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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
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Madelyn Dunham
Barack Obama's grandmother
October 26, 1922 - Nov 3, 2008.
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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: Lisa on 10/07/2009 1:54PM
Again, I say why risk other peoples childrens lives to clean up your mess? It's kind of selfish don't ya think? Your people made the mess your people can clean it up. Clean up your own neighborhoods. Y'all got some pretty tough brothas that could clean them up real quick. Form a group in every neighborhood and just clean the streets.
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By: Kevin on 10/07/2009 6:10PM
Not only that Lisa, you know that 2/3 of them would be screaming racism because the Nat'l guard isn't in the white man's neighborhood!!!
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By: KiSu on 10/07/2009 11:05AM
My prayers go out to the family of this young man.
I pray they are granted peace and strength to make it through this tragedy. I also pray for the community that this ends here and now. I call to arms all Grandparent, Parents, Aunts and Uncles, Sisters and Brothers stand up. Take back your children, know what they are doing, who there are with, what is happening in their schools. Our ancestors gave their hearts and souls so that the atrocities done to them do not befall us and future generations. They gave everything that we may have an opportunity to thrive and enhance not only our existence but the world. It is time to take back our destiny from those who perpetuate the lie that having things and money or more important than having self-respect, morality, and love of family and community. It is time to stand up and serve notice that no more, no more is this behavior acceptable, no more shall we tolerate the demise of the human spirit in our communities. Stand up and give notice that God gave us life for a reason and now it is up to each and every human being, black, yellow, purple, pink, and white to say no more we will save each and every child from the demise of their physical and spiritual existence in this world.
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By: cc on 10/07/2009 11:35AM
MY HEART GO OUT TO THE MOTHER AND FAMILY OF THIS YOUNG MAN.WITH TWO GENERATIONS LOST IN THE 70'S AND 80'S DUE TO DRUGS YOU HAD CHILDREN BORN ADDICTED AND GRANDPARENTS RAISING GRANDCHILDREN.A LOT OF COMPLICATIONS HAD TO BE DELT WITH.SOME HAD MENTAL PROBLEMS AND OTHERS WERE SPOILED BECAUSE OF THE SITUATION. AFTER THE CHILDREN GROW UP THEY GET OUT OF HAND,THE PARENTS THAT HAD DRUG PROBLEMS DON'T KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH THE CHILDREN AND THE GRANDS ARE TOO OLD.THEN COME THE ABUSE TO THE ADULTS WHERE THEY BECOME AFRAID.ON THE OTHER END THE PARENTS JUST DON'T CARE, OR THEY WANT NO ONE TO SAY ANYTHING TO THEIR CHILDREN.THE ONE'S WHO DO ARE OUT NUMBERED BY THE OTHERS.
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By: renee on 10/08/2009 8:48PM
cc, You hit the nail on the head! It is the parents and society in general that are raising a nation of SAVAGES! I am white but so what? That dead child and the children who killed him are ALL of our problems! My heart BLEEDS for the poor mother who lost her baby in such a horrific fashion! I AM the generation that has raised our kids GODLESS and this is our punishment! Why do we continue to divide ourselves by something as inconsequential as skin color when we should be dividing by RIGHT and WRONG! GOD have mercy on all of US!
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By: aberdeen allen on 10/07/2009 12:17PM
The Klan most be smiling from ear to ear while they watch us do to ourselves what they couldn't do for a hundred years. If you ask a young person why are they so quick to fight one another, the answer you get is; "I don't know". This tells me that we adults have dropped the ball in teaching our kids how to be tolerant towards one another. But we most believe there is a solution we just have to work hard to find it. Just me two cents. Peace
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By: Sniper on 10/07/2009 1:57PM
Yes we are :)
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By: sydnei mcgowan on 10/08/2009 9:27PM
the clan is ABSOLUTELY NOT SMILING DOWN!!!! THEY ARE BURNING IN HELL!!!!! that is sooooo NOT the issue here. people need to stand up and take control... children do not run this world. they are a GREAT,PRECIOUS PART OF THIS WORLD, BUT as long as adults fear that great POLITICAL CORRECTNESS crap, that we can't discipline our children, it is only going to get worse! this problem has progressivley gotten worse since they took prayer out of school!!!! I'M NOT PREACHING FOR PRAYER, BUT something has got to be done with the youth in this entire country.. adults need to be adults and children need to be children.
this has nothing to do with the Klan, or whatever, this has to do with ADULTS NOT DOING THERE PART for a child in need!!!! EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE perpetrators, at some point were a little sweet child... this is not A WAY OF LIFE!!! people, LETS TAKE CARE OF OUR YOUTH OF AMERICA!!!! this is not just a "black" problem, it is EVERYONES PROBLEM!!! ITS HAPPENING EVERYWHERE!!!! PRAY TO THE LORD THAT IT STOPS!!! IT IS SOOOOOO SAD
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By: Naynay on 10/16/2009 5:09PM
I agree im fifteen and when i first saw the video three things happened: i cried, i thought to myself ''who could do this to someone'' and i thought about how people like the klansmen or whatever just sit back and watch us destroy ourselves.But i also think that we need to just...take a stand at my school we lost a student to violence like this expect the only difference was he was shot. that's just as bad.This really needs to stop but some people not getting it. how many teenagers have to die before we realize what were're doing?
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By: datruthisscary on 10/07/2009 12:47PM
Too many of our children are being borned to parents who are just children themselves. Today's music influences this. I mean, let's face it people, Hip-Hop, the music of the younger generation, is the most dominant & hypnotic form of musical entertaiment there is. It has influenced people all over the world, of every race, to dress a certain way, walk a certain way, and act a certain way. Although, I'm a fan Hip-Hop, I believe it has taken a dangerous turn. Some of the messages that these artist are putting out are being misinterpreted by our young people. Or maybe that young person is not misinterpreting what they're saying. They're simply just following the rapper's lead. Many of these radio stations are not screening the songs that they play. You use to have to BUY the cd in order to hear certain songs they play on the radio today. Radio stations are making many of these misguided messages easily accessible to our young people. For example, there is a song that constantly comes on the radio in my city called "Make Your Juicebox Wet". The title alone should give an indication of what the song is about. There is verse in this song in which the rapper talks about a woman "drinking his UNBORN (Sperm)"....amongst other things. And they play this on the radio. The rapper is covert with his choice of words, therefore the radio station is ok with playing it. But I thought to myself, "Our kids aren't dumb. They know what the term 'unborn' really means in that song". Needless to say, I have sent that station several e-mails regarding this....but of course, to no avail.
People are always saying, it's the parent's job to control what their kids listen to. This is true, but parents cannot be there every single moment of their child's life. And keep in mind that most families in our communties are single parent families. Most likely, a single mom who has to work one or two jobs to make a living. This is where we, as proud, Black people, must step in. That means EVERY BM & BW....the rapper is definitely included. I'm not trying to put full blame on the rappers. But rappers need to realize that these kids are listening and some of them are trying to live out the things they are hearing. And while many rappers say "I'm not personally responsible", I want them to realize that while that may be true, our children are listening to them regardless.
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