(CNN) -- President Obama is visiting my hometown of Chicago -- the city I hate to love. The president's visit focuses attention on gun violence, and comes soon after the funeral of Hadiya Pendleton, the 15-year-old who was shot down in Chicago after participating in the president's inauguration festivities. I know way too much about urban gun violence; three people I love were shot and killed, like Hadiya, on Chicago's streets. I grew up on the South Side in the late '70s and early '80s. I was very young, but I recall the evening of my dad's death vividly. We had a green phone mounted on our kitchen wall. One night as my mom and I were sleeping in her bed, the phone rang. My mom awoke and went to the kitchen to answer.
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President Obama's visit to Chicago brings attention to city's extreme gun violence
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Tenisha Bell grew up on South Side; her dad and two friends were shot and killed there
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Bell worked hard at school, fled Chicago and will never live in her hometown again
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Bell credits her mom for her success; says kids need education, mentors, jobs
He died four minutes away from the house where @placeholder grew up.