Words of change from Mr. Wade Jackson
Mr. Wade and I first met when I was writer/editor for the North Philly Metropolis teen newspaper. Mr. Wade had come to my office in the summer of 2006 wanting his views and concerns about the city of Philadelphia heard. I agreed to interview Mr. Wade for what soon became a series of articles appearing in every other issue of the NPM. Within this article I decided to switch things up a bit and instead of interviewing Mr. Wade, give him a chance to share his ideals and suggestions about the violence that inhabits Philadelphia.
My name is Mr. Wade Jackson and I have a few things to say on how we can stop the violence in Philadelphia. I have a solution that will bring the violence down, but it will take participation from everyone including Moms In Charge, Moms Against Guns, Men United, Block Captains, Ex-offenders, former gang members, the commissioner, and Mayor Michael Nutter.
Locking up and throwing away the key is not the answer to prevent violence. My solution is that throughout the city of Philadelphia instead of thinking negative about the young generation that went astray; let’s turn this negative thinking into positive. Everyone, take one male or female that is going toward the wrong direction under your wing and reach out to them like they are one of your own. Show them what they are missing in life, show them how important education is, and take them to different places. Everybody must work together as one; we are the answer to the violence, not jail.
Michael Nutter since you are about education and want the violence to slow down, are you willing to take a teen under your wing and guide them in the right direction? You are the mayor of Philadelphia; you can set the biggest example by letting Philadelphians see you do this. I am asking everyone to reach out and take a chance with youth because we are losing them either in jail or to the grave. They deserve a chance, let’s give it to them. Reach out to them and show them love. If God can forgive, so can we.
Everybody throughout the city of Philadelphia step up to the plate, it will be a big change for our lives. We must remember not all families have both parents. Even with both parents some children still don’t get love and that can definitely lead them in the wrong direction. We are all supposed to be as one, love each other as one no matter what color you may be. 
Another solution for people who are ex-offenders and don’t have jobs, one thing that could be done is to create outside jobs such as, cleaning graffiti off of walls, painting buildings, washing windows, and landscaping. I know a lot of companies don’t want to take a chance with a person who has a record, but just give them a chance. I believe that a lot of outside jobs will be a success, there is nothing like getting a paycheck for doing honest work.
Michael Nutter this is another idea for you to think about, since you want to help people on parole and ex-offenders. Instead of millions of dollars going toward unnecessary things for our city they could go towards those who do need jobs.
Thank you.
(Peak Johnson, The Student Vanguard)
News from today’s Inky- Patients, hospitals wrestle over tumor tissueAll Niki Perry wanted was pieces of her own brain, and she got angrier by the day as she tried to get them. […]
- Merchantville has a proposal for Cherry HillSome liken it to two people dating. There's a courting period to get to know each other before anyone pops the question. […]
- Floyd, Warner convicted of first-degree murder in Liczbinski's killingNeither Eric DeShann Floyd nor Levon T. Warner fired a shot the day Philadelphia Police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski had his fatal encounter with a trio of fleeing bank robbers. But a jury on Wednesday ruled that Floyd, the driver of the getaway car, and Warner, a passenger, were as culpable as triggerman Howard Cain, 33, who was killed by police after Liczbinski […]
- Patients, hospitals wrestle over tumor tissue
- News from today’s Daily
- Phil Goldsmith: Ackerman and SRC tone-deaf to Philadelphia taxpayers' financial plightTHIS MONTH, School Superintendent Arlene Ackerman has been bringing in high-priced administrators and shuffling her administrative team more than Charlie Manuel has changed the Phillies' injury-plagued lineup. But the district says not to worry: These changes are "budget-neutral." […]
- Domonic Brown lives up to hype in Phillies debutThe Phillies called him up to the big leagues yesterday after just 28 games at Triple A, and they felt comfortable enough in his ability to hit him sixth in a lineup that was riding a six-game winning streak. […]
- Sources: On-duty cop caught on video stealing from Pat's CafePat's Cafe, a tiny corner bar in the Lower Northeast, is regarded as something of a sacred space by local residents and men and women in blue. […]
- Phil Goldsmith: Ackerman and SRC tone-deaf to Philadelphia taxpayers' financial plight
- The Philadelphia Public School Notebook
- Notes from the news, July 29Vietnamese parent sues district, saying she was attacked at S. Philadelphia High The Inquirer The alleged attack occurred in January 2009, before LaGreta Brown was principal, but Brown and the District are charged with failing to protect the civil rights of Asian students. See also: Mother of Asian student files suit for January attack at South Philadelphia […]
- 'Waiting for Superman': Help or menace"Waiting for 'Superman'," this year's highly touted education documentary, had a preview screening in Philadelphia Tuesday night, and its producer, Lesley Chilcott, clearly hopes it can have as big an impact on US schools as her previous collaboration with director Davis Guggenheim on "An Inconvenient Truth" had on awarenes […]
- Race to the Top 1, teachers' jobs 0?While the announcement of the finalists of Race to the Top's second round takes up major education headlines this week, $10 billion of emergency aid to save teachers' jobs died quietly in the US Senate. read more […]
- Notes from the news, July 29
- The 3 Guys
- E-3In the world of gaming there are many things that fill us with uncontrollable squealing schoolgirl like glee. For example earning the highscore in a game that has been under ownership for the past three years, but for some reason there is over two decades of calculated hours logged into it. Another Justin Beamer CD […]
- Heroes on PatrolWho would have ever thought… […]
- Wait, Cole has hair????Infamous is a fun game if you like the action adventure type, I played it after finishing Batman:Arkam Asylum. The only thing though is that if you've seen a 'Karma' system once then you've seen it hundreds of times. […]
- E-3
- Mighty Writers
- Mighty Quote of the Day“If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that by reading, just as I did when I was young.” —Maya Angelou […]
- Cool Sounds of Summer, #5“Sunny,” Lee Fields […]
- Escape“To get away from one’s working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one’s self.” —Charles Cooley […]
- Write Makes Might!Click here to support our growth. […]
- Mighty Tutor Tribute Party Pix[…]
- Mighty Quote of the Day
- Young Philly Politics
- the ADA twenty years on: still fighting for home careTuesday was the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA is another product of 1960s and 70s movement building (an oral history and archive is fittingly hosted by UC Berkeley). There's too much history to telescope into a short post, but the dimensions of what the movement was fighting against are shown in a few examples. Thro […]jennifer
- Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission Files Lawsuit Against Wells Fargo for Reverse Redlining Philadelphia's NeighborhoodsIn case you have not seen it, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) has filed suit against Wells Fargo Bank. The PHRC, which is responsible for enforcing Pennsylvania's anti-discrimination laws, has alleged that Wells Fargo systematically 'reverse redlined' Philadelphia neighborhoods, by concentrating expensive, abusive loans in P […]Dan U-A
- Women's Empowerment Film Festival August 7thWOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT SUMMER FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY ITVS, WHYY and the Leeway Foundation in partnership with the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians and the Women's Medical Fund. Escape the heat, grab your friends and family, and join us for an air-conditioned afternoon of award-winning films! All screening […]philly_communitycinema
- The Philadelphia Democratic Party is worse than I realizedI haven’t posted on YPP for a while because I’ve been doing a blog about Women and Retirement at http://www.the-next-stage.com/ However, I find my self increasingly writing about politics rather than focusing on retirement issues. It’s become clear to me that one of the main reasons I retired was to be able to devote more time to my activist projects. My job […]kbojar
- State tells child services provider to compensate familiesPhiladelphia preschoolers with a disability have — for more than a year — been shut out of critical services by a private agency hired by the state to deliver those services. Now the state has stepped in — thanks to a complaint filed by the Education Law Center and Disability Rights Network — and issued a directive to the agency: Compensate these families im […]bschaeffer
- the ADA twenty years on: still fighting for home care
