This is what I wrote in the http://www.tutormentor.- blogspot.com blog on Saturday, July 24, 2010, following the street killing of another Chicago teen. Once again a horrific act has moved violence to the front page of Chicago's Sun Times newspaper, with the headline "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH". In the article Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis is quoted saying “So I say, enough is enough. We are coming for you. We will find you, and we will bring you to justice.” The article also quotes St. Sabina’s pastor, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, who said "it’s not enough to pray, not enough to lower flags every time an officer is killed." How many times must we read the same headlines? How do we move beyond the prayers, marches and flag-lowering, to the research, planning, brainstorming and action steps that are needed? On Thursday, October 08, 2009, Arne Duncan was quoted as saying, "This is the time to look in our collective mirror and ask whether we like what we see or whether we can do better together." This is not a new problem. However, it's a problem that our leaders can't stay focused on every day, because there are so many other problems. That's why I think it's important for another level of leaders to emerge, who are totally focused on building a better community understanding, and response, to specific problems and solutions facing big cities. I've been issuing this invitation for the past 17 years, since we formed Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection, in the weeks following the shooting of Dantrell Davis in Chicago back in October 1992. I keep the front page of this Chicago SunTimes story in my office, as a reminder of my responsibility. 'ENOUGH IS ENOUGH' I've developed my own ac- tions steps, and posted them on my blog in the past. Here they are again: If we want to stop this vio- lence that we read about on the front page of local media, we have to act now, and keep acting to solve this problem for many years. We have to think spatially, that is, look at the entire city and suburban problem, not just on e neighborhood. At the same time, we need to act locally, because none of us has the time, or the resources to help each of the kids in the entire Chicago region who live in neighborhoods where poverty is the root cause of the violence. Here are some ways to remind yourself. Think of ENOUGH, is ENOUGH E – educate yourself – most of us do not li ve in high poverty neighborhoods, so we only understand the root causes of senseless shootings from what we read in newspapers. We also only read negative news in the media, so we’re now really well informed on where these events are taking place most frequently. Finally, while there is a perception that there are plenty of youth programs, we really don’t have a good understanding of the distribution of different types of youth programs, to different age groups, in different zip codes. The only way this will change is if each of us pledges to spend one hour a week reading books, articles and web re- ports, that illustrate the root causes of these sho otings, or of poor performance in sc hools. Through our learning we can draw ideas that we use in our own actions. We can also begin to contribute information that other peo- ple use to support their own decision making. N – engage your network – find ways to draw others who you know into this shared understanding. Recog- nize people who volunteer time and talent, or who help kids through the programs they operate. If you a re a business leader, or a church leader, engage your corpo- ration or your congregation. You can use your web site, advertising, point of purchase materials, etc. to point to web sites that show all of the agencies in the city who do tutoring/mentoring, such as www.tutormentorconnection.org. If you do this weekly, year after year, your friends, coworkers and customers will become involved in solving this problem with you. O – offer help, don’t wait to be asked. As you build Going beyond the headlines and editorials following tragic news Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC—www.tutormentorexchange.net. Merchandise Mart PO Box 3303, Chica go, Il 60654 Ideas expressed here and on other Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC web sites are my own opinions resulting from 36 years leading a volunteer- based tutor/mentor program in Chicago and 19 years of trying to help similar programs grow in every high poverty neighborhood of the city.