don't forget them...

Something a friend just wrote about police shooting at young African-American men struck a chord in me and made me want to remind everyone that Diamond and Tionda Bradley are still not home. It's been five-and-a-half years since these little girls disappeared from their home in Bronzeville. Five-and-a-half years with no word; and it seems no one is even looking anymore.

I know that there are many missing kids. I know that many of them will never be found, that many will be found hurt or dead, that only a small number come home again. I know that. But somehow these little girls have lodged in my heart. Maybe because they are from Chicago. Maybe because they are like so many other children I see in some of our poor neighborhoods, kids who are ignored by the population at large, kids who are born with a full plate of burdens -- of economics, social class, prejudice, and lesser opportunity for quality education.

I don't know why I have not forgotten them, but I ask you to take a moment to remember them, too.