The first time I had to run for my life, I was 13 and new to the city. Young and naïve in Lexington, KY, I was hanging with new found friends watching boys play basketball at Castlewood Park when I heard… pop, pop, and a scream: “Someone is shooting!”
I took off running toward the other side of the park, and terrified and scared, I reunited with my friends.
At the age of fifteen and sixteen I started going to house parties and eventually nightclubs and more shootings followed me there. I would be on the dance floor, swaying my hips from side to side and then out of nowhere… crack, pop, pop… pow! And people would be ducking and dodging and running for the door.
In college I truly expected to escape the violent episodes, but within my first semester of my freshman year at the University of Louisville (I later transferred to UK), I once again found myself dropping and then running for my life after a good time on the dance floor.
This past weekend I followed Breaking News on Twitter of an off campus shooting near Youngstown State University. One person was killed and eleven others injured at a Black fraternity house party. Police have two suspects in custody. Before the shooting, police say the suspects were thrown out of the party.
Violent behavior plagues the Black community. I hate to generalize and stereotype but looking at the numbers, more Black men have been dying at Black hands than any other racial category. According to research by Northeastern University, the number of homicides involving Black male youth as perpetrators increased 43 percent between 2002 and 2007 and as victims by 31 percent and those killed by guns, the numbers increased by 54 percent.
I speculate that these numbers have been going up since the 80’s. But why? I am not a psychologist, or an educator by any means, but I do believe continued exposure to violence in the homes, on the streets, and school yards along with the desperation that comes with poverty have contributed to feelings of hopelessness and helplessness and anxiety which have led to a deadly form of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). It has been passed down and undiagnosed from probably as far back as the 60’s and 70’s with the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements.
Today’s youth are dealing with psychological issues that have been passed down from generation to generation and the Black community continues to see the impact of this in the form of deadly shootings and other violent crimes.
For the past four decades, the Black community has dealt with the weight of freedom marches, violent and non-violent protests, boycotts, sit-ins, assassinations, water cannons, and lack of economic opportunity, inadequate education, an 80’s rise in drugs and crack babies.
Issues unresolved for generations have created stimuli that nearly collapsed the Black community and which continue in the year 2011 to impregnate our young men with destruction and lack of self control. The illness that results from this, PTSD continues to go undiagnosed.
According to Wikipedia,
When we see our young men acting out in violent behavior, I would say they have a problem with coping. So what can be done? What do we need to do to curb Black on Black violence in the African-American community? I have a three point solution…
1. Diagnose: We need to find a way to get to our children early to get them the help that they need. Preferably with in-house counselors and psychologists in middle schools.
2. Confront and Discuss: If we have mandatory classes which recognizes the signs of PTSD, then our kids will know that there is a reason for the way that they feel and behave.
3. Enable and Engage: Once our kids are aware of what plagues them, then we can hold workshops in schools on how to deal with uncomfortable situations, anger management, as well as the fear and anxiety that comes with everyday living or for extreme cases introduce them to psychotherapeutic interventions and Behavioral and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Regardless if my three point solution is worth a look or not, I do think we have to start somewhere, and first diagnosing this problem, would be a huge advance for the African-American community. Afterwards, we can find a way to work through this destructive disorder and lower the risk for PTSD as well as for being at a party and dodging bullets.
I took off running toward the other side of the park, and terrified and scared, I reunited with my friends.
At the age of fifteen and sixteen I started going to house parties and eventually nightclubs and more shootings followed me there. I would be on the dance floor, swaying my hips from side to side and then out of nowhere… crack, pop, pop… pow! And people would be ducking and dodging and running for the door.
In college I truly expected to escape the violent episodes, but within my first semester of my freshman year at the University of Louisville (I later transferred to UK), I once again found myself dropping and then running for my life after a good time on the dance floor.
This past weekend I followed Breaking News on Twitter of an off campus shooting near Youngstown State University. One person was killed and eleven others injured at a Black fraternity house party. Police have two suspects in custody. Before the shooting, police say the suspects were thrown out of the party.
Violent behavior plagues the Black community. I hate to generalize and stereotype but looking at the numbers, more Black men have been dying at Black hands than any other racial category. According to research by Northeastern University, the number of homicides involving Black male youth as perpetrators increased 43 percent between 2002 and 2007 and as victims by 31 percent and those killed by guns, the numbers increased by 54 percent.
I speculate that these numbers have been going up since the 80’s. But why? I am not a psychologist, or an educator by any means, but I do believe continued exposure to violence in the homes, on the streets, and school yards along with the desperation that comes with poverty have contributed to feelings of hopelessness and helplessness and anxiety which have led to a deadly form of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). It has been passed down and undiagnosed from probably as far back as the 60’s and 70’s with the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements.
Today’s youth are dealing with psychological issues that have been passed down from generation to generation and the Black community continues to see the impact of this in the form of deadly shootings and other violent crimes.
For the past four decades, the Black community has dealt with the weight of freedom marches, violent and non-violent protests, boycotts, sit-ins, assassinations, water cannons, and lack of economic opportunity, inadequate education, an 80’s rise in drugs and crack babies.
Issues unresolved for generations have created stimuli that nearly collapsed the Black community and which continue in the year 2011 to impregnate our young men with destruction and lack of self control. The illness that results from this, PTSD continues to go undiagnosed.
According to Wikipedia,
PTSD is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else or to one’s own physical, sexual, or psychological integrity, overwhelming the individual’s ability to cope.
When we see our young men acting out in violent behavior, I would say they have a problem with coping. So what can be done? What do we need to do to curb Black on Black violence in the African-American community? I have a three point solution…
1. Diagnose: We need to find a way to get to our children early to get them the help that they need. Preferably with in-house counselors and psychologists in middle schools.
2. Confront and Discuss: If we have mandatory classes which recognizes the signs of PTSD, then our kids will know that there is a reason for the way that they feel and behave.
3. Enable and Engage: Once our kids are aware of what plagues them, then we can hold workshops in schools on how to deal with uncomfortable situations, anger management, as well as the fear and anxiety that comes with everyday living or for extreme cases introduce them to psychotherapeutic interventions and Behavioral and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Regardless if my three point solution is worth a look or not, I do think we have to start somewhere, and first diagnosing this problem, would be a huge advance for the African-American community. Afterwards, we can find a way to work through this destructive disorder and lower the risk for PTSD as well as for being at a party and dodging bullets.
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