October is National Bullying Prevention and Awareness month and we must use this time to raise awareness about what happens all year long—every year—in our schools.  Asher Brown and Phoebe Prince lost their lives to bullying. Because of the increased frequency of this type of tragic outcome, the official term is bullycide: when a person commits suicide because of bullying.

WAKE UP!
I’m sure Asher and Phoebe are not the only youth to die within the past year, but their stories were covered by national media. So in a sense, they are the “faces” of a growing epidemic in our country. And their deaths beg the question: How many children have to die before we take bullying seriously?

I had the opportunity to be interviewed (on 11/18/09) on the “Open” talk show, hosted by Daren Jaimes.  It’s a local show on Bronxnet Community Television.  We discussed my new book, Speedsuit Powers, and how it can help bring hope to urban youth. Here’s the update from my Speedsuit Powers book website.

Speedsuit Powers releases Tuesday December 1, 2009. You can purchase your copy at Amazon.com

I am holding in my hands for the first time, the very first copy of my new book, Speedsuit Powers . It’s a teen fiction novel where the main character, Curtis, is the new kid at a new school dealing with bully issues.  It releases this December.  My prayer, hope and desire is that this book will help to positively impact urban youth culture.  That it will inspire, motivate and educate youth to see their lives differently and make new choices (or stand by decisions they’ve already made) which lead to true and lasting success.