Spearheading a community
protest takes a lot of time, participation and coordination among residents and
leaders. When 15-year-old Isiah Joseph was shot in January, City Councilman
Jumaane Williams held a press conference on community violence and how “we
can't tolerate these heinous, ruthless acts.” Many times, after a youngster is
shot, community leaders, politicians and residents take to the streets in an
outrage at the tragedy. The victim's parents plead for justice and their anger
is clear to the media, which smears “Violence Mars Community” in nearly every
headline.
I've written up so many
shooting incidents over the years and I've kept track of all the ones that
provoked protests, anti-violence rallies and calls for peace in the community.
I gave it the benefit of the doubt – thinking maybe Canarsie was just falling
behind in how we react to violence. Maybe the more shootings we had, the more
we'd be prone to come out and express how angry we are that our “quaint”
neighborhood isn't what it used to be.
Whenever I get a call from
an old Canarsien who says, “Things are getting worse here...” I wonder – what
is anyone doing about it to make it better or bring awareness to how our
community has changed? There's no question that protests and anti-violence
initiatives don't actually prevent a shooting or stabbing – or even a fatal car
accident caused by speeding or a drunk
driver. However, I haven't seen massive protests or press conferences hosted in
Canarsie following a shooting/stabbing – no matter if it was a young person or
an adult who was in “the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The 69th Precinct Clergy
Council hosts vigils at various locations where crime is high and where
shootings take place. But how many people have come out to support this cause?
Where are all the outraged parents holding signs and getting in front of a news
camera, concerned about their child’s safety?
Once a year, precincts host
National Night Out Against Crime – an event that's held across the country in
an effort to “take back the streets.” What about the rest of the year?
Residents in Brownsville, East New York and East Flatbush march in droves when
an act of violence takes place. The only thing that appears in the news when a
murder or shooting takes place in Canarsie are police lines on the street and
photos of the victims – but I haven't seen groups of residents or civic leaders
on the block chanting that the violence “has to come to an end.” Just because
having your voice heard doesn’t necessarily result in any immediate solution –
does that mean you shouldn’t speak up at
all?
I'm also taken back that,
with each person killed in our community, no one comes out to remember the
victims. Were they all “bad” people who didn't live here, so – we figure – why
should we advocate for their memory? If Isiah Joseph's parents could come out
to a press conference and cry for the capture of her son's murderers, where are
the parents of Canarsie youths who are shot? Maybe too many people are private
and don't want to cause a stir? How about all of the unsolved murders in
Canarsie? NYPD officials aren't holding press conferences in our community to
prod the public for information. Maybe they don't want the public's help or
support solving a years-old crime?
When they say, “Canarsie is
a small and quiet community,” I truly believe and agree with those sentiments.
But I think we're TOO quiet when something takes place on our block or avenue
and there's no sense of public outrage.
Keep track of all the public
involvement that makes the news in other communities when a violent act occurs.
Perhaps some day we can learn something from those communities and become the
neighborhood that makes a lot of noise in the face of travesty.
Unpublished as of 1/29/15
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