We Must Listen

Photo AI-generated depicting school children in Macon, Georgia

The shooting at Carolyn Crayton Park has left Macon shaken. Eleven high school students and one adult were wounded, children caught in a storm of violence that has become far too familiar. As someone who grew up in this city, who walked its streets and attended its schools, I feel this tragedy in my bones.

But to confront this crisis honestly, we must look beyond the headlines.

Our teenagers are not choosing violence because they are inherently reckless or immoral. They are responding to the conditions around them, conditions shaped by decades of economic disinvestment, limited opportunity, and the erosion of community structures that once helped young people navigate conflict without resorting to weapons.

When a child believes a gun is the only way to feel safe, that is not a failure of parenting alone. It is a failure of the ecosystem surrounding that child.

We must resist the temptation to point fingers at parents who are themselves struggling under the same systemic pressures. Many work multiple jobs, fight to keep their households stable, and do their best in circumstances that would overwhelm anyone. Blame will not heal this community.

Understanding might.

This is why the upcoming roundtable at the Douglass Theatre matters so deeply.

On October 17, former Mayor C. Jack Ellis will moderate a conversation with five members of the “Lanier Twelve,” the Black boys who integrated Lanier Jr. High School in 1965. I am honored to be one of them.

We were young, barely teenagers, when we walked into a school that had never welcomed students who looked like us. We faced hostility, isolation, and fear. But we also found courage, solidarity, and a belief that our presence could help change Macon for the better.

Today’s youth need to hear that story.

Not because our experiences were perfect parallels to theirs, but because courage is contagious. Because dignity can be taught. Because community pride can be cultivated. And because young people deserve to see examples of resilience that do not involve violence.

The Bibb County School Board has an opportunity to help make this moment transformative. By encouraging students to attend, they can give young people a chance to witness living history and to see themselves as part of Macon’s ongoing story of change.

But inspiration alone is not enough. We must pair it with action. We need safe neighborhoods, accessible mental‑health support, structured community spaces, and economic pathways that give young people hope for the future.

We need partnerships between schools, families, law enforcement, and civic organizations that prioritize prevention over punishment.

The shooting at Carolyn Crayton Park is a cry for help. Our children are telling us that the current system is not working. The question now is whether we will listen.

Macon has been changed before by the courage of its youth. It can be changed again if we commit to building a community where every child feels safe, valued, and capable of greatness.

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Macon’s Children Are Crying Out