Speaker discusses gang violence with Stewart-Quitman students

By Anastasia Harbuck

Published: August 27, 2008

Wednesday at Stewart-Quitman High School, Marc Fomby made several gang hand-signs to his audience of 6 - 12th graders.

Many of the students knew what the signs meant.

“I grew up in Detroit and there’s not much that scares me,” Fomby said. “But that scares me.”

Fomby, representing FTC Prevention Services of Pearl, Miss., spoke with the Stewart-Quitman High School student body about the dangers of gangs.

“I lost several friends to the gang,” said Fomby, speaking of his childhood in Detroit, where he grew up in the midst of gang violence.

He told of small children “running errands” for senior gang members, youth being slaughtered by rival gangs and the heartache and suffering of family members when a youth is killed or jailed due to gang violence.

“When you join a gang, does your family join too?” he said. “When you get sentenced to prison, they get sentenced to … years without you.”

Fomby also warned his audience that a childhood spent dealing in gang culture is difficult to outgrow - he said years of gang membership follow a person to his or her adulthood.

“When they (gang members) try to trick you, don’t let them,” said Fomby. “Gang members end up dead or in jail - quick, fast and in a hurry!”

Fomby added that some songs and artists glamorize the “gangster” lifestyle, but that gang cultures, in reality, are bloody and ruthless.

“There are many things they don’t tell you, because they don’t want you to know,” he said.

He encouraged his audience members to channel their brainpower into becoming better students, earning degrees and getting good jobs.

“Education is priceless,“ he said. “I’m not going to tell you how to think or what to think, I just want you to think. You can learn something everyday and you should. Nobody can touch what you put between your ears.”

Fomby said that, though gang lifestyles of instant gratification may seem luxurious, getting a good education will pay off in the long run. He added that teachers should be respected for instructing, inspiring and encouraging pupils to excel.