by Tony Ganzer, ideastream
Today we have another piece in Yesterday we heard :
We return to that neighborhood today.
THORNTON: 鈥淢y name is Sulieman Thornton, I was a shot caller for the Quarter Boys in W 25 th Riverview Estates, and my official title on the streets was Sway.鈥�
Sulieman Thornton now works with the non-profit , trying to keep the peace in Cleveland neighborhoods:
THORNTON: 鈥淚 think we should have more police and community relationships. I think police should have their presence in the communities more. There should be a shorter response time to these criminal acts, particularly violence [affecting] children, and people in the community being victims of those crimes.鈥�
Next to Thornton is a man who gave his name as Toby. He鈥檚 familiar with the situation on the streets.
TOBY: 鈥淧olice killing people everyday. Basically it got to start in the community before you ask police for anything, basically.鈥�
In talking about police in this neighborhood, and many Cleveland neighborhoods, the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice looms large. Rice was shot by Officer Timothy Loehmann within seconds of officers pulling up to the Cudell Recreation Center last November.
Over the weekend, prosecution experts issued an opinion that Loehmann鈥檚 decision to shoot was reasonable based on the information relayed to him: that a 911 caller said a guy with a gun was pointing it at people, not knowing the gun was a pellet gun.
Again, here鈥檚 Toby:
TOBY: 鈥淚t hurt, because I'm a father at the end of the day. I don't know what I would do if them was one of my kids that that happened to. It's sad, for real, because when you shooting a gun you supposed to know that always check for innocent civilians, for real.鈥�
Sulieman Thornton also addressed the Rice case as someone who participated in protests sparked by the situation, but also as a father of a daughter and a son. I had asked Thornton about an apparent uptick in gang violence as possibly warranting more aggressive policing.
THORNTON: 鈥淭his police brutality been going on far before children were killed. We profiled based off the way we dress, based off the way we walk, the way we look, even the music we listen to. There鈥檚 gangs in suburbs, listening to the same music listening to the same music, wear the same outfits, but you don鈥檛 hear those reports on news about police brutality against them in those communities. I think the police need to be trained, mentally profiled, because you got a lot of police officers coming home from the military, went through traumatic things in their lives, and what not. You鈥檝e got racist police in the police department. I hate that babies being killed. I don鈥檛 like it. I think the police should be more proactive, they should use their counterintelligence, because if you can use your counterintelligence to track down drug dealers why can鈥檛 you do better investigative tactics to find these criminals and these killers and bring about approaches. How did this guy just pull up? He didn鈥檛 ask Tamir Rice any questions. I seen the tape. He didn鈥檛 approach that young man properly. He approached that man as if his life was in danger. HIS life wasn鈥檛 in danger, Tamir Rice鈥檚 life was in danger. And then he shot that boy and killed him in cold blood.鈥�
Toby agrees that more aggressive policing is not the answer.
Toby: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 going to add fuel to the fire, for real. If it鈥檚 already conflict in the streets already, and then you all add the police to come with it, that鈥檚 too much, for real. Now you ain鈥檛 got no choice. Just think about the guys trying to do right to protect they fortune, for real.
A couple days ago, I get some gas, I leave, I go across 93 rd going towards Union. I see police cars everywhere. I get out the car go in a restaurant on 93 rd, I take a seat, 3 or 4 people in the restaurant. Next thing you know, literally about 15 police came with they guns on me. Luckily it was people in here seeing everything going on, for real. Who says that I didn鈥檛 have anything on me that could鈥檝e turned this into a violent conflict for real? So when I see them coming with they guns on me, the first thing I think is grab my ID, because it got to be some identity thing going on. I鈥檓 reaching for my ID, he like 鈥榥o, no, don鈥檛 reach, don鈥檛鈥� you know. But my whole thing I鈥檓 gonna bring out my ID, for real, because we don鈥檛 know where this bout to go. You know what I鈥檓 saying? So I pull out my ID, give them my ID. 鈥極h, we thought you was a murder suspect of the 3-year-old that was shot.鈥欌��
Toby denies there are real gangs in Cleveland, and even some of the more high-profile groups like the so-called Heartless Felons are not gangs per se, in his view. And he claims such groups are being blamed for crimes and actions that are not necessarily their doing or design.
Toby says neighborhoods, not gangs, are the support structure for young men, where they look out for each other, vouch for each other, feed each other, when there are scant other options.
TOBY: 鈥淚 could go through the projects right now and say 鈥業 got an opportunity for ya鈥檒l, let鈥檚 go and make this money. You want a job? You want a job?鈥� Trust and believe it鈥檇 be a whole lot of young people following behind me. Who wouldn鈥檛 want a job, getting paid some money, for real? Like I said, no peanuts. Money for real. Peanuts don鈥檛 do nothing but start trouble for real. You bring home none. You know, child support; I want to look good, you know; gas money to get my kids back and forth to school; school tuition; food, they can鈥檛 go to sleep hungry at night; I got to feed myself; probably some people who ain鈥檛 fortunate that go to sleep at night who ain鈥檛 been fed in days, I might have to look out for them, for real, you know. We is a family in the community, that鈥檚 why when they say 鈥榞ang鈥� I don鈥檛 understand that, for real.鈥�
Sitting next to Toby is Maurice Williams, who says he used to be in the Tribe, a gang in East Cleveland. Williams agrees there needs to be more opportunity for young people to bring stability to these neighborhoods.
WILLIAMS: 鈥淚nstead of spending millions on more police, let's get more jobs here. And us as black people need to just take hold of our community and show these youth today that it's love, unity, and peace will make everything concrete for us. They don鈥檛 know no better, out there, they young, they鈥檙e following the wrong way. So I call out to like all the older people, all the OG鈥檚 from neighborhoods, hoods, from everywhere, it鈥檚 time for us to stand up as grown men to let these young men know that it鈥檚 a better way.鈥�
For Sulieman Thornton, part of the problem is the perpetuation of negative news and narratives instead of the positive. By refocusing efforts on hope, neighborhoods can change.
THORNTON: 鈥淚f you give us opportunities like what the Society 4 Non-violent Change is doing, to be able to go out and get me, Toby, and Maurice, they listened. I listened. It鈥檚 effective. These programs are available, but we鈥檙e not getting the proper press, or the proper attention that needs to be done, because all the violence is being so perpetuated. We鈥檙e just a small piece of the puzzle, but nobody really knows about us, talking to these at-risk youth and children and whatnot to let them know there鈥檚 hope. There is hope. You ain鈥檛 gotta give鈥擨 want the American pie, but just give me some of the crust. You know what I鈥檓 saying? Just give me a piece of the crust. I鈥檒l put it in the microwave, and do something with it, and make it happen. Just give me that. These guys want that. They want that.鈥�
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