Letters to the Editor

One woman’s plea for an inner-city ceasefire

I am so very concerned about what is happening in our neighborhoods. Dying children, bloodshed, fear! It’s not safe to ride the public transportation. It’s not safe to sit on your porch. It’s not even safe in school or your own home, for that matter.

Why? That is the question we keep asking. When do we take action? Wailing mothers, heartbroken families, traumatized siblings! When will it end? Children in our neighborhoods have no idea what it is to have a normal childhood. What can they compare it to? Stories of our childhood sound like fairy tales.

Can we call a citywide truce? Please! Please! Stop the killing. Stop the violence! I am so afraid, I thought that this Halloween trick or treating should have been canceled for fear of another life being lost to senseless violence. Where are the guns coming from? How can we get them out of the hands of babes? I am ready to take action; are you?

Marilyn E. Forman
Dorchester

Making your vote your own is important, too

In response to the Nov. 1 letter to the editor, “The importance of taking a stand”: I do understand the writer’s frustration and her heartfelt earnestness in calling people out after a low turnout for a popular candidate. However, the writer assumes that Barack Obama is the automatic and “only” choice for black people simply because he is black.

When I heard of Obama’s candidacy, I was against it — lack of experience for a first-term senator is a major concern for me. The Democratic Party has never been at fault in failing to address the needs of the far left. So why does Ms. Joseph, writer of the letter listed above, think only Obama can address the needs of blacks … and why are “our needs” still considered common to all who are black? Haven’t we come to a point where individual black people can think outside the historical box and vote accordingly?

Aida Allen
Irvington, N.J.