Who Cares?

                                            Living 2 Die:

I hear stories about gun violence almost weekly throughout the news media. It send chills all over me when I hear that a shooter has shot scores of innocent people for no reason at all. This is tragic. What's equally tragic, are the number of youths within my own city that have died and no one within the community seems to be hurting. At least not hurting enough to be proactive.

     As I sat my grandson down around the kitchen table, I walked through the importance of living life. Not only did I walk through the importance of living life, but I walked him through the importance of living to love others just as yourself. As I was doing this, it never dawned on me, just how many young people have died, until I opened up my laptop to show him the number of murders that have been committed in Augusta during 2019. He was shocked. I too was shocked. But I recognized a difference in these shootings. The same type shootings that have been going on throughout Atlanta, Baltimore, Arkansas, Chicago, Arizona, and other major cities have all involved predominantly black youths. I try not to jump to conclusion, because maybe I'm looking at this in a different way, but I can't help it. I noticed that black youths are at a higher rate of dying young than any other race of people on the planet. No, they're not dying at the hands of white men, Asian men, Hispanic men, or any other group of men, but they're dying at the hands of other black men.
     So.., as I sat down scrolling through those that have been killed, I realized something interesting. What's interesting is this: If blacks hadn't been involved in the murders of their own people in Augusta Ga., then Augusta would be the safest city to live in. Perhaps, at least one of the safest cities.

      Not only have black youths been killing each other at an alarming rate, but many cities throughout America have incurred a daunting social impact secondary to violence that many black youths impose on certain areas. How so? Because of Fear. The murders we read about are real. Why would anyone want to invest, build, or revitalize within an area that has decayed secondary to violence. Somehow, when murders occur often enough within certain areas, people become numb to it and simply accept it.
   There're times when I'm sitting in barber shops, only to hear men (black men) talk about certain shootings as if it's the topic of the day. This is the noose that black men, not white men, carry when they pull the trigger on each other. We talk about it, but too few care to be proactive about it. Black men not only kill other black men at a rapid pace, but they kill dreams and generations that could have possibly been great generations of men and women to come.

      So my question to my grandson was this: Who do you think cares? Not only who cares, but why aren't anyone doing anything? Where are the rising black churches? Where are the black men, fathers who care, brothers who are looking for social change or even Black lives matter? Where are they? As a mentor of black youths, I've never been concern about political jargon just to get attention for a political donation. The truth is: We are witnessing senseless deaths from the hands of out of control black youths and black people are turning their heads as if it's the norm.  It's much easier to say, "it's gang related," when senseless killings of our youths are just as normal as going in to work. How can a slogan like this be used to justify death? 

     Onward, just for one second; lets think out of the box. What if it was a white man that committed the double murder of Jabrie Dominiquez and Charles Lawson, this month in Augusta? What if it was a white man that murdered Malik Harvey & Jahlil Brick house in July 2019? What if an officer murdered Tacorey Brigham in November 2019? What if Tymbralyn Kelly, who was 17 years old, was murdered by someone of a different race? Just what if? By the way, when Tymbralyn was dying, some of his last words were; "I'm not ready to die yet...." Think about it. A 17 year old kid having to murmur those words is not only heart breaking, but no one heard his cry. In case you didn't know, I could tell you what would have happened if it was an officer or white men who would have committed such atrocities. It would have been mayhem. Those African American lawyers that have a platform in the media, the Sharptons and Jacksons of the world would have all stepped down onto the city of Augusta seeking to extract not justice, but dollar signs. So why wouldn't they come now in the event that young blacks are murdering each other? The truth is this: Not only are black men the ones carrying the noose within their own communities, but there is no money to extract when black men kill other black men. Plainly put.., no one cares? 

     The truth is: These 6 deaths named were not even half the number of people killed in the city of Augusta in 2019. Not even half. But who cares? 
     Finally, I ended my conversation this way with my grandson. As you walk through life, you have to be extremely careful in how you conduct yourself and the places you attend. Our society is a big circle. Within this circle, there's  a level of measurement to consider, just like a measuring cup. If you are thuggin, selling drugs, throwing up gang signs, rappin' negative lyrics, beefing, robbing, fighting, hustling (negatively) or hurting others, you are at the bottom of this circle. You are the one carrying the noose. Being at the bottom of this circle profits you nothing but either going to jail or an untimely death. 
 I went on to tell him this. It's impossible to put everything on the system because the system's not involved in the home training of our children. They are not involved in teaching morals, praying and the teaching of how to love others as your yourself. This is the choice that families must engage in, but all too many times, the system is blamed for.
     Finally, when people who commit crime refuse to change, then the only other change that's left to incur, is death. A death that is way too soon.

Christopher Ty:
The Noose of The Black community
https://www.amazon.com/Noose-Black-Community-Christopher-Sullivan/dp/1105562484