Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence [Paperback ed.] 080704461X, 9780807044612

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Personal History of Violence in America

Geoffrey Canada

Beacon Press Boston

Beacon Press 25 Beacon Street Boston, Massachusetts 02108-2892

Beacon Press books are published under the auspices of

the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.

©

1995 by Geoffrey Canada All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

An earlier version of chapter 25, "Monsters," appeared in New York Times, December 17, 1992, copyright © 1992 by The New York Times Company, reprinted by permission. the

Some of the names in this book have been changed. 04 03 02 01

10 9 8

11

Text design by Daniel Ochsner Composition by Wilsted

& Taylor

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Canada, Geoffrey. Fist stick knife gun: a personal history of violence in

America / Geoffrey Canada. p.

cm.

ISBN 0-8070-0422-7 (cloth) ISBN 0-8070-0423-5 (paper) 1. Children and violence children— New York (N.Y.) .

— New York (N.Y.) 3.

.

2.

Violence in

Children— New York (N.Y.)— Social

conditions.

I.

HQ784.V55C36 305.23'09747'1— dc20

Title.

1995 94-41357

This book

IS

dedicated to

my mother

Mary Canada and to have

other

had to do

women who

it

on their own.

Contents

Preface

Part

I:

Codes

ix

of

Conduct 3

Chapter One Chapter Two

9

Chapter Three

13

Chapter Four

23

Chapter Five

29

Chapter Six

35

Chapter Seven

45

Chapter Eight

51

Chapter Nine

57

Part II:

A

Matter of Time

Chapter Ten

67

Chapte Eleven

77

Contents

Chapter

Preface

It

was

saw

a bad

summer, the summer

a sixteen-year-old

of

1993

New York City.

in

Late August

mother accidently shot by a thirteen-year-old

boy.

He was trying to shoot a sixteen-year-old boy. The young mother was trying to save her baby, who was playing a few yards away. She was climbing a small fence that surrounded the playground. killing

her

instantly, leaving

The

bullet entered her head,

her draped on the fence. Several days later

the police arrested two other boys, both teenagers, killing a thirteen-year-old girl.

The

was raped,

girl

a knife, then as she lay half dead and moaning,

who were accused

of

cut several times with

one boy stomped on her

neck, over and over. She was placed in a large box, carried to an aban-

doned girl's

came

lot,

and hours

later

one boy came back to set the box on

body, burned beyond recognition,

fire.

The

was discovered by firefighters who

to put out the fire.

Then, on August 29,

a ten-year-old

when he broke away and ran They managed to shoot him in his thigh, also managed to shoot

man, their intended victim, for his

life.

boy was shot. Two men had another

in hand,

guns

out,

Preface

The

ten-year-old Luis Rivera in the head.

was

in

very

last

the papers reported, Luis

critical condition.

The summer is the worst time for the children I know. More of them are outside.

Too hot and too boring

teenagers. Life

lived

is

and

lost

to be inside.

There are few jobs

for the

on the streets. By the time they shot

little

Luis in the head in August, sixty other innocent bystanders under sixteen

had been shot that year is

New York

in

many

getting worse. Too

There would be more.

City.

guns, too

much

It

really

crack, too few jobs, so

little

hope.

America has long had a tory,

we

teach

to

it

all

love affair with violence

of our young.

The

and guns.

It's

our his-

Revolution, the "taming of the

West," the Civil War, the world wars, and on and on. Guns, justice, righteousness, freedom, liberty teach about non-violence, King,

Jr., killed

by the

we

the rhetoric what

—

tied to violence.

all

we have

to use the

violent. I'm sorry,

Even when we

America, but once you get past

really learn is that

might does make

people have just never had any might. But they want

want

try to

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther

it.

right.

Poor

Oh, how they

it.

It is

because most people

in this

country don't have to think about their

personal safety every day that our society lence that

is

is still

engulfing our cities and towns.

complacent about the vio-

What

if I

were

to tell

you that

we are approaching one of the most dangerous periods in our history since the Civil War? Rising unemployment, shifting economic priorities, hun-

dreds of thousands of people growing up poor and with no chance of employment, never having held a legal job. useful role in America

A new generation, tions of war.

War

A whole generation who serve no

now and see no hope of a future role for themselves.

the handgun generation. Growing up under the condi-

as a child,

war as an adolescent, war as an

adult.

War

never ending.

Not like Vietnam, where Americans,

war today vive.

is

Day by

home. There day,

is

if

they survived,

came home. The

not even the hope of getting out. You just sur-

hour by hour. Year after year after year.

For the handgun generation there is no post-traumatic stress sjTidrome

because there to people

is

no "post."

who never

We need a new term to describe what happens

get out from under war conditions,

ing traumatic stress syndrome."

I

maybe

"continu-

used to read that the thing that made the

Preface

Vietnamese such decades.

up

I

don't

fierce fighters

was

that they

had been fighting for many

know if this is true or not, but I've watched children grow and now they're young adults. The next generation

fighting with guns,

might be called the Uzi generation because

of their

weapons. These children, armed better than the

penchant for automatic

police, are

growing up as

violent if not more so than the handgun generation. And the gun manufacturers in their greed continue to pump more and more guns into our al-

ready saturated ghettos.

Some may

think that this violence

ways been around, is

that

it's

not. Violence has al-

amongst the poor. The difference

we never had so many guns in our inner cities. The nature of the vio-

lent act has I

new, but

is

usually concentrated

changed from the fist,

remember.

stick,

and knife to the gun. But violence,

Parti

Codes

of

Conduct

One

I

was probably four when

in the

I

first

became aware

Bronx on Cauldwell Avenue.

a small apartment.

early part of

my

My

life

father lived there for

was not

but he

of violence.

a strong

mother and he were already breaking

some

memories well.

of

my

up. His drinking

He was just

not

much

our survival depended on Later the

He was

of a father.

my

Even

father and

but

I

my

life

are cloudy today, and

as a very young child

would have

mother separated sometime

him every now and

then.

He was

in

me

I

knew

at the time.

a profound impact

that year.

lost to alcohol

Harlem.

in-

not a bad man; he treated us

was four and the world seemed

superintendent of a building

My

was becoming

on

fine.

He

boys, no child support, no nothing. For the next fifteen years visit

in

he seemed incapable of

mother. This didn't bother

fragility of our ability to survive

my brothers and me,

My

this part of

father are neutral.

I

small portion of that

presence in our family.

tolerable, his financial support sporadic at best, as

keeping a job. The images from

We were living

My mother, my three brothers, and

left us,

four

we would go

and took on the job of

He later remarried. We barely no-

Codes of Conduct

When we

ticed his leaving. like after a

visited

we mostly went

to see

what he looked

few years. Whatever pressure and stress his leaving put on my

mother, having to raise four boys alone, she didn't show to us. everything was

fine.

But we were young,

still

We thought

living in a childhood period

of innocence.

Down the

block from us

was

a playground.

have to cross a street to get there. brother, Daniel,

was

six,

It

We were

next came John,

brother Reuben was two. Reuben and

I

was nearby and we close in age.

My

didn't

oldest

who was five, I was four, and my were unable

to

go to the play-

ground by ourselves because we were too young. But from time to time

my two oldest brothers would go there together and play. remember them coming

I

inside

one afternoon having just come back

from the playground. There was great excitement noticed right

My brother John responded, Well,

we

in the air.

My mother

away and asked, "Where's John's jacket?"

all

figured that

"This boy

was the end

.

.

.

this

of that.

boy he took my jacket."

My mother would have to

go and get the jacket back. But the questioning continued. "What do you

mean, he took your jacket?" "I

was playing on the

sliding

board and

the bench, and this boy he tried to take

it.

I

took

And

I

my jacket off and left it on said it was my jacket, and

And he took it. And I tried to take it back, and he pushed me and said he was gonna beat me up." To my mind John's explanation was clear and convincing, this case was closed. I was stunned when my mother turned to my oldest brother, Danhe said he was gonna take

iel,

and

said,

it.

"And what did you do when

this

boy was taking your

brother's jacket?"

Daniel looked shocked.

ognized the edge

in

thing and none of us

Daniel answered, off. I

What did he have to do with this? And we all rec-

my mother's voice.

Daniel was being accused of some-

knew what it was. "I didn't

do nuthin'.

I

told Johnny not to take his jacket

told him."

My mother exploded.

"You let somebody take your brother's jacket and

you did nothing? That's your younger brother. You can't let people just take your things. You know not ever do this again.

I

don't have

Now

money

for another jacket.

You better

you go back there and get your brother's

jacket."

4

Chapter One

My mouth was hanging open. talking about, go back and get

was gonna beat up John,

the boy

wrestled

us

I

it?

all

it. What was my mother Dan and Johnny were the same size. If

couldn't believe

knew how

to fight.

We

were

made no sense

all

equally incompetent

me.

fighting.

So

her eye

would have protested. Even

fair.

I

But

it

also

I

he certainly could beat up Dan.

well,

knew

to

that look in

my

If

mother's eye.

came

it

to

that look in

knew

this wasn't

A look that

signified a

at four years old

My brother Dan was in shock. He felt the "Ma,

can't beat that boy.

I

My mother

I

It's

not

same way

my jacket.

I

He

did.

can't get

I

tried to

it. I

can't."

gave him her ultimatum. "You go out there and get your

brother's jacket or will

when

my mother hadn't had

be crossed.

line not to

protest.

We

the time and occasionally hit one another in anger, but none of

when you

get back I'm going to give you a beating that

be ten times as bad as what that

little

do to you. And John,

thief could

you go with him. Both of you better bring that jacket back here."

The tears began to flow. Both John and Dan were crying. dered them out. Dan had

this look

on

his face that

I

stern determination showed through the tears. For the

want I

go with

to

My

strolled into the apartment.

mother gathered us

gether. That

had done

in

knew

we

didn't

my surprise, John and Dan triwe had

to stick to-

together and told us

all

we were

afraid.

making Dan go out and get the jacket was I

Dan and John

Dan was scared when he

knew I could never have to

I

in his hand.

couldn't let people think

that in not going with

portant.

time

Dan had John's jacket

she would not tolerate our becoming victims. I

first

A

my brothers to the park.

waited a long ten minutes and then, to

umphantly

My mother or-

had seen before.

left

That what she

know

that

listened unconvinced.

But

I'd

to let us

missed something im-

We were all scared. I How did Dan do it? I wanted

the house.

faced up to that boy.

know everything. "What happened?

How did you do it? Did you have to fight? Did you beat when he went back to the playground wearing John's jaket. He went up to him and

him up?" I asked. Dan explained the boy

was

still

there,

demanded the jacket. The boy to take

it

from fear vailed.

that

said no.

Dan was him. A moment of

Dan grabbed

the jacket and began

crying, but the boy

knew

was not

off the boy.

still

of

resistance, but Dan's determination pre-

The boy grew scared and Dan wrestled

it

the jacket free.

He even

Codes of Conduct

managed boy

a threatening "You better never bother

Dan's description of the confrontation

was get

trying to understand it

later,

why

didn't fight?

to

of

my brother again" as the

fled.

didn't

why Dan was

he take

What scared him

left

Even

off?

with more questions.

able to get the jacket.

back the

it

me

first

at four

time?

If

he could

How come

years old

I

I

the boy

knew I needed

know these things. I needed some clues on which I could build a theory how to act. Dan's story couldn't help me much. It took many years of

playing and hanging on the streets of the South Bronx before

together the pieces of the theory. jarkpf ppisnrip

The

only real lesson

was if 5;nnipr»np tai^^^c gprngth ing fro m you,

otherwise vou might he

I

began to put

learned from the

I

tell

your mother

d anger of getting your face puncKeJ^ in by some boy o p the streets of New York Cit\^_Thiswas a valuable bit of vo u lost

it.

in

understanding for a four-year-old jjUhe, Bronx.

Thave remembered sional career.

olently

I

this incident often

over the course of

my

heranse their paren ts

similar to those

my mother gave my brother:

fight

back or six

I

will

beat you

and seven would

bring weapons to school, or pick up bottles, bricks, or whatever

When asked about

ents told

The

vi-

told the iTvto. Parents often give instructions

when you get home. Many times children as young as hand.

profes-

have counseled so many children who've said they acted

was

at

their violent behavior they'd often say their par-

them to "get something and bash

his

head

children were telling the truth. In the

in."

more than twenty years

I

have spent counseling, teaching, and running programs for poor, innercity children,

I

have seen a steady stream of parents

The

children these instructions.

who have given their women raising

parents, inevitably single

children in the midst of an urban

war zone, come with

similar stories of

children being victimized again and again. Institutions doing nothing to

protect the child.

The child coming home scared,

for protection that they could not provide.

had no alternative. Accept

it,

scarred, looking to

The parents

feeling as

this is a violent world, so teach

them

if

they

them to cope

by acting more violently than the others. I

tried to help these parents

desperation. ton.

My

was

four.

They

felt like I

daughter, Melina, I

because

had once

was

sbc

I

understood their anger, their

felt. It

and

was 1976, the

in the first grade;

city

my

was Bos-

son, Jerry,

remember the shock and horror of my daughter getting off the

chapter One

bus (Boston was under court order to desegregate

its

schools and most

were bussed) coming home from school crying

children

Another little

in fear

and pain.

on the bus had started bullying her and had ended up rak-

girl

ing her face with her fingernails, leaving a set of four bloody trails

Melina's face.

I

was

livid.

little girl

had long

My daughter knew nothing about fighting.

Her

Her sense of safety destroyed. She reported that

beautiful face disfigured.

the

down

me

and she showed

nails just for fighting,

her

own

short nails as evidence of her defenselessness. I

did

what every good parent would do.

company and demanded the other

girl's

They couldn't do

that;

on the bus; they

called the school

We met and

a meeting.

showed

parents; no one

I

up.

I

talked.

have the money.

I

wanted

I

wanted the

she was only seven herself.

didn't

I

and the bus

girl

to

meet

suspended.

wanted extra security

wanted some assurance

my

daughter would not be attacked again; they would do their best. They did everything except give

me

what

how precious my daughter was sary to protect her. That fear and pain. That

I

I

to

wanted, a clear sense that they knew

me. That

I

would

fight

and die

if

neces-

couldn't look into her eyes again and see such

was a crazy man ready to do something desperate and

I

they needed to take that seriously.

But she wasn't

their daughter,

and most of the people I was talking with

felt

things like that happened every day in the Boston public schools. So

did

what so many parents do across

this violent nation.

I

sat

I

my daughter

down and told her she was never again to let any boy or girl attack her without fighting back. hitting

ter to

I

my children that fighting was wrong, that my mother before me didn't want my daugh-

had taught

was wrong. But

like

I

be a victim. Under different circumstances I might have been able to

put Melina in a safer, private school, but

I

was one year out

of graduate

school, with no money, teaching for a living.

my

Unlike

mother,

I

knew how

to fight.

I

able to be very specific about what to do and fini shed

when

to

do

violence. it.

I

was

My daughter

her school years with no love for violence, b ut she never again he-

carne a victim

When bottle, or ter.

knew about

I

sit

.

:

vr

.

j ci^

now with mothers whose

brought a knife to school,

I

children have hit

someone with

a

remember how I felt about my daughthink, who understand how

There are few people, these parents

scared they are for their children, not just about the incident that has

Codes of Conduct

brought them to me, but every day, child as a

scratch and bite,

all

the time.

Many

of

them see

their

They know that the cubs will eventually even kill the fawn. They feel their job is to turn

fawn penned

in

amongst

lion cubs.

their child into a lion cub, to help that child learn to scratch and bite back.

My

when John had his jacket made the decision that for her eldest sons the time of innocence had ended. It was time to learn about the laws of the jungle. As for me, I mother looked

at

her four boys that day

taken and

had heard about the

lion

cubs outside, but

and so I had never run into them.

was

quickly running out.

I

didn't

I

was not allowed out by myself

know it,

but my time of innocence

Two

I tell

people that

we were

the poorest welfare cheats that there ever was.

my mother working for slave wages (that's all they paid even the most competent black women in 1958) she could barely keep a roof over our heads. We moved several times when was still I was small. When I was six, we moved further up in the Bronx. kept under my mother's watchful eye most of the time, but occasionally I

A mother and four boys,

and with welfare and

I

was allowed I

to

go to the store.

remember one day asking my mother if I could go over and over again. I was given a dollar and sent one block away to the

Finally she relented and local

A&P

supermarket

for a

who

can of pork and beans. The boy

ap-

me as I paid for my purchase was maybe eight and seemed very interested in being my friend. He was a raggedy little boy with a circle on proached

his

head where no hair grew because of ringworm. He asked

walk back together.

no friends, and now around

me

I

was I

thrilled.

if

Since moving onto this block

couldn't believe

my

we I

good fortune. He put

and said we were going to be best friends.

He

could

had met his

arm

suggested we

Codes of Conduct

take a shortcut, which

He was my

argue.

quickly recognized as a longer route, but

I

apartment building, and money," was

he

all

There was an

friend. it

said.

was there

was

I

that

The

threat

didn't

my me your

he turned on me. "Give

in shock.

I

back of

alley leading to the

was more implied

than stated.

The money was

in

my

began to take the money.

came

some change

hand,

My new friend was

move.

couldn't

watched him as

I

me. Hit him with the can

to

know what was

in there. If

and hurt to do anything looked at him.

He was

hit

I

for a

of

He

not knowing what to do.

Why did

My

in the receipt.

a movie.

I

The thought

He

pork and beans in the bag.

my

on prying

didn't

I

was so

close to

home.

I

fingers loose; he wasn't even

my mind

screamed. But

couldn't.

I

I

money and just walked away. I watched him, mind was reeling. What had just happened?

me? Why

the boy pick

was

second or two, and

intent

took the

if it

up

He grabbed my hand and

him on the head he would be too shocked

looking at me. "Hit him, hit him!" couldn't hit him.

balled

robbing me.

couldn't

I

bring myself to hit him, to fight

back?

When

I

went back upstairs

cents he took from

me was

wanted

back.

to go get

it

On

retrieve our money.

If

I

didn't

not a I

told

know what amount

trivial

my mother,

the other hand,

I

of

she might

this

me

out with

my

to

brothers to find the boy.

I

sixty-one

our family.

come with me

remembered what

from the incident with Dan and John and the coat. send

The

to do.

money

I'd

learned

My mother might just

was

quite convinced that

boy was different from the boy that took John's coat. He would

He would In the

back.

end

told

I

for the

probably beat up I

knew

that

it

all

I

to

fight.

of us.

was too much money

for us not to try to get

it

my mother what had happened. My mother and I went looking

boy with the spot on his head, the ringworm. But he was long gone.

my mother warned me again about strangers. I exboy pretended to be my friend. She explained that he was just "getting my guard down" and that had to keep my guard up all the Later, at

home,

plained that this

little

I

time.

I

trusted

told her that

me

to

I

understood.

was

really

concerned because she had

go to the store, and losing the money might mean

go out by myself anymore. So

me

I

I

another dollar to go back to the store to get some

how much my

I

couldn't

was completely surprised when she gave

self-confidence had

rice.

She could

been shaken by being robbed.

10

No

tell

time

Chapter Two to

"mope around the house" over one

she figured.

when I was

I

was so happy.

a block

All

He became

on the horse,

ringworm

He was summer I looked for the boy with ringworm. In my

mind he became the epitome side.

my building.

away from

nowhere to be seen.

incident, get right back

started looking for the boy with

I

a monster.

I

I

looked

at

every boy.

of danger, of the "bad boys" that

were out-

had fantasies of smashing him with a can of

pork and beans and watching him run home crying.

From time

my mother took us

to time

to visit with her friends.

so few people in this part of the Bronx that

my mother

We knew

worried about us

meeting other children. This one evening we were standing together waiting to be introduced to one of

my mother's girlfriends

row, each sticking out his hand and saying hello

The boy with ally,

the ringworm. Well, the ringworm

but you could

still

— the four

— when

in

of us in a

he marched.

was mostly gone,

actu-

see the spot where the hair hadn't caught up with

the rest of the hair on his head.

I

looked at him, thinking this would be the

moment of truth. His head was down and he seemed as shy as the rest of nothing. He didn't recus. He met Dan, then John. Then my turn, and .

ognize me. Looked

me

The evening was I

pulled

in the eye, said, "Hi,"

a quiet one.

.

.

and that was

it.

My mother was off talking to her friend.

my brothers aside and told them he was the ringworm boy who had

robbed me. The boy seemed really eager to make friends, and he tried to

He was no monster. I felt embarso. He was no bigger than my brothers and seemed nervous around them. After we left I told my mother about the boy. She later told her girlfriend, who ashamedly returned the sixty-one cents. I walked to the store the rest of that summer unafraid. I break through our icy response to him. rassed that

thought

I

I

had ever

let

had worked out

him scare me

all

of the violence and fear issues in

11

my life.

Th ree

In the

summer

were lucky

of

1959 we moved again.

to find the apartment at

apartment building we'd lived block. Children street, sitting

in that

had a

second grade.

lot of

It

was the

We first

children living on the

lives.

to

me. Two bedrooms,

The two bedrooms faced the

street and

windows and see everything

that

what a ghetto was then. Later I would learn thought

in the

were everywhere, playing on the sidewalks, playing in the

The apartment seemed huge third floor

was

on cars. Everyone seemed to be laughing and running and

having the time of their

a kitchen.

I

1165 Union Avenue.

we had just moved

we

could look out of our

was going

that

a living room, and

on.

we lived

I

didn't

know

in "the slums";

I

to paradise.

Paradise didn't last long.

The day

after our arrival

my mother sent my

brother Daniel to the store with ten dollars. Ten dollars was a great deal of

money to us, probably one fifth of what we had to live on for the week. Dan, came back solemn and scared, and announced he'd been One of the older boys, a teenager, had probably seen Dan receive

only nine,

robbed.

Codes of Conduct

him

the change in the store and had followed

into our building

and taken

the money.

We

called the police.

their time

We

couldn't afford to lose ten dollars.

coming and I'm sure were quite amused

They took

at this naive family,

so

serious about catching a petty thief in the South Bronx. This contact with

the police shook

wrong here.

It

my

confidence in the world. Something was terribly

was nothing they did,

take us seriously.

was what they didn't do. They didn't

it

They came because they had

tions not because they thought the

to

come. They asked ques-

answers might help catch the

because they had to do something when we were so

insistent.

I

thief,

but

looked at

the two white officers and realized that while their mouths were saying

one thing, their manner and attitude were saying something else.

made us walk up all these

believe you lars.

stairs for a lousy

robbery of ten

What's the matter with you people, don't you know where you

Don't waste our time with this small-time crap. We'll

have

to,

The

but

we

lesson

don't have to do anything. You're

was straightforward and

clear.

I

would

trapped in the ghettos of this country,

answer when trouble comes

We

never found the boy

out the

seemed

if

who robbed

I

was seven, and

I

We

nothing was wrong.

to care.

police didn't care. This

grew

older. It

again. Like

would be

many others

had learned that police are not the

That afternoon when

us.

I

looked

couldn't believe that everyone

was

had just been robbed and no one

expected that everything would come

I

to a standstill because of our personal loss. all

come because we

to your door.

window onto Union Avenue

playing as

I

I

them

call

dol-

live?

on your own.

The

lesson would be reinforced again and again as

more than twenty years before

to

We can't

I

wanted

to yell out the

window

the people on the block, "Hey, watch out! There's a robber of children

out there.

Someone

Be is

careful,

it's

not safe. Boys and

robbing the children!"

yelled that out the

kept playing;

I

didn't

girls,

know

it

go

tell

your parents.

at the time, but

window some would have paused, looked

at

if I

had

me, and

some would not have even paused. They knew what went on

on Union Avenue.

14

chapter Three

The windows facing Union Avenue became the favorite place for my brothers and me. You could hear the street noise and see the nonstop action perfectly

from this vantage point.

ing out the

was not long before the other boys our age

window shortly after moving on the block when we noticed some

boys looking up at us.

We couldn't wait to make some friends and go downWe both waved. One of the boys, the biggest one,

stairs

and play with them.

balled

up his

fist,

placed

to his eye again.

fist

It

some new boys had moved in. My brother John and I were look-

noticed that

someone else

.

I

I

to his eye, pointed at us, and placed his balled up

it

looked behind me, sure that he must be pointing to

pointed to myself and mouthed the words "Me ?

Me ? " with a

The boy repeated the gestures. The message was clear. The we would receive downstairs would not be a friendly one.

quizzical look.

reception

We quickly huddled, my brothers and I. We needed to figure this thing We tried my mother first. I was always the one who drew these tough

out.

assignments because could, "Hey,

She

Ma,

was so

I

mentioned, as casually as

It'll

be

silly.

be just

You haven't done anything to them. You

fight us."

know what

They took

to do.

We

of

brothers.

"Ma

We were

doesn't think they're

on our own and we

didn't

practiced fighting for a day or two, thinking that

what would happen.

was one

my

stoically.

it

my brother John went outside. We all waited

would help prepare us. Then to see

friendly, they'll

fine."

took the bad news back to

gonna

I

think the boys downstairs are gonna beat us up."

replied, "Don't

play with you.

and

talkative.

be scared to go outside and make new friends. Just be

can't

I

I

I

It

was

natural that John would be the

first.

He

±e greatest natural athletes that I have ever seen. He was tall

thin, already taller than

our older brother, Dan, and he loved sports.

—

—

He lived to play ball. Any kind of ball stickball, basketball, football you name it, he played it better than anyone else. He found staying inside torture. He went out to take his licks. He had to fight Paul Henry. The older boys arranged the match. There were

rules.

you had to

You had to be the same age, approximately the same

fight.

15

size,

and

Codes of Conduct

On Union Avenue,

would mean that you would be set upon

failure to fight

over and over again. Sometimes for years. Later

would see what the

I

older boys did to Butchie.

Butchie was a "manchild," very big for his age. At thirteen he was the size of a fully

grown man. Butchie was a gentle

the younger boys and

he would not

particularly athletic. Butchie had

rules to punch in the face unless I

don't

know what

The

older boys

Everyone had of

was

it

set the older boys

or

why they picked

that Butchie

felt

that Butchie

was giving the block

was not the rough and tumble

we

play

that

tween the parked

One

a

bad reputation.

cowards. Suddenly two

something was wrong, that

we sometimes engaged off after

cars, trying desperately to

the safety of his apartment.

that Satur-

had to be taught a lesson.

didn't tolerate

broke away. Six of the older boys took

By

off,

was decided

to be taught that

in the

was against the

a "fair fight.")

it

them grabbed Butchie. Knowing

yelling,

(It

flaw:

(fifteen

on him. He was forever being punched

really hard

midsection and chest by the older boys for no reason.

day morning, but

one

Everyone picked on him. The older teenagers

fight.

and sixteen) were

was not

He loved to play with

giant.

in,

this

Butchie

him. Butchie zigzagged be-

make

of the boys cut

it

him

to his building

off and,

and

kicking and

Butchie was snagged.

the time the other five boys caught up, Butchie

his mother.

was screaming

for

We knew that his mother often drank heavily on the weekends

and were not surprised when her window did not open and no one came to his aid. for

One

of the rules of the block

was

that you

were not allowed

your mother. Whatever happened you had to "take

cious punch to the stomach and a snarled

it

like a

command, "Shut

to cry

man."

A vi-

the fuck up,"

and Butchie became quiet and stopped struggling. The boys marched him up the block, away from behind his back, looked

his apartment. Butchie,

like a

There were about twelve

head bowed, hands held

captured prisoner.

of us

younger boys out that morning playing

When the action started we stopped playing and preour individual apartment buildings. We didn't know if

football in the street.

pared to escape to

— they were sometimes — and we nervously kept one eye on them and one on

the older boys were after us, too able

escape.

unpredict-

a clear

As they marched Butchie down the block

16

it

avenue of

became apparent

that

Chapter Three

we were meant

to learn

from what was going to happen to Butchie, that

they were really doing this for us.

The

older boys took Butchie and "stretched" him. This

was accom-

plished by four boys grabbing Butchie, one on each arm, one on each leg.

Then they were

large)

all

him on the trunk

placed

and pulled with

out over the back of the car.

all

of a car (in the early 1960s the cars

was stretched

their might until Butchie

When Butchie was

completely, helplessly ex-

posed, two of the boys began to punch him in his stomach and chest.

The

beating

was savage. Butchie 's cries for help seemed only to infuriate them

more.

couldn't believe that a

I

ishment.

When

human body

could take that amount of pun-

they finished with him, Butchie just collapsed in the

The

position and cried.

older boys walked

away

talking, as

if

fetal

nothing had

happened.

To those

of us

who watched,

No matter who you fought, ter to fight even

ing a coward. others, but

if

We

we

all

the lesson

was

brutal and unmistakable.

he could never beat you that bad. So

it

was

you couldn't win than to end up being "stretched" all

fought,

some with more

skill

bet-

for be-

and determination than

fought.

The day my brother John went out to play on the block and had to fight Paul Henry there was plenty

of wild swinging

they did no real damage.

When no one got the

or seven minutes, the fight

made

to

and a couple of blows landed, but

was broken

better of the other after six

up. John and Paul

Henry were

shake hands and became best of friends in no time.

John was

He

could go outside without fear.

I

was

needed help figuring out what would happen when

I

went outside. John

free.

was not much help

to

still

stuck in the house.

something about going downstairs and having

me and John laughed at me,

accepted the rules structions to

trapped.

I

me about how the block worked. He was proud that

he could go out and play while we were

over

still

called

to

watch he had

to fight your battles. His only in-

to fight back, don't let the

17

mentioned

me a baby. He had changed,

— no getting mothers

me were

I

Ma come down

boys your age

hit

you

Codes of Conduct

week I decided

without hitting back. Within a

I

just couldn't take

it,

and

I

went downstairs.

The moment I went block and thing

I

its

in a different

on the block; ^-^

jJO

category than

Af fhp tnp

r>

f

\\\f^

pprl-infT nrHf:^r

fiiphteen

,

."t;Vil^'i?A ,

began to learn about the structure of the

me more. The first

I

was. John's peers had some status

my peers were considered too young to have any.

W

it

i^^^

on the edge of the bathtub, the

had slowed, so

I

73

it

The problem with

with discarded toilet-paper bandages.

hadn't stopped, but

pressure

usually couldn't afford

of a wound.)

couldn't stop the bleeding.

my

until the

paper absorbed the blood, and when

in place, protecting the cut.

After about an hour of

bowl was

toilet

we

The blood

toilet

flow

could at least take the bandage off

A and examine the

finger.

I

My solution was

Matter of Time

figured

I

had cut a tendon that held the finger

two popsicle

sticks and use them as The more complicated problem was how to keep all this from my mother. Coming home from work and seeing her child with a finger in a homemade splint made from popsicle sticks straight.

simple, find

a splint to keep the finger straight.

would certainly raise some questions.

my mother that my finger had gotten jammed from trying to catch a basketball pass and it hurt me to move it, so I'd immobilized it. A fairly plausible story, since I played basketball almost every day. I just I

decided to

tell

had to make sure that 'i'2>'^pWl"wouldn't give

me

I

kept a clean bandage on the finger, so the bleeding

away.

My mother, like all mothers around this country today, had no reason to

\

suspect that her child was armed.

\j

never talked about violence in the

I

nf\

^ house, never shared with her my concerns about my personal

u\3

other kids. ^Y' .^bout being robbed by

^y^^

adolescence, ball story.

I

filled

with sports,

girls,

and school. She believed the basket-

changed the bandages on the finger three times a

The

the second day the bleeding had stopped. finger

was healing

straight.

',

vf''^

'^

was

it

It

was on my

I

took

seemed

off the splint.

fine.

took

I

my

knew immediately

looked at the finger

that it

I

night, but the next

off the pass,

ball

bounce

morning it was tell

still

I

I

took a

damned

off

I

tested

it

was

looking for the

my index finger. I it

tried to resplint the finger that

crooked.

My choice now was to live

my mother about it and go to the hospital. The

easy. Better to live with a crooked finger and a knife, in the

South Bronx, than a straight finger and no knife. It

that

was crooked again and the cut had reopened, but

with a crooked finger or

was

—

my shooting hand; and with a tied game my team

had reopened the wound. Sure enough, when

wasn't bleeding nearly as badly as before.

decision

hadn't decided to play

My finger when

eye

most direct path to the basket, and felt the I

if I

right hand,

had already caused me to miss two layups,

but

j-

story

game. There was only one problem

kept getting in the way.

little stiff

and by

I

was depending on me. a

day,

was working and the

my friends two weeks later. was having a great time and

really into the

splint

splint /

\^q^

,

And that would have been the end of the basketball with

safety or

As far as she knew I was having a normal

lot of

I

kept

my mouth shut.

energy to hide the crooked finger from my mother, which

did for five years afterwards.

^-x^

I

had to be very conscious of how

I

held

my

Chapter Ten

hands and which hand faced

was how

that they

I

pointed with. But one of the challenges

many of us

to incorporate daily survival techniques into our lives so

became

was simply another such

habits. Hiding the finger

challenge.

There are children all over this country who are hiding weapons in their closets, in sneaker

boxes under their beds, under their sweaters

in their

dresser drawers. They are certain that they need their guns or knives for their

ons.

own

safety,

sure that their very lives depend on having those weap-

We will never convince them to give up their weapons with fancy telemarches alone. What these children need

vision jingles or with

of safety, a certainty of surviving as they

Whenever

I

think that I've

dealing with violence

remind myself that

come up with fiar

war and

a cease-fire

I

come upon some

among young

is

a sense

go to school or to the store.

people,

I

quick and easy solution to

look

down

never really considered giving up

at

my

finger

my knife. We must

solutions that take into account that our children are

that they will not put

down their weapons

and

until

armed

we can declare

and bring an end to that war,

Otof^

Ca^c,

Ci

1^^^ ^^-^^

73

^c\&uic^ .>-..c^

^^^)o^s

Eleven

That

this

country has

paralleled dimensions sults,

so

struction

and

far, ,

finally realized that is

violence

important to me. But

it is

of this realizatje^jbillions of dollars

more

lots of talk

is

a national crisis of un-

painful to

watch the re-

poured into prison con-

police anc^ejfybut ineffective programFlike boot ,

about our "war on crime."

thought out large-scale initiatives

is

camps

The problem with these poorly

that they

sometimes have unexpected

consequences that exacerbate problems instead of helping to solve them.

Case

in point,

one of our

While each large in the seventies,

lustrative of

I

'""

New

"wars," the war on drugs.

America had its own version of the war on drugs

think that what happened in

New York is particularly il-

our American tendency toward quick-fix solutions to very

j-> complicated problems, ,^j~-^

last large-scale social

city in

v,

,

York had a very popular governor

who served

four terms, from

1958 through 1974, Nelson A. Rockefeller. In response to the hysteria about drugs that permeated society and was highlighted by the media in

^ i"-'

''

f

A

Matter of Time

the early seventies, Governor Rockefeller pushed through legislation that

came

to be referred to as the Rockefeller

On

made

the surface these laws

drug laws.

a lot of sense. Drugs, in particular

heroin but increasingly cocaine as well, were a national scourge. There

seemed

came

be a revolving door

to

in

our criminal justice system when

the paperwork before the dealers were back on the street.

seemed powerless

to

stem the

tidal

wave

it

were barely done with

to drug^ealers. Copsfl amentej} that they

The

state

drugs coming intqJSIew York.

of

would createrfhinimunfTT^r>

So Governor Rockefeller proposed laws

that

datory sentences (fifteen years to

for possession of retetively^all

amounts

of narcotics. This law

fender" law that meant that

if

life)

was coupled with

a "second felony of-

you had one felony and were convicted of an-

other within a ten year period you would receive an even longer mandatory 1^"l

prison term. ^\'-\^

The

idea

\^

>

laws Tia^l^everaT unanticipated results.

j-xreation of a

.;

^

y)

($'

i-

^

t

was simple enough: get tough on drug dealers and drive them

nized even by

9

^

out of business, or at least out of New jfork Stale^But the Rockefeller drug

^>5v.

i

1

-ivv4^^

,

the phone, and

most pressing concern was that

called.

have bad news. They just shot Joe. The ambulance has taken him

emergency room.

to the I

I

first of

my martial arts

—"

wasn't for one of the children in

^lass but for one of our sta ff.

"Geoff,

woul^

t^'f^pt^^n^ rail lRte_at night that

fi

rig ht.

for Joe.

The

ku

kj.

I

knew we had

I

was

bullet

I'll

call

you back when

k^m'^"^ Vf^W

several problems.

Our

relieved to find out fairly quickly

had struck him

in the

backside and

wouldn't cause any permanent damage; he would be in the hospital for a

home convalescing. But Joe was loved by the adolescents who came tq Center bA At six-foot^fivejodi^vertwohund^^ Joe seemed an imposing figure only until you got to know him. He loved his kids and they loved him back. His shoqtjng-wQiild not gour Many of the center's members congiHered Jo e fami ly, and if someone jhot?ts s omeon e-mTg urlamily you mjjgr^ngethat dishopor. I knew Oialjoe^^hooting would have a powerfuTeffect on the neighborhood. There would be anger, outrage, and fear. The first job we had to do while and then at

.

was counter the rumors which began to circulate around the neighborhood

more was

quickly than

that Joe

young killed

We

we

men looking on

could keep track of them.

had been

sight.

killed.

We knew

for the shooter,

began to

collect the facts.

and he had been

they could socialize

dred kids;

serious

was already

a

rumor

group of

and that they had stated he would be

sJ^n^'QjCNj

There 'd been a neighborhood party

Center 54 that night. Joe knew that outlets,

The most

that there

we had

for

in the habit of

safely.

at

our children there were few social throwing dances for them so that

1^ dances could easily draw two or three hun-

tight security

and they were alwaysji.

Ill

Te"

The Best Way We Know

How

community. This night an argument had ensued^between-two teenagef» andOTi e haH'Beerraskgd to l eavelRe^danee7Tlecame badrjsath^asmjooking for the boy he'd had the argument with. While standing outside, Joe

heard the teenagers

herd the boys and

yelling, "He's got a

girls

gun! He's got a gun!" and began to

back inside the school's doors. There was one boy

who was a little slow to go inside, and as Joe lunged to push this last boy in, the assailant opened Joe's heroism

fire.

made

Joe had taken the bullet aimed at that boy.

the neighborhood adolescents even

seeking revenge. They knew he had risked his theirs. It

more

intent

on

one of

to try to save

was decided that the shooter would have to pay, and the word was

out on the street that he was a dead man.

borhood boy who

We figured that Ramon,

a neigh-

was one of the most respected adolescents in the com-

was the crucial link in trying to stop the

munity,

life

brother had been the target of the shooter,

cycle of violence.

/jt^-^

-^

Ramon's

\^

(

Ramon and I later became good friends (and remain so today), but I hardly knew him when I was given the assignment of trying to talk him out of the revenge killing that we heard he was vowing. He was typical of so many of the young men who grow up hard in New York City the oldest boy, the "man of the house," responsible for the protection of his family. He was what we called "nojoke," as in "You kjQOw^a mon, he[s no joke," which

—

meant he was an honestjaw^ahidingkidwho lived by;.th e codes of c onduct on the

street:

fighter

and

if

Leave

me alone and

I'll

was

a fierce

his family

he was

leave you alone. But he

anyone tried to take advantage

— v(6]d\^
/hj^

The fact of the matter se ems quite simple to me. Either we address the murSefandmayhem in our country or we simply won't be able to continue to have the kind of democratic society that we as Americans cherish. Rheedlen

is

doing what

it

can; our

Beacon school, Peacemakers program,

and safety plans are but a few examples of what communities can do. We know that we are making a difference in Harlem, but it's not enough. As I have traveled around this country it has become clear to me that most communities don't offer even the inadequate range of services that we do. This

must change. Violence ties in this country.

differently

if

we

is

This

not a problem of the inner cities or of the minoria national crisis and the nation

is

ar e to solve

KfrorwHaTwe must^olTchange Tryi ng to catch and

must mobilize

it.

the

waywe^think about

violence.

~

puiiisli

violent act p eopIe after they have committed a

won't deter violence in the least. In

life

on the

street,

it's

than be killed, better to act quickly and decisively even tainty of being caught.

better to go to jail

if

you risk the cer-

The Best Way We Know

For those

who

think the death penalty

sider the thousands of American children

Children's Defense available),

Fund

is

How

the answer

who

I

ask you to con-

are killed each year.

The

(most recent data

reports that "In 1991 alone

5,356 children and youths died from gunshot injuries" (CDF,

The State ofAmerica's Children Yearbook 1994). So you see there already is

a death penalty

on the streets of our

cities

and towns. The threat of the

government catching you and killing you will never carry the deterrent

power in our cities' war zones ing under siege stantly alive,

— no

knows

trial,

some people ascribe to it. Any child livboy down the block will kill him or her in-

that

that the

no defense attorney, no copping a

the next second dead.

plea, just

one second

The government can never compete with

that reality.

But there are things that government could and should do right away to begin to end the violence on our streets. They include the following:

^Y\t^t^ Create a Peace Officer Cot Peace

officers could bring a

whole new approach

to violence prevention in

high-incidence communities. Their mandate would be to coordinate strat-

egies in the community to prevent violence from occurring, or when it has

occurred to make sure

The Peace

Officer

it

doesn't escalate.

Corps should be a federal program and could be

funded in part by savings resulting from the planned reduction of the nation's military

cal colleges

and federal work forces. Training should be based out of lo-

and universities, and the curriculum should include the best

practices from

community policing, the Peace Corps, youth programs and

youth development, and community organizing.

Peace

officers

would not be

police; they

would not carry guns and would

not be charged with making arrests. Instead they would be local

and for

women

hired to work in their very

knowing the children

in the

own neighborhoods,

neighborhood

—

men

responsible

their schools, their play-

grounds, their afterschool programs. They would make a real effort to

connect with parents and other adults.

The peace young adults

officers in the

would relate to and work with

all

of the children

and

neighborhood. They would try to settle "beefs" and

mediate disputes. They would target children in elementary school, junior

160

Chapter Twenty -Three

high school, and high school, as well as kids just hanging on the corner.

They would not be the eyes and ears

of the regular police force, although

they would probably know which young people were involved with

drugs or other criminal

selling

Their job would be to try to get these

activities.

young people jobs, to get them back into school, and, most importantly, to keep them from

killing

one another.

The primary mission

of the

peace

would be to support a new

officers

sense of justice and safety among the general youth population

—

to ferret

out conflicts, to negotiate peace, to be at the emergency rooms and funerals

where young people come together

ally,

peace

officers

lar basis to

Not will

all

to grieve and to plot revenge. Ide-

from contiguous neighborhoods would meet on a regu-

share information and concerns.

young people

have a most

respect the peace officers, and clearly they

will

difficult job.

The police

will still

be responsible

for law en-

forcement; the, creation of a peace officer corps does not suggest that there does not need to be a solid, honest, hardworking police force in

these communities. But

we must

identify adults both

are already respected and involved with young people

young and old who

in the

neighborhood

and recruit those adults to work with them in ways the police cannot.

Reduce the Demand Drug education must

start early in a child's

catchy slogan, does not bring with structive impact of drugs that a all

for

it

Drugs

life.

"JustSay No," while a

the kind of understanding of the de-

message from those whose lives have been

but destroyed by drugs can bring. There are dynamic and powerful

speakers from organizations

used to bring dren. At the

this

same time

ing drugs, they others.

Anonymous who should be

even our youngest elementary school

chil-

that children are learning about the dangers of usof selling

drugs to

deglamorize the image of the drug dealer so that those

who might become

to see selling drugs as an sive

to

Narcotics

must be learning about the immorality

We must

children

message

like

the teenage drug dealers of tomorrow begin

immoral

act.

A well thought out and comprehen-

drug education program must become part of the standard education

of every child in this country.

Of course any

real effort at diverting the next

161

wave

of youthful

drug

The Best Way We Know

How

dealers from selling drugs must include plans to find employment for most of these children

when

become teenagers. While

they

significant expenditure of public funds, the savings ization

that will require a

from reduced hospital-

and reduced incarceration will more than offset the costs of employ-

ment. According to "Americans Behind Bars," a press booklet issued by

Edna McConnell Clark Foundation

the

expansion in

in prison population the

new prison construction in

other 19.7

billion for state

1990.

and

(April 1993), to handle the

United States spent 6.7

And the new Crime

Bill

huge

billion dollars

authorizes an-

local prison expenditure. All this,

and we

are seeing anything but a downturn in youth crime.

And work

don't be fooled by those

for five dollars

week.

have found

I

who

say that these teenagers will never

an hour when they can make thousands of dollars in a little

evidence of this in

my

years of working with

young people. Most of them, given the opportunity to make even the mini-

mum wage, will do so gladly. The problem for many young people has been that they have looked for

In

work year

after year without ever finding a job.

some cities more than forty percent of minority youth who want to work employment. For example, according to the

can't find

New York

City Of-

of the Comptroller {Economic Notes, April 1994), "The jobless rates

fice

for Black

and Latino youngsters rose to 43.6 percent and 42. 1 percent, re-

spectively."

The

comptroller's report goes on to point out that these

fig-

ures understate the extent of the problem because "discouraged workers" (those who've given up looking for a job) are not counted as unemployed.

And

this steady

decrease

in

opportunity for inner-city youth has been the

case for more than a decade.

This

is

a national disgrace. For

nity to earn any money, and for

if

if

these children are denied the opportu-

they see a pattern of denial of employment

them, their families, and their friends, then

why

they might conclude that the only

become

involved in

illicit

way

it is

they can

easy to understand

make any money is

to

activities.

Reduce the Prevalence of Domestic Violence and Chira Abus eand Neglect '

Too many children learn

to act violently by watching violence in the

or by experiencing violence in their homes.

162

media

Our society has turned a blind

Chapter Twenty -Three

eye to domestic violence for so long that the smacking, punching, or beating of women has

become almost routine. And in many of the same homes

where women are being beaten, the children are being beaten response as a society has been to wait that the

woman

until the violence

also.

Our

has gotten so bad

has to go to a battered women's shelter (often losing the

live), or we have to take the abused child from the we end up breaking up a family, and common sense tells us this ends up costing us more money than it would have if we had in-

only place she has to family. In

both cases

tervened early and kept the family together. This failure to invest in prevention

is

costing our country

more than we

can afford to invest. For example, according to the George Washington University Center for Health Policy Research, there are

mately 442,000 children placed

in foster care in the

now

United States, at a

cost to taxpayers of 2.6 billion dollars ("Children in Foster Care: able Population in Health

Care Reform," 1994).

approxi-

We know

these children could have remained with their families

if

A Vulner-

that

many

of

the right type of

support had been available.

The best mode of early intervention for really troubled families is family preservation services

teach families as

much time

—

intensive, short-term interventions designed to

new coping

skills.

The

family preservation worker spends

as needed with a family to ensure that the family gets the

type of support and

skills that

rather than a destructive one.

it

needs to function as a supportive unit

These services cost a fraction

of what plac-

ing a child in foster care would cost, and they have been proven to be effective.

Reduce the Amount of Violence on Television

we are bombarded with images of violence Do you remember the Mighty Mouse cartoons? In how many ways was the message delivered in that one cartoon series that when you have been unjustly wronged vioStarting from the earliest ages, that

lence

seep deep into our subconscious minds.

is

an acceptable response? There

ered in his

is

no difference between the mes-

Mouse delivered and the one that Charles Bronson deliv"Death Wish" movies: when faced with relentless injustice you

sage that Mighty

165

The Best Way We Know

must Clint

act

more

How

violently than your opponent. In the

movie Dirty Harry,

Eastwood killed without remorse as we in the audience, manipulated

by the

plot to believe

he had just cause to

kill,

cheered his conscienceless

violence.

Today violence

in the

media

is

for acting violently is implanted

With the advent of cable all

night.

ever more graphic and the justification

more deeply

television, a child

into

young people's minds.

can watch violence

all

day and

The movie industry has caught on to the fact that children will pay

to see violence acted out on the big screen, and that the "action" the

more

tickets will

be

more graphic the And the movie industry, like the gun norm of their heroes carrying large au-

sold.

manufacturers, has promoted the

tomatic weapons, reinforcing the message that power

is

determined not

merely by carrying a gun, but by carrying a big gun that is an automatic and has a big

clip

containing

many bullets.

What about rap music, and

especially "gangsta rap"?

much

that people have concentrated too

media violence. Many rap songs are tive

nor negative

singers

—

who have

^just

It is

my

opinion

attention on this one source of

positive,

and some are neither posi-

kids telling their stories. But there are

decided that their niche in the music industry

some rap

will

be the

most violent and vile; they talk of killing, refer to women as bitches, and in general bring a message of death and self-hatred.

record industry show

some

fame and fortune. But rap music of violence Clearly,

lent

we see around

I

would love to see the

restraint in limiting these rappers' access to itself is

not responsible for the explosion

us today.

by singling out one part of the entertainment industry as vio-

and ignoring others which are equally

if

not

more

violent

(how many

people have been killed in movies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Clint Eastwood?) violence in this country. all

we

will

have no impact on reducing

The television, movie, and record industries must

reduce the amount of violence they

sell to

Americans.

Reduce and Regulate the Possession of Handguns This anti-violence public strategy

will

probably be the most

seem to agree that a car is a machine and demonstrate a

real

that people

difficult.

We

who use one need to

understanding of its operation and of the laws govern-

164

chapter Twenty -Three ing

use. You

its

must take

a written examination before

you are even

al-

lowed behind the wheel, then you must pass a driving examination with a trained observer sitting right next to you. But even having passed those

two

you

tests,

own

cannot

still

There

a car until you have insurance.

basic assumption that even good,

competent drivers

will

is

have accidents

a

in

which property will be destroyed and people will get hurt or killed. And yet you can buy handguns, which history are killing

competency ance I

in

to use a

weapon

case someone

believe

some places for the first time

is

safely,

own weapons

is

American

and without having any type of insur-

hurt with the

that the

in

any test of your

cars, without passing

weapon you bought.

handgun sales should be banned

all

ment made by some cans could

in

more people than

The

in this country.

argu-

Second Amendment was passed so Ameri-

The Second Amendment

a specious one.

reads, "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to

fringed."

The

militia,

Amendment. We killed

by other

keep and bear arms,

not individual citizens,

is

not be in-

the subject of the Second

as citizens in this country should have a right not to be

citizens

who own handguns.

Recognizing, however, that other Americans cept a complete ban on handguns at this time, things

shall

I

may

not be ready to ac-

believe there are

still

some

we must do.

Licensing. Every person

who wants

pass both a written test and a cost for these

field test

new procedures

to

buy a handgun should have

to

before being allowed to do so.

The

who make,

sell,

should be paid for by those

and buy handguns. Insurance. ister

Gun manufacturers and

to trace guns that

wind up being used

turers should be held liable for ture.

dealers should be required to reg-

every handgun they manufacture. This registration would be used

This

liability

for crimes,

and the manufac-

damages caused by any gun they manufac-

should be shared with gun dealers, so there would be

tremendous pressure

for

gun manufacturers

reputable dealers, and for dealers to

sell their

to sell their

guns only

guns only to reputable

to

citi-

zens. Individual citizens would be required to carry insurance policies for liability

and theft on their handguns. This would increase the pres-

sure on citizens to It

make sure

would also reinforce the

that their

fact that a

165

guns were safely locked away.

gun

is

more

of a liability to a fam-

The Best Way We Know than

ily

it is

a protector, and

How

would encourage people to get

rid of their

handguns.

Ammunition Identification. While we are beginning to bring some sane we must also begin to make the kill-

regulations to the handgun industry,

ing of Americans with handguns less to

do

this is to

make

anonymous than

handgun ammunition

all

it is

One way Gun owners

today.

identifiable.

should have to sign for specially coded ammunition, their purchase of

which would then be logged

into a computer.

The codes should be etched

into the shell casing as well as the bullet itself,

and the codes should be de-

when a bullet breaks into fragments it can still be idenShooting another human being should leave evidence as strong as a

signed so that even tified.

bloody fingerprint at the scene of the crime. The police should be able to quickly and accurately

tell

who purchased

should be treated the same as the gun liability for its

,

.

itself

when it comes

federal

have over two hundred million guns last for

we reduce

We know

until

that

to get the

tion permanently.

giving

them

if

this is a

is

our country.

This might take

who

in the five

of

We now A gun if

no way we can deal with

number of guns

long-term problem.

guns currently

sure that the children their guns, even

the

citizens.

currently in circula-

young people won't give up their guns

have to keep in mind that

now

in circulation in

decades. There

properlycared for can

handgun violence

plan

to the owner's

government needs tojnvest _b illions

doUarsover th e next ten years buying guns back from

tion.

Ammunition

use.

Gun Buy-Backs. The ^plj"^

the ammunition.

readily, but

we

We have to begin to

hands of children out of circula-

or ten years. But

are fifteen years old

now do

we must make

eventually turn in

they wait until they are twenty-five to do

to other fifteen-year-olds to extend the

life

it,

rather than

cycle of these

weapons.

While people may blanch at the thought of spending billions of dollars to

buy back guns, we should bill

in this country,

realize that

one with a

we have just passed

a major crime

thirty-two-billion-dollar price tag, in order

to deal with the violence and fear guns cause. While

I

doubt that this huge

it's now earmarked will make Americans safer, I do believe we used even half of that money to buy back the guns from our streets while requiring all new guns to be registered, insured, and their owners trained, we definitely would have a safer country.

expenditure as that

if

166

Chapter Twenty-Three *

*

*

The truth of the matter is that reducing the escalating violence in our country will be a complicated and costly endeavor. If we were fighting an outside enemy that was killing our children at a rate of more than five thousand a year that

we would

spare no expense in mounting the effort to subdue

enemy. What happens when the enemy

is

us?

What happens when Do we still have the

those American children are mostly black and brown? will to invest the

must be

time and resources

in

saving their lives?

The answer

yes, because the impact and fear of violence has overrun the

boundaries of our ghettos and has both

its

hands firmly around the neck of

may not yet have been visited by the new national cancer, just give it time.

our whole country. And while you spectre of death and fear of this

Sooner or

later,

unless

we

act,

you

will.

167

We all will.

Twenty-Four

I

got the

call at

the worst time

goo d, or one time

is

— not

)

any time

that

bet ter than a nother. But this time the

call

came

is

right

middle of the Knicks and Chicago basketball championship series in

ifithe

the spring of 1994.

1

am a

serious Knicks fan and

was

game

able to teach

my martial arts class that night.

that evening.

teaching a class, but these days

evenings and

Not

students,

some

that they aren't of

seemed

I

more than

I

to

had been

In the past I'd never

missed

was working more and more

capable, but

I'd

my black belt my

been missing

family.

of these

I

young men and

couldn't help but marvel at the grace and

women as

was harsher than usual on them as they most minor misalignment students

was looking forward

whom I have been with for more than ten years and are

Class had gone well and

power

it

in a

often had to leave the teaching of the class to

I

students.

second

I

I

good mood because

catching the

like a

for this kind of call

know

that

I

of an

arm or

love them. For

they went through their

drills.

I

practiced, correcting even the

foot. I'm a

many

of

tough teacher, but

them

I

am

the only

my

man

in

The Best Way We Know their

life

and

I

How

know that I must assume the role of the stern, loving, powAnd if you knew me you would know that this suits me

erful father figure.

just fine, for I

hope

Whpn

\

it is

through this role that

keep these young people

will

prrivpH hnrriA

|

thr?^'^

I

teach the values and discipline that

alive.

TIY hR(T

f^aininp my martial arts gear in

the co rner, kissed Yvonne said hello to Joanne, pushed the play button on ,

the answering machine, and turned on the television. things^withinjifteen sernnds, as the

a'HdJoan ne

knew

andTwasho me

this

in

was

timp

game

a big evenj ngjor

to.sae

I

did

all

of these

had-already started.

Yvonne me. That the Knicks were on

thenvwas almost a miracle, so my family

%

-~

Yvonne and things

I have lived together for seven ytd^ and one of the many we have in common is having survived growing up poor in New York

City Yvonne grew up in Harlem as one of four children. She and her sister are the only ones

left.

Both of her brothers died before they were thirty

My family fared somewhat better, with three out of four of us still alive. My brother John died at the age of twenty-two. Joanne is Yvonne's niece; she came to

live

with us after her grandmother could no longer provide

for her. I

It

paid no attention to the phone

when

was something in her voice as she

it

rang, and Yvonne answered

said, "All right,

I'll

it.

be right there," that

made me glance away from the television and pay closer attention. There was little emotion in her voice as she said, "They shot Alex." I just looked at her, the

words not quite sinking

pecting this

call for

in.

She sounded as

if

she had been ex-

years.

"They shot Alex." And she began to get dressed to go to the emergency room, nothmgmore, nothing ing happened in the

crowd on the ment.

I

less. Right at that moment something excitgame and I found my eyes drawn to the cheering of the

television.

There was something quite surreal about the mo-

looked at her again. She was proceeding mechanically, putting on

one shoe, then the other, the fans were cheering some great move,

athletic

my brain was still trying to comprehend.

Alex was Yvonne's nephew. At twenty-eight he was the oldest male

so

I

rel-

who was still alive. His wife and Yvonne were best friends, had come to know Alex and his wife and son well. We only visited two

ative she

had

or three times a year, but he was the closest thing

7

70

I

had to family

in

Har-

chapter Twenty-Four lem. Alex's favorite hangout

was on Eighth Avenue and 121st

Street,

where he and Yvonne had grown up. Yvonne's mother and grandmother still

lived in a

tenement building

in that

neighborhood and so

that area with her to visit with her family.

Yvonne

I

was often in

said that Alex had

been

shot on the corner of Seventh Avenue and 121st Street and that they had

taken him to Saint Luke's Hospital in Harlem. I

quickly began to prepare to drive over to pick up Yvonne's mother,

on going with us to the emergency room.

insisted

jacket and

tie,

thinking

faster in that outfit as

I

don't let

comment

opposed to the jogging

as

we

him be dead." The

short one, but

it

right away, so

left

suit

I

It

was

in

I

was wearing. But

our apartment was basic: "God, please

drive to Saint Luke's from

was

that Alex

my apartment is

said,

bursting into tears,

never forget the look on Yvonne's face when her mother said

a look of such heart-wrenching pain that

analytical.

I

a

was dead.

felt

that in this case

that.

was all I could do to keep

it

driving the car and not pull over to console her.

be

a

seemed like one of the longest drives of my life. We picked

word on the street

will

on

made do with what I had

I

up Yvonne's mother on Eighth Avenue, and she that the

to put

might get answers from the nurses and doctors

Yvonne was insistent on leaving on. Yvonne's

wanted

I

who

I

in

my usual way tried to

we had reason to be optimistic; rumors

Harlem are incessant and there was no reason I could see to believe that

anyone

been

really

told,

knew

Alex's status.

I

began to recount the

reminding everybody ±at even

wrong. "Alex was shot one time, he was

facts that

we'd

this information could

hit in the

be

body and not the head.

The human body is remarkably strong and you can survive a single gunshot wound if it doesn't do severe damage to a major organ and if help arrives quickly.

we

Alex

is in

great shape. He's a big, healthy man. There's no reason

should jump to any conclusion that he's dead. Let's

all

calm down and

The odds are in our favor." feeling of impending doom in the car.

wait to get to the emergency room. did

little

to relieve the

My words

When we arrived at the emergency room we were met on the Alex's wife.

She was distraught and

in tears.

I

immediately examined the

—

men who were with her there I would find the no matter how grim. Young men in Harlem know death. Most have

look of the two young truth,

street by

had death's shadow

fall

many times. And I saw

over their lives and the lives of their loved ones that death

was

171

in their

slow walk, in the

way their

The Best Way We Know feet sort of kicked at an imaginary paper

How

bag on the street. In the way their

heads hung down, out of respect for the dead; the way their faces and

whole bodies "took

it

like a

man." Death.

As we got out of the car the women began to embrace one another and sob. The two men walked slowly over to me and I saw the look in the eye, the half-frown, the almost imperceptible shake of the head say,

Let the

sion concerning the suddenness and finality of death.

"HfLS^one," was I

all

that

tor to

to

We have no hope of

onejjf them saidto me, q uie tly and off to one the sad news. Then and there began

ma ny_who knew

bc>ohc?o

forever /e

if

wen Ho Yvonne and gave her

'The'sad fiood oftear s from so last

no. All as

We die every day and every night.

stalling death.

side.

—

women have a few more minutes of hope, we men have no illu-

Algjc^^one that seemed to '"^

'

spent the next two hours in the emergency room waiting for a doc-

come and break

the

news

chance to see the body before we

to Alex's wife. Later left

him

to others.

we waited

Those hours

for a in the

emergency room are a blur of crying women, men on beds in the hallways, their bodies in various states of needing repair

blood, and confusion.

think about as

even

in death,

I

was asked

— bandages,

to identify Alex's

body and

cursing,

all I

could

saw how perfect Alex looked, handsome and powerful

was

ers, in hallways,

I

that

all

over America young men were lying on stretch-

on street corners,

in

homes, dead. Perfect in every other

way, but dead.

Over the course

of the next couple of days

basic facts. Alex had

been eating dinner

we were able to pin down the

in a local restaurant

and went out

On his way he met another young man he knew from He stopped to talk. A car pulled up. A man got out with a gun. He motioned for Alex to get away and began to shoot the man Alex had just been talking to. He shot him over and over again, mostly in the head. That young man died instantly. One bullet missed its target and found Alex. He was shot through the lungs. The bullet tore a major artery, to use a pay phone.

the neighborhood.

Alex's lungs filled with blood, and, unable to breathe, he died on the street in

Harlem. Another innocent bystander

killed.

The next few days were most difficult for me. ing that death

is

always too close

in

had passed many a day and night.

I

couldn't shake the feel-

Harlem. Alex had been

killed

where

I

My staff worked in that area and they 172

chapter Twenty-Four

walked the same streets

all

the time.

have no martjT complex, and while life

for the right cause

lieve

we might

killed just first

time

thought about leaving Harlem.

1

would love to think

— those noble causes

all

—

I

would give

in a long

time

I

was

afraid.

way

How ironic

would love to beI

don't

they robbed

same

was so

be

way

to

elusive to

place thirty years later.

I

had the same urge

I'd

had when

my brother Daniel when we first moved onto Union Avenue.

to yell to the children,

"Get

off the street!

safe here? People are being killed every day.

Don't you

Go

come

flying in.

I

know it's not

inside and lock your

doors, stay away from your windows because you never know

when a stray

Run and hide! Run and hide!"

end I decided to stay a little longer. The children have nowhere to

go. Their families have

no money to move, they have no place else to

and

anyway

it's

to

the streets of Harlem over the next couple of days and

saw the children playing and laughing

In the

want

to have figured a

to find the peace that

a child, only to be right back at the

bullet will

I

my

because I walked up the wrong block at the wrong time. For the

And as I walked

wanted

we

that

die for: freedom, equality, civil rights

get out of the South Bronx, a

me as

I

not their

fault,

—

it's

play,

ours. We're going to have to change

things so that they can play in peace and not worry about dying on the street.

173

Twenty -Five

It's

a

Wednesday night in Qctebei^nd

I

.

/^

.

can't believe I've gotten

my martial arts class.

away from

October and Feb-

Rheedlen

in

ruary

new students into my classes and this class is full of them. I walk

I

let

time to be early for

into the brightly

lit

pose, quickly and

In

gym and all eyes turn toward me. I'm walking with purA ittle boy begins t o run over to me and an older

silently.

student grabs his arm.

l

see him

I

whispering in the younger boy's ear.

sure he's telling him, "You can't talk t o him before c lass. talk to

no one when

I

first

quickly and runs away.

march

now

I

come

nod

in to teach.

And

I'm

he's right.

I

One boy runs over and bows

my head in acknowledgment and continue my my dressing room. I know that by

to the tiny office that serves as

the word

is

out to

all

of the students that I'm teaching the class

tonight.

room I begin to change into my uniform and to quiet my mind. It's harder than usual. The city is cutting youth ser-

In the quiet of my dressing I

try

vices again. Rheedlen will be affected. This very night center will be

closed unless

I

can raise the money privately to keep

it

open. That means

The Best Way We Know

more running around, more bother me, but

causes

it

late nights,

me

to miss

How

more lost weekends. That doesn't

my classes.

For eleven years

taught martial arts in this school. For ten of those years

missed

a class.

I

have

hardly ever

I

Now I'm lucky if I can make it one night a week. My three

black belt students are good teachers, but they're young and

still

need

my guidance. I

dress, leave the room, and go back into the gym.

you might think I'm stern, even me^anrNe-smilel^on

room looking

any sign that

for

my

to. 7^'s

playing around, that they have fooled me. silently

clap

is

empty

playing a

I

them

turn

my

tension and

game

The

line.

older students have

to go, the

younger students

place in line. For a few

moments

it

of musical chairs.

stand in front of them, looking unhappy and displeased. Everyone

wonders who act. Finally

to bring

is

out of place or not standing up straight. This

begin the class and then I'm

I

magic into the

amazement.

They are

I

can

finally

lives of

feel the

mine.

I

it all

part of

my

these kids. To bring a sense of wonder and

The

all

to myself.

away by force

I

have crowded

all

the bad

who won't come stove when they get home.

test they failed, the father

by to see them, the dinner that won't be on the pushed

is

lost in the teaching. I'm trying

students losing themselves and focusing on me.

have them

things out of their minds.

I've

haven't seen

drills, lettirig'the

been waiting for this moment and know where dart around trying to find an

I

pretend they have.

my hands two times and fifty children are

dashing every which way trying to get in

I

me now scan the

my gaze travels around the

They hope I

go through my own

drama build. And suddenly I

looks like everyone

I

playing tag and laughing and joking, and pretend that

they're stretching or practicing their kicks.

back on them and

you saw

students are fooling around and not

warming up the way they are supposed

room students stop

If

my face.

of will

and magic.

my time and I know all the tricks. I yell, I scream, I fly through the air with the greatest of ease. I take my black belt students and I slam This

is

them on the can't stay

floor

down.

they land and

I

roll

and they pop up

like

those weighted weeble dolls that

throw them through the

air as

if

they were feathers, and

and are back up unhurt and unafraid. The new students

can't believe their eyes.

And they begin to believe

in

magic again.

And by the time the class is ending their eyes are wide with amazement and respect, and they look at me differently. And I line them up and I talk 176

Chapter Twenty-Five to

them.

them about

talk to

I

values, about violence, about hope.

one a reservoir

build within each

of strength that they

try to

I

can draw from as

they face the countless tribulations small and large that poor children face

And I try to convince each one that I know their true value, their gift that God gave to them. And I

every day.

worth as human beings, their special

hope they

me

voir for

make

will

to

to the next class with

it

add to week by week.

draw the strength

It is

something

left in

from that reservoir that they

come up

together

I

to shake hands

them,

to being Geoff to

their friend.

As

and we bow

scan the street for signs of danger. This, after

call

I

comes

one

of the

down to "The jacket

stoop

zip is

year/Thezipper

it

will

seem

shorter

show him how neck.

—

am back

I

all, is

a neighbor-

by guns

He

this

year

only five and

is

see that his jacket

is

open and

j>robably belonged

believes

I

can

fix

way

all

to

if I fix

to use

do

it

to his brother last

His face

is

filledwith ah-

and the long blocks he has to walk

his jacket.

I

try to

one hand to hold

that

meets with

of the attention to detail

nose

is

fix

the zipper.

I

in the cold

can't. Instead,

his jacket closed close

my

approval. This

is

is

a

also part of the

running and take out the package of tissues that

He

I

around his

keeps him from feeling ashamed.

pocket for just this purpose and wipe his nose. five-year-olds.

I

Why nbt.'' Aft er waTcn-

it.

readjust his hand several times so he understands that there

I

certain

his

He

broken.

ticipation. It's cold outside

act

I

me in class he believes that I can do anything.

ing

speak to every-

up.

old and beat-up, is

killed

youngest students over to me.

to class with his older brother.

I

in greeting.

a group of us walk up 108th Street

hood where more than ten adolescents have been alone.

will

to resist the drugs, the guns, the violence.

When class ends I dress, and now things are different. one. Students

that reser-

I

I

notice

keep

in

my

He doesn't object like most

loves the care and concern.

As

I

watch him cross the

street with his brothers and friends, holding his jacket closed with his

hand, the spell in

broken for me.

is

No more

magic. Just

raggedy jackets that won't close, trying to stay

scribble a note to myself to

Winter

My until

I

sure

I

is

remember

to find a

little

five-year-olds

warm on a

way

to get

cold night.

I

some jackets.

coming.

two black belts usually walk with catch a cab.

get

home

I

all

tell

me

after class

and stay with

them it's not necessary, but they are there

right.

What

a world.

777

So dangerous

to

me

make

that children feel

The Best Way We Know that a third-degree black belt

thing

is,

with

needs an escort

How to get

home

safely.

the guns and drugs in this community, they

all

The sad

know

I'm no

safer than anyone else.

This community,

many across

like

and they usually walk home

whenT wa lk be.

Willi Lliem aflei

They have no

is

not safe for children

and apprehension. But

'

ddss

lliey ai e Ctiiefieerlike

They believe

fear.

this country,

at night filled with fear

that

if

children ought to

anything happens

they'll

be safe

my magic karate dispatch whatever evil threatens them. When these children see me standing because I'm there.

I'll

fiy

through the air and with

I'll

on the corner watching them walk into their buildings they believe what children used to b elieve, that there are adults

who can protect them. And

me as larger than life, like Superman or BatAnd I let them believe this even if my older black belts and I know dif-

because of that belief they see

man.

ferent.

roes.

Because

in a

world that

Heroes give hope, and

no future. And so

I

if

so cold and so harsh, children need he-

is

these children have no hope they

play the role of hero for

them even if I have

will

have

to resort to

cheap tricks and theatrics.

And

could geTthmTayors, and the governors, and the president to

if I

look into the eyes of the five-year-olds of this nation, dressed in old rag-

gedy

clothes,

whose

zippers-^e broken but whose dreams are

know what

they would

I

know

—

them. To stand with them on the most dangerous streets, hallways, in their darkest hours.

still alive,

need people to

that children

fight for

in the dirtiest

We as a country have been too willing to

when times get hard. People who allow this

take from our weakest

to hap-

pen must be educated, must be'challenged, must be turned around. If

we

we must become people now more than ever because

are to save our children then

look up to. Children need heroes

they will the poor

children of this nation live with monsters every day. Monsters deprive

them

of heat in the winter, they don't fix their sinks

garbage

pile

up

in their hallwaysTtheylcick

beat them, shoot them, stab them

them out

— sometimes

and

toilets, th ey let

of their

to death

homes, they

— they rape

their

bodies and their minds. Sometimes they lurk under the stairs. They scuttle

around

in the dark;

casionally biting a

We have

failed

you hear them

little

in the walls

gnawing, squeaking, oc-

finger.

our children. They

7

live in a

78

world where danger lurks

all

Chapter Twenty-Five

around them and their playgrounds are vials,

and sudden death. And the

children

is

the

common

and claiming children

in

with broken glass, crack

our nightmares when we were

reality for children today.

record numbers.

visible heroes, fighting for crisis that

filled

stuff of

our children.

our children face and

I

And so we must I

want people

want people

179

Monsters are out there

to act.

to

stand up and be

understand the

Memoir/Biography

"/

i$ 12.00

remember being

small, vulnerable,

and scared.

remember grlwing

I

*'^'**^JiRjj} ^^^ 3outh Bronx."

\

So begins Geoffrey Canada's shattering story

m

which the "sidewalk" boys learned the codes

and were ranked-and

to

childhood.

of the

motion

the

in

It

was

a

world

block from their elders

some degree protected-through

and knife. But then, through an unforeseen chain

stick, in

of his

of

the rituals of

consequences

fist,

set

1960s by New York Governor Rockefeller's drug laws, the

Istteets changed: The stakes got higher.

Injthe tradition of

Manchild

in the

powerful memoir of growing up

"Geoffrey Canada street crime."

is

the

in

mean

are b old."

—

a front-line s oldier in

.

.

.

Fist Stick Knife

is a

the fight against violent

Canada's blunt observations are as refreshing ^

"The vignettes band together with a kind of clarifying that the result is something more. ... A beacon."

—

"Here

Gun

streets of urban America.

- wdrMHH^i^

"[A] searing memoir.

-^^^ey

Promised Land,

momentum

so

i

the role model, the griot, the nurturer, the brother who never left the 'hood because he keeps looking into the faces of the bhildren and seeing himself there." is

—

a*

Cover design: Stark Design Cover photograph: Stephen Shames, Matr

)z.

n,,,-,-,-,-,,,,,,....

od/'^'-^^^'^^^^

Beaabn Press Boston

www.beacon.org

78080711004234

.1200