I don't know if you heard about the beating of Chicago teen Derrion Albert or not but this is something I have to make known if you have not heard of it. Thursday, September 24th, Derrion Albert was caught in the middle of a gang fight outside of Fenger High School, the same school my mother attended when she was young. Some reports say that he was targeted because he resisted joining a gang and some say he was only trying to help a friend who was also in the fight. No matter what the reason, the fact still remains that he is now dead. The facts also say that he had nothing to do with the fight...he was walking to the bus stop... on his way home. Albert was not involved in any gangs, didn't sell drugs, and he never started trouble with anyone. Derrion Albert was in fact a junior and an honor roll student at Fenger High School. He loved school and was well on his way to college. I watched the video of this gang fight and could not believe my eyes as I watched teenagers, some holding large wooden boards as a weapon, beat each other senseless. I also watched as they hit Derrion Albert in the head and knocked him unconcious. As he was still on the ground (not fighting) he was punched in the face. He regained conciousness and I watched as he was beaten even more. It broke my heart to see this young man literally on the ground, not retaliating, only holding his hand up to signify he had enough and to STOP hitting him. Albert's signal was ignored as I watched him get hit with yet ANOTHER wooden board. He stopped moving...he was motionless on the ground. That wasn't enough for the attackers though. They continued to punch, kick, and stomp him while he laid there...motionless. One person can even be seen JUMPING on his head! You couldn't imagine how angry and sad I was to see people in my hometown, acting this way. On one hand, I feel we are moving forward in this nation with Obama in office and on the other hand...I see this. I wouldn't even know how to begin to describe what his family may be feeling after this. This is what we are? This is what we have become? This is what a teen should have to endure while walking home from SCHOOL? A place where more of our youth NEED to be? Our youth can't even be safe going to school now?! Something is definitely not right.
So far there have been three suspects charged in the brutal killing. More are being investigated. Even after the pain is evident after a memorial was erected in the spot he was beaten in...someone burned the memorial down! I am disgusted, angry, hurt, and confused. How can a person continue to beat another human being while they are motionless on the ground?
This brutal beating caught the attention of many nationwide, including rapper, David Banner. When I heard this song, which is his response to this awful killing, I had to stop and think, "WOW...we really got alot of work to do, but HOW?". No one wants to listen these days. Our youth acts as if they do not care or have a heart it's like they WANT to kill eachother. They WANT to drop out of school! They WANT to show the world that they don't care about themselves or their future. Will we soon just get tired of ourselves and just give up? Will there even be an "us" left?
WAKE UP PEOPLE.
Baby J
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