The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

I meant to post this the other day, but it slipped my mind.

Ashley Lunsford and Shannon Fortune are two individuals that I spotlighted back in June of this year. Both of these individuals were gunned down on a sidewalk not too far from where I live. I did not know these individuals, but the fact that they make up seemingly endless numbers of young Black folks who are dying senselessly on our streets is something worth my attempt to keep this reality in the minds of my readers.

The family/friends of these individuals placed a link to this site on the Myspace page used to memoralize these individuals which is how I found out about it. Here is an excerpt of the website:

On Saturday afternoon, at the site of Monday night’s killings, friends and family of the two slain teens joined community activists for a remembrance that was half memorial and half call to action to end violence in the city. “It’s time we take back our city from the gangs, take back our city from the drugs, take back the whole east side. Enough is enough,” said the Rev. Milo Carrasco, founder of Peacemakers for Pomona, which organized the prayer vigil. Ashley Lunsford of Upland and her boyfriend Shannon Fortune of Rancho Cucamonga, both 19, were gunned down late Monday on the sidewalk in front of an apartment complex. About 25 people gathered Saturday afternoon at the northwest corner of Mills and East Kingsley avenues – the site of the shooting – for a prayer vigil. Those in attendance formed a circle beside a memorial of candles, flowers and poster boards scribbled with messages from friends. Before the vigil began, friends of the victims chatted casually and told stories about the couple they knew simply as Ashley and Shannon. Lunsford, remembered as a woman who would selflessly help a friend in trouble, was gunned down before having the chance to celebrate her daughter’s birthday. Lunsford’s mother, Kim Lunsford, repeatedly cried out, “That was my baby, that was my baby” during the vigil. “She was such a sweet child – she didn’t deserve this,” Kim Lunsford said. “How many more families have to go through this? How many more have to suffer?” Fortune, a former football standout at Montclair High School, was at the time of his death a member of a San Dimas-based semi-pro football team called the Southern California Smash. His friends said that if he had lived, he one day would have played in the NFL. When the prayer circle formed, and local pastors began lamenting the loss of the couple, several of the victims’ close friends and family members broke down in tears. “(Fortune) did everything,” one friend said. She requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation. “We have kids whose parents can’t provide them with a happy summer, with balloons for a water balloon fight and stuff like that. “He did that,” she continued. “He went to the store, bought all the balloons, filled them. He made sure the kids had fun. This boy did not do anything against anyone.” The deaths of Lunsford and Fortune were the 13th and 14th homicides this year in Pomona. Last year a total of 18 people were killed. “We all see this in the news, but when it affects someone that we love it’s more personal,” said Carrasco. Carrasco grew up in the neighborhood on Kingsley, which between Mills and Indian Hill Boulevard is lined with trouble-harboring apartment complexes. He urged his neighbors to take back control of their street. “This is no longer a drug-ridden street, this is Kingsley – the street I grew up on,” he said. “We don’t need to have a few people just corrupting the entire city.” Kim Lunsford said she plans to petition the city to request that Kingsley be closed off to traffic between Mills and Indian Hill. “Something has to be done,” she said. “Another family should not have to go through this – this is crazy. “There’s been too many people killed over here. I mean what is it going to take? For another 14 to be murdered?”

From what I am able to tell, this young lady either just had a baby or was pregnant at the time of the shooting. Either way, the next generation is already feeling the effects of this mess.

I just find it hard most of the time to dwell on politics when you have this kind of stuff going on every freakin’ day.