A Shooting Breaks Out, But National Coverage Is Slow To Follow

Imagine being at a parade on Mother's Day in your neighborhood enjoying yourself. People are dancing and singing and just having a good time. Now imagine a shooting breaks out and people in your vicinity are shot and wounded. Sounds like a pretty frightful experience. This scenario needs no imagination for it's exactly what happened at a second line celebration in New Orleans last weekend.

Violence has been a problem in New Orleans for a few years now since the rebuilding effort after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Still, it's disheartening to hear 19 people wounded in a shooting when their only crime was enjoying a parade on Mother's Day of all days. Perhaps even more troubling however, is the lack of national media attention this shooting received.

I remember seeing the word 'New Orleans' trending on Twitter that following Sunday evening, and CNN did mention the shooting in their nightly newscast, but within a couple of days it seemed to blow over. At a time when guns and gun ownership is a hotly debated topic in our nation, you would think a shooting at such a public event would warrant more attention. But it didn't. Sadly, this lack of attention about the causes and circumstances behind these crimes has too often been missing in dealing with communities of color.

Howard University Students Making A Difference in Chicago

Gun violence has been a hot topic here in the United States since the tragic shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut last December. As horrible as that was, the violence has been unrelenting in one of America's largest cities -- Chicago.

Through the first two months of 2013, Chicago is on pace to surpass last year's dubious total of more than 500 murders. Regardless of where you fall in the debate on gun control, clearly there is a serious problem at hand. Just this week, a 6-month old baby girl was shot and killed as her father changed her diapers.

That's why it's good to hear students from Howard University going into local Chicago high schools this week and talking with students about the importance of college, education, and being a positive impact in the community. Take a look.

When Violence Goes Viral: The Social Repercussions of Standing By

Earlier this month, a man was pushed down a subway tunnel and could not be saved. But his snapshot was.

That event sparked not only every New Yorker's most subconscious fear -standing too close to the edge of a platform and being pushed over- but also outrage for the lack of action taken to save a man fighting to get out of the path of an oncoming train. The most glaring outrage was directed at photographer R. Umar Abbasi, for taking a photo of the man just before he was struck by the train. The NY Post would publish the haunting photo the next day.