Teen’s Death Leads
To Calls For Action

i want to say how sorry i am to the parents of travis, he sounds like such a decent young man, so many cared about him, and i agree change is imminent, we cant allow this to happen anymore, turn in absentee landlords who allow drug dealers to flourish in our neighborhoods, report crimes anonymously if you must, hold more rallies recruit more concerned citizens, email other start a network of concerned citizens to block watch.
rocky Pratt, guardian angels chapter leader, new haven
203 206 9003, dare to care

I admire the efforts of these community leaders, and feel horrible for the parents of this young man....but must take issue with few comments:

Often times when someone has a strong, caring family, like this young man did, it is enough to ensure that they have a successful and fulfilling life. Unfortunately, in this situation the negative elements in the neighborhood overwhelmed him for a split second one time.
I really feel that the only way to counteract this culture of violence is to make these neighborhoods stronger by addressing the weakest elements. If the other grown ups and community members were supportive and encouraging like this family, things like this wouldn't happen.
The underground drug trade needs to be replaced with main stream economic opportunity that is easily accessible. Goods and services shouldn't have to be 2 bus rides away in the suburbs.
My best wishes are to the family, I hope they are able to heal.

There's no reason we have to pay our top city officials $175K+ in compensation and benefits when the typical family makes less than 20% of that. We should cap the compensation at half that amount and use the savings to encourage entrepreneurs to create more jobs in neighborhoods like Edgewood. That would help reduce violence more than having stratospherically-high paid city officials ever could.

Roasty:

3) It is comparable to terrorism. The neighborhood is terrorized, traumatized, and accustomed to fear.
Warring factions sparking violence in a small piece of land.

2) We all wanted violence at some point. We are a sick species. Your point is a bit lame. The speaker clearly means that we have had enough. No more violence.

1) Our boys do both. Kill and be killed. Both here and overseas. It's ingrained in our culture, as you know.

I believe that humanity was not intended to be murderous lot. Our suffering is learned. We can revert back to our perfect self if we take a conscious approach to that effort every day.

i do agree with roasty to some extent, concerning learned behavior, i disagree with people having a need to be violent, only 3 percent have 97 percent of good law abiding citizens living in fear, and it is a drug trade that is the motivating force for the shootings for the most part, average age of a shooter, 15 to 23, average age for a homicide, 15 to 23, unfortunate that this fine young man died, i am torn over it, i have seen neighborhoods change because they want to, the majority of folks are decent, they just have to believe that there is strength in numbers and to show pressure in mass peacefully, over and over till the 3 percent leave, it takes vigilance from my experience, they want to remain anonymous and make money, they will move on, and the other misguided youth will see the example of love for the community, maybe some of them will be affected, its not about jobs, its about leading by example.