In Chicago, we remember the names of the children we’ve lost, not because we want to, but because we must. We say their names, march with their faces on our T-shirts and work every day to ensure no other family suffers as theirs have. One of those names — one forever etched into the heart of our work — is Hadiya Pendleton.
Hadiya was 15 when she was shot and killed in a park just a week after performing at President Barack Obama’s second inauguration in 2013. Earlier this year, the alleged shooter was granted a new trial — and with it, reopened the wounds of a family and community that never really healed.
The trauma her family endures is unfathomable. Imagine reliving the loss of your daughter, sister or friend not once, but again and again with every court date, every headline, every time her name is invoked in policy debates. The alleged gunman’s new trial will bring a chance for truth, for accountability and perhaps for a deeper reckoning. But it also brings unimaginable pain.
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It was Hadiya’s death that sparked the #WearOrange movement. Her friends wore orange to honor her — the color hunters wear to protect themselves. That small, heartbreaking gesture blossomed into a national movement against gun violence, with millions wearing orange every June to say enough is enough. What started on the South Side now echoes through the halls of Congress and across our nation. Just last week, Illinois lawmakers introduced a resolution designating June 6 as Wear Orange Day in honor of Hadiya.
As we reflect on the new trial in Hadiya’s case, let us remember that justice is not only for the courtroom. It’s in our communities, our schools, our streets and our laws. It is in the courage of a mother who speaks her daughter’s name into every microphone. It is in the orange shirts that demand change and in the hearts of every young person who deserves to be able to safely walk home without their life stolen from them.
Hadiya is more than a symbol. She was a vibrant, talented young girl with dreams. Her story started a movement. Let it also renew our commitment — to truth, to healing and to a future where no child’s name is remembered only in grief.
This June, as we mark National Gun Violence Awareness Month and #WearOrange weekend, we invite you to stand with us. Wear orange. Speak up. Act. For Hadiya. For every child like her. For a safer Illinois.
Yolanda Androzzo, executive director, One Aim Illinois and Ernest Coverson, director, Gun Violence Prevention, Amnesty International USA
Had my fill of Rahm
Forget Rahm Emanuel running for any public office again, let alone governor or president. He and Bill Daley pushed through the North American Free Trade Agreement and cost America millions of good-paying jobs.
He closed mental health clinics. He closed schools. He took health insurance away from tens of thousands of city employee retirees. He covered up police shootings.
Don’t let Rahm Emanuel destroy Illinois or America, like he did Chicago.
Michael Sullivan, Avondale
