The Death Of Our Children

[Kim Crouch]

Every time I hear about the death of a young person murdered on the streets of inner-city America, I’m often reminded about the murder of my own brother 13 years ago in St. Louis, Mo. Although most of us are shocked by the brutality inflicted on the streets in urban areas throughout this country, I’m not. I’ve lost my own brother to violence and, as a child growing up in inner city St. Louis, I’ve attended too many funerals to even keep count. Sadly, the only way I am able to remember to this day is to count the number of obituaries that have piled up on my closet shelf.

I recently read an article that highlights the epidemic of violence that so many youth often fall victim to. What’s happening in the city of Chicago illustrates the point. With about three months left in the current school year, the number of Chicago Public School students slain totals more than 30 and already exceeds the total for all of last year.

While most of the killings have taken place on neighborhood streets and not during school hours, it is incredible to imagine that in a school year 30 school children could have been the victim of violence. But let’s be clear: the problem of youth violence is much bigger than the public school system. It is truly a community issue that requires the resources and efforts of parents, schools, teachers and community members who refuse to harbor criminals or provide an excuse for the violence in our communities.

Truthfully, I’m heartbroken by the number of children we lose each year to violence and the fact that this has been an ongoing problem for years with no signs of slowing. I have no idea if at the end of the day anyone truly cares about the suffering inflicted in our inner-cities. Maybe it’s the cynic in me who has seen this violence spiral for years with no signs of stopping. Maybe it’s the sister in me who has lost a brother to violence or maybe it’s the mother in me who has sons that refuses to allow them to be statistics. All I know is it’s time we do more. That we say enough is enough. The problems and violence are too rampant to allow this type of behavior to continue.

I could spend the rest of this post on the issue and the solutions but I believe we all know what they are. For once, I would like to take some time for us to remember the victims because it’s important to show a human side to the statistics, the heartache of mothers and fathers and families, and the devastation to our communities that stems from the death and potential of so many youth who could have transformed our communities, and even our world, in ways we can’t imagine or will never know. And for this, we should all feel sad. We are all failing our kids.

Click on the link below to take a look at the gallery of photos of Chicago Public School children who’ve lost their lives to violence this school year.(You may need to cut and paste the entire link into your browser)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-090311-cps-student-deaths-ph...

See also video of 15 year old shot, beaten and burned.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2009/05/06/mattingly.chicago...


www.kimcrouch.com
http://mothertoson.blogspot.com

[Kim Crouch]

Regina you're definitely right. I speak about this issue all over the country and as someone who no longer lives in inner-city America, I can say most people not living in inner-city are oblivious or worst, not concerned about this issue. I believe it is because many people mistakenly believe the lost of life is that of criminals but they would be surprised by the number of "good" youth who lose their lives everyday.

The lost of life is so astronomical that we have to start to see this as an American problem. After all, for every life lost we lose the potential to move humanity forward. After all, we have no idea who any of these youth could have grown into being. My goal is to continue to make this an issue.

[Bridget]

This was a great post and so true, I live here in Los Angeles and I know crime is every where but it just seems to happen here so much often. I mean from innocent babies to teens and its heart breaking to hear. And the ones that commit the crimes they dont seem to give a damn that they have taken a life and its scary

[Bran]

(Well I just wrote a very lengthy reply and it got deleted)

Here in St.louis our young men (15-35) are facing an epidemic of Heroine addiction and the homicide statistic of our young WOMEN is rivaling neck and neck with the young men. It trully is sad how our young parents and youth have been "brainwashed" so leading to the decline of our community. Its seems like in our community (not just the black community but all impoverment zones) makes our youth feel like they are not anything unless they are a part of a click, or put in work for the "hood", or have at least some kind of hustle. It didnt make it any better when Jay-z and other artists started "promoting/advertisng/and marketing" to our youth. I hate what is happening to our communities. The pillars of our communities become victims of crime and targets for standing up for our community and trying to obtain success, then in term become prejudiced against their own community unwilling to give anyone a chance. I REALLY WISH MY INITIAL RESPONSE DID NOT GET ERASED THIS IS A HOT TOPIC, ESPECIALLY FOR THE "LOU"....to be cont.

[Kim Crouch]

Bran had no idea you were from St. Louis. I grew up in the Walnut Park area.CAn you say do or die neighborhood. I'm telling you that I lost so many friends growing up which is why I'm passionate about this issue. Although I no longer live in St. Louis, most of my family does and I'm there often and I can tell you for a small city the murder rate is outrageous. In fact, I do a lot of my speaking engagements and programs in St. Louis and am often quoted in the St. Louis American on issues related to parenting, crime, etc.

Also I didn't know your initial response got erased.

[S. Renee Mitchell]

I, too, am glad you submitted this post. For our community to pay attention, it takes folks like you who are willing to continue to speak out even when no one is listening. It's so important that our silence not get interpreted as permission. I too care deeply about this issue, especially since I have two brown baby boys growing up in Detroit, where they're living with their father. I let them go there almost two years ago because I wanted them to have a relationship with their dad, but they're also at risk by living in one of the worst murder capitals of the country, particularly when it comes to black men. But, to be honest, they would face the same risks in the smaller West Coast city where they spent most of their 13 years of life - and the black population here in Portland, Ore., is only 7 percent. A few years ago, a young man was shot in broad daylight getting off a public bus and no one said a word. I wrote this poem - Deafening Silence - put it to music and then perform it at schools and events to help get our community's attention. We've got to use all kinds of forms to spread the message. If the file doesn't come through, let me know and I'll send it through email. Ladies, let's keep the conversation going!!!
Renee
http://myppk.com/go/reneemitchellspeaks.aspx
www.reneemitchellspeaks.com

another generation of black youth lost to silence
because we only complain when someone else is doing the shooting
when it's our own killing our own - gang banging and looting - we keep quiet
or we moan about our righteous battle with The Man
when we're the ones with the guns in our hand
when we're the ones with the guns in our hands...