ACTIONS OF PARENTS AND LEADERS, MORE THAN OUTRAGE, ARE KEY TO BREAKING CYCLE OF VIOLENCE
By Luther Keith
Executive Director, ARISE Detroit!
Here we go again.
After a rash of youth related killings, assaults and car-jackings, we have seen the usual hand-wringing and declarations of outrage on editorial pages, talk shows and from pundits of all kinds, including those of the barber shop and beauty salon variety.
But outrage alone-- while it does have some value and makes for great headlines and media dramatics -- is not enough.
We need a plan and we need to work like heck to make the plan work. We must have staying power, understand that there is no microwave, no magic bullet or quick-fix solution that can be prescribed by any politician, preacher, celebrity or even the president of the United States.
Looking for answers?
Look in the mirror. Look around you. Look on your block. Look in your community.
It is on us folks, all of us parents, all of us teachers, anyone who cares about our future and our community in Detroit and beyond, in Michigan and beyond.
First of all, it is not a youth problem; it is a parent problem, an adult problem. Children do not raise themselves.
Listen to Keith Bennett of Goodwill Industries of Detroit and the mastermind behind the Flip The Script male responsibility program that has redirected the lives of more than 1,000 young African American males, many of whom at one point walked on the wrong side of the law.
“I’ve been working with kids since I was coaching in 1971 and kids have not changed,” Bennett said. “What has changed is the things we tolerate as parents. We make excuses and have lowered the bar.
“Whenever I see kids out on the street behaving badly and acting improperly, that means somebody has not finished their business (of raising their children). We started the process by bringing them into the world but didn’t finish the process of raising them to maturation so they will know how to behave.
“If you do your work inside the home, you won’t have to worry about them on the street.”
Frank McGhee directs the Youth Initiatives Project, a youth leadership program for the Neighborhood Services Organization (NSO).
He wants to see the community as a whole become more actively engaged in efforts to direct young people in the right direction, showing outrage over crime and violence, but also moving beyond displays of rage.
“The community has got to stop saying it is not my problem (until I am personally affected),” McGhee said. “When they do that, young people will respond. These kids are only copying what they see adults do.”
McGhee views the violence as a deterrent to educational achievement.
"If you are struggling with violence, scared to go to school, you won’t be able to do well in school,” he said.
Of course, law enforcement has a huge role to play in this and McGhee wants to see a better job of curtailing the purchase of illegal weapons which too often ends up in the hands of young people.
Finally, he wants to see elected officials not just saying more, but doing more on the issue of crime and violence.
Of course, Bennett and McGhee are both right.
However, there is a laundry list of other contributing factors as well, including the societal glorification of violence in all forms of media, the failure to make all children understand the value of education, the fraying of the family unit and the proliferation of illegal drugs which continues to wreak a devastating toll on our community.
I submit, in keeping with the mission and spirit of ARISE Detroit!, we need to find a way to engage EVERYONE – churches, businesses, schools and individuals – with the idea that we all have a personal stake in creating good in our community.
It’s not about one organization, one campaign or one agenda.
During WW II, Detroit was known as the Arsenal of Democracy for turning out material for the war effort and all Detroiters, indeed all Americans, had a stake in doing something to achieve the common goal of victory for our nation.
We need no less a commitment now.
That means whatever skill, talent, concern, interest or belief you have, find a way to use it to contribute it to the righteous cause of community transformation.
There are some things you can do RIGHT NOW that can have a positive impact, in some cases immediately, on the lives of our young people and the health of our community.
Take a child to school, even if not your own. Take a child to church, even if not your own. Read to a child, even if not your own. Teach a child to read, even if not your own.
Become a mentor, become a tutor.
Become a Big Brother or a Big Sister. Join 100 Black Men. Join the Detroit Parent Network and learn what’s going on in the schools and how you can help.
Get involved with the Boy Scouts, the Girls Scouts.
Find out what your church is doing to promote positive youth development.
Go over to YouthVille Detroit and learn how you can help with any of their many worthwhile youth programs, including the Peace Project.
Connect with Communities in Schools of Detroit and get plugged in to volunteer at a school.
Contact the Detroit Public Library and become a literacy tutor.
Find out what your block club is doing for neighborhood youth. If you don’t have a block club, form one.
Call the United Way of Southeastern Michigan and look into volunteer opportunities. Call ARISE Detroit!, 313-921-1955, or go to our website, www.arisedetroit.org, and register for any of the more than 400 programs and thousands of volunteer opportunities.
If you can’t do any of that, just sit on your front porch and make sure the kids in your neighborhood are safe when they walk home from school.
Those are just a few of my ideas. Let me hear some of yours, and more importantly, let me hear what you are DOING.
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Contact Luther Keith at lkeith@arisedetroit.org
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