How many dead Black children does it take to get a Sandy Hook response?

Black death has become an addiction, a political football when convenient and a marketing tool…it is also something with each passing day can’t be ignored…If we are not bothered by this, then something is seriously wrong….Here’s a video of Hadiya in 6th grade speaking out on gangs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x60rR-CZ-A4

Below is a powerful essay from a Chicagoan who is all too familiar with the daily carnage going on in her city…

How many dead Black children does it take to get a Sandy Hook response?

15 year old Hadiya was shot and killed in a random act of violence in Chicago

15 year old Hadiya was shot and killed in a random act of violence in Chicago

Do you remember? Remember when you were young and carefree? Think back on how excited you would have been with an early dismissal from school into warm weather and a park nearby. Remember wanting to just cool out for a minute, hang on to the laughter and silly antics of  your friends before heading home to chores and studying? Time travel to the time when life was so full and promising, back when you had the zeal and energy to really live it?

How old were you back then? When did that all end for you?

Well for Hadiya Pendleton 15years old was her time. A baby really, just getting her taste of life’s promises. A scholar attending King Preparatory High School on the south side of Chicago. An enthusiastic student, a member of her school’s volley ball team and it’s band that just performed at President Obama’s Inauguration, a trip to Paris on the horizon as a part of an exchange program. Young and carefree, yet it ended much too soon for Hadiya. Her young life snatched just as she was getting to the good part; her life counted in the number of children whose lives have been cut down before they could really fully create a memory.

continue reading this essay HERE

 

The NRA Should Tell the Truth-Americans Were Disarmed a Long Time Ago

America is disarmedPeople have tried to argue that the tragic Sandy Hook elementary school massacres will lead to President Obama disarming Americans and getting rid of the second amendment…

The truth of the matter is Americans were disarmed a long time ago. We were disarmed when we abandoned critical thinking and became consummate consumers.

We were disarmed when we stopped taking consistent creative and strategic approaches toward problem solving..

We were disarmed when dulled our ability to discern fact from fiction and started believing our own hype.

We were disarmed when diluted, discounted and propagated revisionist history

We were disarmed when we  jettisoned our desire and passion to learn and expand our intellectual horizons and capabilities.

In other words we became disarmed once we dumbed down..

In a world where disinformation and propaganda is passed off as creditable news, where scripted TV shows and staged drama is passed off as REALITY TV, where shadiness trumps TRUTH, where mediocrity and extreme ratchet behavior is rewarded and celebrated and considered not only the norm, but a genuine cultural aesthetic that we should cultivate, says we were disarmed a long time ago.

We were disarmed when corporations were allowed to become people. We were disarmed when we allowed education which should be free for all to be priced beyond reach and saddled the few who attempted to obtain it with a lifetime of debt. We were disarmed when we sat back and allowed businesses that we’ve built with our own blood sweat and tears to be outsourced overseas and believed the lie that such actions was good thing because it was a way to create jobs..

We were disarmed when we adapted the ways of oppressors and checked in our humanity and made assimilation the end goal vs freedom and social justice. We were disarmed when we replaced nurturing, generosity and communal upliftment with ruthless, imperialistic winner take all tactics and tendencies and deemed that as the way to success.

When we sought to be more like oppressive people than to be like God we became disarmed.

When we put limits on our imagination and ridiculed dreams we became disarmed.

When we started seeing friends, family, community and loved ones as ‘costumers’ and market shares to conquer and own vs fellow human beings to cherish and uphold, we become disarmed.

When bitterness, anger and our need to be right and have our egos stroked at all costs replaced LOVE we became disarmed..

When our mothers, grandmothers, aunties, sisters, daughters, wives and girlfriends became bitches, hoes and ‘baby mammas’ we need to keep in check or get a check from because we pimp them hard, we become disarmed.

When we are willing to make social and economic sacrifices to obtaining the latest technical gadget or the latest Michael Jordan show before we are willing to make similar sacrifices for our own kids or even to spend time with them says we have been disarmed.

When WE becomes ME and US becomes I says and UNITY is deemed an impossibility or even worse a detriment or sign of weakness, we have been disarmed.

Our willingness to fight for our guns but not the sanity of our minds means we’ve been disarmed.

If you think a sharp gun is more potent than a sharp mind..you have been disarmed

Gun control? You better be worried about Mind control..

An Open Letter to the NRA..Guns, Guns & More Guns Is that the Solution?

Davey-D-purple-frameDear NRA (National Rifle Association) we peeped your press conference this afternoon and lemme make sure I understand the main premise.. What we need in this society as follows; Guns, Guns and More Guns.. We need a cop on every corner and armed guard in every school..

We also got from the NRA, that the reason the school kids died tragically in Newtown at Sandy Hook elementary was because the Principal, Dawn Hochsprung who courageously gave her life didn’t have a gun..

If only she had a gun, then the school kids would’ve been saved..That’s the type nonsense you guys always say, but when push comes to shove, it never rally pans out..Most folks unless they been trained gun or not are thinking about getting out the line of fire, not running around like they in a James Bond movie shooting down assailants packing military style assault weapons..

George Zimmerman

George Zimmerman

Sure you NRA types like so-called neighborhood watch George Zimmerman or gun collector Michael Dunn are quick to kill an unarmed Trayvon Martin or a shoot into a car of unarmed teens and kill an unarmed Jordan Davis for playing his music loud or be like Shawna Forde who shot unarmed Raul “Junior” Flores, 29, and his daughter, Brisenia, 9 because she thought they were here ‘illegally’ (they weren’t). Forde and her colleagues in the Minutemen were supposedly ‘protecting the border’.

In these instances and many like them its easy to shoot unarmed folks, but when others are strapped like you are and willing to bust back, you’re doing like everyone else running for cover and then talking smack days later about what you would’ve and could’ve done with a gun.. As the NY Times recently pointed out, there’s been over 60 mass shootings in past 30 years and not one has been stopped by the NRA or armed civilians. You can’t shoot your way out of a problem NRA..So Please Stop all that noise.

Also you all went  and blamed the media and video games for mass shootings. You basically said we need to crack down on that…I’m wondering if you were including the games that your fine organization helped develop like ‘NRA Gun Club‘ or the newest the ‘Medal to Honor‘ video game that our esteemed Navy Seals worked on?

Medea Benjamin

Will the NRA join drone protests since they recruit people who are good at violent  videos games?

Also considering that our military says they need good video game players to operate its new sophisticated equipment which include drones are you suggesting that the protests many of us had against drones is a right? Will the NRA be joining us in that fight against the drone lobby and drone caucus in congress?

Will the NRA hold its criticism when folks speak about violence in entertainment and video games and conclude that our kids have easy access to guns?  Seems like NRA members are usually the first to respond and put down folks who critique our nation’s culture of violence and include in their well thought out solution reduced gun access.. Soon as folks say that then the NRA is out there opposing such critiques. Your solution is we need less violent video games and more guns..

You said that movies are too violent…I guess what you’re saying is that we should be up in arms when favored actor  Clint Eastwood is standing before the world at the Republican National Convention getting the crowd to chant ‘Make My Day‘, a line taken from his violent movie ‘Sudden Impact‘? We’re you guys upset about that? I know I was..

Did the NRA think it was violent back in August when he quoted the Dirty Harry lines or did you cheer along with the other 20 thousand folks? After all it was Clint.. But to hear you guys at the NRA speak today.. Clint’s violent movies led to Sandy Hook..

Dirty Harry..Make My Day

Dirty Harry..Make My Day

When Clint tells folks to ‘Get off His Lawn‘ while holding a shotgun like he did in the movie ‘Gran Torino’, then we should protest and you guys at the NRA will be alongside us..because like you suggested during the press conference, such violent rhetoric is what led to the Sandy Hook massacre..Did I understand that right NRA?

When you talk about violence in music.. You’re talking Toby Keith right? When he tells everyone ‘Cause we’ll put a BOOT in your ass It’s the American way‘ in the song Courtesy of the Red White and Blue?  Is that the type of violence that led to the shootings at Sandy Hook? Was that song ok for Adam Lanza to listen to?

Will the NRA be protesting some of the violent lyrics in NRA member singer Kid Rock‘s songs like ‘Low Life’ and Drinking Smoking where he talks about ‘smacking hoes’, ‘making black music for the white man and how he likes racist jokes ‘ and how his ‘best friend is in the gun rack’? Are those the violent lyrics that led to Sandy Hook..NRA? .

Basically the you guys at NRA wants the whole country to be strapped and once that happens we’ll all be safe according to your logic..Maybe its me, but I’ve been in neighborhoods where everyone is packing and you know what happens? Armed folks shoot other armed folks.. The casualties are usually folks from both sides with innocent people being caught in the crossfire..

Could the NRA have stopped this shoot out at a Reno Casino btw biker gangs?

Could the NRA have stopped this shoot out at a Reno Casino btw biker gangs?

When armed camps go at it we call it gang wars..and whether its Crips and Bloods in Compton going at it or organized crime syndicates like the Gambinos and the Genoveses shooting it out in Brooklyn or biker gangs like Hells Angels and Mongols going at it in Reno, everyone is strapped, guns are drawn and people get shot and killed. Meanwhile you NRA folks are back at the ranch talking about if we had more guns shyt wouldn’t have gone down..To me the outcome is always the same.. Bloodshed..Maybe not mass school shootings but bloodshed nevertheless..

So just so I’m clear, the NRA wants the government to pay for armed guards at every school? You want the government to do this so should we raise taxes? Or cut spending for schools or lower teacher’s salaries? Does this include nursery and day care? What about the fact that we already saw armed guards at school didn’t work when we had Columbine, one of the worst mass school shootings..The good folks over at Gawker pointed this out..You can read about that HERE

If we are going to have armed citizens on every corner as you proposed, does that mean we can bring back the Black Panthers, SNCC, Deacons for Defense, Black Berets, Brown Berets, Young Lords and have them patrol our neighborhoods for folks who misuses their guns and shoot at unarmed civilians? Lemme know whats up NRA so we can get things cracking..

Davey D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZb8EXUrQTo&feature=youtu.be

HKR… Our intv w/ Educator-Poet Mark Gonzales about the Sandy Hook School Shootings in Newtown

Mark Gonzales

Mark Gonzales

There is so much to say about the massacre took place this past Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Ct. There’s a lot to say about gun violence and the long history it has here in America. There’s a lot to say about mental health and mental illness. There’s a lot to say about how we as a society treat children. How protected are they really?

There’s a lot to say about this tragedy from the perspective of people of color and other marginalized communities. We sat down with scholar, educator and poet Mark Gonzales to have an in-depth discussion about Sandy Hook and how to situate this in the context of other world events..

This is an incredible interview that covers a lot of ground and is extremely insightful..

To here the Hard Knock Radio Interview click the link below

Hard Knock Radio logo

An Open Letter to the Media about the Sandy Hook School Shooting Coverage

newtown signs bearsDear Media Outlets like NBC News, TODAY,  msnbc, CNN, CBS and ABC.com and all others.. I been watching your coverage of Sandy Hook school shootings…

Thank you for spending time letting us know that the killer of these 20 children, Adam Lanza was an ‘intelligent’, ‘gifted’  but at times nervous and fidgety. Thanks for letting us know that this man who little boys and girls between the ages 6 and 7 was a troubled man who suffered from mental challenges..Thank you for letting us how life was difficult and often ‘painful’ and somewhat traumatic for him when his parents divorced. It was good to know that Adam went through life awkwardly, and at times would become reclusive.

Thank you for bringing on experts to give a breakdown of what his mental sickness was and how we as a society can help cure it…

Thank you for letting us know about his mother and his dad and the types of ‘wonderful‘ ‘hardworking‘ people they were.. Thank you for letting us know they were ‘nice‘, ‘generous‘ people who were ‘well liked‘.

Nancy Lanza was a mom who tried her best

The media reminds us that Nancy Lanza was a mom who tried her best

Thank you for letting us know that Adam’s mother Nancy Lanza wasn’t some irresponsible monsterous person, but instead we now know thanks to your investigative coverage that she was fearful our government would collapse. Thanks to your excellent coverage, we now know that Ms Lanza was like those people we see depicted on reality TV shows like Doomsday Preppers…she was frightened and hence went around and stockpiled weapons even though she had a troubled son living with her.. Thanks for letting us know she wasn’t an evil woman, but a nice mom who didn’t want to leave her son alone and that she was trying her best to love her kids with little help..

Thank you for showing churches lighting candles in her name and thank you for showing folks in the community that say they pray and care for the souls of Nancy and her son. Thank you for not demonizing them, but instead praising them as folks who are forgiving and deeply compassionate even in the such horrific times

Corporate media folks, thank you in advance, for putting your investigative, analytic reporting skills to full use and letting us know the troubles and mental challenges that Ray Ray, Darnell and anyone else from the inner city who commits a crime is going through next time one occurs..Thank you for letting us know that Ray ray from the inner city who commits a crime was having difficulties coping with divorce,  their parents being separated etc, just like Adam Lanza

The media reminds us that Adam Lanza was an intelligent but  troubled man

The media reminds us that Adam Lanza was an intelligent but troubled man

Thank You in advance for not looking at poor single mothers who tried to raise their sons or daughters who went down the wrong path as somehow negligent, but instead, hard working and generous just like Nancy Lanza.

Thanks in advance for not lambasting our community that shows love for its own troubled members who make mistakes. And thanks for seeing our community as also deeply compassionate vs being a wrong headed enablers who need to be punished in the face of horrific tragedies.

Next time there’s a call for gang injunctions, stiffer prison sentences etc, thank you in advance for bringing on experts to discuss the mindset of young folks at risk and what steps we can take to turn them around.. Thanks in advance for humanizing folks who are having difficult times in our communities the same way you did the Adam Lanza, his mom Nancy and the rest of his family..Imagine if Oscar Grant and Trayvon Martin and their families had gotten such wonderful coverage?

That is all

Davey D