Some of us get a false sense of protection by not noticing unpleasant incidents. But if we ignore incidents, we cannot address conditions. The news media need to start living inside the shoes and minds of the invisible among us, to let us feel and see the elephant in the living room before it's too late. One of the Twin Cities' most valuable thinkers and doers, Mahmoud El Kati, a black man who teaches history at Macalester College, says he has never seen a generation of black teen-agers like this one, whose lives have not been touched by the influence of the church. Whether people have been church members or not, he says, black churches historically have sustained the values of community.
Gangs are communities, too.
But their members are unable to recognize a common bond with anyone outside their set. That means the rest of us have to do whatever it takes to make the next generation of potential gang members feel love and hope. And that's news. Back to Columns index.