Friday, July 11, 2008

Jackson Apology

There is a generation of black men lost to violence, crime, drugs, alcohol, lack of education and jobs. We are in the middle of a crisis. The response: Jackson and the usual suspects complaining about Obama's Father's Day message.

I just want to scream. The house is burning and far too many people are chatting about how to put it out instead addressing how it started in the first place.

Mothers and girlfriends spend far too much time visiting their sons and lovers in the prison system and at gravesites.

Navigating in a white world is a challenge but retreating, making excuses and criticizing the men who took care of their babies is just silly.

The change must begin within the community. Distributing resources to the schools, churches and community centers is critical. What is critical, is the folks in need actually benefit. Educating the masses is important. Teenagers have no clue what to do with a child, hell there are adults who don't know what to do. A baby coming out of that environment is set up to fail.

Sex education is crucial. These girls should be taught to value their bodies. Boys should be taught to respect these girls as humans, not booty calls.

Cities don't have an exclusive on this human drama, the rural areas are facing the same challenges.

Ignoring very real issues does not make them go away. Even Al Sharpton gets this one.

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