This Father’s Day will be a painful one for the children of Tyrone Thompson. According to police reports, Tyrone was killed as he returned fire on two suspected young robbers, killing one and wounding the other. At 47 years old – and like the 18 year olds allegedly involved – Tyrone was too young to die and had a full life ahead of him. In a slice of time, the lives of three families have been forever changed.
The media has moved on to the next headliner, and we are left to make sense of another tragedy in our community.
Tony Thompson appears to already be doing that. Tony is the brother of Tyrone and founder of Kwame Building Group, named after their youngest brother. In last week’s St. Louis American, Tony asked us to not to focus on the “two bad guys” but the transformative work the Thompsons were doing with young men at Carnahan High School. Through their Gentlemen’s Club, the Thompsons had mentored 90 percent of the seniors to graduation and 100 percent of those were on their way to college.
I call the modern-day work with young people life-saving work because it is. Think about what could have been the outcomes for whoever was responsible for Tyrone’s murder, had they received some meaningful attention from the likes of brothers like the Thompsons. Three lives could’ve been saved right there.
As bad as our communities are projected in the media, the research tells us that the percentage of folks who wreak havoc is small. That also applies to the wayward young. The problem of misdirected and destructive youth is soluble. Every day, people like the Thompsons and groups like the Gentlemen’s Club are proving it. But it’s not enough, given the scale of the problem that we have allowed to fester and grow because we think it’s someone else’s problem.
Would’ve, could’ve, should’ve is not a philosophy the African-American community can afford to embrace. Our young people are tired of getting bad-mouthed and they are tired of the lip-service about what we’re “gonna” do.
I’ve seen the kids at schools waiting in the office for their mentor who never showed up. I’ve been at the summits where youth are brought together and there’s no follow-through on the commitments made to them. Young men have seen the flashes of hope come and go like the Call to Oneness. Non-committal and irresponsible adults are also part of the problem.
When state Rep. Jamilah Nasheed and Ald. Antonio D. French reached out to meet with the warring gangs in their districts recently, the gang members agreed to come together if two conditions were met: No po-po (police) and no preachers.
And just like you didn’t know about the Gentlemen’s Club, you don’t know that one of those gangs is now voluntarily cleaning up their neighborhood each Saturday. The teen years are a time where youth need a lot of encouragement and validation – a LOT. But little dosages of positive reinforcement on a consistent basis can also be powerful.
I’ve been waiting for a response from the City’s Public Safety Director Charles Bryson on what the City’s plan is this summer for youth given lack of jobs, shortened summer school and limited recreational outlets. The question was posed to him when he was a guest on the Bernie Hayes Radio Show three weeks ago. We must make government more accountable by fighting for policies and resources that strengthen the lives of young people. The support for meeting the needs of children and youth must be at both the individual and community level.
There are organizations in our community committed to the kids with the greatest of obstacles in their lives that need your financial and moral support. One way to avenge the death of Tyrone Thompson is by giving your money, your time or both to one of these groups.
The Thompson family will grieve for the loss of Tyrone for awhile. I firmly believe that the resolve of the young men he mentored just got stronger because the expectations for them just got higher.