"Hi, my name is Hadiya. This commercial is information for you and your future children … So many children out there are in gangs, and it is your job as students to say no to gangs and yes to a great future." That's the voice of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, who was shot and killed on Chicago's South Side the week after she performed as a majorette at events surrounding President Obama's second Inauguration.
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It turns out the ambitious and active teen played a role in a public service announcement targeting the very type of violence that's being blamed for her death.
On Thursday in Hadiya's hometown, the Black Youth Project is using Change.org to petition President Obama to make a speech in Chicago addressing gun violence. With 42 homicides this month, the city is already seeing its most violent January in 11 years.
Read more at Ebony.
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