CITY HALL — The shooting death of U.S. Rep. Danny Davis' 15-year-old grandson should prompt city, state and federal officials to do more to address the root causes of the violence sweeping Chicago — poverty and racism, more than a dozen African-American leaders said Monday.
Javon Davis, was in his home when he was shot and killed during a fight over gym shoes, police said. Two teens have been charged in his death.
At Javon's funeral on Saturday, mourners called for his death to focus attention on the need to address gun violence in Chicago, where nearly 700 people have been killed in 2016.
"I am convinced there is no panacea, no silver bullet, no easy answer," Davis said at City Hall.
But officials must take steps to end easy access to guns and end poverty, which Davis said was a "major contributing factor" in creating violence.
"Poverty affects the mind, the body and the soul," Davis said. "We have to start at the root."
Davis called for city, state and federal officials to implement the 10-20-30 plan developed by U.S Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-South Carolina.
Under that proposal — which former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton campaigned on — at least 10 percent of spending by "every unit of government" should go to area where 20 percent of the population has lived below the poverty line for 30 years.
Nearly 500 counties across the United States suffer from the kind of persistent poverty that would make them eligible for the plan's targeted funding, Clyburn has said.
"This plan is cost-effective, it will not raise taxes, but will raise eyebrows, it will raise hope, it will raise opportunity and it will raise possibility," Davis said. "The impact would be so great, you'd wonder if you weren't in heaven."
Nine people were killed and 66 others were wounded in shootings in Chicago since Wednesday, according to police.
Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin, 1st District, said much of Chicago is in a "state of emergency" because of poverty and violence.
"Every day we wait it gets worse," Boykin said.
Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th) said Javon's murder — which he called "preventable" and "senseless," had "broken all of our hearts in Chicago."
Davis said Clyburn's proposal was not "pie in the sky," even under President Donald Trump.
"We will work the same as always," after Trump takes office, Davis said. "We will create the will and find a way."
Davis said he was "surprised and pleased" that Trump called him to express his condolences in the wake of his grandson's death.
"He promised to be helpful," Davis said of the president-elect, with whom he said he expected to have a "decent working relationship."
The Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr. said President Barack Obama should convene a White House conference to address the root causes of the violence sweeping Chicago and cities like Milwaukee and Baltimore.
"Chicago is at the epicenter of a national epidemic," Jackson said, calling on officials to create job programs removing lead paint and rehabilitating vacant homes.
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