CRISIS mode: Gang warfare [click for tonight's show] 4/5/10
April 5, 2010Watch ZBM’s program tonight which will feature guests lawyer Llewllyn Peniston, artist Ras Mykkal (Bermuda’s first Governor) and comedic talent Jah Simmons. The topic: Gang murders and shootings tormenting the island.
We invite you to join our national conversation by posting a comment and responding to the concerns of others on this forum. *Some comments will be read on-air during tonight’s show.
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I believe it all comes down to the value we place on our life. If you have not had people in your life telling you you are valuable…you are worth something…you CAN accomplish what you set your mind to REGARDLESS of your past, where you come from, who your friends/family are. If you do not beleive your own life is valuable, how can we expect you to value someone else’s.
Bermuda needs more positive role models,like Jah and Nadanja ,they can reach people with their talents .
The problem right now is that we have a generation of kids out there, that were brought in the world without intent by boys and not men. These children are titled as “my youth”. No guidance, from adults who were not in position to have children. When you decide to have a child it should be some positive chemistry of planning to do so because you have created a home to do so and a woman and man love each other enough to have a family. As the child grows in a unstable home this is what they carry through life. This generation of kids that are out here doing what they do. Were raised by this a mother or father who really did not want a child but were obligated to act as a parent which they have no experience.
you are so right!!
PLP AND ANY OTHER WEALTHY BLACK BUSINESSMAN NEED TO SPEND THE MONEY ON A TECHNICAL COLLEGE…..INSTEAD OF BUYING BOATS, HOUSES, CONDOS, LIMOS, YACHTS, TIMESHARING, AND INVESTMENTS IN FOREIGN EXCHANGE. THE BEST INVESTMENT IS YOUR OWN. IF I HAVE A CHILD, FOR ME…ITS AN INVESTMENT. BECAUSE IN THAT CHILD I WOULD TEACH AND NURTURE TO BECOME BETTER THAN I.
Very interesting discussion. I was listening to Ras’ comments regarding the “hope” for opportunity. I would suggest that opportunity is only there when one can (a) recognize it and most importantly (b) be PREPARED to act on it.
If one has not worked hard in school (much less ATTENDED school) – kept on the straight and narrow – then regardless of any opportunities offered, they won’t know it’s there and even if they did, they couldn’t take advantage of it.
I was the product of a young mother and single parent household. She gave my brother and I chores and responsibilities from a very young age — thus, we grew up knowing that you had to take care of things BEFORE you got to play.
Parents don’t give their children responsibilities. I agree with Jah — kids today have the cell phone,computer and their own televisions WITH cable! They don’t pay any bills!
I am not saying that the modern trappings should not be offered….but they need to be earned…and if there is a slip…those things should be taken away. There has to be a consequence.
Ras made a comment regarding those persons who have no hope – and thus resort to violence. I would argue that a good many of those persons did not take “advantage” of the education that is offered.
Good evening to you Gary and to your panel,
I would like to make a comment and a suggestion.
Firstly, my comment is further to Llewellyn Peniston’s comment regarding deduction of age of the majority of the perpetrators of these crimes, not as it relates to when the present Government came into power but as it relates to children having children. I would just like to say that it would be very interesting to know the ages of the parents of the perpetrators of these crimes. It could very well be that these perpetrators are the product of children having children…it does not work.
Secondly, my suggestion is related to attempts to get guns off the streets. I know it would be an infringement of human rights for the police to go into homes and search for guns. However, desperate times call for desperate measures. Just like after 911, although it was an inconvenience for most people travelling to have longer waits at airports etc etc, the average law abiding citizen didn’t have a problem with it because they knew that it was for the safety of the public overall. I believe that Government needs to pass legislation to give the police the power to search every house in this island. There has even been talk that these guns could be buried in fields somewhere. If that’s the case, did up the fields too. Pass the legislation and do it.
Some of my keys to success:
1
My mother taught me to be color blind any person can be good or bad
2
I drained the brains of the expat work for knowleged
3
Turned off BET
4
Studied Automobile Mechnics at the Bda College
Result
I make over $100K per yr in Reinsurance Business and I never went to business college.
However I am fighting to keep the Bermuda College Auto program alive!!!
POINT 1: I love the fact that you have a diverse panel tonight, but we need more than a Mama’s boy, an artist and a comedian. It would have been great to see some of the successful white Bermudians(Collie Buddz included) to share their view point. Despite what we do in our own lives and in our own time, we can’t just look at Black bermuda for a solution. Remember it’s white Bermuda that doesn’t get caught and go to jail, so let’s hear from them. We are in a crisis and need every solution we can get.
POINT 2: We have raised a generation of Mama’s boys and girls and when they’re forced to stand on their own, they FAIL. They have been GIVEN too much, unlike the members of your panel who can appreciate being told no. They live with an expectation that they SHOULD be looked after. They don’t feel like they NEED to work and feel that the employer should come to THEM on Fridays and say here’s your pay check. Education has been discounted because it’s TOO MUCH for them. No, as the older adults in our community did not make it because we did less subjects in high school, we HAD TO WORK IT OUT! The average young person is exposed to too much at home, by the time they reach school, they’re an emotional mess. This needs to be sorted out before any teaching can be done. So, the end result is, they end up frustrated and angry and misdirected.
There are a lot of angry young men and women in Bermuda but I want to share a thought from the book The Tipping Point. The author shares about the Broken Window theory “Crime is an inevitable result of disorder. If a window is left unrepaired, people walking by it eill conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge. Soon more windows will be broken and the sense of anarchy will spread from the building to the street…..sending a signal that anything goes…inviting more serious crimes. Is it possible that what we are experiencing is a result of a lack of attention to our broken windows and the feeling that no one cares?