Youth / OPINION : ‘We Are All Members of the Game, One Game’ : Peace is more than a word or two fingers held up. It’s the state of mind we need to rebuild our community.

No one has a greater stake in the Southern California community than our young people. With that in mind, KABC-TV, The Times, The Los Angeles County Public Library and Los Angeles Public Library sponsored an essay contest to give young people a chance to present possible solutions to the problems that face us. The theme was “Making Our Community a Better Place; How We Can Work Together.” Today, we publish the two grand prize winners. Each will receive a $1,000 savings bond.

TOO SLICK: Yo , man!

TOO FAST: Wass up, T.S.!

T.S.: I heard we got a rumble tomorrow .

T.F.: You heard right .

T.S.: But we only got three guys. The rest of ‘em got shot up in the last rumble.

T.F.: That’s not gonna happen this time ‘cause I’m bringing a friend this time.

T.S.: Oh yeah, what’s his name?

T.F.: His name is 44-Magnum. Yo man! Here comes Five-O!

T.S.: Yo! I’ll talk to you about it later. Peace, and I’m outie.

T.F.: Peace. Outie 5,000.

What’s wrong with this picture? Too Fast and Too Slick are too stupid to realize that peace is more than just a word. It’s more than just two fingers. It’s a state of mind. It’s something you do. It’s something you commit to. Too Fast and Too Slick need to get with the program before the program gets to them.

What I mean by that is that T.S. and T.F. need to understand the true meaning of this thing we call peace. Once they figure that out, they need to apply it and get others to also. If they don’t, they might not live to see the next day. If they do, who knows the possibilities.

Forget about “Stop the violence and increase the peace.” Let’s stop the violence and keep the peace. Nothing will change until we do that.

When I say keep the peace, I don’t just mean physically; I also mean mentally. Mental peace is 20% of what we need to help heal our neighborhoods. The other 80% is each other.

Once we learn to deal with each other, no matter what race, creed, color or sex, then we can rebuild our community.

Doing something good for the community helps solve all community problems. Taggers don’t need to tag so they get recognition. All that gives them is low self-esteem, low self-confidence and trouble. Instead of writing on a wall, they can help paint them or even help rebuild them.

I used to want to be a gangbanger until I found out what it can do to you. We were headed to a gang fight when we got ambushed. I hit a 16-year-old with a lead pipe and he pulled out a knife and stabbed me in my side. I almost died.

They call the gang your family, but what kind of family beats you up before you can become a part of it? What kind of family would put you in a situation where you could get seriously injured or die? Every family has its problems, but one of these problems almost got me killed.

Racism is another form of violence we need to stop. Sometimes just a funny look can be racist. Everybody has a point in their life where they are racist. I will admit that I have been racist at times and I regret it. Remember that there is only one race , a race that--when put together--can defeat any problem. That race is the human race.