Hello brothers and sisters,

Where should I start? Let me start out by flat out saying that this type of scenario is not new. I am putting aside the specifics of the situation and focusing on the roots causes I believe should be emphasize when blogging or when having a conversation about the horrific experiences youth in Richmond experience. We have heard a lot about what happened that night and the people who were involved. But what we have not focused on is the lives of the youth who participated. For you see, a lot of people in Richmond are sick. Living in Richmond is not a walk in the park and surviving in the streets means becoming numb to sick society norms that have been justified by certain media outlets, music and propaganda. Different images and sounds trigger different parts of our brain, thus changing actions or manipulating them. The majority of the youth in Richmond follow the same movement, and in parties/dances we can see the evolution of thinking by the way we dance and even the way we dress. And in our case it means less clothes and more booty shaking.

However, I do want people to keep in mind that Native Indians and many other indigenous people wore nothing during hot/warm days and it did not mean that they were perverted. Something I have learned about life recently is that its not the object that matters but the way you interpret it. This is why media is so key when talking about actions and the influence it has on youth. What mainstream media does to our brain can be categorized as mind control. It only shows us one side of the story, and the articles/stories/videos on the rape is a perfect example of how the media interprets things for us, thus not allowing us to do it ourselves. When we allow someone to think for us, we become dependent of that person therefore never really critically thinking for ourselves. I can tell the trend of thoughts by simply looking at fashion, I see a lot of the same clothes. Same holds truth with drug use, and if you live in Richmond you are well aware of the liquor stores that stand in almost every corner and not to mention drug dealers. This is not new! We really need to stop being so reactive and begin a slower but more sustainable change. Richmond in my eyes is a third world community of the U.S.We are almost invisible and many of our people are being exploited due to lack of education and knowledge. By simply looking at Richmond high funds we can see where the problem begins, our schools have been cut throughout the years and its getting worse. Lack of funds in all sectors makes it extremely difficult for low income families to maintain a stable family. Money can bring a lot of issues back home, it can even break families apart. If we took the time to research every person involve in the rape we will quickly find out that these youth had serious problems at home. Not to say that the parents are to blame because the parents themselves had a hard child hood. Poverty and violence go hand in hand, California use to be number one in funding for education and now we are number 48! WHERE IS OUR MONEY GOING?!?!? 

Not to the youth in Richmond thats for sure, but to prisons that make people even more sick in the head. California is number 1 in funding for prisons. We spend around 3,000 a second on the war, is this the democracy we are trying to spread?!?! This madness is going to take more than some marches, protest, workshops and media to be resolved. Change lies in the minds of the people because thats where our actions come from. We must think consciously and think before we buy, think before we speak, think before we act, think before we eat, and yes, it is going to be a drag but where are we heading if we don't start NOW?! rethinking what we have been thought is extremely difficult, but this is an extreme problem and extreme measures need to be taken. Getting people to question their lives is a lot to ask for sometimes but we all need to do it once in our lives. Why not start today? never stop asking why. I am still in the process where my first reaction is sometimes negative so I step back and think more about the situation until it becomes more clear. Your not alone if you choose to start, we need to break deadly cycles. Just imagine it, if you change that means all your future generations will begin a new culture. Powerful, empowering and inspiring knowledge is the power we can pass on to our love ones. WE ARE THE CHANGE, it starts with you. Are you ready?