By Annie Sweeney, Sun-TimesDarnell Robinson has stood on corners selling dope. He has hung out at gang hot spots and has been caught carrying a weapon, court records show.
But things got a lot more serious on April 18, when he shot and wounded a man on a North Side street in a gang dispute, police said.
Robinson doesn't shy from his past -- but he denies he shot anyone that night.
Years ago, he ran with the Conservative Vice Lords street gang, he said in an interview from the Cook County Jail. His brother also was in a gang. Both sold drugs and even did time together at the same state prison.
But Darnell Robinson has also earned his GED and held down several jobs -- one paying $12.50 an hour at a shipping and delivery company. He'd been working at a restaurant until his arrest.
Robinson, 31, said he aged out of the gang and had no reason to shoot anyone April 18. "I'm not in the streets like that any more,'' he said, adding that he got tired of going to jail. "You still know the people, [but] you don't run the streets with them. ... I didn't hear anybody get shot. I didn't see anybody get shot.'' Continue Reading
Awww Darnell Robinson.
ReplyDeleteDarnell was pointed out to me back in the day by and old foot Officer. Darnell is and was a known "Shooter"
Regardless of guilt or innocence it sure is nice to have him off the streets and out of the parking lot at Magnolia and Wilson.
Thanks CPD.
Isn't it funny how most of these people come from broken homes and different fathers.
ReplyDeleteAlso note they want to wear the expensive shoes the athletes get paid millions to promote which ends up causing dope selling and gang shooting.
Boy I sure look up to athletes.
This is a story from someone who claimed to have been in a lot of trouble but had cleaned up his act. There are some pieces that don't quite have me convinced, though. If this guy now "had it together", why was he spending the night over at a friend's house on the night of his arrest? He's engaged, has a kid, and he's doing a sleepover at a friend's house? I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteAlso, nothing wrong with long braids, but if I had a kid to support and was thinking about marriage, it's time to shed the image of the tough kid on the street and start being the serious man who is serious about being a responsible adult.
I would have rather read a story about a kid who turned his life around in spite of his circumstances. There are plenty of those stories that are out there and we would all benefit from hearing them.
"Regardless of guilt or innocence"--so if he is innocent of the charges, so what, he should be locked up anyway?
ReplyDeleteHM, I'm going to nit-pick a little bit on something you said. I didn't see where the article said his braids were long. However, there are adult, responsible, non-criminal, professional black men who choose to wear their hair in braids (including some with university and post-university degrees). Braids worn by a black man are not automatically indicative of some sort of immature thug culture--sometimes it is just one way that a black person chooses to style his or her natural hair.
"Regardless of guilt or innocence"--so if he is innocent of the charges, so what, he should be locked up anyway?
ReplyDeleteDitto neighborlady...come-on chip inquiring minds want to know if you believe in a fair justice system.
As I said, nothing wrong with braids, but if I was stuck in a low paying job, with a criminal record, and didn't have a permanent place to live, I'd probably want to look just a little bit more professional. If I had a professional high paying job and could wear braids, no problemo. Wear those braids as long as you want. I personally favor short dred locks.
ReplyDeleteNo one said he's guilty. From his "story" that he presents to the reporter, I'm not shocked that he's accused. By all means, he deserves a fair trial. Two bits says his attorney encourages him to shed the braids before he goes before the judge.
I know attorneys who go into court with braids as well as locs. It is a preference, and a matter of opinion, whether or not braids look professional. Some are biased against them. Some think locs are still a little too "ethnic" for the corporate world--and some of the most thuggish people out there have a low cut "mature" haircut. Anyway, he may in fact be pressured to lose the braids because of that bias, but (not to take this off on too much of a tangent) I just did not want the assumption that braids are automatically immature and thuggish to go unchallenged.
ReplyDeleteWith having a criminal history, being a former gangbanger, being stuck in a low-paying job, having little education, having no permanent place to live, and having a kid to support, it shouldn't be too surprising that some people will view the braids as "thuggish" and immature.
ReplyDeleteIf this story was about a man with no criminal history, no history of gang involvement, with more than a high school education, with a good career, with a permanent place to live, and married to his child's mother, we probably wouldn't be discussing the probability of his guilt or innocence.
HM, so if he'd been all of those things and wore his hair in short locs, then would that by association make locs the hair of thugs? Is this hair-guilt by association? All black men who wear their hair braided are not criminals. And I'm sure you know that men who've led ostensibly pristine lives, with the "proper" hair styles, etc., have committed crimes? Certainly, this guy was more likely to be fingered because he has a background and he was on the scene. I don't know that he had no permanent place to live--you've never crashed at a friend's house overnight if you may not have been in a condition to travel to your home? Anyway, he made bad choices and his prior bad choices in terms of abiding the law is what made him a more likely suspect to the police--not his hair, and not his failure to marry the mother of his child sooner or even the fact that he works for low-wages. If someone is going to take the fact that one person with a record has braids and use that as a justification to classify the style as thuggish, then this just reveals their bias.
ReplyDeleteNeighborlady, you're bringing race into it. Not me. I also never said all men wearing braids should be viewed as criminals. Be very careful here because O.N.E. and COURAJ types LOVE to make false charges about racism, which only makes it more difficult to address when it does surface.
ReplyDeleteWhat I am talking about applies to any adult of any race. My nephew has the piercings & multi-tattooed look and remains puzzled why employers don't take him seriously. He is also carefully watched when he goes into stores.
People can dress any way they want, but I don't want to hear them cry victim afterwards. If you want to have tattoos, piercings, braids, locks, whatever, and have no problem supporting yourself or family, I say go for it. When you whine to a reporter that you're treated as a victim, my empathy goes out the window.
I just have two words to add to this discussion..."the mullet"
ReplyDeleteNL and Couraj Davis..
ReplyDeleteYes "regardless" of these charges it sure is nice to have Darnell off the streets.
This guy has been convicted of numerous felonies. I will sleep easier knowing he is locked up.
I do believe in Justice, I also believe in Carma. I think I big old brick of Carma just fell on young Darnell's head.
I could pick Darnell out of a line up, I am sure the guy who he shot could pick out a notorious P Stone such as Darnell.
Keep playing the race card. I guess the "Change" people voted for flew right over your righteous smug heads.
I can't wait to get his Christmas card from Joliet. Maybe he can stamp it on a license plate.
I am one of those bleeding heart liberals who at one time would really feel for this guy featured in the story. Given Helen's roadblocks to addressing crime and her distain for CAPS, I've become disillusioned and a little hardened for this guy who now claims to be a victim.
ReplyDeleteOnce Helen is out of office, I wonder if I'll become more liberal again?
It baffles me how anybody - even the bleeding heart goofballs on this site - could feel one bit of sympathy for this worthless gangbanging, drug dealing animal. I hope he meets an appropriate fate in prison.
ReplyDeleteThank you CPD for caging this animal.
HM, where did you hear me call you a racist? You are the one who felt the need to call his braids immature, indicative of a tough guy image, and went on to profess your preference for short locs. Whether you like to hear it or not, these are hairstyles that are more traditionally associated with African Americans. My point was (and I admitted it was slightly nit-picky) was that you are making an characterization about a hairstyle based on the person who happens to be wearing it. In response to my initial comment, you then said it did not look professional. My point to you is that is your opinion, but many professional black men in non-low paying jobs who are non-criminals wear braids and locs.
ReplyDeleteYou are the one who made his hair a part of the litany of ostensibly negative things about this person (beyond his priors). My point is, and I am speaking from an African American POV and you can call it throwing race into if you like, we get stereotyped enough without a legitimate hairstyle that I have seen professional working and upstanding black men wear being labeled by you as something immature, unprofessional and in furtherance of a street thug image.
Also, for you and the rest of the commenters, you can keep pretending like race stereotypes do not sometimes creep into the comments of your fellow commenters on this board, but how often do I see someone comment and assign a stereotypical "black" name to a black homeless person, for example, randomly slapped up on this board? And yet people like you do not call those commenters out about it. Please, stop being a hypocrite on that point.
For the record, I was not defending Darnell. I don't know him. He was picked up on a victim's id. It seems odd that he remained on the scene as the person was being loaded on the ambulance, but if he is the shooter, then he will have to face the time for that. But you are not going to prevent people from calling out stereotypes by tossing out that ever so over-worked accusation-- oh, you must be a COURAJ member. That's your constant go-to comeback rather than acknowledging that your comment may have played into some racial stereotypes, intentionally or not.
NL: HM, where did you hear me call you a racist?
ReplyDeleteIt certainly appeared you were going in that direction when you chided, “All black men who wear their hair braided are not criminals.”
NL: My point to you is that is your opinion, but many professional black men in non-low paying jobs who are non-criminals wear braids and locs.
I agree totally. It’s wonderful that black men in professional jobs can wear their hair in braids and locs. You didn’t hear my point. Read this aloud and it might sink in better. If a man has a low paying job, a criminal record, a GED, and an illegitimate kid to support, it might be a good idea to dress a little more conservative. It’s looking like his braids ain’t helping him here, am I right?
NL: My point is, and I am speaking from an African American POV and you can call it throwing race into if you like, we get stereotyped enough without a legitimate hairstyle that I have seen professional working and upstanding black men wear being labeled by you as something immature, unprofessional and in furtherance of a street thug image.
Again, I don’t care how people dress. If they have a police record, little education, stuck in a low paying job, and with a kid support, I don't want to hear them whine about being a victim.
NL: But you are not going to prevent people from calling out stereotypes by tossing out that ever so over-worked accusation-- oh, you must be a COURAJ member. That's your constant go-to comeback rather than acknowledging that your comment may have played into some racial stereotypes, intentionally or not.
Actually, that’s been a consistent theme by the COURAJ types that creep onto this board. Why, you did it yourself in your post when you whined, “All black men who wear their hair braided are not criminals.” So, you might want to avoid calling anyone a hypocrite.
I had a recent conversation with someone who grew up in England but he has been living here for the last 20 years. He loves the United States. His only major criticism is all the ranting he hears about various people being portrayed as victims. I wonder if it is the ranting about victimhood that many readers find irritating with Darnell Robinson and the reporter.
ReplyDeleteI did my inmate searches on IDOC and CCDOC and found no Darnell Robinson, age 31. Is he out?
ReplyDeleteI think the paper reported the wrong age. I believe the Mr. Robinson you are looking for is in Cook County jail, 2008-0027552.
ReplyDeleteHM, not calling Darnell a victim. Don't know if he is a victim or a thug or a combo of the two, got it? What I responded to was what you said initially:
ReplyDelete"Also, nothing wrong with long braids, but if I had a kid to support and was thinking about marriage, it's time to shed the image of the tough kid on the street and start being the serious man who is serious about being a responsible adult....As I said, nothing wrong with braids, but if I was stuck in a low paying job, with a criminal record, and didn't have a permanent place to live, I'd probably want to look just a little bit more professional. If I had a professional high paying job and could wear braids, no problemo. Wear those braids as long as you want. I personally favor short dred locks."
And HM, my point was fairly simple and picky: An African American styling one's natural hair in braids is not incongruous with being a serious responsible adult. Don't know, HM, what your race is (and I'm not asking you to reveal anything), but for me, as a black professional, issues of hair and that word "professional" do still rear their ugly head (no pun intended).
Folks automatically equating certain "ethnic" styles with immaturity and lack of professionalism can be a touchy topic. So, I pointed out that you might--just maybe--want to think about drawing automatic connections between certain hairstyles and the over-all character or seriousness of the person. There is some debate on it, and all black folks don't think the same--and some may in fact think like you. Just pointing out a potentially different take on that issue. I'm disappointed that you threw the COURAJ red-herring in there instead of simply taking into consideration a different twist on your assumption and resorted to implying that I was "whining" and trying to somehow support the image of Darnell as a victim.
Darnell allegedly had a job. I doubt it was his hair that prevented him from advancing, however, and suspect it had more to do with his lack of higher formal education and his repeated stints in prison caused by his choice of criminal behavior.
As for this response you (HM) wrote re my comment about racial stereotypes creeping into some comments, you did not deny that these sorts of comments that I pointed out do sometimes make their way to the board. If you are serious in efforts about keeping race out of it, I will see if you call those commenters on their resort to racial stereotypes. If not, well, that is hypocritical.
Of course there will be some bigotry that surfaces on this board. It did yesterday on this very thread and it was quickly deleted. I believe it needs as little attention as possible. The bigot defends it by the ole "freedom os speech" argument but thank God UU doesn't allow it. Still, Helen will do her best to say only bigots post on UU to get people to not read this now very powerful blog.
ReplyDeleteNow let's talk about some more "sensitivity". I am tired and I know many others are tired of any hints of racism when there is disagreement about issues related to poverty. Your little "suggestion" about racism in the past would cause most on this board to drop everything and back off. Well, I won't anymore. Secondly, it's insulting to link poverty with another race but that hasn't stopped many a COURAJ and O.N.E. person from still charging with racism. Thirdly, Helen bats around charges of racism all the time.
I brought up whining about victimhood in this article because it was filled with whining of being a victim; from Darnell to the reporter. What gets me angry is the incessant cries of being a victim in this neighborhood. Braids, locs, whatever, I don't care. Whining about being a victim and I have to put up with their bs while they are whining? I don't think so.
So wear the locs. Wear the braids; down to their waists if they want. I don't care. I don't want to hear about someone being a victim anymore. I want to hear accountability preached, and you won't hear that from Helen, O.N.E., or COURAJ. It's all about victims and how mean the white condo owners are. It's this approach, along with her secret deals, that will get Helen out of office so I'm hoping she keeps it up. It's the best way to get rid of her.
do you know how paranoid you sound, hm? you better watch it, or those message board posters with secret agendas will get you! LOOK OUT!
ReplyDeleteSorry md, it sounds like you've been deleted one too many times. Just refrain from bigoted or threatening comments and it shouldn't be a problem.
ReplyDeletefor those of you who referred to this guy as a scumbag and as being worthless sociopath, etc., i wonder if you feel the same way about some "professional" people who have contributed to far more violence in the world than Darnell. say for example, some executives from Dow chemical/Union Carbide responsible for and negligent after the expolision in Bopal, India of one of their plants. or the executives of monsanto with all the nastiness they do all over the world. or the various companies that pollute people's drinking water all over the world including in the U.S. to only be hit with a minimal fine, if that while they make huge profits.
ReplyDeletedo y'all feel the same hate toward them? or is it okay if they do their dirty work in boardrooms, are clean-shaven, mostly white men in suits and have short hair? is there a double standard that is maybe based on race and certainly based on class?
if you feel that way about this guy Darnell, so be it, but i hope you can rationally look at the issue of violence in the world and not be blinded to the violence of others by class or race or any other type of prejudice.
Ron, all the other injustices in the world still don't excuse any injustice done here in Uptown. In the end, there's nothing wrong with residents of any color and from any income bracket wanting Uptown to be a safe place for everyone.
ReplyDeleteRight now at this very moment, I'm more worried about the awful crime that occurred on Wilson & Broadway on Christmas Day. My side job is working as a seer. I'll give you a freebie: You're destined to be angry at the world your entire life.
Ok, HM, persist in not getting what I'm saying. I certainly don't want anyone to back off commenting if their comment comes off as bigoted--but if pointing out certain hypocrisies would cause someone to do so, I think that person needs to examine why they would back away. Free speech is lovely HM, and so are honest attempts to understand what another person is saying instead of constantly reinterpreting what is being said through the same narrow I-hate-Shiller prism. I said my point on the issue, and I really don't know what Shiller or COURAJ (or even poverty, for that matter) had to do with what I said, but reinterpret my point as you wish.
ReplyDeleteSince HM took my comment and somehow roped it back to Shiller, I wanted to know what efforts are made to constantly shout out and expose poor property managers and management companies. A woman living in a "problem building" posted here awhile back and pointed out that all tenants are not a danger to the community, that it was one household in her particular building that was attracting certain "elements" but that management allowed certain activities to transpire. Is there any effort to bring attention to those bad managers and put pressure on them to weed out the "bad" tenants in low-income housing as opposed to making wholesale statements against low-income housing in general?
Also, as to the spike in gun violence here in Uptown, and the Christmas shooting--Uptown has always been gritty under Shiller, but I only recently recall more gun violence arising in the last couple of years. With all the talk on here about Uptown being a hell-hole, I had never feared of being shot, so this (in my memory) is a fairly recent development. This is being pointed out as a phenomenon throughout the city. Is anyone engaged in or contemplating any efforts to see what other community leaders or organizations are doing to find solutions to what is appearing to be a city-wide problem? Maybe Mr. Weis should be a guest at some local forum to determine how Uptown fits into that bigger picture.
And my comment about racist or bigoted comments was not a suggestion--I have read such comments on various posts on this board. Racism is not always blatant or obvious. If UU is deleting the more blatantly racist comments, that's wonderful, but sometimes people make comments that are not blatant but still dance a very thin line. At the very least, HM, some of the comments connote a blatant sense of superiority and entitlement over those who are poor (regardless of race) or over those who are not mortgage holders. So if you and other UU-commenters and readers are serious about finding commonality across those barriers to work on improving Uptown for everyone, you might want to be just as forceful in questioning the role of comments such as those in any efforts to create a unified community voice that is not race or class-based.
ReplyDeleteI guess the real question with this recent spike of crime is what is your alderman doing? I know her chief of staff dismisses it and says the only place with no crime is in heaven.
ReplyDeleteAlso, what is your alderman doing about the poor management in some of these buildings? We have Catholic Worker and COURAJ folks dismissing the poor management at every CAPS meeting they attend, but it's been all silence from Helen's office.
You see neighborlady, in most wards, the alderman works with the community to make it safer. Can you tell me anything, I mean ANYTHING Helen has done to push for more safety? God forbid she attend a CAPS meeting. Instead, we have Greg Harris and Heather Steans taking on her job to make Uptown safer. Helen didn't even know to be embarrassed by it. That's the pathetic part of it all.
UU does a really good job of deleting all bigoted posts. I'm delighted by it. Helen and her ilk hate it because they want any excuse to dismiss everything that's said on this board as bigoted by every single poster. UU is Helen's worst nightmare and I'm hoping it stays around for a long time. Oddly enough, it's probably Helen's antics that keep people interested enough to keep going to this site. How ironic.
So if you and other UU-commenters and readers are serious about finding commonality across those barriers to work on improving Uptown for everyone, you might want to be just as forceful in questioning the role of comments such as those in any efforts to create a unified community voice that is not race or class-based.
ReplyDeleteWhat has caused the most damage in this neighborhood is the class war that is being promoted by Helen, COURAJ, JPUSA, Catholic Workers, and ONE. They do it by promoting low standards and telling lies to the press and residents that white condo owners are bigoted selfish people. It results in the overconcentration of poverty, homelessness, and mental illness in one small neighborhood.
You can fight your fight about racism. I'll fight my fight about this class war that's being promoted. The killings that have occurred in this neighborhood, though, are not lynchings. It's all been gang related. If I were a black parent living in Uptown, I think I would be a little more focused on the effects of gangs in this neighborhood rather than the subtleties of bigotry. That's the common ground I see.
So my response would be, when you feel your political leaders are not doing enough, and you have what you say is a powerful mouth piece for what is happening in Uptown, why not also use it to blast those and call attention to those others who are not working with the community? If UU is getting a new level of attention as it has not in the past, this would seem to be an ideal time to start using that more effectively in a more broad-based manner: shine a constant light on those management companies. See what other communities are doing. Network with communities who may be dealing with similar issues, and see if there are any ways to build some solutions and a movement that defies the class-based and race-based stamp you feel is being placed on UU. Like I told somewhere here before, I draw my conclusion based on what people here say, and not COURAJ or Shiller. The rhetoric here is sometimes just as heavy with class-based stereotypes as you say Shiller and COURAJ is.
ReplyDeleteFact is, summer will be here again, and rather than pointing out piecemeal incidents or complaining about Shiller (who's still going to be here next year) or COURAJ or JPUSA, I'd like to be thinking about what we can be doing across those barriers to deal with violence here and in the city. Uptown is no haven--it was gritty for a long time and in many ways has improved--but it is definitely not perfect or a violence-free haven. It is certainly not immune from the violence that is happening all across this city.
And black parents and white parents, as well as Asian and Latino parents, should all be concerned with violence, and they should also be concerned with classism and racism, all things which hamper our quality of life on varying levels and to varying degrees. Uptown has always had gangs, but there is a definite change in the behavior of these gangs here--more violent, more brazen--which is why I would want to call into the conversation those people who can give me some understanding of where Uptown fits in this picture and what can we (and our police) be doing now so as not to have a repeat of last summer.