Wear orange to observe gun violence awareness today

Hadiya Pendleton

It's often stated on my other blog how often I seek to avoid discussing crime even though it's all around us no matter how much we avoid talking about it. Not all "minority" communities have major issues with crime, but we must deal with those communities that does have those issues.

What happened to Hadiya Pendleton in 2013 was unfortunate. She had been shot in a case of mistaken identity and she wasn't even the intended target. A lot of national attention was on our city for her untimely death.

Today would've been her 18th birthday and today is also gun violence awareness day. To observe many celebrities and politicians have pledged to wear orange today. So thanks to this Tribune article we know more about the meaning of orange and this day:

The orange theme is inspired by Hadiya's friends, who chose to commemorate her life with a color that hunters wear to keep themselves and others safe from harm.

The group was formed a couple of months after Hadiya's death and has been targeting the structural problems that they believe lead to violence, including failing school systems, institutional racism and food deserts, according to Nza-Ari Khepra, former president of Project Orange Tree.

If you have something orange in your wardrobe, put it on today please!