Video "games" Teach Mentacide

[Baba Ahmed]

Please help us get this message to Black parents / adults everywhere. It is just one of the issues we have begun to address coming out of the October 15th Millions More Mobilization. I am dealing with the significant issues of Economic and Political Power but this is an important mental health issue that some of my activist allies are just not feeling.

If you share this concern please pass this on.
Bob Law (Baba note: he's long time NYC radio late nite talk host/activists)
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Killer Videogames and the assualt on the minds of Black youth.

The Killer Videogames currently on the market for the coming holiday season feature Black and Latino youth as thugs who simply roam the urban areas killing, stealing, fighting. and often using drugs. These games teach the players that violence occurs without penalty or consequence. And depicts black youth as thugs who live only in the thug capitals of the world.

Remember the tragedy of the DC sniper who among others took the life of our brother Ken Bridges? Now there is a game called Sniper Elite that features what the game calls “Realistic sniping with adjustments for gravity, wind, heart rate and more.� What are they teaching your children.

So called games, like

• Bullet Proof

• GrandTheft Auto

• The Warriors

• Total Overdose

• True Crime NYC

• The Suffering

and so many others feature what the games creators describe as, blood and gore, intense violence, sexual themes, strong language, and use of drugs.

Are these ideas appropriate for your children?

Are They Just Harmless Games?

Steven Johnson who supports video games in his book “Everything Bad Is Good For You, How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter� make this revealing point. There’s a huge difference between a passive medium like TV and a participatory one like videogames. Say’s Johnson, When you see a kid sitting at a videogame, you're seeing concentration and focus. He also says they are learning to deal with complicated environments and how to solve problems, Johnson acknowledges that interactive games engage the minds of the players in a significant manner.

These are the real messages the games send to the children, “ Discover the dark secrets of the inner city� “Now the battle rages on two fronts: in the city and in your mind.� One game teaches three rules to live by �Never go out alone, Know how to fight, Be ready to run, whether chasing down a rival gang, or running from the cops, Another game welcomes your child to Mexico’s Drug Pushing Underworld. In Videogame land Blacks and Latinos are thugs or rouge cops, and that is all.

Dont Buy Killer Video Games For Your Children And Grand Children This Holiday Season

The mental health of your children is at stake, if they already have these killer video games consider taking them away, don't cooperate with people who are using the wonders of video and music technology to introduce a violent and destructive value system to our young.Join the New York State Millions More Movement, The National Association of Black Social Workers, HOOD Research Detroit Michigan, WURD Radio, Philadelphia, as we urge Black adults not to allow anymore killer games to be introduced to the hearts and minds of our young.



For information call (718) 636-1967