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Dusk overtakes a Humid August night, as the sun goes down, the summer dwindles away, little by little. The students are geared up, ready to go back to school, anxiously anticipating the first day of school. Two teenage girls, just being kids, hanging out, trying to squeeze the last drop out of the summer, when a stroll down Hickory Street is suddenly interrupted. The duo is met by an unexpected gush of gunfire. Fifteen year-old Brittany Capers never saw it coming but she felt the pain as hot metal pierced her body; she knew she had been hit. A bullet wound to her neck. She was reportedly in critical but stable condition at a nearby hospital. A 16 year-old boy, the alleged shooter. Terrence K. Thomas subsequently led authorities on a four-hour stand off after the shooting. He apparently has no respect for women. No regard for life. Anger and hopelessness seem to rise to the surface in adolescence within these communities. What’s on the inside  ultimately shows up on the outside, and this is apparent in his actions. Too, he has no respect for authority. And, he is not alone. The question is, why? In a separate incident, another 16 year-old boy was charged with shooting a pregnant woman in Decatur, Illinois. Fortunately, the pregnant woman survived, and her unborn child was not harmed. Both attempted murder cases were systematically transferred to adult court under state law requiring persons fifteen and over, charged with attempted murder or aggravated battery with a firearm, to be tried as adults. The mere fact that a 16 year-old has a gun and that he would choose to shoot a 15 year old girl with it, or a pregnant woman for that matter, speaks volumes about the condition of our seeds, their mind sets, and the society in which we are living in today. When you have a 17 year-old black youth on the books for murder, shooting one victim in the face and reportedly killing three other individuals, do we have a problem America?  Read Story
 

"What is the State of Race Relations in the U.S.?"

If you were to take a poll on the street, you would find that many of us, particularly young people and Whites, feel that the status of relationships between the races has greatly improved over the past few decades. Some even go so far as to say that racism is dead, given the increase in opportunities for Blacks and the growing number of interracial partnerships in this country. Among Blacks, young folks don’t even want to hear about segregation and prejudice; those were the “bad old days” that they believe have disappeared without a trace. Still, fifty-four years after Brown vs. the Board of Education allowed our children to sit next to one another in school and the Civil Rights Movement brought about social changes that were unprecedented in the brief history of this nation, have we really “come a long way, baby,” or is that Freedom Train just taking us around in circles? In order to truly appreciate the role race plays in our relationships, sometimes it’s necessary to, as the Native Americans say, “walk a mile in my moccasins.” We have to try listening from the other side of the fence, to see how our behavior and our words affect others. As teenagers, both of my daughters worked in a store that specialize in chocolate. One day, a White woman came into the store and started browsing their selection. At one point, she spotted the peanut butter and cream striped bars that they call “Tiger Butter.” “Oh!” she exclaimed, “That’s just like the book!” And she proceeded to explain to, of all people, my radical, militant, Negro Leagues and Black Panther-loving daughter about her favorite book when she was a child…”Little Black Sambo.” My daughter tried to change the subject, but it was no use. The elderly woman continued, oblivious to the horrified look on my daughter’s face as she told her all about this “wonderful” tale of clever Little Black Sambo who outwits the hungry tigers and turns them into butter (tiger butter) which he takes home to put on the pancakes that he and his parents, Mumbo and Jumbo (yes, it gets worse!), love to eat all day long. Read Story
 

July 2008 Issue

June 2008 Issue

"Hip-Hop You Don't Stop"

"Why Are Black Women So STRONG?"

 

May 2008 Issue

April 2008 Issue

"If You Could Only See the World Through My Eyes"