It is a new year. It is an election year and once again black people are running–for their lives. Reason is another King Alfred Plan, another elusive scam. But “we gonna be alright.” We start this year off in recognition of all 2015 victims of homicides in the City of Homes:

“The violence has claimed the lives of high school students, victims of domestic violence and, as noted by Mayor Domenic Sarno, alleged gang members previously known to the Springfield Police Department. The city has surpassed last year’s total of 14 homicides. In 2007, 20 people were victims of homicides in Springfield, the highest rate this century; 2011 and 2013 neared that total with 19 killings each.”

Here is MassLive and The Republican’s coverage of 2015’s homicides:

1. January 1: Shawnki Gladden, 18
2. January 5: Yahaira Hernandez, 30
3. February 11: Kathryn Mauke, 17
4. February 23: Alexis Perez-Melendez, 38
5. March 10: Luis Sanchez, 26
6. March 11: Salina Merritt, 29
7. March 16: Rakeem Nixon, 22
8. March 25: Kenneth Lopez, 18
9. March 28: Kevin Jose Marrero-Rivera, 23
10. May 12: Monique Van Zandt, 25
11. May 18: Bernard Collado, 28
12. June 7: Anthony Serrano, 25
13. June 30: Chris Calvente, 20
14. August 29: David Steven Guasp, 21
15. Nov. 1: Isaiah Michael Emanuel, 18
16. Nov. 7: Fan Cheung Li, 40
17. Nov. 19: Kenneth Taitt, 28
18. Dec. 11: Larry Finney, 47

If Pirus and Crips all got along
They’d probably gun me down by the end of this song
Seem like the whole city go against me
Every time I’m in the street I hear
“YAWK! YAWK! YAWK! YAWK!”

For masslives’ coverage of BLM protests, see:
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/04/photos_black_lives_matter_prot.html 
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/10/black_lives_matters_protest_he.html