BANG-
BANG- BANG---no it’s not a song on the radio but it is the sound of poverty
that many people blame on violence. Where
does this violence come from? Is it from
a foreign country? Is it extraterrestrial? It is a form of expression that is human in
nature but something has to draw it out.
Here’s an example; you and I are walking down the street and one of us
gets mugged what would you most likely do?
Well chances are the one that is not being mugged will take action to
stop the attack. The mugger might turn
around and start to attack the other one defending and now it’s a fight. The defender now sees that they need to not
only defend their friend but themselves as well. The defender will take whatever action they
feel is right to stop the attack. In
moments like these you have no time to think you just react and you will see
how quickly one can become violent. So
how does that relate to gang violence?
Glad you asked…
Gang
violence is NOT the first choice of a “gang member” or of the overall gang
structure itself. It is the end result
of an accumulation of anger and frustration within that community. Anger and frustration of what you ask…another
great question thanks!
POVERTY
and government MISMANAGEMENT of funds and responsibility within these
communities!
Yesterday
on the South Side of Chicago the congregation of a church sang "I Am on
the Battlefield for My Lord" (according to a Chicago Tribune article today)
and that church members may be putting themselves in harm’s way…really? How long have we been marching down our city
streets to “stop the violence?” A very
long time and nothing has changed because the root cause hasn’t changed which
is poverty. You CANNOT expect that a
march will actually stop violence because the Brothers and Sisters out there
are out there because they are lacking some basics in their lives. We can’t magically think ourselves out of
poverty there needs to be real action from people that are in positions that
are obligatory to help people in need.
How many more pastors do we need to see on TV, while wearing their best
suit, talk about ending violence? It has
become a joke at this point because it’ll be in the news one day and the next
everyone is too busy to take real action.
What is real action? You are just
full of great questions today! Thanks
for asking!
Real
action consists of several avenues though the list is not a full list it’s at
least a start:
Education-
not only making sure that every public school in your community is fully funded
but also educating yourself and others about the root reason and cause to the
violence. It is about drugs but go deeper
and realize that Heroin is NOT grown on the West Side but brought in from other
countries, what do you do there?
Being
active- this is tough in poor communities because people are working odd hour
jobs and usually more than one job. But
with technology today being active can be done many ways anywhere from signing
a petition for better city services to keeping a community center open.
Be
a community- back in the 1990’s there was an enormous push for Block clubs
because people started to use “it takes a village…” slogan and those of us that
worked in the hood quickly saw how these same adults that cursed the gang
members became a gang of their own with their Block clubs. Community is about caring for everyone that
is in it and comes through it no matter who they are. Find how that can work in your community.
Being
responsible- this is mostly for people with those titles that commit them to
helping those in need. I find it hard to
understand how it is that I have to try and convince a pastor to helping the community. It’s amazing how people will say “we just
need to pray about it and let God do what God does” have you ever thought that
just maybe God empowered you to become a preacher so that YOU can answer the
action in that prayer!? DUH!!!!! AS for the others as in politicians,
teachers, etc…you are in these positions to help people and if you took it and
get bothered by having to do a little more than expected then you didn’t
understand your position. Public
service, human services, education, health services should NEVER be a job it
should be a position within the community to be a resource.
Martin
Luther King Jr. was on the battle field but it was to demand the human right of
acknowledgement from not only this government but from this society. The battle field for these church members
should not be against their own people in their own hood it needs to be in
front of every government office and demand human equality to provide as they
have promised. No one is begging for
free anything but when you have been denied for so long your demands become
stronger and louder.
BANG-BANG-BANG
to me is the sound of a Brother screaming for education and a future, not hope,
but an actual future where they will become successful. I had someone say that the opportunities are
out there and you just have to grab them and I do agree that they are out
there. My issue is this, if the
government was willing to spend, since the Nixon administration, $1 trillion
dollars on anti-drug “programs” why is it NOT willing to equally fund public
education across the board? So the
opportunity of going to a top rated public school is out there but if my child
goes to a public school that is underfunded and has an array of other issues
then how does one obtain that opportunity?
You say they just have to work harder…really? But why don’t we as adults work harder to
make sure these schools have everything they need? Why are we putting the burden on the children? I’m not saying we need to hand people things
on a silver platter but we do need to remain responsible to what we as a society
have promised ourselves and our future.
How
would things change if 16 and 17 year old youth would have the right to VOTE?
Let’s
find out…..
Peace/AMOR
Gerardo
