Inside the Feds' War on Gang Violence

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WE MUST BE THE SPIRITUAL CHANGE WE WISH TO SEE IN CREATOR'S WORLD!
By Mike (Ali) Raccoon Eyes Kinney
A Native man should always be clean and sober, for he knows there is still more work to do !
Rise with the Sun to pray. Pray alone and pray often. The Great Creator will listen, if you only speak.
From all generations of the past, here now in the present and the unborn generations of the future, the Creator from Sacred Time, Creation Time, First Man and First Woman Time, made all Native People a Holy People.
It is important that we as Native People maintain good self-esteem, self-worth and self-value.
We cannot attack ourselves, beat ourselves up and pound ourselves for crimes we have never committed.
Our Prayer to the Creator represents a different kind a power, a different kind of strength, a different kind of energy.
Stand up with pride when you pray to Creator. Stand with Honor before Creator. Be Proud to be Spiritually alive on the Earth Mother, and thankful and honored to stand before Creator, rather than bowing down like a slave.
All prophecy can be changed. There are things that may happen under the present conditions of our world, but these conditions do not have to stay the way they are, or deteriorate to a more desperate situation.
Native People offer a spiritual solution to the world's problems.
Many people are interested in the message of Native Spirituality because they are aware of the despairing circumstances of our world and the fact that we must all make changes in order to survive globally.
We offer people hope for a peaceful world by sharing our Spiritual paths with them. We are not selling our ceremonies, or our traditions; we are sharing wisdom.
With Creator's World Renewal Medicine cycle soon approaching, it is predicted that all First Nation People shall return to our traditional Native ways. Native people will spiritually transform North America back into harmony and balance.
Native and non Native People who walk in the Spiritual ways of the Ancestors will be in control of the Americas.
Native people see the Sun as our Father. The highest of the Earth Mother's energies are in the morning when Father Sun is rising in the East.
Native people know that morning is the best time to pray for as Father Sun rises, we can place all problems and issues into the past. Native people give spiritual thanks daily for the energy and power of Father Sun.
The purest Spiritual medicine in the World of humankind is of course, the Great Creator of All Things, and the blessing of Father Sun when it rises each morning in the East.
When we as Native people pray, it permits us to have the Creator's Blessings of healing and understanding, in turn creates peace and love, and brings the full effect of Creator's harmony and balance to the Earth Mother.
Wado and A-ho, Brothers and Sisters
Mike (Ali) Raccoon Eyes Kinney
Posted by Mike (Ali) Raccoon Eyes Kinney

Mike (Ali) Raccoon Eyes Kinney of CA 1:11AM August 21, 2009

TEACHING THE VALUES OF PEACE
By: Mike (Ali) Raccoon Eyes Kinney
As a Cherokee Native American Activist and a former member of the Richmond California Violence Prevention Movement, I have seen close to 515 homicides in the City of Richmond from 2001 to the present.
The declaration of a 'war on violence' by the Richmond city government was not the panacea, instead it failed miserably.
I have often stated in town hall meetings and on television, the best way to win the 'war on violence' in Richmond is to 'TEACH THE VALUES OF PEACE'.
In the killing fields of Richmond, most of the victims of homicides are youth or young adults. Teaching the values of peace begins with our youth and young adults. From a Native perspective, winning the war on violence begins in the home with a strong, spiritual belief and value system.
We believe that Creator made all generations, past, present and those of the future, holy people. This is what our Elders teach us from the time we are born.
Our families and Elders teach our young people that they must tear away the images and stereotypes that mainstream society has placed upon them as Native peoples.
Violence and killing is not traditional in Native culture, it is a learned behavior from mainstream society.
We teach our youths not to attack, punish or beat themselves up for crimes that they have never committed in regards to racism. Our Elders and families teach our young people to have good self-esteem, self-worth and self-value, for as the original holy people this was Creators plan.
Native people know that it is both family and community responsibility to teach the values of peace to our young people.
We teach our young people honesty and accountability concerning violence. It begins with accepting responsibility for self and acknowledging any past use of violence.
Admitting any wrongdoing, communicating openly and truthfully to renounce the use of violence in the future places our youth on the right path. We place a heavy emphasis that all life is sacred.
The final lesson in teaching the values of peace is quite simple. It is helping young people understand their relationship to others and all things in Creation.
Be responsible for your role, act with compassion and respect, and remember ALL LIFE IS SACRED. Native culture is prevention!
Mike (Ali) Raccoon Eyes Kinney

Mike (Ali) Raccoon Eyes Kinney of CA 1:08PM August 06, 2009

First of all, people are getting shot on my street. I can't leave my apartment due to police barricades. I'm a student.
Second of all, people might join gangs because it's 'cool' but they ultimately stay because of a lack of other options. People with better means of being accepted and becoming something quit the gang life very quickly. Trust me it's a scary scene.
It's all about hope, and as long as our economy turns for the worse there's more of the same to be expected. The most that's done about it is awareness organizations like 99problems that try to reach out using celebrities. The problem is, they have to reach the actual gangs. They're raising awareness among the general public but the important messages need to be directed at the gangs.

Judy of CA 2:55AM March 14, 2009

this these r not cool 4 people the should get lo0cked up sorry 2 say

dajee of IL 3:22PM January 15, 2009

do they done gangs in the first place.dont they know all the problems and stuff that can happen?

of 10:41AM December 18, 2008

History just keeps repeating itself, it's natural for man to destroy themselves and be lured by the root of all evil 'money'.
Before money, it was territory and the survival of ones people (tribe)
If you took out all the gangs, another group or something else would form to have to fight.
It's good against evil, the oldest battle since the beginning of time.
I applaud the law enforcement agencies for their selfless actions in this fight, I pray for the families who have lost loved ones as a result of this senselessness.
I moved out of my native city due to this type of activity escalating, and I'm glad I did. I feared for my childrens lives, and it was the best thing I could have done. I pay alot more money as a result of my move, but money is second to my families safety and well being.
I blame most of this on parents, these learned behaviors are allowed and ignored by the parents. Education about this type of behavior and informing parents of the type of behaviors to look for in their children need to be taught in elementary school at the youngest level that a child can understand.
Families need to be made aware and community resources need to be made available to these families and regular conferences, workshops, need to be held as part of a community service to inform all communities. If a community acts as one to keep the community safe then it is less likely, I believe that gang activity would reside there.

Francine of CA 12:45PM December 11, 2008

Perhaps we could meet the "public's seemingly endless demand for drugs" by lifting the unconstitutional Federal prohibition.
The pharmaceutical industry seems to be quite able to conduct a legal business of peddling potions without resorting to neighborhood gun fights.
Prohibition has never worked.

Kevin C. Moore of AL 1:11PM December 10, 2008

Getting them off the street (to prison) is one solution, but not the best one. We need many many more gang members actually dead on the street as a visual example that lessens the attraction for new ones to join up.
Putting them in prison where they then join the prison gangs and bedevil society from there is not the end answer.
You can preach a few of them out of it. And the remainder need to be "taken out".

of 12:38PM December 10, 2008