In the wake of the senseless murder of 9-year old Janari Ricks, Global Goldin Fellow Raymond Richard joined peace builders from across the city to host a call for an end to the violence that is on the rise in Chicago.
The Founder of Brothers Standing Together, Raymond is also a resident of the near north side community where the murder of Janari Ricks took place. The murder hit home for Raymond in a personal way, as Janari is part of his extended family.
This is my community. I came back home to help as many people as I can help and save as many lives as I can save. Unfortunately, his life wasn’t saved. So that means we dropped the ball. The men dropped the ball.
In his impassioned plea for the murders to stop, Raymond continued:
But we are here to say today, “Enough is Enough” and it’s over with. We will no longer stand by idle while our children are being slaughtered at an alarming rate.
After calling for the shooter to turn himself in, Raymond continued:
To the children: I pledge to do all I can do to make your lives safe, even if it means laying down my own life… We as a people must get involved to stop the bloodshed of our people. It doesn’t matter the color. We’re dying at an alarming rate and we must take a stand now.
Raymond Richard is an Alumnus of the inaugural class of Global Goldin Fellows in 2018, a cohort of 20 passionate grassroots leaders from 16 countries from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North and South America.
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