Located in the Grand Crossing neighborhood, on King Drive South of 63rd St. is the Parkway Garden apartment complex. Many Parkway Garden tenants are decent working class families that reside there because the rent fits into their affordable housing budget.
The choices can be slim in a city that is steadily climbing in taxes and low income families are being pushed further towards the suburbs. But, it can also place many in harm’s way of the gang activity that share the same space—terrorizing innocent tenants who feel trapped inside their apartments in order to avoid danger.
On a hot Friday afternoon, Nykea Aldridge, a mother of four was leaving Dulles Elementary school where she finished registering her three kids—Summer 12, Sincere 10, Shavae 9 for the new school season.
As she pushed her infant daughter knowing the walk to their apartment building would be short—Nykea had no idea this would be her final time pushing her baby girl in her stroller.
Several bullets caught her in the middle of being the untended target.
The young woman fought for her life as she laid on the hot pavement with her newborn unharmed in her stroller.
The 32-year old mom who loved fashion and had recently located to the neighborhood. As CPD arrived on the scene, word traveled fast that the victim was the relative of Chicago native and NBA player—Dwayne Wade.
Immediately, the priority level of attention was set to high alert. The numbness that had began to settle for Chicago residents was suddenly a sharp pain that ignited fire through our veins. Wade tweeted his anger for his first cousin’s murder with an ending hashtag—EnoughisEnough.
Yes, enough is enough was hundreds of homicides ago. The same thoughts that put the Wade family in the spotlight as his mom, Pastor Jolinda Wade consoled her older sister, Diane Aldridge, Nykea’s mother—the pair stood in front of news cameras explaining their loss. Her family and friends dressed in Aldridge’s favorite color—purple.
The message that rang throughout the prayer vigil was the power of forgiveness. Diane Aldridge stood at the podium and declared to the public that she forgave the killers of her daughter.
Two days after Nykea’s death, Darwin Sorrells Jr., 26 and Darren Sorrells, 22 were charged with first-degree murder and first degree attempted murder. Both were documented gang members and on parole for gun convictions.
Pastor Wade concurred with her sister’s decision.
"That's a decision we chose to give—we don't mean to be bitter. We don't choose to be angry. We're that way, we're children of God and the word says, we're supposed to forgive. We want to be obedient to that,” she said. “Plus, that wasn't Nykea, she'll flip you off and forgive you and we're back together like that. That's the spirit that comes from her mom.”
When Aldridge was first contacted about her daughter’s death, she said she was driving and she felt like she was reliving another tragic nightmare when she lost her first daughter to gunfire a few years ago.
“I was angry, I was mad. I didn't understand why. I kind of lost it to myself. I was in my car. I couldn't see—I was crying and asking, 'Why my baby?' As I was driving, the Lord just said, 'You can't have vengeance on anyone, you can't hate anyone'. It's not going to bring them back—you still have her love.”
Now, she must take on the dual role of grandmother and caretaker of four young children in order to keep them all together. The children’s fathers have stepped up in support and she is confident that she will not be alone in raising her grandchildren.
Pastor Wade adds, “The father of the children, they are Black men that stood up and came in. Nykea made sure they had a relationship with their fathers,” she said.
“We all come in as a village. We know she's going to have all the help moving forward. Nykea knew the kind of family that we are, so we're knit together when we have to.”
As both women—strong in their spirit sat for interviews with each of the major television networks—giving the media a personal insight of just who Nykea Aldridge was as a person—it was also a battle cry for solutions. The first cousin of a notable NBA player being shot and killed in his hometown created a frenzy when he went to twitter sharing his thoughts.
His mother understood her son’s pain. “When I first told him, I could tell by the tone of the text that it hit him. We're a family. He may not come to Chicago all of the time but he's feeling this. What a homecoming to come back to this?” said Pastor Wade.
“By me knowing him and knowing his human side, that's what he's trying to do—he's trying to collect this all in. Everybody is looking to him to be this lone ranger to come riding in and saving the day. This thing is personal—it hit him. I talked to the other young men in our family—everybody is grieving. It hit home, it's real.”
Diane Aldridge doesn’t want Nykea’s life forgotten and she said she dedicated to making sure that her children will know how she tried to make a better life for them.
The sudden loss of their mom has especially been hard on the oldest children. “She loved her kids. Nykea was an awesome mom—trying to move ahead with the kids. She was just trying to make a better life for her and the kids—to make sure that they got out of situations that she had been in.”
Two mothers, both holding each other up as they feel the pain of loss. The loss of a daughter, a niece who was also a mom as the family search for answers that aren’t there. Their faith in God and the strength of their family has ignited the importance of joining the fight against gun violence in their community.
As one of the leading faith leaders in Chicago’s African American community, Pastor Wade understood when she delivered the eulogy at her niece’s homegoing services—it had to resonate beyond Nykea’s gravesite.
“When you come to the table, let's come together. Everyone is coming but their coming in different pockets. No, let's bring it together. We have things we can instill in our young people.”
Originally Published by The Chicago Defender September 2016
Yorumlar