East Port of Spain reborn

Every muscle of our society is straining. The murders are just the most graphic shudders indicating something is deeply wrong with the body of the Republic. Every right-minded citizen must engage in the repair. “Do not go gentle into that good night./ Rage, rage against the dying of the light…”

East Port of Spain is ground zero. Over the last decade over 1,000 black boys were killed by other black boys. Thousands of American, Israeli, and Russian-made guns entered the community along with hundreds of millions in drugs from Latin America. The community is collapsing dangerously. The murders are becoming more shocking, gruesome, and all-inclusive. And we’ve not hit bottom yet…I’ve written at length about the causes of gang-formation before: This is about solutions.

The tragedy is not just the hellish bloodletting—but the response of our leaders. When our political leaders speak about solutions it’s as if 150 years of human scholarship in sociology, psychology, cultural anthropology, and urban planning never happened. As if humans haven’t found reasons or solutions for urban collapse and youth violence in 200 years. What terrifies is the primary-school level solutions—more police, bigger guns, cable cars… It’s clear we cannot let politicians lead the actions for repair of East Port of Spain (EPOS).