August 22, 2007
I've been to hundreds of news
conferences over the span of
my career, but none like the
one I attended last Wednesday.
I received a call from the district
attorneyís office about a news conference
to discuss the shooting that
occurred over the
weekend outside of a
restaurant in Sunny
South Dallas.
The District Attorney,
Craig Watkins,
who is the first Black
DA in the state, talked
about safety, the antisnitching
campaign his office is
coming out against and his efforts to
bring the shooter to justice.
It seems that Sankofa, which is
known for being a spoken word
restaurant where everyone from
Erykah Badu, Andre 3000 and
Professor Griff have frequented,
received negative publicity
because the shooting took
place right outside.
The negative publicity
could result in the closing
down of Sankofa, said
owner Damond Fields, who
said they rented the facility
out on that fateful Saturday
night for a party and a fight
broke out. It seems the person
who tried to break up
the fight was the one killed!
Well as the news conference
came to a close, a woman is ushered
up to stand by the DA. I kept looking
at her and she looked at me and
mouthed my name. She didnít say
anything when the DA introduced
her as the mother of the victim.
Once they stepped from the podium
she came out into the pool of journalists
and hugged me and cried.
Never have I been confronted
with such a situation.
Here I was covering a
story, asking the DA how
he was going to make
citizens feel safe enough
to come forward. I had
no idea that the victim,
Brandon Ratcliff, was
the same precious little
boy who I played with
over 20 years ago.
Journalists deal with
ethical situations all the time. Iíve
taught ethics and I am also aware
that schools around the country
have been dealing with a significant
increase in disciplinary hearings
because of ethics violations, namely
plagiarism.
So I immediately decided that I
needed to tell my story from a different
vantage point. Readers needed
to know that there was a personal connection here. My goal
is to be fair and balanced. I
donít try to fool you or anyone
else into thinking that
my lifeís experiences have
no bearing on my reporting.
But some would argue otherwise.
They profess to be
totally objective!
Although I had no intention
of being involved, I
couldnít take myself out of
this situation. Brandonís mother
and I worked together in
the 1980s. We ate lunch and
spent time together away
from work. If there was one
thing I knew about Margie,
she loved her children and
she was a good, sincere and
honest person. I really liked
my co-worker!
She had no idea that she
would be burying Brandon at
such a young age. She found
herself living a nightmare as
the 26-year-old was murdered
and his 21-year-old
brother, Dante, was shot five
times. Two others were shot
and one is reported to be
paralyzed from the assault.
The shooter was out for
murder. He had to be. He
was shooting an M-16 and
one witness told Margie that
as Brandon lay on the
ground, the shooter stood
over him and executed him.
A 1999 graduate of
Roosevelt High School,
Brandon received a scholarship
to the University of New
Mexico in Albuquerque,
where he played football. He
was a natural, having played
several years with Pop
Warner Salvation Army
football teams.
I went by Paradise Funeral
Home on Friday evening.
Hundreds were already
there and there was a steady
stream of visitors who made
their way in to take one last
look at Brandon.
The next morning I went
to Pilgrim Rest Baptist
Church, for the funeral.
Again, hundreds were in
attendance. Margieís fellow
employees from the Post
Office, classmates, a large
contingent from the Univ. of
New Mexico, church members,
friends, neighbors, relatives,
Salvation Army family
and others whose paths
Brandon had crossed came
out to pay their respects.
I sat and listened as people
spoke of the 'peacemaker.
Margie told me that
Brandon was always trying
to do the right thing. Her declaration
was echoed by the
many people who talkedabout
his ìwonderful spirit.î
To hear that Brandon
reached out to Black men
who were quarreling, to ask
them to squash their disagreement,
only to have his
life and dreams of playing
professional football snuffed
out is enough to touch the
humanity in anyone who has
a bit of compassion.
After an hour at the funeral,
with a heavy heart, I left.
More were still arriving.
My hope is that someone
will come forward. Special
Prosecutor Heath Harris said
they expected to issue a
warrant and they encouraged
witnesses to speak up.
ìWe need to get the
community involved,î said
DA Watkins, who acknowledged
that in the past there
has been a level of distrust of
law enforcement officials
that kept people from
reporting criminal activity.
ìTimes have changed. You
have a new district attorney.
DA Watkins has shown, in
just eight short months, that
he cares and he will work to
free the innocent and imprison
the guilty.
Yet, there is a feeling of
despair. I am hurting for
Margie, the families of the
three who were executed in
Newark, New Jersey, as well
as the hundreds who are
killed in urban areas around
the country annually. My
stomach remains in constant
turmoil as I try to think of a
solution to the violence.
We canít continue to let
people who have no hope
take away the hope and aspirations
of those who dare to
dream. We need to work to
give hope back to our youth.
Will it come in the form of
job training, as State Sen.
Royce West and Dallas
Mayor Tom Leppert are
proposing or the mentoring
programs in high schools
that DA Watkins is instituting?
Whatever the solution,
weíve done enough talking.
I have a place for those
who feel so inclined to fire
weapons--let them fight
Bushís war.
Still, I canít help but think
about the families that were
destroyed because of this
shooting. I canít shake
Margieís grief as I thought
about Joyce Strickland of
Mothers Against Teen
Violence and other mothers
who share this same bond.
Itís not the type of bond
they want to have and I donít
like having to write about it!
|
