Repost: Michael Atherton writes: "> I don't see how you can equate a rural background to an intercity one. You > might just have found yourself on one of those street corners if, in order to > avoid being beaten up everyday, you'd joined a gang.
I have found myself on many of those street corners in many parts of the world. I had to leave a very abusive home at fifteen and make my way in a world just as mean as the "Mean" streets of Minneapolis. And yes, I may have engaged in criminal behavior, but that Mother's values that Brandon and I spoke of kept me from the worst and brought me back from the bad. They also always gave me the courage to fight; even when scared and having worse things happen than being beaten on most days. (I got that at home before leaving). At seventeen I did join a gang, of course they called it the military back then Actually, Michael I can, if not equate, compare the two. I have raised three sons one block from Franklin and two blocks from Chicago Avenue. During the last twenty-five years I have probably provided the "father" figure for several hundred other "innercity" children who were not fortunate enough to have one in their own family. I ran a youth program for fifteen years with karate, boxing, and a little soccer. One year there were 84 kids in the boxing program - 81 from single mother families, two from a single father family, and only one (my own) from a two parent family. Rudy Rodriguez, Bill Elam, and Roger Keller assisted and I was the head coach. The kids had to go to school and had to do well, or they could not participate. We lost a few, but a very few, and the self-discipline and camaraderie of this "gang" provided the "protection, family, love, power, prestige, adventure" Michael talks about. It did not provide any sex, but we thought that came under the heading of "self discipline". One year Roger Keller made an interesting assessment of our "work" when he commented that it was a good year, " We had more kids get college scholarships than go to jail". A pretty successful program all in all. When I think of all the thousands of hours of time running this program four hours a night, four days a week, and the thousands and thousands of dollars it cost me, I always think it was money and time well spent. The pay off was the pride I took in Roger's statement. These kids return again and again and are now men. I have as much pride in them as I do my own children, because actually they are my "OWN" children. When they gather together sometimes and sit and tell stories, I love to suripticously eavesdrop as they tell of the "old days". There are real estate agents, bankers, electricians, machinists, military people, social workers, truck drivers, business owners and managers among them. They all have expectations of each other and push each other along. I like to think I, and we, played a part in giving "my" kids a different kind of "Gang" to be part of. You are correct Michael; a gang can be a "family. Those kids became siblings and children in "My" family. One of the "Kids" was the number one candidate on the Minneapolis Police hiring list this year and will be one of the new Minneapolis Police Officers. His dream became one of service to Minneapolis, and he will become the dream cop for Minneapolis. Todd is a person of color, who grew up on the "Mean" streets, returning to serve in that same community. Not because it is just a job, but because service became a duty as well as a dream. And yes, the rest of his "family" is very proud of him. We lost a couple to "gangs" and the gunfire on the streets, but we made a difference in many more. I didn't make any money but it "paid off. A neighbor of Knute Rockne, after observing kids playing on Knute's lawn once asked if Knute wasn't worried about his grass. To which Knute heatedly replied, "I'm not raising grass, I'm raising kids." So I wasn't interested in making good money, I was interested in "making" good kids. We raised more than a few. You and the L.A. gangs are wrong Michael. Good jobs don't "combat gangs", good people do. No, a rural sharecroppers farm background is not the same as "an intercity one", but the kids are the same and the kid's needs are the same. In either place they need people with enough care for them to give them discipline, love, and values. There are more kids in the City, so they need more grown ups willing to "give" them those things. They have plenty who only give abuse, neglect, and mistreatment. Maybe they need a few of you to make "caring" more than just a liberal social theory. You really can be paid something much more valuable than money for your efforts. Jim Graham, Ventura Village >The highest reward for a man's toil is not what he gets for it >but what he becomes by it. - John Ruskin _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
