Jackson Free Press

"They are our responsibility."

— A post on Jackson-born recording artist and actor David Banner's (nee' Lavell Crump) Instagram account during a recent visit to the Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center in Jackson.

Why it's sweet: Perhaps the most important idea in Banner's short statement isn't "responsibility," but "our." It evokes cliches of villages pulling together to raise children, who represent the future. Yet, in a society that increasingly shifts too much of the accountability for kids off on institutions—schools and jails, to name two—it's easy to forget our individual responsibilities to youth. And, in a year where tragic events like the deaths of such young black males as 18-year-old Mike Brown in Missouri and 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Ohio prompted ugly, racist dialogue, Banner's reminder to Henley-Young is too important to ignore.