No Plan for Reconstruction for Chicago

Statement By Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.

Monday, July 7, 2014.

In Chicago there are zones of terror and deprivation. Deprivation of an
underclass that leads to terror in a city facing an undeclared emergency
that should be declared a state of emergency. This state of
emergency requires remedy and resources. It requires social and
economic reconstruction, not just the emptying of guns and the filling of
jails.

The police blotter can show us where the disaster zones are. They are
the areas with the most foreclosed houses, the most vacant lots, the least
education, the least access to health care, the least hospital emergency
access and the most unemployed. Fifty schools closed, 50 drug stores
closed, 73 grocery stores closed. These are the desert zones driven by a
sub-economy featuring drugs-in, guns-in and jobs-out.

There have been 207 homicides in Chicago in 2014, including 173 killed
and 1,029 wounded by guns 118 wounded by gunfire from January to
May, 230 shot in May, 250 shot in June, and 17 killed and 77 wounded
by gunfire so far in July. In just four days, over the July 4 holidays,
there were 14 killed and 65 wounded by gunfire.

The painful fact is we know where the drugs are coming from and where
the jobs are going. There is no urban plan for reconstruction.

We have a plan for reconstruction in Iraq, Afghanistan and other
dangerous zones, but there is no plan for reconstruction in our
hometown of Chicago! In the meantime, we live in horror untilnext
Mondays body count. We deserve better.

Media Contact/ Inquiries:
Michael Peery, 312-217-2260
pressdepartment@rainbowpush.org

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Rainbow PUSH Coalition is a multi-racial, multi-issue, progressive, international organization
that was formed in December 1996 by the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. through merging of two
organizations he founded Operation PUSH People United to Serve Humanity (estab. 1971) and
the Rainbow Coalition (estab. 1984). With headquarters in Chicago and offices in Washington,
D.C., Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Oakland, the organization works to
make the American Dream a reality for all citizens while advocating for peace and justice
around the world. RPC is dedicated to improving the lives of all people by serving as a voice for
the voiceless. Its mission is to protect, defend and gain civil rights by leveling the economic and
educational playing fields while promoting peace and justice around the world.

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