This is part of an occasional series titled, "Chiraq"

By John W. Fountain

        How to raise a killer: First, fathers, abandon your sons. Never cradle or nurture them. Wholesale kick them to the curb soon after life begins. The sooner, the better.

Never spend time with them, never show them—teach them—what it means to be a man.

Make excuses for your absence: My baby’s mother “be trippin’…”

Never show your son any love. Leave him feeling worthless, forsaken by the man who was supposed to love him first, unconditionally.

Black lives matter?

Why won’t we stop killing each other?

By John W. Fountain

Black lives matter?

What about young black men slain by young black men? Or is it only black males slain by white men?

When will local and national protests begin for the senseless killing of Demario Bailey, 15, shot dead a week ago Saturday by would-be robbers? His four alleged killers look just like him: young, male and black.

Surely they must have seen news of protests in response to grand jury decisions to not indict white police officers for killing Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in New York. Surely, they must have caught wind of protestors’ chants:

“Black lives matter!”

“I can’t breathe.”

Surely they must have noticed Demario’s chocolate skin and brown eyes. Realized that he was unmistakably their “brother.”