This is so sad.
Jeffery Taylor | Parents believe boy died by suicide | 11alive.com
The irony of the mother keeping a gun in a bible case and saying to reporters
"But God had something else in store for my baby".
More from the article above:
"For many Black families, religion is a mental health treatment.
"I grew up hearing that if you're experiencing anxiety, depression, that that's you just need to pray harder. That was characterized as more or less spiritual weakness," Armstrong said. "What that told me was that I didn't have the right to feel anxiety. I didn't have the right to feel emotional pain.""
Religion with its well-meaning practices doesn't do a great job of helping our people advance and has never really healed us collectively. And by healing us, I am referring to trauma embedded in us via generations that came before. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbgpSSrqxJM Suicide is rising among the youth. Violence of all kinds is steadily on the rise in not just Black communities, but all poor communities. But right now I want to focus on the Black community.
We are still showing higher numbers of suicide. What are the solutions and when will they be implemented in the communities that need it most? I have said it so many times: you can't just pray, hoop and holler away what eats at you mentally. You can't just shout and sing your way out of these circumstances. We can't just pray for things to get better for our youth. We can't just pray that suicide or "the spirit of suicide" be cast out from our people. We can't just pray that "the spirit of poverty" or the "curse" be removed and that "the blessings of Abraham be upon our people". Prayer doesn't "change thangs". People, plans and policies do.
I don't have all the answers to solve the MANY issues that seem to PLAGUE the Black community-- the most religious, god-fearing, people on the planet-- but I wish that some of the wealthiest among us would come together, strategize, build and put funds toward communities that need it most and need it now. There are times I feel the wrong people have money. Money is power. And those who have it need to put it behind political leaders that can get the job done or put money behind these small organizations already in place that need the funds to expand their reach. Our young people shouldn't feel hopeless at the ages of 5-11 and contemplating, attempting and committing suicide. We have all the awareness; where are the solutions?
Jeffery Taylor | Parents believe boy died by suicide | 11alive.com
I certainly don't have the answers nor the power. I hope that one day those that do start putting together a plan to help from the ground up. In the most violent areas, I think street security cams are needed. People are usually scared to come forward when they witness a crime. Maybe cams can do the job of identifying savages or monsters in the community. Funds towards infrastructure in communities facing an uptick in violence may also need bullet proof glass in establishments who have witnessed frequent drive-by shootings. More street lights that are also bullet proof may need to be installed. I don't know... SOMETHING!
Places that have the worse schools maybe could use funds to build more schools to lessen the teacher:child ratio, hire more exceptional teachers and provide more innovative programs to reach children based on learning styles. I know that even with the best of resources, nothing trumps parent or guardian involvement. What's the solution to that problem? How do schools go about helping kids at the school when there is evidence of a lack of parent/guardian involvement at home? For example, are there minutes set aside to assist students with homework at school instead of just giving a child a mark for never turning in homework? These kids should not be getting punished nor left behind? They may not be turning it in because they don't have help at home and may be ashamed to speak up...
When bullying occurs and the bullies are identified, there should be a mandatory counseling session that takes place with the bully and the bully's parent or guardian with a security guard present to discuss the behavior and identify the root cause of it along with facing the consequences of the behavior. Security officers and police officers need to take mandatory psychology classes and also get bi-annual evaluations before being allowed to work around children and schools. Parents, coming from a person who was bullied, no amount of prayers or scripture readings prevented me from getting bullied. No amount of turning the other cheek stopped people from bullying me. Are you creating a very safe and open environment where your child feels he or she can talk to you about anything? What's the solution when a parent could care less about a child who is doing the bullying? So many problems. So much awareness. So many questions. So many layers. Where do people even begin to solve these issues?
When other races especially white people and especially the Good Ol' Party that is Fox News begins talking about the crimes per capita, IT IS TIME OUT FOR OUR PEOPLE sweeping shit under the rug and deflecting and saying things like "that is a myth" or "well what about white-on-white crime?" or "violence is based on proximity." Nah fam. Wrong move. First of all, ask them do they care about Black people or are they just spewing out the regular-degular talking points to make us look like we are innately violent as a people? ...To make us look like we deserve second class treatment in this country? Ask them what policies do they support that directly affect the Black community for the better? Have you visited these violent pockets of America to affect ANY changes? Have you donated to movements like Wear Orange? Organizations like the 9 mentioned in this article https://blog.greatnonprofits.org/9-organizations-making-progress-towards-gun-control/ Life Camp, Inc which has been around since 2002...?? Are you putting your funds together to build mental health clinics in these communities where children... yes... children are actually suffering from PTSD after being shot at by their own people, getting their homes invaded by police while being held at gun point, yelled at, cursed at and being told to put their tiny, innocent hands behind their back while police search the wrong apartment? https://youtu.be/ZITzpu836gQIf the answer is "no", okay. Then keep Black people and struggling and damaged communities out of your mouth and your news segments! YOU DO NOT CARE!!! The issues in a lot of impoverished and crime stricken communities is so complex and is affecting future generations. If you aren't going to do your research, read some REAL HISTORY to determine the root cause of how these communities became this way and then after doing that research present your plans to build these communities up, SHUT THE FUCK UP! Please and thank you.
To Black people, stop deflecting. In certain communities BLACK people ARE killing each other at an alarming rate! Young Black men and women ARE dying at the hands of people who look like them at a higher rate than at the hands of corrupt police officers in this country! When will there be an end to gang violence? Stray bullets flying from cars of people killing innocent babies IS happening far too often in certain communities. Black people and Black journalists need to stop dodging this truth and start bringing people on their shows who are working towards solving the issues instead just reporting them damn it!!!! Again, WHERE ARE THE SOLUTIONS? Roland Martin is a part of this pack of journalists also reporting day in and day out without diving into any solutions... Without showing us his plans to make things better for our people. We can't just holler out "reparations" without knowing what that looks like. Is it going towards families in these communities while simultaneously building better infrastructure and installing better cameras and bullet proofing windows in business establishments, homes and schools... etc.? I have so many questions.
What is the plan? Black peeps and journalists need to get out of their feelings and just simply weigh in on the facts versus what's fiction... That's what you are supposed to do as a journalist. Roland Martin or Uncle Ro Ro, is out here "bringing the funk" and is about his paper. He is an emotion promoter and provoker just like the wealthy journalists doing NOTHING FOR OUR PEOPLE on CNN. You too FOX NEWS!! Present your plans, policy ideas and not just the problems. Stop dancing for dem Democrats, and no, the Republicans don't have any reason to do much for these communities and the innocent young people who are suffering the most, either. Yes, you are a journalist. Interview people of substance doing remarkable things that ARE changing these communities, not just people asking for funds to "raise awareness" every year.
Back to the motivation for this post, children should not feel hopeless to the point of wanting to take their life because someone treats them less than or calls them some racial slur. There needs to be some type of course starting as early as preschool to get children comfortable with speaking out against bullies. Again, I don't have all the answers nor the power to change the trajectory of Black lives in America, but I do know that those who do have the power, so far, aren't doing enough with it. What's happening in those communities is a decades long national crisis that even Black people ignore or deflect when statistics are mentioned. Most people say change starts at home and in the mind. People say education is the key. Just up until recently I thought so too. But if the community and the mindsets and the environment and the home life that these children have to return to is in complete shambles or is unsafe and toxic, not even the best school can reach some of these kids. So, more mental health facilities for youth, mental health clinics in schools, safer communities, better police-to-resident relations, a more caring and serving police presence when children are heading home from schools in these violent areas, UBI for job desert communities, identifying children who may be lacking parental involvement, helping children speak up about abuse in their homes, identifying bullies as early as kindergarten and getting them counseling and education to help them discover the root cause and correct that behavior while there's still time... and so much more. Our people need more than religion. More than just prayer. It's okay to believe in that if you so choose. Black people are some of the most religious and praying people on the planet-- you would think we would be the most cared for and protected by an almighty being.
We are aware of our past and present, but until solutions are presented and implemented, what we have learned about the past and what we have been made aware of today DOES NOT MATTER.
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