Philadelphia Tribune - Index

Philadelphia Tribune - Friday, September 18, 2009 - Index

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B SECTION
Friday, September 18, 2009
Why are Black teens killing teens?
Messing
with the
wrong
person
You just knew that someday it would happen.
I actually thought it would have happened
sooner.
Last Saturday night, eight teenagers were
riding the Market-Frankford El through West
Philly when they got into an altercation with
someone witnesses describe as a man in his
40s.
The argument escalated until the train got to
56th Street, when they all got off and took the
fight to the subway platform, 25 feet above
Market Street.
Witnesses told police that fists were thrown,
and though woefully outnumbered, the man
was holding his own for a while. Then he started
losing.
Now taking an old school butt kicking, the
man decided to really go old school. He pulled
out a knife and started swinging.
In the end, three of the young toughs lay
bleeding on the El platform.
The three injured teens — an 18-year-old
who suffered stab wounds to the chest and
lower torso, a 16-year-old who was stabbed in
the left thigh and a 15-year-old who was
stabbed in his torso — were transported to the
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in stable
condition.
Police are looking to question the as-yetunidentified
adult, who fled on foot, but no one
in authority is talking as if this is not a clear
cut case of self-defense.
Since the death of Sean Patrick Conroy last
year, I have been more aware of large groups of
teens on public transportation.
Conroy, you will recall, was beaten on a
Center City subway platform under similar circumstances.
He was on his way to work in the
middle of the afternoon. The big difference, of
course, is that Conroy suffered a fatal asthma
attack as a result of the beating. Three of the
teenagers involved in Conroy’s death were convicted
last month and face a mandatory minimum
of five years, with a maximum that could
keep them behind bars until they’re old and
gray.
You would think that the Conroy incident
would wake kids up to the danger and inherent
stupidity of these wild attacks. But teenage
testosterone being what it is, it’s nearly impossible
to convince a teenage boy not to do something
on the grounds that the act is both dangerous
and stupid. That level of hard-headedness
doubles when they get around their
friends.
When I was a teenager back in the Middle
Ages, we were told constantly by adults, “No
matter how tough you think you are, there’s
always somebody tougher than you. You won’t
figure that out until you mess with the wrong
person.”
We’d scoff at the warning, figuring there was
no one tougher, and therefore no wrong person.
That attitude persisted right up until the day
Rhino was stabbed to death.
Rhino, the scourge of Anna Howard Shaw
Junior High in the early ’70s, greatly enjoyed
shaking down his fellow students for their
pocket change at the little candy store across
the street. If they didn’t give it up, he make
them give it up — through sheer intimidation
or a swift left hook.
One day, a kid who’d had enough of being a
victim plunged his scissors into Rhino’s chest.
At school for the next few days, there was the
usual lamenting of teenage violence and tears
for a young life snuffed out too soon, but those
of us who knew the score found a slightly different
moral to the story.
That kid, who was not as big or as tough as
Rhino, taught every bully in school a hardearned,
but valuable lesson that day. So much
so that bullying at Shaw tapered off to a bare
minimum for a while.
So lately, when I see a group of young people
on public transportation, I keep a sharp lookout.
Usually, they’re just loud, and maybe a little
rambunctious. It isn’t often that I get the
feeling they’re out looking for trouble. When I
do get that feeling, I never take my eyes off the
group until either they or I get off the train.
I’m not alone.
Most of the other adults on the train are also
eyeing them warily, checking their wallets and
clutching their bags a little tighter as they pretend
to read the newspaper.
I usually find myself hoping that the teens
don’t go buck wild and victimize some senior
citizen, or a child. I hope they don’t do something
utterly stupid that will destroy the rest of
their lives, and maybe someone else’s.
I also think about Rhino, and sincerely hope
they don’t mess with the wrong person.
Though homicide rate is down across the city,
numbers for demographic group is on the rise
Larry Miller
Tribune Staff Writer
Violence – Page 2B
Tips For Success 101
Robert Hightower
Tribune Staff Writer
The Urban Youth Racing
School and the School
District of Philadelphia
Office of High School Reform presented
“What It Takes 2,” this
week.
The town-hall style meeting’s
purpose is to get the message of
perseverance and hard work to atrisk,
mostly African-American
male students. The event allowed
the students to see some of their
heroes on a personal level.
The panel included Philadelphia
Eagles fullback Leonard Weaver,
his teammate wide receiver
DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia
76ers guard Lou Williams, vice
president of sports marketing Air
Jordan Brand-Nike Howard White,
and Todd Ervin ISC executive Todd
Ervin, among others.
Anthony Martin, who is the
founder of the Urban Youth Racing
School, said the event is in line
with the organization’s mission to
end the city’s high dropout rate.
“African-American males make
up the highest percentage of
Board’s approval of Plan B checks out OK
Eric Mayes
Tribune Staff Writer
According to officials, the
Pennsylvania Intergovernmental
Cooperation Authority’s approval, last
week, of a spending plan dubbed the
Plan B budget was legal.
Councilman Bill Green raised
questions at a meeting Sept. 11,
but after some research, a spokeswoman
for Green said his concerns
have been allayed. Green worried
that the vote was illegal because
Plan B had not been submitted to
City Council before it came to
PICA.
“Once he saw Plan B and we
Experts are suggesting that the
reasons for the pervasive youth violence
in Philadelphia and across
the country include a virulent
prison subculture that feeds a
criminal mentality on the streets to
a lack of parental supervision and
quality education.
But one thing everyone agrees on
is that too many young people,
mostly African-American males, are
giving themselves over to a violent
lifestyle that ends either in prison or
the grave.
On Sept. 8, 14-year-old Kareem
Haynes was shot to death by another
young Black male that still
remains at large. On Monday night
three teens in
Southwest Philadelphia,
one of them a
19-year-old pregnant
female, were
wounded by gunfire
in a drive-by shooting.
On Tuesday night,
police reported that
at about 6:45 p.m. a
young gunman fired
11 shots from a
Kareem
Haynes
9mm handgun at another teen running
down an alley behind the 7900
block of Fayette Street. Police said
Philadelphia school students at
the UYRS symposium.
– ABDUL R. SULAYMAN/TRIBUNE CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
dropouts so we want to target them
directly,” he said. “By having these
African-American role models come
and speak with them in a variety of
role models, our thinking is those
were able to analyze it, it doesn’t
require prior approval by Council,”
said Sophie Bryan, Green’s chief of
staff.
Plan B was essentially the same
as the budget approved by Council
in May, but revenue projections
were changed to reflect falling revenue.
“It reduces spending levels by
about $20 million to make up for
foregone sales tax revenue,” she
said.
Because the new set of numbers
reflected cuts rather than increases,
the plan did not need Council
approval, she said.
PICA’s executive director Uri
A family memorial for Kareem Haynes rests in front of his home at 1729
N. 29th Street in North Philadelphia on Sept. 10.
–ABDUL R. SULAYMAN/TRIBUNE CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
Panel members for the UYRS, “What It Takes 2” symposium on Tuesday. From left, Leonard Weaver of the Philadelphia Eagles; Ted Reid, SVP
Morgan Stanley/Global wealth adviser; James Brown, anchor CBS NFL Today; Todd Ervin, ISC executive; and Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia
76ers. – ABDUL R. SULAYMAN/TRIBUNE CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
High-profile men preach life’s lessons to district students
kids will relate to one of them.”
James Brown, who is the anchor
of “The NFL Today” on CBS and
Showtime’s “Inside the NFL,”
served as the moderator.
“I can think back to folks who
took an interest in me whether it
was individually or as part of a
group,” he said. “So I wanted to
make sure I’m giving back as well.”
Brown added that there is a passel
of youngsters with latent possibilities
in the Black community
that just needs proper guidance.
“I know that we’ve got so much
talent in our community, especially
among these young Black men,” he
said. “I want to make sure that
opposed to saying what’s wrong,
I’m doing something about it.”
Topics such as the need for pursuing
education and not succumbing
to peer pressure along with facing
and overcoming racism were
covered.
Philadelphia 76ers forward Andre
Iguodala said he remembered an
instance of dealing with racism
while he was growing up in
Springfield, Ill., specifically when his
mother was trying to rent a home.
“She sounded proper on the
phone,” he said. “She spoke great
English. On the phone, she sounded
like a white lady, I guess to the
guy. We show up to the house, he
saw a different face and he was like
the house is not for rent. I saw how
upset she was, but she kept moving
forward.”
As part of the event, a couple of
students won Xbox games systems
in a raffle.
The students also signed a pledge
that stated they would maintain
high marks and attend school regularly.
It was announced that students
with the highest attendance and
best grade point average at the end
of the first marking period would
win tickets to the 2010 NFL Pro
Bowl.
School Superintendent Arlene
Ackerman said she was impressed
by the messages of those on the
panel and how the students
received them.
“I have been in rooms with hundreds
of young people and you
don’t hear that kind of quiet,” she
said. “The students were hanging
on their every words.”
Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority examined spending plan
Monson said his research mirrored
Green’s.
“It only involved spending
changes which involved the mayor
spending less than previously
appropriated amounts, changes
which did not require legislative
action. As such, no additional resolution
or approval from City
Council was required,” he said.
PICA approved Plan B budget as
a way to avoid acting on the more
controversial Plan C budget, which
involved deep budget cuts. In
approving Plan B, PICA gave the
city eight more days to avoid
implementing Plan C.
The board said Plan C had serious
flaws.
“We have very serious questions
about Plan C as submitted to us,”
said PICA chairman James
Eisenhower on Sept. 11, citing specific
concerns about plans to eliminate
funding for the city’s courts,
which he called untenable.
That eight-day window ends
Friday.
If by then the state legislature
fails to authorize the city to temporarily
raise the sales tax by 1
percent and restructure pension
plan payments, Plan C will be
resubmitted to PICA.
PICA – Page 2B