death187sin;d-41220 said:
I took the liberty to read news from most of the major cities this morning and noticed they all have one thing in common and that is a black man, women or child was killed as a result of gun violence. Living in a high crime area with limited resources you become a custom to thinking it's only that way in your city.
My question is what is it that makes black people so much more willing to use violence towards another person of the same color? What makes us so violent period?!
I seen a white man walking through Baltimore one day in one of the worse neighborhoods. I asked him was he afraid and he looked at me and calmly said "No". I said and why is that? He replied "because you guys only kill each other. I'm white so I have nothing to worry about."
I thought about it later that night on my way back to NJ and realized this white man had a point.
One story that stands out in my mind because I was there to see the aftermath of it. I was in Camden visiting some family when I came across a crime scene unlike anything I've ever witnessed.
4 year old Brandon was riding his little bike at 12 noon when an argument broke out between 2 drug dealers. Gunfire followed the argument. Brandon tried to flee to his mother's arms but was hit twice by .45 caliber slugs that ripped through his body.
At this time I was just getting to the house and the street was eerily quiet. I noticed bikes laying in the street, strollers flipped over and people peeking from windows. Then I heard the screaming. The mother ran to me with her blood covered little boy in her arms screaming for me to do something. I'm CPR certified because my job requires me to be. I convinced her to lay him flat on the pavement. He was bleeding out very fast. I could see he was shot. Neighbors started running with towels and water. I placed the towel over the hole but noticed the blood was still coming from somewhere else. Turned him on his side and noticed he has a second hole. This hole started to seep black blood which indicated the bullet pierced his kidney. By this time the police arrived and took over the scene, then fire trucks and EMT's came.
Standing there with his blood on us holding our breath hoping the EMT's could save him but they could not. He died at the scene. Right in front of his mother. I never seen anything so sad in my life. I cried for 2 days because I have a child also and I can't even imagine.
What are some of the things they are doing in your neighborhoods to stop the violence? Maybe some of the ideas could serve as a useful tool in your community.
Off the top of my head:
1-
Programs that are mandatory in schools that act as mentor projects. In my school we had one or two counselors who were like military men (One was an NFL Super Bowl winner named Danny Buggs who created a program called The Winning Circle) who every Friday would teach us what to expect in our community, where the opportunities were, and would make us do push ups and military drills but also encouraged communication and an opportunity for many of us without fathers to be around Black Men.
-After he did this and it was successful a new program called Sisters of the Circle was created for women.
2-
father's being husbands or at least raising the children.
3-
hard drugs being kicked out the community
4-
technical schools offering free education that promises at least 85% of graduates a job
(in return the graduates pay a 10% return for three years to the institution after they receive a job)
5-
Black run police forces.
6-
Artists/Politicians/Groups- Campaign on making it a Trend for Blacks/African Americans to engage in six trades (examples: real estate, engineering, distribution of products, agriculture, politics, banks) and provide a path of achievement for those who sign up on this. Also, require those who receive a job based off this program to pay a three year 10% tax back if they receive a job based off this programs recruiters having been responsible for that person getting that job. It has to be a trend to change the mindset from victim, no opportunity, drugs, violence, accepting bad living conditions as normal TO having those things be looked at as out of the ordinary.
7-
A readjustment on who some of our women should find attractive as mates needs a new direction. It should be not be accepted as a norm (nor should we ostracize them either. Let me contradict myself: maybe we should negatively criticize the acceptance of immoral living if the alternative for the past 30 years in music has been to glorify.) to have gone to prison, have illegitimate children, not have a skill/trade. Women should not look at a successful man as soft, good guy and label him and not uplift him as much as a certain voice is heard that they want a thug, a short-tempered man, or a height preference at the sacrifice of a man with integrity and legitimate power.
8-A community program/network/hotline/internet website that allows for citizens who are vetted as legitimate to remain anonymous and be able to provide information/snitch (hahaha) on gangsters and drug dealers to bounty hunters or
a black run/funded unit of force backed by the police who can enter into our communities and patrol them in order to BY FORCE eliminate/reduce loitering, drug dealing, gang activity. (Noone can ever get rid of gangsters, but they can be pushed further underground and be less an option/less attractive to youth if their POWER structure is attacked)
9-
High Performance Schools (which don't currently exist) in inner cities where if you make less than a B you are kicked out. So therefore, the pressure and the trend becomes to value success and to not promote a passive attitude towards education. These schools can offer incentives such as college scholarships/jobs/.
-All these suggestions would not cure what a full on war with those who allow and profit by law and taxes the oppression of Black people and the infiltration of drugs internationally to reach our communities and the selling of illegal firearms along with dilapidated schools, and no return on our taxes with proper representation and funneling of our dollars BUT these suggestions could improve some situations to be less hurtful than they currently are.