Image: wgntv.com
By Kendria Brown, NDG Intern
In the midst of a push for stronger gun control legislation by President Barack Obama, a Chicago mom Shirley Chambers lost her last surviving child, Ronnie Chambers, to gun violence. Chicago’s homicide rate in the black community has been ominously increasing, with seven people murdered this past weekend.
Chambers expressed, “It’s not Chicago. It’s these people. It’s these people with these guns. They shouldn’t have guns, you know?”
In 1995, Chambers’ son Carlos, 18, was killed. Then in April 2000, Chambers’ daughter Latoya, 15, was killed, followed by her son Jerome, 23, being killed in July of that same year. Ronnie was Shirley’s only child left and she feared losing him.
Her son was a changed man and much different from his days of belonging to a gang, stealing cars, selling drugs, and behind bars. Chambers said that his new life included him helping other people out. He even appeared on the Ricki Lake show last month to show his improved character.
On the show, Ronnie (Chambers son) said, “I told myself that you know, I need to protect my mother and be out here for her.”
Now that her son is gone, it only adds to the issue of “gun control” and “values-based education” for Chicago as Mayor Rahm Emanuel puts it. Emanuel elaborates, “It’s not about crime. It’s about values. Where were you raised and who raised you?”
Chambers says that her son knew right from wrong. “He wanted to change his life for his mother. He loved me and I loved him.”
