>Man, we have been birthing babies at an early age since we got
>here on the slave ships. Ain't nothin' new.
Sister, YOU ARE MAKING MY POINT FOR ME. You said it yourself, I could not have put it any better. "SINCE WE GOT HERE ON SLAVE SHIPS". AIN'T NOTHIN' NEW". Think about what YOU just said. Was the institution of slavery designed to edify OR destroy our sense of family or community? I'm sure you know the answer.

>That why I am
>always talking about self-fulfilling prophecy because unless
>women AND men change then our children will continue to repeat
>the same thing.
PRECISELY. VERY well put. We (Black men and women) MUST destoy the mentality of "if she's old enough to bleed, she's old enough to breed".(which was inculcated in us ever "since we got here on slave ships") As soon as young Black girls start to get some butt, hips and breasts, they immediately start getting viewed as sex objects...and even sadder, many of our young sisters think that their sexuality is all they are good for. Truly the SLAVE MENTALITY. And it is DISGUSTING that Black MEN participate in this horrible phenomenon...either that or give tacit support by sitting idly and letting it happen.

>Right now I am mentoring a kid in foster
>care whose mother is pregnant again (she is in her 30s). All
>of her children have either been adopted away or in foster
>care and she's about to have another one. She has repeated
>this pattern since she was 16. For every "14 year old" having
>a baby there are older mothers like this one who are still not
>equipped to raise a child.
I applaud the fact that you are taking the time out of your life to mentor a young person...good to see that there are people out there willing to roll up their sleeves and get to work. But once again, you are proving my point. You said she has been in this destructive pattern SINCE SHE WAS 16. SIXTEEN. A kid. Having kids. Repeatedly. She may be 30 years old, but where is she as far as maturity goes? Sounds like the only "adult" thing she can do is open her legs. I'm gonna go out on a limb and venture to say that if she had her nose in a book instead of her tail in some cat's bed having baby after baby, she would be a much more productive person...don't you agree?