Monday, July 23, 2007

Collateral Damage


Eleven year old Ephraim Brown was slain this past weekend when two gangs opened fire on each other outside a kid's birthday party. Ephraim had the misfortune to be standing on the wrong spot on the sidewalk, and was shot in the neck, dying almost instantly.

His older sisters were interviewed on TV asking the North End Toronto gangs to break their code of silence, so police could find the killer(s) of their little brother. So far, the police have arrested one suspect, Akiel Eubank, aged twenty-one. "Mr." Eubank's well-known to police as a gang-banger with a long criminal history.

As usual, I'm "preaching to the choir", as I did last Dec.26th, when I say that until the black community comes together and does something about their gang problem, more shootings and deaths will continue. Ephraim's sisters are correct - the black community must stop living in fear of retaliation from these animals, and take back their neighborhoods. Easy to say, maybe not easy to do. Ephraim's not the only child to die this year from a gang shooting. If the black community leaders who lobby City Hall constantly for other considerations do their job, Ephraim will be the last child murdered by Toronto gang-bangers.

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