Just so we're clear, the idea--stated explicitly by some and implicitly by others--that Black people "don't care" about the violence happening in their communities is ridiculous, and largely reflects how the person saying so has clearly not spent much time in Black neighborhoods.
I grew up in New Orleans when it was the had the highest murder rate in the country, and *every single day* there were people doing work through advocacy, education, & mentorship. Bringing kids into their homes, their schools, their churches working to mitigate this violence.
And back then, just as is the case now, these people and these organizations are doing this work without the resources that would make them even more effective at scale. They are often taking money from their own pockets and doing the work to feed, counsel, and support young ppl.
It is almost impossible to go to any majority Black city in the country and find a place that doesn't regularly have "Stop the Violence" marches and rallies in their communities. And these folks also understand that it's not just about interpersonal choices, it's about systems.
In my experience, many of the ppl leading the "Stop the Violence" marches are also the folks who are going to the city council meetings and traveling to the state capital demanding more funding for education & community orgs, better access to healthcare, & higher wages for jobs.
You can't be someone asking "why is there disproportionate violence in Black communities" and not asking why Black people disproportionately have less access to health care, or have disproportionately have low-wage jobs, or disproportionately go to less well resourced schools...
This isn't rocket science, if you give people places to live, wages that don't force them to choose between food or rent or medicine, access to physical & mental health care, and robustly funded schools, the manifestations of intracommunity violence begin to look very different.
And none of this can be discussed without outlining the history of hyper-segregation in cities across the country. People commit crime against those they live in close proximity to. This is not unique to Black people. It's because of housing segregation.
