MAD DADS and Neighborhood Activism

Regarding the Conversation with Kenneth Riley of MAD DADS (‘We’re Tired of Children Living in Fear,’ Feb. 16), the words were like a breath of fresh air. The only way, in my opinion, that our shattered communities are going to be made whole again is by the efforts of people, like Riley, who live in the community and know the problems firsthand. Government and private agencies, ministers, no matter how well-meaning, and outside “do-gooders” are all helpless to stop the juggernaut that has torn these communities apart. Often the agencies are as much, or even perhaps more, to blame for the conditions and what has happened in our communities as those who have accepted violence, drugs and death as “a way of life.”

MAD DADS and other groups like it are just what is needed. No one else can do it. You must knock on every door, enlist every person, join together in what might just be the last great battle for democracy.

TOM STAFFORD

View