Late afternoon on Halloween, 15-year-old John Thomas was murdered while riding his bike on the Near West Side.
Multiple news outlets reported his death in only a few sentences — a “boy shot on his bike.” The Sun-Times did eventually run a longer piece, but there was so much more to John.
I had the privilege of teaching John, and he was one of the kindest and most selfless students I have ever known. He was valedictorian of his eighth grade class, a constant volunteer and a young man who believed in giving back to his community. His mother is the salt of the earth — a woman who worked tirelessly to raise a son who was caring, generous and full of light.
To see his life reduced to a statistic is heartbreaking. The murder of a child should never be treated as ordinary or routine. Each time we accept a brief headline in place of a full story, we lose a bit of our own humanity.
John’s life mattered. Chicago’s children deserve to be remembered in full — not for how their lives ended, but for how they lived.
Brianna Hughes Bullock, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Mamdani is perfect fit for diverse NYC
I wish to congratulate Zohran Mamdani on his win as mayor of New York City.
As a child, I spent a lot of time with my immigrant grandparents in Queens. They were Eastern European Jews who fled before the Nazis took over Europe.
As a child in the ’70’s, Sundays were our family breakfast and dinner day. My grandfather would head out for lox and a chicken while my grandmother would prepare matzo brei and start the matzo ball soup for dinner.
Fom the age of 6, I was sent to get bagels from the local Jewish bakery. They didn’t have the cream cheese my grandmother wanted, so it was a further walk to the Korean grocery store to get the one she wanted. But they didn’t carry the newspaper she liked, so it was a few steps further to the African-owned newsstand to get the paper (and spiced grasshoppers as a treat, as the owner was fond of children).
That kind of multiethnic neighborhood and cohabitation has always stayed with me.
For those reasons, I have hope in Mamdani as the new mayor of NYC. If such disparate cultures could coexist then, they can do so now.
I wish him the best, and I hope he sets an example of acceptance that does not depend on your background. Tolerance and acceptance will win if we let them.
By the way, I still miss the grasshoppers (and, yes, they were considered kosher).
Robert Liebman, West Loop
Teacher appreciation
I would like to thank Chicago Public Schools teacher Bob Shaffer for a timely and much-needed civics lesson and for presenting it in such a humorous way in his recent letter. He has an amazing class of “kiddos” with excellent critical thinking skills — something sadly lacking in today’s political climate. I also want to thank Mr. Shaffer for reinforcing the message from the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song, “Teach Your Children.” Educators like Mr. Shaffer are a gift, and teaching is a noble profession. Thank you, Mr. Shaffer!
Kim Foster, South Loop