No. All you hear is: “Yo, the Bijlmer, we are gangsters, bullets flying around, we beat ‘em up! Come on man, we love this shit”.
The way the media talk and write about us, are exactly the way how we talk about ourselves, in private. When we start thinking different about ourselves, start seeing our own potentials and chances; that is when we will start making different choices and see real changes in our daily lives.
Young soldiers,
We are being attacked from different sides. People are getting kicked out of their houses frequently. Teachers who look down on single mothers. School drop-outs are a huge problem. Wrong officers stay in their position. The police kick in our doors and make the wrong arrest. Compensation for damages? Where shall we begin and end? And I could continue much longer.
But the thing that disturbs me most is that even with all the problems we are facing, we still find the time to go after one another. And for whom are we doing it? Is it that important to prove that you are gangster, instead of saying: we are all brothers and sisters facing a common struggle, let’s keep the brotherhood together? We need each other, maybe even more than we realize.
Are we losers? No! But tonight we did lose; a young man, only 19 years old. I don’t know him personally, only by face. Just like many others here tonight. In life you lose some and you win some. I say: it is about time we win some! And not how they’d want us to win, but how we should win.
We are not asking you to turn your life around in a day. We are not asking you to carry the world on your shoulder.
That’s not what we are asking. We are asking you to go to school, to find a job, to be intelligent and have a positive spirit. And when you do just that, you will have a greater chance to become mature and earn an honest living.
Surround yourself with people who will inspire you. We all make mistakes, it is nothing new. But you need to correct your mistakes. Be real with yourself. You should know better than anyone when you are wrong. Stop pointing out a finger to someone else and start looking at your own actions. Start doing some soul searching. You see, with every finger you point out to somebody else, there are three fingers pointed towards yourself. Stop the blame game. It is either a 1000% real, or a 1000% real fake. Tell your homeboy when he’s wrong, don’t follow him while you know deep down inside that he’s on the wrong track.
Every time something like this happens, we lose at least two persons; the victim and the perpetrator. One ends up in the graveyard, the other one goes to jail. And both families are being hurt. There is a place for you in this society. Stay away from harms way and Leave that childish shit behind. At this moment, with this very lifestyle, you are throwing away your future and your manhood all together.
We can’t always blame the politicians for our actions. I don’t believe that Mrs. Sweet loves the Bijlmer less than you and I do. But don’t fool yourself. She’s a politician; she isn’t here to help you. She is here to see how you could help her, to win votes. If your vote will cost her 10 others, what would you advise her to do? Politics is a game where morality doesn’t count. So fuck them and start focusing on what we can do for our community.
The Bijlmer isn’t ours. It is the place where we live. If you don’t pay your rent, they will kick you out, simple as that. So when I talk about the Bijlmer, I mean the community, the people. At this particular moment the community has come together. Beautiful to see y’all here, but what brings us together on this very night? Exactly! A young black male died. At this very moment as we are speaking, another young black male is dead and gone. And he died by the hands of another black man. Not by the police, not by the media. A person who’s supposed to be his brother shot him and took his life in cold blood. Another one dead, that’s what brought us together. We are mourning people!
I hope the next time we come together; we got something positive to share. I hope the next time we gather, it’ll be for an anniversary, the birth of a beautiful child or a graduation of one of our sons or daughters.
Thank you.
