The Cause and Effect of Black Youth Violence

With all due respect, I think we owe you an apology. It is time now to take responsibility for our behavior. It is now time to atone for our failure and role in your unfortunate demise. We have failed you in a miserable and catastrophic way. We have not prepared or trained you in the way a generation should go. We have misled you in the music that permeates your ears. We have failed to carry the torch that our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents carried from generation to generation. We have not given you more doctors, lawyers, politicians, community leaders, and most of all spiritual leaders as role models. We have failed to fill the education system with our presence. We have deceived you with the way children, women, and parents should be treated. So let me say it first: I am sorry; we are sorry.

Yes, we all owe our youth an apology. “Who are our youth now? Who will they be tomorrow if we cultivate them properly? Young minds are impressionable; the transformation lies in the hands of those who shape and mold them properly. As adults, we shape and develop our homes, our churches, and our society. We become the shapers of these things. As such, we must shape up!”(The cause and effect of a violent society, MLF)

We have not provided you the same paths that our parents provided to us. Somewhere along the way, the ball has been dropped and the light has been put asunder. Proverbs 22: 6 states: “Train a child in the way that they should go, and when they are old, they will not depart from it.” The operative word is train; a transitive verb that means “to teach.” In order to teach effectively, one has to be equipped with the necessary tools that will help them perform their duty to the highest level. Train in the noun form is an extension of a unit pulling and carrying other units to reach a particular destination. Harriet Tubman was the greatest example of building a human train for the extension, freedom, and liberation of that generation and for generations to come. During the Civil Rights Movement, the train was tested and almost derailed. However, the strength of our ancestors would not let them stop training their children and grandchildren about our struggle and our plight to have successful relationships, children, and endeavors.

How and why did we drop the ball? Where did we go wrong? To begin, we must explain our warped mindset and the flawed decision-making process that lead us to fail so horribly. . You see, we thought it was cool to be materialistic. We thought that when crack cocaine entered our communities, we would benefit from it by any means necessary. We failed to recognize the cause and effect in our decision-making. While crack cocaine caused us to benefit materially, the effect would eventually destroy us like a terminal illness. We became illegitimate pharmaceutical sales reps. We then became investors. We invested in guns to help protect and evolve our illegal businesses. During that time, we created addicts; some of them were our very own parent(s). As a result of their addiction, we lost respect and stopped listening to the ones that came before us. We stopped listening to music that elevated our minds with wisdom, truth, and knowledge. We wanted to be thugs and hustlers. Unfortunately, Younger Generation, we are very much responsible for creating your Generation X.

So now you are lost and at war with yourselves. You have no love from or for your brother or sister whom you see everyday. The scripture tells us that in the last days children will rise up against their parents (Mark 13: 12). We are living proof of prophecy fulfilled because our children are doing just that. While I don’t condone it, my understanding of it is clear.

Our children were birthed into a cold world, but they have high expectations. They are dissatisfied with the lack of love and productivity that we have made as a people or society. Our children are smarter and more scientific than preceding generations. What we identify as the norm, is not the same norm for them. In fact, today’s generation of children is redefining the norm. They have entered into this world with a different type of destiny. The Bible speaks of a generation that would create war with one another. We are living in that generation and in those times. It is our responsibility to provide them with spiritual guidance and leadership, lest we fall prey to their lack of understanding of self and their futures. We all have a testimony that can be shared. We can use our past experiences to guide, warn, and prepare our youth so that they may learn from the mistakes of those that came before them. Only then can we begin to rebuild and recreate positive images of our children and generations of children to come.

We can win them back if we take responsibility for their demise and destruction. We have got to repair, polish, paint, and refuel the train. We have to close this generational gap of self-love and love for one another. This is why I am thankful for President Obama. He is the beginning of something new; an inspiration for the current and future generations. For our children, our president is representative of endless possibilities and dreams beyond measure.

Let us be signs for our children. A sign is something that is not the real thing but points to that which is real. You do not have to be the real thing, If you can not directly impact, influence, empower, work with, and/or mentor, point them in the right direction of someone who can. Help them find resources in our communities such as spiritual organizations, schools, sports and recreation facilities, community centers, businesses, commerce centers, etc. Help them identify the tools in which the can be productive contributors of society. We must be mindful that they will be the decision makers when we become old.

So, again, I say to our youth, we are sorry. We must do better on your behalf. The first step is admitting we have a problem. We must then take responsibility for our failures in this matter and make a pledge. We will pledge……. (More on the cause and effect of a violent society and the pledge we should make…to be continued….)
Peace…