Why can’t these young people find something to do other than street life? When city governments set their budgets, why do they cut these young people out? Somebody has to speak up for them. How are White policemen able to harass them in a city that may be predominantly Black? Why can’t they become the policemen who patrol and protect their communities? Are they going to be told, “You’ve been to jail so you cannot patrol your community?” Time is out for playing games. If Black leaders call it like it is, the enemy will back up, but if they are too afraid to open their mouths to speak for the voiceless poor, they need to get out of their offices and jobs.

***

I am hurting for these young people because I see their beauty and I see how they are being betrayed. The only people that can deceive you are the people that you trust. We are living in a time of betrayal. How did Yasser Arafat get poisoned? How did Yuaschenko of the Ukraine get poisoned? How did Indira Ghandi get killed? It is always someone close. How did Jesus get betrayed? There was a Judas in the family. You must understand that, during the height of the political movements of the ’60s, the enemy had agents among us, pretending to be Muslims in the Nation of Islam, Socialists, Panthers, and even Christians in the church. They would say “Hallelujah” and “Praise the Lord” louder than everyone else, but they would also be reporting.

I am not trying to make you suspicious of one another, but I am trying to make you alert, because traps are being laid for the peacemakers. How can we mobilize the city for the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March—which saw members of rival gangs embrace as Brothers—until we bring some peace to the streets? You cannot ask the Brothers to put their guns down, if you do not have anything for them to do in return. You cannot give them lip service. Brothers have children; brothers need jobs and income.

That’s why I am concerned about these city budgets. Why can’t city governments set aside money to train these Brothers in building skills? There are many run-down, dilapidated properties. If these Brothers were partnered with licensed plumbers, electricians, brick masons and painters, so that they could learn the skill, they could rehab and fix up these old abandoned houses. After the city sells the rehab buildings, they could put the profits in a Crip or Blood treasure, in order to buy more houses and land to start building their communities. When you start building, you control the streets but, right now, you do not own any part of the streets that you control. What good is controlling a street if you do not own it? You have to own it, then you are justified in controlling what you own. Then, when you own it, you want it run right.

Then, the next stage in community development is a Crip and a Blood getting elected to the city council. I heard that one of the Brothers told a city councilman, “We decide whose sign goes up, whose sign goes down in the streets that we control.” But suppose it’s your picture going up? Suppose you vote your man into office, and when your man is in, he has to represent the people who do not have any representation. And if those people on the city council refuse to divide the budget fairly, vote them out of the council and elect somebody who has your concern at heart.Then, look at the budget for the city’s schools. You may think that I am getting carried away, but I do not want to see my Brothers lose the promise of God.

They are the leaders of today and tomorrow, but they must be protected so they can grow into the manifestation of their powers.



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