Shopping malls all over the country are being flooded with people trying to get their last minute Christmas shopping done. Some people are not in the happy Christmas spirit. In Richmond California on December 23rd at the Hill Top Mall hundreds of people were lined up to buy the limited-edition Nike Air Jordan Retro Concord shoes. Some 24 year old idiot for reasons not yet known decided to fire a gun that was in his pocket. I’m wondering what in the world would posse someone to do something so crazy, is this shoe worth risking lives for. I don’t think so! Well now this 24 year old idiot will spend Christmas in jail eating a government cheese sandwich, that’s what he gets for being so darn stupid.
Richmond is a city that always gets a bad rap, because of all the violence. Burgundie Spears changed that at Christmas time. A graduate of Howard University in Washington D.C., she came up with the idea “Christmas in Richmond” this is the fourth year. Richmond residents receive clothing, meals and gifts on Christmas Day. It doesn’t stop there, twenty five families were adopted, they will have meals and gifts donated to them. That’s not all Meals on Wheels will be dropping off meals to seniors. I think Burgundie Spears had a great idea, for helping out the City of Richmond. It takes just one person with a good idea to help people in need around the holidays. Let all of us, that have a little more then others learn from Ms. Spears and continue helping people all year round.
There is a arsonist in El Sobrante and Richmond setting cars on fire. He set another car on fire November 10, 2009 in the early morning. The arsonist has set sixteen cars on fire in the past week. There looking for a man wearing black sweatpants and gray hoodie. The citizens of El Sobrante and Richmond can’t seem to get a break. What would make a person do something like this? This person has to be truly mentally unstable. The arsonist needs to be caught, before he hurts someone.
Last Saturday night a 15-year old girl left early from the Richmond High School homecoming dance, in order to call her father for a ride home. Instead, she let a group of friends and young adults talk her into having alcoholic beverages in a nearby parking lot....after which time she got drunk, and passed out.
However, instead of being helped home in her vulnerable state, the girl was forcibly dragged to a shaded courtyard just blocks from the dance...where she was savagely gang- raped, beaten and robbed of her jewelry.
Ten or more teenage and older boys, participated in these horrific crimes, some of them joining into the act LONG after it had begun. Even worse, the ordeal lasted almost two-and-a half HOURS, after which time ONE person called 911...FINALLY! (Among the many passers-by and onlookers near the scene) Why no one stepped in or called for help sooner...remains a puzzling mystery.
To some degree of relief, the victim was released from the hospital yesterday, while five suspects were caught, and are being charged with crimes that could send them to prison for life. Four of them are teenagers being charged as adults, and, Richmond Police plan on making more arrests as new leads trickle in..
They've spent the past four days interviewing students and young adults who's accounts have helped lead to a few of the current arrests. A 20,000 reward is even being offered for information leading to criminal convictions in the case.
Recovering from tragedy will be difficult--for the young girl, for her school, and for the community. As the victim rested at home, Richmond High School rallied back with a large gathering of concerned students, teachers and community leaders...each speaking out loudly to protect and defend their reputations.
Teachers talked about ending our society's trend toward de-humanizing women, especially the current attitudes some men fashion toward them, specifically on TV and in music industry.
Community leaders also reminded us that gang rape and other despicable crimes are not just problems in Richmond, or other cities with low income and high crime rates. These problems occur everywhere!
Richmond High School students agree, saying they are proud of themselves, and claiming they aren't animals or savages....but responsible, respectable individuals who care about making positive changes to improve their common future. The school's impressively solid state testing scores bare this out.
The West Contra Costa school board sub-committee has also called for increased security and cameras, both in, and around local high schools. In addition, nearby communities have offered to form neighborhood watch programs and other increased crime awareness methods.
Let's just hope that all who were criminally involved in these crimes will be justly prosecuted....while the victim, her school, and her community, continue to heal and learn from this horrid gang-rape, in order to to prevent it from ever happening again!
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sFjqlaHapzgjT65g-V9pROo8VpKfO_m1cCfjrNsK09tQfv6dVSv1D-hFWggCFUI31nYFiTe6I06gtpFnfPL48d3RYIXwU8xMpj5wAZvBehrT4HWp5S7EUwQRiO6LhrT27hA-LeNPtHwiDih00DzYu8=s0-d)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_s9GRPjh7PJhIzmKxNGdzKvYqWxLDj-mfGSPvXqus5zUVUtHKFaDx6EDW0ZJLQJR0Nq7zNzBwn3CLALOKochf_JfZ0fsSBskBDdSD66rU5Yf_M-Xnp_U-P2T_D6WQueDqSqtU3RGUt8wdWrYuV02w0N=s0-d)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uAs9Ys8DsupyCxnRGLNW_aFZko1ErDTk84yieoTM1P7sLXmo_mK_2VXQuE38VRpCsdWLshZKrE6DEGmDildsovZrJbVscFzHA5_x8wRW2ajNiMg1ud4g9PTJ64I6APcpdOzPFc7JvcUxA9vptXkG4I=s0-d)
