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
Karen, of anybody would eventually dump the ACA plans, I would applaud, but only if were replaced with Single Payer. Until then the ACA is what we all get, some shouldn’t have fought so hard against a Public Option. Maybe a different administration will make it possible.
Annie – single payer would have a system like the VA hospital system. As a nurse do you really want something like that? 1.5 million appts destroyed? 40 dead in Phoenix because they wiped their appts off the books?
Obamacare causes sharp increase in health insurances costs in Wisconsin:
http://mediatrackers.org/wisconsin/2013/10/02/confirmed-insurance-premiums-wisconsin-rise-obamacare
Like I said “fun.” Thirty seconds of research to “out” a prevaricator.
Annie – you do realize that at some point the Feds are going to make the states pay for Medicaid? And the states that expanded it are going to get screwed financially?
Annie:
Here are stats released by the Department of Health and Human Services that show a 27 year old in Wisconsin will have his premiums doubled:
http://watchdog.org/111866/federal-obamacare-premiums/
Have you done any real research at all on this, both in Wisconsin and the rest of the US, or do you only listen to biased sources?
Karen S:
“Well, here in CA, 25% of doctors accept Exchange plans. So it would be possible to have a couple of friends who have doctors.”
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From the LA Times:
“The Covered California exchange began enrollment in October without the provider directory it had promised. Delays and glitches ensued for weeks, frustrating many consumers who complained that it was impossible to compare health plans without details on what hospitals and doctors were included. In November, the exchange updated its directory.
The exchange said its 11 health plans offer more than 58,000 physicians to choose from, representing 80% to 90% of practicing physicians in the state.
The California Medical Assn. credits the exchange for fixing many of the initial problems but maintains that the state’s data are still flawed, often because of incorrect information from health plans. Insurers blame doctor’s offices for frequently giving wrong information.”
Oh who to believe? Our resident-sky-is-falling Karen or the L.A. Times.
Karen, your credibility is ebbing again. Do you work at the doctor’s offices who give out the Chicken Little scenarios?
mespo – I would tend to believe any one besides the LA Times and anything they supported. Even the LA Times seems to think things continue to be screwed up.
Karen some of the plans were subsidized, some were not.
More trouble in Wisconsin:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/52-people-wisconsin-are-un-enrolled-obamacare-due-glitch_784982.html
Here’s the problem with throwing money at a problem and not taking a fiscal conservative, careful approach:
Whistleblowers in Wisconsin reveal that a billion dollar contract pays employees to sit there and do nothing:
http://www.rightwisconsin.com/perspectives/the-daily-obamacare-train-wreck-may-14-2014-259113631.html
MaciverInsitute, say no more.
Can you cite those debunked stats Karen, I’m interested to see what they say and where you got them from. What I see here and elsewhere, everywhere actually, is that we all get our info from places we trust. Unfortunately we don’t trust each other’s sources as it’s so commonplace nowadays to twist, spindle and break the truth. It’s really difficult finding the truth.
More problems in Wisconsin:
http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2014/01/07/problems-still-plague-obamacare-site.html?page=all
Mespo:
The “we” in your comment seemed to refer to “us here in Virginia.”
Annie:
I have repeatedly listed the figures for CA, and the problems nationwide. I do not use my own experience as the anecdotal basis of my argument, simply to show evidence that it does in fact happen.
You have not addressed these statistics.
Elaine M:
Amen.
nick:
“Does anyone disagree that the core problem in this tragedy[that would be MARTY] is a culture that has become fatherless, and has the philosophy that reading and being book smart is “being white.”
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It’s easier to identify problems than to fix them. No question that illegitimacy and a cultural of indifference to education does matter. In this case, a report came out that Marty’s mother was cited for failing to get her daughter to school. The cure may be better education, child care services, transportation services,and empowering folks who feel, for whatever reason, oppressed by circumstances. Can we fix every problem? No. But we can help where we can especially when kids are involved. That used to be an American truism. If we don’t, we guarantee the cycle never ends.
mespo – you blamed everyone but the mother, who was the one cited for not getting the daughter to school. The cure was for the mother to get the daughter to school.
Lots of mothers and fathers–both male and female–are unfit parents.
Elaine – within certain limits I would agree with you. However, I am not sure how is going to set the criteria on what makes an unfit parent. CPS does a horrible job deciding.
Annie:
“Karen, I have several friends and family who are on the exchanges
and all of them have comparable plans and costs or a savings.”
Well, here in CA, 25% of doctors accept Exchange plans. So it would be possible to have a couple of friends who have doctors.
Here is a family in Wisconsin who lost all their doctors on Obamacare, their premiums and deductibles went up, AND now they can’t get out of it. And 1 in 5 applicants for Obamacare in Wisconsin have not paid their premiums.
http://www.maciverinstitute.com/2014/04/how-accurate-are-the-obamacare-enrollment-numbers/
You mentioned that all of the Exchanges had comparable plans and costs or savings. Yes they are all the same. How did they compare with the costs and savings of insurance prior? How much did premiums and deductibles rise for people in Wisconsin, on average? Were your friends’ plans subsidized by us?
Mespo:
That was one of my suggestions. Have you investigated the rest of the country, as I asked? Because it is completely heartless to have made insurance unaffordable for the middle class, and provide insurance that 75% of doctors do not accept.
Have you even begun any research prior to making your conclusions?
Many single mothers are white. Many single mothers are divorced. Some divorced fathers are deadbeat dads. The problem is a complicated one.
Elaine – some divorced mothers are deadbeat moms. It really is complicated.
Annie:
The WHO study you are referring to (claiming other countries had better healthcare than we do) was debunked in a scandal that rocked the medical and scientific community. Their data was mostly missing, and they used subjective assessments.
Does anyone disagree that the core problem in this tragedy[that would be MARTY] is a culture that has become fatherless, and has the philosophy that reading and being book smart is “being white.” Because all of the money on this planet will not make a damn difference until righteous people in the black community change this self destructive mindset. We cannot change it, they must. I am NOT saying there are not other issues, but is this point the most important?
Paul Schulte
mespo – I spent years teaching kids like Marty and his sister, making sure they got a good education and making sure they got into college if that is what they wanted. What have you done for the Marty’s of Richmond? I see you talking the talk, but I don’t see you walking the walk. BTW, throwing money at it is not really going to make it better.
Annie and Elaine, as you can see I was explaining to mespo that I had walked the walk.