L.A. Parker on urgency

L.A. Parker writes in Saturday's Trentonian about why there is not a bigger sense of urgency in addressing the city's problems.
Here's a taste:
"Missing but crucial agendas in the City of Trenton are a sense of urgencyand unflappable honesty.
"Does anyone else see the garbage pigeonholed on South Broad Street?
"Why do teachers outnumber parents at "Back to School Night?"
"Should not education be the one goal that we push our children towardwhether the classroom offers standard or vocational studies?
"It's almost as if our houses are ablaze and we choose to extinguish theflames with saliva rather than break out the heavy hoses.
"That stuff hitting the fan right now is anything but spit; we are engaged ina great civil war regarding education, violence, guns, gangs, homelessness, abandoned houses and a litany of other issues.
"Some issues need time for solutions, but for others the time for action is now."

A man called Freedom

Coming in Thursday's Trentonian, L.A. Parker brings you the story of a young city man named "Freedom," a group called Fathers and Men United for a Better Trenton and local people choosing a more positive approach toward themselves and the community.
Here's a taste:
If persons of color become successful like many of the aforementioned, many of us ridicule them by describing them as “sellouts” or inquire “Are they black enough?”The inference is that if blacks succeed in this current system, if we speak well, learn well and rise to the levels of teachers, doctors and corporate executives, that we somehow have abandoned our blackness, culture and other rights.
Such beliefs suggest that we have exchanged our metallic ropes for a worse prison, a mental incarceration that, unless changed, will lead to the destruction of ourselves by ourselves.

Coming tomorrow: L.A. Parker on Trenton murders

Coming in tomorrow's Trentonian, columnist L.A. Parker writes about Trenton's murder rate and how we lose track of the lives and people behind the numbers.
Here's a sneak preview:
"What we also know now is that people living in South Trenton with agendas — whether they are political or parochial — will kick, yell and march when an officer is taken away from his post but when in this case a young African American woman is removed from this world, they remain silent.
"Desiree E. Napper-Jones deserved a better man than the one she got and her life and death should receive more attention than their current reception.
"Unfortunately, in Trenton, like so many other urban areas, the lives of black gangsters or dark-colored girlfriends are reduced to numerical identification.
"Napper-Jones garnered a murder No. 15 tag while alleged gang member Arnold Poole is No. 16, etc.
"Jose-Duran Almonte, 28, of Reading, Pa., shot and killed during an incident in a Centre Street bar, is No. 17.
"Whether you care or don’t, these people were once real life human beings."

Coming tomorrow: L.A. Parker on Newark killings

Coming in tomorrow's Trentonian, columnist L.A. Parker tackles the media swarm around the execution-style killings of three students in Newark.

"Every report refers to the three dead students and wounded survivor, Natasha Aeriel, 19, as 'good' kids," Parker writes. "The inference in the description is that if they were 'bad' children then somehow we could all handle the the quadruple shooting and triple killing. If they were 'bad' kids we could all head back to the beach, TV, or bar with exclamation that all is right in our world. It’s not."

Parker argues that anger at Newark Mayor Cory Booker is misplaced.

"Mayor Booker can only say so much, attempt so much and do so much to effect change in Newark," he writes. "The realization is that black people must accept responsibility for our share of a daily deadly destruction. At some point, we must stand and say — enough."

L.A. Parker on urgency

L.A. Parker writes in Saturday's Trentonian about why there is not a bigger sense of urgency in addressing the city's problems.
Here's a taste:
"Missing but crucial agendas in the City of Trenton are a sense of urgencyand unflappable honesty.
"Does anyone else see the garbage pigeonholed on South Broad Street?
"Why do teachers outnumber parents at "Back to School Night?"
"Should not education be the one goal that we push our children towardwhether the classroom offers standard or vocational studies?
"It's almost as if our houses are ablaze and we choose to extinguish theflames with saliva rather than break out the heavy hoses.
"That stuff hitting the fan right now is anything but spit; we are engaged ina great civil war regarding education, violence, guns, gangs, homelessness, abandoned houses and a litany of other issues.
"Some issues need time for solutions, but for others the time for action is now."

A man called Freedom

Coming in Thursday's Trentonian, L.A. Parker brings you the story of a young city man named "Freedom," a group called Fathers and Men United for a Better Trenton and local people choosing a more positive approach toward themselves and the community.
Here's a taste:
If persons of color become successful like many of the aforementioned, many of us ridicule them by describing them as “sellouts” or inquire “Are they black enough?”The inference is that if blacks succeed in this current system, if we speak well, learn well and rise to the levels of teachers, doctors and corporate executives, that we somehow have abandoned our blackness, culture and other rights.
Such beliefs suggest that we have exchanged our metallic ropes for a worse prison, a mental incarceration that, unless changed, will lead to the destruction of ourselves by ourselves.

Coming tomorrow: L.A. Parker on Trenton murders

Coming in tomorrow's Trentonian, columnist L.A. Parker writes about Trenton's murder rate and how we lose track of the lives and people behind the numbers.
Here's a sneak preview:
"What we also know now is that people living in South Trenton with agendas — whether they are political or parochial — will kick, yell and march when an officer is taken away from his post but when in this case a young African American woman is removed from this world, they remain silent.
"Desiree E. Napper-Jones deserved a better man than the one she got and her life and death should receive more attention than their current reception.
"Unfortunately, in Trenton, like so many other urban areas, the lives of black gangsters or dark-colored girlfriends are reduced to numerical identification.
"Napper-Jones garnered a murder No. 15 tag while alleged gang member Arnold Poole is No. 16, etc.
"Jose-Duran Almonte, 28, of Reading, Pa., shot and killed during an incident in a Centre Street bar, is No. 17.
"Whether you care or don’t, these people were once real life human beings."

Coming tomorrow: L.A. Parker on Newark killings

Coming in tomorrow's Trentonian, columnist L.A. Parker tackles the media swarm around the execution-style killings of three students in Newark.

"Every report refers to the three dead students and wounded survivor, Natasha Aeriel, 19, as 'good' kids," Parker writes. "The inference in the description is that if they were 'bad' children then somehow we could all handle the the quadruple shooting and triple killing. If they were 'bad' kids we could all head back to the beach, TV, or bar with exclamation that all is right in our world. It’s not."

Parker argues that anger at Newark Mayor Cory Booker is misplaced.

"Mayor Booker can only say so much, attempt so much and do so much to effect change in Newark," he writes. "The realization is that black people must accept responsibility for our share of a daily deadly destruction. At some point, we must stand and say — enough."