Kelvin's Corner: ...An Idle Mind

...I was sitting here at work this morning with about 68169813913 different thoughts running thru my head with regards to what to bring to you all today and after checking a few of my regular daily reads, I came across Nikki's post and got inspired to piggyback on what she wrote about.

Now as I said in her comments section, last weekend alone there were 12 deaths over the course of the weekend.....that's only 3 days if you count Friday people....12 lives ENDED....that is some scary shit....People want to blame it on the hot weather and all sorts of crazy shit like that, but I think its more to it than that. It is true that for alot of urban kids there isn't alot to do if they aren't in summer camps or preoccupied with some sort of constructive activities. This only upholds the old adage that " An idle mind is the devil's workshop". Leave a few teenagers ( hell even some grown folks) idle for too long and something IS going to happen.

The idea that Nikki threw out there was a great one indeed and would definitely take some carefully laid out planning and funding, but it is doable especially here. There are all sorts of old boarded up buildings and spaces for sale or rent. It may take an entire year to assemble all the plans for something like this to happen, but shit I think its worth a try. Every day when I go home, I see all sorts of young people on the corners and hanging out in the park with absolutely nothing to do...I am sure that the parents of these kids may or may not know what their children are up too when they leave the house. 9 times out of 10 they don't know....

Case and point:

That BBQ I went to on Sunday...there were alot of little kids there and there were these two little boys, had to be no older than 5 or 6 and they were just BAD...I mean BAD in every sense of the word. I mean getting into shit every time I looked over at them. Now the mothers of these boys were busy socializing and shit and the little terrors were just doing shit...terrorizing poor Spirit so bad that I had to go get her out the back yard and bring her up front with me...Now not to wish anything bad on those two, but I just see them being penitentiary bound if someone doesn't step in and straighten them out and I mean SOON!!

Now that I have totally bitten off Nikki's idea, I am gonna start seeing if there is anything I can do here in the city to see about getting some grants or funding to put this plan into action...hell there is so much corruption in our local government that I am sure they can squeeze out a few hundred thousand to make something positive happen in our community....

Comments

Did someone call the grants queen? Shit, I may as well make this position work for someone I know. Hit me up, Kel! We gonna work this out. We must get to our young people, before THEY do. THEY is not good people. Not good at all.

Posted by: Yolanda | July 12, 2005 at 08:23 AM

Great post!!! Between you and Nikki I feel inspired this morning as well!!! I have always wanted to be a "big sister" I don't have one of my own nor do I have daughters! It makes me sad when I see pre-teen and teen girls "out there" in such a bad way! I would like to make a positive impact on a young gurls life!!!!

Thanks Kelz and Nikki!!!

Posted by: Dee | July 12, 2005 at 10:26 AM

terrorizing spirit? no!!!! some kids need their azz whooped for reals. if not now, they will be straight teenage hellions!

Posted by: muffin | July 12, 2005 at 11:12 AM

Now that is a GREAT idea!!! and I am glad you are going to see it through and anything I can do to help...just let me know

Posted by: SlowMetamorphosis | July 12, 2005 at 11:39 AM

If you ever need anything, holla at me. I'm a grantwriter by profession. Well, that was before I gave in my letter of resignation. LOL...

Posted by: cee | July 12, 2005 at 12:04 PM

Alright Kelzz!! I'm glad you're thinking about using my idea as well. All these kids need really is a little bit of attention and something positive to do. I hope we can start some kinda movement in other cities as well. My brother is friends with our new mayor and we're planning on getting him involved in the project as well. Every little bit helps.

And hopefully we can get more men in our community involved in the project as well. Some of these kids need some positive male role models in their lives.

Posted by: Nikki | July 12, 2005 at 12:27 PM

Let's start an enterprise...I wanna be on the Chicago committee...:) Great idea. Very necessary too...these kids ae SO bored.

Posted by: Keish | July 12, 2005 at 03:50 PM

Project Update: Yo Kel, me and my crew been kicking names for our project all morning. We've narrowed it down to 3: The Pinnacle, Pindemonium (link in bowling pins) or Pandemonium (since that's what we plan to have going on due to the various activities that can be done within the facility).

Posted by: Nikki | July 12, 2005 at 04:20 PM

This is a great idea. Also, have you ever considered joing Big Brothers/Sisters of America? I've been considering that lately myself.

Posted by: kiesha | July 12, 2005 at 06:48 PM

Hey, I'm glad you noticed something. I'm also glad you were inspired to start making a difference. It may not seem like much but if you do a part and the next person does a part and so on, many hands will evenutally make for light work.

If there's anything I can do, let me know...

Posted by: The ChurchBoy | July 12, 2005 at 07:23 PM

Wow. That's deep... see!!! Between you and Nikki, I am starting to believe that we CAN rise as a people. Please, please, please keep us posted. (G. Cornelius 2004/5)

Posted by: Xquizzyt1 | July 12, 2005 at 10:49 PM

Omg! You know I can post bout shit like this all damn day! Bad ass kids! But it isn't their fault! It's the gov't and the parents! I mean how hard is it to get on line and look up some free programs! oops my bad! the free ones are too damn far! Well get up off your ass and travel! I mean c'mon! Oh my bad you work! that's a bit more understandable but so do I and my son has made it to camp since he was six!

WHERE THERE IS A WILL THERE IS A WAY! PEOPLE!

I deal with this crap EVERY year! EVERY SINGLE YEAR! My sis is one of them lazy bones (at times not always she's gotten better). My step daughter is OUT of camp this summer because her mom is too damn lazy! nevermind that I picked up the forms and all that shit FOR HER! That little girl is STILL at home!

Ok I'm out cause i'm mad now!

Hit me up if ya need some assistance!

p.s. still no laptoy or pc!

Posted by: Lil' Sis... | July 13, 2005 at 08:05 AM

This is crazy, I have been working on this same thing for about a year now. I have the research, and the support only thing I lack is the time. Please contact me cause I am serious about this and if anything we can start something nationally. We got enough blogger to get this going. So what do you say guys?

Posted by: carmelcomplexion | July 13, 2005 at 09:23 AM

You know my heart is in stuff like this! I am with you 100%...when you get what you need....share the info with a sista :) Well, for Philly that is.

xoxoxo

Posted by: Funkeedva | July 13, 2005 at 09:53 AM

Let me know what I can do, I have a million ideas...

Posted by: sun | July 13, 2005 at 02:36 PM