Shot Through the Heart: Why Are Black Youth Dying?

by Beyond Chron (reposted)

Fri, Jun 23, 2006 6:53AM

A plump, youngish African American Woman with curls and braids sat a few chairs away from me in the ER watching television. She shifted her weight. A tear coursed down her cheek tracing a lighter brown track on the side of her face. She glanced at me, rubbing a tissue over her eyes. The show was about a kid who shot another kid. "That's sad." I observed. "My son was shot a month ago." "I'm SO sorry," I gasped. "A drive-by near the Market Street Safeway," she said. "The female MUNI driver got off the bus and looked in his face. She told me, 'He stared up with big wondering eyes. I could tell he was a really good person.'

"He was 26 years old, always just a quiet, good kid. He didn't deserve that."
"He did not deserve that," I agreed. She shared her grief freely. Tears poured from her eyes. "He would sit in his room," she continued. "We would talk. He told me everything he was doing. "He was naturally quiet. No trouble. No drugs. No alcohol. Good job. He went to computer school and worked at a tech center."

He was the second oldest of four children, an older brother, and little sisters, 2 and 4. "We live in the Avenues," she said. "We had a big community gathering --- a service for him. "People told me, 'He was such a loving person. He did not deserve this.'" "I wake up crying," she said. "I go to sleep crying."

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