"I'm not going to stop until Michael is dead."
In the streets of Kalamazoo, Michigan, people were looking for revenge against Michael Wilder for the violence he committed against others.
Michael says his violence was born out of violence against him.
So goes the cycle of hatred and rage that is repeated by people throughout the world.
The public radio program The Story recounted the tale of Michael "Too Short" Wilder and Yafinceio "Big B" Harris: two enemies from the streets of Kalamazoo who make changes and later meet at a community college:
From The Story:
Michael Wilder and Yafinceio Harris were long time rivals. Several times they came close to an armed confrontation. Five years ago, one almost killed the other in a Kalamazoo street war. But something always seemed to intervene. Imagine the surprise for both of them when they met, earlier this year, in a community college classroom.
Wilder said their teacher at the community college recognized their incredible story and asked if he could share it with the producers at The Story.
Wilder said he and Harris were excited to share their story:
"We're living proof that [violence] is not always the answer," said Wilder.
"You know what Yafinceio told me one day shortly after we met in school?
It almost made me cry.
He said, 'man, I realized that if I had killed you, I would have killed a good dude.' He told me that!
Can you imagine having a killer, that was going to kill you, turn around and get to know you and tell you something like that?!"
They call the trust they built between one another "Real recognized real."
Listen to Wilder and Harris recount their incredible story of how they broke the cycle of violence between them:
http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_092111_full_show.mp3
