MY baby, YOUR baby...they're all OUR babies.

So yesterday as I reflected on Dr. King's Dream, I made several points about what it will take for that dream to become reality. As I read through the news headlines earlier today two of those points smacked me right in the face:

When mothers and fathers stop burying their young sons who were shot and KILLED by someone who looked liked their son...that's when the dream becomes reality.

When mothers and fathers stop burying their young sons who were shot and KILLED period...that's when the dream becomes reality.

I'm sure that those who read yesterday's post probably thought I was going off on some kind of rant. Well, maybe I was. And justifiably so. As long as headlines like this one are in the news, my rants will be 100% justified:

"Oakland mother grieves after two sons gunned down 19 days apart"

19 DAYS APART!!! Yes. This mother lost her 13 year old son on New Year's Eve, and her 19 year old son this past Sunday. Both of her babies are gone...dead...MURDERED. And for what???

It just breaks my heart. Every time I hear of someone who loses a child to gun violence (and I hear it far too often), I have the exact same thought each time. I didn't have MY baby so that YOUR baby could KILL my baby. This is my thought EVERY SINGLE TIME.

No. None of the slain have been my child. THANK GOD! Yet, somehow, I feel connected to each one who's lost. They may not be MY baby, but they were SOMEBODY'S baby. And that's enough for me to be concerned.

So what's it gonna take for the killing to stop?

Community involvement - Yes
Getting the ILLEGAL guns off the streets - Yes
Getting the churches involved - Yes
Parental involvement (as in...knowing what ones children are doing...when and where) - Yes
Getting law enforcement involved at a proactive level instead of reactive - Yes
Programs at the elementary school level that raise awareness about gun violence and how to avoid being caught up in it - Yes

Those are just a few of my bright ideas.

What we DON'T need is for folks to point fingers and place blame on the parents who have lost their children. After every news story I read, I always read the comments. And the comments 99% of the time are filled with hate and negativity. In this particular case, everyone's blaming the mother because her sons had different last names which apparently lessened her value as a mother. Well EXCUSE ME, but my last name differs from that of MY brothers and my mother is no less of a mother because of it. So those folks and their assumptions can SHOVE IT!

How 'bout a little compassion for this woman! She just lost her only two children...within 19 days of each other. I say that a bit of compassion is the least we can offer.

Am I angry! You bet I am. I've had enough of mothers and fathers burying their children due to senseless violence. I've been to too many funerals of young people who never made it to 21. Enough is enough! The killing has GOT to stop. It has to.

So, with tear-filled eyes, let the DIALOGUE begin: What do YOU think it'll take in order for these senseless killings of our youth to stop?

Talk to me!

Til next time...