If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Last month I visited Furr High School in Houston and met Dr. Bertie Simmons, the woman almost single-handedly responsible for Furr's dramatic turnaround.
Imagine growing up in a system where, generation after generation, the zip code you live in means you are going to have to fight the moment you walk out the front door.
What if we look at the life of gang members through the experience of child soldiers in Africa? Is the experience of children manipulated and dragged into war all that different from the one of teenagers recruited by gangs in our own cities?
There are three types of people involved in a violent situation: the perpetrator, the victim and the bystander. Our society is largely made up of bystanders -- people who observe violent behavior, but do little or nothing to stop it.
Originally published on Youthradio.org, the premier source for youth generated news throughout the globe. By Robyn Gee and Denise Tejada OAKLAND-...
Homicides in Chicago and Los Angeles are at their lowest levels since the 1960s. In both cities, new strategies in violence prevention are being employed. Other cities are now following suit.
Shootings and killings plague too many of our nation's neighborhoods. But the good news is that CeaseFire is moving to cities across the nation.
At what tick on the clock did the sentiment change, did fear and horror turn to acquiescence? When did the expected human response flip to the aberrant one?
People on the streets of LA are winning forever. It is the most inspiring thing I have ever seen -- to see people so far down lift themselves up, to become leaders in their communities.
In a community often painted with violence, hatred, misunderstanding and fear, a beacon of light shines for the gang-infested youth of South Central L.A. His name is Father Gregory Boyle.
The 2010 Crime Stats are in, and for the 8th straight year, crime in Los Angeles is down.
In order to fix the schools, the Bloombergs and Blacks need to fix the kids. But this would require a tectonic shift in philosophy, from penal to uplifting, from frenetic to calm, from dictate to reality.
In spite of the 9000 miles that lie between them -- both culturally and racially -- after listening to them discuss their passions for their work with troubled horses and at-risk youth, you might think Joe Guy and Ron Johnson were related.
No child should feel unsafe on their walk to school. If we are to turn around struggling schools, we owe this issue a bit of attention. Our children's lives and futures depend on it.
CeaseFire recently organized a Peace Summit. You could sense the tension in the air: the crowd was composed of more than 300 young men and women from some of Chicago's meanest streets.
Urban violence is, again, being viewed by the public, the media, and by far too many of our leaders as sad but inevitable realities of life in certain urban neighborhoods. Actually though, it doesn't have to be inevitable at all.
