DD I too was in tears when I read this story. It broke my heart for so many different reasons. The story sadden me because of what that woman and her son endured that night. But it also hurt me that out of the 10 boys that committed such a heinous crime the youngest was only 16.
I'm not heartless when it comes to young black men that have lost their way, if I could help every child in the world, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, Russian, etc. I would. It sounds cliche but the children are our future, the good ones, the troubled ones, the lost ones, all of them.
We have young teens being tried as adults because of the malicious crimes they commit. We have to do better. We have to let these young minds know that they are better then what people are telling them they are. We have to let them know they are important to society. The most important thing we can do for these kids is teach them about GOD!!!!
They've lost there way and they need people who care about their future to help them get back to where they should be!!!!
DD - 15 years ago
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19698132/
here is a article about the incident you mentioned, I remember hearing about it when it happened. I'm in tears right now. This is beyond sad.
Damian - 15 years ago
I don't hear no other race saying " we need to fix up/ What's wrong with us"
Black people truly are lost and ignorant.
I'm black, live in england. It seems like all the school kids want to be black be it turkish, indian, asian, caucasian they dress black, talk black, but I don't see them hanging about the streets come evening time, the "real " black kids hang around in groups until god knows what time, just them standing there intimidates people. but their parents don't care. no one don't care
yeah keep talking about how bad we are. I'm doing my bit for my kids but that ain't going to stop some uneducated knucklehead, shanking them is it??
Tanya - 15 years ago
@ DD...Good Morning! Okay I agree with you on the issues of missing father's, environments, poverty, and woman having babies that aren't ready to have babies. Which are all issues I will address. I have been working with young children since I was 16,(I'm now 30) I have seen it all and heard it all. I'm fortunate enough to be able to travel from state to state and volunteer at community centers where the kids there are literally forgotten. NY, Atlanta, L.A, Sacramento, Houston, Dallas, DC, Chicago, Philly, Boston, and the list goes on. It breaks my heart to hear some of the stories I hear. Like you said DD I couldn't imagine not having the mother I had as I grew up. I never met my father, but I was (am) blessed to have had and still have a mother that knew what it was to be a mother. I was (am) blessed to have had a grandmother (rest in peace) to know what it was to be a mother, and teach her daughter's how to be great mother's. I wish to God that all little boy's and girls could have the up bringing I had or you had, unfortunately that's obviously not the case. But I thank God for the little black boy's and girls that are out there that are faced with hardship to put it lightly but still have strength, courage, love, and the common sense to know that if they stay strong and focused, they can over come there situation.
I recently read a story about 10 young black men (19 being the oldest, and 16 being the youngest) that broke into this woman's house beat her and her son, then all 10 boys raped the woman in front of her son and when they were all done they made the mother perform oral sex on her then 10 year old son. There's so much more to the story... but I shared this to say there's NOTHING in this world so bad that you would cause such harm to another human being. But here's the even sadder part this woman and her son are lucky...there still here to tell their story!
My heart doesn't go out to these kids who CHOOSE to do wrong. I don't care what your circumstances are you know right from wrong.
Now again DD I agree with you on the Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton comment, the point that I was making is I get tired of the two of them picking and choosing when there going to rally for black people. Don't just fight for us when the issue is racially motivated. But your right where are the politician's, and officer's, and whom ever else can make a difference in our young kids lives?
@MsMoni your statement was so eloquently put. You made a lot of great points.
Missing father's, babies having babies, mother's not knowing how to be mother's, and poverty are issues in the black communities. A better word then issues is "cycle". Father's don't know to be there or how to be there for their children because there father wasn't there for them, you have young girls having babies before they even finish high school, in a lot of cases sadly because there looking to feel a void and think having a baby will do that. Poverty isn't as hard to fix as a lot of people thinks it might be. If we as a people donated our time and money to making the "projects, or ghettos" worth living in then maybe the young black kids that live there would enjoy coming home instead of hanging in the streets.
We have to change our thinking...we have to stop being selfish, we have to put in work, we have to care!!!!!
Sam. - 15 years ago
hi.
MsMoni - 15 years ago
The outrage that many people have over this incident is long overdue. Our children have been dying in droves for years and it should never take a situation this tragic for us to get fed up with what has been going on in many cities across this country for years. I have family in Chicago and more than 30 CPS students were killed last year alone and barely a whisper was made. Sadly many kids all over this country are under supervised, over exposed, and left to their own devices. Parents no longer parent, children grow up with no concept of what a father is and barely an idea of what a mother should be.
These kids are made to raise their brothers and sisters, and then we wonder why this generation has so many troubles. Some where along the way we assimilated so much into mainstream culture that we have lost the sense of community we as African Americans once had. We no longer reach out to one another or support one another. Not only has the Nuclear family dissipated, but the overall sense of the community as a family has all but vanished.
I hear so many people saying "you can't tell these kids anything" and "they have no respect". These kids also don't have parents who are qualified to adequately parent. They lack tradition because their parents parents' were the victims of drugs, prison, drive by shootings, and gang violence. There is no one cause to the problems our youth face, subsequently their must be multiple interventions and solutions presented to fix the problem.
Lastly, I must say that if we want to evoke real change than we must be active in our communities. If all that comes out of this is angry people who eventually settle down and go on about their daily lives then this child would have died for no reason. We all must collectively pull together and pick up the slack or we'll all suffer. I believe in personal responsibility and people should be responsible for the children they bring in this world. However if we aren't willing to to help beyond ourselves then we hurt our own families in the future. Change comes from the ground up, and if we don't do something now then we might as well get ready for a future of more nonsensical violence.
DD - 15 years ago
I forgot to address the Al Sharpton, Jena 6, etc.. issue, like I said before, unlike other incidents with black on black violence, this one isn't being ignored. Everyone is talking about ( I'm usually just a lurker on message boards etc, I never post, and I'M talking about it). Hopefully we wont go back to business as usual, even the Jena 6 protest didn't happen overnight, there was a planning process. This may be a little more difficult to stage a protest for that situation.
In the Jena 6 incident, the punishment did not fit the crime... the issue of unfairly punishing black youth needs to be dealt with.
Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton can not be everywhere. The better questions are where are the local churches, politicians, and law enforcement? Why are we spending so much money fighting for the safety of someone else's country when we have kids being killed on the streets every day right here? Why aren't we doing more to protect inner city children who want to do right? This is much bigger than Al and Jesse, i wish people would stop throwing them into every situation.
The issue of black on black crime is VERY deep . This is going on everyday in many many cities, there needs to be serious lifestyle changes, generational curses have to be broken, improvements to inner city schools are needed, better parenting choices have to be made, men have to stop walking away from their families. People in the communities where this is happening have got to stop this not snitching stuff.
Shae-Shae - 15 years ago
I am one of those black women that chose the "thug", the dishonest dude with swag. And yes i've taken responsibility for that, but you can NOT blame societies problems with black men on that. I have daughters and I live with my choices. I am educated, employed, and my children are well versed. I may be an exception, but hold EVERYONE accountable, don't just pick and choose. Let's be honest, when it comes down too it...IT'S EVERYBODY'S PROBLEM!
DD - 15 years ago
Tanya, I respect your opinion as well..and I agree with many of your points, as a matter of fact most of them My thing is, people deal with things in different ways, because you or I made it through doesn't mean that everyone will without assistance. Many of the kids we speak of are products of their environments. In order to move past this, we can't just simply say that everyone is making excuses. Many young black men are selling drugs, gang banging, being incarcerated, abandoning children, and young black women are having babies at an alarming rate.. but why? Why is it happening so much more to our children than to white children? Could it be in part due to a history of being enslaved, segregated, and discriminated against? Perhaps because father are absent? And if poverty isn't a reason, why is it so much more prevalent in poor communities?
I can agree that "the white man" is an excuse but poverty, missing father's from the home, drug addicted parents are definitely not, they're reasons, they're obstacles. Can they be overcome? Yes, but they are valid reasons nonetheless. I can't imagine not having my parents in my life or growing up with one or both of them on drugs. I can believe that had that been my experience, my life may have be drastically different. Were talking about kids here.
EVERYTHING happens for a reason.. it's not as cut and dry as we would like to believe. Take many of these kids out of their environment and they'll excel....i can almost guarantee that.
Good to know you're doing some volunteering, keep up the good work!
Julia - 15 years ago
How can some of these kids not be angry? All they hear at home is rejection and hatred. Some of these parents talk to their kids like they are animals...i hear it on the train in the ghettos.........its so sad to me the way some mothers talk to their children....cussing at them........slapping them on their heads and telling them to stop crying.........COME ON PEOPLE....no wonder they are angry.......THERE IS ABSOLUTLY NO LOVE IN THESE HOMES............because all the parents are doing is clubing, smoking.....hooking up.........PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR KIDS.......they need LOVE, not rejection.......they need UNDERSTANDING, THEY NEED TO BE LOVED, STOP ABUSING THEM............THEY DIDN'T ASK TO COME INTO THIS WORLD...............DO THE RESPOSIBLE THING AND .....T A K E CARE OF THEM LIKE YOU SHOULD...............AFTER YOU HAVE CHILDREN THEY ARE THE PRIORITY, NO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE.....................LOVE THEM, EDUCATE THEM.
Tanya - 15 years ago
@ DD....I fully respect your opinion on the issue. However when people start talking about missing fathers, living conditions, slavery so forth and so on excuses are being made. My great grandmother was a slave, and my grandmother (rest in peace) was brought up in slavery as well as my mom and her siblings. I share this simply because I will never forget how far my people have come. I will never act as though slavery didn't exist, but on the flip side 97.9% of people who speak of slavery NEVER experienced it first hand. It's crazy to me that those who did, like maybe, your mother, father, grandparents, great grandparents, my mother, my great grandparents, etc. are not out here acting a fool. Nor are they using slavery as an excuse to why something isn't going right in their life. My family is from Mississippi so trust me when I tell you were all very familiar with racism, and slavery, but like I said we rose above that. If we continue to let slavery be the main reason if not the only reason why we as a people don't move forward then we as a people will ALWAYS be behind.
Yes my mother did an awesome job raising her three children. She had us at a young age and as a woman and as a mother she chose to raise her three children the best way she knew how. She kept my brother active in sports so that he wouldn't get involved in things that would make him become a statistic, she made sure her two daughter's were just as involved in cheerleading and other activities so we didn't become pregnant at 13 years old. That's what a good parent is supposed to do, and if there not ready to do that then there not ready to be a parents.
On another note, I get passionate about these kinds of issues because I VOLUNTEER my time at community centers where the average black, white, Asian, etc. person wouldn't go due to the crime rate. I stay talking to young black boys who have had it harder at the age of 13 then most will experience in a life time. I talk to young boys and girls whom both parents are missing from the home due to drug addiction, or they've been raped,or they have to share one bed with 5-6 other siblings, or get picked on daily on there way home from school. There's a young man in one of the community centers that I volunteer at that shared with me that his mother offered him a crack pipe one time.
Trust me I'm fully aware of the over bearing challenges our youth go through day in and day out. But the beautiful thing about the kids I work with is despite the horrendous hand they've been dealt, they still strive to go to school, and go to college, or help other people who may have it as bad as they do. My point is I'm sure those boy's weren't born killer's, but they sure did make a conscious CHOICE to kill Derrion Albert, who by the way is the victim in this whole mess.
You say we are just as outraged about Albert loosing his life as we were with the Jena 6 boy's being charged with attempted murder? Ok so maybe I've missed a news story reporting Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, the NAACP, Nas, Jay-Z, Dwayne Wade, Mos Def, and that is just to name a few in addition bus loads of many other people from state to state traveling to Chicago fighting for justice for young Albert? Remember when all bus loads of people showed up in that small town to support those 6 young men? The only reason why that movement took place was because it was racially motivated. But like I said earlier because it was 4 black boys who MURDERED another young black man the same movement won't take place, and that is sad!!!!
SS - 15 years ago
WHERE ARE THE PARENTS?
WHERE ARE THE PARENTS?
WHERE ARE THE PARENTS?
We need to stop having sex and having babies at 15 or 16 because obviously we don't know how to parent our kids. Education and values begin at inside the home and we need to work on building strong foundations in our lives before we think about raising children. You are not born hate-filled, angry, and violent. You are taught violence, you can choose to be angry. Cases like this illustrate that some black homes are BROKEN. We need to have better role models, and not rely on famous people or music to be the only source of influence to our kids. Everyday people need to step up and become mentors or volunteers in their communities becaue these have got no clue how to channel all their negative emotions.
DD - 15 years ago
People are just as outraged with the incident as they were with the Jena 6 incident.
The problem is that, somehow, somewhere, things with horribly wrong for us (as black people) we can't ignore this. And unfortunately, we have to figure out where it went terribly wrong, and how, in order to fix it. There is a reason for everything, i don't for one second believe that these kids woke up one day and said I want to start killing people. We can't ignore the effects of slavery, segregation, and discrimination.
You and your siblings may have overcome your situation, and that's all good. But, there are many who have not. There are many who are experiencing circumstances that are far worse than being raised by a single mother (whom I assume actually cared for and raised her children). What about the youth whose PARENTS are on drugs, gang banging themselves, in prison, or dead with no other parental figures?
I will say this, this incident has sparked something I've been waiting on...discussion on black on black crime, the radio stations are talking about it, it's on the news and in the news papers. Maybe now, we can begin to find some solutions. What we can not do however, is pretend that there were not lasting effects of slavery.
Another thing, we have got to stop making excuses for black men who are not assisting in raising their kids. It's true, black women should be more selective, I don't deny that. But, once a child is born, there is no reason for any man should be excused or resolved of his responsibility to help raise that child regardless of the path taken to get that child here. Ladies, if your brother, cousin, or uncle is one of these men OR you are dating one of them..call them out, let them know it's not that child's fault and they have a responsibility to them.
Finally, I don't know who you are talking too but other than one of those suspects mom, I haven't heard too many people making excuses for these kids. Most of the people I've spoken to believe that they should be punished to the full extent of the law. However, I believed that blacks were not punished severely enough for black on black crime before this incident.
Tanya - 15 years ago
Wow...First off I'm tired of people trying to make excuses for the boy's that killed Derrion Albert. I've been following this story from day one and from day one people (BLACK PEOPLE) have been trying to make excuses for what those boys did. Remember the Jena 6 fiasco? Six young black men had got in a fight and beat a young white man and they tried to charge the boys with attempted murder. Well that story went national, and what did we do as a people? We screamed until our voices were heard. Jesse Jackson, Rev, Sharpton, NAACP, ball player's, rapper's, name them and they were out there rallying.
Why aren't these same people just as outraged now? Is it because it's 4 black boys that killed another black young man? I'm disgusted by what these for boys did to Albert and I for one think they should all be tried as adults and be sentenced to life in prison.
I'm tired of our people using poverty, missing father's from the home, drug addicted parents, and more importantly "the white" man for reasons to things black people do that is unacceptable. I'm a 30 yr old black woman. I was raised in a single family home. My mother raised 3 children by her self 2 girls and a boy (now a man). My brother didn't have his father around but he didn't get involve in gangs because of it. The point I'm trying to make is we as HUMAN beings have issues, some worst then other's but that doesn't give us the right to go around killing, raping, robbing, shooting, etc. other people.
Some people who took this poll said "The white man, he started this mess with slavery" for those of you who think that let me shed some light on your simple minded thinking...the white man doesn't need to destroy us as a black people, were doing fine hurting each other on our own. All the white man is doing now is laughing at how easy we've made it for people of other races and even now our own to say "what an ignorant race"
DD I too was in tears when I read this story. It broke my heart for so many different reasons. The story sadden me because of what that woman and her son endured that night. But it also hurt me that out of the 10 boys that committed such a heinous crime the youngest was only 16.
I'm not heartless when it comes to young black men that have lost their way, if I could help every child in the world, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, Russian, etc. I would. It sounds cliche but the children are our future, the good ones, the troubled ones, the lost ones, all of them.
We have young teens being tried as adults because of the malicious crimes they commit. We have to do better. We have to let these young minds know that they are better then what people are telling them they are. We have to let them know they are important to society. The most important thing we can do for these kids is teach them about GOD!!!!
They've lost there way and they need people who care about their future to help them get back to where they should be!!!!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19698132/
here is a article about the incident you mentioned, I remember hearing about it when it happened. I'm in tears right now. This is beyond sad.
I don't hear no other race saying " we need to fix up/ What's wrong with us"
Black people truly are lost and ignorant.
I'm black, live in england. It seems like all the school kids want to be black be it turkish, indian, asian, caucasian they dress black, talk black, but I don't see them hanging about the streets come evening time, the "real " black kids hang around in groups until god knows what time, just them standing there intimidates people. but their parents don't care. no one don't care
yeah keep talking about how bad we are. I'm doing my bit for my kids but that ain't going to stop some uneducated knucklehead, shanking them is it??
@ DD...Good Morning! Okay I agree with you on the issues of missing father's, environments, poverty, and woman having babies that aren't ready to have babies. Which are all issues I will address. I have been working with young children since I was 16,(I'm now 30) I have seen it all and heard it all. I'm fortunate enough to be able to travel from state to state and volunteer at community centers where the kids there are literally forgotten. NY, Atlanta, L.A, Sacramento, Houston, Dallas, DC, Chicago, Philly, Boston, and the list goes on. It breaks my heart to hear some of the stories I hear. Like you said DD I couldn't imagine not having the mother I had as I grew up. I never met my father, but I was (am) blessed to have had and still have a mother that knew what it was to be a mother. I was (am) blessed to have had a grandmother (rest in peace) to know what it was to be a mother, and teach her daughter's how to be great mother's. I wish to God that all little boy's and girls could have the up bringing I had or you had, unfortunately that's obviously not the case. But I thank God for the little black boy's and girls that are out there that are faced with hardship to put it lightly but still have strength, courage, love, and the common sense to know that if they stay strong and focused, they can over come there situation.
I recently read a story about 10 young black men (19 being the oldest, and 16 being the youngest) that broke into this woman's house beat her and her son, then all 10 boys raped the woman in front of her son and when they were all done they made the mother perform oral sex on her then 10 year old son. There's so much more to the story... but I shared this to say there's NOTHING in this world so bad that you would cause such harm to another human being. But here's the even sadder part this woman and her son are lucky...there still here to tell their story!
My heart doesn't go out to these kids who CHOOSE to do wrong. I don't care what your circumstances are you know right from wrong.
Now again DD I agree with you on the Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton comment, the point that I was making is I get tired of the two of them picking and choosing when there going to rally for black people. Don't just fight for us when the issue is racially motivated. But your right where are the politician's, and officer's, and whom ever else can make a difference in our young kids lives?
@MsMoni your statement was so eloquently put. You made a lot of great points.
Missing father's, babies having babies, mother's not knowing how to be mother's, and poverty are issues in the black communities. A better word then issues is "cycle". Father's don't know to be there or how to be there for their children because there father wasn't there for them, you have young girls having babies before they even finish high school, in a lot of cases sadly because there looking to feel a void and think having a baby will do that. Poverty isn't as hard to fix as a lot of people thinks it might be. If we as a people donated our time and money to making the "projects, or ghettos" worth living in then maybe the young black kids that live there would enjoy coming home instead of hanging in the streets.
We have to change our thinking...we have to stop being selfish, we have to put in work, we have to care!!!!!
hi.
The outrage that many people have over this incident is long overdue. Our children have been dying in droves for years and it should never take a situation this tragic for us to get fed up with what has been going on in many cities across this country for years. I have family in Chicago and more than 30 CPS students were killed last year alone and barely a whisper was made. Sadly many kids all over this country are under supervised, over exposed, and left to their own devices. Parents no longer parent, children grow up with no concept of what a father is and barely an idea of what a mother should be.
These kids are made to raise their brothers and sisters, and then we wonder why this generation has so many troubles. Some where along the way we assimilated so much into mainstream culture that we have lost the sense of community we as African Americans once had. We no longer reach out to one another or support one another. Not only has the Nuclear family dissipated, but the overall sense of the community as a family has all but vanished.
I hear so many people saying "you can't tell these kids anything" and "they have no respect". These kids also don't have parents who are qualified to adequately parent. They lack tradition because their parents parents' were the victims of drugs, prison, drive by shootings, and gang violence. There is no one cause to the problems our youth face, subsequently their must be multiple interventions and solutions presented to fix the problem.
Lastly, I must say that if we want to evoke real change than we must be active in our communities. If all that comes out of this is angry people who eventually settle down and go on about their daily lives then this child would have died for no reason. We all must collectively pull together and pick up the slack or we'll all suffer. I believe in personal responsibility and people should be responsible for the children they bring in this world. However if we aren't willing to to help beyond ourselves then we hurt our own families in the future. Change comes from the ground up, and if we don't do something now then we might as well get ready for a future of more nonsensical violence.
I forgot to address the Al Sharpton, Jena 6, etc.. issue, like I said before, unlike other incidents with black on black violence, this one isn't being ignored. Everyone is talking about ( I'm usually just a lurker on message boards etc, I never post, and I'M talking about it). Hopefully we wont go back to business as usual, even the Jena 6 protest didn't happen overnight, there was a planning process. This may be a little more difficult to stage a protest for that situation.
In the Jena 6 incident, the punishment did not fit the crime... the issue of unfairly punishing black youth needs to be dealt with.
Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton can not be everywhere. The better questions are where are the local churches, politicians, and law enforcement? Why are we spending so much money fighting for the safety of someone else's country when we have kids being killed on the streets every day right here? Why aren't we doing more to protect inner city children who want to do right? This is much bigger than Al and Jesse, i wish people would stop throwing them into every situation.
The issue of black on black crime is VERY deep . This is going on everyday in many many cities, there needs to be serious lifestyle changes, generational curses have to be broken, improvements to inner city schools are needed, better parenting choices have to be made, men have to stop walking away from their families. People in the communities where this is happening have got to stop this not snitching stuff.
I am one of those black women that chose the "thug", the dishonest dude with swag. And yes i've taken responsibility for that, but you can NOT blame societies problems with black men on that. I have daughters and I live with my choices. I am educated, employed, and my children are well versed. I may be an exception, but hold EVERYONE accountable, don't just pick and choose. Let's be honest, when it comes down too it...IT'S EVERYBODY'S PROBLEM!
Tanya, I respect your opinion as well..and I agree with many of your points, as a matter of fact most of them My thing is, people deal with things in different ways, because you or I made it through doesn't mean that everyone will without assistance. Many of the kids we speak of are products of their environments. In order to move past this, we can't just simply say that everyone is making excuses. Many young black men are selling drugs, gang banging, being incarcerated, abandoning children, and young black women are having babies at an alarming rate.. but why? Why is it happening so much more to our children than to white children? Could it be in part due to a history of being enslaved, segregated, and discriminated against? Perhaps because father are absent? And if poverty isn't a reason, why is it so much more prevalent in poor communities?
I can agree that "the white man" is an excuse but poverty, missing father's from the home, drug addicted parents are definitely not, they're reasons, they're obstacles. Can they be overcome? Yes, but they are valid reasons nonetheless. I can't imagine not having my parents in my life or growing up with one or both of them on drugs. I can believe that had that been my experience, my life may have be drastically different. Were talking about kids here.
EVERYTHING happens for a reason.. it's not as cut and dry as we would like to believe. Take many of these kids out of their environment and they'll excel....i can almost guarantee that.
Good to know you're doing some volunteering, keep up the good work!
How can some of these kids not be angry? All they hear at home is rejection and hatred. Some of these parents talk to their kids like they are animals...i hear it on the train in the ghettos.........its so sad to me the way some mothers talk to their children....cussing at them........slapping them on their heads and telling them to stop crying.........COME ON PEOPLE....no wonder they are angry.......THERE IS ABSOLUTLY NO LOVE IN THESE HOMES............because all the parents are doing is clubing, smoking.....hooking up.........PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR KIDS.......they need LOVE, not rejection.......they need UNDERSTANDING, THEY NEED TO BE LOVED, STOP ABUSING THEM............THEY DIDN'T ASK TO COME INTO THIS WORLD...............DO THE RESPOSIBLE THING AND .....T A K E CARE OF THEM LIKE YOU SHOULD...............AFTER YOU HAVE CHILDREN THEY ARE THE PRIORITY, NO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE.....................LOVE THEM, EDUCATE THEM.
@ DD....I fully respect your opinion on the issue. However when people start talking about missing fathers, living conditions, slavery so forth and so on excuses are being made. My great grandmother was a slave, and my grandmother (rest in peace) was brought up in slavery as well as my mom and her siblings. I share this simply because I will never forget how far my people have come. I will never act as though slavery didn't exist, but on the flip side 97.9% of people who speak of slavery NEVER experienced it first hand. It's crazy to me that those who did, like maybe, your mother, father, grandparents, great grandparents, my mother, my great grandparents, etc. are not out here acting a fool. Nor are they using slavery as an excuse to why something isn't going right in their life. My family is from Mississippi so trust me when I tell you were all very familiar with racism, and slavery, but like I said we rose above that. If we continue to let slavery be the main reason if not the only reason why we as a people don't move forward then we as a people will ALWAYS be behind.
Yes my mother did an awesome job raising her three children. She had us at a young age and as a woman and as a mother she chose to raise her three children the best way she knew how. She kept my brother active in sports so that he wouldn't get involved in things that would make him become a statistic, she made sure her two daughter's were just as involved in cheerleading and other activities so we didn't become pregnant at 13 years old. That's what a good parent is supposed to do, and if there not ready to do that then there not ready to be a parents.
On another note, I get passionate about these kinds of issues because I VOLUNTEER my time at community centers where the average black, white, Asian, etc. person wouldn't go due to the crime rate. I stay talking to young black boys who have had it harder at the age of 13 then most will experience in a life time. I talk to young boys and girls whom both parents are missing from the home due to drug addiction, or they've been raped,or they have to share one bed with 5-6 other siblings, or get picked on daily on there way home from school. There's a young man in one of the community centers that I volunteer at that shared with me that his mother offered him a crack pipe one time.
Trust me I'm fully aware of the over bearing challenges our youth go through day in and day out. But the beautiful thing about the kids I work with is despite the horrendous hand they've been dealt, they still strive to go to school, and go to college, or help other people who may have it as bad as they do. My point is I'm sure those boy's weren't born killer's, but they sure did make a conscious CHOICE to kill Derrion Albert, who by the way is the victim in this whole mess.
You say we are just as outraged about Albert loosing his life as we were with the Jena 6 boy's being charged with attempted murder? Ok so maybe I've missed a news story reporting Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, the NAACP, Nas, Jay-Z, Dwayne Wade, Mos Def, and that is just to name a few in addition bus loads of many other people from state to state traveling to Chicago fighting for justice for young Albert? Remember when all bus loads of people showed up in that small town to support those 6 young men? The only reason why that movement took place was because it was racially motivated. But like I said earlier because it was 4 black boys who MURDERED another young black man the same movement won't take place, and that is sad!!!!
WHERE ARE THE PARENTS?
WHERE ARE THE PARENTS?
WHERE ARE THE PARENTS?
We need to stop having sex and having babies at 15 or 16 because obviously we don't know how to parent our kids. Education and values begin at inside the home and we need to work on building strong foundations in our lives before we think about raising children. You are not born hate-filled, angry, and violent. You are taught violence, you can choose to be angry. Cases like this illustrate that some black homes are BROKEN. We need to have better role models, and not rely on famous people or music to be the only source of influence to our kids. Everyday people need to step up and become mentors or volunteers in their communities becaue these have got no clue how to channel all their negative emotions.
People are just as outraged with the incident as they were with the Jena 6 incident.
The problem is that, somehow, somewhere, things with horribly wrong for us (as black people) we can't ignore this. And unfortunately, we have to figure out where it went terribly wrong, and how, in order to fix it. There is a reason for everything, i don't for one second believe that these kids woke up one day and said I want to start killing people. We can't ignore the effects of slavery, segregation, and discrimination.
You and your siblings may have overcome your situation, and that's all good. But, there are many who have not. There are many who are experiencing circumstances that are far worse than being raised by a single mother (whom I assume actually cared for and raised her children). What about the youth whose PARENTS are on drugs, gang banging themselves, in prison, or dead with no other parental figures?
I will say this, this incident has sparked something I've been waiting on...discussion on black on black crime, the radio stations are talking about it, it's on the news and in the news papers. Maybe now, we can begin to find some solutions. What we can not do however, is pretend that there were not lasting effects of slavery.
Another thing, we have got to stop making excuses for black men who are not assisting in raising their kids. It's true, black women should be more selective, I don't deny that. But, once a child is born, there is no reason for any man should be excused or resolved of his responsibility to help raise that child regardless of the path taken to get that child here. Ladies, if your brother, cousin, or uncle is one of these men OR you are dating one of them..call them out, let them know it's not that child's fault and they have a responsibility to them.
Finally, I don't know who you are talking too but other than one of those suspects mom, I haven't heard too many people making excuses for these kids. Most of the people I've spoken to believe that they should be punished to the full extent of the law. However, I believed that blacks were not punished severely enough for black on black crime before this incident.
Wow...First off I'm tired of people trying to make excuses for the boy's that killed Derrion Albert. I've been following this story from day one and from day one people (BLACK PEOPLE) have been trying to make excuses for what those boys did. Remember the Jena 6 fiasco? Six young black men had got in a fight and beat a young white man and they tried to charge the boys with attempted murder. Well that story went national, and what did we do as a people? We screamed until our voices were heard. Jesse Jackson, Rev, Sharpton, NAACP, ball player's, rapper's, name them and they were out there rallying.
Why aren't these same people just as outraged now? Is it because it's 4 black boys that killed another black young man? I'm disgusted by what these for boys did to Albert and I for one think they should all be tried as adults and be sentenced to life in prison.
I'm tired of our people using poverty, missing father's from the home, drug addicted parents, and more importantly "the white" man for reasons to things black people do that is unacceptable. I'm a 30 yr old black woman. I was raised in a single family home. My mother raised 3 children by her self 2 girls and a boy (now a man). My brother didn't have his father around but he didn't get involve in gangs because of it. The point I'm trying to make is we as HUMAN beings have issues, some worst then other's but that doesn't give us the right to go around killing, raping, robbing, shooting, etc. other people.
Some people who took this poll said "The white man, he started this mess with slavery" for those of you who think that let me shed some light on your simple minded thinking...the white man doesn't need to destroy us as a black people, were doing fine hurting each other on our own. All the white man is doing now is laughing at how easy we've made it for people of other races and even now our own to say "what an ignorant race"