Friday, December 19, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Why Sarah Palin Should Scare The Hell Out of You!
When McCain first made this pick, many, myself included, saw it for exactly what it was; a ploy! John McCain decided to gamble and choose an unqualified candidate as his VP pick in hopes of picking up the votes of disgruntled Hillary supporters. They saw the excitement created by the prospects of there being a first Black president and the way people rallied around that. The historical significants of Obama's campaign dominated the media and rallied voter support.
McCain decided to fight fire with fire and say, "So America wants history, America wants change, I'll give it history, and I'll give it change". He then went out and picked Sarah Palin as his vice presidential pick, a woman who was unheard of on the political scene, the Governor of Alaska a state that the United States Census list as having a population of 670,053 in 2006. In contrast, Chicago, the state in which Barack Obama was a senator, had an overall population of 2,842,518. This provided white female voters the opportunity to make their own history, they couldn't get Hillary but they could have Palin.
At first I laughed, I thought Hillary voters were way too smart to fall for such a ploy. I mean there are stark differences between the two; Sara Palin is pro-life, Hillary Clinton is pro-choice, Sara Palin is anti sex education and the distribution of condoms to youth, she believes the Iraq war is God's will and was quoted as saying, "Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God,"
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To my dismay, the Sara Palin pick gave the McCain campaign a boost. His poll numbers went up and he took a lead over Obama among white female voters. In my mind, this really exposed how much this election wasn't about the issues. Her inexperience was largely overlooked for the fact of her being white and a woman. She was hailed as this God loving, pit bull in lipstick, Hockey mom who manages a career in politics and a family of 5 at home. A lot of professional woman identified with her. To protect her, any charges against her regarding her inexperience was hailed as sexism.
Freedom of the press was completely ignored in Sarah Palin's international debut as reporters were bared from attending her meeting and blocked from asking any questions. The Republican campaign likes to spin any remarks made in opposition to Palin as sexism but were reluctant to do so with the comments made by Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari, when he made no mention of anything having to do with her politics and instead called her, "gorgeous" and made references to how nice she was. These are comments you make when you meet someones daughter or wife for the first time, not a Vice president. I also found it peculiar that when a handler from Zardari's entourage said they should keep shaking hands for the cameras, Zardari was quoted as saying, "If he's insisting, I might hug" innocent joke or slight pass? What was Palin's response to his remarks? Smile and say thank you.
Senator McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his VP pick should be considered an insult to the intellectual capacity of American women. This woman, Sarah Plain, is nothing more than a Republican puppet. First they had her come out guns blazing bashing Obama on his inexperience and painting herself as this independent thinker. Now it's been pretty much shut up and look pretty.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Raped, Tortured, & Murdered; What if it was your daughter?
Invisible!
"Invisible" - Gif (Free Download) I was riding the train on my way home from school when I came across this article in the Village Voice. The article was about a young black girl by the name of Ramona Moore. This young girl had been kidnapped, repeatedly raped, tortured, and murdered. Her mother called the police hours after she hadn't returned home but was told she hadn't been missing long enough to be reported missing. The officer, against policy, told the woman he would open up a missing persons case if she called back in a few hours, which would have made her missing for the sufficient amount of time. Read More @ www.iamthegif.blogspot.com
"Invisible" - Gif (Free Download) I was riding the train on my way home from school when I came across this article in the Village Voice. The article was about a young black girl by the name of Ramona Moore. This young girl had been kidnapped, repeatedly raped, tortured, and murdered. Her mother called the police hours after she hadn't returned home but was told she hadn't been missing long enough to be reported missing. The officer, against policy, told the woman he would open up a missing persons case if she called back in a few hours, which would have made her missing for the sufficient amount of time. Read More @ www.iamthegif.blogspot.com
Saturday, May 17, 2008
White Man's Justice Black Man's Grief!
Theme Song for this post ITUNES
White Man’s Justice Black man’s Grief; the title of legendary urban author Donald Goings novel pretty much embodies the sentiments that most black Americans have in regards to the American judicial system. Regardless of if we are on trial for murder or on trial for being murdered, it seems the same rules apply; we are, in the eyes of the law, considered guilty until proven innocent. When a police officer guns down an unarmed and, what should be, presumably innocent black man it becomes more of a battle to prove that black man as just that (innocent) than to prove him to be a victim of a murder. For instance: immediately following the shooting of Patrick Dorismond at the hands of undercover police officers, then Mayor Rudolf Guliani elected to release the sealed juvenile delinquency record of Dorismond stating he wanted to showcase that Dorsimond was “no altar boy”. When incidents such as this take place in our communities, often the victims and their communities are the ones placed on trial and not the proposed assailants. When there is no justifiable reasoning for a police officer murdering a black man, the attention often turns to the dangers the officers face patrolling our communities. This is used as a means of validating a pattern of thought that inspires a level of fear that can justify an irrational act, such as unintentionally firing their weapon and plunging a bullet into the chest of an unarmed teen, which was exactly what happened to Timothy Stansberry who was shot dead by a bullet from Officer Richard S. Neri Jr. on Janaury 24, 2004.
The communities are so dangerous that wallets and brushes can be mistaken for guns (Amadou Diallo) the people are so dangerous that an unarmed man can be beaten half to death and still considered a threat by remaining on his feet during the bludgeoning and not collapsing to the ground (Rodney King Jr.). The Sean Bell trial is just a case of the same old same.
The main determining factor in the Sean Bell trial was whether someone stated they were going to get a gun. The officers said they heard someone say they were going to get a gun. The victims said no one mentioned a gun. I was always told there are three sides to a story; your side, my side, and somewhere in between those two sides is the truth. The judge had to look in between the stories of the defendants and the victims and see how much truth lied on either side in order to form a picture of what the truth might actually be. When you’re trying to decide who to believe character comes into question. This is exactly what happened in the Sean Bell trial. The judge called the characters of Trent Benefield, Joseph Guzman, and Sean Bell into question. He used their prior criminal records, for the most part, as a means of discrediting their testimony among other things such as; the $50 million lawsuits that Guzmond and Benifeild have pending as a motive to lie and the environment in which the incident had taken place, which was a strip club under investigation for drugs and prostitution. Is it incomprehensible to believe that, at a nightclub under investigation for criminal activity, an altercation had taken place involving men who were felons convicted of charges such as drug dealing and robbery, which had spun out of control resulting in one of the participants declaring they were going to get a gun? Because the prosecution had to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendants were guilty of unjustifiably firing the 50 rounds that claimed the life of Sean Bell that night. All the defense had to do, was present a case where one could conclude that the defendants were under the impression that there was a gun present at the scene which inspired a pattern of thought that led to the incidents of that night. Unfortunately what had to be proven in the Sean Bell trial was that it was no way humanly possible that anyone could have stated they were going to get a gun during the altercation that had taken place at the strip club that night. The police officers weren’t on trial the victims were, and it was the prosecutions job to showcase the victims as law abiding citizens of the state, who were highly unlikely to act in the manner in which they were being accused of that night.
Every time an incident such as this takes place, the same things become apparent. Blacks in urban communities have been criminalized in the eyes of the justice system and in the eyes of society in general. Statistical data published in newspapers that highlight crime areas where blacks dominate in order to support the idea that blacks are mostly responsible for crime, nightly television news shows that consistently showcase blacks as assailants and suspects in criminal investigations and cases, shows like the wire, movies like American Gangster, rappers like 50cent, all assist in the criminalization of black people. Since the release of the movie Training Day, “This is chess not Checkers” has become a very popular phrase amongst members of our community. I think we’ve been underestimating the extent of truth that statement holds as it pertains to us in white America.
I remember watching an episode of “Tell It like It Is”, which is a show that I catch once in awhile every other Sunday. There was a black woman who stated that blacks seem to have forgotten that they have to be quicker, stronger, faster, smarter, and better, and how it’s always been that way. I think those thoughts couldn’t be more true. It seems we’ve been lulled into a false sense of equality. It seems that the lack of overt racism has had a negative effect on our community causing us to not be as aware of the extent of racism as we should. I’ve seen us come to a point where we’ve contracted the “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander” syndrome. I hear us saying, “well, they do it” why we get busted for selling drugs like we do when they don’t and they do it, why we get busted for smoking weed like we do when they don’t and they do it. We don’t accept the responsibility to be smarter or to be better and we don’t feel that we should have to be smarter or be better; we want to be “equal” which raises some doubts on our perception of equality in my mind. Two Words, accountability and responsibility, we can’t support the things that support the ideas, that support and give “justification” to the actions that are taken to erase us off this planet. Anybody that makes it out of our communities and becomes successful and makes a lot of money gets a pass to poison the people. If you criticize them you’re a hater. Well, in the words of my boy K-Swift, if hating drugs and guns in my community makes me a hater, I’ll be a hater. Jay-Z has one of the most successful Hip Hop clothing lines out: Rockawear. How many Rockawear clothing stores in any of our communities are there that any of these kids can go to and apply for a job? The clothes are made, probably in another country somewhere, shipped here, and sold in Macys for a shit load of money for our kids to kill themselves to get the money to buy and get what in return; look fly!? We need to understand the significance of the messages in the imagery when Hip hop artist come on TV to discuss business in a corporate suit and then dress like a member of our community to talk about guns, drugs, and other illegal activity. What we need to do is start taking responsibility for ourselves, because if we don’t take responsibility for ourselves and start changing the view that the world has of us as a people, there won’t be anything that can save us from what they have planned.
White Man’s Justice Black man’s Grief; the title of legendary urban author Donald Goings novel pretty much embodies the sentiments that most black Americans have in regards to the American judicial system. Regardless of if we are on trial for murder or on trial for being murdered, it seems the same rules apply; we are, in the eyes of the law, considered guilty until proven innocent. When a police officer guns down an unarmed and, what should be, presumably innocent black man it becomes more of a battle to prove that black man as just that (innocent) than to prove him to be a victim of a murder. For instance: immediately following the shooting of Patrick Dorismond at the hands of undercover police officers, then Mayor Rudolf Guliani elected to release the sealed juvenile delinquency record of Dorismond stating he wanted to showcase that Dorsimond was “no altar boy”. When incidents such as this take place in our communities, often the victims and their communities are the ones placed on trial and not the proposed assailants. When there is no justifiable reasoning for a police officer murdering a black man, the attention often turns to the dangers the officers face patrolling our communities. This is used as a means of validating a pattern of thought that inspires a level of fear that can justify an irrational act, such as unintentionally firing their weapon and plunging a bullet into the chest of an unarmed teen, which was exactly what happened to Timothy Stansberry who was shot dead by a bullet from Officer Richard S. Neri Jr. on Janaury 24, 2004.
The communities are so dangerous that wallets and brushes can be mistaken for guns (Amadou Diallo) the people are so dangerous that an unarmed man can be beaten half to death and still considered a threat by remaining on his feet during the bludgeoning and not collapsing to the ground (Rodney King Jr.). The Sean Bell trial is just a case of the same old same.
The main determining factor in the Sean Bell trial was whether someone stated they were going to get a gun. The officers said they heard someone say they were going to get a gun. The victims said no one mentioned a gun. I was always told there are three sides to a story; your side, my side, and somewhere in between those two sides is the truth. The judge had to look in between the stories of the defendants and the victims and see how much truth lied on either side in order to form a picture of what the truth might actually be. When you’re trying to decide who to believe character comes into question. This is exactly what happened in the Sean Bell trial. The judge called the characters of Trent Benefield, Joseph Guzman, and Sean Bell into question. He used their prior criminal records, for the most part, as a means of discrediting their testimony among other things such as; the $50 million lawsuits that Guzmond and Benifeild have pending as a motive to lie and the environment in which the incident had taken place, which was a strip club under investigation for drugs and prostitution. Is it incomprehensible to believe that, at a nightclub under investigation for criminal activity, an altercation had taken place involving men who were felons convicted of charges such as drug dealing and robbery, which had spun out of control resulting in one of the participants declaring they were going to get a gun? Because the prosecution had to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendants were guilty of unjustifiably firing the 50 rounds that claimed the life of Sean Bell that night. All the defense had to do, was present a case where one could conclude that the defendants were under the impression that there was a gun present at the scene which inspired a pattern of thought that led to the incidents of that night. Unfortunately what had to be proven in the Sean Bell trial was that it was no way humanly possible that anyone could have stated they were going to get a gun during the altercation that had taken place at the strip club that night. The police officers weren’t on trial the victims were, and it was the prosecutions job to showcase the victims as law abiding citizens of the state, who were highly unlikely to act in the manner in which they were being accused of that night.
Every time an incident such as this takes place, the same things become apparent. Blacks in urban communities have been criminalized in the eyes of the justice system and in the eyes of society in general. Statistical data published in newspapers that highlight crime areas where blacks dominate in order to support the idea that blacks are mostly responsible for crime, nightly television news shows that consistently showcase blacks as assailants and suspects in criminal investigations and cases, shows like the wire, movies like American Gangster, rappers like 50cent, all assist in the criminalization of black people. Since the release of the movie Training Day, “This is chess not Checkers” has become a very popular phrase amongst members of our community. I think we’ve been underestimating the extent of truth that statement holds as it pertains to us in white America.
I remember watching an episode of “Tell It like It Is”, which is a show that I catch once in awhile every other Sunday. There was a black woman who stated that blacks seem to have forgotten that they have to be quicker, stronger, faster, smarter, and better, and how it’s always been that way. I think those thoughts couldn’t be more true. It seems we’ve been lulled into a false sense of equality. It seems that the lack of overt racism has had a negative effect on our community causing us to not be as aware of the extent of racism as we should. I’ve seen us come to a point where we’ve contracted the “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander” syndrome. I hear us saying, “well, they do it” why we get busted for selling drugs like we do when they don’t and they do it, why we get busted for smoking weed like we do when they don’t and they do it. We don’t accept the responsibility to be smarter or to be better and we don’t feel that we should have to be smarter or be better; we want to be “equal” which raises some doubts on our perception of equality in my mind. Two Words, accountability and responsibility, we can’t support the things that support the ideas, that support and give “justification” to the actions that are taken to erase us off this planet. Anybody that makes it out of our communities and becomes successful and makes a lot of money gets a pass to poison the people. If you criticize them you’re a hater. Well, in the words of my boy K-Swift, if hating drugs and guns in my community makes me a hater, I’ll be a hater. Jay-Z has one of the most successful Hip Hop clothing lines out: Rockawear. How many Rockawear clothing stores in any of our communities are there that any of these kids can go to and apply for a job? The clothes are made, probably in another country somewhere, shipped here, and sold in Macys for a shit load of money for our kids to kill themselves to get the money to buy and get what in return; look fly!? We need to understand the significance of the messages in the imagery when Hip hop artist come on TV to discuss business in a corporate suit and then dress like a member of our community to talk about guns, drugs, and other illegal activity. What we need to do is start taking responsibility for ourselves, because if we don’t take responsibility for ourselves and start changing the view that the world has of us as a people, there won’t be anything that can save us from what they have planned.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Hillary Clinton Crying Sexism!
While watching channel 11 News the other night, I saw a report run where Elton John commented, “I never cease to be amazed by the misogynistic attitudes of some people in this country," at a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton; blaming sexism as the cause for her trailing Barrack Obama. According to News day, Hillary Clinton reportedly stated on National Public Radio that there’s “a double standard" in the media coverage of the race. A report on Wcnc.com quoted Chelsea Clinton stating, "I didn't really get how much sexism there still was in our country until I was at a rally with my mom in New Hampshire, and someone came up to me and said, 'I just can't see a woman being commander in chief,"' during a stop in Research Triangle Park. Is there really sexism in America to such a profound degree that it is affecting Hillary Clinton’s campaign to this extent? Why wasn’t sexism considered as much of a concern to her campaign prior to her trailing Barrack Obama? And if Sexism was such a concern, why would she be considered, and consider herself the presidential front runner?
My assumption is that this is all a desperate attempt to guilt women voters into showing stronger support for her campaign. What she’s trying to say to women voters is: remember that job you didn’t get because you’re a woman, remember that promotion you didn’t get that was given to the guy on your job that isn’t as qualified as you are because he’s a man, remember Anuka Brown? Don’t let me be the next victim, don’t let us keep being the victim, stand up and fight sexism in America, vote for me and show that women in America will not be victims of sexism anymore. I thought this was supposed to be about the issues!
I think about the frowning faces that would have been seen had Barrack Obama been lagging in the polls and attributing it to him being black. I can hear the political pundits now questioning his integrity for “Playing the race card”. They’d probably say, “Just like a black man to cry racism when he doesn’t get his way”. Hillary Clinton is exposing herself more and more throughout the process of this campaign as a candidate that has questionable integrity; lying about ducking gunshots in Bosnia when footage showed her arriving to a peaceful and warm reception, crying crocodile tears in New Hampshire after political analyst suggested she show a more feminine and softer side, and now, in what has become to be recognized as a typical Hillary move, she resorts to playing the “Sex card”. Will she compromise the safety of Americans like she’s compromised her integrity to get her way? If her campaign for the Democratic presidential bid is any indication, I’m not sure I’ll feel too safe with her answering that phone at 3:00 AM in the White House.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The Truth Spoken
The things said in this video aren't new to most people, at the same time I don't think the things said in this video are as close to the forefront of our minds as they should be. This video, in my opinion, is very powerful and needs to be watched like your favorite TV Show.
Friday, March 14, 2008
President John Mccain. Why we might be in for a surprise!
A Democratic presidential win for Obama may spell a victory for John Mccain.
“In the 21st century, white America got a wake-up call after 9/11/01. White America and the Western world came to realize that people of color had not gone away, faded into the woodwork or just “disappeared” as the Great White West kept on its merry way of ignoring Black concerns.”
These are words spoken by Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. a man Barrack Obama has called his spiritual leader, political father, and surrogate father. Jeremiah Wright has made many claims that can be considered anti-white and anti-American. Just now as I sit here watching the news they show him saying how, “Barrack knows what it feels like to be a Black man in a country run by rich white men, Hillary Clinton could never know that. Hillary Clinton doesn’t know what it feels like to be called a Niger” Barracks relationship with Jeremiah A. Wright is going to be exploited by the Republican Party as it is now being exploited by Hillary’s campaign Party. The facts that Barrack’s father is a former Muslim and Barrack bares a Muslim name are also two things that will be exploited and used against him in his quest for the White House. In fact, they are already being used to deter voters from electing him the Democratic nominee. Bill Cunningham, host of a talk radio show called “The Big Show” made the comment that the media should “peel the bark off Barack Hussein Obama.” Republican Congressman, Steve King has stated that if Barrack wins, "The radical Islamists, the al-Qaida ... would be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on Sept. 11 because they would declare victory in this war on terror," on the Daily Reporter in Spencer. The aim here is to inspire fear in the American public that Barrack is somehow connected to Muslim terrorist and will leave the country susceptible to terrorist attacks. The Republican Party wants white America to be fearful of the idea that Barrack is some type of Black Nationalist that will turn the country over to Blacks in America. My personal opinion is that these things can and will be used to sink his presidential hopes should he succeed in beating Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Presidential node.
I look at the reason why a lot of the people I know either have never voted or choose to not vote anymore. Their reasoning has always been that you vote for a candidate, he gets into office and nothing changes. The debacle that had taken place when George Bush beat out Al Gore for the Presidency left many Americans questioning whether their vote even mattered. Barrack Obama has inspired many to give the political process another chance. He has inspired a legion of young voters to get involved in the political process. The people Barrack has inspired to return to voting and to vote for the first time will have high expectations. If Barrack loses, the disappointment in these individuals will be so great that they will once again give up hope on the political process and refrain from voting. The lack of support from these voters may lead to a loss for Hillary Clinton and the election of John McCain. When I first heard that Barrack Obama was considering running for president I was fearful of the possibility that him and Hillary would cancel each other out. What I see now is co-dependency, I don’t think either one can win the White House without the other serving as Vice President. Barrack, with the support of those that are accepting of the idea of a Black president alone cannot win the White House just as Hillary with the support of those that are acceptable of the idea of a woman as president alone cannot win the White House. With the consolidation of both their respective support groups the Republican Party is in trouble, without that occurrence taking place, Republicans will be licking their chops at the prospects of going up against either candidate. This is just my opinion; I’m no political science expert of any sort. Take what you will from it.
“In the 21st century, white America got a wake-up call after 9/11/01. White America and the Western world came to realize that people of color had not gone away, faded into the woodwork or just “disappeared” as the Great White West kept on its merry way of ignoring Black concerns.”
These are words spoken by Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. a man Barrack Obama has called his spiritual leader, political father, and surrogate father. Jeremiah Wright has made many claims that can be considered anti-white and anti-American. Just now as I sit here watching the news they show him saying how, “Barrack knows what it feels like to be a Black man in a country run by rich white men, Hillary Clinton could never know that. Hillary Clinton doesn’t know what it feels like to be called a Niger” Barracks relationship with Jeremiah A. Wright is going to be exploited by the Republican Party as it is now being exploited by Hillary’s campaign Party. The facts that Barrack’s father is a former Muslim and Barrack bares a Muslim name are also two things that will be exploited and used against him in his quest for the White House. In fact, they are already being used to deter voters from electing him the Democratic nominee. Bill Cunningham, host of a talk radio show called “The Big Show” made the comment that the media should “peel the bark off Barack Hussein Obama.” Republican Congressman, Steve King has stated that if Barrack wins, "The radical Islamists, the al-Qaida ... would be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on Sept. 11 because they would declare victory in this war on terror," on the Daily Reporter in Spencer. The aim here is to inspire fear in the American public that Barrack is somehow connected to Muslim terrorist and will leave the country susceptible to terrorist attacks. The Republican Party wants white America to be fearful of the idea that Barrack is some type of Black Nationalist that will turn the country over to Blacks in America. My personal opinion is that these things can and will be used to sink his presidential hopes should he succeed in beating Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Presidential node.
I look at the reason why a lot of the people I know either have never voted or choose to not vote anymore. Their reasoning has always been that you vote for a candidate, he gets into office and nothing changes. The debacle that had taken place when George Bush beat out Al Gore for the Presidency left many Americans questioning whether their vote even mattered. Barrack Obama has inspired many to give the political process another chance. He has inspired a legion of young voters to get involved in the political process. The people Barrack has inspired to return to voting and to vote for the first time will have high expectations. If Barrack loses, the disappointment in these individuals will be so great that they will once again give up hope on the political process and refrain from voting. The lack of support from these voters may lead to a loss for Hillary Clinton and the election of John McCain. When I first heard that Barrack Obama was considering running for president I was fearful of the possibility that him and Hillary would cancel each other out. What I see now is co-dependency, I don’t think either one can win the White House without the other serving as Vice President. Barrack, with the support of those that are accepting of the idea of a Black president alone cannot win the White House just as Hillary with the support of those that are acceptable of the idea of a woman as president alone cannot win the White House. With the consolidation of both their respective support groups the Republican Party is in trouble, without that occurrence taking place, Republicans will be licking their chops at the prospects of going up against either candidate. This is just my opinion; I’m no political science expert of any sort. Take what you will from it.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Damn Crack Music! Poison Is Poison
Why in the hell are rappers calling their music crack music? There was nothing “ill” about the effects that crack had on the ghetto. From crack babies to crack-fiend parents whose children now fill today’s criminal institutions, crack has really done a lot to destroy the black community. I guess in that sense, there couldn't be more of a fitting title. Maybe I’m being a little anal about this. I know why we use the metaphor, I just think we’re in a position where we’re being linked to so many negative things adding on to that list isn’t at all in our best interest.
Why are we so excited to uphold the negative aspects of our existence? I mean, a lot of white people fought real hard to have us stereotyped as criminals, pimps, and as an overall threat to American society in order to justify killing our black asses. Now here we are running around promoting ourselves as criminals, pimps, and what not aiding them in their cause. A brother walks the street in a hoody, pants sagging with a doo-rag on; a cop can pump a few shots into him, swear to God he feared for his life and get off scott free. Why, because they can find a jury that will sympathize with him.
People associate the way we act, talk, and dress with the way criminals talk, act, and dress. They do this because damn near everybody on TV and radio that's a representative of where we come from, boast about being a criminal. We're setting ourselves up. We make up an alarming percentage of the prison institutions in America. So many of us have criminal records for minor offenses like hopping the train, marijuana possession, drinking in public, and disorderly conduct, they have cops in our schools giving kids records for stuff like, getting into fights and grabbing a girls but. The 13th Amendment states you can legally be turned into a slave if you've been convicted of a crime. How many black men in America can say they've never been convicted of a crime? How many, if things continue along the path their heading, will be able to say so in the next ten years?
There's a law that states that the government has the right to investigate any party it deems is advocating crime. How many rap songs can you play with no positive reference to crime and drug use? Most of the rappers that complain about the Hip Hop police are the ones that brag about doing illegal shit. Those same dudes get stopped by the cops, get caught with illegal paraphernalia and try to pass off to everybody the idea that it's all some type of conspiracy. The conspiracy- is in the promotion of music that inspires recklessness and criminal behavior. The conspiracy -is the negative projections of African American males as violent, drug indulgent degenerates that should be deemed as a threat to society. The government and a lot of these rap dudes are co-conspirators against our black nation in demonizing who we are as a people. Those rappers are the sell-outs; they're the Uncle Tom's. They sit down in board rooms with racist white folks and sign off on contracts to sell us poison, but they love the hood, they love the ghetto, F.O.H! We have to cut out this whole being the victim thing and realize our potential to control our own destiny. A lot of our wounds are self inflicted and rather than stitching them up, we go out and pour salt in them. I’m tired of discussing matters such as this but I feel I must. I’m not really saying anything other people haven’t already said but it needs to be reiterated. People need to hear this as many times as they hear the music articles and essays like this one criticizes. Like I said in the title, damn crack music, poison is poison. We need to stop giving validation to the negative stereotypes white people place upon us because they’re using our validation of those stereotypes as a means of justifying the acts of police brutality, racial profiling, and the absurd incarceration rate of Blacks in America. You can’t brag about being a thief and then complain about being suspected of stealing. If we want anything to change for us, the first thing that has to change is us.
Read "The hidden dangers of the 13th Amendment"
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Selling The Dream! Are promoters of Hip Hop showcases taking advantage of MC's?
I came across this ad on Craigslist and was really bothered by it. So much so, I decided to blog about it.
"If you are a real rapper a real singer a real comedian and real poet.come to the sultana lounge located in williamsburg brooklyn on 160 n.4 street bedford ave.event hosted by chocolate thai.music by dj keith.to perform is $30.to come and enjoy the show $15.for more info call"
I understand the get money mentality and all that. I understand brothers are out here grinding and hustling and what not. Some things just aren't what's up though. I kind of feel like the guy from "Shame on you" in writing this but the truth of the matter is that these showcase promoters have gotten out of control. I can understand an Open mic, you pay your little $5 or $10, get on stage and do your little 1,2 thing. It's gotten kind of crazy with the showcases though, I mean I've seen promoters charging dudes up to $500 dollars to perform at a showcase. Sometimes they'll pay some old washed up rapper like Tracy Lee of "It's party time" fame to host the show. Like he can do something for your career they'll try to charge you because he's there.They say things like, A&Rs will be there with ink in their pens and, "if you're serious about your career" to G you out of your hard earned money. Sometimes they'll give you tickets you can sell and make your money back from, sometimes not even that is done. In the event that the artists are given tickets, most of the time the tickets go to friends and family that have already seen them perform a million times. They end up paying $500 to perform in front of their friends and family and a club full of other rappers with their friends and family. The promoters like to call that exposure. I beg to differ, a lot of times the people that come with the artist aren't fans of music like that. They're there to support a friend or family member. A artist can perform live on 42nd street and come off better than rocking at these showcases. Most of these promoters don't promote to music fans because they feel it's a waste of time. They believe everyone is trying to be an artist so their aim is to capitalize off of that, which is but isn't cool. If I put up an ad that read, "Come rap for a room full of rappers" how many niggahs would reply to that? Beyond that, the showcases are garbage. The promoters will book any act that has the money to pay to perform. That usually leads to a line up of garbage acts who have money but no talent. In the event that a Hip Hop fan pops up at one of these shows, they're usually thoroughly disappointed, then when they're invited to the next show they think it's going to be trash and don't show up. I can agree with a lot of promoters on the note that a lot of artists are lazy and don't promote. These artists will just show up, perform, and go home. At the same time they're promoters, their job is to promote. The artists job is to perform and give a good show. Since the promoters are the ones seeing 100% of the profits, what's the incentive for the artist to promote?
A note to artists out there, DON'T DO IT!, don't support these promoters. Spend your money where it matters and that's not on these showcases, trust me, you'll thank me in the long run.
"If you are a real rapper a real singer a real comedian and real poet.come to the sultana lounge located in williamsburg brooklyn on 160 n.4 street bedford ave.event hosted by chocolate thai.music by dj keith.to perform is $30.to come and enjoy the show $15.for more info call"
I understand the get money mentality and all that. I understand brothers are out here grinding and hustling and what not. Some things just aren't what's up though. I kind of feel like the guy from "Shame on you" in writing this but the truth of the matter is that these showcase promoters have gotten out of control. I can understand an Open mic, you pay your little $5 or $10, get on stage and do your little 1,2 thing. It's gotten kind of crazy with the showcases though, I mean I've seen promoters charging dudes up to $500 dollars to perform at a showcase. Sometimes they'll pay some old washed up rapper like Tracy Lee of "It's party time" fame to host the show. Like he can do something for your career they'll try to charge you because he's there.They say things like, A&Rs will be there with ink in their pens and, "if you're serious about your career" to G you out of your hard earned money. Sometimes they'll give you tickets you can sell and make your money back from, sometimes not even that is done. In the event that the artists are given tickets, most of the time the tickets go to friends and family that have already seen them perform a million times. They end up paying $500 to perform in front of their friends and family and a club full of other rappers with their friends and family. The promoters like to call that exposure. I beg to differ, a lot of times the people that come with the artist aren't fans of music like that. They're there to support a friend or family member. A artist can perform live on 42nd street and come off better than rocking at these showcases. Most of these promoters don't promote to music fans because they feel it's a waste of time. They believe everyone is trying to be an artist so their aim is to capitalize off of that, which is but isn't cool. If I put up an ad that read, "Come rap for a room full of rappers" how many niggahs would reply to that? Beyond that, the showcases are garbage. The promoters will book any act that has the money to pay to perform. That usually leads to a line up of garbage acts who have money but no talent. In the event that a Hip Hop fan pops up at one of these shows, they're usually thoroughly disappointed, then when they're invited to the next show they think it's going to be trash and don't show up. I can agree with a lot of promoters on the note that a lot of artists are lazy and don't promote. These artists will just show up, perform, and go home. At the same time they're promoters, their job is to promote. The artists job is to perform and give a good show. Since the promoters are the ones seeing 100% of the profits, what's the incentive for the artist to promote?
A note to artists out there, DON'T DO IT!, don't support these promoters. Spend your money where it matters and that's not on these showcases, trust me, you'll thank me in the long run.
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