Where Do We Go From Here?

We’ve been talking about the “Cycle Breaker” movement and the specifics of what it takes to be a “Cycle Breaker.”  This discussion is important in the wake of the Trayvon Martin tragedy because, as a Cycle Breaker, I find it necessary to discuss surviving and thriving in this country.  After the verdict, I had the opportunity to conduct an open community discussion entitled “Where Do We Go From Here?,” where we explored the Trayvon Martin story as well as solutions for moving forward. 

This conversation was an addition to the regularly scheduled life skills training I conduct at the East Cleveland Municipal Court.  Why do I conduct life skills trainings during my personal time?  Why did I feel the need to discuss moving forward after the Trayvon Martin decision?  The answer is summed up in the following quote: 

“ Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton asked why. - Bernard Baruch.  

My calling as Judge is to ask why and to search for the answers.  Though I extended an open invitation to the Cleveland community and though I received many “likes” about the event on FaceBook, my Courtroom was not filled to capacity.  I wasn’t surprised by the low attendance because the tendency in the Black community is to rise up when either our emotions are triggered or when someone or something else is the focus but not when we have to change ourselves.  We showed up at the rally’s to elect President Obama, we show up at entertainment events and we showed up to march while demanding justice for Trayvon Martin.  However, we fail to show up when the subject is personal responsibility, accountability or self-improvement.  

In addition to the programs that I offer at the East Cleveland Municipal Court, people are doing exciting things in every community that help to give us empowerment and education.  However these events are not the popular events.  Let’s ask ourselves, how many people show up at the local high school graduations to encourage the students to continue on their path of success?  How many people show up when a hospital is closing in the community?  How many people show up when a local Judge takes time out of his personal life to hold a conversation on surviving and thriving in our community?  The answer is “Not Many.”

  When the focus is on our personal accountability, responsibility and growth, we change the subject.  When the focus is on obeying the law so that you don’t find yourself or your family in my Court, we change the subject.  When the focus is on touchy subjects like drug use, alcoholism or unwed pregnancies and how they place challenges on parent’s and children's lives, we change the subject.  When the focus is on delayed gratification as opposed to sacrificing for a positive future, we change the subject.  In order to be a “Cycle Breaker,” and improve the fabric of our communities, we have to show up and have these hard discussions.  We have to show up when the benefit of the gathering is self reflection and education.  It’s great to rally and march for the larger causes, but when are we going position ourselves for the betterment of our own lives and the betterment of our communities?

The next component of being a CYCLE BREAKER, as set out in my manual 12 Things You Can Do Now to Be a Cycle Breaker, available on www.judgedawson.com, is making a decision to stop or break the cycle. 

• After identifying the negative situation you must make the decision to stop the cycle in your life or help end the cycle in your family, community or world. “Get Up, Get Out & Do Something.”

To look at yourself and identify your own negative situations takes courage.  The next step is to make the decision, the commitment to break the cycle. Marching is effective and has its place but if we are going to really improve our community the change must start with us.  After the media attention dies down and the rally’s have ended, what are we going to do to keep the movement alive?  I suggest that we all continue to improve the lives that are nearest to us.  Take the personal initiative to get up, get out and to do something!

East Cleveland Municipal Court’s Judge William L. Dawson is on a mission to help people to Finish First, live their best lives and be Cycle Breakers!  

To receive a copy of his newsletter reach out by: 

judgewilliamdawson@gmail.com

www.teamfinishfirst.com

www.Judgedawson.com

We Need To Re-Sensitize Our Consciousness

Cycle Breaker Pt.3

We Need to Re-Sensitize Our Consciousness

In my quest to be a Cycle Breaker, I am constantly reading, researching and studying criminal behavior and self improvement.  I recently listened to a presentation where a man analyzed some of the issues in the Black community.  The speaker gave the following assertions: 

1. Blacks have been killed at higher rates than any other group of people in America; 
2. Blacks have committed murders at higher rates than any other group in America;
3. Blacks have the highest population in our prisons;  
4. Blacks are the highest number of people infected with STD’s in America; 
5. Blacks infect people with STD’s more than any other group in America; 
6. Blacks have more unwanted pregnancies and abortions than any other group in America.  

In summary, Black people are 1/8th of the population but 4/8ths of the murder victims, 1/8th of the population but 5/8ths of the killers, 1/8th of the population but 4/8ths of the prisoners. 1/8th of the population but 5/8ths of those infected with STD’s.

I must admit that I feel very uncomfortable with these facts.  I feel uncomfortable because first, these are the same statistics that I have heard my entire life.  Though the Black community has made many advances, our negative and destructive behavior has increased.  To be honest, I felt most uncomfortable with these assertions because the person giving this presentation was a White Male. 

In the last article I discussed that, to be a Cycle Breaker, we have to take a look at ourselves and our community to identify changeable negative situations and circumstances.  I also mentioned that when other people analyze us we naturally go into defense mode. The presentation that I listened to was an analysis of the negativity and destruction that we know exists in our community and, though it was the truth, it was hard to hear.

Here is the Cycle Breaker big picture: the reason that these statistics exist in our community, the reason that we commit crimes at a higher rate, the reason that we go to jail as a natural occurrence, the reason that we have unwanted pregnancies and all other negative and destructive behavior is because we have lowered the standards in our community.  One thing that every one of us can do to avoid the travesty that was Trayvon Martin is to raise the bar of how we respect ourselves and then demand that everyone else raise the bar in their respect for us.  When we accept negative and destructive behavior in our community we are adding to the problem.  

I often discuss the issues of our community with people in my court and I have come to the conclusion that we allow ourselves to get distracted with the distractions. Meaning, the things we barely control become our focus while we ignore the controllable issues that devastate our lives.  I compare it to being concerned about the food burning on the grill when, behind you, the house is on fire.  We have become blind to the fires burning in our community, the negative and destructive behavior, but we get outraged at the issues or events that are subtopics to our major story.  Our major story is to work to better the lives of ourselves and our communities.  

People, we are asleep at the wheel while our cars are heading for the cliff.  We spend so much time in the club, buying clothes, getting our hair done, going on date nights etc. but little to no time helping change our community.  Yet at the first chance we get, we point our fingers at “racism” or the “ghetto people” as a source of the problems we face.  When are we going to take action on the second step of the “Cycle Breaker” system and take a long hard look at ourselves to determine if we are part of the change we want to see, part of the problem or just sitting on the sidelines watching? 

Let me shed some light on one thing, of many, that I’m doing through the East Cleveland Municipal Court to raise the bar of what we expect from ourselves and our community.  First, I started by sentencing people to come to my life skills program “Finish First” aimed at stopping negative interaction with the legal system. Then I started teaching about “Emotional Intelligence” and “How to Be a Cycle Breaker.”  Now I give out a pre-sentence worksheet where I have people discover and identify their values.  These exercises are aimed at getting offenders in my court to re-sensitize their consciousness.  Once we are able to identify our values, we will set our behavior and expectations in line with those values. When we live up to our values, our behavior, expectations and the activity that we allow to occur in our lives will change.  When we change our community and raise our standards not only will everyone have to raise their level of respect for us, we will saves lives.

To look at yourself and identify your own negative situations takes courage. See 12 Things You Can Do Now to Be a Cycle Breaker, available on www.judgedawson.com.  However, it’s even harder to swallow when other people analyze what’s wrong with you, either way, to live your best life, change the community and be a Cycle Breaker, we must all take a look within.

Over the next few articles I will further define and break down the principles of what it takes to be a Cycle Breaker.  These articles will highlight the instructions I set out in the manual, 12 Things You Can Do Now to Be a Cycle Breaker, available on www.judgedawson.com. I believe that with the right focus and direction we can all pursue the greatness that lies within us.    

East Cleveland Municipal Court’s Judge William L. Dawson is on a mission to help people to Finish First, live their best lives and be Cycle Breakers!  

To receive a copy of his newsletter reach out by: 

judgewilliamdawson@gmail.com

www.teamfinishfirst.com

www.Judgedawson.com

Being a Cycle Breaker Part 1.

The East Cleveland Municipal Court is on a mission to be a team of  “Cycle Breakers.”  In fact, my life is dedicated to the calling of being a “Cycle Breaker.”   My vision as a Judge is to use this position to help empower people to become the leaders that they are destined to be, but it takes work. Everyday that I sit on the bench as Judge of the East Cleveland Court I am dedicated to using this opportunity to help people change their lives and be the best that they can be.  I am proud to say that I developed this desire as early as my days as a student at Kent State University when I wrote these words on my mirror: “My mission it to positively change lives and affect policy.”  Though my mission has been adjusted over the years, the underlying purpose is the same, helping people live their best lives, or as my mother used to say, help people to “Better Their Lives.”  It is with that background that I began my mission as a “Cycle Breaker.” 

Over the next few articles I will define and break down the principles of what it takes to be a Cycle Breaker.  These articles will highlight the instructions I set out in my recently created  manual for the community, 12 Things You Can Do Now to Be a Cycle Breaker, available on www.judgedawson.com. I believe that with the right direction we can all pursue the greatness that lies within us.    

What is a Cycle Breaker?  I first heard the phrase “breaking cycles” from State Senator Nina Turner.  That one phrase not only defined my life’s journey but also my life’s purpose.  After meditation and prayer I came up with the following statement that I presented to my staff and then incorporated in my training material: "If you help and inspire people to better their lives, you are a Cycle Breaker. It doesn't matter how much you do or how long you’ve been doing it. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been helping change lives for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just help and Inspire people to Break Cycles." This quote comes directly from the manual, 12 Things You Can Do Now to Be a Cycle Breaker.

It’s from this statement that I will begin to define Judge Dawson’s “Cycle Breaker” movement.  

Inspiring People to Better Their Lives.  We are all born to be leaders.  I will discuss leadership in detail in later columns but for now take my word for it. Furthermore, there is a distinct difference between “a born leader” and people who are “born to be a leader.”  The distinction is important because so many people in the African American and other minority communities believe that to be a leader you have to belong to a club that is exclusive to the rich, famous and the well educated. When I hear the position that some people are born as leaders I firmly reject it.  We ALL are born to be leaders but to reach that potential we must work to become that leader.  We have to purposely develop the character and qualities of a leader.  

One quality of a leader is the ability to inspire people to live their best lives.  In fact, if you think you are a leader but you are not inspiring people then you are not truly leading.  You may be a dictator or a pretender but you are not a leader.  Inspiration is a key to leadership and once you become a leader, you will naturally inspire the people around you.  The next level, once you inspire people to better their lives, is becoming a Cycle Breaker.  Keep in mind that breaking cycles can also be a personal effort.  For example, If you recognize that drug abuse has been an issue in your family but you decide to change that behavior, you are a Cycle Breaker.Whether you are inspired to break cycles in your own life or in the lives of others, you are a Cycle Breaker.    

"If you help and inspire people to better their lives, you are a Cycle Breaker.”

In the upcoming columns I will further break down the principles to become a Cycle Breaker.

East Cleveland Municipal Court’s Judge William L. Dawson is on a mission to help people to Finish First, live their best lives and be Cycle Breakers!  

To receive a copy of his newsletter reach out by: 

judgewilliamdawson@gmail.com

www.teamfinishfirst.com

www.Judgedawson.com