Killing Our Leaders | Washington D.C.

Moriba Salim Hylton was murdered on Saturday, August 29th at the age of 27 in his former neighborhood in Washington, D.C. This talented young artist was about to become an art teacher to teenagers who needed him, and because of a gunshot, hundreds of children lost a valuable leader, and a family lost a son.

It seems almost apocalyptic when young people kill one another in our cities indiscriminately. And it is especially devastating when someone's death breaks a chain of support for future generations. There was no known motive for the shooting that killed Moriba, and he was the only person in a group of people who was killed. If he was targeted because he had succeeded and moved away from his community, then a violent act of jealousy could have cost numerous young people a chance for their own success. And if it was a random shooting, then for no reason - not even a petty, selfish reason such as jealousy - Moriba lost his promising life.

Moriba's legacy will be remembered in the minds and hearts of his family, friends, co-workers and students, who organized vigils of hundreds of people to mourn his death. And the work he was trying to do in his life will be taken up by those who were close to him. But his murder raises greater concerns about the self-destructive, self-defeating nature of urban violence. We're killing our leaders.