I was in Memphis this weekend, bringing in the New Year with my assistant and her husband. As we were sitting and eating dinner, my assistant made reference to the guns that go off to celebrate the New Year and the danger they may pose. "What goes up, has to come down," she said. "A woman I know at church changed her baby's diaper and found a bullet that went through the roof of the church and landed in the diaper."
The story seemed outlandish, but my assistant never lies to me. It turns out that her words were more prophetic than I could have ever imagined.
A 4-year-old boy in Atlanta was killed 20 minutes after New Years, when a stray bullet went through the roof of his church and hit the child in the head. The incident took place at the Covington Drive Church of God of Prophecy in Decatur, Ga. His mother, Nathalee Peters, is asking for any information that might lead to finding out who may have killed her child, but the truth is that this information will probably never be found.
While we can't bring back the young boy who was killed by the stray bullet, we can all play a part in stopping incidents like this from happening in the future. If you see someone who plans to shoot off a gun to bring in the New Year, remind the person of the danger of engaging in such activity. Also, laws against such activity should be strengthened and enforced.
"I heard a little sound like a pink. I heard him scream a little bit, so I looked around to hand him the game, and that's when I saw the blood," Peters said. "I tried to pick him up and then he was losing consciousness, and he was just breaking and going down. It was so hard."
Let's hope that Ms. Peters finds justice. All of our hearts go out to her family, and we all know that church is the last place a child should be hurt on New Years Eve.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.
Comments: (17)
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By: mopedhat on 1/02/2010 1:33PM
This is a dam shame. What will it take for black men to come out of hiding and put a stop to the savagery like the brave black men who stood up to the KKK with little more than their unwillingness not to be treated like a slaveanymore? This is another senseless killing of a black child shot by another black who will shoot their gun at any time anywhere. They have no respect for human life and have an evil soul. There will be no marches for him because he just another dead black child killed by another black. Only being shot by a white man would qualify his family for a march by fist waving and macho posturing by the likes of the Black Panthers and the pathetic NAACP. Sharpton and Jackson would show up to yell at the cameras about black kids being victims of racist. His family won't get a Jenna Six demonstration and will not get justice because blacks don't snitch. RIP sweet child my heart breaks for you and your family.
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By: lanette on 1/02/2010 2:04PM
What happened to this child was a disgrace plain and simple.
I have no idea what this has to do with the Black Panthers, Jena 6 and half of the other crap you arespewing. Why don't you go to Fox news or any other page that is devoted to Sarah Palin or Mccain or something...
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By: weezee on 1/02/2010 2:41PM
I live halfway between Newark and Camden, NJ and this happens ALL the time. Preschoolers on the playground are getting hit with stray bullets left and right. Police are not welcome or appreciated in the black neighborhoods so there is no enforcement of gun laws. These waste-of-oxygen gangsters need to be locked up so that no more innocent children die before they get to see kindergarten.
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By: Kelli on 1/02/2010 9:11PM
Small world...
I used to live between Camden and Newark (still have family there) so you can probably can relate to my angst. Growing up, I would see crimes openly committed, but the authorities would turn a blind eye until the crimes spilled over into "certain" neigborhoods. Then you would see SWAT, DEA and everyone else because NOW there is a freaking problem. This sort of thing still goes on. Another thing that I never understood is how the police and grown people living in a neighborhood, see a child who should obviously should be in school walking up and down the street, hanging on street corners and nothing is said. Some of these same children were the biggest dealers and gangster wannabe types in the city.
We have these cowards who think nothing of shooting off a gun, because in their feeble minds this behavior gives them power and makes the gansta. Then you have people who are afraid to take back their neighborhoods and choose to quietly live in fear or they possess the no snitching mentality. Last, there are "some" police in certain areas who don't give a care because they and the powers that be, don't have to live in the crime infested areas. Too many times the end result is an innocent victim. Chances are the person who murdered this child, will never be found.....
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By: Mike on 1/02/2010 4:46PM
@mopedhat - I agree with you wholeheartedly. I've been nonstop speaking to my fellow black males since 1980 when I was 16 yo. It's plumb crazy now. Look at their heros - people like this rapper with the 3 tattooed teardrops, the prison fashion, the soul-killing rap they love. I knew it was garbage in 1980 and the rap of 1980 was brilliant compared to the sick crap these kids have been listening to for the past 20 or years. Hey, it's not my fault is all I can say and God bless that innocent kid. When they find the culprit, lock em up and throw away the key. It's not just the males, it's the ladies too. Hell, 1/2 of these males are only 14 yrs younger than their mothers. Yall disgust me and have disgusted me for decades. I'll keep fighting though cause I have respect for my people throughout history. This is what happens when the community is headed by you strong black queens with the backbone - yeah right.
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By: Mike on 1/02/2010 4:50PM
I need to be clear - I'm not putting all the blame on black women but remember: There have been no men in the community since appx 1969 so the women can take the blame for how the successive generations since then have only gotten worse. If you women didn't drive those men away, they would have stayed. Until you get real enough to accept responsibility for your part of the problem, it's only gonna get worse. You folks are setting yourself up for a nightmarish awakening. Blind leading the blind can ONLY result in death and destruction. What makes it so much much worse is you got all these illiterates with hair trigger tempers and huge egos. Yalls a damn mess. Better do a 180 right now.
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By: Eve on 1/04/2010 12:57AM
Mike you are one sick puppy. How does not paying child support, carrying illegal fire arms, abuse on women, robbery, drugs and I could go on and on as to why so many Black Men are in jail and not in the community with their families and most time, just baby Mamas because they're too sorry to take responsibility. Where are you from and how did you come up with what you're saying in your Blog? Are you Alien?
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By: Mike on 1/02/2010 5:16PM
I need to add: the blacks who've made it have shirked their responsibility to the less fortunate bros and sis. You moved from the community, won't challenge the companies you work for who discriminate against blacks. You're afraid of your own and simply left them. I see you all fronting in your latest fashions, but the gigs up. The emporer has no clothes. We can change but folks are gonna have to acquire some courage and learn to unify. Hell ladies with the strong backbone, you can't even keep your 12 to 15 yr old daughters from acquiring stds and getting pregnant? You're ineffective with your own sex, so why do you think you can raise a male without his father?
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By: Shaiye on 1/02/2010 8:09PM
There are a lot of harsh words here. I want so badly to agree with the good points but they all sound like they are buried in pure hate, and I personally don't see how anyone can be expected to have a positive reaction to something like that. Seriously, I wouldn't talk to a possum that way. Also, keep in mind that the people who really should be getting up and doing something about their quality of life are probably not already reading these pages... Let's try getting off our high horses and attempting some subtle suggestions in the ways and places that they are needed most. Don't try to force the horse to drink, but don't think that you are better than it is when it's dying of thirst because you knew where the water was but decided to stand back and WATCH or commentate on what it should do.
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By: BROOKLYN on 1/03/2010 10:27AM
I can understand some of the harsh things said. But we are so tired of this foolishness that it makes us talk like this. It's not going to stop we have babies having babies that had no up bringing so what do they know and what can they teach.
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