“How could a kid so sweet be so nasty too?” (54). ‘Yummy The Last Days of a Southside Story’ by G.Neri shares the true story of an eleven-year-old boy named Robert “Yummy” Sandifer who fell victim to Chicago gangs due to the alleged shooting of Shavon Dean. Yummy, a child too young to understand, too young to not give in, and never had a stable adult to look up to, is a prime example of a victim at the wrong place at the wrong time.
A child born in hopelessness is bound to hopelessness until guidance from a good, healthy, influential adult. After Yummy shot Dean his face hit the news and everyone had an opinion. One reporter had this to say, “This young kid fell through the cracks. If this child was protected 5 years ago, you save 2 people. You
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save the young woman who was killed and you save the young offender” (62). This statement states that not only Dean was the victim, but Yummy was one as well. He states that the community, and/or government of Chicago did not do enough to care for Yummy. If someone in the neighborhood would have reached out and become a supportive figure in Yummy’s life that could have changed everything. The people to blame for both victims deaths are the people in the community that could have made a difference but chose not to. Although Yummy did have a grandmother to care for him, it obviously was not enough. Yummy, through his short life, was continuously thrown in Juvenile Detention due to his poor actions. But sadly that was never enough to make a change. “They put him in special homes for kids like him. He was in them more than he was out...Yummy hated it in those places. Somehow he’d find a way to escape” (29, 31). The question is; why would the government allow this to happen? Why did they let him escape? If he never escaped he could have possibly be given help. At this time (1994) gang violence was known in Chicago but was never aggressively attacked until the death of Yummy. If our nation paid attention to the crimes in Chicago, the number of children becoming victimized by gang violence would decrease. It was because of Yummy’s death that our nation finally knew the importance of fighting the war against gangs. Only one person was needed to impact Yummy's hopeless, sad life into something greater. But that one person chose not to, everyone chose not to. A child is a child, you can not blame a child for a horrible crime they have done if they could never understand the consequences in the first place. Yummy was mean but he also was just another eleven-year-old doing eleven-year-old stuff. One day Yummy found a toad. “One day Yummy called me over. ‘Yo! Come here!’ I didn't want him taking my money again. ‘I don't got nothin’...’ But he kept at me. ‘I got somethin’ ta show you, stupid…I call him Jelly Bean. You wanna touch him?’ Sometimes he was more kid than thug” (55). The dialogue between Roger (the narrator) and Yummy reminds me of something my younger sister would do. Just like Yummy, she is eleven. In the summer and still today she would capture bugs, worms, frogs, and toads to show me and her friends. She would give them names like ‘Boxy” to a Boxelder Bug. I believe that even though Yummy commits cruel acts of violence you can not blame him for his actions. He is a child. If my sister killed someone she would be incapable of understanding that her actions had consequences. Neither did Yummy. But the difference between the two is Yummy does not have anyone to look after him. I guess his grandmother counts, but she is not doing enough to help Yummy in a positive way to grow in our society. My sister does.
If you ask her right now how many adults she can talk to about any problem, she would name more than ten. I bet Yummy couldn't come up with even one. After Yummy shot Dean, he went on the run. Not knowing what was to happen next. He felt he could not trust anyone. But by the fourth day, he gave up. “After 4 days Yummy called his Granny asking for help. ‘Why is the police looking for me for? It wasn’t my fault…’ ‘Wait there. I’m coming to get you.’ ‘I’m scared Granny.’” (66). Yummy then walked off. Although Yummy called his grandmother he still did not trust her enough to stay. In my opinion, ‘Granny’ did not care enough to stay active in Yummy's life to build a relationship Yummy could trust. Throughout my time in school, I have noticed the kids who struggle the most are the ones without supportive parents. Long ago back in Elementary School, I knew this kid, we will call him Jack to protect his privacy. Jack is the meanest person I have ever met, he was your stereotypical big, bad, bully. Not only Jack was mean, but he was cruel, he loved to bully me and my friends to tears. He would demoralize you, make you feel as if you are the scum of the earth. Jack was an expert at his skill, he would terrify other
classmates so horribly that sometimes they wouldn't come back to school for a few days. No matter if you were a girl or a boy, Jack would find a way to hurt you. If you were not beat at the playground Jack would make sure your school days were hell by his demoralizing commits. By the time I went to Middle School I was granted a fresh start. Instead of going to Maplewood like everyone else I went to Skyview. At this time I thought my troubles with Jack were over and I would never see him again. But then one day he came back, meaner than ever. I was terrified, my old enemy was back to ruin the perfect life I built, all over again. But there was something different this time around. I began to pity him. One night I cried thinking about the horrible life he had. Jack never had real friends, some days he would come to school with bruises on his face. There was always a rumor around him that his father abused him. At this time I realized not only Jack fell through the cracks in his family, but also in society. As he grew older he was rejected by everyone due to the horrible ways he treated others. All because he wanted his parents to notice him. He was expelled from Maplewood before he went to Skyview and not long after he joined us he was expelled again. Jack was the most hated, demoralizing, hopeless, horrible, but the loneliest person I have ever met. He was just like Yummy. Jack was looking for somewhere to belong and when he did belong he knew that no one ever would love him. In the book, I saw Jack through the character of Yummy, and at the end of the book, I cried hoping that wouldn't happen to my long lost enemy. I do not know where Jack is today, I pray that one day he will wake up and find his true self in the lonely life he has been living. Just like Yummy, Jack had no one he could trust, his parents were out of the picture. They are both victims of abandonment, the wrong sense of belonging, and the lack of trust towards others. A child can not fully understand the actions they make, and it is even harder without the guidance from a trusted adult. My sister, Jack, and Yummy due to their age would not understand the situation if they committed a horrible crime. But the difference between the three is that my sister has adults that she trusts. She knows that they will care for her, comfort, and love her. Jack and Yummy had no one. Yummy was a child that fell victim to the pressures of gang violence, he had no one that loved him enough to save him from the terrible situation he fell into. Yummy was a bully but also a child. Like my sister he played with toads, but like Jack he was the meanest of them all. He did not trust anyone not even his own grandmother. The people to blame for the death of Dean and Yummy is the people living in the community, the people who chose not to be aware, his grandmother for not building a trusting relationship, and the government for falling short. But the people who are the most guilty are the people who chose not to take action. Only one person was needed to make a difference. That person chose not to, everyone chose not to.
Geoffrey Canada gives his readers a rare opportunity to look inside the life of a ghetto kid and what they have to go through just to survive. He also provides answers to the many questions asked of why certain things happen the way they do in the Bronx. He used his childhood experiences and turned them into a unique tool when helping the youth of today. Now that he works as a youth councilor he sees that the problem in the slums has gotten dramatically worse with the emergence of guns. It used to be about pride and status, now any thug with a gun can be feared in the community. This, to Canada is a major problem because guns gives kids a sense of power, a strong feeling that is often abused and results in someone, even an innocent person dead.
Kody Scott was born into the gang life weither he liked it or not. Born on 1963 in South Central Los Angeles Kody?s life would be affected by the growing number of gangs inevitably. Kody knew he had a choice to be made, be a gang member or be a pedestrian. He viewed pedestrians as spineless nerds who were always victims of someone?s ridicule or physical violence, who never responded to an affront of any type. He himself had a taste of pedestrian life in grade school were he was picked on and had his lunch money taken from him. ?Early on I saw and felt both sides of the game being played where I lived. It was during my time in elementary school that I chose to never be a victim again, if I could help it?(Shakur 100). Being in a gang gave Kody a feeling of security in a city of violence. ?I felt very different, older, more attached than any of...
Throughout the years, women have been mistreated brutally by gangs in their neighborhood. In a memoir by Luis Rodriguez, Always Running, the main character experiences many random acts such as shootings, rape, and many arrests. Even though, Luis may seem like a very tough young man, he gives the women the respect and love they wish to receive from a gang member. In today’s society, many young girls are attracted to what society calls a “bad boy” because their lifestyle seems exciting. When one decides to join a gang, one must prove their loyalty to their new family by getting “jumped” by the whole gang or committing a serious crime. When a young girl begins to date a gang member, she begins to see how quickly a situation can escalate to a violent scene and abuse. As soon as a young girl is expose to that lifestyle, they tend to get mistreated mentally and physically by other gang
The West side of Chicago, Harlem, Watts, Roxbury, and Detroit. What do all of these areas have in common? These areas, along with many others have become mine fields for the explosive issues of race, values, and community responsibility, led by the plight of the urban underclass. Issues such as violent crime, social separation, welfare dependence, drug wars, and unemployment all play a major role in the plight of American inner-city life. Alex Kotlowitz's book: There Are No Children Here, confronts America's devastated urban life; a most painful issue in America. Kotlowitz traces the lives of two black boys; 10 year old LaFayette, and 7 year old Pharoah, as they struggle to beat the odds growing up in one of Chicago's worst housing projects. Their family includes a welfare dependent mother, an alcholic-drug using father, an older sister, an older brother, and younger triplets. Kotlowoitz describes the horrors of an ill-maintained housing project completely taken over by gangs, where murders and shootings are an everyday thing. Kotlowitz does a fine job at portraying ghetto life; those who are outside the American dream. He succeeds at putting a face on th people trapped inside the housing projects with virtually no hope of escape. One can truly feel a sense of great loss for the family, and a great deal of hope for the two young boys. You can truly feel yourself hoping that things will work out for them, and you can really feel like you know these young men on a personal basis. Kotlowotz spent a great deal of time with the boys so he could portray the world from the eyes of a child growing up in the ghetto, and he does an amazing job.
Lullabies for little criminals tells the story of an 11 year old girl and her interactions with drugs, alcohol, and prostitution. We are introduced to Baby, who narrates her story in the first-person. The narrator of the novel is however an unreliable narrator because she is so young and innocent and often does not really understands what is happening to her. Heather O’Neill emphasizes the dark, grittiness of the Montreal street life by choosing the narration of an innocent child. We see multiple experiences that O’Neill enhances through her use of narration that causes Baby’s loss of innocence, such as drugs and hurt at a young age, prostitution and love. We are forced to grow up fast when we grow up alone.
McGuire, Danielle L. At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance- A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power. New York, New York: Vintage Books. 2011.
...r of a family who grew up in a town where crime, racism, and violence flourished. The social problems that were present in Southie, Boston all could have been minimized if only the parents had led their children down the right path. Parents could have warned their children of the horrors associated with any associations to the drug trade, discouraged them from discrimination against people of different races, and reporting the violence that occurred in their neighborhood instead of remaining silent in the hopes of upholding some kind of Southie loyalty code/ “Southie code of silence” (MacDonald 8). Instead parents did not teach their children about the dangers of the drug trade; they encouraged racial discrimination, and remained quiet in the face of violence. All of those things contributed to the poor living conditions and bad reputation of South “Southie” Boston.
Boyz in the Hood is a statement of how urban youth have been passed a legacy of tragic indifference, and the writer has shown that it is an almost inescapable fate for those born into racism and poverty to repeat the patterns they wish to escape. The movie’s characters are clear representations of how the system fails young black youth in the United States, and the difference one mentor can make for these kids. During segregation young black children became targets for white brutality. This movie reflects what the European mentality and what it has done to the African American culture.
Forrest Gump and the Blind Side both have strong characters, inspirational moments, and incredible hardships. The movies show two very smart people who are misunderstood by many.
Children have often been viewed as innocent and innocent may be a nicer way to call children naive. Since children’s lives are so worry free they lack the knowledge of how to transition from being a child to becoming an adolescent. Their lack of knowledge may be a large part of their difficulties growing up, which could be a few rough years for many. In books like the boy in the striped pajamas the story is told from the point of view of a little boy, this way we get a full view of how innocent he is. In this book the writer shows the reader first hand how a child viewed the holocaust and how his innocence cost him his life. Then in books like the perks of being a wallflower Charlie is a teen whom is struggling with the transition from being a child to becoming an adolescent. In this book the writer gives a first hand look at how difficult it can be to transition into an adolescent. Charlie has many difficulties in this book; he is in search of his identity and how to fit in.
Murphy expresses how justifying bad deeds for good is cruel by first stirring the reader’s emotions on the topic of bullying with pathos. In “White Lies,” Murphy shares a childhood memory that takes the readers into a pitiful classroom setting with Arpi, a Lebanese girl, and the arrival of Connie, the new girl. Murphy describes how Arpi was teased about how she spoke and her name “a Lebanese girl who pronounced ask as ax...had a name that sounded too close to Alpo, a brand of dog food...” (382). For Connie, being albino made her different and alone from everyone else around her “Connie was albino, exceptionally white even by the ultra-Caucasian standards... Connie by comparison, was alone in her difference” (382). Murphy tries to get the readers to relate and pity the girls, who were bullied for being different. The author also stirs the readers to dislike the bullies and their fifth grade teacher. Murphy shares a few of the hurtful comments Connie faced such as “Casper, chalk face, Q-Tip... What’d ya do take a bath in bleach? Who’s your boyfriend-Frosty the Snowman?” (382). Reading the cruel words can immediately help one to remember a personal memory of a hurtful comment said to them and conclude a negative opinion of the bullies. The same goes for the fifth grade teac...
“The third day- it was Wednesday of the first week- Charles bounced a see-saw on to the head of a little girl and made her bleed,” (1). In the short story “Charles” written by Shirley Jackson, Laurie, the main character of the story, is a young kindergartener who is able to run around causing trouble at school and at the same time, pretend that it is only another boy in his class that is making the trouble. “Charles” teaches you that parents do not know everything about their child even though the child lives in the same house as them. Laurie’s parents do not know what he is like at school. Laurie is flamboyant, and arrogant yet creative and those characteristics make him the perfect troublemaker.
All Souls by Michael Patrick McDonald is a non-fiction narrative of a family of eleven children raised by a mostly single mother under the dangers of criminality, family abuse, drugs, alcohol, violence, and guns in the projects of South Boston. The story began upon Michael McDonald’s visit to Southie at the age of 28 after four years of being able to transcend the boundaries of poverty and social injustice. This visit revived Michael’s memories of growing up in poverty, witnessing deaths and crimes; therefore, he began to narrate his life and the life of his family and friends.
What is innocence? Innocence can be defined in several different ways that include freedom of guilt and sin, total honesty, or lack of worldly knowledge. The story To Kill a Mockingbird takes place during the 1930’s in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Loss of innocence is the main theme that is depicted throughout the story. The first way this theme is shown in the story is through the trial of a black man by the name of Tom Robinson. In addition, this theme is shown through two men named Atticus Finch and Arthur “Boo” Radley. The final way loss of innocence is shown in the story is through Scout, Jem, and Dill as they see all the chaos and the morbid experiences that occur in the world around them. The story of all these people describes
Two hundred and twenty two years ago, a democracy was born and its citizen has been guaranteed “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Is this pledge fully adopted? The high almighty, arbitrary, rich, wealthy people surely have an advantage over the meager, poor lower class. The rich has money, and money can be a powerful source to silence evil deeds in which a pauper cannot do, but must suffer the consequences. In Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, she portrays the weak, the vulnerable, and the innocent as mockingbirds. Setting the novel in Maycomb County, Alabama in the 1930s plays a crucial role in illustrating the mockingbirds of the society. The prejudiced South carried people like Arthur “Boo” Radley, Tom Robinson, and Mayella Ewell who have never had any intentions of harm, and only brought joy, but suffered greatly because of their position in a rigid, prejudiced society.