Font Resize- Nov 10:
- 'I thought she was dead for a minute,' Richmond gang-rape witness reports
- Attorneys must review hundreds of pages before Richmond High rape suspects enter pleas
- Nov 6:
- Sixth defendant in Richmond rape case facing lesser penalties
- Nov 3:
- Richmond High rallies against violence, in support of rape victim
- Police arrest another suspect in Richmond High gang-rape case
- Nov 2:
- After months of waiting, Richmond High gets new lighting where rape took place
- After months of waiting, Richmond High gets new lighting where rape took place
- Nov 1:
- What's race got to do with it?
- Richmond rape victim's family: "Do not let this happen again''
- Oct 31:
- No parents at Richmond dance where girl raped
- Oct 30:
- One more held, one cleared in rape of Richmond teen girl
- Oct 29:
- Sixth arrest in connection to Richmond gang rape
- Rape brings Richmond High safety concerns to surface
- Fisher: Richmond rape case points to cultural lack of respect for women
- Rape victim reportedly a 'churchgoer' struggling to fit in
- Four arraigned in Richmond High rape case
- Oct 27:
- Three suspects arrested overnight in Richmond rape case
- Record your thoughts on the Richmond High gang-rape at 1-510-495-1442
- Richmond rape reaction: Residents pray, light candles and vent their anger
- Richmond High gang rape, lack of action from onlookers outrages community
- Oct 26:
- Police arrest second teen in connection with gang rape on 15-year-old girl
- Oct 25:
- Richmond girl raped outside homecoming dance
IN 2005, HARDLY a day went by that a boy or young man wasn't wounded or killed in a street shooting in Richmond. After months of bloodletting, Richmond residents had had enough.
Spiritual leaders, city officials, police and community organizations got together to craft a strategy for reducing Richmond's homicide rate. The city finally began to make a dent in violent crime.
When the violence spiked again, concerned residents pitched a tent near a park where some of the worst violence had occurred. More tent cities sprung up. The protesters lived in the tents for 37 days. Their dramatic action forced Richmondites to seek solutions to the violence.
Once again, Richmond finds itself at a crossroads that demands the community to rise up and say, enough!
Nine days ago, residents awoke to discover that a 15-year-old girl had been gang raped after her homecoming dance at Richmond High School. Because of the sheer depravity of the incident — gawkers actually cheered and snapped photos on their cell phones while the young girl was being violated by as many as seven boys and young men — it made international news.
A city that has been struggling for years to lift itself up and repair its reputation now finds its name linked to this heinous attack in the national conscience.
Richmond, unfairly, is being characterized as a violent, urban wasteland. Upstanding residents find themselves
There is nothing Richmond can do to turn back the clock. But what Richmondites can do is send a loud and clear message that they will not tolerate this kind of sickness in their community. That there is absolutely no reasonable justification for the grotesque dehumanization of this young girl.
Spiritual leaders from across the Bay Area held a vigil at Richmond High School on Monday. It was a good start.
They talked about the outrage, and the idea that the community needs to become more involved to prevent such crimes in the future.
"I pray this will be a teachable moment," says Rev. Andre Shumake, president of the Richmond Improvement Association, which helped organize the Black-on-Black Crime Summit and is sponsoring the vigil. "I pray this will be a teachable moment."
We hope so, too.
