I’m trying not talk about this depressing news about crime and violence but I can’t help it. I’m running out of ways to keep saying the same thing over and over but the issue deserves someone keeping the spotlight on it. Tuesday there was a 2 year old boy that was killed from his grandmother’s abuse. I was going to link to the story but I don’t feel like pulling it up and looking at the comments. It was difficult to read that story because grandmothers are usually the anchor of our families. You usually get more affection from them than anybody else. That's who you run to for goodies when your mama say you can't have any. Your grandmother is not supposed to be a danger to you. She beat this little boy until he died and that’s tragic but it got me wondering how many little kids get treated like this and don’t die. How many more Titus Gooseberry’s are there that are suffering but will survive and take the path of violent behavior. Titus had a three year old brother that’s still living and I am sure he’s had his share of abuse as well. Who’s going to save him from learning not to care about anything?
How many kids are hard and callous by the time they are ten years old because their innocence is gone? It’s hard to educate that kid or teach him right from wrong when he gets to school because he already hates the world. What difference does it make to him if he shoots a few people? The community didn’t come and save him so why should he be worried about our concerns? Besides, the only place he’s ever found acceptance and what seems like love is from a bunch of cats he hangs with who revere him for his fearlessness. Everyone wants to be loved and accepted even if they don’t know it.
A few years back I gave a good friend of mine a ride to pick up his brother. His brother had a young son at a time. He had to be somewhere between 2 and 4 years old. The baby started crying because his daddy was leaving like kids are prone to do. He starts shaking the kid telling him to be a man and not to cry. I let him know that the baby was crying for him because that’s what babies do and that if he did while I was standing there again I was going to bring him outside and kick his ass. He apologized to me and got in the car but I know that wasn’t the first time or the last he did that to his son. It’s 2011 and I am pretty sure that kid is close to being a teenager now. Maybe his mama was able to give him the affection he needed not to be a victim of the streets. I hope so but it wouldn’t surprise me if I seen him on the news for doing something crazy. If he’s out there doing wrong we are going to lock him up like an animal. The bad part is we can’t lock his daddy up too so we can send a message that raising our kids the wrong way won’t be tolerated.
Rest in peace to Titus Gooseberry. I wish I could have given him one of my grandmothers.
4 comments:
Sometimes I just want to stick my head in the sand and pretend stuff like this doesn't happen.
I've been thinking a lot about Titus Gooseberry the past two days. A grandma disciplining a two-year-old by heating up a fork and then burning his arm?
The only thing I could think of is she figured he was a boy and could handle it or it would make him tough. Of course I am guessing. She not have had a reason at all.
There are many programs that work with kids who are like Titus. My own grandmother abused me physically and verbally—regularly saying things like she wanted to drowned me and that I was evil and wouldn’t ever have any friends. She died when I was 8. My immediate family wasn’t much better—child protective services finally got involved when I was 9. Unfortunately, they didn’t stay involved. Fortunately, tho’, I had mentors outside my biological family. Be part of the solution. Get involved. Mentors DO make a difference.
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