'Nobody kill anybody': Baltimore activist hopes for homicide-free weekend

Baltimore activist Erricka Bridgeford's message is simple: Nobody kill anybody for 72 hours.

That's a lot to ask for in a city on pace to record its highest annual homicide toll, a place still reeling from the racially-charged riots that followed the 2015 death of Freddie Gray at the hands of police.

So Bridgeford and other community leaders have been hitting the streets of West Baltimore, urging drug dealers and gang members to put their guns down from Friday through Sunday.

"This is about a culture shift," she said. "It's about helping people realize they have a choice in their decision-making. Not just about committing violence but about feeling hopeless that there's nothing we can do about the level of violence in our communities."

With 208 homicides so far this year -- compared with 318 for all of 2016, according to a tally by The Baltimore Sun -- and police-community relations stretched thin, some residents doubt the ceasefire will be successful. Others see it as a way to start taking back control of crime-plagued neighborhoods.

Read more: 'Nobody kill anybody': Baltimore hopes for homicide-free weekend

Stopping the violence in black communities starts at home

By George L. Cook III EMAIL

Every Memorial Day Weekend we all read or watch the stories on Facebook or other media about the number of people shot over the weekend in Chicago. Every year I hope that it's an old story from the previous year, which of course it is not. So far this Memorial day weekend at the time of this posting 49 people have been shot and 4 killed in Chicago.

There will be the usual cries that Rahm Emanuel is not doing enough and that the current police superintendent, Eddie Johnson is not doing enough. Those statements will be followed by the usual calls for better schools and tougher gun laws. Some will blame institutional racism or white supremacy, but no white supremacist shot anyone in Chicago this weekend.

That's all well in good and is most likely those things are true, but that doesn't negate the fact that we the black community must take some of the blame here too.

This is not about agreeing with Bill O'Rielly, Sean Hannity, and those of their ilk, f*ck them! This is about saving our young people dying on the streets including innocent young children riding their bikes or jumping rope. This is about us taking care of us.

Now I know that there are several organizations and churches out there working to stop the violence in black neighborhoods who get little to no press. I know some somehow think that President Obama can somehow do more to keep teenagers and young men children that live in OUR communities from killing each other.

But the fact is church leaders, organizational leaders, and President Obama are not in our homes teaching OUR/YOUR values and right from wrong. That's the parents job. If for some reason the parent can't or won't teach their children to value life then it falls on extended family and the community.

Our children must be taught from an early age that all life including theirs and those that look like them is valuable and not to be taken on a whim. The simple fact of the matter is that when people know better they do better. If a child does not learn that it's not the child's fault but ours.

Yes, we need more programs offering our young men and women more choices of things to do when not in school to keep them off the streets, but the onus is on us to not only demand but to implement those programs. Waiting on the government to fix this problem is like waiting on your cousin who owes you money to pay you back, it isn't happening. We have to not only march and holding prayer vigils but get to work actually doing something in our communities. As individuals, we can volunteer to coach or start a basketball team/league, start scouting troops in your community, mentoring programs, or after-school enrichment programs. I'm sure many of you can think of many more things that we as individuals can do.

We have to do better in keeping OUR children alive. Yes, we must call out government for their part in this, but we must also do our part.

George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.Com

Hey conservatives, black people can deal with more than one issue at a time.

George L. Cook III

Hey conservatives, black people can deal with more than one issue at a time. By George L. Cook III

This post is written about conservatives regardless of race. I have read post by African American conservatives and heard them on radio doing some of the very things mentioned is this post, so don't try to make this a race issue. It's an ideological one.

During the recent debate over whether the Confederate Flag should fly near the South Carolina capital or anywhere on government property conservatives turned to their tried and true method of debate.

They brought up other issues that yes are more important, but that had nothing to with the debate over the Confederate Flag.

Suddenly when confronted with the fact that there was no good reason to fly the flag on government grounds conservatives started to point out black unemployment, black dropout rates and black murder statistics as red herrings.

The one thing you will notice is that these are things that conservatives don’t talk or pretend to care about these issues until there is an incident involving race.

They don’t bring these things up because they care, they bring them up to divert focus from the situation at hand. If they cared, these issues would be part of their platform on a consistent basis.

But what really bugs me is that they seem to think that focusing on one issue somehow means that African Americans can’t focus on other issues in our community.

If they did some actual research, they would learn that there are groups and individuals fighting against many of the ills that face the Black Community. Many of these groups and people get no publicity from liberal or conservative media, but they continue to fight every day to make things better in their communities.

Many issues of employment, education, incarceration, voting rights, and crime are important and being focused on individually. Of course, someone or a group focusing on one of these issues alone doesn’t help with the other issues. Of course, these issues may be more important than a damned flag but maybe that flag was the low-hanging fruit at the moment.

Maybe taking down that flag and claiming a victory can be the momentum changer to drawing attention to other issues and those that are addressing them.

But best believe these issues are being addressed and were being addressed long before conservatives pretended to give a damn. If you want to make the argument that in some situations things could be done better that would be honest but saying that these issues are not is simply being dishonest and telling an outright lie.

George L. Cook III georgelcookiii@gmail.com

Billboard puts spin on Black Lives Matter

Civil rights activist Fred Davis has posted a billboard in Tennessee which reads “Black lives matter. So let's quit killing each other.” Check out this report focusing on Fred Davis and the billboard below.

MSNewsNow.com - Jackson, MS

Should Spike Lee title his next movie about the violence in Chicago "Chiraq"

Director Spike Lee is making a new film for Amazon studios which has already become the focus for controversy for it's working title, "Chiraq". The movie will focus on the Chicago community of Englewood and the "black on black violence that occurs there. Some in Chicago including Mayor Emanuel are not happy about the title. Some believe that it negatively portrays the city and in some way endorses the violence while others believe that it describes the state of violence in the city right now. What do you think about the title? Should Spike Lee keep it or drop it out of respect for those in Chicago against the use of that title and that have to live with the violence everyday?

Go tell it on the streets: Black lives also have to matter to blacks

My wife and I had the privilege of attending a prayer service in Roselle, Dec. 29, for black men gunned down by police. There were many clergy and some elected officials from Roselle, Elizabeth, Hillside and Plainfield at the service, which was put together by the Rev. David Ford at the St. Matthew Baptist Church. I heard many great speakers discuss issues of special interest to the African-American community.

Because it was an open and honest dialogue, black-on-black crime was mentioned and our responsibility to address and deal with it were discussed.

Roselle Mayor Jamel Holley gave a great speech about the need for parents to step up, instill values in their children and value education. Myrtle Counts, president of the Roselle NAACP, gave an impassioned speech that, yes, black lives matter, but they must also be of value to us as African Americans.

The Rev. Ford mentioned not wanting to live in a world without police, but wanting to have a good and respectful police corps. I heard Councilwoman Rev. Tracey Brown of Plainfield lament the fact that she had made more than 100 eulogies in 2014, and most of those were for young people.

As I looked around, I saw the nodding heads and heard the “Amen”’s and shouts of “Yes!” But I also noticed something else: As great as the speakers were, the message they were delivering didn't need to be given to the 50 or so people in the church. They were preaching to the choir.

What good is a great and possibly life-saving message if the people who need to hear it don't hear it?

We as elected officials, clergy and community leaders need to take the message that “Yes, black lives matter, but they have to matter to us African Americans, too,” from the churches and meeting halls to the streets. Delivering that message won't be easy, but nothing worth doing ever is. I don't pretend to have all the answers on how to do that, but if we all work together, I'm sure we’ll find a way.

It's imperative that we get out there and deliver that message. As an elected official, I'm ready to do my part and hope that others will do the same. Our children's lives depend on it.

George L. Cook III, Hillside Board of Education. Email georgelcookiii@gmail.com

The opinions expressed here are mine and do not reflect the opinions of the entire Hillside NJ Board of Education.

Op-ed published by The Times of Trenton: http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/01/opinion_go_tell_it_on_the_streets_black_lives_also_have_to_matter_to_blacks.html#incart_river

The South Florida Times: http://www.sfltimes.com/opinion/that-black-on-black-crime-sermon-deliver-it

Frost Illustrated: http://www.frostillustrated.com/2015/take-message-black-black-crime-streets/

What's being done to stop the "white on white" crime (murder) epidemic?

In light of events in Ferguson many conservatives/republicans suddenly care about black on black crime. In order to divert attention away from the real issue, we are now constantly being told how many blacks kill blacks. Now, of course, if they really cared they would help do something about gun control, especially when it comes to straw buyers and how many guns one person can buy a month. But I digress.

I find it hypocritical that many on the right are critical of black on black crime when they have ignored the scourge of "white on white" crime. Just today with almost no effort I found the following recent cases of white people murdering other white people.

Jamestown Woman Arrested, Charged With Killing Boyfriend's Father

How a son plotted the murder of his millionaire father

http://www.ifiberone.com/news/bennett-pleads-not-guilty-to-the-murder-of-ephrata-s/article_01591b3e-7a6e-11e4-8355-47b09cc45aee.html

In addition to those cases in cases in which there was a single victim and a single offender 2,509 out 3,005 of whites murdered were murdered by other whites in 2013 (SOURCE: FBI)

At this rate immigration won't be the reason whites become a minority by 2043, it will because of "white on white crime. The question I have is where is the outrage? Why are the good white people not doing anything to demand that this "white on white crime" be stopped. Where are the white fathers and why aren't they putting a stop to this crime epidemic affecting the white community? Where are white leaders and why aren't they speaking out and leading protest marches to let the world know of the tragedy that is "white on white crime"?

What has led to a decline in white culture to get us to this point? Is it the decline of the white family, the decline in church-going, the disgusting, filthy music put out by Meghan Trainor, Taylor Swift, and Ariana Grande? Is it video games such as Grand Theft Auto or Call of Duty?Is it the prevalence of wannabe gangsta culture?

WHAT IS WRONG WITH WHITE AMERICA!

Now of course most of what you just read is just ridiculous bullsh*t but think about it, it is still bush*t when you take out "white on white" and replace it with "black on black". Now let's get a grip people and stay focused on the real issue, and that's the type of policing practiced in minority areas.

George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports georgelcookiii@gmail.com

Wow, conservatives suddenly care about black on black crime.

Although the shooting of Michael Brown is recent we have seen and heard this script before. Whenever there is an issue of race and the killing of a young black man by police we hear of the rights sudden "concern" on the issue of black on black crime. One issue has nothing to do with the other. The conservative talking heads and pundits bring up this red herring to avoid talking about the topic at hand. On a side note why don't we ever hear the term white on white crime? But back to the topic at hand.

To avoid talking about race conservatives throw out stories about the killings in Chicago and other urban areas. They also suddenly care about the lack of black fathers in the home. They question what those protesting or talking about the killing of a black man by a cop is doing to stop black on black crime in cities or states miles away. They bring this up knowing it has nothing to do with the murders of Michael Brown, Sean Bell, Oscar Grant, Ezell Ford, John Crawford, etc.

What gets me is no one ever turns to them and ask, "What are you doing to stop black on black crime?"

Conservatives are always allowed to bring up what they believe are issues in the black community and then allowed to dump them in someone else's lap. No one ever calls them out and questions them about their sudden concern for the black community. It's about time that they be called out for the hypocrites they are.

If they cared about the black community you would hear more from them when there's not a crisis. We would hear about the groups and people they have working in the black community to make things better. We don't hear that because there is not much to talk about when it comes to what conservatives do in the black community unless you count criticizing it.

So my question to the right is why don't you care about our issues on a regular basis just not when you are trying to avoid a conversation on race?

George Cook AfricanAmericanReports.com. Email me