Just in from our AmeriCorps team in Houston. . .

[This report just in from Dr. Keven Vicknair, Director of our AmeriCorps team at CitySquare.  CitySquare directs almost 300 AmeriCorps members who work in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin this summer at children's programs and delivering summer lunches to thousands of low-income kids.  I find this report both amazing and yet, not at all atypical for some of the neighborhoods where we live and work.]

AmeriCorps members are gathered right now, eating lunch and talking about their day with one another.

As I walked through, I heard two members tell a story of their experience putting out door hangers at one of their stops.

The manager had told them not to talk to anyone on site. As the team of two young people made their way through the complex, they came across a group of young men blocking the path and talking about shooting someone the night before.

The team had to make a choice to turn back to go the long way around the property or to casually pass.

They choose to casually pass and the group stopped talking, let them pass, and then resumed their discussion of the person they shot the previous evening.

So... as you go about your day, please know you will at least not have to experience anything like the fear these two 20 years old members did today as they tried to make sure kids have a decent meal for lunch.

Keven

Guns and cities

I can't speak for people who reside in rural areas of our nation. 

However, I can speak from an urban context.

 The ready availability of guns, including semi-automatic weapons designed for military and law enforcement actions, destroys our confidence and sense of safety. Tragically, the presence of these weapons all too often destroys families and permanently disrupts lives.

These realities explain why the President's words during his state of the union speech last Tuesday night meant so much to me.

 How about you?

 

The violence must stop!

Anyone who lives in an urban neighborhood should be concerned about the sheer numbers of firearms and weapons that are present on the streets, in the traffic jams, the homes, the business and on countless persons we meet daily.

Clearly, we need a multi-faceted approach to deal with the violence that ruins so many lives every day.

 Gun control regulation will not be the total answer, but it must be part of any answer we come up with, and we need answers now.

 Let me know what you think of the video below.

 I hope you'll get involved in the effort to make our communities safer and more livable.

 

Gun violence: Enough

Anyone who lives or works in an inner city community understands something of the problems created by the presence of so many firearms.  Factor in the growing number of rapid fire, semi-automatic weapons, equipped with 30-round clips and you begin to visualize the terror of the problem we face with a gun policy that doesn't provide enough regulation.  

I know the problem extends beyond just controlling the trafficking of weapons.  Cuts in mental health services funding over the past 30 plus years plays a role as well. 

But there is no denying, guns are a huge part of the public safety crisis.  

What follows is a statement  appearing in USAToday on January 7, 2013 from former Arizona U. S. Representative Gabby Giffords and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly about their new effort to press for real reform in the nation's gun control efforts.  

What do you think?  

Giffords and Kelly: Fighting gun violence

Our new campaign will launch a national dialogue and raise funds to counter influence of the gun lobby.

This country is known for using its determination and ingenuity to solve problems, big and small. Wise policy has conquered disease, protected us from dangerous products and substances, and made transportation safer. But when it comes to protecting our communities from gun violence, we're not even trying — and for the worst of reasons.

I was shot in the head while meeting with constituents two years ago today. Since then, my extensive rehabilitation has brought excitement and gratitude to our family. But time and time again, our joy has been diminished by new, all too familiar images of death on television: the breaking news alert, stunned witnesses blinking away tears over unspeakable carnage, another community in mourning. America has seen an astounding 11 mass shootings since a madman used a semiautomatic pistol with an extended ammunition clip to shoot me and kill six others. Gun violence kills more than 30,000 Americans annually.In response to a horrific series of shootings that has sown terror in our communities, victimized tens of thousands of Americans, and left one of its own bleeding and near death in a Tucson parking lot, Congress has done something quite extraordinary — nothing at all.

An ideological fringe

Special interests purporting to represent gun owners but really advancing the interests of an ideological fringe have used big money and influence to cow Congress into submission. Rather than working to find the balance between our rights and the regulation of a dangerous product, these groups have cast simple protections for our communities as existential threats to individual liberties. Rather than conducting a dialogue, they threaten those who divert from their orthodoxy with political extinction.

As a result, we are more vulnerable to gun violence. Weapons designed for the battlefield have a home in our streets. Criminals and the mentally ill can easily purchase guns by avoiding background checks. Firearm accessories designed for killing at a high rate are legal and widely available. And gun owners are less responsible for the misuse of their weapons than they are for their automobiles.

Forget the boogeyman of big, bad government coming to dispossess you of your firearms. As a Western woman and a Persian Gulf War combat veteran who have exercised our Second Amendment rights, we don't want to take away your guns any more than we want to give up the two guns we have locked in a safe at home. What we do want is what the majority of NRA members and other Americans want: responsible changes in our laws to require responsible gun ownership and reduce gun violence.

We saw from the NRA leadership's defiant and unsympathetic response to the Newtown, Conn., massacre that winning even the most common-sense reforms will require a fight. But whether it has been in campaigns or in Congress, in combat or in space, fighting for what we believe in has always been what we do.

Let's not be naive

We can't be naive about what it will take to achieve the most common-sense solutions. We can't just hope that the last shooting tragedy will prevent the next. Achieving reforms to reduce gun violence and prevent mass shootings will mean matching gun lobbyists in their reach and resources.

Americans for Responsible Solutions, which we are launching today, will invite people from around the country to join a national conversation about gun violence prevention, will raise the funds necessary to balance the influence of the gun lobby, and will line up squarely behind leaders who will stand up for what's right.

Until now, the gun lobby's political contributions, advertising and lobbying have dwarfed spending from anti-gun violence groups. No longer. With Americans for Responsible Solutions engaging millions of people about ways to reduce gun violence and funding political activity nationwide, legislators will no longer have reason to fear the gun lobby. Other efforts such as improving mental health care and opposing illegal guns are essential, but as gun owners and survivors of gun violence, we have a unique message for Americans.

We have experienced too much death and hurt to remain idle. Our response to the Newtown massacre must consist of more than regret, sorrow and condolence. The children of Sandy Hook Elementary School and all victims of gun violence deserve fellow citizens and leaders who have the will to prevent gun violence in the future.

Gabrielle Giffords is the former Democratic U.S. representative from Arizona. Mark Kelly is a former astronaut.

ENOUGH!

Children mowed down in their classroom.

Elementary school children.

And teachers at school doing their jobs to guide, educate, shape and encourage our precious national treasure.

Enough!

The time has come, and it's long overdue, for serious action to control the distribution of weapons in our nation.

There should be no argument whatsoever about outlawing automatic assault weapons completely.

Over 40% of the weapons sold in the U. S. today are distributed from Internet websites that require no registration or qualification process.

Have we completely lost our minds?

Is this what the framers of our constitution meant by the Second Amendment?

No, it is not!  

Things have degenerated to the point that a plausible suggestion would be to legalize drugs and outlaw weapons. Such dual action would likely drive the level of violence down so far in this nation that we actually might find a better way to live and a safer place to raise our children.

There is no sensible argument remaining today for the purchase, marketing, manufacture or ownership of automatic assault weapons.

ENOUGH!

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No time to celebrate

Last Friday, I attended the funeral service of a 13-year-old child who was shot in the head earlier in the week.  I didn't know the young man, but his grandfather is a dear friend. 

It seems the boy, who recently had moved to the Lake Highlands area with his family, went back to his old neighborhood to see some friends.  Somehow he got tangled in a gangland style drug deal that went very wrong.  He lost his life because of a bad decision and some bad timing. 

The funeral slammed me emotionally.  The boy had adjusted well to his new school.  He made friends quickly.  His grades were all good.  He joined the football team, and was a key player.  As I viewed  his small body, I saw he was wearing his football jersey and a pair of  wide receiver or defensive back gloves.  They were pink, just like the gloves one of my grandsons asked me to get him for Christmas. 

The funeral went about like all funerals among poor folks.  The pastors assured us that this was a time for "celebration," faith and thanksgiving. 

Really? 

Seriously?

Now, I think I get the intent.  I served as a pastor for almost 25 years.  At times of grave loss, as this one, we want to lift up and not cast down.  We want to encourage and not add to the burden of loss.  I get that, believe me.

But, maybe that typical approach is no longer adequate or even appropriate with the lives of so many children on the line today. 

Maybe it's time for a pastor to stand up and say, "Enough!  Enough, Lord, enough!"

I mean, I wanted to stand up and shout, "We ain't gonna take this any more!" 

Where is the leader who will dismiss the service after inviting everyone to gather in the fellowship hall for first of weekly community organizing meetings? 

We've got work to do, folks!  Our babies are being snuffed out while we sing  more of the same old songs, and speak of God as if God needs our defense.  Maybe God does.  I certainly have a question or two of my own. 

But, this is not about us or our faith or our traditions.  This is no platform for a "spiritual performance." This is a place of tragedy reserved for pure, hard grief. 

This is about life and death and justice and fairness and, and beautiful children being killed while we take our ease in thoughts of life after this one. 

Sorry, but no one has dismissed us from our primary assignment:  bringing the will of heaven to the earth, and that doesn't include 2-hour services that celebrate the death of a child. 

There is nothing to celebrate in the death of a bright, beautiful, bewildered young boy like we laid to rest last Friday. 

There is, however, much to ponder. 

This kid was set up by a childhood dominated by poverty, confusion and little hope.  Even when he broke out of a part of his trap, he didn't have all that he needed to make it.  He was so young.  But he had found something on the street that he didn't find in his options in the community as it existed for him.  He certainly didn't find what he needed in the church.  The holes destroyed him. 

It's past time for adults to get together and force the change we need.  That means parents, pastors, school leaders, politicians, policy makers, academics, business leaders and community gate keepers.  It is time to make some changes.  Everything comes into sharper focus when you are gazing in the casket of a 13-year-old child.  Everything, including public policy and community reform.

The young man has gone on.  His life is in the hands of God. 

But our work is here and it is now.  Forgive me, but I don't think we have the time right now to think much more about heaven and the "other side."  Not with so much "hell" all around us, including other babies that likely will be sacrificed while we carry on with business as usual.

Celebrate the death of a 13-year-old baby? 

Forgive me, but I just can't get there. 

Archie Bunker's solution to skyjackings to visit Texas campuses

Years ago an "All in the Family" program featured Archie Bunker's solution to airline skyjackers.  It went something like this:  "Sure dare, Meathead, yous pass out the 45s as people get on da plane and yous solve your problem!" 

Apparently the Texas legislature agrees.  They seem to be adopting the same logic as Bunker in regard to the campuses of Texas colleges and universities.  I couldn't believe this report that appeared in The Dallas Morning News on Monday, February 21, 2011. 

Have we simply lost our minds? 

Read it and tell me what you think.

Legislation to allow concealed handguns on Texas campuses worries Dallas-area students

By LAUREN MICHAELS and AMBER BELL
Staff Writers
Published 21 February 2011 01:30 PM

Supporters of legislation that would allow students and faculty to carry concealed handguns at colleges and universities in Texas say their goal is to make campuses safer.

But some of the Dallas-area students they hope to protect say they’d feel less secure knowing their peers might be armed.

“If the gun was out there, I would feel uneasy,” said Russell Ansley, a junior at the University of Texas at Dallas. “It could create an atmosphere of hostility.”

Phil Montgomery, a junior at the University of North Texas, said he’d rather see more security officers than ask students to pitch in.

“I don't feel I should have to take a gun in order to be safe at school,” he said. “Having an officer or two in a building would be more beneficial than having any kid that wanted to bring their own weapons to school.”

The bill has broad support in the Legislature but faces several hurdles before becoming law. Neither the House nor Senate has considered the measure. Texas would be the second state, after Utah, to pass such a broad-based law.

The measure’s proponents say it could help prevent campus gun violence, such as the shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007, Northern Illinois in 2008 and UT-Austin just last year.

Click here to read entire report. 

Gran Torino: a "must see" for community builders

Gran Torino is a must-see film for community builders. I got the feeling watching it that Clint Eastwood did this film because he knew it needed to be produced.

Walt Kowalski, Eastwood's character, a veteran of the Korean War , lives in a radically changed community in Detroit, Michigan. His long-time home neighborhood is now populated largely by immigrants.

Take a look at this trailer here.

Kowalski's relationship with his priest, Father Janovich, played by Christopher Carley, and the family next door evolves over the course of the story. Both become determinative for him as his own understanding of community and his own humanity grow.

The Hmong family who are neighbors, led by teens Tao (Ben Vang) and Sue Lor (Anhey Her), welcome him into their lives in ways that are infinitely more satisfying than his experience with his own children who are disconnected from him following the death of his wife.

The interplay between Kowalski and his young protege, Tao, as it relates to his immaculate 1972 Ford Gran Torino is more than fun to watch.

The messages from the film are many, and will be obvious to those who spend their days at the work of building community against the barriers of race and class and clan. This is a graphic film (containing tough language!) about reconciliation, redemption and authenitc love expressed across racial, cultural and generational lines.

If you've seen it or once you've seen it, I'd love your take on the film.

__________________________________________

Speaking of community building, you've got to read Gerald Britt's latest Op-Ed essay in today's issue of The Dallas Morning News right here.

What do you think?

.

Wyshina Harris, tragic loss

Last Saturday morning at about 7:00 a.m., Wyshina Harris, our dear friend and former team member here at Central Dallas Ministries was gunned down on her way to work. A wonderful person, a great mom, a hard working community leader, Wyshina Harris was murdered in cold blood on her way to work.

When she worked with us here at CDM, she provided wonderful direction for the children in our After School Academy located in Turner Courts, a Dallas Housing Authority development where she lived for a time. More recently she had moved with her children to a house in far East Dallas.

No doubt many of you have seen the stories about this heinous crime. Read the initial report in The Dallas Morning News here.

Wyshina leaves two precious children, Jordan, second grader, and Jazmine, a seventh grader (pictured above).

Earlier this week I received a message from Janet Morrison, Director of Education Outreach and Wyshina's former supervisor, that read in part:

Education and seeing her kids succeed was so important to her. I know that she would want to know that they are completely taken care of. We are assuming that Jazmine and Jordan will stay with their grandparents here in Dallas, but nothing has been finalized yet. I have been trying to think of ways that Wyshina would have wanted to see her children taken care of in her passing. Sylvia and I decided that the best way would be to set up a trust fund of some kind so that the kids will have be taken care of. We are currently looking into the details of setting it up. After I talk to Wyshina's parents, I can let you know more about what they decide will be the most helpful.

DONATIONS
If you would like to donate money (in lieu of flowers…or in addition to flowers) to secure a fund for Jordan and Jazmine, please make checks payable to Central Dallas Ministries with Wyshina Harris in the memo line. You can send the checks to Central Dallas Ministries, Attn: Jenny Fogel, P.O. Box 710385, Dallas, TX 75371. Or, if you would rather donate online, go to www.centraldallasministries.org/donate and click on Wyshina Harris in the drop down menu. (Note: if "Wyshina Harris" hasn't been added yet, click on Education and then email me to let me know the amount you donated so that they can make sure your funds are designated correctly).

To read more about this wonderful person and what a great loss our community has experienced in her death visit Janet's blog at http://janetmorrison.blogspot.com/. You'll be able to see a number of photos at Janet's site. Those of us who counted Wyshina as a friend will smile and cry at once.

May God have mercy. May the violence stop.

.

AR-15. . .Second Amendment rights, market profits and community

Did you hear the news report about the effect of the Presidential election on the price and sales of AR-15 assault rifles?

It seems that people feel that Barack Obama will be the winner in next Tuesday's election and that he will extend the ban on automatic assault weapons that President George W. Bush allowed to expire.

The rush to buy is motivated by several factors. People who want such a weapon fear that they will not be able to purchase one after Obama takes office. Others evidently are in the market feeling that the expected new policy will drive up the price of the weapons, making them a good investment.

Automatic assault weapons, military grade, designed to kill human beings. This is no sport weapon. We can debate the original intention of the Constitution's second amendment another time (for my part, I know Jefferson would be appalled!).

But, I'm thinking of my community just now.

The presence of AR-15 assault weapons on our streets doesn't make sense and cannot be justified by any argument, at least not if your goal is to improve and sustain community health, public safety and human well-being.

Why does anyone need such a weapon? How does the availability of these weapons help anyone.

Whoever is elected Tuesday, I pray the ban is extended. . .permanently.

What do you think?

.

AK-47s and civil society

So, it's happened again.

This time in Omaha, Nebraska.

An extremely disturbed young man with an AK-47 automatic assault rifle attacks an upscale store in a large shopping mall before taking his own life.

Unfortunately, events like this don't surprise us anymore, do they?

Maybe I just don't get it, but do we really need to be able to purchase and own AK-47s? Is this what the Second Amendment really had in mind? And, weapons like this have nothing to do with game hunting.

I can hear my boo birds already. "If you make guns like this illegal, you'll just create an underground market. You can't control guns by making them against the law," etc., etc., etc.

I don't buy it.

Assault weapons, designed for only one purpose--the taking of human life--should be against the law. The manufacture, sale and ownership of weapons like this should not be allowed in this country. Anyone caught making, selling, owning or using such a weapon, except the U. S. military or law enforcement officials, ought to be charged with a felony offense. Those who manufacture and sell such weapons for any non-military use should pay a price.

Gun violence continues to be a major problem in urban America. Here in Dallas it seems like we read a story a day about death by guns.

No one is arguing against hunting or the right to organize for national defense.

But, AK-47s? Come on.

____________________________________________________________________

Since writing this, we have watched reports on two more shootings in Colorado. At this time it is uncertain if they are connected. Early reports indicate that they may be. Both involve people of faith as targets of the shooter(s). One report I heard interviewed a witness who mentioned seeing the shooter with "an automatic assault rifle." No relationship between this type of weapon and any rational reading of the Second Amendment. When will this madness end? When will we demand steps be taken that could at least make such insanity much more difficult and subject to tighter regulation and penalties?

.

Inner City Reality: A Parent's Testimony

Back in April at our annual urban ministry prayer breakfast, we hosted the top seven Dallas mayoral candidates in a public forum. We asked each of them to tell us what they intended to do in response to the growing needs of our fellow citizens who struggle daily in poor neighborhoods, especially in South Dallas and the Southern Sector of our city.

It was an interesting morning attended by about 1,200 people.

Included in the morning's program was a "testimony" by Wyshina Harris, a member of our staff of community builders. Wyshina works in the public housing development where she lives. She does great work in our After School Academy located at Turner Courts. She is working every day to make her neighborhood better for everyone.

Her powerful words need to be heard, not only in Dallas, but across the nation. Here's what she had to say to the candidates and the large audience that was present.
______________________

My name is Wyshina Harris and I am a resident of South Dallas. I have two kids--a 10-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old son.

I want South Dallas to become a place where I don't have to worry about my kids' safety every day. We see violence and drug dealing all around us. We hear gunshots fired regularly. My kids still get scared when they hear the gunshots. I don't want my kids to get over being scared of that. Kids aren't supposed to get used to hearing gunfire outside their front door.

There are as many liquor stores as churches in South Dallas. I'd like to see that change. We need a decent grocery store, clothing store, and gas station. It's hard to travel all the way to North Dallas to buy a decent pair of sneakers for my kids.

My kids go to H.S. Thompson Elementary. When people outside of the neighborhood find out where my kids go to school, they say, "Oh my gosh. You let your kids go to school there?!" Well, what's my alternative?! That's the neighborhood school. I can't afford private school for my kids. Our school needs good teachers and counselors who will fight to get kids on par with their grade level rather than sticking them into slow learning classes. We need resources to enable our kids to learn technology and to explore the arts. We can't allow our schools to set our kids up to fail.

I will tell you that there are a lot of things that need fixing in our neighborhood. I will also tell you that there is a lot of hope and a lot of strength in our neighborhood.

I think sometimes people think that people in poverty are just too lazy to pull themselves out. That isn't true. My neighbors talk to me about desperately wanting to find work and wanting to go to school to change their lives. We want the same things for ourselves and our children that you want for yourselves and your children.

I'm not giving up on South Dallas. I ask that you not give up on South Dallas either. We don't need a handout. We need authentic, impactful partnerships to help us solve these issues.

I don't share this with you today because I want your pity. I share this because I want your partnership. I want to work with you, and with the future mayor of our great city, to make Dallas a better place for all of us.

Thank you for listening.


.

Things that make you go hmmm. . .

Go figure.

Last week, Texas Governor Rick Perry told us that he thinks anyone who is licensed to carry a gun in Texas should be able to carry it anywhere, including to church, in a bar or a courthouse.

Perry was speaking to the tragedy that beset the Virginia Tech campus. If you are authorized to possess and tote a gun, you ought to be able to pack it anywhere you go, according to my governor.

You gotta admit, such a policy change would sure make Sunday School more interesting.

Sort of reminds me of Archie Bunkers' strategy to end airline high jacking in the 1970s: "When passengers board, just pass out the 45s and no one will have a problem."
____________________

The National Rifle Association filed a formal objection to President Bush for supporting a bill that would prohibit the sale of guns to suspected terrorists. The NRA feels as if this would be a threat to the Second Amendment rights of Americans to keep and bear arms, even if they are suspected of terrorist activities.

____________________

During recent discussions by the Farmers Branch, Texas City Council regarding undocumented immigrants, one of the chief concerns expressed in support of that city's proposed anti-immigrant ordinances had to do with national security and the threat of terrorists. Serious discussions were had at City Council regarding the danger of terrorists from Mexico. I'm checking the watch lists now for terrorists with Hispanic surnames. I'll get back to you when I find one ("Scenes from the Class Struggle in Farmers Branch," D Magazine, May 2007, pages 60ff).

____________________

The percentage of Americans living in severe poverty hit a 32-year high in 2005 (Affordable Housing Finance, April 2007, page 10). This according to McClatchy Newspapers' analysis of the 2005 census data. Almost 16 million Americans live in deep poverty.

What is "deep" or "severe" poverty? For a family of four it is an annual income of less than $9,903. For an individual, the severely poor earn less than $5,080.

The number of Americans mired in this deep, wretched poverty grew by 26 percent between 2000 and 2005. One of three severely poor Americans are younger than 17-years-old.

Seems to me that something beyond charity might be in order here.
___________________

Yesterday's edition of The New York Times carried a front page article on Liberation Theology's lingering influence in Latin America and Pope Benedict XVI's history with and response to the issues involved.

Fascinating read.

Got me to thinking how it is I can use religion and theology in service to my own cherished way of life to the detriment of others. At the same time, we often react with offense to differing theological perspectives from this same platform of self-justification. Across the years I've spent a good bit of time reading liberationist thinkers.

I remain amazed at the outrage of those who object in view of the needs of the people. For well over sixty years the issues of deep poverty, land reform, food crops vs. cash crops, clean water, economic development and housing have gone largely unaddressed and unresolved for the poor of Latin America.

I'm wondering how small Bible study groups aimed at finding answers to these pressing social dilemmas could be seen as a threat to the church.

_____________________

Hmmmmm.