On Saturday the daughter of a local minister devoted to reducing violence in the community was found shot in the bedroom of her home.
Chanelle Denise Wells, 24, daughter of Rev. Malachi Walker died in surgery at Wishard Memorial Hospital, leaving behind two young sons, ages 6 and 4.
Walker is director of Young Men Inc., an organization devoted to helping youth avoid choices that lead to violence. He and his wife Dawn were taking a group of 30 youth to a Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Atlanta when they received the tragic news about their daughter and quickly returned home.
Later, during a prayer vigil with supporters, Walker said he better understands the pain of parents who have lost children in homicides.
“When it strikes home, it’s really a different story,” he said.
Walker said his daughter was preparing to return to college to finish a degree in child day care. Police are investigating the murder and have released a sketch of a possible suspect.
Walker recently submitted an editorial to the Recorder about violence among young men entitled Save Our Black Males, which reads as follows:
If you are fed up, outraged, tired of seeing our boys dying in the streets of Indianapolis or continue to crowd our state prisons, then you may want to read this.
I am the founder and director of Young Men Inc. Youth Ministry, Associate Pastor at Great Commission Church of God, long-time youth worker, and a 25-year veteran of the Indianapolis Fire Department. For 14 years, I have been working with Black males, empowering them to make positive choices, and helping them to keep hope alive, and furthermore to become the men that God has called them to be.
I could go on and on with many accolades about Young Men Inc. (YMI) and give you more information, but what I want to talk about today is a serious crisis we are facing in our community. I know the cost of gas is a serious issue, as well as the downward spiral of our economy, but we must not overlook a major problem that will grow worse if we fail to address it now.
The latest shootings in our community are senseless and could have been prevented, but we must not continue to stand on the opposite side of the fence and watch our boys kill one another as well as innocent women and children.
I know some of you are saying that they put themselves in these positions and have made poor choices, but if we are able to get more positive Black men off the sidelines and into action, we might be able to effect positive change in their lives. I am confident that we could impact the choices and decisions that they are making for the better.
I’ve heard it said time and time again “it takes us to save us!” I am fed up with the talking! We must stop talking about it and do it. Our young men need us. They need positive roles models — Black and white — who will begin to say, “enough is enough.”
We must take it to the streets and unite to save our Black males and show God’s love and that we love them and care about their futures. We have to show them how to love and care for God and themselves.
I am not the one to give the devil credit, but we must wake up and see that the devil is doing his job to “kill, steal and destroy.” He is doing all of these things right in front of our faces, and too many of us are setting back and allowing this to happen and many times helping him by taking a nonchalant view of our situation.
I know some of you are probably thinking, “Those boys are old enough to make their own decisions.” You are right, but perhaps they don’t know how to make good decisions. So let’s not sit back and pretend they do. I hear somebody else saying, “These kids are just hardheaded and don’t want to listen to strong, sound, counsel these days.” Have you forgotten that you may have once been “hardheaded” and guess what, nobody gave up on you did they?”
While we are making excuses, our Black males are still dying. I always say “a young, Black male is a terrible soul to waste. Think about it, our streets are only as safe as we make them.
I want to thank the City of Indianapolis, IMPD, and other public safety personnel for all they do to try to make our city a safe place to live and work, but they can’t do it alone. I personally feel the city can do a better job to help in this crisis. We need to stop playing political games and begin providing resources to youth services agencies. I believe that we would begin to see a change. Why do we keep expanding jails, instead of helping to expand programs that might help keep our youth out of jail and off the streets?
I am not being critical about what is going on, but I am angry and outraged. I am a true believer that prayer changes people, places and situations. We need to continue to pray, as well as continue to respond to the needs of our families and our communities with love, compassion and genuine caring. Our boys are crying out for us and their anger is being seen as the bloodshed continues to spill over the streets of Indianapolis. How many more of our sons have to die or get caught-up in crossfire of bullets before we receive this message and take action?
Our future is killing each other and conditions are getting worse. The time to take action is now. Join me as we take it to the streets in prayer and in action.
Do you know what can happen when hundreds of men come together and pray? We can do more that IMPD, ISP, and all other law enforcement agencies put together. Everything is possible with God. I want to hear from you. Let’s take back our Black males and our streets.
For more information or to show your support for the Walker family call Greater Commission Church of God at (317) 923-7690 or send an e-mail to revwalker1@sbcglobal.net.
