John Jackson Masumi Hayashi

Submitted by lmcshane on Mon, 08/21/2006 - 17:33.
I am reposting this because we are going to start having great weather again and that means NOISE in the City.  (I also did not know what I was doing here at first so the title thing eluded me). I know that City Council retooled the city ordinances so the police can fine our residents who destroy the peace.   Then, I was told by a 2nd district police officer that our judges throw out a lot of these cases as prejudicial.  If this is the case, then I want to know the names of these judges.   We have a long way to go in terms of civility whether we live in the city or in the suburbs.  We are being mechanized and sitting here in front of my computer doesn't help.  I don't mind hearing kids laugh and skate board and play in my neighborhood.  I just don't want to hear their machines....Rest in peace John and Masumi.

We have all seen a rise in brutal, subhuman behavior.  Children deprived of artistic, natural, and cultural literacy and rich human interaction are fed by a world of drugs and video game inspired violence. John Jackson and  Masumi Hayashi faced brutal death at the hands of a "29 year-old kid," because we have allowed this disease to destroy our communities.

Councilperson Matt Zone will hold a ceremony to dedicate a Peace Garden in their memory this Thursday, August 24th at 7 p.m. at the intersection of West 65th and West Clifton in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood (one block south of Detroit Ave). 
I do not have a lot of information at this point, please contact Matt Zone or the Detroit Shoreway Development Corporation for more details.
Please tell anyone you know to reflect on the life of these artists.  There should be more media information in the following days.
I know that there are preliminary plans to establish scholarship funds at CSU and CIA for both artists.   Please remember these quiet, peaceful souls who both revered art and life
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Fallout

Last year, I found out about the murder of John and Masumi by accident.  I caught a peripheral sound byte on the news and heard that two people were shot over loud music.  I assumed that the shooter shot the people playing the loud music and I grimly thought to myself, serves them right.  The next day, I received a call telling me how wrongly I had interpreted the situation and I became physically ill.  Two lives taken and an enormous emotional fallout.  And yet I continue to block out the reality. 

Again, this past week, I caught a peripheral sound byte on the news about a double homicide.  Apparently, a man shot a woman and then turned the gun on himself.   I thought of John and Masumi.  I felt sick.  The next day, two police officers came to the library, flashed their badges to my coworker and me, because they were looking for one of "our kids."  The woman was his mom and his whereabouts were unknown.  Our kids knew where to find him. 

What do I know about this young man?  I know from observing him that he does not trust adults.  He lives by his wits and he is a very smart young man.  He knows some bad people and he knows some good people.  He voraciously reads comic books and his real family are his friends.  If I told you his name, you would hardly believe the irony of his name.  To me, he lives in an underworld and believes in superpowers.  I hope that his superpowers keep him alive.

his name

His name is Billy Street...and John Jackson, Masumi Hayashi, Asteve Thomas, Brandon Marshall, Johanna Orozco....these peoples' lives were destroyed by gun violence, hate and anger, not foreclosures.  The suburbs have gun violence, hate and anger, and foreclosures, too.  Let's work to solve the problems for everyone. Focus on solutions.

Gun Violence

  I joined REALNEO in 2004 when Norm Roulet presented REALNEO as part of the initiative to improve the lives of children in Northeast Ohio.  I didn't log in again until two years later, when my friend John Jackson was murdered by a mentally-ill adult man-child.  And, this past week we learn of the shootings in Connecticut.  It's not getting any better.  It is getting worse.