Handguns and kids don’t mix

When will the senselessness end when it comes to children and handguns?

This week 10-year-old Cameron Roberts was shot by his 13-year-old brother in their Dove Avenue home.

Cameron is dead and his brother is being held in juvenile hall until police can sort out whether this was a tragic accident or something more sinister.

Whatever the findings, the fact remains that children and handguns are a lethal combination.

To be sure, citizens have the right to bear arms in this country, but with that come responsibility; especially if there are minors in a household.

At this point, authorities don’t know who owns the handgun that snuffed out the life of a 10-year-old.  At the end of the day, whoever it belongs to needs to be charged with a crime.

Children are curious by nature.

Unfortunately in all too many urban neighborhoods guns are a way of life.

Not a week goes by in Greater Cleveland that someone winds up in county morgue due to a fatal shooting.  This week the occupant of the morgue is Cameron Roberts.

Last week we witnessed the shooting rampage in Chardon that claimed three young lives.

And these tragedies will continue until responsible adults owning firearms keep them out of the reach of children.

It’s a sad commentary on society.

Demetrius Hewlin still lives in others

If there was anything good to have come out of last week’s tragic school rampage at Chardon High School, it is that Demetrius Hewlin – one of the three teen males killed – donated his organs so that others could have brighter lives.

Demetrius was a Lifebanc donor by his own choosing never thinking he’d die so soon.   It was this selfless act that will ensure that he continues to live in others.

After he was pronounced brain dead, his organs, eyes and tissue were harvested at MetroHealth Hospital.

One organ donor can save up to eight lives and enhance the lives of 50 other people through tissue donation.  This is quite a feat by any standards.

Demetrius Hewlin should give all of us pause to consider donating organs after death.

For too long in the African-American community many feel that donating organs after death is a desecration to the body.  In fact, it is just the opposite.

Organ donors are heroes.

They give of themselves so that others may live.

We cannot think of a better testament to life.

It would be remiss of us if we didn’t mention that another Chardon High School student who was killed, Russell King, Jr., also donated his organs.

Both Demetrius and Russell combined have saved up to 16 lives.

It is a tribute to them.

It is a tribute to life.

As important that they will live on, not only in the memories of their respective families, but to the individuals who now have a new lease on life.

If there is a silver lining in these cloudy days, this is it.

Thank you Demetrius and Russell for setting an example.

By DR. JULIANNE MALVEAUX

NNPA Columnist

During Black History Month, the focus is often on individuals. The founder of the month (once Negro History Week) was Dr. Carter G. Woodson, and he chose the week that encompassed both the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas. When other luminaries are mentioned, they are mostly men, but this year, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) has declared that women will anchor the month. It is great to lift up the many black women luminaries, including Dr. Dorothy Irene Height, Elizabeth Keckley, Cathy Hughes, and so many others.

Yet the real untold story of Black History Month is the story of the organizations that have made a real difference in the advancement of African American people. The NAACP, founded in 1909, and the National Urban League, founded in xxx are the most visible organizations, but in 1935 both the National Council of Negro Women (led by Dr. Height from 1957 to her death in 2010) and the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs were founded. Even earlier, in 1896, the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs was established. Mary Church Terrell was the organization’s first president and this group, still operating, is the oldest organization that works for the benefit of black women and families.

Until 1960, most African American women worked as maids, domestics, or private household workers. The National Domestic Workers Union was founded in 1968 by Dorothy Lee Bolden, who started working at age 12 for about $1.50 a week. The organization was dedicated to professionalize domestic work, providing training and advocating for fair working conditions. This was yet another example of African American women coming together to improve their lives and those of their families.

There is a rich history of African American sororities and fraternities. Among the sororities, Alpha Kappa Alpha was founded at Howard University in 1908. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated was also founded at Howard in 1913 by women who broke off from AKA to emphasize their commitment to scholarship, service, and sisterhood. Delta women marched in the Women’s Suffrage March in 1913, despite discouragement from white women who did not want to mix race matters with suffrage issues. (Full disclosure – I’m a Delta). Two other black women’s sororities, Zeta Phi Beta and Sigma Gamma Rho, are organizations that also focus on service. All of the black women’s sororities are committed to uplifting the community and to providing scholarship assistance to students.

In so many ways, the history of organization is a tribute to the human spirit that transcends stories of individual accomplishment. Organizational development reminds of the ways and the reasons that people come together for uplift and for good, to improve lives, to pay it forward, to pass good things on. Black history month is often the story of accomplished individuals but the story of organizations is equally compelling. As a nation and a world, we are better off for the efforts of the National Council of negro Women, now led by Dr. Avis Jones DeWeever, for Delta Sigma Theta, led by Cynthia M. A. Butler-McIntyre, by the Children’s Defense Fund, led by Marian Wright Edelman, and by the National Mentoring Cares Movement, led by former Essence editor Susan Taylor. As we cheer on individuals, we must also cheer on the enduring legacy of organization founded and led by African American women.

Julianne Malveaux is President of Bennett College for Women and author of Surviving and Thriving: 365 Facts in Black Economic History.

Cuyahoga County Council members Pernell Jones, Jr. and Dave Greenspan have come up with a novel idea.

Both have agreed to tour each others county districts in an effort to have a better understanding of not only constituents’ needs but to reflect on the diversity of Cuyahoga County.

Greenspan represents Council District 1.  It encompasses Bay Village, Fairview Park, North Olmsted, Rocky River and a sliver of Olmsted Township.

The average median income for that patch of turf is nearly $56,000 annually.

Jones represents Council District 8.

His bailiwick is made up of Cleveland wards 2, 5 and 6 in addition to Garfield Heights and Maple Heights.

Jones’ constituents are mostly Black and on average bring home roughly $27,000 a year which is hardly a staggering sum; especially when compared to the Council District across the river.

Yet and still, Jones and Greenspan believe it vitality important to see up close and personal what constituents need from their government.

To be sure, Jones’ clientele need more social services than Greenspan’s group.

That’s hardly shocking news.

But all-in-all, we think it’s a good step in the right direction that two County Council members would conceive of visiting each others districts.

We would hope that other County Council members would take note and follow a similar plan of action.

After all, we’re all in this together.