Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, last Thursday, on a June summer evening in Chicago, Illinois, in my district on the south side, a young man, 23 years old, was shot down, killed, and robbed of his cell phone, which was a nonsensical killing. Xavier Omari Joy was a teacher of our city, State, and Nation. He was given so much potential. He carried with him so much promise, and in his heart breathed so much purpose and dedication. {time} 1030 Mr. Speaker, he spoke these words: ``Living in Woodlawn and working at the South Side YMCA, I know the pitfalls and challenges my community faces. I strive to help the youth in my community by being a positive role model. I want to tangibly connect and aid youth to positively progress as students.'' These were the words spoken by Xavier Omari Joy, a young man whose life was ended last Thursday. Xavier graduated from one of Chicago's premier high schools, the Whitney M. Young High School. He played football for a year at the Harvard of the African American in the south, Morehouse College. Mr. Speaker, in the year 2014, Xavier joined City Year Chicago as a volunteer. City Year is a program of AmeriCorps, whose purpose is to send young mentors into underserved communities to be of help, to provide guidance, and most importantly of all, to provide meaningful, substantive examples. Xavier had so much promise, potential, and so much personality. He could walk into a room and the room would just light up.…”