Discover Top Posts Tagged with #fong lee

Youa Vang, whose son Fong Lee was killed by Minneapolis police in 2006, calls the moment a "fight for humanity"

#fong lee #hmong #minneapolis pd #police brutality #hbob

TROY DAVIS HAIKU

We are Troy Davis! Tell me why we are dying? Death penalty us. -rsc

#Oscar grant #Poetry #Fong lee #Vincent Chung #Troy Davis #too much doubt #haiku #spoken word #death penalty

#Bao Phi #Fong Lee #Race #Racial Profiling #Hmong

Youth & Gangs

For those of us who grew up in parts of the US like North Minneapolis and Frogtown, we were accustomed to gang activity as young people. But as we've grown, the trend seems to have veered toward education. While many of us have gone to college, we have noticed a decreased trend in gang activity in our communities, especially in our pools of friends.

However, that does not mean gangs are dying off. In November, a 14-year-old was sexually assaulted by a group of young men in the Twin Cities. This group was True Blood 22, a gang I hadn't heard of until this incident. The gang formed as a result of several factors, some being unstable family situations, pressure to create protection from bullies and gangs, and the need for a place to belong. Follow the link above to read more from former TB22 member Jesse Lor.

It doesn't do much to help the issue when members of the community who are essentially supposed to inspire youth to follow a positive life path are the ones ultimately accusing youth of being bad people. As a young woman growing up in North Minneapolis, I had a teacher or two accuse me of throwing up gang signs (they were the universal peace & love signs) and ask me if I was in a gang. This made no sense as I was a straight-A student who was rather quiet. There was Fong Lee, an innocent guy who was simply riding his bike around North Minneapolis when police shot him eight times and killed him. There are members of the community who, upon seeing youth of color on the street, immediately assume that they are up to no good. There are several teachers who, upon a few disruptions in class, make judgements about what kind of people these kids are, even though they're kids. They are still developing their sense of person. I know that I do not fully understand the pressures and responsibilities of teaching, being a community leader, or a law official. But what happens to our youth when it seems like all the people we are looking up to are the ones telling us we are bad people?

I had several friends from elementary school to now who were/are in gangs. They are essentially good people who just followed different life paths due to their circumstances. Whether we like it or not, our society is set up to drive some of these youth straight into violent lifestyles. I could have easily ended up in a gang. Fortunately, I was one of the lucky ones. I had more people champion me than put me down along the way. But not everyone does.

So instead of simply judging gang members and accusing them of evil, I wonder how we can understand how they got to where they are. I wonder how we can fix our society so that future youth of color can have a fighting chance.

-Jo