Mothers of Violence: New Orleans, LA

[ndc18]

@Julius18King what's wrong? Drugs have destroyed parts of the black community.

[ndc18]

legalize drugs

[WINSTON4747]

Play the game someone will punch your ticket

[DOKt00n]

the first womans voice lulls me to sleep...

[719kai719]

I feel for the mothers in this video who lost children to the streets and senseless gun violence/murder! Its great that they have come together to support oneanother for a common cause and purpose! Very sad how little some people value life!

[musicnerd225488]

those poor mothers.

[dejonal]

@ 2:04 I nearly cried when they showed my round name (Mervin Simon) on the board.

RIP Mervin Simon (12/13/85-07/06/08). I'mma hold it down like gravity.

[TheseNuts86]

When I evacuated NO in 05" and went to Austin, TX. I didn't know how bad the crime rate got until I started listening to Juvenile's Reality check and a while after lil Wayne's Da Carter lll.A song called: Get cha hustle on. by Juve and a song called:Tie my hands by Weezy and Robin Thicke made me realyze what was happening.That's why I started looking for vids like this over a year ago.Now there's a massive oil spill. NO will never be the same. But I'll never forget where I came from. NO 4 life!

[goonie50]

@TheseNuts86 yea i moved to new york after katrina....The best thing that ever happened to me and I was raised in the florida projects.

[porsche3102]

this is so sad .. i kno how that feels i didnt lose a son but i lost a little brother he was 17 ... i just wish these kids would undersstand that wat they do will effect everyone that loves that person .... i have a son he is only to two but im scared for whats to come .. no matter how ur rasied u can be a target .. in my case we oved frm a bad city philadelphia to a small little city and the outcome was still death .....

[AeroHostale]

I meant to state keep your legs CLOSED.

[AeroHostale]

This is just so sad. That's what pisses me off about fellow African Americans. The AA males, the scum of my race anyway, are committing more crimes against AAs than any white supremacist group in the world. Yes, that is a fact not a myth. The AA women are having illegitimate babies by known thugs and "niggas" all across the blocks. HIV/AIDS is high in our community so keep your legs towards to the "niggas with big dicks." Learn to respect yourselves and mold your kids into respectable adults.

[blackinamerica00]

All black people should try to go in business for themselves

[Ovito85]

the south is crazy.

[est1985buckcity]

its sad as young black men majority of us feed off violence i stay a hour away from the N.O. and got family from the 9th ward shit was bad b4 the storm its just took a toll for the worse i really hate that besides the violence NEW ORLEANS is a great place to be

[sheydances]

sooo true..I noticed u used the word "us"..a lot of people would be soo quick to just point the finger..and like u said ..thngs was bad b4 the storm, katrina was jus icing on the cake..but our people gna get it togther..there's no place like home!!

[proatmetazine30906]

I think New Orleans is gonna see a lot of growth.They tore down all those dense ass projects.New Orleans just needs a good mayor and some better public school system.New Orleans is the most interesting city to me from a historical aspect and cultural.and even with its murderous reputation you can find affordable homes in a decent neighborhood.(but decent to me might be hood to you)

[dejonal]

@proatmetazine30906

Actually tearing down the projects was the worst move ever, cause now you got niggaz from every project living in a one decent neighborhood fuckin' shit up, since the PJs ain't standing crime is all over the city instead of in "certain spots"

[LbDubAllStarz]

WHY IT GATTA BE @ NEW ORLEANS FOE??

[cmbpepperboy]

i know you could probably care less but the lady in the video is my mother and the son she lost my big brother she knew what kind of life he had but if you have any kids no matter what they do, do you stop loving them no and nobody has the right to take somebody's life so all im saying is have a heart the same way you love yours is the same way my mama and family loved my brother and for the record he was murdered trying to stop somebody else from being shot and the shooter killed him instead.

[PLUCK4EVA]

RIP to ya brother whodi.

i got in front of my brother gettin jumped & they pulled out a knife..i stopped it by callin for peace...i was lucky, but i'm sorry ya bro wasn't man.

[akan1]

Greetings.

Blessings. Your words have moved me.

Love is unconditional, whatever the situation.

I've posted a video in humble support of your

attitude.

OL, Peace.

[kambridge967]

did he have a girlfriend when he died?

[CashvilleGunSlanger]

sorry to hear about ur brother

[gerardange]

Looks Great Vanessa... It's Alive!!!! It's real!! You captured Life... Keep up the good work!

GA

[chiyerano]

Black, White, whatever, we're all mankind and of flesh and blood. The things that are happening in our streets and around the world are just more signs that the whole of mankind is in trouble and needs help.

[raulmadri]

Well, I've lived in NOLA for about 6 months as a interchange student. I lived in a black neighborhood(there were some drug dealers apparently) and I used to take buses in a place full of very scaring people(At the beginning I thought I woulnd't keep alive for much time) but I'd never had a problem with somebody.. I think the murders there, are due to the fight among drug dealers or something. I remember I heard some shots while I lived in NOLA, the ones in my life, and I'm from Brazil.

[joshuademoraes]

Pensei que apenas cidades sulamericanas tivessem problemas com violência

[2012nugget]

CHOICE.

Her son had one,he made the wrong one.Just because a job will not support a cadillac and a big house doesnt mean it wont lead to these things. If you dance the dance,you must be willing to pay the fiddeler. OnePeace

[cesna6]

one answer for this bullshit. shame, violence, murder every day in the black cummunity. here is the only solution, perry's black on black crime. utube check it out.

[dbrstwrt]

Up yours and take a pill.

[bluetowelpride]

You cant call one single race " savage." Because last time I checked there were many white and black high profile drug lords, we all know both white people and black people murder. They both rob and carjack people. And not every white person takes care of their child, obviously. And there is no single " clean" race on the face of the earth. So let the one without sin cast the first stone.

[One5thOfWhiskey]

Yeah. Mercedes-Benz sometimes have engine problems and product recalls too, so they must be about the same as a Yugo... Springer Spaniels and AmStaff Terriers are both dogs and have both bitten people, so they must be about the same. . True, you can't single out one single race as responsible for all crime and mayhem in the country, but by the same token, you sure as hell can't say all races are equally to blame with regards to the same. It's fucking ridiculous.)

[CapricousCapricorn1]

I'm not holding on to any fucking past.

But, when you whites want to blame the bad actions of some blacks on the fact that they are black, that there is something genetically wrong with them, instead of situational and environmental factors, then that is when the problems arise.

There is nothing bad that a black man has done that any other person of another "race" hasn't.

[breambusta]

The only thing this topic has to do with race is that the education system in New Orleans isn't enough to overpower the ways of the street and unfortunately blacks make up a good portion of the inner city and the culture there as opposed to education seems to outweigh any positive progress. Its basic social studies really.

[CapricousCapricorn1]

Oh please! Historically, whites are the true mother fucking savages, so don't give me that bullshit.

Name one large scale atrocity like slavery or the holocaust that us blacks have done. We are the most CIVIL of all people.

[BUDDAWG2004]

capricouscapricorn1:

sudan, darfur, somalia its pretty civil there right?

i'm sure more blacks have been exterminated in the last 2 decades then the total amount of people who died at the hands of slave owners in the whole time slavery was legal in the u.s

[CapricousCapricorn1]

Ha ha ha.Hundreds upon hundreds of black people were killed off even after slavery, by whites.

Beyond slavery, even the holocaust was a product of white people. Yes, Hitler was Caucasoid.

[dbrstwrt]

Are you kidding me?? Whites are not savages, you moron. Blacks are savages. You want one large scale atrocity they commit? Drugs, crime which includes murder, robberies, car jackings, making babies and not giving a shit about them. Let the white man pay for them. Well that is going to end because we have had enough. Look at yourselves and stop blaming people who have bent over backwards for you. Not gonna happen anymore.

[papermachew]

Please dont blame the whole black race for crime, Anyone can commit crime. (You yourself just did) It just so happens that blacks make up 13% of the U.S Population.I am not going to tolerate someone like yourself to put down & speak evil on a race of people who has always shown itself to be tenacious. It's not the race that causes murders,robberies, & Poverty. Its ANYONE'S Personal choice to decide wether or not to do wrong...its never been One Race Please Watch & consider what you say!

[2012nugget]

Right on.

+1 OnePeace

[2012nugget]

Shoot i hit the down by mistake,trying to correct it,sry brother.

[deadpool03mm]

Hitler, Stalin, Bosnia, apartheid, wounded Knee, industrial slavery, French-Algerian war, lynchings, massacres.. of course, none of these things count as acts of savagery in your screwed up little Nazi brain, do they?

[dbrstwrt]

This country was run a hell of a lot better when whites were in charge and liberals knew their place. Look at it now. I'm no Hitler, I am just telling reality.

[christinampatterson]

Hell Naw To The Motherfucken Naw Look At Bush ur white president

[TyingToChill]

what is with all these racist posts?

The New Orleans murder rate isn't a result of some intrinsic evil in black people! its not a race issue at all. The people are murdering each other are poor, uneducated, desperate and constantly marginalized by morons like dnlcast2. people are products of our environments, so when your own government shits on your community it shouldn't be a mystery why people resort to drug dealing as a means of survival. its all about money, not about race.

[Nairfy]

Tying, there are poor people all over this country, why is it much more likely that blacks become criminals?

1 in 9 black men are in jail, with a fraction THIS low, there's no way you can say it is a coincidence.

Why can a Russian man come here with 9 dollars, work hard, and eventually become one of the richest men in the U.S (true story), but a black man can't make $40,000+?

I'm black myself, so don't even think about pulling out the race card.

[TyingToChill]

I would agree that there are elements of black culture that glorify violence and drug dealing

however blacks are much more likely to be poor. Individual and cultural factors can account for this, but the fact is that most poor people in the United States are born into poverty which stifles their chances for social mobility

in terms of criminality, blacks make up only 13% arrested drug users, while they make up 37% that are charged and 56% incarcerated due to drug offenses, racism in the system

[CapricousCapricorn1]

You're not black. It's obvious. Do YOU make $40,000 a year? Can YOU not do the things that you are accusing black men of not doing? If you were black, which you're not you wouldn't even be trying to claim that black men aren't capable of it.

[Nairfy]

I'm black, I work as a webmaster which gets me $61,750 a year, and I'm saying that the black culture is to blame, and that I was lucky enough to not be raised in an environment like that.

Not all people who grow up in the culture are ignorant, but an unsettling percentage of them are.

[ndc18]

@Nairfy Why does everyone blame rap music?

[MightyTrebor]

Dear Lord, what have I stumbled onto tonight?

Violence over money from selling drugs or just in revenge? I can never relate; only TRY to understand.

Remember: those chemists who make those drugs know that they made them addictive and moral-altering! That was their goal!

Better yet: We should be asking "How can we help..."

Maybe I should just shut up now...

[parkave69]

No one wants to admit that there is a problem. Some of you are in denial. Black people are killing other black people at an alarming rate. Just because a white airman bombed an Afghani wedding, doesn't excuse black on black violence.  it's not just in NOLA, this is a problem in a lot of American cities.

[CapricousCapricorn1]

People kill other people. What color they are is completely irrelevant.

[sweetbabylost]

Losing a child..there is nothing worse! My heart goes out to all the mothers who have lost their children though violence. Thank God for heroes like Rev. John Raphael. Vanessatolino, you're also a hero, in my eyes, for exposing this formidable reality by means of youtube.

[sweetbabylost]

This is shocking and disturbing! It's mind-blowing! I don't get it...why?

[ThevoiceoGod]

Funny how everything negative they like to say it's because you are black. So do you bomb Iraq and Afghanistan because you are white? Remember if you hurt yourself you are troubled, but if you hurt others you are a devil.

[sweetbabylost]

ThevoiceoGod, your comment sounded somewhat poetic...very beautifully written.

[uhgiveittome]

you're right. Every race has their issues... including my race white.

[Sinistermuffin0]

That's a phrase worth quoting. Very true and well done.

[CapricousCapricorn1]

I couldn't agree more. White people enslaved people and denied them human rights...well, because their white and it's in their blood to be evil and to abuse others...it just is.

They like to attribute all of the negative qualities to us blacks but none of the positive.

[AmericaUndercover]

Wake Up Fool!

the reason behind this generation is the welfare free ride of past that rewarded even pre teen black girls with more food stamps and welfare for simply spitting as many unplanned unloved and unwanted children as humanly possible case closed!

[rockonup]

where can i see that full listing of people where the guy was adding a name

[joubtt]

And this does not happen in other cities? Other cultures? Too much smack and not sufficient fact. Hence your statement as you have been trained by the media.

[MistahsEweTube]

"when you are bread in a world or mindstate of survival you use more anger and fear in your life than not." When you walk with joy the tendency is to make something out of nothing and with love throughout the process. You are what you eat is not only for the body's nutritional value but the spirit and the mind as well. If eye eat only good positive thoughts that build my character i have a better chance at defeating the real true enemy, which is self doubt! Believe in all and u believe in god

[commandotoy]

sad... respect for  the dead R.I.P. i know how it feels i lost my great grandpa which was a scout in wow2. he died in 2004.

[hammy5199]

Hey its your chocolate city

[JADIAZ79]

It all comes down to parenting, values, and role models. Children increasingly have little values everywhere. Parents not married staying with commitments, getting knocked up by multiple men, not making sure children get educated. Lazy people. You must work hard to teach your kids the value of learning, morals, human life, hard work. The Reverend is taking steps in the right direction but hes gotta get parents on board early with teaching their children. So that fewer people have to live this.

[talleyho12]

bottom line is nobody but the guilty is doin these things.when you plead that your will has been controlled by others you have a case of lack of willpower or more likely a plain EXCUSE!period

[charlessavarese]

I see illegitamacy as being a major cause. Growing up without having a father around, or worse yet, not even knowing who your father is, is very damaging. And we know that this condition is very prevalant in the good 'ol hood. You'll find a better family structure in a group home or orphanage. When there's no nuclear family, everything else quickly unravels.

[TainaAtheist1]

I believe that Barack Obama will change what appears to be a type of caste system in the United States, so that young poor people won't have to turn to crime just to make a living. I believe he will bring compassion and equality in our quality of life for every person, every one.

.

[grant859]

Barack grew up in a rich white world. He is not going to solve this problem. Everyone in America has a chance to have a good life, just not everyone takes advantage of what the USA has to offer. The last thing we need to do is give more money to the ones who are ungreatful. Gov't checks are given out to so many that waste our money and never use it to get back on their feet. If these people are living such an awful life in an awful place then don't reproduce and make it worse.

[quiteobserver]

very true

[nouse4dogooders]

typical answer of a loser.....there is no such thing as a caste system....it is your choice to live in poverty or crime, it is not my fault, education is free, use it. the young people don't want to learn, they want the easy money now. why do you think i should work to share my money with low life losers because they think i owe them? Obamahas gotten what he wanted from you and them....a vote. Do you think for one moment he'd let his kids associate with you? he'd ignore you in a heartbeat....

[poet9981]

What do you mean it's your choice to live in poverty or crime? Are you trying to say that the babies born in ghettoes asked to live there? And while education may be free, an environment condusive to learning is not. Kids will want to learn if the environment is right even if their neighborhoods aren't. Without the states investing into the schools of our poor areas, the students will have nothing but antequated books and schools and no money to pay good teachers.

[poet9981]

Without the states investing in the poor communities, the kids will have nothing to look forward except crime and drugs. We all choose the path we take, but we all make those decisions based on the paths made available to us.

[mpk985]

Coming from a New Orleans native, let me give you guys some insights.

First, drugs may be a part of why people are being murdered - but it certainly isn't the reason. Media uses it as an excuse, and has been for several decades.

Second, in comparison the rest of the world - the young blacks in New Orleans are not poor... but in comparison to their environment (all they've ever seen or known) they are VERY poor.

The solution? Education

[kixigvak]

Although I agree with what you are saying, I'd say that anybody who buys drugs is guilty. The reason so many young men get into the drug biz is because there's opportunity to make money. The drug consumer perpetuates this distraction from the true path. I'm not saying the drug dealers themselves are not guilty, just that without the consumer, the problem would go away.

[dragonamt]

Yup, if people don't start getting really serious about fighting drugs in this country, it will be its undoing. Of course, in my experience, more people in this country use or have at one point regularly used, drugs than haven't. I have lived in a middle class town, then moved to a somewhat wealthier area, and then moved to the Southern US. I say drugs are everywhere, just wealthy people (especially of European decent), get away with using drugs more so than poor, non Anglo-Saxons.

[ThevoiceoGod]

It isn't society, poverty, white folks, or injustice. It's us. We accept a culture where being a drup dealer is cool and any perceived insult is reason enough to kill. Traveling the world has taught me one thing. Black people in America are not poor. Not by the definition the rest of the world uses. So then what is our excuse for killing EACHOTHER!! There are those with far less who behave better. Take responsability for yourselves and stop blaming and waiting on white people!

[MzeeDala]

Well said! African-Americans are not poor. If you can't get the basic needs like food and water that is when you are poor. I grew up in a city that was ranked as the deadliest city in the world by Forbes. I am talking about Magadishu, Somalia. There is no police or any thing that can save your life, you have to carry guns even if you are a kid. Here in America, young African American men think they are living in hell. I wish they could travel to see how people are desperate to come to USA

[felix8989]

Good parenting and education is the key.

[grant859]

I grew up in worse. I saw what was happening around me. I went to the local public school which was terrible and tried hard to get good grades. I graduated from high school with a 3.5 GPA. Coming out of the area I grew up in I stood out. Recieved a full ride to UT and graduated in 2003 and I now have a good job and a family. It is all of what you make it. All you have to do is put some effort into it and not make dumb/illegal decisions.

[LynnBJohns01]

Grant859 - +I agree that it has to be a decision made by the individual. However, as a mother of three, I feel that you have to have a strong parent base, which I would suspect you had. Today, I find that children are raising themselves on the mostpart, and parents are unwilling to parent. While my children were in school, I had to fight for textbooks, for God's sake, and the department head was astounded that a parent had the audacity to write and request books for her kids. Unbelievable.

[Rockmanzzzz]

Most of these black men that have been killed have no Father in the family. It is a circle that just continues and will never end. Without a father figure these kids run wild and the result is an early death.

[joubtt]

Being from there, it is sad and amazing. I would say that a key factor is the loss or lack of family continuity. I wish them well.

[japanesekoi321]

all mothers are violent lol

[leous666]

The government dont care about blacks and blacks dont care about blacks. Dumb idiots keep killing off your own race. If you cannot get a job then go to another city where there is chance for you. Its never an excuse its always away out.

[jaytechnical]

people always blame the government but the criminals are to blame..to be a criminal/murderer is a choice,no government forces you to be one. if you really want to achieve something than do something about it instead of blaming society.

[xWojnax]

New Orleans looks like Africa! No wonder the crime explodes. God help Europe, we dont want this shit to happen here to:(

[holla06]

fail.

[Reallydakid]

exactly fail.

[rallenvi]

u should watch what the hell u say...u dont know what it's like 2 lose all your shit within 1 day and still move on with life trust me its hard...so f*** your ungreatful ass!

[joubtt]

Always remember that you are an individual within your own "perceived" environment. There are many other factors and that "shit" is part of being human (errors). Education is key to all.

[LynnBJohns01]

As an black resident of New Orleans, people have always lived with and seemed to be satisfied with the status quo. The educational system was inadequate, and the parents and/or representatives did not fight for better conditions. How do you expect excellence to come from neglegence? Uneducated children have no place in the workforce, and as a result criminals are born. Parents have got to start with the basics, and stop justifying the wrong that their children are doing. Start parenting!!!!

[deadpool03mm]

Crime works for the status-quo chief, not against it. Despite what you see on cops, crime is not a social problem, crime is one of the great pillars that support our society. It's awful, but it's true. And if you don't like being afraid every time you step out of your well guarded suburb, you have to fix society to reduce the strain upon every young person without means gunning for the American dream by whatever means necessary.

[palaciopalermo12]

da goverment doesnt give a shit bout da people they could care less if here in da us becomes as bad in 3rd world countries, da people need 2 say that theyve had enough n stand up NOW

[SaigaKiller308]

Why should the Govt. give a shit about a bunch of drug dealing murderers? You are given a free education as a child and there are many programs set in place to help poor people go to college. Fuck you, nobody owes you people shit, go to work like a normal person and you will gain self respect by earning your way not a Govt. handout.

[hagnuj]

So you go around searching for sites where people are grieving their loved ones just to pour salt in the wounds? Then say "you people",but you don't want to be judged as a Death Metal fan. (death,cold,sarcastic?) We don't go to others websites passing judgement on people who died. THis kind of stuff is juvenile. You are a man?

[atribecalledquest05]

most people that stay poverty typically don't sell drugs.yes, there is a minority of people doing ridiculous crimes.Govt. should help people in lower-class so people who don't sell drugs have the same opportunity has others.If you stay in poverty (white or black)then you're must likely going to recieve an inadequate education because school funding is based off of taxes of the area. There is a coalition between poverty and MORAL poverty.On the other hand people must take RESPONSBILITY for action

[DoGoodWork]

I have watched this over and over. This story has great emotional impact. The way you present it is very powerful.

[vanessatolino]

Thank you. I found the women to be extremely inspiring & hoped that the video story would illustrate their strength. So its nice to hear yr comment....

[linjosh]

I was looking at all the mothers, And listning to them telling us how their children was killed, I called my son crying, telling him how much I love him, and How I Thank God just to able to pick up the phone and hear his voice, I will continue to pray for our children and the mothers of This Place we call Home, The song that Linda Campbell is singing is (Soon I will Be Done)

[Achievement101]

Excellent video Ms. Vanessatolino

[vanessatolino]

Thank you....great to hear....it's a very important story.....

[danoinreno]

I feel sorry for the people of New Orleans, This is a National Disgrace and we the people need to all stand up to the plate and DO SOMETHING

because it is clear that the Government will not do anything to stop this, they don't care about the people, you just have to look at the Wall Street bail and that will tell who they care about, so it up to us, we the people have to make change happen !!!

[vanessatolino]

I agree! Thanks for commenting!

[stepheneferry]

Important topic, but loses emotional force with the presentation. Too many talking heads.

[vanessatolino]

It is an important topic! Fyi: the "talking heads" in this story are very active members of the community and also the mothers themselves - telling their stories