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An-Janette Albert is right. We've become a bunch of onlookers and rubberneckers, watching while an entire generation destroys itself.
Albert is the mother of Derrion Albert, the Chicago honors student who was killed recently when he was hit in the head with a railroad tie and then stomped and kicked as he lay injured during a fight just blocks from his high school. The 16-year-old was a good kid who some say was trying to help out a friend or just happened to walk into the middle of a melee.
During a heartbreaking interview with CNN, An-Janette touches on what I think is one of the primary reasons that some teenagers are running wild: fearful adults."I believe they are afraid. If these kids are beating kids in school with sticks, what do you think they are going to do to a woman trying to take her bags and stuff out the car. I'm afraid. I'm scared of standing out on the porch," Albert said when asked by CNN's Don Lemon about the role adults could have played to stop this tragedy. "I don't want to go anywhere, and I don't want my baby to go anywhere."
Why should we fear sitting on the porch in our own communities, bringing groceries from the car or (dare I say it) disciplining one another's kids.
One time, my wife and I were waiting for an elevator in an apartment building while visiting a friend. A young lady walked in and was unwrapping an ice pop. Once she got the wrapper off and put the blue ice in her mouth, she threw the wrapper on the ground. All of a sudden my wife yelled, "Pick that up now! Who's supposed to clean up after you?"
The young woman immediately bent down and picked up the wrapper and apologized. Not only that, her friends began ribbing her for being a litterer and not caring about the cleanliness of her own community. She knew what she did was wrong; she just needed a responsible adult to remind her.
Now I'm not saying that we should run to the corner and wrestle the gun from a drug dealer's hands, but adults need to get themselves together and take control. Adults had to know that the fighting at Derrion Albert's high school was a chronic situation. An adult should have been there to yell, "Put that board down. Take your behinds home."
We need adults to intervene in young people's lives before they pick up a gun or a board.
After tragic events like this, we always hear about how there aren't enough after-school programs or how we need better schools or more police presence. We should come together first and then the resources to deal with the problem will line up behind us. In fact, these resources are not going to come close to solving the problem unless parents, relatives, neighbors and friends step up.
President Obama is sending U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to Chicago Wednesday to talk about the violence there.
I hope this is the message he delivers: "We will provide resources, but the most important resource is you, the parent."
An-Janette can barely make it through the interview without breaking down. She is amazed, as we all should be, that no one stepped in to help her son until it was too late.
"If that was anybody's child...there's no way in the world I could have just stood by and watched that happen...to anybody," said Albert.
Neither should we.
2008 Deaths
Odetta Holmes
"The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement" was a singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter and activist.
December 31 1930 - December 2 2008.
Ray Tamarra , Getty
Bernie Mac
Comedian, Actor
Oct. 5, 1957 - Aug. 9, 2008.
AP
Isaac Hayes
Singer, songwriter, record producer, composer and actor.
August 20, 1942 - August 10, 2008
Reuters
Miriam Makeba, "Mama Africa"
South African folk singer and anti-apartheid activist.
March 4, 1932 - November 10, 2008.
Reuters
Jennifer Hudson's 57-year-old mother, Darnell Donerson, brother, Jason, and 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, were killed in 2008.
AP
Shakir Stewart
The Island Def Jam executive who became head of the legendary rap label following Jay-Z's departure, killed himself on Nov. 1. He was 34 years old.
Getty
George Carlin
Stand-up comedian, actor and author.
May 12, 1937 - June 22, 2008
Getty Images
Madelyn Dunham
Barack Obama's grandmother
October 26, 1922 - Nov 3, 2008.
Getty Images
Levi Stubbs
Oct. 17: The iconic lead singer, second from left, who gave voice to Four Tops classics like "Reach Out I'll Be There" and "Baby I Need Your Loving" died at 72 from complications of cancer and a stroke. Abdul Fakir, far left, is now the sole living member of the original quartet.
Corbis
Dee Dee Warwick
Oct. 18: The soul songstress died after months of declining health. Warwick, the sister of soul legend Dionne, also achieved a great deal of success, both as a solo artist as well as with her sister.
Corbis
Comments: (396)
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By: Cathy on 10/09/2009 12:43PM
Adults afraid they better be more afraid if them say & do noting.Because it will only get worst on them & others there also any were!
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By: Edward Stevens on 10/10/2009 2:51AM
Prof. Boyce Watkins
Who is Prof. Boyce Watkins? A finance professor who has proclaimed himself to be the grand spokesman for all Black Americans? I think not! You don't speak for me, you come from the same school of thought as those two egotistical men-of-the-cloth, Rev.( Plastic) Jackson and Rev.( Process Al) Sharpton. With you, the truths that are negative about the Black community should not be spoken of or revealed. When in contrast, even the black issues that does not make us look good should still be aired. The road to enlightenment is acknowledgement. We Black Americans have to acknowledge that we have problems created by our own hands and by our own gross neglect. We also have to stop looking outside of our community for solutions. No one can solve the youth problem and the crime in our community but we Black Americans. Black Americans have to get our heads out of the sand and mature, every negative statement is not racist some of them are the truth.
To you, if a white person asks about these things you would call them racists and if a black person chose to speak differently about it, you would call him an Uncle Tom or a "Happy Negro". You are no better than the guy wearing the KKK robe. You are a highly-educated Black man, a professor.and well-spoken, eloquent,I may even say. However, underneath all of that refinement you suffer the same disease as the guy in the white KKK robe-a non-tolerance for any difference of thought or opinion from yours. What gave you the authority to call Mr. Juan Williams a "Happy Negro"? In one breath you say to Bill Cosby, don't air out the Black man's dirty laundry, but in the next breath you called another Black man a derogatory name. Did he call you a name? Maybe I miss it.
This comment comes from a Black and very proud Black man who was born and raised in the most oppressive racist of times during the Jim Crow and Civil Rights era, in the state of Florida. Looking for a quick response. Although an elitist like yourself probably will not respond.
Prof. Boyce Watkins
Who is Prof. Boyce Watkins? A finance professor who has proclaimed himself to be the grand spokesman for all Black Americans? I think not! You don't speak for me, you come from the same school of thought as those two egotistical men-of-the-cloth, Rev.( Plastic) Jackson and Rev.( Process Al) Sharpton. With you, the truths that are negative about the Black community should not be spoken of or revealed. When in contrast, even the black issues that does not make us look good should still be aired. The road to enlightenment is acknowledgement. We Black Americans have to acknowledge that we have problems created by our own hands and by our own gross neglect. We also have to stop looking outside of our community for solutions. No one can solve the youth problem and the crime in our community but we Black Americans. Black Americans have to get our heads out of the sand and mature, every negative statement is not racist some of them are the truth.
To you, if a white person asks about these things you would call them racists and if a black person chose to speak differently about it, you would call him an Uncle Tom or a "Happy Negro". You are no better than the guy wearing the KKK robe. You are a highly-educated Black man, a professor.and well-spoken, eloquent,I may even say. However, underneath all of that refinement you suffer the same disease as the guy in the white KKK robe-a non-tolerance for any difference of thought or opinion from yours. What gave you the authority to call Mr. Juan Williams a "Happy Negro"? In one breath you say to Bill Cosby, don't air out the Black man's dirty laundry, but in the next breath you called another Black man a derogatory name. Did he call you a name? Maybe I miss it.
This comment comes from a Black and very proud Black man who was born and raised in the most oppressive racist of times during the Jim Crow and Civil Rights era, in the state of Florida. Looking for a quick response. Although an elitist like yourself probably will not respond.
Prof. Boyce Watkins
Who is Prof. Boyce Watkins? A finance professor who has proclaimed himself to be the grand spokesman for all Black Americans? I think not! You don't speak for me, you come from the same school of thought as those two egotistical men-of-the-cloth, Rev.( Plastic) Jackson and Rev.( Process Al) Sharpton. With you, the truths that are negative about the Black community should not be spoken of or revealed. When in contrast, even the black issues that does not make us look good should still be aired. The road to enlightenment is acknowledgement. We Black Americans have to acknowledge that we have problems created by our own hands and by our own gross neglect. We also have to stop looking outside of our community for solutions. No one can solve the youth problem and the crime in our community but we Black Americans. Black Americans have to get our heads out of the sand and mature, every negative statement is not racist some of them are the truth.
To you, if a white person asks about these things you would call them racists and if a black person chose to speak differently about it, you would call him an Uncle Tom or a "Happy Negro". You are no better than the guy wearing the KKK robe. You are a highly-educated Black man, a professor.and well-spoken, eloquent,I may even say. However, underneath all of that refinement you suffer the same disease as the guy in the white KKK robe-a non-tolerance for any difference of thought or opinion from yours. What gave you the authority to call Mr. Juan Williams a "Happy Negro"? In one breath you say to Bill Cosby, don't air out the Black man's dirty laundry, but in the next breath you called another Black man a derogatory name. Did he call you a name? Maybe I miss it.
This comment comes from a Black and very proud Black man who was born and raised in the most oppressive racist of times during the Jim Crow and Civil Rights era, in the state of Florida. Looking for a quick response. Although an elitist like yourself probably will not respond.
Prof. Boyce Watkins
Who is Prof. Boyce Watkins? A finance professor who has proclaimed himself to be the grand spokesman for all Black Americans? I think not! You don't speak for me, you come from the same school of thought as those two egotistical men-of-the-cloth, Rev.( Plastic) Jackson and Rev.( Process Al) Sharpton. With you, the truths that are negative about the Black community should not be spoken of or revealed. When in contrast, even the black issues that does not make us look good should still be aired. The road to enlightenment is acknowledgement. We Black Americans have to acknowledge that we have problems created by our own hands and by our own gross neglect. We also have to stop looking outside of our community for solutions. No one can solve the youth problem and the crime in our community but we Black Americans. Black Americans have to get our heads out of the sand and mature, every negative statement is not racist some of them are the truth.
To you, if a white person asks about these things you would call them racists and if a black person chose to speak differently about it, you would call him an Uncle Tom or a "Happy Negro". You are no better than the guy wearing the KKK robe. You are a highly-educated Black man, a professor.and well-spoken, eloquent,I may even say. However, underneath all of that refinement you suffer the same disease as the guy in the white KKK robe-a non-tolerance for any difference of thought or opinion from yours. What gave you the authority to call Mr. Juan Williams a "Happy Negro"? In one breath you say to Bill Cosby, don't air out the Black man's dirty laundry, but in the next breath you called another Black man a derogatory name. Did he call you a name? Maybe I miss it.
This comment comes from a Black and very proud Black man who was born and raised in the most oppressive racist of times during the Jim Crow and Civil Rights era, in the state of Florida. Looking for a quick response. Although an elitist like yourself probably will not respond.
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By: Neil Family on 10/11/2009 11:05AM
"God blah blah" Stop depending on god to solve your problems. You are all brainwashed by a fraudulent belief. It's time that people stepped up and started doing more to protect their communities. I know people hate the ideas of jails, but more of these vicious psychos need to be put away from those who just want to have normal lives.
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By: MagPie on 10/12/2009 12:59AM
Parents should discipline their children from day one they are on this earth. Yes what happened was aweful and hurtful, but it is sad to think that people need someone to remind them of what is right. If parents brought their children up thinking responsibly then less tragedies like these would occur. I am very sorry about the incident but no one needs a reminder every moment in their life to make a smart decision, most always they should have been taught how to make it for themselves.
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By: bodyconstruction on 10/16/2009 4:10PM
I'm so sick and tired of black people always involking God into the conversation. All that is, is slave talk and slave thinking. I'm a black atheist, and have a much different take on what has happened and what is happening in many black communities across sorry America."Lord where do we go from here" is not in my vocabulary and I feel we don't have to stay prayed up as a commenter suggested. This is total rediculous. Even if I believed in Christ, the spirit of him cannot dwell in such an atmosphere such as the black ghetto. The truth of the matter is that the black man has abandoned the idea of leadership in his community. The so-called black church does not conceive of social uplift as a duty of the church; and consequently the perpetrators who committed this awful act have not been adequately trained in religious matters to be equal to the social demands upon them. Black ministers, or the black church are too busy sucking the life blood out of the black community. They are in it for the money just like their white counterpart. They also lack intelligent guidance, as mentioned. For that reason, the black church often fulfils a mission to the contrary of that for which it was established. Perhaps they are still preaching the same old slave message because these youths are not listening. There are many black preachers who are doing good work in their communities but their work is devalued because they attract black people by using the scriptures the slavemasters used to dominate us. All across sorry America,myriads upon myriads of sorry young black men act like savages. These untrained ghetto dwellers are nothing but black punks and cowards and need to be wiped out once and for all. They think nothing of selling drugs, gambling, and killing as occupations; and they find great joy in smoking, drinking, watching porn, playing stupid electronic games (which is full of violence),fertilizing a woman's overies (I think it's spelled that way) instead of fertilizing her mind, and also fornication as diversions. These ignorant young men also receive bad messages from stupid low life rappers (listen to the songs) and they internalize these messages thus spreading them throughout the black community to other young black men. WELCOLME TO BLACK AMERICA. A mind that remains in the present atmosphere never undergoes sufficient development to experience what is commonly known as "THINKING". Even the person who recorded the incident did nothing to stop the attack or try to save this young mans life. What he lacks is the ability to think properly just like those low down dirty dog junk yard rat soup eatin attackers. No black man or women thus submerged in the ghetto, then, will have a clear conception or sufficient forsight to stop such a vicious attack. This is one of the reasons society dismisses the black man as a non-entity. One question, where is this young man's father? What ever happend to the black muslums of the Nation of Islam? They use to protect black people from thugs such as these. The other problem is that our men are too busy worrying about material things and don't have no other cause to live for other themselves. Then we got the black homo's. What kind of example are they for the young black male mind? They are useless. Radicals is what we need not brothers wanting to carry on the same old sorry practices of the white man. You notice in other countries they don't have problems such as our. Black people have chosen to follow the white way of life and are suffering for it
I say we ban together without religion as a backdrop and take back our streets. We should make rules for the black community and stick to those rules. First we need to get rid of businesses that exploit us. Mcdonalds, Burger King,Liquor stores bars etc. They do nothing but collect the money just like the church but won't protect the community from thugs and low-life's. Second if any young or older black male commits an offence against each other they will be tarred and featherd and kicked out of community. These are some of my ideas, can anyone out there think of anything else except God as the solution? As mentioned the black race is overchurched. They should be more radical. America has done nothing to stop the madness so we as radicals, who have the ability to think outside of the box, must take it upon ourselves to rid ourselves of these black monsters. What happened to this young man would shame a race of savages.
Dear Ms. An-Janette,Everyone of the perpetrators should be happy they didn't run into me, for their would be no perpetrators, they all would be a sorry memory and yes, I would have made a strong effort to save your son's life. I'm sorry I wasn't there, and trust me when I say this, all black men are not cowards and we sure are not all alike mentally. May he rest in peace.
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By: roscoe on 10/23/2009 6:17PM
We talk about the KKK. Man I would rather take my chances living next door to them, than a bunch of ignorant negroes.This is tribal instincts all the way from Africa.
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