D.C. Teen Coping Despite Chaos of The Streets

The Washington Post profiles recent high school graduate Monica Watts, who just buried another brother last week. A brother who died while attempting to rob an off duty police officer. Watts, up to this point has navigated the urban streets of Washington, D.C. pretty successfully. Despite her losses, she's planning to attend Bennedict College in South Carolina, and is receiving community support to help defray the college costs.

The article states that since 1989, there have been 6,000 homicides recorded in the District of Columbia, and in Monica's immediate family, none of the black males survived to live into their 30s. Another sad commentary on the odds of the black male to survive in what now has to be considered urban warfare.