Because getting shot sucks...

"Yawwwwwn..." *stretch* *skritch skritch skritch*

Where am I?

Oh, nuts, I'm blogging, aren't I? I thought this blog was just some hideous nightmare, but no, it's real.

Happy, 2009, gang. After an impromptu break (read: I stopped caring for a while.) I'm back with more funny disdain and moral superiority, and probably some links, although I don't actually have any of those today.

What I do have, in its stead, is some behind-the-scenes goodness on north Tulsa gang-related shootings, and why you don't get to interview a whole lot of folks in those neighborhoods.

Last night, a bullet screamed through the window of a north Tulsa home, striking a 15-year-old boy. The boy is currently fighting for his life in a Tulsa hospital, and the shooting is most likely gang related. This isn't the first time bullets have hit this home, and at the time of last night's shooting, there was even a minister in the home talking to family and friends about the dangers of gang violence. This is a very real problem, and it reared its ugly head again last night.

Sharon and Brian were out there this morning. They did a good job bringing information to viewers, but it was after their last live hit that the reality of the situation made doing their job difficult. They were asked to bring back a VOSOT, a collection of images and sound on tape. Essentially, it's just shots of stuff that tell the story, and a recorded interview. Shooting random stuff to tell the story was easy for them; show the house, show some cop cars, show where the bullet broke the glass of a window, all easy stuff. When it came time to get the interview, the SOT, is when the reality of a gang-related situation became problematic to telling the story effectively.

Nobody would talk. The duo went to numerous houses in the area, asking almost a dozen different people if they'd be willing to speak on camera about this shooting incident, and none would comply. No one wanted their face on television, talking about what was most-likely a gang incident in their neighborhood. No one wanted to risk a retaliation. No one wanted to be the next person to be shot.

Sharon and Brian brought back daytime video of the neighborhood, but had to accept that no SOT would be forthcoming. This is an issue we face time and again in the neighborhoods known for gang violence; a culture of fear is making it so people are scared to even acknowledge on camera that a culture of fear exists. Bullets have created a veil of silence that pervades these neighborhoods, and makes keeping the peace, and telling the stories, almost impossible.

I don't know what I would want from these people. On one hand, I want these people to scream their plight from the mountaintop, and hopefully the police and lawmakers will listen and take steps to make these neighborhoods safer. On the other hand, change takes time, and I don't ever want to find out that someone was hurt or killed because they acknowledged a problem to one of our cameras.

Most important right now is keeping a 15-year-old boy in your thoughts, and hoping he makes a recovery. However, we should also consider the others who live in this boy's neighborhood, where the way of the gun has made it "okay" to not speak of a problem, and hope it simply goes away.
-h