a 9 year old boy was gunned down in a neighborhood just north of theirs in Chicago. Antonio Smith was found dead with multiple gun shot wounds in a backyard at 1200 west 71st Street. The backyard sits at railroad tracks between two warring gang factions. There has been a reward offered to find the killer of the 9 year old CHILD Antonio Smith.
The JRW team was getting to bed early on Friday August 23rd to prepare for their victory in the U.S. Title game and were unaware of the carnage that was taking place back in Chicago at the same time. 11 people were shot, including a 3 year old boy who is still hospitalized, just on Friday night.
This has to stop! We must start protecting the children and not the perpetrators of these crimes or the cycle will never stop. We must take back our neighborhoods now. No longer can we let the most base of our society make the good and decent live in fear. If 13 boys of JRW who were told their whole life they couldn’t do it or that they were playing the wrong sport can win a National championship and all of our hearts, then we can take our neighborhoods back. We, the good and decent folk of Chicago outnumber the vile and wicked, lets flex our muscle. Lets spread the word of character and rising above like the JRW team has shown us.
I beg for, I pray for, and I demand a day of non-violence in Chicago! The Jackie Robinson West parade and celebration will be Wednesday August 27th in downtown Chicago. Lets go a whole day without any violence, these young men deserve it. For one day, forget about grudges, forget about territory, forget about the code to lay your life down for your street. Lets walk together through the streets of Chicago and celebrate our little heroes and use them as a ray of hope that our future in Chicago can be brighter.
We are all proud to say Jackie Robinson West is National Champions. But, how proud would all of us be if we used they as an impetus to create a safer and more humane Chicago. There would be no greater victory for them to be able to walk their streets without fear of a stray bullet.
You can question what I would know about what happens in Chicago. I understand, we all have our doubts. I am a decent human being that was born on the Southside and I live here now. I take public transit and clearly see the difference in the two worlds that are the south side of the city of Chicago. My neighborhood has gone from bad 20 years ago to being nicknamed, “Pleasantville,” now. The neighborhood banded together to rid itself of gangs and crime and every week there are still meetings to continue the improvement.
The death of 9 year old Antonio Smith should not be forgotten. Would he have a smile like Ed Howard’s the silky smooth shortstop of JRW. Would Antonio have the wit of Trey Hondras? Would Antonio have the arm of Marquis jackson? Would Antonio have the swing of Pierce Jones? Would Antonio be the leader that Brandon Greene is? Would Antonio have the fight of Joshua Houston. We’ll never know the answer to these questions because Antonio Smith never made it to 10 years old.
Lets do this Chicago! Lets have a day of nonviolence in honor of Jackie Robinson West! There could be no greater honor to bestow upon those young men than to give them a day of peace in Chicago.
Who knows, maybe the life we save on Wednesday could be the person who makes all the difference for all of us in the future. Or, maybe if we go Wednesday without a senseless murder, maybe we could do it on Thursday also.