By Mark Esposito, Weekend Contributor
Author’s Note: Grace Under Pressure is an ongoing series of posts honoring everyday people who courageously make positive differences in their own lives and consequently in the lives of others. It is my own personal affirmation that unexpected heroes live among us and that their service is quiet but unshakable proof that virtue really is its own reward – and ours, too.
They buried little eight-year-old Martin Cobb, Jr. here in Richmond (Va.) on Friday afternoon. Rev. Theodore L. Hughey, pastor of Abundant Life Church, praised the youngster for his courage and then went on to condemn the community and the bureaucrats who oversee it for letting crime fester and forgetting about the children who suffer from it. A handmade sign above the tiny coffin read “Pound for pound, year for year, few greater heroes … if any.”
And little Martin, as his neighbors in the Mosby Court public housing project knew him, was a hero. A small stature caused by an open heart surgery while he was just three-months-old hid a fighting spirit. Many neighbors thought he was only three or four years old. One of them, Harry Hunter, recalled that “He was so small, I used to carry him in my book bag.”
But no one “carried” Little Martin on Thursday evening a week ago when he died defending his sister from a sexual attack at the hands of an alleged 16-year-old sexual predator who, at his young age, had already been charged with viciously assaulting another young boy and has suffered mental health issues.
Marty and his eleven-year-old sister were devoted to each other. Growing up without a father figure and living with a mother who worked to sustain them, they stuck together. Local proprietors recalled the two stopping by in the afternoon to indulge Marty’s rather modest vice for “Hot Fries,” a fast-food snack with a kick of Tabasco. Mosby Court is one of Richmond’s toughest neighborhoods plagued with crime and drugs so the two were always together out of love for each other and fear of the surroundings.
On Thursday evening last, love and fear would intersect at the children’s home on Brandon Road with horrific consequences. Then, according to press accounts, 16-year-old Mairese Jershon Washington, burst into the residence allegedly intent on sexually assaulting Marty’s sister. Confronted with the invasion, Little Martin fought back with all that his four-foot frame would muster. It took a brick to the head and a strangler’s hold to stop the young boy. His assailant retreated, but not before dumping Martin’s little body on the railroad tracks behind his home.
Mourners here Friday were sad and proud. “As soon as he could talk, I told (him) he’s the man of the house. That’s what he did. He’s a hero,” his mother said. “I’m proud of him. I’m proud that he stuck up for his sister. He did what he was taught,” family friend Geraline Pitchford added. Another neighbor Sudan Aunu said, “To have the courage to defend his sister as if he was a grown man. His sister is alive today because of him.”
Rev. Hughey’s words struck some as off the point Friday or a disservice to the heroism of the victim. But were they really? How can a community allow a crime infested neighborhood to wallow decade after decade and do little if anything to address the real problems of poverty, lack of father figures, and unaddressed mental health issues. Virginia has been sorely lacking in answers for all three and it took a highly publicized case of State Senator Cree Deeds’ maiming at the hands of his mentally ill son to even raise the issue of shoddy mental health treatment. Poverty and unstable homes bear hardly a mention in this southern city where conservative policies rule and “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is deemed an article of faith yet only a historical reality for the second and third generation monetized elite who run the town. Rev. Hughey was calling that out and trying make Marty’s death mean more than an icon of family fidelity and intrepidity. He wanted the second grader’s death to bring change. But change for the benefit of the city’s children, it seems, takes more courage than even Martin’s selfless act can accomplish. It takes a community’s courage not just one small person’s. At least, the community has a blueprint for that change now.
A memorial fund has been established in Little Martin’s name at the Wells Fargo Bank called the “Keys For Marty” fund here in Richmond. Donations can be made at any Wells Fargo branch.
Source: Richmond Times Dispatch
~Mark Esposito, Weekend Contributor
And when that a figure starts creeping up in other demographics, they will have exactly the same outcome – higher poverty, higher dropout rates, higher risk of incarceration.
Annie:
“I worked with inner city moms who left their children alone for double shifts, because they needed the extra hours to just get by.”
Singles moms can definitely get in desperate circumstances. Some of them must be made out of diamonds by now from all the pressure they’re under.
That is exactly why a whopping 75% rate of children being born out of wedlock is one of the biggest problems facing this community. There are enough obstacles to getting out of poverty without throwing up more.
Tom – well said.
Elaine – so true about latchkey kids. The difference between latchkey kids and those of single moms, is that there is a very high correlation with poverty. So those kids are not only home alone, they are in a bad neighborhood.
But in both cases, the kids pay the freight on circumstances.
Mespo:
And the grinding poverty and crime that exists in Democratic strongholds is because . . . ?
Hi Paul:
I didn’t mean to imply that the child was being mistreated in any way. I thought kids had to be 12 to be able to babysit. My concern is that the neighborhood was so bad the kids had to stick together all the time out of fear. Most parents would not let their kids on their own in such a bad neighborhood during the day, and especially not at night.
It always seems like kids pay the freight for problems – broken homes, poverty, crime. They live in poorer neighborhoods more often when born into single parent homes, are surrounded by more crime.
Mr. K.
Thanks.
Jonathan also has a thick skin. Never seen him flop even once.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/03/20/article-2585592-1C73278C00000578-790_634x632.jpg
This little guy?
Raff,
I think its a swipe at the professor.
Who is Mr. Turlington?
Paul, I always thought you could dislike a politician just because you dislike their policies.
Very careful scientists note that xenophobia is often mistaken for racism.
For example, some dislike and fear of President Obama, which may domino into lashing out at “America haters”, is not racism.
It is xenophobia.
Since we can’t fix something that is not broken, it is important to find out which dynamic is at work:
(Symbolic Racism: A Look At The Science – 3, link up-thread). The birthers evince more of a case of nativist xenophobia than racism in many cases.
Dredd – there really is no science to symbolic racism. And that is especially true in the TEA Party.
Better late than never. Good to see this thoughtful post finally getting the attention it deserves.
Sometimes even the children are punished as an indirect result of racial attitudes toward President Obama.
It is a predictor of T-Party or Republican-Party affiliation:
(Symbolic Racism: A Look At The Science – 3, quoting, Race and Social Problems, 2013, 5, 3, 226). The poverty subculture within White American culture has been held down by the denialism that there is a problem with the once slavery oriented culture.
To admit the cultural problem is to admit the lingering symbolic racism under the covers.
Thus, the persistence of the problem which only a few can swim upstream against.
The undercurrent is still strong.
mespo, I blame men who impregnate women as trophies and put notches on their belt. I have said that several times here and was told I was insensitive and not down w/ the struggle of the black man. You know, I am a white privilege troglodyte. I wept like a little girl watching Kevin Durant’s speech last week.
No problem mespo.
For anyone who thinks the culture would be improved by withdrawing the social safety net yet further, should realize that this scenario of kids being left alone while mom works would become exponentially worse. I worked with inner city moms who left their children alone for double shifts, because they needed the extra hours to just get by.
Mr. K:
That’s not a swipe in my view. Just a difference in emphasis. My skin is awfully thick so minor disagreements make for good, honest fun. But thanks for the defense.