Normally this story isn't what I'd consider a Minority Report since it was on CNN.com and also involves one of the teenagers from the highly publicized 'Jena 6' controversy, but reading the story broke my heart and brings attention to a rarely discussed topic that affects young, black males.
Just two years after Mychal Bell was charged as an adult for attempted murder and conspiracy in connection with 5 other black teenagers for the beating of a white classmate, Bell, now 18, attempted to commit suicide a few weeks ago.
Please read the entire story here, and below I've also included an interview snippet of Bell speaking about the incident that I believe appeared on Anderson Cooper 360 tonight. That is, unless coverage of the bizarre United Airways emergency landing (I wish mainstream media would call it what it is instead of a plane crash!) on the Hudson River took over. In the new apartment I'm back to no TV until we get the cable cut on, so I'm not sure what's going on over the airwaves at the moment--but I digress.
Luckily Bell survived the attempt with only a punctured lung, but the scariest part is he first aimed the gun--which wasn't fully loaded--at his head.
I'd like to expound on the topic of young black male suicide, because while it certainly isn't the leading cause of death among them, the rates have risen in years past. Therefore this issue is anything but an illusion. Yet before I go any further on tackling such a complex issue, I'll be a good little journalist and do some research first. I just couldn't go to bed without at least sharing this.
My heart goes out to Mychal Bell and the rest of the Jena 6, and also any other of my black brothas out there for whom the rainbow just isn't enuf.
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