"We have to do better!"

Horrific stories of violence against black and brown persons are a staple of daily news. Yet none so outraged Americans as the brutal killing of 15-year old Lesandro "Junior" Guzman-Feliz captured on video. On Wednesday, June 20, the teenager was dragged out of a Bronx, New York bodega and repeatedly hacked with a machete by several"gangbangers." Guzman-Feliz bled to death at the scene. This short commentary is by Evelyn Pollard, wife and mother of three sons. I keep thinking about the 15-year old stabbed to death in the Bronx. Imagine if this attack had occurred 20 years ago. Back then, "the community" was protector, provider, even parent (if yours weren’t around), and disciplinarian. The store owners never would have  kicked (Lesandro) out of the store. The young men who stabbed him never would have made it off the block without being chased down.The teenager would have been carried or driven to the damn hospital! I won’t say what would have been done to the assholes who stabbed him. They deserve to be put underneath the jail.That said, we have to do better: fewer cell phones, more community.