Having spent most of my adult life engaged in "grassroots criminology," safety advocacy running parallel to professionals in policing and academia, I've looked at motivations and deviations of community members committing what I consider violent treason and chemical warfare against other working class people with limited resources.
What I've found is no evidence of a proverbial silent movie villain hiding behind a tree manipulating community traitors with remote control in hand.
1 dead, 11 injured in mass shooting outside New Orleans nightclub
In response to the mass shooting outside Republic nightclub last night in New Orleans, Congressman Troy Carter (D-Louisiana), who represents my district, posted this on X, formerly Twitter:
I talked to a police executive I know (Yes, my being Black doesn't mean hatred of all blue [police] people, shocking to some--but true).
We haven't talked in quite a while and exchanged pleasantries while referencing unpleasantries on many minds.
He's Black too, a law enforcement professional and executive whose career parallels mine as a safety advocate and private protection professional.
Trending outrage and grief over the recent murder of the Wits Inn bar security officer in midtown New Orleans is a wake upcall to enablers in city hall to stop "letting the good times roll" without oversight.
The suspect allegedly left a nearby bar about whom neighbors have endlessly complained, with that area's city council member confirming these concerns in public and noting official inaction from city hall.
I wish each state would abolish the term "security officer" and use either "protection officer", as International Foundation for Protection Officers has advocated for years or terms like "private protection professional", recently coined by JC Shegog, master protector, protection trainer and inspiration of mine.
Greetings fellow fighters for safety and civility!
I hail from the mobilization wing of the Black community regarding crime, the wing that gave us the fabled 1980s Dopebusters, crusaders like legends Herman Wrice and principal Joe Clark and modern formations of Black men and allies doing safety outreach, mediating potentially deadly disputes, mentoring youth in need of guidance and offering self defense training on safe, lawful firearms possession.
In order to walk to my favorite neighborhood store two blocks away in a New Orleans neighborhood near the world famous French Quarter, I must stroll through a conflict zone where six people were murdered last year.
If I follow current law,.I can't legally conceal a firearm for self defense without a state concealed carry permit.
I spent part of this afternoon watching two teen Brothers hang too close to unit beside mine and huddled around my front gate for roughly two hours.
Residents of stable areas where boundaries are reflectively respected might have puzzled looks on their faces after reading the above passage.
They may even rhetorically ask, "Why would these young guys linger so near your place?"
Aside from smoking marijuana, whose scent wafted into my living room through a damaged air conditioner screen from a thwarted home invasion attempt, their purpose was up for speculation.
Protectors and event planners have their work cut out for them during Carnival season, otherwise known as Mardi Gras.
Inclusive. Effusive. Streets, sidewalks, nightspots and "TPS"-temporary party spots- host huge, happy crowds in various states of inebriation.
'Here First!," is my policy motto and mantra as I see unhoused and barely housed people struggle while billions are sent to a proxy war in Eastern Europe with no end in sight.
Drug addiction enabled by bad border policy and broken psyches demand same attention as borders belonging to other countries.
Voices outside my living room window tonight inspired the following addition to ongoing observation:
I'm not from here, and am a safety advocate, so the whole "strangers sitting in my front stairs" thing, especially at night, is concerning despite living in New Orleans since 2009.
Any odd sounds or voices near my home will be inspected, often with me easing the front door open and surprising person(s) on the stairs.
Please don't tell my diehard capitalist friends nor private protection peers but most of my Safety, capital "S" creation is done for free!
See why I told you not to tell them! Lol
No, in case you're wondering, I haven't taken a monastic vow of poverty.
As an urban stakeholder and safety creator who is occasionally paid (lol) to create it, I talk to the targeted (good people who dont bother anyone) about mobilizing to displace bad intentions of those targeting them.
Well adjusted folks shudder at the mere thought of someone targeting them for physical harm and material loss. I advise them to readjust tactics not beliefs regarding those paying them the wrong kind of attention.
Part of what I call my "safety creation theory" involves passing the baton of probable cause to police officers for action.
Black safety in this era of 'blue' (police) defunding makes that baton pass prone to being pushed away or dropped as gale force political winds knock it out of officers' grasp.
Liberal refusal to adequately charge, prosecute and convict career criminals has led to a boom in violent crime, theft and burglaries accompanying a bust in police manpower and motivation to do the job.
For years I've combated policies and unofficial postures making officers and police executives look like they're either too scared or too disinterested to do their jobs.