Joseph Watson, 17

Joseph Watson, 17, a black youth, was shot multiple times at 10965 Budlong Street and died at 8:21 p.m. Jan. 19. He did not want to join the local gang, and may have been killed for it.

See: "Dispatch: Omissions"

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Comments

[D. Kuficha]

I am greatly saddened by this young man's death and all those who
have died violently, in gang warfare particularly. This child's family
fought hard to give him decent morals and to provide him with a path that
would expose him to unleashing his greatest potential. In one quick moment,
all that evaporated. The streets are wild with chaos and confusion. These
gangs are fed with our youth, who are too scared to do anything other than follow into the abyss provided by the local gang tribes.

The circle of violence in the street is so entangled and has so much more
to it than we are allowed to know. From the imprisoned gang members,
messages are sent to the streets, telling their followers who to target.
Sometimes there is even corruption in law enforcement that aids and abets
the confusion. You only have to check the L.A. Times archives, or that of any city, to review the cases of criminal cops. If people knew that real story(ies) behind all these murders, how folks are set up (targeted), and why, this nation would fall apart. Corruption is masked and it exists in high places. Getting the drug dealer, but not the distributor or grower, isn't going to stop the drugs from continuing to move on the streets. By the same token, those committing the crimes are often not those planning the crimes or targeting the areas to terrorize. The big dogs are way behind the curtains.

Joseph was just a baby, a young man with a bright future, if he could avoid the gangs that plagued his neighbor and bullied his life. And, he tried hard to do that very thing. If he didn't already graduate from high school, he was set to do so, judging from his picture. His courage blessed his soul, and will no doubt always make his parents proud, bittersweet pride, albeit. My love goes out to Joseph's family, friends and community.

Another of our precious youth dies by the bullet of one of his brothers. Another of our children becomes a murder, maybe a mass murderer by now.
We must emulate what it looks like to value life. There must be an end to this madness. We must become the peace piece. Our children need programs
that help them develop social skills and academic skills, and that keeps them off the streets. Turn off violent tv programs, videos, games, etc. Remind them to value life means that revenge is not sweet. We need to delete the violence in our vocabulary. Be mindful of our thoughts and behavior. Be the example we are looking for and shine it onto our youths. Give them hope for today, so that they want to live tomorrow. Most importantly, develop healthy relationships with ourselves, our neighbors of all nationalities and races, and our communities will reflect that healing.

Help us take our neighborhoods back. We have to start with cleaning up our image within ourselves.