Guns

GUNS


In March of 2007, my family and I had to deal with the reality of guns from both sides of the fence so to say. My nephew at the tender age of nineteen was gunned down on the streets of Baltimore on March 3rd, 2007. I won't be one of those people who say, "oh he was a good boy, he did nothing bad." However, I will say that whatever he did, he did not deserve to be gunned down in the manner that he was. My nephew was a big boy and he grew to be an even bigger young man. Having to deal with some of the same things many black youths are dealing with in urban America today. Things such as street corners, drugs, guns, and gangs.

In the same month that my nephew was killed, my young cousin was in court facing the death penalty due to the use of a gun. He wasn't given the death penalty, however he did lose his life. Because, at the age of twenty-four he was sentenced to natural life plus thirty years. I want to blame so many and so much for these tradgadies. But, I must first look at my life and my responsibility. As a recovering drug addict I played a big part in the drugs, that led to the gangs and the guns. Things that always ended in death in one form or another.

Today I strive hard to give back some of what I have taken away. I try hard to at least help to keep another family from going through what my family has been through. I do this by staying clean, writing, talking, teaching others what I have learned, and praying. Praying that I can keep a gun out of one young person's hands. Today I stand on the other side of the fence where I can be a part of solution and not the problem.