CONFLICT RESOLUTION

By: Deric Muhammad

We live in world that is full of conflict.  The reason that wars exists throughout the Earth is because human beings refuse to sit down and resolve disagreements.  Conflict is natural.  You cannot live in this world without having a disagreement with your fellow man.  However, conflict doesn’t have to lead to violence and murder.

            Most of the time conflict among young Black males comes when someone feels they have been threatened, disrespected or violated.  I have seen arguments over ten dollars turn into murder cases.  If we are to rebuild our own communities we must learn to resolve the conflicts that lead to Black on Black violence and murder.

            When two young males seem to be about to get at one another’s throat try and maneuver them into separate rooms.  If a crowd has formed try and disperse it.  Sometimes a big crowd can be like gas on the fire of an emerging fight.  If there are females in the crowd, males tend to feel they have even more to prove.  It is the truth.

            In most cases, you have to wait until the two persons calm down before trying to talk about what happened.  You can almost never resolve conflict while both people are angry.  Anger causes the loss on reasoning.  Once things calm down you should find a mediator that both parties RESPECT.  It may be a teacher, coach or a well-respected parent.  It may even be a highly intelligent classmate.  Make sure the person is not going to take sides.  Make sure the person is only interested in peace.  This person can be called a “Peacemaker.”

            Once you have found a respected mediator the key is to get to the very root cause of the dispute.  Once you have gotten to the root cause of the dispute, you must successfully show both parties that no matter what is it, it’s not worth shedding the precious blood of another human being. 

            We need Peacemakers in the “hood’, to protect little girls, defenseless women and children.  We need Peacemakers to resolve conflict in our community.  If you see a conflict about to get out of hand in your community, don’t wait until the guns blast before you do something about it.  Reach out to someone who may be able to resolve the issue before it goes too far.  However you must be smart enough to refrain from getting caught up in the conflict yourself.  Let’s stop the killing and start the building.

Your Brother and Servant,

Brother Deric Muhammad