MEEKS: Eulogy for Jibri

Though he was the first homicide of the year, unfortunately he will not be the last. But he could be, if the community would be more outraged about the senselessness of such acts. When did we arrive at this place of finding murder so acceptable? All of us need to think about our reactions to all acts of violence and the way that we give them a few minutes of our attention and move on to the next item on our busy calendar.

I don't know what dark corner of the universe was operating when Jibri Bryan's killer made the decision to shoot and kill him. He probably thought he had a very good reason at the moment he committed the act, but then he realized that it was not the best response because he fled the city. The inability to act out of any place other than one of rage and the impulses that rage generates cannot lead to having a productive life. So one young life has been erased, another one is injured and at least two young men will now become a part of the prison system instead of having a chance to live productive lives. Yes, they made a bad decision and they need to be held accountable. But, we the people, cannot claim innocence because we are complicit in this wave of violence that continues to be allowed to invade so much of our lives together.

Thank you, Sheriff David Davis, for your good work in helping to solve this crime in a very expeditious manner. And thank you for being more than an enforcer of the law. You and your team are working to be public safety promoters, and all of the citizens of Macon need to get on board with that idea. In this era when we have law enforcement people who are filing lawsuits against victims they have killed, we are in great need of more people like Sheriff Davis. People who believe that the enforcer of the law should be trying to look out for the people who are to be served. Most of us want to believe there are good officers of the law wearing the uniform and carrying the badge, but those who are not make us forget about the good ones.

Macon could decide that it wants to be a place where homicides are rare, but in order for that to become a reality, things have to change. I spent two years working with Mayor Jim Marshall looking for ways to combat youth violence. And more than anything, I learned a lot of lessons that I think are valuable in thinking about this issue now.

One of the most important things I learned is that all entities have to make a commitment to change the narrative in the community. Folks need to decide that the needed change is more important than individual political agendas or egos. The health and safety of the community needs to be at the top of the page along with the willingness to do whatever is necessary to achieve that end. Some things are more important than politics or any one person's wishes.

Religious leaders, educators, business owners, political leaders, youth, law enforcement, social services workers, media and foundations need to come together with the serious intention of doing the work of eliminating homicides in Macon. It is not impossible. Most of the time nothing is impossible, it simply depends upon what folks are willing to do to get the work done.

The time is over for blaming and shaming one another, it is time for all of us to come together because all of us have a hand in the mess that has been created, and we need to join together to clean it up.

We have to decide if we want to be well.

This column by Catherine Meeks, Ph.D., appears twice monthly. Meeks is also a contributing writer for the Huffington Post. Email her at kayma53@att.net.

This story was originally published February 9, 2016 at 9:31 PM with the headline "MEEKS: Eulogy for Jibri ."