Frank, they certainly do need families, but for most of them this is not an option. There have always been terrible ghettoes, terrible entrenched social conditions, racism; People have been suffering these horrors since time began. And if they respond with rage, I'll stand by their side. But we must not condone in our culture (again, mind you, I don't want government censorship) a violent criminal subculture that is seductive, destructive, and on the verge of being MAINSTREAM. Jon, while I do not directly sing to my students, I play music for them everyday on the boombox, music of all kinds (except for the obvious) including my own music. One of my songs is actually very popular among my students - they request it often. I still want thoughtful people everywhere to join in solving an entirely new social horror, the glamorization and extreme commercialization of sickening violence. If their rage could be expressed as well as Barry's, I think we'd all see that we need to stand with them. It's hard to do that with a gun to your head, and a soundtrack that fits that gun/head configuration perfectly. I take my inspiration from Dr. King. Non-violence was on the way to making a big difference. God knows we could use somebody like him now.

Chet W.