Interviews: Part 2

The AYPI filmed interviews on the streets of Albany. All interviews filmed with permission.

Artwork

All images found on Google, recreated and adapted by the AYPI.

Poetry: Can't Feel Safe

It’s crazy how one person can’t feel safe in their own community

I feel like I should be afraid to even walk the same streets

It should be a river of blood for all the blood spilled from hatred

People I’ve known all my life doing 25 year bids

People still out there banging and got like two kids

Kids are being abandoned

Baby daddies being sentenced to life

Don’t even get da chance to teach their daughters and sons wrong from right

Got da watch from jailhouse visits as their kids get bigger

Baby moms getting bitter

Watch as their son’s voice gets deeper or grow taller

Their daughters start growing hips and tits

Kids spiraling out of control

Son just turned 16, he already on parole

Daughter not a virgin, just found out she’s 13 and pregnant

Mother strung out

Kid’s a drop out

All you can do is hold your head down and cry

And ask God why

I lost my father when I was 6 months old

And now my heart has a giant hole

I’ve tried everything to fulfill it

I’ve put a blunt to my lips

Throwing back shots of alcohol

If I can I would trade this all, for my father

But they say everything happens for a reason

People keep dying like every season

I had to fight to prove a point

I used to get bullied

It was a time when I became fed up

Just take my advice

Get out quick

Not everybody’s made for this

Stop the violence

Start a moment

Contributed by SA, age 16

Quotes about Peace: Part Five

"Thus the metric system did not really catch on in the States, unless you count the increasing popularity of the nine-millimeter bullet."  -Dave Barry


"I will not carry a gun.... I'll carry your books, I'll carry a torch, I'll carry a tune, I'll carry on, carry over, carry forward, Cary Grant, cash and carry, carry me back to Old Virginia, I'll even hari-kari if you show me how, but I will not carry a gun!" -Hawkeye, "Officer of the Day", M*A*S*H


"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence." -Gandhi


"Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary." -Gandhi


All quotations from QuoteGarden; Contributed by SA, age 16

Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood is a health care provider in Albany, NY. They deliver vital reproductive health care, sex education, and information. They offer teen clinics, after-school programs, peer education, and training.


For more information, visit the UHPP website.
Patient Resources
Programs for Teens
Get Involved
Training and Education


Information taken from the Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood website; compiled by JP, age 16.

Thoughts from Youth: on consequences

Violence can cause a lot of damage in our world. It creates chaos in our communities. Children, teens, and adults don't realize that violence has affected them and others around them painfully, both physically and mentally. Not only do we see violence, but we experience it ourselves by having loved ones dead because of experiences of violence and having friends become suspects and victims at an early age. Once a person commits violence or any type of crime, they think of it as the end of the world for them because they know that what they did was wrong. They think that there is nothing that they can do but run away and never come back to the place where the crime was done because of investigations. Some people don't think about what will happen to them because they are too involved in violence that it never entered their minds what would happen if they ended up in prison. 

As violence enters the mind, it makes people crazy and creates debates on life such as "how could a person do such a crime like rape?" How can a person rape a teen, child, or even another adult and think that it is okay? I think that rape is the worst thing a person could do to someone because it messes with the victim's brain, especially when they are young. Being raped at a young age causes them to never fully experience life because they are haunted by what happened to them when they wre younger. My family and I never experienced anything like that, but I do have some friends that experienced rape and other violence in their life. Another violent act is domestic violence. This happens everywhere at every hour and people may not find out about it for weeks or even months. Domestic violence is a term that is described as "physical, sexual, or psychological harm by a current or former partner or spouse." This type of violence can occur everywhere, among both heterosexual or same sex couples, and does not require intimacy. There are many different types of domestic violence, which include merely threats of force or violence. This violence shows a problem in a relationship. Depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, sleep disturbances, and fear of intimacy are signs that a person has been a victim. Any type of violence can put people through misery for the rest of their lives.

Contributed by NB, age 17

Quotes about Peace: Part Four

"There have been periods of history in which episodes of terrible violence occurred but for which the word violence was never used.... Violence is shrouded in justifying myths that lend it moral legitimacy, and these myths for the most part kept people from recognizing the violence for what it was.  The people who burned witches at the stake never for one moment thought of their act as violence; rather they thought of it as an act of divinely mandated righteousness.  The same can be said of most of the violence we humans have ever committed. " -Gil Bailie

"Let us thank God that we live in an age when something has influence besides the bayonet."  -Daniel Webster

"In violence we forget who we are. " -Mary McCarthy

"It is clear that the way to heal society of its violence... and lack of love is to replace the pyramid of domination with the circle of equality and respect. " -Manitonquat

All quotes from QuoteGarden; contributed by SA, age 16

Thoughts from Youth: Play Your Part

Violence can occur anywhere and is always a problem.  It should be relevant whether it happens to someone you know or in your neighborhood.  Communities should always try to get together and stand up for peace.  Safety should always be the number one priority.  City councils and high positions should take violence into consideration, but the residents of communities need to play their part as well.  It’s a two way street, so both sides should play their parts.  Families need more involvement in their children’s education and outside activities.  Violence can happen anywhere and to anyone.  Remember to play a positive role in your community because you reflect your community.

Contributed by ZI, age 16

Quotes about Peace: Part Three

"We shall never be able to affect physical disarmament until we have succeeded in affecting moral disarmament." -J. Ramsay MacDonald

"The man who strikes first admits that his ideas have given out." -Chinese Proverb

"What broke in a man when he could bring himself to kill another?" -Alan Paton

"Who overcomes by force hath overcome but half his foe." -John Milton

All quotations from QuoteGarden; contributed by SA, age 16

Trinity Alliance

Trinity Alliance of Albany was founded in 1912 and works to improve neighbors, encourage health and well-being, and prmote education and employment. They provide a variety of support services and resources for the community including housing, substance abuse treatment, food pantries, and youth services.

For more information on Trinity Alliance, visit their website.

Contributed by ZI, age 16.

Quotes about Peace: Part Two

"If in this present age we were to go back to the old time of 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,' there would be very few hon. gentlemen in this House who would not, metaphorically speaking, be blind and toothless." Mr. Graham (Canadian House of Parliament member, 1914) This quote has been commonly attributed to Mahatma Ghandi as "An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind."

"One must look hard through history to find when a clear understanding of the truth moved anyone to fire the first shot." -Robert Brault

"The more we sweat in peace the less we bleed in war." -Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit

"I take it that what all men are really after is some form of, perhaps only some formula of, peace." -James Conrad

All quotes from QuoteGarden; contributed by SA, age 16

Five weeks of news

Teens caught burglarizing Albany home

Albany man arrested in November stabbing case involving off-duty police officer

Albany drug dealer faces 45 years behind bars

Three teens arrested for attempted car break-ins

Delivery man robbed at gunpoint in Albany

UAlbany student dies in suicide

UPDATE: Callicutt, convicted of killing UAlbany student, sentenced to life in prison

Jury selection begins in domestic violence case against Albany cop

Albany man arrested for sexually assaulting 11-year-old in Puerto Rico

Albany teen charged with criminal gun possession

Albany sex offender indicted in teen rape case

These news headlines depict stories of violence and crime in the Albany area. Sadly enough, these stories happened from January 19th, 2011 to February 24th, 2011, a time span of only 5 weeks. 

News headlines taken from CBS 6, compiled by QC, age 14