THIS IS NOT NORMAL!!

As inner city women, it is important for us to get a firm understanding of what happens in our communities vs. what happens in other communities. We have gotten so used to hearing about the mayhem that plagues our communities that we have become almost desensitized to the sheer madness of our predicament. We fail to piece together the reality that these things are ONLY happening in our communities; that our community is literally “imploding” from ignorance. It is so expected in our community that we are only outraged when an innocent person gets struck dead by a stray bullet. The rest of the time, we shake our heads and keep it moving.We live in fear of walking out of our front door because our children and our neighbor’s children have taken over our streets. They are delinquents, they are drop-outs, and they are dangerous. We would be more concerned if we didn’t see the crack heads or “the walking dead” sitting slumped over on the curb or stumbling obliviously down the block. There are liquor stores on what seems like every corner and a dope dealer on every other block. We begin to think that what is happening around us is “normal;” that it happens everywhere. NEWFLASH: Nothing is further from the truth. Is there crime everywhere? Absolutely. Can people get killed anywhere? Absolutely. Is it an expected (daily, weekly, monthly) occurrence? Absolutely NOT! THIS IS NOT NORMAL!!

We are trained by mass media- by what we see on television, what we hear on the radio, what we hear on the news and even by the video games we play. Mass media, an industry selling sex, criminality, violence, delinquency, disrespect, stereotypes and fear is causing MASS DESTRUCTION in the inner city. Children are learning younger and younger wrong over right; street smarts rather than book smarts. They see and hear much too much and while they don’t pay much attention in school, they are paying rapt attention to what is going on around them. I know because they tell me. If you think that all of this is not having an effect on the youth, trust me, you are sadly mistaken. We are sending the message loud and clear to our children who are exposed to the hopelessness and lack of opportunity that exists in the hood every day. Folks, THIS IS NOT NORMAL!!

And as a final FYI~ Look around your community. We don’t own anything in our communities; not the restaurants, the corner stores, gas stations, NOTHING- except maybe barber shops and hair salons. Yet we are the biggest consumers! We’ve been here all of our lives yet we have the highest rates of unemployment, lowest levels of education (they’ve been trying to close the achievement gap all of my life I think), highest levels of incarceration, the highest rates of infant mortality and violent deaths. In nearly every negative statistical category, we lead the pack. We aren’t taught anything about finances or career development or networking or social skills in school. Most of our schools are failing schools or ‘drop-out factories’ anyway so many of us never even learn to read or write at high levels.  And then we have idiots, black men, like Herman Cain saying idiot stuff like: if we’re not rich, it’s our fault!  And rich men like Magic Johnson pushing Rent-a-Center? And leaders like Montell Williams endorsing short term cash advances? WTF? People- THIS IS NOT NORMAL!! I would be ROTFLMAO but I can’t even laugh to keep from crying- it’s too sad.

Other nationalities don’t live like this. Other townships and cities don’t fear like this. Other people’s children don’t have to deal with this! Having said that, if children learn what they live, is it any wonder that the cycle continues? 
Pray with me and then let’s get busy! Until next time….

Peace. Two fingers, one love!

An MOU with the Community

I’ve been out of the blogging business for the past week because the Inner-City Woman has been dealing with problems that are plaguing inner cities everywhere.
It has finally stopped raining and it has gotten HOT outside. Over the Memorial Day weekend when we are supposed to be honoring and remembering the men and women who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces, the heat brought with it the things that come with heat in the inner city. An increase in murders and shootings, nakedness, and mountains of ignorance. Last week, in our community, in the shootings of at least 15 people in the city, an off-duty police officer was the victim of a drive-by shooting. As with any killing of a man in blue (and as should be), an all-out manhunt began and one suspect was almost immediately apprehended. The other is still on the loose but I’m pretty sure they will catch him. There were two others wounded in the shooting  and my concern is that had an officer not been killed in the incident, the same gusto with which the suspects were pursued would not have been employed. Unfortunately, only high profile crimes (those that are real newsmakers) get that type of intense activity. But what I’m thinking is that if all shootings (even ones people feel were justified) were pursued with the same vigor, the itchy trigger finger syndrome would slow down. It’s too easy now to get pissed because someone stepped on your new white sneakers or spoke to your girl or even, as reported in this case, slapped your momma- and go “jack” a car and shoot up the joint because the stakes are not high. It doesn’t take much to cross the lines from at-risk youth to drug dealer, to gang member, to killer because there are not enough negative consequences to these actions.
What I propose is a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the community; an agreement that says let’s work together to make our community livable. The MOU will recognize that everyone has something to offer. I't’ll say, “I’ll help your kid understand math and you can teach yoga at the center,” or “Let’s have a community clean-up and block party and basketball game,” or “If you do the crime, you will do the time.” The police and the community will have to address every issue because anything can become the first step that takes a person from a shooter on the basketball court to a shooter on a street corner. Whether it be the neighbor’s child or our child, we have to stand up for peace and justice. We have to go after every criminal, we can’t turn a blind eye at ANY foolishness. We have to keep our kids in school; keep them engaged in positive and interesting activity at all times. We have to stop looking at engaging them coming home from prison and work on the things that will keep them from going to prison. We need a networking system for parents, where they don’t just get food coupons and help with a heating bill, but real life skills so they can get a job with a real living wage; where they can get parenting skills that helps them prepare their children for success now and in the future. And we have to get some real training for these young people so they can compete for a real future. We have to have a positive message for our young people that doesn’t come from someone who only knows how to get money in the streets or have markings on his face labeling him as a killer (I don’t give a damn how much money he has). Let’s get it going in Newark and all over. It’ll be like the Declaration of our Independence and like John Hancock, I’ll have the first, largest, and most famous signature!

Peace- two fingers, one love!