Lake Effect News has a poignant article about an Uptown prayer vigil scheduled for last weekend that never happened, and it takes us back to the horrible day in 2008 when Timothy Pittman was killed on the 4800 block of Sheridan Road. Read it here. Timothy's family still grieves for him; his murder, like that of Francis Oduro and countless others in the city, remains unsolved.
The photo above was taken a few hours after the murder, as friends began working on the temporary memorial that stood at the site for a couple days.
What's the story about this Pittman guy? Was he an innocent victim or a banger?
ReplyDeleteAll I know was that it was another senseless death and his family and friends are left grieving.
ReplyDeleteIt seems some folks think Pittman had gang affiliations.
ReplyDeleteJust use the search feature on the top left of the page and type in "pittman".
Shot at 3:22 pm on a Friday in August. On a busy street.
Thank God we may have a fish farm in the future to deal with the violence in this ward.
On the one hand, I'm sorry a person died. But on the other, there are too many markers in that story that tells me he was involved in something he shouldn't have been and suffered the consequences. Banned from his home by management because of his gang arrests...the whole "code of silence" and a vow to take care of the retaliation "internally". Seems pretty clear. Like I said, sorry he's gone, but it doesn't sound like this was a sudden, unprovoked incident. Wonder if anyone involved learned a lesson or is graffiti spray-painted on a building the only way they're honoring him.
ReplyDeleteThey couldn't even come to the memorial?
It's amazing how close yet so far away the words "Senseless" and "Commonsense" are. Join a Gang, Deal Drugs, Hang on the street corner, go to jail or get shot.
ReplyDeleteMr. Pittman and his friend had a run in with the shooter earlier in the day, yet the friend isn't talking. Keep a killer on the streets.
Also I am still waiting on a quote from Mr. Pittman's father. Anyone have one?
What is a prayer vigil going to do, anyway? It sounds like a waste of time.
ReplyDeleteDitto the building of temporary memorials. Whenever someone young dies, there's always some memorial with teddy bears and flowers and candles and letters. Why? The person is dead, so they're not going to enjoy flowers or posters talking about what a great guy they were. If they really want to do something in remembrance, how about starting a garden or something that will last?
I'm in town now and I'd like to know more about what is happening for positive change here.Where do I keep up w/o being a day late?
ReplyDeleteIf they really want to do something in remembrance, how about starting a garden or something that will last?
ReplyDeleteOr, maybe, try like hell to distance themselves from a life where they look over their shoulder constantly, get thrown out of buildings because of their gang affiliation and runs the risk of getting them shot while standing on a street corner. I'd take that over a garden any day.
Last year my brother prosecuted 2 gang members on the So.Side who killed an ice cream vendor for $28.00.What needs to be done to change that mentality? There's going to be alot of gardens in the city.
ReplyDeleteWell there are lots of ways to deal with grief. The sad thing is that there are far to many who think of nothing else but "getting even." Gardens and Prayer Vigils are wonderful ways to demonstrate respect in the world that I grew up in. But I never had the thought that I would be lucky to live until I was 25. Or that finishing High School was a waste of time. Or that most of the people I know had spent time in jail or long nights in police stations.
ReplyDeleteMany live in a different world where easy money is valued and education is thrown away. My thought when I see so many hanging drinking on the corner looking for any excuse to act out violently is I am going to make sure my kids go to school and learn all the other things that can be done in life.
In other words as a Parent I will take responsibility for my kids' behavior. It is not going to be easy but that is what it is going to take. I wish a lot more of the parents in Uptown shared this view. Where were all the parents when 30 kids were running around in that riot back in the summer?
Well, the motto of the city is "Urbus en Horto".
ReplyDeleteGo Google it.
The more murders and flower gardens we have, the closer we come to living up to it.
Another senseless killing followed by the requisite prayer vigil.
ReplyDeleteIt's the same tired, useless cycle that seems to be on infinite repeat.
You know, one of the more interesting phenomenon I notice here when there is a story of a young person gone awry is insinuation that the parents were bad, and that better parenting would surely have prevented the bad act. But no one here has any experience with people who behaved badly, who were drawn to bad and even criminal living, despite the best efforts of their parents? Uptown vegetarian, it sounds like you want to be the best parent you can--but what if you have a child who does something bad anyway--should we blame you? And from what I saw, it looked like Tim had a fairly intact nuclear family--a mom, a stepdad, and a little sister. Pretty normal. Tim couldn't go home again, and I'm sure the family struggled with the fact someone they loved appeared to have been swallowed up by the streets. And I'm sure it hurt even more the fact that he was banned and couldn't go home to escape danger (which he apparently sensed), and maybe had he been able to go home, he and his family and our community may ironically have been spared this young man's death. Maybe. I honestly don't know. All I know is locking him out didn't keep our community safe, and neither will blindly blaming parents.
ReplyDeleteWas Pitman was an "innocent victim" or a "banger"? He was a victim. Period. And this community was victimized by that death. Pitman did not deserve to get gunned down like a dog. And this community did not deserve to have its sense of stability and safety shattered by the shooting. Look, I'm not going to pretend to love the sight or presence of gang-bangerss, but these shooting--whether of the "innocents" or the bangers devastate communities equally.
If he was a "banger", he most definitely was not a victim. While this particular outcome wasn't good, enabling offers an almost certain bad outcome. Yes, even good parents have to use "tough-love" sometimes that's what's required to be a good parent.
ReplyDeleteUptown Writer: I was not speaking to Mr. Pittman specifically, when I made the comment about parents. I really don't pretend to know anything about him other than his senseless death. But what I do know is that if his killers are similar to the 15-20 year olds I see running around the neighborhood. I most certainly do believe poor supervision and parenting has a role in much of the behavior I find unacceptable.
ReplyDeleteI also must say I have spent years working with families where poor parenting skills, mental illness and substance abuse have ruined lives. There is help out there but you have to work hard to make it worthwhile. But like I said, when your family system thinks the police are "bad" and everyone goes to jail at one point or another, and few value education, there is not a lot of motivation to make changes. Just because the family is "intact" does not make it functional or healthy. But again I have no idea what his family life was like.
Yes, when my kids make poor choices I certainly do take responsibility for them. I am responsible for them and their behavior and will be for a long time yet. In my mind that is what a parent does.
Uptown writer- If he was a banger then he was not a victim nor was the community a victim. The community in fact benefited by his death,it is not devastated. Live by the sword, die by the sword. I have zero sympathy for those that are killed because of the lifestyle they choose. He did nothing noble, returned nothing to the community. Instead he and his kind chose to terrorize the community, to take from it.This victimization of criminals that some like to promote does nothing to solve the problem or help those real victims that are suffering from that criminal behavior.
ReplyDeleteas a Parent I will take responsibility for my kids' behavior.
ReplyDeleteThese words need to be strung up on a banner across the Broadway and Wilson intersection.
Good for you. Good luck.
But no one here has any experience with people who behaved badly, who were drawn to bad and even criminal living, despite the best efforts of their parents?
ReplyDeleteIf it were one or two isolated incidents, I might agree with you. But take a walk around the neighborhood. Stand out on Lawrence and Sheridan at night and record what you see. Read the news reports of what goes on in Uptown.
Now are you seriously suggesting that ALL of those involved in those activites have parents who are trying their best? Heck, are you suggesting that MOST of those parents are trying their best?
Of course not ALL of those people out there are the result of bad parenting. Yes, even the best of parents can have a child go awry. But what percentage of those behaving this way had parents who did all they could? 10 percent? 15? 25? 35? 75?...
All I know is locking him out didn't keep our community safe
Maybe not, but for the residents of that building who were trying to be good parents and keep their kids from someone who might have been a bad influence, it worked.
But like I said, when your family system thinks the police are "bad" and everyone goes to jail at one point or another, and few value education, there is not a lot of motivation to make changes.
ReplyDeleteWHAT? You think that a family that has had enough contact with the police to consider them "bad", a family in which "everyone goes to jail at one point or another" doesn't have any motivation to make a change??? My God, what do you think IS motivation? Tip: Constant family contact with the police is NOT normal. A family where "everyone goes to jail" is NOT normal. What it is is a sign that something is seriously fucked up. If they don't respond and try to fix it, it's not society's fault, it's theirs. Sorry, but this is letting them off the hook much to easily.
And sorry I'm posting too much on this. I'll slow down.
Way to miss the point BD and MOS.
ReplyDeleteFirst, are there gang bangers who are gravitating to gangs because of poor parenting--of course. But there are kids who have decent, good or even excellent parents who are still drawn to gang culture. You don't know where on the spectrum some kids rest just by seeing him stand on the corner. You know nothing about that person. But which is it--is this teen some silly kid who, for lack of good parenting, decided to find his family on the street--or is the teen some calculating "thug" who made a choice to live and die by the sword? You seem to be so sure of everything, maybe you know the answer.
Either way, I'm not trying to argue for some wholesale embracing of gangbangers BUT it is ridiculously simplistic and short-sighted to think that sidewalks riddled with the bodies of dead teens and 20-somethings who didn't have the sense to stay out of a gang is what keeps us safe.
In the big picture, viewing people like Pittman as irredeemable trash is just not working. Pretending that his death is "good" for Uptown is not only heartless, but senseless--because ultimately, that POV does not work for the rest of community. Based on your thoughts, none of these people have any possibility of redemption--I don't believe that's true for all of them. Some of them, admittedly, may not get it until it's too late--but that's not everyone. It's really easy and flip to say, forget about them, they're not victims, they're just "useless" gangbangers, but a community who has this kind of violence in its midst IS victimized.
So please, don't tell me that a 19 year old getting his head blown out on the sidewalk in the view of children is something the people should jump for joy over because he was a "gangbanger" and by your definition, worthless. That's just sick.
And there's something else that was bothering me about some of these sentiments, and I realized it was that you (such as B.D and M.O.T.S.) view people like Pittman most likely the same way some of them view each other--as worthless. I'm no expert, but my gut tells me it's so much easier to use violence against another person if you can dehumanize them, see them as worthless--and engage in such obviously risky behavior if you don't see so much value in your own life. I'm not trying to garner tears for those in gangs--it just strikes me that this is an interesting intersection of beliefs. We call them trash and worthless, some of them must think their owns lives (and the lives of their "enemy") to have no real value. I'm like many of you--wondering why so quickly some resort to violence--a bullet to the head in response to a verbal conflict. But right here, we basically have people who expressed, in a way, approval of the violence and a validation of this sense of worthlessness. I just think it's something to think about.
ReplyDeleteUptown Writer,that is why I asked how do we {as a society} change that mentality.
ReplyDeleteBut there are kids who have decent, good or even excellent parents who are still drawn to gang culture.
ReplyDeleteTwo words: So. What. Just because they have been "good parents" (by whatever standards you are using) does not absolve the parents of taking responsibility or action when their kids do wrong, which was MY point that YOU missed. Does being a "good parent" mean they escape blame for the actions of their children? Seriously, what is your point with the "good parents can raise bad kids" line of reasoning? We're talking about parental responsiblity unconditionally. If they're a good parents and done all they could do (as you assert), and their kid still manages to get into gang life then they can sit there and watch their child either go to jail or die. Unless you think there's something else these "good parents" can do to keep their kids and the streets safe... And if their kid is out on the street at midnight, 1 a.m., 2 a.m., etc., then there's ALWAYS more a parent can do, even a "good parent".
BUT it is ridiculously simplistic and short-sighted to think that sidewalks riddled with the bodies of dead teens and 20-somethings who didn't have the sense to stay out of a gang is what keeps us safe.
Again, not sure if you're addressing my post but I never said that teens killing each other keeps us safe. If anything, it makes us LESS safe since they tend to shoot those not even involved in their dispute a lot of times.
Based on your thoughts, none of these people have any possibility of redemption
And which thoughts of mine are these? Assuming you are talking to me...
Some of them, admittedly, may not get it until it's too late
And meanwhile the rest of the community has to deal with their fallout until they "get it". So what's your solution?
view people like Pittman most likely the same way some of them view each other--as worthless.
Show me where I said he was worthless. I said that from all indications in the news story he was involved in gangs and that by living that life he suffered the consequences. Am I wrong?
And there's something else that was bothering me about some of these sentiments, and I realized it was that you (such as B.D and M.O.T.S.) view people like Pittman most likely the same way some of them view each other--as worthless.
See, this is also part of the problem. Assumptions and wrong conclusions. I have NEVER said the family is worthless and never indicated I thought that way. What I said was that if, as you asserted, a family that has every member going to jail at least once is not motivated to change, then there's something wrong with them. Not that they're worthless, that there's something wrong with them. That's it.
I would REALLY like to hear from you how this problem in Uptown, Edgewater, Rogers Park should be dealt with. Not observations that not all of them have bad parents, not observations that they are not worthless, simply how the problem should be dealt with.