Gun Play

When I was 15 years old and in the 10^th grade, just a few months shy of turning 16, I remember an incident where a loaded gun went off inside of a vehicle that was sitting just out front of my home. I was in the vehicle, along with two male friends at the time. I never knew whose gun it was, nor why it was loaded and in the vehicle. These fellas were 17 and 18 at the time. I recall the music blasting so loud that we barely heard the thing go off and it went off just beside my legs.  I could have been shot. I will never forget that moment, or the many others I saw as a child growing up in an inner city. Seems like gun violence was a part of the territory, a norm, heck, this is why when I attended high school, 1991-1995, metal detectors were a must. I didn’t realize there was something seriously wrong with that picture.

My father owned a gun while I was coming up, two actually, a revolver and a 22 and he still has the 22. My father would often bring the gun out and shoot it from the porch on New Year’s Eve, as my mother and siblings watched, this was a tradition. Running from parties, athletic events, corner stores and more was a way of life for most of us, a norm that was far beyond normal. Our society has been plagued by gun violence since the 1980s, and it’s not getting any better. Our constitution states that we have a right to bear arms, responsibly, but how many folks do you know who actually use their weapon responsibly? From the toddler that finds his father’s gun and accidentally kills his neighbor, the youth running the streets that brandishes and uses their weapons, illegal guns, with no regard, the accident murderers as Nas so poignantly stated in his most recent record titled such, and let us not forget the tragedy’s that involve those similar to the George Zimmerman’s of the world, The incidents like Columbine, I could go on.

I’ve handled and shot many weapons over the years, I know many individuals who own guns, legally and illegally, but are they really for the benefit of protecting ourselves?  Currently, I don’t own a gun, and I probably never will, for reasons I will not disclose here.

As written by Jason Whitlock, “How many young people have to die senselessly? How many lives have to be ruined before we realize the right to bear arms doesn’t protect us from a government equipped with stealth bombers, predator drones, tanks and nuclear weapons?

Our current gun culture simply ensures that more and more domestic disputes will end in the ultimate tragedy, and that more convenience-store confrontations over loud music coming from a car will leave more teenage boys bloodied and dead.”

I am so tired of hearing about gun violence, so tired of losing loved ones to gun violence, or almost losing them. Our country needs to take a long hard look at this issue, it’s long overdue.

Peace and blessings good people,
Shamina

Bang! (Poem about gun violence)
Created by Artluva
This is about a child who died due to gun violence.

Bang!

I heard the shot ring

That sound changed my life

It changed everything

I heard the sound of a gun being fired

Today, about an hour ago

It wasn't my fault

Johnny brought a gun to school, I got hit, now I must go

God told me to say my goodbies and then leave

So here I am, and this is my last goodbye

Please, even though I won't be here anymore

Try not to miss me too much, try not to cry

Tell Daddy

I'm sorry I wasn't always the best

Tell him I love him

And in my eyes, he was better than all the rest

Tell my sister

We fought often but believe it or not, I loved her too

Tell her to live her life

And to follow her dreams and do whatever she wants to do

Don't worry about me, I'm not alone

Grandma is waiting for me

And I'll always watch over you

Even if you can't see

My last request

My dying wish

Is to warn others of weapons

And it's risk

Never bring weapons

Even if you'll never use them, ever

They are still horrible

Use them? Never

Artluva, http://quizilla.teennick.com/poems/8031524/noaction, Web. 03 Dec 2012

Get Up From This Place

Hello to you all!  I pray you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and that you were reminded of what you are thankful for.  As we approach a new year, we approach  a new start.  I know there are many of us struggling and dealing with many battles, some financial, some heart matters, for some of us, life is just beating us down and we can not see the light at the end of the tunnel, we can't get our focus off of our problems, it appears that it is just one thing after another.  Well, I am hear to tell you that joy does come in the morning, and it is not as bad as it seems!!!

We all have those moments of despair, wondering why, why, why is this happening to me, why am I here in this place.  For some of us, its the driest season we have ever seen.  But, I have realized the longer you focus on "it", the harder "it" becomes.  Take a moment to reflect on your past, that time when things were really bad before, and reflect on how you ended up on top...it will happen again, but you most do something different.  Its hard to move forward with your plans, dreams and aspirations if you have no tangible plan.  I know this has been a reoccurring theme in my writings lately, but it is so true.  Although the plan you write will be altered, it gives you something to see, to meditate on, to create visible time-lines and actions to complete it all, and it works.  When we keep our plans in our minds, they get lost and tangled up in all the mental clutter and chatter of our everyday lives.

If you want to see things manifest differently in your lives, ask yourself, "What am I doing differently?".  You must do what scares you to death!!!  You must be passionate about whatever it is you want, and you must learn to give, especially to yourself.  Time, resources money, even a smile or a kind word.  You think you got it bad?  Go visit one of your local shelter's and see how bad they got it.  Go visit a mother whose child is missing, hit the streets and try to talk to that young girl who has been tricked into prostitution while her pimp keeps a watchful eye, imagine you were her for just a moment.  Switch your focus, change your circle of friends, get with folks who are doing what you would like to do.  There is so much life to live on this earth, there is so much awaiting to spring forth from your soul to assist another person, there are so many people that are awaiting you, you can't even imagine.  We are to live in heaven on earth, fully, abundantly, prosperously, purposefully.  You can be down, discouraged, but only for a moment, so don't become defeated, change your mindset and renew your mind daily with the thoughts and plans that will help you to arrive at your new destination, which I will call L-O-V-E.  Loving your tests and trials, loving who your are, loving how far you've come, loving the love you give to others.  Operate from that love within and your situation will turnaround immediately...try it and see.

So with this being said, this month I will leave you with a poem by Langston Hughes.

Love, peace, and many blessings,
Shamina

Mother to Son
by Langston Hughes

Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

Hughes, Langston, http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/177021, Web. 29 Nov. 2011.