Goat over at Pardon Me Duke (PMD) just did an incredible post in remembrance of Robert “Yummy” Sandifer, a name I’ll never be able to forget and one that was immortalized by the late, Tupac Shakur. If you’re not familiar with the tragic story of Yummy, I urge you to head over to PMD to read this Time magazine piece in its entirety (he took the time to type it out himself)
The mayor of Chicago admitted that Yummy had slipped through the cracks. Just what cracks were those? The sharp crevices that trap children and break them into cruel little pieces. Chicago’s authorities had known about Yummy for years. He was born to a teenage addict mother and a father now in jail. As a baby he was burned and beaten. As a student he often missed more days of school than he attended. As a ripening thug he shuttled between homes and detention centers and the safe houses maintained by his gang. The police arrested him again and again and again; but the most they could do under Illinois law was put him on probation. Thirteen local juvenile homes wouldn’t take him because he was too young.