While in Kansas City, I opened up the daily newspaper to a grim headline on the front page: “Kids in the crossfire.” I’m a sucker for babies and children, so the article drew me right in. Since my last birthday in October, 16 black children have suffered premature, violent deaths in my hometown. From six weeks old to 16 years old, these young victims never knew what hit them.
A short story about each one’s circumstances and the loved ones they left behind tugged at this reader’s heartstrings. The fate of the 16 children came at the hands of their mothers, mothers’ boyfriends, stray bullets meant for others or, in the case of teens, from their peers. A bullet is a bullet, and when it goes into a small body the consequences are catastrophic.
For some reason that remains unclear to many, the Kansas City Police Department has stopped identifying juvenile homicide victims. The KCPD claims it’s complying with a state statute that requires that names be withheld, but the state attorney general’s office says a 2003 decision by its office doesn’t apply to these cases.
It would be a shame for these little lives to go unrecognized in the public domain. They are unfortunate but powerful reminders of the sanctity of life.
Roslyn Temple, founder of the Kansas City chapter of Mothers in Charge, provides the support for families of violence. In St. Louis, we are lucky to have Jeanette Culpepper and Families Advocating Safe Streets to remind us each New Year’s Eve of the loved ones who were snatched from us that year.
Oftentimes when we hear about these senseless tragedies, we want to utter phrases like, “This violence gotta stop” or “That’s a damn shame.” To act as if we are powerless bystanders is what’s shameful to me.
In the cases of the little ones who die at the hands of their own mom, there were people in their lives who saw trouble, or who witnessed their inability to deal with the normal behaviors of their own children. Child abuse can be deadly.
In the cases of teens with guns, it is rare that a family member or friend is unaware that the kid is toting a gun. And if a kid is carrying a firearm, at some point the trigger will get pulled. For many young, black youth, carrying a gun means they feel threatened. If those feelings of threat are accompanied by anger management or mental health issues, that’s a time bomb waiting to happen. The time bomb doesn’t go off in private; it’s usually very public and affects others.
The newspaper article I read underscored that in most of the homicides cases, parents were either the perpetrators of the deaths or the intended targets of gun violence. We know these parents; they are family members, friends, church members, etc. They are not strangers to us and, in many cases, they have been crying out for support in various ways. Their cries for help are often ignored – until it comes to our personal doorstep.
I’m not saying families and communities can stop all of the violence, but we don’t need to throw up our hands at every tragedy. We can take some time to intervene, to refer loved ones to needed services, to get young people involved in safe and productive activities. These are all doable interventions that can significantly cut down our crying time and give kids a real jumpstart towards a long and meaningful life.
