Taking Up The Challenge
I wanted to share a comment from the previous incarnation of this blog. It is from the sister of Keith Stephens, one of the subjects in the book Class Dismissed. Stephens was shot and killed in February 2006.
I happen to be the sister of Keith Stephens and I’m definitely up for the challenge…….There’s been countless murder’s in the Bay Area since Keith passed away and I’ve just became so numb Your eyes are never truly open to this problem unless homicide touches you life…..I was guilty of that before I lost my brother and you think this would never happen in your family but yes it can It happen to us. Keith was a good kid he had his troubles here and there just like any other kid but not in a million years I would have ever though someone would take Keith Stephens life…………..If you read the book you would know Keith was one of the most likeably guys you would ever come across. We should all dig a little deeper rather than saying “Oh that another dead Black Man”. Dig deeper you never know what an amazing person he could have been. My father’s worst nightmare came about when we lost Keith, he never wanted either of his sons’s to become a statistic and to some that’s all my brother simply is…………………
April 28th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Hey, James. Great blog. However, a few things. As I noted on Stuart’s blog, the title on your header gets lost in the background. I’d recrop the pic and change the color on the title to make it show up better.
In one post you mentioned the L.A. Bridges program. What is it and why did it fail? What is Chicago’s strategy for dealing with gangs and does our strategy need to be improved? I’d like to hear more about what other cities are doing to curb gang violence. What can we learn from their experiences?
I really like the voice you bring to your writing. You personalize the issue, both by bringing the violence back to your own experience, and by asking us to think more deeply about the victims. Good work.