Through the Eyes of the Beholder

I'm always the first person to say, just because one person does something doesn't mean we all do it. I guess I failed to follow my own advice when it came to the #BaltimoreRiots. I sat in the midst of unity on Tuesday night at my church home Empowerment Temple for the #OneBaltimore townhall meeting. I went there expecting to hear the voices of eager adults seeking answers. But instead I heard voices of our very own youth eager to ask questions. "I wake up everyday to violence. No one cares. It's so hard for me to get through school, I just want to go to college." -16 year old inner city student I realized that the youth I saw perceived on the news rioting, looting and burning property was not the same youth that stood before me. I remember staring at the television on Monday evening shaking my head, thinking 'those bad little kids.' I was frustrated at the thought that they could recklessly tear down the city that housed them. But the question I was too ignorant in that moment to ask myself was are they being housed appropriately? Are they given the tools to success? What do they have? "Our education has been undermined. We have a lack of teachers and outdated books." -18 year old (Senior) inner city high school student It's not about what these particular kids that went (H.A.M.) did. It's about why. Why are they retaliating in this way? I remember asking my mother when I was younger, why do kids in the city have to take the public bus and I take the cheese bus? Don't they have to ride with strangers? That's not safe. She told me that's the only transportation provided to them. And I remember feeling thankful, like I'm glad I don't have to take public transportation. The voices of the younger generation was captured within the meeting among our concerned senior citizens and middle aged participants. The children of our city both male and female, ages ranging from 13-18 were crying out for our help. The depiction through the media is one you could not compare to the things I heard from our younger generation that night. I had to check myself and realize that I haven't walked a mile in their shoes. Nor have I endured their struggle of being undermined, underprivileged and stereotyped daily. Who am I? And furthermore who are we to sit and watch this issue slip through the cracks of the system? "This is less than what we are, less than what we can be. This is anarchy." 13 year old (8th grader) inner city middle student