Stop the Foolishness... By any means necessary

Brother Malcolm once famously said: "We declare our right on this earth to be a man, to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being, in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary."

Juxtapose that against a statement I heard last night from one of the young men in our community. After leaving a "Stop the Violence" meeting, called to address the recent tragic and senseless murders of Iesha Donaby and Deshonda Walker, I stopped in a McDonald's. A young man who looked to be in his late teens or early twenties came in and started joking around with the cashiers. At one point, the young lady behind the counter said to him, "I hope you ain't out here doing something stupid". To which the young man replied,"Ayy, I gotta get money... by any means necessary."
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I found it incredibly ironic that these two dissimilar statements would close with the same determined and powerful statement. One stating that our basic humanity and rights would be declared and defended at any cost. The other saying that he would "get money" at any cost, presumably, even if that meant taking it from the very people and community brother Malcolm defended.
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What struck me most about these statements is that when viewed together, they clearly illustrate the growing chasm between the promise of who we were to be and who we are becoming. One was a statement of love for community, and the willingness to fight to ensure a better life for the generations to come. And the latter was a statement of love only for self, and a willingness to fight even against one's own community for personal gain.

Sometimes it just makes me want to scream.
We are better than this...

So I have a question for all of you dear readers... How did we make it so far, only to see a day when our children would violently victimize one another in the very same neighborhoods and communities our parents and forebears fought to build? And what will it take, to turn this around?


Please, share your comments, let's make this a dialogue... I want to hear your thoughts.

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17 Year Old Iesha Donably killed in a senseless act of violence

This was supposed to be a good day... I'm heading out of town for the July 4th weekend, just a day away from a major milestone in my life, and then I hear about the senseless murder of a young girl in town for a short visit. Now, I spent my formative years growing up in Cleveland Ohio, so I'm no stranger to the enormity of violence, but this case really hit me in the gut.

[Link to the Story in the Wichita Eagle]

A 17 year old girl, Iesha Donaby, visiting from Arkansas, was shot several times and killed by a teen for the "crime" of blowing her horn at their car which was stopped in the road.

I have been a community activist for practically all of my adult life. But this kind of thing makes me wonder what it's all for... How have we reached a point where some of our young men think so little of themselves and our community that they would attack and kill without reason? How have we reached a point where too many of our youth prey upon each other?

Of all of the battles I've fought, and all of the issues I've confronted... there simply is no greater crisis facing our community than the breakdown of the ties that used to bind us...

I'm going to post more on this when I get off of this Greyhound in Denver, but for now, I just had to say something... This makes my heart hurt... The Donaby family will be in my prayers for many days to come.

[Link to related story: What's Wrong with Black People?"]

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