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War on a community

We are witnessing over and over how gun and knife killings are taking the lives of mostly our young black males. Fronted by a violent western culture, we are now reaping the benefits of a culmination of various factors stacked against a vulnerable community. From the psychological effects of war on African babies taking refuge in the UK to the constant violence we see on television and the violent 18 plus video games played by mostly under 18s. We have violent lyrics in rap, dancehall and rock songs which we could say is a picture of what is going on in society today. The problem starts when a disenfranchised race of people who just came out of slavery and colonisation who now wants to excel in this equal society and is still suffering the effects of the past, plus new tactics to keep a community asleep into thinking 'this is the way things are'.

Since the start of the year 13 teenagers have been killed in London, mostly by other teens in what the media popularly describes as 'gang warfare'. Almost all of these children are black, which makes you wonder, why is this? If you do not ask this rhetorical question, then I must say you need help. Those who don't care will say to themselves 'one less of them on the roads'. That's when one does not understand what is really going on. A minority of people in a country and they are the majority when it comes to the teen murder rate. This fact is disproportionately high and will tell you that something is terribly wrong within the make-up of this society.

News stories such as this should make African people think critically about living in western society and why they are waging war on themselves everywhere on earth. We blame it on; government conspiracies, effects of slavery, rap music, violent movies and video games, lack of knowledge of self amongst other factors. The answer may well be all the above. In my opinion I believe a war is been waged on the black/African community from all fronts. On topics like these I keep repeating myself which is really annoying, as when you see your people dying in front of your eyes, you begin to feel helpless and even our own African people believe it is a 'them problem? ?they are violent' or 'he was in a gang that?s why he got killed' until their own; son, brother, nephew, niece, daughter or next of kin gets murdered the very same way. They'll then cry about how they were a good boy who never did wrong. The point I am trying to make is that we should be in this together to try to quell this problem before it reaches your door step. I believe this is our problem and no outside community, government or force from the sky will come and save Africans from this dogma until we collectively recognise that it is our problem.

Another sad thing is, this is not just happening in London. Go to the USA, Brazil, Jamaica, some African countries and you will see the very same thing. One could try and justify this by saying 'Africans are like this' or better yet come to a sensible realization that Africans are systematically been murdered or lynched. Nothing stranger than what was happening during and after slavery.

African people really think that they are equal in society, yet they are not equal in being murder victims. Not equal in the success rates of passing their exams after school. When you know that there are more young black males in prison than in university, you begin to comprehend that we have one serious problem. Africans seem to be the outcasts in Western society. I remember last year the same thing was happening when black teenagers were getting killed at a fast rate, similar to this year. We saw on the news last year (2007) how mostly young black boys were been shot and knifed to death. This year the same thing is happening but at a higher rate and the victims are getting younger. Another startling fact is that last year, some of the people who were watching this on the news are now dead this year because of the same problem. So there wasn't hope for them? It was their time? Is that all we can say?

While rappers still talk about killing black men in their songs and dancehall artistes still chat about killing a boy (black boy/black man) in their lyrics then you will come to the realisation that this is a community or race gone insane or programmed. They get caught up in this violent culture imposed upon them and forget about their own selves. I say war is been waged on the black community because from every angle you look African people, they are been killed physically, mentally, even spiritually. For example trying to converse with an average African person about; the origins of African spirituality or the African God concept before any foreign involvement, or something about African history which is their history is like 'beating a dead dog'. On the other hand try and talk to them about a popular soap opera or the life of a famous singer or actress?

Is the current slaughter of African children modern day lynching? If you really think about it you will find out nothing has changed over the years. The methods are just a bit different. If everyone especially the parents realise this then they would take more time and better steps to raise their children and not leave it to; schools, television or video games. This is like feeding your child slow poison, after a while it will kill them. Whether they will get executed or get locked up or brainwashed like you. Mostly it is because a child is not raised the way they are meant to if the desired outcome is for them to grow up to be upstanding people to make their parents proud of them.

I believe if the parents of black children know from the start that they are not equal in society and treat them different such teach them their history and knowledge of their African self so they know how they end up in this society and how they can feel a part of it by loving and cherishing their own heritage, then things will change for the better. Maybe this is what they need as they currently feel alienated and know they are different so they rebel against themselves? Doesn't make sense does it? We as Africans need to put something in place for our children to be nurtured into role good role models and be how they were supposed to be, splendid. This is when I begin to think about black schools with a black curriculum at the centre of the national syllabus. Why? Because I think the popular system is failing black children terribly. From; the parents to the schools to the legislations. More police will not solve anything; more jail time will not stop black boys from participating in crime. This means more black boys dying whether by murder or giving them 'life' for murder or for partake in such evil acts. Not forgetting the topic of this piece I will mention that if parents do not get their African children prepared for this psycolological war being waged on them, then they will become casualties of this system whether being murder victims, criminals or convicts. If they are not strong enough mentally, to know who they are and understand their environment then they are likely to get caught up in this same trap. It seems we need to start curl the behaviours of the 2-3 year old African children as they get influenced at an early age.

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