Written by S.F
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Do we teach hate?
You can show and tell someone something, but with the exception of mind control, you cannot dictate what manner they will interpret what they have been shown or allowed to hear. You can show a movie about slavery to a classroom full of students. You may have students who see the movie and think, “Oh my God that’s awful. How could anyone do that to another human being?” At the same time you may have students who look at the movie and see a weaker race being conquered and dominated by a stronger one. Your intent could have been to compel sympathy for the plight of Black Americans and indirectly you could have risen up sentiments of White supremacy. Look at the people you feel sorry for then answer this question, do you think we’re doing ourselves more harm than good by centering our history around slavery and the civil rights movement? You be the judge! Check out the poll on the left.
Written by S.F
Written by S.F
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Can I call you a nigga now?
NIGGA WHAT?
Out of pure disdain for closed minded individuals, I have devoted a substantial amount of time – perhaps way more than I should have - to explaining the use of the word “Nigga” by members of the Hip Hop community. I have had countless conversations that often turned into arguments or heated debates because of, what I felt to be ignorance toward the issue. When I mention the word “ignorance” in reference to those who stand in opposition to my position on the matter, I know many people may assume I side with those that are adverse to the use of the word “Nigga” I can assume this because these are the individuals who deem those that advocate the use of the word “Nigga” to be ignorant. Such assumptions as “Nigga” being used by members of the Hip hop community as a result of their lacking knowledge of its history, and the belief that “Nigga” derives from the word nigger, are things I view as ignorance for the following reasons; We use fire in many different ways than the cavemen who created it does that make us ignorant to the fact that cavemen created fire? In American history “nigger” is a word that was used to express racism, demean, and degrade individuals of African descent. The Ethiopian word “Negus” is defined as being a title of Ethiopian royalty. Who’s to determine from which the word “Nigga” owes its origin? Contemporary black music often gets connected to ancient African rhythms rooted in our subconscious, is it completely impossible for this occurrence to also take place with words?
ne·gus1 /ˈnigəs/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[nee-guhs] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -gus·es. 1. a title of Ethiopian royalty.
2. (initial capital letter) the Emperor of Ethiopia.
www.dictionary.com look it up
The laws of physics state that energy cannot be destroyed only transformed from one state to another. Words carry energy, the word nigger carries energy, a negative energy that has done nothing but spread hurt and hate throughout American society. The word nigger is a weapon, a gun that has been handed to an American public who have been taught to aim it at Blacks in America as well as around the world and fire at will. They fire that gun because they know it has the ability to kill and do harm because otherwise it would be futile to use it. If the Hip hop community decides to take that gun, melt down the metal, and use it to make spoons, why fight against them to have the word remain as a gun that can be used against us?
If the word “Nigga” is a manifestation of the word nigger, what’s wrong with the transformation of energy going from negative to positive through the process of that manifestation? If we're to say that because something has a negative history it can't be used in a positive manner, then why wear crosses when – according to popular belief - they were once used to kill Jesus Christ and others, why worship Christianity when it was once used as a tool to enslave and as a cause for mass murder during the crusades? Why even refer to ourselves as Black, a color that throughout American history has been associated with everything wrong and is defined as meaning evil, wicked, and sullen? Let’s not forget that there was a time when Africans in America resented being referred to as Black. James Brown came around and coined the phrase “Say it loud, I’m Black and I’m proud” After that the word Black wasn’t greeted with as much hostility and today it’s considered a none offensive manner of referencing people of African American decent.
You don’t get pass the pain by burying it, you get pass the pain by healing the wound. The Black politicians and churches are rallying the Black community to attack Hip hop for attempting to heal a wound and at the same time, asking that we forgive and live side by side, peacefully, with those we hold responsible for causing the wound. They show me images of Black bodies swinging from trees and say “Don’t say nigga” the word nigger didn’t do that, some racist White man did, the word “Nigga” doesn’t discriminate against me when I’m applying for jobs, the word “Nigga” didn’t shoot at Shawn Bell 50 times, the word “Nigga” didn’t shoot Amadu Diallo 19 times, the word “Nigga” didn’t kill Robert Stansberry, White people filled with prejudice, racism, and hatred did those things.
For us to say that by eliminating the use of the, now notorious, “N word” as my White friends like to call it, we're coming closer to eliminating the racist sentiments that are expressed through its use is absurd to me. I doubt if all the names I mentioned above heard “Die nigga, die!” before bullets were dumped into their bodies. The officer responsible for murdering Robert Stansberry received no criminal conviction and is still employed by the NYPD to this date, The officers responsible for murdering Amadou Diallo were found not guilty, and the officers who are accused of murdering Sean Bell are still awaiting trail almost a year later. Why are we not still protesting for justice for the families of these victims? Oprah Winfrey toured radio stations trying to persuade radio personalities to sign contracts stating they would discontinue their use of the word “Nigga” A Black couple decided to start up a website called “AbolishtheNword.com” calling for the abolishment of the word “Nigger” Why aren’t these same people attacking issues like the public school systems in Black neighborhoods, the incarceration of Black men in America, the aids crisis amongst Blacks in America, and etc. with the same intensity? Besides the idea that the energy they’re spending on banding a word could be put towards a more constructive cause, it also shows a total disregard for our constitutional right to free speech.
People want to just hold to their beliefs without ever questioning whether what they believe in truly makes any sense or brings any positive influence. The word nigga is more so used in the same manner as a pronoun amongst members of the hip hop community/"Hood" and belongs to a dialect spoken by the social group that makes up the Hip hop community. With in that community no one is offended by its use because the intent is well noted to not be derogatory or racist. Since its beginning hip hop has been used to heal and has turned negatives into positives. This was seen with brake dancing where kids would battle in dance rather than gang fights. It provided kids with an alternative means of venting their frustration by providing an artistic channel for venting that frustration and preventing the youth from lashing out violently. This is no different, let us heal.
"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything" - George Bernard Shaw
Related readings Hip hop slang; Dialect or just bad English?
Look for part 2 coming soon.
Written by: S.F
Out of pure disdain for closed minded individuals, I have devoted a substantial amount of time – perhaps way more than I should have - to explaining the use of the word “Nigga” by members of the Hip Hop community. I have had countless conversations that often turned into arguments or heated debates because of, what I felt to be ignorance toward the issue. When I mention the word “ignorance” in reference to those who stand in opposition to my position on the matter, I know many people may assume I side with those that are adverse to the use of the word “Nigga” I can assume this because these are the individuals who deem those that advocate the use of the word “Nigga” to be ignorant. Such assumptions as “Nigga” being used by members of the Hip hop community as a result of their lacking knowledge of its history, and the belief that “Nigga” derives from the word nigger, are things I view as ignorance for the following reasons; We use fire in many different ways than the cavemen who created it does that make us ignorant to the fact that cavemen created fire? In American history “nigger” is a word that was used to express racism, demean, and degrade individuals of African descent. The Ethiopian word “Negus” is defined as being a title of Ethiopian royalty. Who’s to determine from which the word “Nigga” owes its origin? Contemporary black music often gets connected to ancient African rhythms rooted in our subconscious, is it completely impossible for this occurrence to also take place with words?
ne·gus1 /ˈnigəs/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[nee-guhs] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -gus·es. 1. a title of Ethiopian royalty.
2. (initial capital letter) the Emperor of Ethiopia.
www.dictionary.com look it up
The laws of physics state that energy cannot be destroyed only transformed from one state to another. Words carry energy, the word nigger carries energy, a negative energy that has done nothing but spread hurt and hate throughout American society. The word nigger is a weapon, a gun that has been handed to an American public who have been taught to aim it at Blacks in America as well as around the world and fire at will. They fire that gun because they know it has the ability to kill and do harm because otherwise it would be futile to use it. If the Hip hop community decides to take that gun, melt down the metal, and use it to make spoons, why fight against them to have the word remain as a gun that can be used against us?
If the word “Nigga” is a manifestation of the word nigger, what’s wrong with the transformation of energy going from negative to positive through the process of that manifestation? If we're to say that because something has a negative history it can't be used in a positive manner, then why wear crosses when – according to popular belief - they were once used to kill Jesus Christ and others, why worship Christianity when it was once used as a tool to enslave and as a cause for mass murder during the crusades? Why even refer to ourselves as Black, a color that throughout American history has been associated with everything wrong and is defined as meaning evil, wicked, and sullen? Let’s not forget that there was a time when Africans in America resented being referred to as Black. James Brown came around and coined the phrase “Say it loud, I’m Black and I’m proud” After that the word Black wasn’t greeted with as much hostility and today it’s considered a none offensive manner of referencing people of African American decent.
You don’t get pass the pain by burying it, you get pass the pain by healing the wound. The Black politicians and churches are rallying the Black community to attack Hip hop for attempting to heal a wound and at the same time, asking that we forgive and live side by side, peacefully, with those we hold responsible for causing the wound. They show me images of Black bodies swinging from trees and say “Don’t say nigga” the word nigger didn’t do that, some racist White man did, the word “Nigga” doesn’t discriminate against me when I’m applying for jobs, the word “Nigga” didn’t shoot at Shawn Bell 50 times, the word “Nigga” didn’t shoot Amadu Diallo 19 times, the word “Nigga” didn’t kill Robert Stansberry, White people filled with prejudice, racism, and hatred did those things.
For us to say that by eliminating the use of the, now notorious, “N word” as my White friends like to call it, we're coming closer to eliminating the racist sentiments that are expressed through its use is absurd to me. I doubt if all the names I mentioned above heard “Die nigga, die!” before bullets were dumped into their bodies. The officer responsible for murdering Robert Stansberry received no criminal conviction and is still employed by the NYPD to this date, The officers responsible for murdering Amadou Diallo were found not guilty, and the officers who are accused of murdering Sean Bell are still awaiting trail almost a year later. Why are we not still protesting for justice for the families of these victims? Oprah Winfrey toured radio stations trying to persuade radio personalities to sign contracts stating they would discontinue their use of the word “Nigga” A Black couple decided to start up a website called “AbolishtheNword.com” calling for the abolishment of the word “Nigger” Why aren’t these same people attacking issues like the public school systems in Black neighborhoods, the incarceration of Black men in America, the aids crisis amongst Blacks in America, and etc. with the same intensity? Besides the idea that the energy they’re spending on banding a word could be put towards a more constructive cause, it also shows a total disregard for our constitutional right to free speech.
People want to just hold to their beliefs without ever questioning whether what they believe in truly makes any sense or brings any positive influence. The word nigga is more so used in the same manner as a pronoun amongst members of the hip hop community/"Hood" and belongs to a dialect spoken by the social group that makes up the Hip hop community. With in that community no one is offended by its use because the intent is well noted to not be derogatory or racist. Since its beginning hip hop has been used to heal and has turned negatives into positives. This was seen with brake dancing where kids would battle in dance rather than gang fights. It provided kids with an alternative means of venting their frustration by providing an artistic channel for venting that frustration and preventing the youth from lashing out violently. This is no different, let us heal.
"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything" - George Bernard Shaw
Related readings Hip hop slang; Dialect or just bad English?
Look for part 2 coming soon.
Written by: S.F
Monday, September 24, 2007
Was this man a racist or a realist?
Watch this video and let me know your opinion
If your undecided and need to see more, check out more clips from this Interview @ THEBARBERSHOPBLOG.BLOGSPOT.COM
If your undecided and need to see more, check out more clips from this Interview @ THEBARBERSHOPBLOG.BLOGSPOT.COM
Thursday, January 04, 2007
THEY WIN; YOU LOSE
Shawn F.
Few are aware, that one of the key causes of the Civil war was the North not wanting slavery to spread to their region out of fear of losing jobs to free labor. Fast forward to the twenty first century; where slavery has supposedly been outlawed, and job seekers deem their only competition to be outsourcing, technology, and the immigrant workforce. The immigrant workforce has become less of a threat due to the government’s new immigrant labor laws and border restrictions. I wonder if anybody ever took the time to think about why a country that has depended on cheap immigrant labor for so long moved so quickly to pass laws that would severely restrict it. Could it be that the government has found another more inexpensive source of labor, there by making the immigrant workforce expendable? I believe so. With corporate owned prison’s basically leasing out inmates to commercial enterprise at wages that make it comparable to slavery, it has become apparent to me that job seekers have a new competitor.
There are numerous essays that have been written about American prison institutions and slave labor. Many American citizens could careless about the enslavement of prison inmates - believing it’s well deserved. Others feel that since the inmates are already in prison they might as well spend their time productively. Few have acknowledged the threat that prison labor poses to our society’s job market. Maybe the reluctance of mainstream media to expose companies that have been robbing job seekers of employment by employing inmates at slave wages have left people in the dark on the issue. People aren’t informed of the fact that companies such as Honda employ prison inmates to make car parts for $2 an hour when a free man would earn a wage of $20 or $30 an hour to do the same job. It even goes as far as companies like AT&T and TWA hiring prison inmates to do such things as telemarketing and taking reservations for airlines - processing credit card information and social security numbers. Think about the number of applicants these companies deny employment every year because they marked yes to the “Have you ever been convicted of a Felony” question, think about the number of applicants these companies turn away each year for not having a High School diploma or GED, the applicants they tell are overqualified, the applicants they tell are under qualified, now think about those companies giving those same jobs to an under qualified, in some cases uneducated, prison inmate. Allow me to use this analogy. Let’s say a girl named Sara works at a department store. Sara has two kids and is desperate for over time and any extra hours she can work (and use) to make extra money to feed her children. One day a guy, let’s call him Tom, walks into her store and steals a pair of pants. The store owner calls the police, Tom gets arrested, goes to court and the judge sentences him to work in that department store for 30 days for no pay. The owner of the department store realizes how much money he could save with this arrangement and cuts Sara’s schedule from 40 hours a week to 20. Think about who suffers in that scenario. Imagine the government adopting a policy which allows corporate owned prison’s to lease prison inmates to work for commercial enterprises. Imagine the amount of jobs that would be lost from the amount of revenue these companies could save on payroll, and then imagine this not being a hypothetical scenario, imagine it being reality. Here’s something I snatched off the net courtesy of WSWS (world socialist website). “Lockhart Technologies, Inc. closed its plant in Austin, Texas, dismissing its 150 workers so that it could open shop in a state prison in Lockhart. The prisoners assemble circuit boards for industrial giants such as IBM, Compaq and Dell. Lockhart is not required to pay for health or any other benefits. The company must pay the prison the federal minimum wage for each laborer, but the inmates get to keep only 20 percent of that.” If you’d like to know more about this issue I suggest you look at this site link http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/may2000/pris-
By: Shawn F.
Few are aware, that one of the key causes of the Civil war was the North not wanting slavery to spread to their region out of fear of losing jobs to free labor. Fast forward to the twenty first century; where slavery has supposedly been outlawed, and job seekers deem their only competition to be outsourcing, technology, and the immigrant workforce. The immigrant workforce has become less of a threat due to the government’s new immigrant labor laws and border restrictions. I wonder if anybody ever took the time to think about why a country that has depended on cheap immigrant labor for so long moved so quickly to pass laws that would severely restrict it. Could it be that the government has found another more inexpensive source of labor, there by making the immigrant workforce expendable? I believe so. With corporate owned prison’s basically leasing out inmates to commercial enterprise at wages that make it comparable to slavery, it has become apparent to me that job seekers have a new competitor.
There are numerous essays that have been written about American prison institutions and slave labor. Many American citizens could careless about the enslavement of prison inmates - believing it’s well deserved. Others feel that since the inmates are already in prison they might as well spend their time productively. Few have acknowledged the threat that prison labor poses to our society’s job market. Maybe the reluctance of mainstream media to expose companies that have been robbing job seekers of employment by employing inmates at slave wages have left people in the dark on the issue. People aren’t informed of the fact that companies such as Honda employ prison inmates to make car parts for $2 an hour when a free man would earn a wage of $20 or $30 an hour to do the same job. It even goes as far as companies like AT&T and TWA hiring prison inmates to do such things as telemarketing and taking reservations for airlines - processing credit card information and social security numbers. Think about the number of applicants these companies deny employment every year because they marked yes to the “Have you ever been convicted of a Felony” question, think about the number of applicants these companies turn away each year for not having a High School diploma or GED, the applicants they tell are overqualified, the applicants they tell are under qualified, now think about those companies giving those same jobs to an under qualified, in some cases uneducated, prison inmate. Allow me to use this analogy. Let’s say a girl named Sara works at a department store. Sara has two kids and is desperate for over time and any extra hours she can work (and use) to make extra money to feed her children. One day a guy, let’s call him Tom, walks into her store and steals a pair of pants. The store owner calls the police, Tom gets arrested, goes to court and the judge sentences him to work in that department store for 30 days for no pay. The owner of the department store realizes how much money he could save with this arrangement and cuts Sara’s schedule from 40 hours a week to 20. Think about who suffers in that scenario. Imagine the government adopting a policy which allows corporate owned prison’s to lease prison inmates to work for commercial enterprises. Imagine the amount of jobs that would be lost from the amount of revenue these companies could save on payroll, and then imagine this not being a hypothetical scenario, imagine it being reality. Here’s something I snatched off the net courtesy of WSWS (world socialist website). “Lockhart Technologies, Inc. closed its plant in Austin, Texas, dismissing its 150 workers so that it could open shop in a state prison in Lockhart. The prisoners assemble circuit boards for industrial giants such as IBM, Compaq and Dell. Lockhart is not required to pay for health or any other benefits. The company must pay the prison the federal minimum wage for each laborer, but the inmates get to keep only 20 percent of that.” If you’d like to know more about this issue I suggest you look at this site link http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/may2000/pris-
By: Shawn F.
HIP HOP SLANG DIALECT OR JUST BAD ENGLISH
Shawn F.
Dialect: Variety of a language spoken by a group of people and having features of vocabulary, grammar, and/ or pronunciation that distinguish it from other varieties of the same language.
Dialects usually develop as a result of geographic, social, political, or economic barriers between groups of people who speak the same language. When dialects diverge to the point that they are mutually incomprehensible, they become languages in their own right. This was the case with Latin, various dialects of which evolved into the different Romance languages French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian….
Hip hop slang, in my opinion, is what could be characterized as a socialect, which is a dialect determined by social factors rather than by geography. In the opinion of others outside of hip hop it’s a sign of ignorance or lack of education, or just plain bad English. What causes the division?
I know to some this may come off as pure speculation, but what I have come to find is that the unacceptance of Hip hop slang as a dialect, is a result of an unwillingness of high class society to accept the idea of what is deemed to be a low class society having the intellectual capacity to actually develop a dialect (in other words arrogance). Often the Hip hop community is portrayed as unintelligent and as a result are often perceived as such. If someone you believe to be stupid speaks in a manner that you’re not accustomed to hearing, you might, in all likeliness, chalk it up to stupidity. The resistance towards hip hop slang as being viewed as a dialect comes from other angles as well. Many people who view themselves to be educated and accept the ideas that have been fed to them of what is an educated manner of speaking, also view hip hop slang as an unintelligible or uneducated manner of speaking the English language. Furthermore you have the fundamentalists that,in my opinion, fear the idea of hip hop slang being viewed as a dialect because, as I stated in the passage above, dialects have been known to turn into languages once they have reached a mutual level of incomprehensibility, which wouldn’t pose such a threat if the hip hop dialect was confined to a specific demographic. But the acceptance of the Hip hop culture nationally and internationally is what, in my opinion, alarms fundamentalist. As Hip hop receives more and more worldwide exposure through publications, T.V shows, radio stations, and other modern media, it bears the potential to change itself from being perceived as American culture to being accepted as a foundation American culture.
If you ask me it isn’t what it is, it’s what people have been taught to believe it is, that compels resistance against hip hop slang being accepted as a dialect of the English language. When in reality what we accept as English is actually a dialect of the British English language and even that is a stretch. If you look up the origin in which many American words derive you’ll find that the English language is a bastard language comprised of mispronounced and borrowed words of other languages, sort of like Hip hop slang.
Let us know what you think, Hip hop slang; Dialect or just bad English
Dialect: Variety of a language spoken by a group of people and having features of vocabulary, grammar, and/ or pronunciation that distinguish it from other varieties of the same language.
Dialects usually develop as a result of geographic, social, political, or economic barriers between groups of people who speak the same language. When dialects diverge to the point that they are mutually incomprehensible, they become languages in their own right. This was the case with Latin, various dialects of which evolved into the different Romance languages French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian….
Hip hop slang, in my opinion, is what could be characterized as a socialect, which is a dialect determined by social factors rather than by geography. In the opinion of others outside of hip hop it’s a sign of ignorance or lack of education, or just plain bad English. What causes the division?
I know to some this may come off as pure speculation, but what I have come to find is that the unacceptance of Hip hop slang as a dialect, is a result of an unwillingness of high class society to accept the idea of what is deemed to be a low class society having the intellectual capacity to actually develop a dialect (in other words arrogance). Often the Hip hop community is portrayed as unintelligent and as a result are often perceived as such. If someone you believe to be stupid speaks in a manner that you’re not accustomed to hearing, you might, in all likeliness, chalk it up to stupidity. The resistance towards hip hop slang as being viewed as a dialect comes from other angles as well. Many people who view themselves to be educated and accept the ideas that have been fed to them of what is an educated manner of speaking, also view hip hop slang as an unintelligible or uneducated manner of speaking the English language. Furthermore you have the fundamentalists that,in my opinion, fear the idea of hip hop slang being viewed as a dialect because, as I stated in the passage above, dialects have been known to turn into languages once they have reached a mutual level of incomprehensibility, which wouldn’t pose such a threat if the hip hop dialect was confined to a specific demographic. But the acceptance of the Hip hop culture nationally and internationally is what, in my opinion, alarms fundamentalist. As Hip hop receives more and more worldwide exposure through publications, T.V shows, radio stations, and other modern media, it bears the potential to change itself from being perceived as American culture to being accepted as a foundation American culture.
If you ask me it isn’t what it is, it’s what people have been taught to believe it is, that compels resistance against hip hop slang being accepted as a dialect of the English language. When in reality what we accept as English is actually a dialect of the British English language and even that is a stretch. If you look up the origin in which many American words derive you’ll find that the English language is a bastard language comprised of mispronounced and borrowed words of other languages, sort of like Hip hop slang.
Let us know what you think, Hip hop slang; Dialect or just bad English
Why Dream Girls Was A Nightmare
I got suckered I have to admit. Usually I'm not swayed by critical acclaim and award nominations but I got got this time around. Me and my girlfriend - who wanted to see a movie called "Children Of Men" - instead decided - upon my request - to see Dream Girls. Boy was I disappointed. To be frank, Dream Girls is corny and seems rushed. They didn't take the time to develop the characters and story lines. I didn't connect with any of the characters enough to actually care about anything that happened to them. I really don't see why any of the actors were nominated for anything. It turned out to be more of a musical than a movie but with out the appeal of a film such as the Moulin Rouge - which I surprised myself by liking. The singing scenes were not timed well enough to add any type of connection with the songs - It was kind of like confessing love to someone that hasn't known you long enough to care about you. Beyonce's acting annoys me. To me it seems like she approaches every role the same way. She's always this lively, wide eyed, bubbly character with a touch of Black sass and a tad bit of a mean streak. Jamie Foxx character was good. He played a money grubbing ass-hole but he played it well. Jennifer Hudson (American Idol reject) was impressive as well. Her vocal performances and overall acting was real good. Jennifer Hudson and Jamie Foxx characters were the only two that compelled any type of emotion out of you. She made you want to be in her corner and root for her to come out on top. He made you either laugh at the grimy things he did or want to see him take a knife to the gut. I have to say though thatJennifer Hudson did kind of look like somebodies Aunt Bunny. The scene where she sang "I'm telling you" They could of gave her a longer dress. Her legs looked like one of my aunts when their legs swell up with water - you know how some black women legs get all thick and swollen with the little black dots on them and stuff. I would have really been upset to have had wasted $19.95 to see that movie. Luckily me and my girl snuck in to see two other films. One being "Holiday" with Cameron Diaz which was kind of good - it made my girl cry - awwww!
Thursday, November 30, 2006
COULD NYC BE ON THE BRINK OF A RACE RIOT?
After the murder of 23 year old Sean Bell on his wedding day by police officers at a Queen’s, NY night club, it seems minority citizens of New York are fed up. It was reported on Tuesday, November 28th that Prosecutors in Essex County, NJ, said they had information that gangs might target police in retaliation for Bell’s death. At a protest following the tragic incident, Councilmen Charles Baron was quoted as saying “I am fed up. I'm not asking my people to do anything passive anymore,” said Barron. “We're going to sit here and we're going to go in there, we’re gonna pray, we’re gonna march, we're going to do all of that stuff and then we are going to sit down and if they don't respond to none of that, don't ask us to ask our people to be peaceful while they are being murdered. We're not the only ones that can bleed.”
Could New York be on the brink of seeing riots similar to those in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2001, Los Angeles, California in 1992, and Liberty City, Miami in 1989? In Cincinnati the riots were a reaction to the fatal shooting of Timothy Thomas, who was a 19 year old black male, by a white police officer during an on-foot chase by several officers. The race riots of Los Angeles were caused by anger at the aquittal of four officers accused of beating Black motorist Rodney King. The race riots of Liberty City were following anger at the aquittal of five white police officers that beat a black motorist to death.
After the Amadou Diallo verdict we were told to not riot and accept it. We did just that, we got up and went to work the next morning, we went back to our playgrounds and street corners and the tragedy turned into nothing more than a conversation piece, then came the death of Patrick Dorismond. Rudy Giuliani – who was mayor at the time - asked us to wait for all of the facts involving the case to come out. He followed that action with the releasing of the criminal record of Dorismond as well as his sealed juvenile records to the public. In releasing his adult criminal record and juvenile record – which contained minor offenses – Giuliani hoped to depict the victim as some type of menace deserving of his fate. We swallowed that, after that things died down and then we were faced with the murder of Robert Stansberry – the teen killed on his graduation day on a Redhook rooftop by a Police officer – nothing was done about that. How many times will they allow Police officers to gun us down in the streets and use the defense argument of us being deemed of posing a threat to their lives? In all of the incidents I mentioned the victims were unarmed. Officers fired 81 shots at Amadou Diallo allegedly mistaken his wallet for a gun, they fired 50 shots at Sean Bell because they allegedly saw someone reach for what they believed to be a gun, how could anyone justify such actions. Both men were found to be unarmed. When does it stop? If our judicial system continuously fails us in holding these individuals accountable for their actions who will? Many citizens of our city are ready and willing to be the answer to that question. Judging from the reports I’ve read the officer responsible for the death of Sean Bell may not even face criminal charges. As we speak they have been assigned to desk duty and are still receiving pay while the investigation continues. If these individuals are allowed to walk Scott free with no accountability for the murder of Sean Bell, the of idea of a race riot in NYC may become very real. Not that I advocate such a thing because I stand undecided on the issue. I know race riots will only result in more minority deaths of innocent individuals as well as good police officers who suite up everyday with the intention of protecting citizens of this city. That is an outcome I do not wish to have. At the same time I also know that there is no revolution with out bloodshed, no progress with out struggle, and should be no peace with out justice for ALL! By Shawn F. a.k.a Da Gif
Could New York be on the brink of seeing riots similar to those in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2001, Los Angeles, California in 1992, and Liberty City, Miami in 1989? In Cincinnati the riots were a reaction to the fatal shooting of Timothy Thomas, who was a 19 year old black male, by a white police officer during an on-foot chase by several officers. The race riots of Los Angeles were caused by anger at the aquittal of four officers accused of beating Black motorist Rodney King. The race riots of Liberty City were following anger at the aquittal of five white police officers that beat a black motorist to death.
After the Amadou Diallo verdict we were told to not riot and accept it. We did just that, we got up and went to work the next morning, we went back to our playgrounds and street corners and the tragedy turned into nothing more than a conversation piece, then came the death of Patrick Dorismond. Rudy Giuliani – who was mayor at the time - asked us to wait for all of the facts involving the case to come out. He followed that action with the releasing of the criminal record of Dorismond as well as his sealed juvenile records to the public. In releasing his adult criminal record and juvenile record – which contained minor offenses – Giuliani hoped to depict the victim as some type of menace deserving of his fate. We swallowed that, after that things died down and then we were faced with the murder of Robert Stansberry – the teen killed on his graduation day on a Redhook rooftop by a Police officer – nothing was done about that. How many times will they allow Police officers to gun us down in the streets and use the defense argument of us being deemed of posing a threat to their lives? In all of the incidents I mentioned the victims were unarmed. Officers fired 81 shots at Amadou Diallo allegedly mistaken his wallet for a gun, they fired 50 shots at Sean Bell because they allegedly saw someone reach for what they believed to be a gun, how could anyone justify such actions. Both men were found to be unarmed. When does it stop? If our judicial system continuously fails us in holding these individuals accountable for their actions who will? Many citizens of our city are ready and willing to be the answer to that question. Judging from the reports I’ve read the officer responsible for the death of Sean Bell may not even face criminal charges. As we speak they have been assigned to desk duty and are still receiving pay while the investigation continues. If these individuals are allowed to walk Scott free with no accountability for the murder of Sean Bell, the of idea of a race riot in NYC may become very real. Not that I advocate such a thing because I stand undecided on the issue. I know race riots will only result in more minority deaths of innocent individuals as well as good police officers who suite up everyday with the intention of protecting citizens of this city. That is an outcome I do not wish to have. At the same time I also know that there is no revolution with out bloodshed, no progress with out struggle, and should be no peace with out justice for ALL! By Shawn F. a.k.a Da Gif
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