talk on the train

It is appalling that the youth of America are now using language with each other which was at one time used by white slave owners to talk to and about their slaves. The N word is now a commonly used word to describe one's friends and enemies. If these people realized where the word came from, they would never say it. But they do not even know the REAL history of the word, or they laugh it off. The most pressing thing about the conversation I heard this morning was how ignorant and crude it made the speakers sound. Do they really think we want society to all be talking like that? Can you imagine the youth of the world, regardless of language calling each other Yo and the the N word?

Very cold today...

Winter is finally here. The Malls are full of shoppers, despite the economy. Taking the train to work has its advantages in never seeing all that traffic. We are all waiting to see if Obama can fix the economy. But how much can an economy and world population grow before it becomes a huge problem. The economic booms are mini illusions that do not last.

who will lead outr inner cities out of darkness?

What leader will lead the inner cities out of darkness? Create jobs. Improve schools. Build sports and recreation complexes. Inspire the youth of these areas. Create a new generation of youth who believe in making the best choices for themselves and their communities. The present leaders are not leading. They are leaving the inner cities to rot and fester while adding a few small programs of change which are not great enough.

the middle of the road

I grew up in the Boston burbs, South of our South Side which like Chicago is now a very depressed area. As a child I drove through the ghettos of Boston on the way into the city. My father never shied away from these old routes into downtown Boston. Formerly the home of Boston's Jews, many a home there is quite beautiful. Now young black men live there with guns in their pockets, occasionally killing each other or whatever children happen to be in their way. Many of them cannot read so they have not read their way out of the violence. I do not look down on them and quite often they have seen my northern European white face looking back at them as they cast a glance my way, as I pass through their neighborhood while driving a black co-worker and friend home in the middle of the night. I wish they would simply read about the world around them and know that many of us are looking over at them, or up at them in many cases. Some of my favorite Black men and women, appear in the media each day and their words and spirit are priceless. I get frustrated by gang violence because I think, "To what end?" Old men leave the gangs in their 20s and 30s because they know...to no end.