BY ANNETTE JOHN-HALL INQUIRER COLUMNIST In Philadelphia, half of last year’s 406 homicide victims were black males 15 to 29, and overwhelmingly they were killed by other black males. That’s a staggering number when you consider that black men make up only 4 percent of the population.
This year, the numbers are no better.
And all of this crisis has been met by apathy. A black problem. Let them solve it.
We can argue about whether it really is just a black problem created by black people, but that’s a waste of time.
The 10,000 men who showed up Sunday know that.
For once, black folks aren’t waiting for someone else to swoop in on a white horse as bodies continue to fall.
The next few weeks, when volunteers go through orientation at neighborhood sites, will determine whether the feel-good call-out will become a legitimate movement or just a consciousness-raising pep rally.
But it’s a start. And nobody appreciated it more than the women who have lost their children to gun violence, many of them single moms who, as hard as they tried, couldn’t teach their boys how to be men. MORE
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