"I get tired of having older adults or younger adults say how we're not doing anything, or
why don't we do something more meaningful and constructive," said India Henderson, a
biology major at the University of the District of Columbia. "This is not something we
can turn away from. This is where we eat and sleep every day. Individuals can no longer
bash teenagers for not stepping up to the plate and doing something."

The latest surge of community activism was triggered by a rash of murders and the
brazen wounding of a building contractor in the past four months in the Carver Terrace
neighborhood, an area bounded by Hechinger Mall and the National Arboretum that Del.
Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) calls the "forgotten community, because it's off the
beaten track."

"I know this neighborhood, and I regard this as a very important neighborhood," she said.
On Jan. 13, in the 1200 block of 18th Street NE, a contractor working on a home was
shot nine times after he asked some area youths to stop sitting on his car.
On Jan. 6, Lovell Harris, 17, was shot to death in the 2100 block of I Street NE. Several
blocks away, a 15-year-old was shot and wounded in what police said may have been a
related incident.

Henderson and her mother have been pressing police for more help. The younger
Henderson also is raising money for the contractor, who survived the nine bullets, and
she is stepping before the television cameras to speak her mind, having learned a thing or
two under the tutelage of her mom.

The recent spate of violence also prompted six neighborhood teens -- four of whom
showed up at the Jan. 17 march -- to join the Guardian Angels.
Among them was Alaric Hodge Jr., 16, clad in the group's standard attire: red beret and
red baseball-style jacket.

"I live in the neighborhood, and when I heard about the Guardian Angels, I was like,
well, with my help and me living around here, I could probably make a difference," he
said.
Friend Johnnie Harris, 15, piped in: "I joined mostly because one of my best friends got
killed last week. I wanted to make a difference in the community.

"I think I can change people's hearts, seeing me, of all people in this group, because they
know how I am," he said. "I like fighting, I like things like that. But I want to make peace
in this neighborhood. I stopped fighting. I stopped being bad. I get excellent grades in
school."

John Ayala, the D.C. chapter leader and the mid-Atlantic director of the Guardian
Angels, said many youths in the city have been reluctant to join his local group, which
currently numbers about 40, out of fear of being pegged a "snitch" or cop. But in Carver
Terrace, he said, the teens have taken "the next step."

"They're not going to let the peer pressure keep them from getting involved," he said.
Kathy Henderson, who remains a community activist, said she was overjoyed to see the
youths joining the Guardian Angels.

"I've already congratulated them for being leaders and role models," she said. " I think it's
a testimonial to their character . . . and [good] for them to eschew the negative peer
pressure. I told them that, and they were a little wistful and saying 'Aw, shucks.' "
She also applauds her daughter's leadership.

"I had drug dealers try to run against me before," she said. "I couldn't think of a better
person than India" to take over as ANC commissioner. "I asked her about it, and she said,
'You know what, Mom, you need me to do this, and the community needs this. I guess I'll
step up to the plate.' "

India Henderson, who plans to be a cardiologist -- "I have a strong mind for the heart,"
she said -- also hopes to set an example in her neighborhood. She said she particularly
wants to be a model for some children who "were not blessed with the best parents."
"Unfortunately, the streets don't care for anyone, they just use you," she said. "I hope to
help now. I'm only going to be young for so long."