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52 Murders in Chicago in one Weekend?!


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I'm listening to a Sunday morning talk show here in NYC, while trying to get a newsletter written (first one since late April). The radio hosts talking about the number of murders taking place in Chicago. In one recent weekend, 52 murders took place over a single weekend - including a 1 year baby!

This past weekend 40+ murders took place. Virtually all of these murders are of Black people by other Black people...

One Brother felt that Black men need to hit the streets and take them back -- policing our own communities. That sounds good, but it will never happen. Most Black people with money do not live in those communities and are not coming back to help. Working class Blacks in those communities are too busy trying to keep their own families running. The rest of the Brothers are contributing to the problem. Besides trying to stop gang activity can be very dangerous.

What do y'all think is the cause of this problem? What are the solutions?

Some say it is the "culture of violence" of the Black inhabitants of Chicago. Some blame the legacy of slavery. Some blame a lack of jobs, good schools, and community centers.

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Living close to Chicago, and residing in a small town which a couple of years ago had a record 42 murders in one year, is why I always a hard time with those of you who crow about the crime rate being way down. 52 has to be an all- time high for Chicago, but there are at least a dozen murders there every week, most committed by young Blacks against other young Blacks, many of these killing being cases of mistaken identity or of innocent persons being caught in the line of fire.

According to the police, these slayings are mostly gang-related, but others are the result of fights where sore losers leave the scene and return with a gun to avenge being dissed. Still others occur at clubs or private parties where troublemakers resort to shooting up the place when asked to leave. These particular perpetrators are cold-blooded hoods who have no respect for human life, and no regard for the consequences of the deeds that could result in their serving hard time, leading dead-end existences in prison, sentenced to lay around in their cells reading Donald Goines books, converting to Islam, bartering with cigarettes, and forming gang alliances..

Lately as this problem has started to spill over into the black middle class enclaves of the Chicago's south side, adults have started to arm themselves with guns, as in a couple of recently-reported cases where homeowners shot and killed home intruders. Then there’s how this young black off-duty cop who had served 2 hitches in Afghanistan was recently accosted in front of his parent's home by 5 thugs looking to steal his brand new motorcycle. When his father, who was a retired policeman, saw what was happening he got his gun and after identifying himself as a law officer killed one and critically wounded another of the fleeing criminals who had gunned down his son before being picked up by a getaway car, which ran over the young cop’s body while speeding away...

Who knows what the solution to this terrible situation is. Nothing seems to work. The victims are invariably described by their weeping mothers as good kids who had no gang affiliations, the victimizers usually have histories of petty crime and felonious arrests. It has evolved into a vicious cycle that perpetuates itself. It’s easy to say that poverty, the breakdown of the family, and bad schools are the cause of this rampant violence but these negative factors only seem to affect some kids and not others. It’s like certain ones have bodies, but - no souls.

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This is unfortunate and replicated in a number of cities around the country. What is the root cause - there are a number of factors. I believe that the lack of morality - faith based belief and attendance -- church, mosque, temple coupled with the depravity in art/culture - music & videos feed the banality. Current Morehouse president Robert Franklin wrote a book entitled Crisis in the Community - where he attempts to locate the breakdown within black society. It is a good read with a number of suggestions. At the end of the day - When people are disconnected and dismissed by parents, school and society -- rogue communities form - gangs. Which historically have existed but the soullessness - an earlier post mentioned is the battlefield. That darkness of lack on the inside that unfulfilled space tears away at the person and leaves them shell-like unmoved by human emotion.

My solution is to work with the children - they need to feel connected to the larger parade of human history and Black diasporic history and culture. When people are connected and invested they value their own existence and that of others. The issue is a disconnect - the resolution a sense of connection. It might be trite - but we are the solution we have been waiting for - I am unsure about the hardened teens and young adults that have calloused feelings of disconnect - can they be reached - I believe so - but that will take a special out reach effort - the immediate solution is working with the children -- giving them a sense of connection and value.

Peace

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What do y'all think is the cause of this problem? What are the solutions?

(There is no solution. Jobs? Ain't no jobs out there. We are in a depression about to get worse? Education? Ain't no jobs if you get a degree.

How is the ghetto, the place of the mindshaft canaries, supposed to be in good shape when AMERICA is fucked up? Why do Negroes keep beating their brains out about the symptoms when we don't look at the disesase?

You see GENERATION KILL? Watch it. Or watch the news from Afghanistan or Iraq altogether. What's happening over there is gonna start happening here. In fact, it is in a way.

In reponse to several murders the cops put on the strong show around here. Killed a couple of guys. Smashed in some houses with the SWAT teams.

Ain't stopped nothing. The people know their lives mean nothing. Save yourselves. It will be at your doors soon)

Some say it is the "culture of violence" of the Black inhabitants of Chicago. Some blame the legacy of slavery. Some blame a lack of jobs, good schools, and community centers.

(AMERICA IS FUCKED UP! Haven't you been watching the news. This crap is also going on in the poor white areas. We are having wars over Meth, Meth lab busts, all over this state. The only thing is to watch it burn itself out

Sorry if I can't give you some fairy tale solution so we all wind up sipping lemonade and singing Kumbaya.

Lots of people are going to die. Make sure you and yours ain't in that number.

The American Dream is coming true)

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THERE IS NO DAMN SOLUTION!

You remind me of this silly heifer who comes on the radio here in Da Lou. We're laying off cops. We're laying off firemen. Murders are on the rise. Joblessness in double digits.

This heifer prattles on and on about people picking up the trash in the yard.

You get the old bird and say--"Hey! How about the trash in the half dozen abandoned buildings on your block which are abandoned due to foreclosure." She goes blank.

It's too big for her mind.

It's too big for your minds, but you better find room.

It's gonna be hell in America for the next 10 years. Oh yes, many--probably the majority--will do fine. They'll have it just like they used to. Maybe better.

20 to 40 percent of the population is gonna live like they do in Mumbai,or Baghdad,or Mexico City--which will mean is they will live and that's just about all.

Jesus! Don't you watch the news? Don't you see what's happening in the Gulf, all over?

AMERICA IS FUCKED UP! Niggas are gonna be DOUBLY fucked up.

Want to think something different? Go watch Oprah or something.

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AMERICA IS FUCKED UP!

I'll disagree with that. Or rather I'll say AMERICA IS FUCKED UP! compared to what? America does not have the crushing poverty other countries have. America is a relatively free country where you can come and go as you please, and pretty much say what you want. Try going on-line, in China, and say, "China is Fucked Up".

America is not perfect and she is does do some fucked up things. But to claim the whole country is fucked up is sheer hyperbole.

Maybe, at the rate we are going, in a generation or two, or three you might be right...

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What do y'all think is the cause of this problem? What are the solutions?

What is the cause of the problem? Well, one of the foremost venomous pathologies to paralyze black America, is the collective absence of black men in the homes. The now culturally accepted absence of black fathers, has been the fertilizer for the continuous growth of a cancerous coon culture. This tragic growth and acceptance (by Negroes) openly allows behavior that was at one time –scorned and not tolerated in black America. It's not rocket science to understand how the massive emergence of single mother/fatherless Negro homes, has given rise to a self destructive coon culture and an embedded nihilistic mindset that is not about to change anytime in the near future. Too bad, too sad.....

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Xeon I accept your premise.

However, how do we reverse the problem, without imposing draconian laws and seriously restricting our freedom?

Indeed, perhaps the REAL problem is TOO much freedom. Seemingly any behavior is acceptable. Celebrities who behave badly are still idolized. Teenagers who have children out wedlock are still given big baby showers. Men who have a couple of "baby mommas" are still view as desirable.

People who claim the above are problems are shouted down and derided as "old fashioned" or God damned "Republican"

This is just not a Black thing, though we seem to be a leading indicator of very serious cultural problems.

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However, how do we reverse the problem, without imposing draconian laws and seriously restricting our freedom?

Imposing more laws does nothing! The culture that spawns this nihilistic mindset and behavior is the root of the problem. Imposing more restrictive laws is like painting over rust to conceal it –it doesn’t work. Restrictive gun laws only affect law abiding citizens, people who follow and obey the laws. Thugs and criminals will get their poison no matter what laws you enact. Did you know that possessing crack is against the law? So tell me, how do harsh laws regarding usage and possession of crack stop those who indulge? How do punitive laws stop those who traffic in child porn or money laundering? Restrictive or harsher laws do nothing to deter those who are committed to a certain behavior.

Indeed, perhaps the REAL problem is TOO much freedom.

Too much freedom? Really? Give me a few examples. Please list the freedoms you feel need to be restricted, curbed or revoked……

Seemingly any behavior is acceptable.

Yes, but that has nothing to do with the law. It is a culture that has allowed and permitted behavior that was once frowned upon or not tolerated to become tolerable and acceptable.

Celebrities who behave badly are still idolized. Teenagers who have children out wedlock are still given big baby showers. Men who have a couple of "baby mommas" are still view as desirable.

Thank you. That is a perfect example. Such behavior was frowned upon and not tolerated by our parents and grandparents. Our generation changed all of this……

People who claim the above are problems are shouted down and derided as "old fashioned" or God damned "Republican"

And they are wrong. The very behavior they defend is the ever growing malignant cancer that is destroying our country…….

This is just not a Black thing,

No it is not. But the consequences and fall out of bad behavior is having a much more devastating impact on blacks than it does with other groups.

...though we seem to be a leading indicator of very serious cultural problems.

Thank you again. You just confirmed my position……

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You can miss me with that bullsh*t.

Please forgive the cus word. I have acquired a need to do put this post right where it belongs. And who cares about a few cus words? I mean, who really gives a flying fu*k about our youth, and the rest of the rolling stones of moral decay, lost hopes and dreams long gone? Sure, it's easy to say "I do" and write a post about it.

Listen, I love my sleep, and it's disturbing to be awaken by an alarm clock. That menacing noise that interrupts our sleep is a rude awakening from a peaceful slumber. But alas, with my eyes half shut, I can stop the noise by rolling over, and before I even glance at the clock, I can throw a lazy hand in it's direction to turn it off. Later that day, we can talk about it or even write about it.

Really, no REALLY, who really cares about events outside their own lives? Well, years ago, I was asked the question "what did I value". I have to admit that I didn't really understand the question. They broke it down for me like I was mentally handicapped. I was told to make a list of things that I never wanted to part with. The question was speaking to things that were important to me.

I was in a small office, me and another person. I thought long and hard.

Struggling to impress this person, I went into deep contemplation in a quest to find all the right answers. But see, the question was sort of a trick question - or was it? My family is important to me. My mother, my father, my sisters and brothers are important to me. It goes without saying that money plays an important part in all of our lives. My health is an integral part of my survival. Friends, and their opinions play a key role in my existence. Of course there's religion, and my faith.

I finished the list with a smile on my face. Surely my friend would be impressed by the collegial list that was filled with expressions of love and family responsibilities. I even included my love for my PC and cell phone.

I took my time completing that list. I had plenty of time to think about my answers of which numbered near 50. What would be at the top of your list? At the top of my list were people and things that would make me comfortable. I've come to believe it was a selfish list. Let me explain.....

One day, some years ago, I quietly and cautiously prepared to kill a man because he had harmed my son. Borrowing a page from the Godfather movie, I packed his things and put him on a plane. I didn't want him to be a suspect in this murder, nor be questioned about it. Before he embarked, I shook his hand and told him I would see him soon. He knew what I was going to do, we talked about it. I told him not to call.

A week went by, the day was drawing near. His mother, my wife, asked me if I was sure this is what I wanted to do. She asked me what kind of message would I be sending to my son? Although I heard her words, I felt I was about to do the manly thing. No one could harm one of mine, and not pay for their crime. Street justice was my motto. I could care less about a verdict by a jury of my "peers". These peers were white folks, my son was black, the perpetrator was white. After 2 months, my son came home. I never told another person, or my son, what happened to that man. Did I care about the evil message I laid in the lap of my son? Or was it about my ego and a street creed?

What would be on your list? Who's really listening, and who really cares?

Sure, people talk about a myriad of issues. From world hunger and the greenhouse affect, to gang violence and the illiteracy rate of young black males, people talk about it. Scholars, bloggers and world leaders, write and talk about the worlds ills.

For instance, less than 2% of teachers in the USA are African-American men despite minority student populations of about 44%. But wait, there are programs in place to increase the percentages of black male teachers. One such program has predicted another 250 future teachers in the years to come. But don't run to your local school to meet Mr Tibbs. To improve the national percentage of black male teachers to even 3 percent, another 45,000 would need to enroll. Who really cares? Who really cares about the front line of black mentors or lack there of? Sure, we can talk about the lack of positive role models, and absent fathers, but who really cares about the core issues of black underachievement, and the real solutions? We can talk about it.

I mean, who really cares enough to sacrifice, suffer, or maybe die for something they merely "care" about?! Who's really listening to those that have gone before us?

Nelson Mandela said ..."When we are liberated from our fears, our presence automatically liberates others". I think Madela knows a little something.

Malcolm X said, "A man who stands for nothing, will fall for anything".

I wonder what value we put on our "cares"?

What's at the top of your valued list? Domestic Violence? Is it teen pregnancy? Is it the war against drugs? What about better school systems. Was it about your neighbor or your fellow man? Or is it all about ... YOU.

Btw, my list, that old list, was all about me and events that make me comfortable. It was basically absent of issues or events that I thought were out of my control. I care about social change but. When I think about, really think about it, my list was a selfish wish list.

I care, but I am left to wonder how much I really REALLY care.

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John Donne said: "No man is an island, entire of himself. Ask not for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee."

You cannot separate worrying about the welfare of your family from caring about what goes on in the neighborhood. Nobody is safe from the pervasive violence. No young person is immune to the pitfalls that tempt today's youth. Black communities are innundated with problems that impact on the well-being of everybody. Caring comes with the territory.

You don't have to make lists of personal priorities or ponder about your values. The will to survive is instinctive.

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Great quote, great book and great story, but you left out the moral to Hemingway's book. Although that quote is not from Hemingway, he used it as the title to his book, and I believe it was a war story with several threads.

Then you left us with this, "You don't have to make lists of personal priorities or ponder about your values. The will to survive is instinctive"

I mean, what was that about? You don't HAVE to do anything! And what does the will to survive have anything to do with this?

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Screw Hemingway and his book. What does that have to do with the subject at hand? Donne wrote that poem over a hundred years before Hemingway was even born. How Hemingway interpreted it is irrelevant because the poem stands on its own.

And refresh your mind as to what this thread is about and if you can't make a connection between coping with life in the hood and "the will to survive being instinctive" then just remain bogged down in your list-making.

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I'll disagree with that. Or rather I'll say AMERICA IS FUCKED UP! compared to what? America does not have the crushing poverty other countries have. America is a relatively free country where you can come and go as you please, and pretty much say what you want. Try going on-line, in China, and say, "China is Fucked Up".

America is not perfect and she is does do some fucked up things. But to claim the whole country is fucked up is sheer hyperbole.

Maybe, at the rate we are going, in a generation or two, or three you might be right...

YOU were the guy who posted this. Why did you do it? Because you think having 52 shootings (not murders) in Chicago in one weekend was GOOD?

You are confused. It is the heat. Simmer down. Cool down. Listen to the gunshots.

Ahh, the Children of the Night! What music they make!

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Is this the same Chrishayden always pooh-poohing my opinions about things being better in the past than the present???? The same guy who implies I have selective memory and just don't remember how bad things used to be, - the same guy who says he'd rather be alive now than during any other time in history???? Guess the ol boy just thrives on things being fucked up, probably because it gives him the opportunity to rant.

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Is this the same Chrishayden always pooh-poohing my opinions about things being better in the past than the present???

(This is the same Chris Hayden who only went TEN years in the past rather than back to Nineteen ought seven like SOMEBODY we know.

Also it was the same Chris Hayden that speaks to you of how it was for BLACK AMERICA in 1950 vs now and ALL OF AMERICA in 2000 vs now.

Cynique, you're slipping. You got all the mental power of a three minute egg. You ain't WORTH saving.

BUT I'M GONNA SAVE YA ANYWAY!

at reasonable rates.

It's the heat. It's baking your btain like a baked potatoe (topped with cheese and bacon bits). It's frying your noodle.

Go

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