The aftermath of the grand jury decision in Ferguson

Last night, the grand jury declined to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting death of Michael Brown on August 9, through an long-winded and dragged on announcement by the lead prosecutor handling the Wilson case.  Right after the announcement was made, some angry demonstrators looted stores and set other businesses or properties on fire.   Most other demonstrations across the nation were mostly peaceful.  I was at Brooklyn College where I saw a small group of about 20 demonstrators on Bedford Ave peacefully doing their thing.  But the thugs in Ferguson, MI who are burning the St. Louis suburb to the ground are clearly sending the wrong message by destroying property.  They are currently under the radar by the news media and the American public where most whites will less support for blacks and the racial divide between blacks and whites will grow bigger like a cancer growing.  Respectable black people will see the looting and destruction as unacceptable.  But as long as the few idiots make it look bad for race relations, there is a better way of handling this - - don't buy from white owned business.  If black people want to make a difference in stopping what they see as police brutality and killings against black people. they should have more of a concentrated effort in reducing the national homicide rates against black people.  Why isn't Al Sharpton speaking out the atrocity that 6.309 blacks were murdered in 2011 - - why are blacks silent about this.  Who in the black community is doing something to protest against gangs, many of them recruit black and Hispanic kids by bringing the issue of more affordable after-school programs and jobs for the work eligible teens?  When an innocent black kid's life is cut short by a stray bullet in the projects, do we read or hear about the massive protests against gun violence?  Are black people just talking about the problem or do they want to be a part of the solution?

   Here is one thing you can do if you have the time,  mentor a child on weekends.  If you are free in the afternoons, form a teen group where kids can shoot hoops in the courts instead of another type of "courts" they face when they join gangs.    Form a trip to a local library and open up a world of reading they haven't explored.  I know this may be difficult but if we can change one child a time then we may be able to stem the tide on black violence.