E96: Gakirah Barnes

This week Beth and Wendy discuss Gakirah Barnes, a teenaged girl and gang member who lived in Chicago. She claimed to have killed 17 people by the time she was 17.

We share listener letters (3:45) and get into some stats (8:35). Then we dive into the setting (9:47), the Gakira’s early life (25:40) and the timeline (27:29). Then, we get into the conclusion of Gakira’s story (41:49). We get into our Take Aways (48:30) and some self care tips to help us get through the rest of 2020 (52:30) and we close out the show with some shout outs (58:41).

Thanks for listening! This is a weekly podcast and new episodes drop every Thursday, so until next time… look alive guys, it’s crazy out there!

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Articles/Websites

Hunter, Brad. (08/14/2019). ‘Monstrous’ teen girl gang ‘hitta’ killed 17 in Chicago. Toronto Sun. Retrieved 09/26/2020 from https://torontosun.com/news/world/monstrous-teen-girl-gang-hitta-killed-17-in-chicago

Baer, Stephanie K.; Nickeas, Peter. (04/13/2014). 4 dead among at least 36 shot in Chicago in 36 hours. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 09/26/2020 from https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2014-04-13-chi-chicago-shootings-at-least-4-dead-among-35-shot-20140413-story.html

Holliday, Darryl. (01/08/2013). Boy, 13, Died in His Mother’s Arms After Being Shot. DNA Info. Retrieved 09/26/2020 from https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130108/woodlawn/tyquan-tyler/

Hall, Dan. (08/13/2019). Gangster Girl. The Sun. Retrieved 09/26/2020 from https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9686479/teen-girl-gangster-gakirah-barnes/

Jolly, Bradley. (08/13/2019). Girl, 17, bragged about ‘killing 17 people’ online before being gunned down. The Mirror. Retrieved 09/28/2020 from https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/girl-17-bragged-killing-17-18927017

Sweeney, Annie. (04/10/2018). Tweets from gang members express grief over violence — but then turn to anger, researchers find. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 09/28/2020 from https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-met-gang-internet-banging-study-20180406-story.html

Florez, Emily; Fisher, Alexandria. (04/12/2014). Mother of Teen Girl Fatally Shot: “It’s An Ongoing War”. NBC 5 Chicago. Retrieved 09/28/2020 from https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/mother-of-teen-girl-fatally-shot-its-an-ongoing-war/72642/

Swaine, Jon. (04/20/2014). A Hip-Hop-Fueled Deadly Gang War Is Still Raging In Chicago. Business Insider. Retrieved 09/28/2020 from https://www.businessinsider.com/gang-war-in-chicago-2014-4

Christie, Joel. (04/29/2014). The life and death of the real ‘Lil Snoop’. The Daily Mail. Retrieved 09/29/2020 from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2616016/The-life-death-real-Lil-Snoop-Meet-teenage-queen-Chicagos-gangland-grew-warzone-turned-killing-avenge-brothers-murder.html

Contributors. (04/30/2014). The death of Gakirah Barnes: will we now believe that murder and rap are connected? Black Youth Project. Retrieved 09/29/2020 from http://blackyouthproject.com/the-death-of-gakirah-barnes-will-we-now-believe-that-murder-and-rap-are-connected/

Hagedorn, John M.; Aspholm, Roberto; Cordova, Teresa; Papachristos, Andrew V.; Williams, Lance. (04/16/2020). Chicago’s gangs have changed. Chicago Reporter. Retrieved on 9/28/2020 from https://www.chicagoreporter.com/chicagos-gangs-have-changed-our-violence-intervention-strategies-should-too/

Wikipedia contributors. (09/12/2020). Gangs in Chicago. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 09/28/2020 from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gangs_in_Chicago&oldid=977969740

HipWiki Admin. (4/13/2016). Garika Barnes. HipWiki. Retrieved 9/29/2020 from http://www.hipwiki.com/Gakirah+Barnes

HipWiki Admin. (06/02/2015). Blood Money. HipWiki. Retrieved 9/29/2020 from http://www.hipwiki.com/Blood+Money-Rapper

HipWiki Admin. (11/26/2013). Carlton TuTu Archer. HipWiki. Retrieved on 9/29/2020 from http://www.hipwiki.com/Carlton+TuTu+Archer

Patton, Desmond. (05/04/2017). The haunting social media trail left by a teen gang member. VICE. Retrieved 9/29/2020 from https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/53npza/the-haunting-social-media-trail-left-by-a-teen-gang-member

Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Chiraq. Retrieved 9/29/2020 from https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/chiraq/

Chappell, Bill. (07/22/2020). 15 People Wounded In Shooting That Targeted Funeral in Chicago. NPR. Retrieved 9/29/2020 from https://www.npr.org/2020/07/22/894111002/15-people-wounded-in-shooting-that-targeted-a-funeral-in-chicago

Video

Secret Life of a Gang Girl: The Untold Story
https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Life-Gang-Girl-Untold/dp/B07S66LMGW/ref=sr_1_1

History

Encyclopedia of Chicago. (n.d.). Woodlawn. Retrieved 09/27/2020 http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1378.html

Chicago Gang History. (n.d.). Woodlawn. Retrieved 09/27/2020 from https://chicagoganghistory.com/neighborhood/woodlawn/

Chicago Gang History. (n.d.). Gangster Disciples. Retrieved 09/27/2020 from https://chicagoganghistory.com/gang/gangster-disciples/

History.com Editors. (01/23/2020). Murder Castle. History.com. Retrieved 09/27/2020 from https://www.history.com/topics/crime/murder-castle

Biography.com. (06/12/2020). HH Holmes. Retrieved 09/27/2020 from https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/hh-holmes

Automotive News. (10/31/2017). Americans get first look at Daimler quadricycle. Retrieved 09/27/2020 from https://www.autonews.com/article/20171031/CCHISTORY/171039935/americans-get-first-look-at-daimler-quadricycle

Dumlija, Marko. (n.d.). Chicago’s Ferris wheel story. Architecture.org. Retrieved 09/27/2020 from http://www.architecture.org/news/evolving-chicago/chicagos-ferris-wheel-story/

Wikipedia contributors. (09/23/2020). World’s Columbian Exposition. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 09/27/2020 from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=World%27s_Columbian_Exposition&oldid=979967920

Abc News. (10/18/2011). Hidden America: Don’t Shoot I Want to Grow Up”: Statistics surrounding gang violence in Chicago. Retrieved 9/29/2020 from https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/fullpage/chicago-gang-violence-numbers-17509042

Shout Outs

The Clearing
https://gimletmedia.com/shows/the-clearing

Frankie Drake Mysteries
https://www.pbs.org/show/frankie-drake-mysteries/

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Music

“Abyss” by Alasen: ●https://soundcloud.com/alasen●https://twitter.com/icemantrap ●https://instagram.com/icemanbass/●https://soundcloud.com/therealfrozenguy●
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

“On the Go” by Marlene Miller. Used with permission. Find her Facebook and Instagram under SEMNCHY or marlenemiller138@gmail.com

“Born Again” by Jorge Hernandez
https://youtu.be/DLHtFN_hr_s
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License