Why are our young people so violent?

Thoughts By:  B. Brown (BREG)


On June 23, 2012 when my brother and his family were in town visiting, we went down to Underground Atlanta to get something to eat, checkout some vendors and hangout.

As we were preparing to leave, we saw a large gathering of young people coming together and then we saw two female teenagers begin to argue with each other and then of course a fight broke out.

Now, I understand that some fights are totally unavoidable, but the overwhelmingly majority of them are very avoidable, and we as adults have to teach our young people how to walk away from confrontations and live to see another day of life. When our young people fight in this day and time, they usually want to literally kill the other person because that's their mentality. So there's a high probability that someone may pull out a gun or a knife and end someone's life. As in the case of Bobby Tillman in Douglasville, GA, he got "stomped" to death by several male teenagers while over 70 people watched. What does that say about our mentalities and the value of life in general?

I don't know about you, but I am going to really start focusing on teaching my children about loving themselves and loving, respecting and caring about other people because if they love themselves and feel good about themselves, there's a great chance that they won't be so eager to end the life of another person because they value their own lives.

I have a speaking engagement coming up in August and I am going to highlight "Teen Violence" in my keynote address and challenge the young people and their parents alike to love themselves and to love others in spite of hard times and confrontations.

We can collectively stop the violence in our homes, communities and schools if we actively communicate with each other better, be honest with each other and love each other on a daily basis!

Yo, we can do it!!! Let's go ........!!!  

TRAYVON MARTIN - Racism, Profiling & Hatred strikes again!

Thoughts & Opinion By:  B. Brown - BREG & HUSTLE UNIVERSITY


I write this blog with a lot of thoughts running through my mind. First and foremost, I send my Prayers and Love out to TRAYVON MARTIN'S family and friends.

We have lost another young man to Racism, Profiling and Hatred! You see, this type of behavior has been taking place for a very long time in this country and it is imperative that it stops immediately. It appears that the Sanford, FL police department was tremendously negligent and/or outright racist themselves when they allowed George Zimmerman to go free after fatally shooting Trayvon, claiming self-defense.

Now, I understand that Florida has a "Stand Your Ground" law, but does it actually mean that a person can shoot down another person just because they look suspicious and a confrontation ensues? In this case, Zimmerman actually followed Trayvon after being told by police dispatch (911) not to pursue the suspicious individual. This "Stand Your Ground" law must be re-evaluated because if Zimmerman gets off without any charges being brought against him, a precedent of this nature could open the door for our young black men to be shot down in cold blood at any given time in any given place just because another person says they look suspicious. We all know if a young white male was shot in this same situation, there would be a totally different conversation being held right now. And that's REAL TALK!!!

I would like to thank everyone who has put on a hoodie, signed petitions, written blogs, tweeted, sent out Facebook posts, etc. in support of Trayvon and justice actually taking place!

To the parents of the hip-hop generation, we must continue to educate our youth and equip them with the knowledge to handle themselves properly in as many situations as possible. Our youth must be able to think quickly on their feet and make life & death decisions without feeling like they are being men. They must learn the importance of being able to "fight-another-day."

President Obama has made comments regarding Trayvon, and has initiated a Federal Investigation. Thank you Mr. President! Several high ranking officers in the Sanford, FL Police Department have stepped down already, and I believe that they along with a lot of other people know that the "ish" is about to hit the fan and it is going to spread around to cover a lot of people and things that need to be cleaned up!

Once America truly acknowledges that racism still exists in a major way, then we can start fixing (if possible) the relationships that we have between the many diverse races and cultures that exist in our country, but we must get started now!