By GREG HORNER, Staff Reporter.
Delta’s Ricker Center hosted a Black Men Matter panel to discuss the ongoing tensions between the black community and police. Several voices in the African-American community spoke about the difficulty in raising their children to respect authority when trust in the community is at a low.
“How do we as parents teach our kids to respect authority,” said Lorenzo Pierson, who organized the event. “How do we teach our kids to conduct themselves when confronted with authority?”
Pierson invited several local leaders to discuss the issue, including local religious leaders and law enforcement. The guests included Dr. Martin T. Smith of Missionary Baptist Church, Sgt. Reginald Williams from the Saginaw police, Brian Pruitt, Pastor Taurus Simpson of Daniel’s Den and Galvann Smith of Delta’s law enforcement training program.
“The U.S. has the dubious distinction of leading the industrialized world in violent crimes,” said Dr. Smith. “We Americans have created a culture that places very little worth or value on human life.”
Several attendees brought their children to listen to the advice of the community’s leaders. The panelists said it’s impossible to support respect in the community without starting in the home.
For Pruitt, a children’s respect for authority correlates with the parents in the home. Pruitt didn’t have a father growing up; he had to rely on his mother not only to survive, but to learn how to be an adult as well.
“The moment I tried to break the line,” said Pruitt, “she put me back in line so when I met a teacher, elder, or officer in my community I treated them with respect, whether I trusted them or not.”
Pastor Simpson sees it as his duty to understand what young people are saying today. But in an age of texting, twitter and snapchat parents have trouble communicating.
“They’re saying a lot of things, we just don’t know what they’re talking about,” said Simpson. “We have to learn how to communicate and still be cool, yet still be a father and be a mother.”
An important topic for the panel was promoting black participation in local law enforcement. With tensions between the black community and law enforcement high, it’s necessary that local law enforcement represents the people they protect.
Galvann Smith shared his experience as the leader of Delta’s law enforcement training program, and recent trends aren’t encouraging. In the 11 years that Smith has worked in the position, he has only graduated one black member from the academy.
“We have to go back and protect the young people today,” said Smith. “If we protect them and show them the right path, they’ll never depart from it.”
The panel responded to the concerns of those in the audience; mothers asked the panel how they encourage their children to dream while still managing their expectations. Many asked how they should cultivate individuality and support their children’s creativity.
“I think it’s important for us to dream, but I think it’s more important that we wake up,” said Williams. “Whatever I say I’m going to do, I try my hardest to do that. We have to work for what it is that we want, unfortunately for us now we don’t seem to be that way.”
For George Copeland, a senior of SVSU and the president of the Organization of Black Unity, the event did a good job of starting a dialogue. “We focused on what we can do to help the community. Social media focuses on the negatives and a lot of times we don’t get to see the changes in our area.”
However, Copeland expressed hope that future meetings of Black Men Matter will do a better job of reaching out to young members of the black community.
“It’s a Friday night and most people are getting ready for a party. Go where they are, because we have to start early,” said Copeland. “Children have to dream and we have to set goals for those dreams, no matter what your situation and the boundaries around you are you can still reach your goal.”
