Several years ago I became a mentor and an advocate for at-risk kids. I remember asking this one particular kid why did he own a gun, and his response was “Because it makes me feel like a man.” And at that very moment when he said that I knew I had to work with this kid. After several months, the kid and I managed to get to the root of his issue, and we both realized that his gun was merely just a shield to hide behind because he was so ashamed that he wasn’t good in school, which led him to drop out. It took some time but eventually I had convinced him to get rid of his gun and re-enroll into the alternative school program.
I’m bringing this up because in Buffalo, New York, unsolved criminal cases involving guns and shootings are seemingly becoming an accepted and an expected reality within certain communities. And that troubles me and we have to do something about it.
There’s a particular stagnant case in here Buffalo that I’m concerned with so I called in a favor to get a closer look at some of the behind-the-scenes details. Personally, I wish that city, state, and federal officials could work more closely together and share their progress with one another instead of being sort of competitive because fighting over proper jurisdictions only slows and stagnates an investigation. And I must say though that it’s truly frustrating for both the innocent parties and the law enforcement officials involved with the case to have a primary and secondary suspect in mind but they can’t seem to get any witnesses within the community to come forward to identify the shooter in court.
This is why I have a strong devotion towards working with young people, especially those young people who are brainwashed and saturated with these manipulative beliefs that permeates within certain minority communities. It bothers me greatly whenever I see a T-shirt or hear a young person say “Don’t Snitch” or “Snitches get Stitches.” Ironically, some of the same scare tactics that the plantation owners used to keep slaves in line are the same manipulative scare tactics gang leaders use in our neighborhoods today.
Whether I’m giving a book talk in front of a classroom, or at a bookstore, or having a one-on-one, I absolutely love every opportunity I get to speak with a troubled and sometimes aimless youth. And I always point out to them that twisted phrases like “snitches get stitches” can only work on people who don’t think for themselves and people who tend to be followers. I also try to make the point that how can we tell and teach our little kids to make sure that they tell someone, a parent or another trusting adult, if someone is touching them inappropriately — and then, a few years later, these same kids are getting confused because they’re bombarded with “don’t snitch” and “snitches get stitches.”
In my little humble effort in trying to make a difference, I really try to drive home the crucial point to kids at risk that certain people involved with criminal activity and who may have a high status within a street gang can only survive if they continually recruit non-thinking followers to do their dirty work for them. And one of the best ways to combat this problem is to teach, inspire, and motivate these kids at risk to grab a book and try to learn how to gain more confidence and think for themselves, so that they don’t have to be a mindless follower anymore.
It saddens me whenever I learn of a kid dropping out of school because I know that the chances are high that he or she may trade their schoolbooks for a gun. And gang leaders just love it when their neighborhood has a high percentage of dropouts because it gives them a good supply of non-thinking followers. We must do whatever we can to keep our kids in school and not let them become easy prey out on the street.
I constantly meet concerned adults who tell me that they really want to do something to make their street, their block, or whole city better, and they often say something like “I want to help make my block safer but I’m just one person, I can’t make a difference.” And then I happily tell them that I used to think that same way quite some years ago, and then I became an absolute believer in the fact that one person can certainly make a difference. My beliefs changed when I’d handed a female gang member a book and she told me a couple years later how that book had changed her life.
So, even though these unsolved cases, such as the shooting case here in Buffalo, are frustrating, we can still try to make a difference in our own little humble way, you and I, one person at a time, one by one.
(PS: I want to sincerely thank all of you across America and around the world who have taken the time to write to me. I can’t even begin to tell you what that means to me and how grateful I am to you. Every day I get numerous messages and letters from you that truly humbles me.)
– Randy Camp
Learn more at https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphcamp
RANDY'S TV SCRIPTS - CHILDREN'S SERIES
1. Harry's Field (May 2014, Registered with Writers Guild of America, East, Reg#R30871)
2. Time Out Time In (May 2014, Registered with WGA, East)
RCstories' Children's TV Series
RIDING BIKES
Some of my fondest memories of my childhood was the long bike rides along dirt roads and single-lane blacktops with my brothers, cousins and other neighborhood kids. Of course, our family couldn’t afford to buy brand new bicycles for us so most often we would go to the local landfill and look for assorted bicycle parts and then we would try our best to piece together a whole bike. On these bike rides I’d always enjoyed seeing a part of Spotsylvania County that I’d never visited before…sometimes it might’ve been just a particular road in which I’d never traveled before that made these bike trips so memorable. The idea of exploring and briefly escaping was absolutely fascinating to me, especially as a child. Looking back, it seems as though I was always, in some type of manner, trying to escape my immediate surroundings. As a kid and even as a teenager, I certainly remember sitting on the bank of the Rappahannock River and just watching the water flow away. I would sometimes sit there for hours just gazing at the flowing water, and I would wonder and think about where the water was actually going to…and as I got older, I also began to wonder about my own life…wondering where my life would take me. When I began to jot down notes, write out poems or short stories as a young boy, it seems as though I really became obsessed with the Rappahannock River….for this was the period of my life when I would often think about where my words and stories might eventually take me…just like the flowing water of the Rappahannock…where is it going?…where will it end up? — Randolph Randy Camp
More at http://www.goodreads.com/randolphcamp
One of my goals as an author is to hopefully inspire others, especially young people. Whenever I give a Book Talk at a high school I always try to end the session with a few helpful writing tips, and one of my main pointers I make is telling the students to practice DESCRIBING mundane things and objects as they go through their daily routine. For example, as you walk pass the street poles and lamp posts in your neighborhood think about the different words or phrases in which you could use to describe one of them, especially the wooden ones. It’s somewhat easy to write a description of a car (red, dents, ect.), but I like to get the students to practice on more mundane things because you can surprise yourself sometimes by coming up with an unusual or unique word or phrase that’s rarely heard or seen in print. The use of these interesting-but-different adjectives will make your story stand out and give you your unique voice as a writer. To give you a hint in describing the mundane street pole, just take a closer look and see if there are any rusty nails or staples still protruding along the side or if there are any weathered pieces left from an old yard sale sign. And remember, to become an author you must write, write, and write! – R. Camp
NEW K.A.N.S.A.S.
Dissatisfied with the way the adults are running the nation, a well-organized, underground society of intelligent kids demand the right to vote and to be given their own statehood or else. (The kids believe that voting should be based upon a person’s IQ, not their age.
Synopsis: ‘NEW K.A.N.S.A.S.’ (Kids’ Alliance National Society And Sanctuary): Discouraged with his lack of ability to control his own destiny fueled by his parents’ divorce and already fed up with the way the adults are running the country, a twelve year old boy forms a society to give children the Right to Vote and attempts to establish their own State in which to do it. All hell breaks when the U.S. Government starts to hunt down the leader and his underground network. In the meantime, the secretive children’s society is growing to an unbelievable size and there’s no stopping them now! TAGLINE: “Don’t underestimate the power of kids”
Although I’d originally wrote ‘NEW K.A.N.S.A.S.’ as a live action feature, it could also work as an ANIMATED feature-length movie as well. (The ‘Kansas’ in NEW K.A.N.S.A.S. stands for Kids’ Alliance National Society And Sanctuary)
U.S. Copyright: PAu002651984 (Original Screenplay Draft/ Author: Randolph Camp)
Learn more at AUTHORS DEN http://www.authorsden.com/randolphrcamp and WRITERS NET http://www.writers.net/writers/81919
‘NEW K.A.N.S.A.S.’ (Kids’ Alliance National Society And Sanctuary
'VEHICLES'
You pick me up…take me around
You use me up when you’re feelin’ down
Just like vehicles goin’ around and around
Just like vehicles in my town
You only need me when you’re down
Next time when you’re passin’ by
I’ll remember you…and the smile and the lie
‘Cause you’re just another vehicle goin’ by and by
Yeah, just another vehicle goin’ by and by
You hold me… You kiss me
You give me a ride
Maybe some day…maybe some way
We may collide.
"Vehicles" was written by Randolph Randy Camp specifically for the character ‘Teki’ in his novel ‘29 Dimes: A Love Story’
'Vehicles' is about people who pretend to love and care about you only to get to where they're going. In '29 Dimes', the character Teki is confronting this issue with her brother Vince and somewhat with her classmate Kalib. - R. Camp
http://www.goodreads.com/randolphcamp