Threw dirt on the casket, the hurt I couldn't mask it

Mixin down emotions, the struggle I hadn't mastered
I choreographed seven steps to heaven
And hell
Waiting to exhale and make the bread leavened

senility sets in...I knew I forgot to mention something.

I think I mentioned about two weeks back who were strolled throughout Codman Square to pay our respects and pray with the folks who had congragated on Washington Street at the site of recent stabbing. And the memorial they had erected was huge and the block was constantly flowing with people.

Well, in the midst of all the daily happenings since then, there was a edict quietly passed to tear down all victim memorials throughout the city.

yeah uh huh. kinda numbing, huh? Kids showed up at city hall with signs that read "Don't Wait Til We're Dead" and "How Many More," while an out-of-touch councilor tells them he does not know because we'll just have to wait and see and that it is up to the people with the guns to determine that. shakes head...

So now with a distrust and contempt for public officials already high, now heads cannot grieve in peace. It is a sad but true fact that one the most noticeable things about teen attire today are the t-shirts, buttons, and other paraphernalia they adorn themselevs with in the aftermath of the passing of a friend.

Felt the spirit in the wind, knew my friend was gone for good

But, in my dealings with the Roundtable and just being more involved around the city lately, I have met many great people doing truly amazing work to make this place better for everyone. So in an effort to shed light on some of their efforts, here's some detail about what should be a productive forum on the balance of power and prayer.

Helping Our Youth Grieve

A public conversation and dialogue sparked by the recent removal of some of the memorials around the city

Goals:

• Explore a healthy communal mourning process
• Draft a strategy that will include suggestions from all affected by the memorials
• Provide ideas and suggestions to our elected and civic officials as they draft a strategy to respond to the survivors of violent crimes

Invited Guests include:

• Superintendent Paul Joyce, Boston Police Department
• Robert Lewis, The City of Boston's Center's for Youth and Families
• City Councilor Charles Yancey
• Courtney Grey, The Public Health Commission's Trauma Project
• M. Antonio Ennis, Antonio Ansaldi Clothing Company
• Jay Walsh, The City of Boston's Mayor's Office
• Tina Cherry, The Louise D. Brown Peace Institute
• Pastor William E. Dickerson, Greater Love Tabernacle Church

Family and friends, survivors of violent crimes will be provided an opportunity to share their suggestions and ideas for communal mourning. It is hoped that the strategy will encourage our City Council Members and other civic officials to introduce legislation that will allow survivors of violent crimes to grieve in a healthy manner while respecting the law, the businesses and residential communities where many of the memorials have resided.

Please join us on Thursday, July 6th, 2006 at 6:30PM At Greater Love Tabernacle Church (101 Nightingale Street, Dorchester, MA 02121)

For more information please go to www.jameswhills.com

Sponsored in partnership by Save the Youth Ministries
The Louise D. Brown Peace Institute
4Peace and the Start Peace Movement
This is a PEACE BOSTON 2006 supported event

Your whole style is loose and we gonna sew it like it's cotton

followed-up on some networking today, which went well.

put in some work as well and realized that some people truly get by.

I inhale large clouds of smoke through my chalice

riddle me this, batman.... if you run a web business, then is it wrong for me to expect for you to know some basic sht about how things aare supposed to run? And in the event that you set it up, but didn't test it, shouldn't you be able to fix it? and if you are someone else's technicall support person, how in the hell are you going to telle me that you have to call your technical support person....for some real basic shT I could do with my legs in the charles river and my hands ties behind my back a pig's intestines.

Life will keep existing while I'm shTing on opponents

and why is it that every time I bother to wash the whip, it rains seemingly the next day. but when I hold off from washing it for the very same reason, there seems to be an endless supply of sun and shT.

stop teasing me, money. i see you been really having fun up there with me this year, huh? well if you gonna put in all that work, can a brother get a hug at least. dammitt. i do not like to not be smiling or in a good mood. not one bit. kinda like the Ballou article when one of the fathers quipped, "I don't like black people who don't like black people." ok, never mind. go ahead. you got the master plan. i'll follow your lead.

Playing cowboy now you sleep with the slaves

Who You Be, son

It seems as though The Washington Post continues to contribute to the body of works asessing the plight of the Black man in America. Since the last shout-out, some more provocative pieces have come to fruition. One is a very promising tale of two young cats, who made a pact upon finishing middle school to do their part to represent to the fullest. If the daring boldness of the refusal of the scholarship they were offered were nto enough, then it should come as no suprise the passion with which the pledged their souls to make their school what it should be; a place of higher learning. And in a sense of twisted humor, another piece paints a candid portrait of a brother who has rose up the ranks of the Republican party. To be or not to be a sellout is not the question. But it does beg of a greater, more over-arching sense of purpse and its origins. It could be simplistically argued that he took that scholarship that the Ballou boys turned down. But whatever the greater meaning and lessons that are learned, maybe it really is God trying to tell you something. Maybe we should listen up and pay closer attention.

Speaking of which, I was in Uphams Corner and I had to take this photo. It is only right to include it as an accompaniment to this post. It fits in so well.

Three in the morning yawning dancing under street lights

i got Sasha Thumper on the brain

We chillin like a villain and a n!gga feelin right
in the middle of the ghetto on the curb, but in spite
all of the bullshit we on our back starin at the stars above
Talkin bout what we gonna be when we grow up
I said what you wanna be, she said, "Alive"
It made me think for a minute, then looked in her eyes
I coulda died, time went on, I got grown
Rhyme got strong, mind got blown, I came back home
to find lil Sasha was gone

the movie, Street Soldiers, will move you to tears.

it is up-front, direct testament to the willpower of those in the community willing to shed their exoskeleton and risk their lives to save lives.

living is more painful. dying is the escape.

mario rodrigues and tina chery are true warriors. strong people who have helped to reshape the fabric of a community through the sheer will of wanting to make living the escape.

the documentary premiered last night at the Strand Theater and is a compelling tale of intertwined stories of hope, compassion, fear, pain, anguish, forgiveness, anxiety, innocence, faith, and determination.

it's like there are more bullets than bicycles.

i really appreciated the frank nature of the film. son spoke from the heart with a urgency in his voice and words that needed to be heard. it ain't PG-13. it ain't full of all the answers. it's just a no chaser shot of reality of how childhoods can be lost.

i stopped crying a long time ago

it has the potential to raise many questions. it wove together the oft-connected strands of urban life; hip-hop, war, the criminal justice system, parenting, fatherhood, marriage, community centers, and public safety.

there are moments when your heart will drop, such as when tina recounts the moment her son said "this may be my last meal." it has the potential to spur change on a whole new level. this mini-review is a small step to help make that a reality.

a message from the united states ghettos:
press release | ddorchester reporter | Gun BuyBack

Sasha Thumper just wanted to live. We just want peace in the streets so our youth can see the world, live the world, and experience life while enjoying the rest of their childhood.

Peace,