High school senior speaks out against violence
Jorge Pule, who will be a senior this fall at Little Village-Lawndale Multicultural Arts High School, made the following remarks June 13 during the ecumenical prayer service that kicked off the "Healing the Hood" event in Little Village.
We are all here today because we believe that we can make a change in the violence in our community. We can’t tolerate any longer these struggles that we have, especially against each other.
In our school, we have gang problems and they are not met and soon enough they became racial ones. As a teenager, I have seen much violence and it needs to stop. The past can not be changed but the future is undecided and why not make it better?
There have been 36 CPS students killed due to violence -- that’s absurd. How long is it going to take for us to take this stand and make a change? That time is now. We are all here marching against violence echoing this relevant issue that in time will be better.
Everything starts at home, and people can not be changed but standing there doesn’t help anyone. Students come to school to learn, some learn outside the education realm, positive stuff -- but what good is that if when they go home to the business as usual of violent behavior in the community and homes with no guidance in both areas? That’s why we are here, to understand this situation and be that guardian angel.
Everything starts small, and it’s that small business that sets everything off. We are hear fighting each other when instead we can fight outside in the real world.
There are bonds of friendship and acknowledgment here in the school, but why can’t this same bond exist outside in the community? Why can’t bonds spill out in the community? We can not make peace if we can’t continue it everywhere we go. We are better than what we are limiting ourselves to be.
The community thinks that nothing will change the violence. But we have to think outside the box. If Gandhi can make a whole country change and take back what’s theirs, we can take back our community, which is much smaller then a country!
Peace may not prosper for today or tomorrow, but trying that can blossom for everything.
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