6 BOCNEWS.com AUGUST 2018 "And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day" Isaiah 58:10 From time to time I notice a listing of news reports entitled: "The Most Dangerous Cities in America". The cities are in groups, and sometimes I have seen, the top 10, the top 25 or the top 100 cities in America, that accord- ing to law enforcement sources are the most dangerous cities in America. The crimes and statistics are listed, but there is a maddening dearth of infor- mation about what we should be doing about this. People may boast, it seems, about the low national unemployment rate, the tax cuts, and the success at working on the dismembering of "Obamacare". Yet the misery goes on unabated. There is a listing of cities on the designation of most violent cities such as: East St. Louis, Illinois; St Louis, Missouri; Flint, Michigan; Oakland, California; Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Baltimore, Maryland; and many others. These cities may vary in size, and they are coast-to coast. Violent crime are the major issues: manslaughter, murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault per 100,000 people as per law enforcement. I am absolutely not an expert on these issues, and I am simply reciting what I have read. However, I am sick and tired of reading about the statistics and what the problems are and have noted too little mentioned about inter- vention. I am at the point now where I was when a famine was occurring in far-away Ethiopia and I found myself compelled to go to that country and serve in the mission field. As far as I am concerned, I am still in the mission field, except I am in America! But I do not have the answers I need for every problem we are facing and it was the same when I went across the ocean. I did the best I could in the situation. One of my guiding texts was Galations 6:9 “And let us not be weary in well- doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." One crucial thing we need to realize is that in each one of the "most dan- gerous cities" there is not just violence and mayhem, there are also daunting health problems. Where there is a high crime rate and violence we can assume that there is poverty, and where there is poverty there is illness. This begins before birth with a higher infant and maternal mortality. The harsh effects of poverty start before birth in babies and pile up throughout their adult lives. The poor may consequently live 10-15 years less than the richest people in the America, and be plagued by chronic, and at times multiple ill- nesses such as diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney disease, and even some cancers. We need to understand that living in poverty may be stressful and this toxic stress can have a negative impact on health. We just need to be aware of this reality as prolonged stress can even impact things like school per- formance. We need to be aware that whatever we can do in our society to help people escape poverty also helps health and longevity and quality of life. Imagine the stress of what it would be like to live in a crowded house with too many people. Been there done that, as my house as a child had 13 people in one small house! It was stressful but we survived. Too many children I think suffer and underperform at school due to their living conditions. This can lead to more poverty in adult life. If we can just find some innovative and cre- ative ways to boost school performance and ultimately economic rewards, we would do a great justice to our society. One way I have thought about improving health for an entire com- munity is to eliminate "food desserts", that is places where there is no grocery store selling healthy fresh produce for an example and having zoning laws that prohibits a multitude of fast food franchises! We need to have commu- nity health centers that help the unin- sured, those on Medicaid and have a range of services such as medical, maternal care, child care, dental care, and mental health care. Let’s have tutoring programs to help children perform better in school. The next time you read a report about the "most dangerous cities in America", get irritated! Just say to yourself-what do we or can we do about this? We can do things that are effective and beneficial and improve the quality of life and longevity. Let us not just throw in the towel and think the situation is hopeless as it is not! May God bless all of our efforts. The Most Dangerous Cities in America Dr. Conner By Byron E. Conner, M.D. HEALTH Stress can have a negative impact on health. Thank You! On behalf of my wife and my family, I would like to take this time to extend our sincere thanks to Zion Baptist Church and the community of Denver, for the extraordinary kindness and generosity shown to us during our 25th Pastoral Anniversary Celebration. To God Be the Glory! Rev. Frank M. Davis / Pastor, Zion Baptist Church Radio Rookies and Cops RADIO ROOKIES & COPS is a broadcasting internship program for youth sponsored by Mayor Michael B. Hancock Race & Justice Mini Grant. It is spearheaded by Safe Place/Safe People, Inc partnered with PBRadio Station. The objective is to train youth in hosting their own radio shows while learning media arts and other emerg- ing technologies. Their skill sets will be used in creating positive self-expres- sion and effective communication with Cops and others as they lift their voices in the effort to build unity and social change in the community. At the start of the program some of our youth heard the word “COPs,” and their first thought was in the minority communities this word is viewed very negatively, as a form of profanity. It was said by one of the youth, “evidence shows behind many random shootings of minorities that the core values that were once highly respected and hon- ored by police officers have been put on the back burner.” What happens when our everyday heroes are found to be just as guilty as the people from whom they are obligated to protect? This is one of the questions that the youth are seeking answers too and the lack of understanding of the issues has caused an increasing gap in trust between cops and the community that they serve. “Why Cops?” Simply because of Safety! Radio Rookies & Cops is designed to use preventative measures through educating and equipping youth about their rights as a United States citizen. The key is to give the youth a positive experience with their first encounter with cops and create a round table for effective communica- tion. This internship program teaches youth conflict resolution skills and how to ask very difficult question to cops in a safe/neutral environment. The goal of the program is to build a network of Cops that will reach out to support our youth if found in a dif- ficult situation to build unity in the communities. Come and support our youth by Joining Mayor Michael B. Hancock, SP/SP- Projects and PBRadio in Honoring the 1st group of Youth in completing the Radio Rookies & Cops Internship Program! Radio Rookies & Cops Internship Awards Event! Saturday- August 11, 2018 @ Blair- Caldwell African American Research Library – 11am til 1pm. Thanks to Our Sponsors & Mentors: Deputy Todd Sanders; Kids Above Everything- Dane Washington; Style Works, LLC – Toni B; Personal Trainer-Joshua Wiley; Isabella Condos - Nathalie Rosario, C.A.P.E. Productions- Mitchell Rivers; Annette Maxwell-Realtor; Mr. Calvin Mallord- Mortgage Loan originator, Caring & Sharing – Dara Goldsby; Shanna O’Dell, Rodney Bates, Pat Shaver, Attorney GlennFYounger, Joshua Burgess, Efo Lucky Caleb, Alfred, George, ZRok, Rodell, Deborah Reeder & others Please Donate for back packs or Sponsor a youth-Contact: Sharon Wiley (720-435-6993) PBRadiolive.com or 303-344-0735 - PBRadio 50 S Havana St. #520 ; Aurora Co. 80012 By Sharon Wiley