“America Takes Notice…Black Youth Murdered”
It’s been all over the radio and the news everywhere. A young man by the name of Derrion Albert was beaten to death on the south side of Chicago last week and it was caught on tape and posted on the Internet.
When I first saw the video I was shocked and I experienced a range of emotions over the next few days. My first thoughts were the usual feelings of “man…that’s messed up.” I then subconsciously moved on.
You see…a young black man being murdered is not a new occurrence to me. Growing up in West Philly I was faced with this reality early on in life. I had just graduated from the 8th grade when one of my friends from elementary and middle school and his little brother who was a 7th grader were shot to death just a few blocks from our school. I’ll never forget my father taking me to see their mother to offer our condolences. As a 12 year old I had no clue of what to say to a mother who just lost two sons too soon. Over the years this would become a reoccurring theme. Somebody I knew or knew of was being murdered in the streets as teenagers.
The next day as I listened to the radio during my morning commute I noticed that everyone was talking about the incident. I began to wonder what made this case any different than the thousands of other murders of young black men that have taken place this year. I don’t mean to sound cold but when I left Philly for Georgia the city had just set a record with 406 murders in 2006 and that did not become national news. I questioned how all of the families of the murder victims gone unmentioned might feel. An afternoon radio show spent the entire show talking about the incident and the tragedy of what is going on in our inner city streets.
I was really surprised when I saw CNN showing a special covering the incident. CNN even sent reporter Don Lemon to Chicago to interview people close to the victim including his mother. The mayor of the city made an appearance on TV discussing the incident and his concern with the violence on Chicago’s streets. Wow, all of a sudden the mayor is concerned publicly about a young person being murdered. All that I could think to myself was, “Would all of this attention be being paid to this incident if the video was not being shown around the world during the same time that our president, Barack Obama, was overseas lobbying for Chicago to be the site of the 2016 Olympics?” I pointed out to my wife that it was strange that this incident was getting this type of coverage.
Finally, while driving one day I tried to rationalize to myself that murders like this happen all the time. But with that said the reality is that I finally admitted to myself that I was hurt. I take these things personal, always have. I think all that other stuff was just my attempt to delay the inevitable feelings of pain. I get upset when I hear people complain without offering up any solutions. Are there any solutions? Inner city black youth have been dying at a tragic rate for years. This is nothing new.
So…what is the solution? Since college I’ve felt a strong sense of responsibility to be apart of the solution. I just pray that someday I can live up to that calling and inspire others to the same, hopefully sooner than later.
As always, feel free to share your thoughts.
Kickin it on The Stoop,
Scott Speed
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