A community in decay...crying for help!

The Haitian community is going through a lot and I don’t mean the folks in Haiti. Well, while we mustn’t ignore our brothers back in the homeland yet we are facing a lot of things out here in this foreign land. So far this year, over 5,000 of them have been deported and the ones suffering the most are the little ones they have left behind. Especially, the young lads. There is more than meets the eye in reference to our young black boys in "at risk" situations and communities. No excuses for these young men, they all must be held accountable for those irrational, illogical, peer pressured, and many times dumb decisions they make. They must understand the microscope and the pressure it brings as well as the power it can possess if utilized in the correct way. Yet we cannot ignore the fact that many of them, had their parents been here, they would have found themselves in a better situation. A little bit more guidance and parental presence.

I just had a young man "reach out" to me on myspace and all he wanted to do was have someone, preferably a Haitian male listen to him, his story, his demise, his life journey in America without his parents who have been deported since 1998. So when he asked for my number, I obliged and the first few times he called, it went to voicemail, so he wrote me on myspace asking if I am bullshiting him. While I wanted to speak to him yet I had a situation I had to deal with at home. So I didn’t have the strength to take on someone else’s problems but in the end, the kid was so adamant that I had to reach out. So when I called, he had a lot to say; He had even more that he probably wanted to say but didnt know how to get it out of him. He said a lot of things that I understood oh so well, It hasn’t been all that long ago when I was 16 years old myself. And despite things being so different growing up in the 21st century, the life of a young black male still revolves around recognition from doing well in something, acceptance from family and friends, and girls, girls, girls. All subjects were touched on by this young man. His folks were taken out of their home on a Sunday morning, his house got reposed, and he went to live with family members who mentally raped him, abused him, and neglected his needs, so he became a delinquent. Dropped out of school at 12, stole his first car, robbed liquor stores, sold dope, went to juvenile detention, and pretty much lived the life of a vagabond. He did all that and he is yet to reach the age of 17. The young man brought tears to my eyes has he explained his life story. It could have been me, I thought for a moment, had my folks been in that situation, I could have been that young man, who is out there, simply looking for acceptance, he is looking for love, all in the wrong places, yet that’s the life he knows.

I’m glad that he chose to seek me out though. I hope that I provided an extra boost of motivation to continue on his journey. Too many black boys, not enough guidance and wisdom, too many black boys, not enough understanding, encouragement, and patience, too many black boys, not enough time, respect, and love. It’s amazing to me how intelligent these young men actually are once they take off the armor. It really is a war going on. And it is imperative that we get our black boys to understand that the war within is the war worth fighting the most.

I linked up with him the other day and we met with a school counselor, and after he get tested, he should be right back in school in the fall. He turns 17 in December, so I’ll reward him with a trip to Haiti to see his folks if he can maintain a ‘B+’ in his courses. But in the mean time, he’s catching up on his reading (philosophy books), and I hope to get him to volunteer at a community center, just to re-acquaint him with things. Life is crazy ain’t it…just when I thought I had too much on my plate, this kid came a long and helped me deal with a personal situation.