Kunjufu - yeah I know, and jah know the white politician dare I say white societies bet buss! God forbid they discover the white gunman listens to gangster rap music...but then again maybe that would benefit us too.

@Kunjufu
I'm watch BBC news 24, and a chief constable is NOW talking about targeting gun importers, targeting those who distribute guns, to look at the policy of imitation firearms

My only beef is we still need to get to the root cause of our problems and i very much doubt the YT system can really do anything apart from keep throwing money down some irrelevant project which honestly hasn't worked...we as a people need to start by taking our responsibilities as parents more serious..the guns might go but then as someone said we might resort back to the days of using knives..
Lets not forget the chances of another person getting killed again in that part of Liverpool is very very slim now what are the chances of someone getting shot in Peckham or Brixton?
We need more people like Drogba who famously walked out during a press conference with the Italian media when one of them hadn't heard of the killings in Ivory Coast..
I remember both Black and White people crying for Damilola Taylor and we know how many young black kids have been killed since...if anything MGL has highlighted how YT system is saying this is how we care for our slain children what about you lot!!

black On Black Crime Not A Concern

white On White Crime : Prime Minister Live On Tv Speaks Out In Disgust Of Such A Crime


Do We Have A Racist Media AND political leaders ?

astmartins - it's the difference between narrowing the goalposts and shifting them. Believe me I have a rooted respect for Kunjufu but the problem I'm seeing here is as long as we deviate from the root then I can guarantee given a one to one with Trevor Philips he too will feel completely justified and vindicated in the approach he takes.

If this is a debate of what that root is then fine. If it's a debate to say the root is right in principle but is unfeasible in practise then equally fine. If we have got to the point where priority now is to mitigate as opposed to eliminate than again I'm equally intrigued and relatable to these concepts.

It's why I started the 'in white hands' thread just to iron out where our different thought processes are stemming from but even then, it will take a lot to convince me that any one tried, tested and failed measure is worth defending over another which is why principles tackling the root causes are still at the core for me.

Astmartin: here's my point to you....I simply don't believe that as BLACK people we are NOT taking this seriously, that we are NOT doubling and redoubling our efforts with our children.. Sorry but that is just not true, i've got THREE children i a follow grown adult and two still in school.. and I know from my time in North & South London that you can't buy a place in supllimentary school.

I speak to parents who are scared for the children and work hard to ensure they are not the next statistics...the growing numbers of Africans and African carribeans sending their children HOME is also testiment that we taking it seriously....so to be honest I get pretty fed with people BLACK & WHITE talking as if BLACK people general are not alive to this issue..it is just NOT true!!!

As a parent and a professional i can say that the problem is not specific to Black people and moreover its not one problem but many issues plaguing this country, so yes whilst i think thier is a collective resposibility to keep all children focused, that won't solve nothing if you don't address the wider issue of accessiblity of guns, and the fear factors that forces many to have weapons for 'protection'.

Kunjufu - I'll add to that and suggest most of the black people who are taking this seriously are looking out for their own children and making sure they don't get caught up in it. Taking it seriously is bigger than that...it's what governments are employed for, we just need our our government at a community or even national level. That's what I call parental responsibility....looking after your kids as well as mine...I can't see where white people or the government fit into that equation.

Black On Black Crime Not A Concern

White On White Crime : Laws Will Be Changed

Kunjufu - is this relevant enough for you?

hmmm...lucky?...t's like I'm telling you where you are coming from but you don't want to admit it because it's coming from me or it's just your ego.

When you say it's the responsibility of EVERYONE, what including the government? who year after year decade after decade fail black children. The failure is down to us looking to them and not within...it's our responsibility before it becomes the responsibility of the wider society.

So you think now that a white boy has been killed the government are acting on our behalf. What would you have done if the little white boy didn't go down, wait another ten years...or was you secretly waiting for this to happen in a save black kids 'by any means necessary' kind of way.

Your argument suggests if the 17 black kids that died this year were all white, you'd be here gloating about the lack of effort from the government. You contradict the very soul of Blacknet. If we haven't the time to look after our own, I definitely don't expect anyone else to.

MGL - rmember this; I have no desire to take all black people back to Africa; there are blacks who are no good here and will likewise be no good there

Kunjufu - I agree with the cuts, I have a saying that prison is the new youth club...want a game of pool...better of going to jail.

However I'm still reading that the reality is we haven't the unity, the infrastructure, but more the will to do what it takes so it's easier to pass the buck onto the government as opposed to seeing them as the first port of call as an order of principle....it's more a harsh reality than something part of a fundamental belief system.

(Source: Sky News (also widely reported elsewhere))