Ellington

I am interning with several adolescent populations here in Milwaukee, and many of the issues ("What's In a Gang?" March 9) touched on really resonated with what I see every day here. It is true that much of the organized level of gang activity is less visible due to gangs not wanting to attract as much attention. The underground gang world/organization is still thriving. We can't fight to eliminate gangs without replacing that void with something of substance. It's like taking all the fast-food burger shacks away from a village but leaving all the fast-food chicken shacks. All the villagers are just going to go to the chicken shacks. What the village needs is more whole food fruit/vegetable markets. You know, better options.

The adolescent still wants to be a part of something greater than him/herself, and if there are not enough positive options to balance the negative, guess who's going to win more recruits? What resources will we provide to fill that void? What jobs will we create so that our brothers and sisters with felony charges will have options other than going back to Intro to Hustle 101? It's difficult work, but the payoff is priceless.
— Geoffrey Edwards, Milwaukee

Fight Terror with Terra:
Jerome Ringo is the first African American to be board chairman of a major environmental organization, the National Wildlife Federation. His experience as a union worker in the cancer-ridden depths of Louisiana's petrochemical industry inspired him to lead in protecting the environment, which is another way of saying, fighting for our lives. He has used his genius to put together the Apollo Alliance, a coalition of labor, business, environmental and community organizations to push projects in renewable sources of electricity, oil savings, improved efficiency standards and public funding for clean energy. It is a very practical program, proving the lie of the "jobs vs. environment" position by demonstrating how tax credits and investments in alternative energy could create millions of high paying jobs, as well as truly fight terrorism.
— John Davis, Jackson