A Reality Check On The Impact of Violence

Yesterday there were four people murdered in the city. That's a very violent day. Living in the city is strange in a way because with all the stories of violence in the news you really don't see it unless you are involved in it or get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. If you go to work or school, mind your business and surround yourself with like minded people you can live through everyday without experiencing any of the drama first hand. I know there are people who think everyone in black neighborhoods drive pass guys shooting at one another all the time and don't react because it doesn't bother us and we like it. That's not true. Most of us have no idea what is going on in the streets. We find out about things just like everyone else. It's a strange situation because we still live close enough to know family and friends close enough to the activity to care but we are not personally close enough anymore to feel a part of it. After awhile you start believing it and say things like “I wish these people over there would get their act together”. That’s what happens when you try to brainwash yourself. Every now and then something pulls you back into reality and makes it personal.

Things are going okay for me. There are some general issues that piss me off and I am still a bitter storm victim but right now from a day to day standpoint things are cool. I have mentioned this before but one of the ways I keep myself upbeat is I don't follow the news as closely as I used to. That makes it hard to be a good blogger but the negativity of the news becomes unbearable sometimes. I read the headlines and get an understanding of what's happening but I don't dig too deep. Sometimes I go a day or two without looking at all. Last night I was playing around on the Internet when I finally checked the news and saw the stories of all the killings. There was a double murder in the Iberville Housing Development that caught my eye because of the location and ages of the victims (There won't be anymore links to news sites on this blog until someone figures out how to clean up the comments section. I am not promoting any websites that condone people disrespecting my race.) I was reading the story and I thought to myself I haven't heard from my people all day. I have a godson and his mom living in the same building where this crime occurred. Normally during the day I can expect at least a few text messages from her even if she's just forwarding some horrible joke someone sent to her. I realized that not only hadn't I heard from her Tuesday but I didn't hear from her on Monday either. So now instead of lying down to watch Family Guy I am up on the cell phone checking on people. There goes that false comfort zone out of the window.

She and the boys were fine. She did know the guy who was killed along with the young lady. Plus, there was another double shooting a few blocks away and one of those guys was her cousin. At least he's going to live. That would have made the fact that I didn't check on them until midnight suck even more. The question I have is why do I feel the need to apologize to her like I am the one firing bullets through the project all the time? Claiming ownership for actions you are not involved in is difficult to do. I guess that’s why so many of us don’t get involved and talk about every other issue but this one. See, I wasn’t thinking about stuff like this yesterday morning.