The Violent ignorance that plagues our black community while appealing as humorous, comical, and interesting enterntainment.

As I sit on the floor of of the bedroom at the apartment of a friend from high school, I sit in amazement of the conversation between him and his cohorts. As they re-live a moment in their lives together that they nearly faced death, I can't help but think of how ignorant of a conversation this is to have. His best friend since they were little tells him that they could avoided getting shot at if he simply would have fired up the block from the jump. My friend sits there in defense saying he choose not to because women were around. His friends insist that those same women were the ones who warned the guys about them coming back around the block and thus were the reason they got shot at. If my friend would have instead risked the lives of those women and possibly innocent bystanders, then they would never have gotten shot at his friends rationalized.

But what distigusted me about the conversation was not the fact that they were talking about ways they could have avoided getting shot at, but the recklessness of their behavior both in reality and fantasy. His best friend constantly repeated the phrase, with the other friend co-signing that he should have "fired up the block" as if they were living in a real life gansta movie.

Is this what our young black men and teenagers do? Sit around and talk about how easily they could have let loose a round of gunshots in a neighborhood they are not even from as if its some video game? Do they really believe that the answer to their conflicts and problems are solved simply by having a bigger and better gun? Are these conversations and others responsible for the random and stray bullets that kill an innocent child every weekend?

We must do better!

While I sat there and listened and said NOTHING, we cannot continue to say nothing! We must encourage our young men to do and be better. We must encourage our young women to not be intrigued and facinated with such foolishness. We can not allow such mindless behavior and violence to be seen as a joke. We cannot continue to find this nonsense entertaining. We cannot wait for police who never show up or poiliticians to pass more bullshit laws! Our people care none about either of those groups. We in the communities with these youth must urge them to be better, we must organize them into constructive enviornments that foster learning and creative expression without the use of guns. We must expose to them to the possiblities of life that they know nothing about so that a future beyond what they know can become a reality in their minds.

That is all for now, but "Firing up the block" has got to stop!!!

So I've been in Buffalo officially for a week now, but my blog photo is of the Chicago skyline. As I venture to a new place in this time of my life, I can't forget what God has brought me through and from. But I am excited for the opportunities that await me here in a new town with new people. Stay tuned!!!