Tweeting Teens Happy that 16-Year Old Got Shot in the Face
by Dr. Boyce Watkins
In the tweets below, you can see teenagers from Chicago cheering about the death of Jojo, a rapper who served as a rival to the more famous rapper Chief Keef. Jojo made a diss song about Keef, with the video filled with automatic weapons, blunt smoking, hanging on the block and all the other tools for black male self-destruction. Just a few days later, Jojo was murdered.
The tweets below are from other teens who are celebrating Jojo’s homicide. The disturbing messages consist of statements like “Rest in p**s,” and one in which one of the tweeting teens says that he hopes that Jojo’s mother holds off on burying his body so that his twin can be buried with his brother. One of the teens also says that he’s glad that Jojo was shot in the face, because this means that his mother can’t hold an open casket funeral.
Another black man, many years ago, also had his face mutilated to the point that it was difficult to hold an open-casket funeral. His name was Emmett Till. Unlike Till, Jojo and his friends have a different enemy to fight, one that looks just like them. Homicide is now the leading cause of death for young black men in America, and most of these men are most likely to die at the hands of another black man.
This is what we are dealing with in black America. The genocidal war zones in urban communities across America have become places where black kids die as fast as their dreams. Our teenagers fill the morgues as if they were hosting Lil Wayne concerts, all while companies like Interscope Records profit by distributing the weaponized psychological poison that makes it cool for kids to brag about murdering one another. Simultaneously, companies that make guns, alcohol and the other things that black men use to kill themselves, are able to escape accountability because of deep-seeded apathy from our so-called political allies. The Democrats speak readily about protecting gay marriage, but care nothing for the little black girl who just had her head blown off on the way to school.
I want you to take a look at the tweets below to understand what’s been happening here, and why we must act IMMEDIATELY. There is a young child out there who is living, breathing and healthy, with his whole life in front of him. But due to our failure to act, he will be dead by the end of the year. This is NOT a game.
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this wasn’t a conversation. this is two ignorant people that have a total disregard and respect for themselves and the Human race. So why would anyone expect them to have respect for their race. this is not cute nor funny. The bigger question is why Kulture Kritic perpetuate this nonsense by making their post a part of the article. You’re laughing now, but Karma come to all of us.
This sounds like revenge or someone had beef with him or jelousy not some kind of social or cultural norm.
I agree wholeheartedly with the writer of article. I hope sane people of color will stand up and be counted. Enough is enough!!! We must demand that the FBI, City Police, and others not only find and incarcerate those that enjoy this violence (as aidding and abetting) including catching those that continue to create this violence against one another. Are the mothers feed up with burying our young men. I think that this HIP Hop generation should be classified as Illegal and Profane.
@ Ruby, Thank You!!
These are some very sick-minded young people…insensitive to killing others…no remorse shown — I think that makes them what is called SOCIOPATH…or may PSYCHOPATH. They need to be in school or someplace on a job. But with this ugly mind-set…I guess a better place would be a “mental ward.”
Did Kultur Kritic and Dr. Boykin’s give this information to the authorities?
Until parents embed their children with what is right and what is wrong situations- and the commentary thereafter- will persist. There has always been a market for killing black people, and especially for blacks to kill blacks. We cant continue living this dream that the democrats and record labels will do good by black people. That’s dead on arrival. They have always used their political power and marketing power to swindle black folk, so why should we expect an all of a sudden change in heart to salvage the misguided youth that they have always swindled. As I stated until black parents start raising youth with righteous mores the latter will persist. We will be right back here in another discussion a decade from now discussing these very same issues if we continue to think that anybody outside of ourselves are going to rescue us.
ooooo my LORD, and my 19 yrs old Grandson is growing up in this society…Lord Have Mercy!!!
You people are cowards. How many of y’all would even go on that block and talk to these youth before you’d condemn them to the authorities with a keystroke.
I am incredibly saddened by what is going on with our youth but I am also irritated by the fingers of blame on politicians, particularly towards the Democratic party, for the purpose of pushing a polictical agenda and indirectly expressing favoritism for another political party. It was totally unnecessary to include “Democrats speak readily about blah blah blah, but not about blahzay skippy”. I’ve been reading a lot of posts by Dr.BW and most, if not all, have the same political undertone. Just stop it! If you’re going to involve politics, then wth have the republicans done about violence in the black community, or the community as a whole?! It doesn’t matter which political party, if any, says anything about it. What black people need to do is stop looking to Obama and whomever else to be our savior and help our d**n selves! There is no such person as the President of United States of Black America! So what are WE going to do to rectify the problems in OUR community??
I HOPE that they have the twin somewhere protected because if they say he’s next please take that to heart because it just might happen I cannot understand what is happen to this world today you PRAY all you can and that still not enough there nothing you can say or do anymore but protect your own and put your money and time into your own children if you want them to be saved
This is the future, black folks….or lack thereof.
Makes me wonder if my ancestors are in their graves wondering, ‘I fought and died for THIS?!!!’
Stop being scared by these punks and do something about it!
Don’t ask the President to do it!
This is sick, but is anyone REALLY surprised? I’m not. Kids are growing up everyday with a complete disregard for life, both their’s and that of others, which is how Jojo ended up dead in the first place. If Jojo’s mother had put her foot up his a*s and taught him how to be the special person he was instead of someone who makes diss records and takes pics with firearms as if they are some type of fashion accessory, he may not have had a target on his back. If Keef’s parents were in the picture teaching him right from wrong and not leaving him with a grandmother who appears to be almost as ignorant as he is, he wouldn’t be mixed up in this mess either. These kids aren’t doing these things under the cover of darkness. The adults in their lives are well aware of the destructive behavior and lack of respect for life but it appears no one is doing a d**n thing to turn these little fools into intelligent, successful people before it’s too late. How many d**n funerals will it take???
This drama unfolded by video postings on the WSSH site. These kids have beefs over much of nothing and they have no direction whatsoever. God Help us all!!!!!
Chicago@ its best- Im tired of even talking about the problems here. We live this Shyt the rest of you are just guessing.
it is a crying shame that in twenty frist century young black men do not care or realize the damage they are doing. yes i agree obama did not speak about this. does he even care? this is happening not only in windy city, but all over america. chitown is becomming the new compton.
I got it!,…..Wait for it…………………….. Leave!..this is NOT THE ONLY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!!.. I SAID WORLD!!.. I have friends and family who SPEAK ENGLISH, living in other COUNTRIES… Yes, it seems to becoming QUITE THIRD WORLD and savage-like to say the least.. Research and invest SOMEPLACE else, your children will become multilingual elsewhere and enjoy a better life.. THEY WILL NEVER ALLOW PEOPLE OF COLOR to move ‘too’ forward in this AMERIKKKA..
F$&k um!.. I had A BLAST ABROAD ON A VACATION.. I NEVER SKIPPED a beat.. LIFE CAN BE BETTER ELSEWHERE WITHOUT THIS STRESS….. #deuces
This just sounds like a dumb ignorant little boy who has no idea of what life is about. How life is a blessing and not a curse. It’s boys like this that thinks its cool and gangster to tweet such things but in reality they are little p***y’s themselves who havent been discipline and love as a child. And you’re right! Obama needs to concentrate on how to get guns off the streets from our kids instead of pushing laws for gay marriages.
You don’t have to look like the KKK to behave & think like them. Black on Black is pure ” Entertainment ” ! The joke is on US . Selling poison ( drugs) , gang banging , & pimping our women is why we are going south. Don’t blame any one by US.
These artist industries that promotes such violence in music and promotes these videos as though its something to glory into should be put out of business. But we all know thats its impossible because its all about their greedy hands making the mighty dollars and its not about our youth whos getting shot daily in the streets by gang and gun violence. This is a issue that our Black President needs to address even though its concerning mostly the African American kids who getting killed.
These are two bad a*s blk kids whom I hope have patent (prefer parents) that will beat they a*s when they get word of this nonsense!!
whe need the parents of the 60s & 70s (well maybe) I was born in the 70s and as I grew up its was speak when spoken to.. b seen not heard, leave the room when adults were talking..
now days too many d**n kids are in adult convo!.. too many have mo respect for adults!. not mine!!! I got in and on his a*s when he got out of line! I was his parent not his friend!
BRING BACK OLD SCHOOL a*s WHOOPING AND WE WON’T HAVR SO MANY BLACKS IN JAIL OR DEAD!
I won’t bting no more kids into this horrible world!
Farrakhan said years ago that we were on the verge of losing a whole generation of black youth, due to animalistic behavior–and now we are starting to see the fruits of a lost generation…
When they are in the classroom, they behave like caged monkeys! Is there any hope? I believe so, and it starts with good parenting to deal with the hellish forces that have busted loose….
Well this is one problem that the WHITE man cannot solve! This is a race destroying itself and the majority of them do not care. No wonder so many folks around the WORLD see the black race as animals, cause ADULTS DO NOT raise young to act and be like these kids of today! Time for some SERIOUS re-grouping folks!!!
And some have said that “gangsta rap” and violence in video games do not contribute to our teen and young adults acting out what they hear and see are being proved wrong. This is only one example, Chicago is only one of many cities that are plagued by this deliberate genocide. It first began when parents were threatened with criminal charges if they chose to physically discipline their children. Prayer was taken out of the schools. Then our children did not have school books to bring home. Then the school system knowingly failed to educate our children but passed them on to higher grades anyway. Black men were taken out of homes and placed in jails for time periods that did not fit the
crime. Women had to leave the children to care for themselves while she worked one or more jobs to provide food, clothing and shelter. Neighbors were no longer village support. My heart aches.
Hip hop is not what it use to be, FUN, these rappers today paint pictures to our kids as if you gotta sell drugs,kill a “n***a” smoke weed,have girls everywhere or you aint s**t, you are a nobody,your not cool. Its the rap music that corrupts our kids, not all but most. Why are we the only race of people that feel like killin each other make you real? Why we feel like we gotta prove who we are to each other? Prove it to them cuz they the 1′s whos laughing at cha and getting paid for it, im from new orleans, that 9th ward holla back….
No one can say the parents are not involved in these childrens lives. I can clearly attest to children being raised right but determined to be “hoodrich” or just disfunctional, all the times it is a choice. However, we need to teach our children the power in words. We mark ourselves for distruction because the bible states clearly that life and death is in the power of the tongue. What we need to be planting in the minds of our children is the WORD OF GOD! Too many adults are lost themselves but there are those that are willing and able to help the neighbors children, your little cousin, your sister or brothers child sometimes your own (fathers that may not be in the home). We got to get it right before these children will even attempt to get it together. You still got grown men on tv talking bout bustin’ a cap in a n****. The choice is in who we choose to follow and how we choose to live because examples are all around us, GOOD and BAD!
PUT CAM’S AROUND EVERY PLACE THAT NEED IT AND PUT POLICE ON THE STREET WITH THEM ALL DAY EVERY DAY PEOPLE LIKE THESE DO NOT NEED FREEDOM TO RUN AROUND LIKE THIS…..PUT POLICE ALL AROUND THEM WHITE BULLET PROOF CLOSE AND GUNS AND TAKE THEM ON IN FULL FORCE…..”ALL BLACK POLICE SYSTEM” AND GO GET THESE FEW LITTLE NEGRO…..BE OUT AROUND THEM EVERY DAY ALKL DAY WITH BULLET PROOF CLOSE AND HEALMETS ALL AROUND THE NECK SO THEY CAN HAVE TOTAL PROTECTION…..I’LL BE HAPPY TO DO IT…..AND WE KNOW JOBS ARE A PROBLEM….IT MAINLY BECAUSE YOU PEOPLE ARE FOLLOWING THE WRONG PEOPLE…..CLAUDE ANDERSON ON YOUTUBE…….I WILL BE HAPPY TO GET BULLET PROOF DOWN AND GO GET THESE NEGRO’S….NOT TO PUT THEM IN PRISON FOR A LONG TIME….BUT TO STOP THEM….
WE a*s BLACK MEN SHOULD GET BULLET PROOF DOWN AND GO GET THESE NEGRO…..AND PUT THEM IN PRISON FOR EVER….IF THEY HAVE KILLED ANY BLACK….IT DON’T MATTER WHO HE IS…..PUT HIM IN PRISON FOR EVER AND THE PEOPLE THAT KNEW ABOUT IT…..EVERY ONE THAT TWEENED ABOUT GOT TO GET 20 SOILD YEARS WITH OUT A CHANCE TO GET OUT UNTIL THE 20 YEARS IS OVER…..GO AFTER THE WHOLE GANG AT ONCE LIKE WE ARE AT WAR WITH THESE FOOL KILL THESE FOOLS TO SAVE THE REST…..LET PUT TOGETHER A BLACK GROUP WITH BULLET PROOF CLOSE AND BE IN THEIR FACE EVERY DAY ALL DAY…..EVERY MINUTE OF THE DAY……ALL FIVE PEOPLE POLICE TOGATHER AT ONE TIME….IF THEY WANT TO GO TO WAR LET TAKE THEM TO WAR TO SAVE THE ONE THAT WANT TO DO THE RIGHT THING
PEOPLE NEED TO STOP PLAYING THE BLAME ME CARD!!! THE PROBLEM STARTS FROM HOME LACK OF PARENTING SKILLS/GUIDANCE FROM HOME. ITS NO ONES ELSE FOUGHT BUT THE ROOTS OF THE TREE THEY CAME FROM….WHERE’S THERE FAMILIES WHO COULD OF STEP IN HELP PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING ON BOTH SIDES? IS THE QUESTION AND DID THEY CARE! IF WE CAN GET A HOLD TO ALL THIS INFORMATION I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY THERE FAMILIES DID NOT TO HELP PREVENT THIS PROBLEM BEFORE IT GOT OUT OF HAND. NOW DONT BLAME PRESIDENT OBAMA, DEMOCRATS, AND THE WORLD……FOR THEIR PARENTS LACK OF DISCIPLINE, DESTRUCTIVE GUIDANCE, UPBRINGING!!! CHANGE CAN BE DONE JUST LIKE IN EVERY CITY /COMMUNITY IF PARENTS, COMMUNITY LEADERS ETC…..STEP UP AND MAKE IT BETTER/RIGHT FOR CHICAGO CITIZENS. IF YOU CAN VOICE YOUR OPINION YOU CAN HELP DO SOMETHING ABOUT COMMUNITY /SITUATIONS OUT THERE…..NOW YOU ALL SEE WHY ITS IMPORTANT TO VOTE!!! TO MAKE BETTER YOU ALL GOT TO DO BETTER AND IT STARTS AT HOME…..PRESIDENT OBAMA IS NOT YOUR PROBLEM HE’S OUR BETTER SOLUTION MOVING FORWARD!!!! IM PRETTY SURE CHICAGO HAD THESE PROBLEMS WHEN BILL CLINTON AND GEORGE BUSH ETC….WAS IN THE WHITE HOUSE. SO WHY MAKE THIS PRESIDENT OBAMA ISSUE REGARDLESS IF HE LIVED THERE OR NOT HE WAS BROUGHT UP RIGHT BY HIS “MOTHER” AND HE MADE AWAY FOR HIMSELF OUT STREETS OF CHICAGO…….SO STOP WITH THE BLAME ME CARD!!!! SMDH
PUT OUT THE CALL AND REAL BLACK MEN WILL COME AND HELP TO STOP THESE FOOL…..AND HAVE s*x TO MAKE MORE OF THEM THAT LOOK JUST LIKE THEM AND ALL WAYS STAY ON TOP OF THIS BULLSHYT….THE WHITE MAN WILL NOT STOP IT ..THEY LIKE IT’ THEY MAY TALK IN PUBLIC….BUT BEHIND CLOSE DOORS THEY ARE CHEER’ING FOR THESE NEGRO’S TO KILL EACH OTHER….THESE ARE THE WAR IN AFRICA AND OTHER COUNTRIES
That’s a big crock of s**t. You keep blaming everything on white people. That is just as bigoted as whites hating blacks. wil lie – people like you are what help create the problem. You want to divide everyone and not look for commonality and the humanity in everyone – then that is what you will find. You want to find the good in people – you will find it.
Your expectations are killing you.
THESE ARE DRUG WARS…..OVER EXTREME HIGHT UNEMPLOYMENT…..JUST LIKE THE LATE 80′S AND 90′S…..GO FINE THESE TWEETER AND MAKE THEM TELL YOU OR MAKE THEM SERVE THE TIME…..BECAUSE THEY KNOW EVERY THING…PUT THEM IN PRISON…AND EVEN IF THEY TELL YOU STILL IF THEM PRISON TIME FOR KNOWING ABOUT LIKE THEY WAS APART OF IT
This website along with other black so called “informative” sites always have the worse written articles. This sounds like it was written by a 13 year old in a creative writing class. THE PUBLIC DOES NOT NEED YOUR OPINION ON THE FACTS! You write lie shi!t and should consider taking journalism lasses before you decide to MISSINFORM. And away public opinion based off of a dozen isolated incidents that happen to involve black people. YORK BLACK WORLD.com and all sites affiliated are part of the problem. You are all undereducated pseudo intellects that seem to read and write at a 9th grade level. Stop embellishing and writing articles based off of your funky option that no one cares about. Find some real news or something positive or enlighting to boast. You all are making us look bad with these dumb a$$ articles you guys write that at full of bull c**p. This is NOT A NORMAL INCIDENT!!!! Most black people do not live like this everyday. This was personal between the two parties. Get your facts straight and learn how to write journalistically you BABOONS!!! Yes monkeys you are. Fools. Ruining the d**n Internet with garbage like this.
And yes I have typos writing from my iPhone. But get into what I saying? We don’t need your “kriticism” on our culture. We need you to learn how to write news. And be informative, and positive. Can you do that? Can you be different and use your site for the POSITIVE imagery of blacks??? I challenge you! I bet the nest 200 articles you write will all be NEGATIVE AND NON-FACTUAL. I bet my tv yall cant.
My thoughts, exactly.
THIS START AT HOME…IN THE BLACK PEOPLE HOUSES….BUT I GUESS THE DRUGS GOT THEIR MOTHER AND FATHER SO WHO ARE THEIR TO TEACH THEM BUT THE RAPPERS THAT IS CONTROL BY THE WHITE COMPANIES…..YOU CAN PUT THIS OUT BUT NOT THIS….YOU CAN TELL THEM TO KILL EACH OTHER BUT NOT INVESTS WITH EACH OTHER
@Dr. Watkins – It’s absolute bullshit that the Democrats care about gays and don’t care about the little black girl who got her head blown away on her way to school. You are an educated man and a professor and you should just be ashamed for constantly posting this c**p. You want to blame everyone else for what is happening? The Democrats? The liquor companies? Everyone who is white?
How did you get so educated and still remain so f*****g stupid! You really think you can place all the Democrats in one monolithic group and say that we all feel the same? If that’s true – then how do differ from the a******s who say that all blacks are the same.
I’m so sick of hearing this drivel that you post day after day. These problems require a collaborative effort across the spectrum. It would certainly help if the record companies would stop recording the c**p that makes it cool to kill. It would help if our public education system actually taught the kids something, and tried to find a way to be relevant to their lives, no matter which race.
Why don’t you try to come up with solutions instead of always complaining about Obama, complaining about whites, complaining about Democrats. You whine and whine. Try doing something positive. Offer a solution.
You’re like a broken record. Man up and start making a change. I hate to sound like a cliche – but Gandhi said to be the change you want to see. So go do it and stop whining.
And why have you not yet put a box to check to get follow-up comments when someone posts in a discussion? Your receive news updates check box doesn’t do that. Come on, man; get with the program.
And wil lie – lot’s of rappers are signed with companies owned by blacks. Stop blaming white for all of this. I’ts old, it’s tired and it’s just not true.
@ I HATE BLACK
You are too stupid for words! If you think that the deaths of these kids are being ”embellished” and that this was ”between two parties” you are reading far less while begging for better journalism, you are a d**n fool. No, all Black people dont live like this but it affects all of us! Take your head out of the White man’s a*s and face facts-
It is nothing but wickedness. There has always been an element of humanity that is wicked. Long before any form of rap music, long before any of our political parties, long before we had a black president. People like that need God. Period. Some of you pseudo-intellectuals think that we should abandon the Bible just because white supremacists have abused it and made it into a weapon of war instead of a weapon of peace. What will really solve the problem is if we stop rewarding bad behavior, and stop pretending that everyone can be reformed. Everyone cannot be reformed because some people of all races and classes love evil. Just like Sophia Stewart’s Matrix movies alluded to: some people will choose enslavement and bondage to a way of life that is draining them dry because the mean machines make them feel good.
The fault lies with the mothers of these gangsta types. We all know that we live under a system of racism. It is time for us to stop making it easy for the system to kill us. And we can start by expecting mothers to rear children properly, and by expecting them to not make fathers out of men who are trifling. I do not mean to put down the efforts of the real, strong, positive fathers out there, but most people in our society are what we are because of what our mothers did and did not do. Those of us who have good fathers have them because our mothers picked a good man to make a baby with.
And even if the mothers get it together, we have to remember that there are people who want to see us fail, who will even help us fail. And some of those people are white. And some of those people are black, just like us. We have to realize that this gangsta/thug culture is nothing but the glorification of the psychopathic. There are women who want a “solja”, a “real n***a”. The group Mobb Deep has a song that says it is dedicated to “real n****z who ain’t got no feelin’s”. Psychopaths are people who have no feelings.
Some women worship the psychopathic. Some PEOPLE period. These types despise goodness, and especially good men, to the point that there is an element of society that believes that you are either a psycho or a sellout.
Remember the story of Jesus and Barrabas. Who did the crowd ask Pontius Pilot to free? Barrabas. The thief. The murderer. It is time for those of us who would have freed Jesus to stop putting up with the people who would free Barrabas.
torre’ brannon
torre brannon
Message flagged
Monday, September 10, 2012 4:47 PM
For the past 25 years, I have worked with vulnerable (at risk) youth in Los Angeles, California. In 1992, after the Rodney King (RIP) incident and subsequent trial that freed the obviously guilty LAPD officers who beat him within inches of his life, I began to work with others in the Los Angeles Gang truce movement. The Gang Truce Movement, AKA, MTM experience is one that I will cherish all my life as it provided a glimpse into the kind of community-based action (and commitments) that will be needed to quell youth violence in this nation. What you had here with the GTM was a coordinated, concentrated, unified effort on the part of local grassroots organizations and activists, ex-offenders and or OG’s, current gang members, local clergy, political and business leaders and ordinary, concerned citizens, who all came together in an effort to put an end to what everyone knew was senseless violence.
It is apparent, in viewing some of the writings of the young folk who were happy seeing the young man murdered, that they have lost hope, direction and purpose; if they ever had it. They represent the sensibilities (or lack thereof) of a generation of young people, who are the products of a dis-engaged, apathetic, selfish, dis-interested, non-active generation of elders (us) who did not do our jobs. Of course I am generalizing. However, these phenomenon’s do not occur out of osmosis; they don’t “just happen”. There is a reason for the madness, and until we face the fact that we have all failed these youth, we cannot begin to put solutions in place to help them.
Where it concerns the issue of who’s to blame, we might want to consider the fact that we all live in and are influenced (consciously and sub-consciously) by a violent, racist, sexist, religious and spiritually/culturally intolerant society called, America. In saying this, I am not saying that America is all bad, for that would not be a true statement as there are many good things (and good people) happening in America; however, it is also true, that emotionally vulnerable, mis-educated, and economically and politically vulnerable youth tend towards the negative. These youth in Chicago are representative of youth all around America, who live in toxic urban environments replete with drug use and abuse, high unemployment, s****l and gender specific exploitation, economic and cultural depravation and all other kinds of negative, harsh social conditions. This situation has not changed much and in fact, in many cases, have gotten worse since Claude Brown (RIP) wrote his classic, searing Autobiography on inner-city violence and redemption, Manchild in the Promised Land, (published in 1965).
The book opens in dynamic fashion as young Claude takes a bullet to the stomach, and as we follow his exploits, we witness his journey into a maze of societal madness that sucks the life, and lifeblood from human beings and communities. This book could have been written yesterday as he describes contributing societal factors that in this day and time (2012) remain either unchanged, or have worsened, or these conditions are being ignored; IE; inadequate educational opportunities and institutions, high unemployment among people of color, America’s senseless investment in foreign wars, and a growing, thriving privatization of the United States prison Industrial complex, which further perpetuates feelings of hopelessness, dangerous s****l behavior and consequences, and criminal activity, solving absolutely nothing!
A Great man (Malcolm X) once said, “Of all our studies, history is best qualified to reward our research”. Codifying that statement, we can look at the period of the great Negro migrations from the south to the north (and then west) in the early part of the last century. Millions of Black people fled Jim Crow infested south in search of social equality, economic opportunity and even spiritual dignity. What has resulted now in these cities once thought to be safe havens and or, heaven on earth for our people? Cities like Chicago, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia and others? It is apparent, even as we live under an historical moment in American history with our first Black President (Whom I love and respect) sitting in the White house, that all these cities are victims of a national disease called, systemic ghettoization.
Please read the following article about the Kerner Commission report from 1967, it identifies “the problem” and underscores America’s unwillingness to change conditions. Pay particular attention, and you may discover that just as legendary intellect/activist WEB Dubois concluded before the end of his long (95 years) life, the Black middle class has done very little to alter conditions or affect positive change for their own kind.
The Primary Goal Must Be a Single Society”: The Kerner Report’s “Recommendations for National Action”
President Lyndon Johnson formed an 11-member National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders in July 1967 to explain the riots that plagued cities each summer since 1964 and to provide recommendations for the future. The Commission’s 1968 report, informally known as the Kerner Report, concluded that the nation was “moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal.” Unless conditions were remedied, the Commission warned, the country faced a “system of ’apartheid’” in its major cities. The Kerner report delivered an indictment of “white society” for isolating and neglecting African Americans and urged legislation to promote racial integration and to enrich slums—primarily through the creation of jobs, job training programs, and decent housing. President Johnson, however, rejected the recommendations. In April 1968, one month after the release of the Kerner report, rioting broke out in more than 100 cities following the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. In the following excerpts from the Kerner Report summary, the Commission predicted a grim future for American cities unless the nation undertook concerted actions leading to “a true union—a single society and a single American identity.” In 1998, 30 years after the issuance of the Report, former Senator and Commission member Fred R. Harris co-authored a study that found the racial divide had grown in the ensuing years with inner-city unemployment at crisis levels. Opposing voices argued that the Commission’s prediction of separate societies had failed to materialize due to a marked increase in the number of African Americans living in suburbs.
In closing, let me simply say that we have all we need to solve the problem of youth violence in America, we simply lack the will. Like the youth we describe, many of us have become lazy, selfish, and uncaring. Our men must stay actively involved in the lives of the children they bring into this world, no excuses. Our educated must come back to the hood, give back some of that intellectual prowess they’ve acquired. Our wealthy (or middle class) must start to give-a-damm, and stop acting like the terrible white folk your grandparents warned you about in when you were a kid back in the 1950’s and 1960’s. And yes, together, we must demand, as did Malcolm, Martin and the Black Panthers, better treatment from the government. We must engage, protest, organize, inspire, work together, produce for ourselves, and believe in the (God Spirit) inside of us all, that we are worthy of living lives of dignity, class, health and wellness.
More power to you my brother!!! It uplifts my heart to observe that in this world of blatant institutionalized racism and divisive politics, not all of us are being buried by the sludge of semantics an double-speak which blurs the lines and distorts the realities of our daily existences. I count myself as having been fortunate to travel the world over and experience first hand in a dozen countries the realities which people face everyday everywhere. The unique position that we as Black men and women face in this dichotomy is reflected in the seemingly senseless, immoral and murderous rage that has typified our inner cities. But let’s also never forget that there is always a greater power and evil behind the scenes, after all these youth do not manufacture neither sell heavy automatic weapon arsenals nor do they grow, transport or distribute the tons of illegal substances which supplement (quite handsomely as a result of a certain affluent sector of Americas addiction I might add), they just get the crumbs…the Garden of Eden poisoned and almost irresistible offers at a better life as opposed to the racially divided, hatred-filled, prejudiced, poverty-inclined existences into which they are born, which they see everywhere around them. The xenophobic homophobic, racist, misogyny-laced, offensive and sexist dreams of sudden riches projected by the music industry in particular and the media in general and how we are portrayed in the media doesn’t help either. The question I want to ask you however is, “How do we go about introducing a ‘willingness to learn alternatives’ to their lifestyles to these at-risk youth?” It is easier said than done and I think as a professional you understand this better than most. When I read your comments, I actually digested them and reflected on their significance. How do we make the average teenager on Facebook not skip over such important and educational articles in favor or posting about murder and mayhem, this is the question……
It takes a village to raise our children, it is time for us African American folks to not just shake our head, and talk about what’s going on ,or point the blame game. TO SOLVE THIS MESS WITHIN OUR CHILDREN STARTS WITH US, COMMING TOGETHER AS A PEOPLE AND ENCOURAGING ONE ANOTHER AND SUPPORTING ONE ANOTHER. ITS NOT THE GOVERNMENT’S JOB IT IS OUR JOB AS A RACE. IF WE DONT COME TOGETHER AS A RACE , THEN WHO WOULD WANT TO PUT UP WITH US. IJS
It’s a fact that slave minded parents produce slave minded kids. American Blacks need to get their minds right before reproducing then maybe, we’ll start producing better offspring. Adult American blacks are so throwed-off and slave minded it’s a miracle that young blacks haven’t completely destroyed themselves.
This is so sad, whats happening in our communities. It seems as if our young people are sensitized to violence. There just seem to be a lack of knowing whats right and whats wrong; our young black men are dying over nothing. They are targeting one another; this is a sign of self hatred and that we are living in a world where human life has no value. May God help us all!
Wtf are their parents smdh I am very saddened by all the black on black nonsense today.. Makes me a bit leery about the future.
Such Niggativity & Buffoonery this stuff is like a Fairytale with a Bad Ending because your a Negro not Black because Black people handle a Problem like a Man or Woman no matter what it is,I’m over 40 now I got Kids in their Late Teens! I remember when I was that age not yet a Man but Ready to give it a Try! It’s no Jobs what do they expect?
@ Toussaint Ellington Cooke:- More power to you my brother!!! It uplifts my heart to observe that in this world of blatant institutionalized racism and divisive politics, not all of us are being buried by the sludge of semantics an double-speak which blurs the lines and distorts the realities of our daily existences. I count myself as having been fortunate to travel the world over and experience first hand in a dozen countries the realities which people face everyday everywhere. The unique position that we as Black men and women face in this dichotomy is reflected in the seemingly senseless, immoral and murderous rage that has typified our inner cities. But let’s also never forget that there is always a greater power and evil behind the scenes, after all these youth do not manufacture neither sell heavy automatic weapon arsenals nor do they grow, transport or distribute the tons of illegal substances which supplement (quite handsomely as a result of a certain affluent sector of Americas addiction I might add), they just get the crumbs…the Garden of Eden poisoned and almost irresistible offers at a better life as opposed to the racially divided, hatred-filled, prejudiced, poverty-inclined existences into which they are born, which they see everywhere around them. The xenophobic homophobic, racist, misogyny-laced, offensive and sexist dreams of sudden riches projected by the music industry in particular and the media in general and how we are portrayed in the media doesn’t help either. The question I want to ask you however is, “How do we go about introducing a ‘willingness to learn alternatives’ to their lifestyles to these at-risk youth?” It is easier said than done and I think as a professional you understand this better than most. When I read your comments, I actually digested them and reflected on their significance. How do we make the average teenager on Facebook not skip over such important and educational articles in favor or posting about murder and mayhem, this is the question……
@ Toussaint Ellington Cooke:- More power to you my brother!!! It uplifts my heart to observe that in this world of blatant institutionalized racism and divisive politics, not all of us are being buried by the sludge of semantics an double-speak which blurs the lines and distorts the realities of our daily existences. I count myself as having been fortunate to travel the world over and experience first hand in a dozen countries the realities which people face everyday everywhere. The unique position that we as Black men and women face in this dichotomy is reflected in the seemingly senseless, immoral and murderous rage that has typified our inner cities. But let’s also never forget that there is always a greater power and evil behind the scenes, after all these youth do not manufacture neither sell heavy automatic weapon arsenals nor do they grow, transport or distribute the tons of illegal substances which supplement (quite handsomely as a result of a certain affluent sector of Americas addiction I might add), they just get the crumbs…the Garden of Eden poisoned and almost irresistible offers at a better life as opposed to the racially divided, hatred-filled, prejudiced, poverty-inclined existences into which they are born, which they see everywhere around them. The xenophobic homophobic, racist, misogyny-laced, offensive and sexist dreams of sudden riches projected by the music industry in particular and the media in general and how we are portrayed in the media doesn’t help either. The question I want to ask you however is, “How do we go about introducing a ‘willingness to learn alternatives’ to their lifestyles to these at-risk youth?” It is easier said than done and I think as a professional you understand this better than most. When I read your comments, I actually digested them and reflected on their significance. How do we make the average teenager on Facebook not skip over such important and educational articles in favor or posting about murder and mayhem, this is the question……
Schools should start teaching what karma is. That’s what this little guy is going to get.