Richmond's Rep

ayesha — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:03:45 -0500

Thursday night 17-year-old Ajaia Ruffen was shot and killed somewhere close to where I live in Richmond, California. I’m not sure of the details of this tragedy but I am so certain that almost all of the shootings in Richmond are a result of the same problems.

I don’t know who took the life of this young lady and even if I did I wouldn’t point fingers at them. I know that somewhere along this person’s life, something tragic had to happen make this person capable of terminating someone’s life. I can’t speak for every single individual in my city, but from what I’ve experienced with youngsters-- influenced by the negativity in Richmond-- a lot of us lack effective mentors and role models who we can relate to. Those who have the will to help us build our own minds and characters, those who can help guide us in a more rewarding direction.

A lot of people argue that this character building should come directly from a child's household. But the truth is, there is an immense breakdown inside of our households. Almost all of my friends who live in Richmond don't even have a father that supports them financially or emotionally. This is a huge issue not even just for our young men, but our young women and everyone else that lives in the community.

A lack of family and community unity is not the only thing that is hurting the city of Richmond. We have this huge breakdown in what I believe are two of most important institutional systems that can make or break a young person's mentality: our school system and our justice system.

Jail is supposed to be a place where so called criminals are rehabilitated. Instead young people – and old – are coming out of jail and are denied employment. This means most people end up repeating the things that got them in jail. On another note, I’ve even heard several people say they’ve learned to become “better criminals” once they spend a little time in jail. I’ve failed to mention the police who patrol our neighborhoods looking for criminals to throw in jail. If you ask me, I don't feel a connection between the community as an whole and the police. Where there is no connection, mistrust is created.

As for our school system: it's horrible. It seems to share one of the same problems as our justice system does. Our school system lacks a whole lot of men and people of color -- or at least people that are from the same community as our students.

Many people debate whether school teachers should be responsible for touching on subjects like character building and professional development. Well if we don't get it from home and we can't get it from school then we'll get it from the last place left: the street.

Youth Radio - Topic: 17-year-old girl

Richmond's Rep