Who's Responsible When Young Black Men Kill?

How much blame rests on the shoulder of my baby boomer generation for the destructive behavior of the YZ generation?


News from the Friday, July 20 edition of the Los Angeles Times:

LAPD Southwest: Aric Lexing, 26, and Scott Grant, 40, both black men, were shot to death in a double homicide in the 4000 block of Stevely Drive in lower Baldwin Hills at about 3:30 a.m. Friday, July 20. Both men died at the scene. They were seated in a parked vehicle when they were shot. One of the victims got out of the car with a gunshot wound in his chest, made it about 40 feet and collapsed. The second was lying dead in the passenger seat. Police seek help. (213) 485-2417.

Aric had just received his Master's Degree from a College in Louisiana and moved to the Los Angeles area to be closer to his mom and other family members while waiting to find out if he would be accepted to the Police or Border Patrol Academy. He would never find out due to his senseless murder.

His mom, Ora Stearns-Smith is a dear friend of mine. She is like a sister to me--a baby boomer diva in every sense of the word---a woman who reminds me how wonderful God truly is even when I have my doubts. She didn't deserve to have this tragedy happen in her life. She's suffered enough. Just last November she lost her brother to gun violence. He was murdered by some foster children he had taken in---over a cell phone---Two years ago she lost her oldest daughter to a brain tumor.

What in the world has happened to the YZ generation of children who seem to have no fear and no regard for human life? Are we, as baby boomers, somehow responsible for not reaching out more in some way?

I used to believe in praying for the lost soul---but I'm more and more convinced that some lost souls just don't give a damn about being found.

BOOMER WORLD: This Baby Boomer Inquiring Mind Wants to Know

BOOMER WORLD: This Baby Boomer Inquiring Mind Wants to Know

Baby Boomer Love on the Internet

Can you find love on the internet---especially if you’re over 40? I did it and I even introduced some friends of mine to it and they, too, made a successful connection. I didn’t initially go online because I was looking for a husband. I was just looking for some companionship. My experience was good in the end but I had to weed through some garbage to get there. For every decent individual out there in cyberspace, there are at least a dozen weirdoes, freaks, and others who give the concept a black eye. But nonetheless, based on the research I did I found that according to recent statistics, on-line dating services now help over 7 million registered users a year. 48 percent of men and 52 percent of women have had some experience with on line dating.

According to a recent article in Newsweek magazine, more and more baby boomers are quote unquote “hooking up” on line. And according to the publisher of Online dating magazine, “As people get older, they start dropping a lot of the “you gotta be attractive” requirements and concentrate more on personality, spirituality and specific interests.

Check out my latest podcast: Finding Love on the Internet Part I (on the right lower side of this page)