For the past several weeks, the Nation has again been captivated by the senseless murder of another African-American teen. Once again, a child has been gun downed pointlessly and his parents are left struggling to put their lives back together without a key piece to their puzzle.
More Of The Same
The murder of Jordan Davis provides the media and political pundits/social activist another occasion to do what they always do during unfortunate times like these – fill-up airtime and promulgate societal standards and self-serving reforms. All the while major print, radio and television media will dialogue incessantly about things such as the state of Florida, U.S. gun laws and racial relations/tensions in America. Many political leaders and community activists alike will attempt to further divide and conquer an already fragile American public by turning the focus on Jordan Davis’ death exclusively on African-American men, loud music and self-defense.
While there is some relevance to the issues that are raised by the media and political pundits, none address what the family longs for – the return to life of their slain child. A parental wish that the day their child was murdered could be reversed and all the events leading to their child’s death could be erased.
No Justice No Peace (Of Mind)
As a parent, I would unquestionably want justice if my child was killed. Yet, I realize that true justice would never be found no matter how timely the law was changed, how long the perpetrator’s prison sentence or how expedient the perpetrator’s execution. For this reason, I would like to advocate that those of us who still have children among the living consider a couple of things that might give families like those of Kendrick Johnson, Trayvon Martin or Jordan Davis a small piece of mind.
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The Fragility of Life
Nothing is more simultaneously fragile and uncertain than life. Nothing is less appreciated and so often taken for granted than today. Parents could honor those like the Johnson, Martin, and Davis families if we acknowledged and appreciated the fragility of life. It’s time that parents really begin to live out the true meaning of “tomorrow’s not promised” and “there is no time like the present”. Let us commit today to give our children the best of ourselves each and every day – for tomorrow is really not promised and there truly is no time like the present. Not only are there three highly publicized incidents of African-American teens leaving this earth to soon but each day in America hundreds of parents are forced to manage living without a child. According to the Children’s Defense Fund:
- 4 children are killed by abuse or neglect.
- 5 children or teens commit suicide.
- 7 children or teens are killed by guns.
- 24 children or teens die from accidents.
- 66 babies die before their first birthdays.
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Time For Martyrs
On February 19, 1965, two days before his assassination, Malcom X was quoted “It is a time for martyrs now, and if I am to be one, it will be for the cause of brotherhood. That’s the only thing that can save this country.” Brother Malcolm understood what many of us still do not understand. The greatest value he or any of us could give this country is genuine friendship – an alliance for the betterment of society that would endure beyond death. Those of us who have prospered subsequent to the sacrifices of Brother Malcolm owe him a great debt of gratitude. As such, at a minimum we should know our history and each day we should strive to improve our community. Those of us who are still able to hug our children owe Kendrick, Trayvon and Jordan. We owe them the decency to love our own children with all our heart, mind and soul. We owe those three young men and the children who die each day the courtesy of treating everyone as a friend before we so easily dismiss them – because of outside appearance – as an adversary or threat to our person.
The shortened lives of Kendrick, Trayvon and Jordan are no doubt horrible tragedies. Yet, we have the opportunity to turn tragedy into triumph.
A better tomorrow begins today. Changing unreasonable laws begins by transforming perverse attitudes. Making certain that another senseless murder does not stare us in the face requires that we move from being empathetic and emotionally fatigued to energetic and driven to love every child – long before tragedy occurs – as if they were our own beloved child.
BMWK – We can’t bring Kendrick, Trayvon or Jordan back, but improving a world where children have a chance to live out their lives is the least we can do for the Johnson, Martin and Davis families.