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Questlove Goes In w/ His Essay: Trayvon Martin and I Ain’t Sh*T

July 18, 2013 By

The following essay is an adaptation of a Facebook post by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson in response to George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the killing of Trayvon Martin. Questlove is the drummer for the Roots and the bandleader on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.

Questlove

Questlove

I’m trying not to internalize these feelings about the Trayvon Martin case and make it about me — but hey, it is what it is, and maybe I’m melodramatic. All I’m consumed with is my positioning in life.

I often tell cute, self-deprecating celebrity run-in stories that end with my own “pie in the face” moment. But rarely do I share stories of a more serious nature, another genre of “pie in the face” moments, mostly because in the age of social media, most people are quick to dismiss my tales as #FirstWorldProblems. But I can’t tell you how many times a year I’m in a serious situation, only to hear the magic words “Oh, wait … Questlove?” Hey guys, it’s Questlove. “We’re so sorry, you can go!” Like, five to seven times a year, a night ending in the words “Thank God for that Afro or we’d never have recognized you” happens to me.

I’m in scenarios all the time in which primitive, exotic-looking me — six-foot-two, 300 pounds, uncivilized Afro, for starters — finds himself in places where people who look like me aren’t normally found. I mean, what can I do? I have to be somewhere on Earth, correct? In the beginning — let’s say 2002, when the gates of “Hey, Ahmir, would you like to come to [swanky elitist place]?” opened — I’d say “no,” mostly because it’s been hammered in my DNA to not “rock the boat,” which means not making “certain people” feel uncomfortable.

I mean, that is a crazy way to live. Seriously, imagine a life in which you think of other people’s safety and comfort first, before your own. You’re programmed and taught that from the gate. It’s like the opposite of entitlement.

The problem is, I do have desires to go to certain places and do certain things and enjoy the perks and benefits of being a person who works his arse off as much as I do. So I got over my hang-ups of not wanting to be the odd guy in the room sometime around 2007. It’s been mixed results at best. Some of it is “Oh, that wasn’t that bad”; some of it is “Well, that was awkward … ” This is the prime reason I hate vacations. I don’t feel like being the “odd guy out” at vacation spots, hence the reason my 2009 hobo journey train trip was my best vacation ever. There’s no scaring people on a train ride. My friends know that I hate parking lots and elevators, not because they are places that danger could occur, but it’s a prime place in which someone of my physical size can be seen as a dangerous element. I wait and wait in cars until I feel it’s safe for me to make people feel safe. I know most of y’all are eye-rolling, but if you spent a good three months in these size fourteens, you’d understand why I take that position.

I recently told a friend one of these stories: I live in a “nice” building. I work hard. You know I work hard. My logic is (naïve alert in 5, 4, 3, 2 … ) “Well, there can’t be any fear of any type in this building” — you’ve got to go through hell and high water just to get accepted to live here, like it’s Dartmouth or UPenn. Secondly, there are, like, five to eight guards on duty 24/7, so this spot is beyond safe. Like, Oscar winners and kids of royalty and sports guys and mafia goombahs live here. One night, I get in the elevator, and just as the door closes this beautiful woman gets on. Because of a pain in the arse card device you have to use to get to your floor, it just makes it an easier protocol for whoever is pressing floors to take everyone’s request, like when you are at the window of a drive-thru. So I press my floor number, and I ask her, “What floor, ma’am?” (Yes, I say “ma’am,” because … sigh, anyway.) She says nothing, stands in the corner. Mind you, I just discovered the Candy Crush app, so if anything, I’m the rude one because I’m more obsessed with winning this particular level than anything else. In my head I’m thinking, There’s no way I can be a threat to a woman this fine if I’m buried deep in this game — so surely she feels safe.

The humor comes in that I thought she was on my floor because she never acknowledged my floor request. (She was also bangin’, so inside I was like, “Dayuuuuuuuuuuum, she lives on my floor? *bow chicka wowow*!” Instantly I was on some “What dessert am I welcome-committee-ing her with?”) Anywho, the door opens, and I waited to let her off first because I am a gentleman. (Old me would’ve rushed first, thus not putting me in the position to have to follow her, God forbid if she, too, makes a left and it seems like I’m following her.) So door opens and I flirt, “Ladies first.” She says, “This is not my floor.” Then I assume she is missing her building card, so I pulled my card out to try to press her floor yet again. She says, “That’s okay.”

Then it hit me: “Oh God, she purposely held that information back.” The door closed. It was a “pie in the face” moment.

I laughed at it. Sort of.

Inside I cried. But if I cried at every insensitive act that goes on in the name of safety, I’d have to be committed to a psych ward. I’ve just taught myself throughout the years to just accept it and maybe even see it as funny. But it kept eating at me (Well, I guess she never watched the show …  My English was super clear … I called her “ma’am” like I was Webster … Those that know you know that you’re cool, but you definitely know that you are a walking rape nightmare — right, Ahmir? Of course she was justified in not saying her floor. That was her prerogative! You are kinda scary-looking, I guess?). It’s a bajillion thoughts, all of them self-depreciating voices slowly eating my soul away.

But my feelings don’t count. I don’t know why it’s that way. Mostly I’ve come to the conclusion that people over six feet and over weight regulation or as dark as me (or in my tax bracket) simply don’t have feelings. Or it’s assumed we don’t have feelings. I mean, it’s partially right: I literally figured the only way for me to not go insane in a career that creates junkies (or at best Kanye) is to desensitize myself from feelings. The thing is, though, I’m a halfway crook, an awesome poker player. Yeah, I hurt. But I’ll be damned if I let you know that. Call me a 75 percent robot, 25 percent human being.

When I got off a plane Sunday morning, after the “not guilty” verdict in the George Zimmerman trial, and I was waiting in customs, I read an apology e-mail from a friend who said, “I am wrong about many things, but I want to apologize for taking that particular story you told me too lightly.” The one about the woman in the elevator. And it kinda touched me. My friend related to me, and it was a gut-punch I wasn’t expecting on an already emotional day, so I guess I started to almost … cry?

Then the Roots’ manager Rich hits me on the phone seconds later. Boom. I know it’s sad to say, but we in the Roots circle love each other like family. But not enough to trust each other in vulnerable moments. (This is a man who waited until he was on the operating table, minutes away from surgery, to finally reveal to me he was going through a life-or-death cancer procedure, simply because he didn’t want to distract me or create excuses as to why I didn’t finish my book.) On the phone, I do my best “straighten up, stop sobbing” shtick, and he says, “What’s wrong?” In four seconds flat, I bury it, and I’m back to normal. I’m not proud of that. I’ve spent eleven of the last twenty years in therapy trying to deal with that. So I decide to abandon Operation Bury, and I say, “Well … ”

“What’s wrong?” asks Rich.

How do I answer that? This does NOT feel like an average day. Remember how nice everyone was post–September 11? Eerie. Almost surreal. Like everyone is acting “too nice,” and I don’t know how to process that. Then there are people that are acting like nothing happened. (“Hey, Quest, where is Dave Chappelle at!?”) It was just one of those days that didn’t feel normal to me. But Rich keeps picking at the question like a three-month-old scab: “What’s wrong?”

And I’m like, “Need I say it!?” I can’t tell if he’s provoking me or not. I don’t know how to not internalize the overall message this whole Trayvon case has taught me:

You ain’t shit.

That’s the lesson I took from this case.

You ain’t shit.

These words are deep because these are words I’ve heard my whole life: I heard from adults in my childhood that I needed to be “about something” other than all that banging and clanging and music I play all the time. As I got older, I heard I wasn’t as good as so-and-so is at music. All the “you ain’t shit” stories I got — Jesus, it’s a wonder I made it.

Rich asks, “Wait, you’re not surprised, are you?” I’m not surprised at all, but that doesn’t mean it stings any less.

I should be angry, right? I remember when the Sean Bell verdict came out and I just knew, “Oh, God, New York is gonna go up in flames.” And yet no one was fuming. It was like, “[Shrug] … No surprises here. That’s life.”

Rich asks again, “Are you surprised … that you ain’t shit?”

It hurts to hear it, and I say, “I’m not surprised, but who wants to be reminded?” What fat person wants to hear that they aren’t pleasing to the eye? Or what addict wants to hear they are a constant F-up? Who wants to be reminded that — shrug — that’s just the way it is?

I guess I’m struggling to get at least 1 percent of this feeling back, from all this protective numbness I’ve built around me, to keep me from feeling. Because, at the end of the day, I’m still human.

… Right?

Questlove is the author of Mo’ Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove.

source: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/07/questlove-trayvon-martin-and-i-aint-shit.html

 

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News

The Zimmerman Verdict is a Refelection of the Times: People Must Organize

July 18, 2013 By

Below is an insightful statement from the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement about Trayvon Martin.. They not only give us keen analysis but also put forth sound, practical solutions.. We also sat down with MXGM member Kali Akuno who was in Jackson, Mississippi who provided  additional context to this statement.. The link to our Hard Knock Radio interview is located below.. Please check out the conversation while you read the statement.

Hard Knock Radio logo

HKR-Kali Akuno intv on Trayvon verdict

The Zimmerman Verdict is a Refelection of the Times People Must Organize

Trayvon-Martin-brownTrayvon Martin was never going to get justice from a courtroom of the United States government. Justice for Trayvon and for the hundreds of other Black women, men, and children executed by someone employed or protected by the US government on a daily basis will only come from our people and the power we are able to wield through the strength of our organization and the resolve of our will. Zimmerman was only put on trial because millions of our people took to the streets in early 2012 and threatened to disrupt the system. The trial was a means to divert our energies and return things to the status quo.

Obama’s statement that a “a jury has spoken” encouraging what he called, “calm reflection”, is just another effort to lure Black people to sleep and keep us accepting the status quo. The status quo of white supremacy has never and will never work for Black people.  As W.E.B. DuBois stated, “a system cannot fail those who it was never meant to protect.” White supremacy and the systems that support and reinforce it like capitalism, colonialism, and patriarchy must be defeated and dismantled. We must always keep this in mind and be prepared in concrete, organized ways to ensure that there will be no peace if there is no justice. Now is the time for direct action in the form of organized Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns that disrupt the status quo systems of the US government through massive non-compliant resistance.

We must also be clear that the Zimmerman verdict is a reflection of the times. 17-year old Trayvon Martin was the 31st Black person executed by someone employed or protected by the state in 2012. As we demonstrated in Operation Ghetto Storm, 313 Black women, men, and children were executed without trials by the police, security guards or certified “neighborhood watchmen” in 2012. These extrajudicial killings have by no means stopped or slowed down, as witnessed by the execution of Kimani Gray and dozens more Black people in the first six months of 2013. With the Zimmerman verdict justifying and setting new precedent for the disposal of Black life, we should expect the number of extrajudicial killings to increase. It is now more imperative than ever for us to strengthen the organization of our communities and defend ourselves.

MXGM marchWe must defend ourselves, and we have every right to do so by any means necessary.

Black people are in a heightened state of crisis. Since being brought to the shores of North America as captives from European wars of aggression we have constantly battled one crisis after another. However, there are times that are more critical and intense than others. We are presently living through one of these super -critical periods.

We have been hunted and killed in cold blood by the US government in increasing numbers and herded into prisons like cattle in record numbers. The facts presented in Operation Ghetto Storm: 2012 Annual Report on the Extrajudicial Killing of Black People presents us with a deeper understanding of the utter disregard held for Black life within the United States.

The continual practice of executing Black people in the country without pretense of a trial, jury, or judge is an integral part of the government’s current overall strategy of containing the Black community in a state of perpetual colonial subjugation and exploitation. The verdict in the George Zimmerman trial is a testament to the reality that the institutions of the United States uplift and are complicit in the ongoing genocide of Black people.

The only way we are going to defend ourselves against these genocidal challenges is to create a massive social movement. We need a movement that strategically takes on the systemic oppression and exploitation that prevent Black people from exercising self-determination and human rights.

In order to fight effectively we have to organize ourselves on a higher level. One of the critical areas where we have to step up our organizing efforts to be qualitatively more effective is in the area of self-defense. We have to be clear that we cannot and should not count on our enemies – like the courts, and other forces of the US government or transnational corporations – to protect us. We have to protect ourselves.

The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) believes that an essential part of our Movement for survival must be Self-Defense Networks.

We think there are two types of Networks that we have to build:

New Afrikan or Black Self-Defense Networks are alliances, coalitions, or united fronts of Black organizations whose purpose is to defend the Black or New Afrikan community from external (the police, FBI, white terrorist organizations, etc.) and internal (agent infiltration, intra-communal violence, etc.) threats to its safety and security.

People’s Self-Defense Networks are multi-national (or multi-ethnic and/or racial) alliances, coalitions, or united fronts whose purpose is to defend their communities against mutual enemies and threats and advance a common agenda based on shared interests, hopes, and aspirations.

Oppressed peoples and communities can and will only be secure in this country when they are organized to defend themselves against the aggressions of the government and the forces of white supremacy and capitalist exploitation.

The Every 28 Hours Campaign proposes a model for organizing:

 

  1. The formation of Black Self-Defense Networks to defend our people and combat police terrorism. These Networks should seek to build Copwatch programs, engage in mass rights based education trainings for the community, serve as first responders to acts of Police Terrorism, and help coordinate mass resistance to these acts via mass mobilizations and direct action. These Networks should also be encouraged to engage in offensive campaigns, such as referendums to institute Police Control Boards.
  1. The formation of People’s Self-Defense Networks to defend the lives and interests of all oppressed peoples’ and exploited classes against various forms of state terrorism. These People’s Self-Defense Networks would work as multi-national alliances to engage in a broad manner all of the tasks mentioned above to defend oppressed peoples and targeted communities, such as LGBTQ2GNC communities, against institutionalized racism, white supremacy, institutionalized sexism, patriarchy and state repression be it racial profiling, gender profiling, stop and frisk, mass incarceration, or mass deportations.
  1. Waging campaigns for local referendums to institute Police Control mechanisms – i.e. community based structures that have the power to hire, fire, subpoena, and discipline the police on the local level. And waging massive, non-compliant campaigns of resistance employing BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanction) strategies and tactics on statewide, regional, and national levels.
  1. Forming People’s Assemblies, on local, citywide, and regional levels to engage in program and demand development initiatives that will enable the people to engage in the broad implementation of people’s programs for self-defense and mutual aid.

The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) and the Every 28 Hours Campaign seeks to strengthen organizing initiatives within Black or New Afrikan communities for self-defense, by presenting these initiatives with a comprehensive analytical framework and practical organizing tools to ground and unite them.

MXGM offers to Black and other oppressed communities three resources 1) Operation Ghetto Storm, a full report on the 2012 extra judicial killings; 2) Let Your Motto Be Resistance, an organizing handbook for self-defense; and 3) We Charge Genocide Again!, a curriculum for the Every 28 Hours Campaign, to further this objective

Links:

 

Operation Ghetto Storm: 2012 Annual Report on the Extrajudicial Killing of Black People

http://mxgm.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Operation-Ghetto-Storm.pdf

 

Let Your Motto Be Resistance

http://mxgm.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Self-Defense-Manual-MERGED.pdf

 

We Charge Genocide Again!

http://mxgm.org/we-charge-genocide-again-new-curriculum-on-every-28-hours-report/

For more information on these resources or trainings please contact Kali Akuno at kaliakuno@mxgm.org.

For coalition building and Self-Defense Networks please contact Taliba Obuya at taliba@mxgm.org.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmJqzEVKwoU

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Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: , ,

100 young Black activists respond to the George Zimmerman verdict

July 15, 2013 By

Screen shot 2013-07-15 at 8.18.57 AM

jasiri x hood

Jasiri X read the statement crafted by the 100 Black Youth leaders in response to the Zimmerman verdict.

Over the weekend in the City of Chicago over 100 Black Youth from all over the country came together for a convention put together by the Black Youth Project.. Their mission was to identify key issues in their community and develop long and short-term strategies for dealing with them. Many of the participants  in attendance were there because they had already proven to be effected grassroots leaders in their communities so in essence, this weekend saw a whose who of incredible young minds determined to improve their respective communities..

This weekend’s Black Youth Project Summit was planned months in advance happen to occur the same weekend that the George Zimmerman trial wrapped up and a verdict was read. Needless to say the folks BYP100 had lots of keen insight and heartfelt emotions around the outcome.. They wasted no time in laying out plans of actions both to respond what they felt was a grave injustice. They also issue in incredible statement underscoring their collective position..

Pittsburgh artist/ activist Jasiri X who was one of the elders in attendance helping the BYP100 came on our radio show Sunday morning to share his thoughts and music. He also read off the statement these 100 youth put together.. Below is a link to the interview and statement being read.. Below that is the actual text.. Please reflect and find ways to encourage more folks in our community to address their pains and aspirations

HKR-Jasiri X intv on Black Youth project 100 statement

100 young Black activists respond to the George Zimmerman verdict

To the Family of Brother Trayvon Martin and to the Black Community:

May this statement find us in the spirit of peace and solidarity.

We know that justice for Black life is justice for humanity.

Our hope and community was shaken through a system that is supposed to be built on freedom and justice for all. We are your sons and daughters. We are the marginalized and disenfranchised. We are one hundred next generation leaders. We are the Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100).

We see the hopelessness of a generation that has been broken trying to find its place in this world. We understand that we need to turn anger into action and pain into power.

As we waited to hear the verdict, in the spirit of unity, we formed a circle and locked hands. When we heard “not guilty,” our hearts broke collectively. In that moment, it was clear that Black life had no value. Emotions poured out – emotions that are real, natural and normal, as we grieved for Trayvon and his stolen humanity. Black people, WE LOVE AND SEE YOU. We mourn, but there’s hope as long as love endures.

Trayvon was manifested from ancestral excellence. The salt water falling from our eyes now, is not different from the salt water we were trafficked on then. If the soil of the United States could speak, before saying a word it would cough up our blood. Choking frantically, crust-curdling with the gore of a oppressed peoples it has been force-fed. White supremacy has water-boarded it with the remnants of its genocide of us.

This moment reminds us that we can’t look to others to see our value but we have to recognize our own value. In spite of what was said in court, what verdict has been reached, or how hopeless we feel, Trayvon did NOT die in vain. A mother should never have to bury her son. However, his death will serve as the catalyst of a new movement where the struggle for justice will prevail.

Instead of a moment of silence, we raise our voices together. As Audre Lorde said, “our silence will NOT PROTECT US.” We are young leaders standing on the shoulders of our ancestors, carrying the historical trauma embedded in a legal system that will NOT PROTECT US. We are the legacy of Black resilience that compels us to fight for our lives.

We continue to call out Black Love, Black Power and Black is Beautiful in the face of continued devaluation of Black life. We affirm a love of ALL Black life, no matter if we are in hoodies or business suits, incarcerated or in boardrooms, on welfare or in the WNBA, on the corner or in the White House. We declare the fundamental value, beauty and power of ALL Black people. The poet Claude McKay once said, “Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave…we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack. Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!”

 

JUSTICE FOR TRAYVON.

 

Beyond November Movement

July 14, 2013

#BYP100

Contact information:

Farajii Muhammad

farajiimuhammad@gmail.com

Kai M. Green

Blkyp100@gmail.com

 

Black Youth Project (BYP100) is 100 young black activists from across the country convened by the Black Youth Project to mobilize communities of color beyond electoral politics.

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Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: , , , ,

Why is There So Much Hype About Riots After this George Zimmerman Verdict?

July 13, 2013 By

Trayvon Martin signSo as the jury deliberates for a second day around this George Zimmerman trial, talk about Rodney King style riots breaking out is being amped up..

News anchors and pundits along with the police are showing up on TV looking all somber telling us to please keep it peaceful and stay calm no matter what the verdict.. I think I saw a news report with Reverend Al Sharpton telling us not to gloat if Zimmerman is convicted..Seemingly every Civil Rights leader from Jesse Jackson to NAACP head Ben Jealous has been dragged before the cameras to plead for folks to trust in the justice system, even if it far too often, leaves us on the short end of the stick.

In preparing for this possible urban unrest, community leaders have gone out and tapped young people to do anti-violence PSA’s where they plead for peace. The whole scene reminded me of what was done on the days leading up to the Oscar Grant verdict which took place July 8th 2010.. Folks in the Bay Area may recall this PSA shown below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqofgXqteuQ

This is what’s being done now around the Zimmerman trial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LM2bRU_Tsc

Several protesters lie face down on the ground in front of of riot

Protesters lie face down on the ground in front of riot cops

With respect to this threat of riots/civil unrest, let’s unpack that for a minute. My experience over the years of covering uprisings during the Oscar Grant Movement, the Occupy Movement, various the DNC and RNC Conventions from 2000 on up, to several G20 and G8 summits has led me to the conclusion that we should always be asking the following questions; 1-Who is pushing the assertions that riots are imminent and how are they pushing it? 2-Who stands to benefit the most from the threat of unrest? (key word ‘threat’)  3-What’s the political, economic and social agenda if any, attached these threats?

Personally I think the riot talk is being hyped up to the financial benefit of two main outfits which are corporate media and the Police.. Both thrive off of fear, confusion and mayhem..

In the case of news outlets, a riot is the ultimate reality tv that falls in line with its tried and true modus operandi “if it bleeds it leads’..Trust me many of those anchors and pundits may be sitting up in their cushy chairs pleading with you to stay home, but their overall coverage and over the top on air banter is designed to push emotional buttons, ignite and incite..

OscarGrantChaos in the streets equals ratings, hence if there ain’t some windows being broken and fires being lit after this verdict comes down, you’re gonna have some disappointed news outlets..

The other outfit that benefits from all this riot talk are the police..You start talking riots and civil unrest, it becomes an all hands on deck operations. This means cops are called in on their day off while others have their vacation days cut..

Everyone is put to work as the departments deploy extra patrols and increase surveillance and intel gathering of anyone and everyone who they think might be down to set it off after the verdict is read..

In preparation for the riots..you best believe many departments are dusting off the law books and seeing how they can push the legal envelope.. This means they may do explore everything from mass arrests to pre-emptive raids and detaining of key organizers to shutting down entire blocks and neighborhoods to setting up enclosed ‘protests zones’ and ‘free speech cages’. Many are going over crowd control and kettling strategies

All this is happening to the tune of massive overtime pay for law enforcement.. This is on top of them busting out new weapons, new vehicles and new Star wars-type storm trooper outfits..

I recall during the Oscar Grant and Oakland Occupy Movements, police would hold press conferences warning fearful residents of ‘outside agitators’ and anarchists. They would then bring in as many as 500 cops from 17 different jurisdictions to the tune of 500k to one million a pop..

Police Riot gearThis scenario is playing out in cities all over the country. From Oakland to New York to Chicago to Houston.. Police in Sanford, Florida are not the only ones gearing up for ‘civil unrest’. It’s big business and a lot of folks are fixing to get paid..

The biggest irony to all this all this is while the focus and concern on riots is directed at Black folks who are continuously being demonized, civil unrest may actually come from far-right wing nuts who support George Zimmerman and feel a conviction will be a blow to Stand Your Ground Laws..Black folks do not have a monopoly on civil unrest..

This country has a sordid past where we seen angry white mobs set off some of the most devastating riots’ in history with Black people as their target. from Tulsa to Chicago to Atlanta to Bensonhurst, BK to Boston to Howard Beach.. Even in the riots most associated with Black unrest, large numbers of Black folks were killed often at the hands of the police who used the occasion to go off..We saw this during the Watts Riots in 65 to the Newark and Detroit uprisings in ’67 to Rodney King unrest  in ’92. Many of us deemed those deaths as target practice.. The recent HBO documentary about all those killed by police during the Newark Riots gives a serious breakdown on this.

In recent years we’ve seen a major increase in the number of Black people killed or brutalized by the police. According to the latest reports from the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, every 28 hours a Black person is killed by police.  You don’t think that hostility won’t play out during a Rodney King style riot?? All one has to do is look at what unfolded during Katrina when there were threats of riots and mayhem to see how the police and folks in power get down.. There were all sorts of killings both by police and vigilante types..

tea-party-gun-advocateOver the past few years we’ve seen the uncovering of plots with white supremacist attempting to find ways to set off some sort of race war.. We’ve seen a rise in militia types who feel like this country is set to collaspe with Black and Brown folks as the blame. This is coupled with the anger and vitriol we’ve seen by Tea Party types who have shown up with guns in tow on to presidential campaign rallies and congressional townhall meetings that they’ve disrupt, who down to bring the ruckus..

During this George Zimmerman trial we’ve had a number of prominent conservative leaning journalists from Geraldo Rivera to Joe Scarborough hawking the ‘Trayvon was a hoodie wearing thug who got what he deserved‘ narrative and that if Zimmerman doesn’t get off its an indication are country is falling. Many have embraced such rhetoric to the point that in all honesty instead of just having a traditional Civil Rights leaders calling for peace, maybe we need to see folks like Pastor Rick Warren or the head of the NRA Wayne LaPierre doing PSA calling on folks to be peaceful and respect the verdict.

What’s also ironic is with many of these so-called riots we’ve seen in recent years from the one in Austin, Texas in May of 2009 when police killed a sleeping Nathaniel Sanders to the recent unrest in East Flatbush, Brooklyn after Kamani Gray was gunned down, they pale in comparison to the unrest we see breakout after sporting events.

Compare the unrest in Oakland after the Oscar Grant verdict in 2010 to the mayhem that engulfed neighboring San Francisco after the Giants won the World Series this past year.

Compare the unrest that occurred on the Penn State campus when went students went buckwyld after learning head coach Joe Paterno was fired with the lack of unrest in Detroit a few weeks ago when a mistrial ‘verdict ‘ came down for SWAT Team member Joseph Weekley who was accused of killing 7 year old Aiyana Stanley Jones while he was ‘showing off’ for a Reality TV show.

Compare the reaction to verdicts of injustice to high profile cases like Sean Bell or Amadou Diallo where officers were acquitted for shooting un-armed men to the riots in the streets we saw after the Lakers Beat the Celtics in 2010 or after the crazy riots in Vancouver after the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup. Where was the nationwide calls for peace or even Anti-riot PSAs from the respective sports stars?

Penn State Riots

Penn State Riots

What’s going on right now with all these impending riot warnings seems like another attempt to resurrect the scary Black Boogey man..It’s the continued demonization of Black folks at all costs.  It was done during this trial where Trayvon Martin‘s character was called into question and he was depicted as a weed smoking violent prone thug vs George Zimmerman who actually has an arrest record, a criminal past and a history of violence.. It’s being done now with the goal of planting fear in the minds of many..

By feeding into that narrative of young African-Americans as the main instigators and sole participants, what gets overlooked is the fact that in many civil disturbances including the Rodney King uprisings which we are told we need to prevent, folks from all sorts of racial and ethnic backgrounds were running around kicking up dust and in the mix. We saw that during the Oscar Grant protests.. We saw that during the uprisings in London and France.. We sure as hell saw that during the Occupy, Anti-war and Anti-Globalization Protests.

What also gets lost is that many times there are no riots after any number of controversial trials.

If there is any sort of unrest after this George Zimmerman trial because he’s acquitted it won’t be only Black folks out in the streets. It’ll be folks of all stripes who are upset with a justice system that they perceive as unfair.. If there is unrest perhaps we should be exploring ways to repair a broken justice system that has left many with broken spirits and broken hearts vs worrying about broken windows which are easily replaced..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcSm6EX1coo

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , ,

Adam Sandler is Back In Grown Ups 2

July 12, 2013 By

Grown-Ups-2-Is-Laugh-Out-Loud-1024x640

Adam Sandler and company returns with his sequel, Grown Ups 2, a follow up to his 2010 blockbuster Grown Ups.

The film brings back the whole gang (minus Rob Schneider) Kevin James, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, David Spade, Tim Meadows and more. Its three years later and Lenny and his group of immature middle-aged dads are all back living in their home town and dealing with family life.

In the first film we followed each of the friends and how they came back together after their high school coach passed away. The friends all rekindle their friendships up at the old lake house with some very funny scenes. Well this movie doesn’t have too many strong family values like the first film. Instead it’s much more slapstick filled with comedy antics, and pranks the keeps you laughing. Grown Ups 2 is very reminiscent of earlier Sandler movies from the late 90’s such as; The Waterboy (1998), Big Daddy (1999), Little Nicky (2000). Adam Sandler takes elements from that era, but isn’t as successful with the set ups and punch lines. However, Kevin James, Chris Rock and David Spade are such strong comedic actors they are able to save the films hilarity and pace. To be honest this film seems to target the teenage boy to mid forty year old man. Although the film has mixed reviews when walking out of the theater, I personally could not stop laughing. I had no expectations and came out happy. This film is unlike the original Grown Ups, but compared to Sandler’s 2011 Jack and Jill train wreck this movie keeps you laughing.

In this film Lenny and his family are much happier, the kids are playing outside and not the little jerks like they were in the first. His wife Roxanne Chase-Feder (Salma Hayek) is no longer a snob. In this film Lenny must contend with the news that his wife (Hayek) wants to have a fourth child. While Eric (Kevin James) unaccountably, must keep his wife Sally (Maria Bello) in the dark about how much time he spends keeping his elderly mother company. Kurt McKenzie (Chris Rock) and his wife Deanne (Maya Rudolph) are dealing with two teenagers and a new baby boy. And replacing Rob Schneider storyline is Marcus (David Spades) who finds out that he has a son that he never knew. Marcus must make peace with the thuggish son. Overall, the movie is a day in the life a bunch of friends and their daily antics. The only stand out moral in the movie is how to stand up from being bullied as a child, like most of Sandler’s film. The underdog always succeeds and gets the pretty women. The is film starts on the last day of school, Grown Ups 2 follows Lenny commandeers his kids’ bus driver, played by Nick Swardson, who is high on drugs throughout the film

As for the weak link of the film, that would go to Taylor Lautner and his band of misfit Fraternity boys. It was too over the top and ridiculous. Although we get the point that Sandler was trying to make about Fraternity life. Personally I felt he was off, being a Fraternity Alum myself. I thought the secret handshake part was hilarious, but making them a bunch of mindless muscled out idiots was not funny in the slightest. Luckily that only takes up 5 minutes of screen time.

Like we said before, this film is filled with gags, one liners and slapstick style comedy like his earlier Happy Madison films. Grown Ups 2 marks the first sequel for Adam Sandler, so we have our fingers crossed that it does well. Overall the movie is just summer fun, it’s not meant for anything more than to make you laugh. Yes it may have lost some of the golden moments of the first, but it’s a great weekend film to go out and bring the kids. The jokes are simple, the setting is basic and the comedy is for all ages, so grab a bucket of popcorn and a couple sodas and you’re off to the movies for some laughs with Grown Ups 2.

FYI: This is great bonding flick for a father and his son or a Big Brother and little brother type of movie.

Grown Ups 2 Film Credits:

Production Company: Happy Madison

Cast: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, David Spade, Maya Rudolph, Maria Bello

Director: Dennis Dugan

Screenwriters: Fred Wolf, Adam Sandler, Tim Herlihy

Producers: Jack Giarraputo, Adam Sandler

Director of photography: Theo van de Sande

Production designer: Aaron Osborne

Music: Rupert Gregson-Williams

Costume designer: Ellen Lutter

Editor: Tom Costain

PG-13, 100 minutes

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Chris Rock Talks Grown Ups 2

July 12, 2013 By

Chris-Rock-Talks-Grown-Ups-2

( 4UMF NEWS ) Chris Rock Talks Grown Ups 2:
Chris Rock is back in Grown Ups 2 and brings the laughs.

It’s three years later and Rock talks about how the cast all wanted to reprise their roles because they’re all actually onscreen and off-screen friends. Rock talks about the film and giving an update where they are now.

It’s three years later and Kurt McKenzie (Chris Rock) is dealing with the woes of being a dad, getting along with his wife Deanne McKenzie (Maya Rudolph), dealing with a new baby who like to poop, a daughter who starts dating and his son getting into trouble.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fstnDPHRT9g

Chris Rock talks about the movie being good old family fun while on the red carpet at the Grown Ups 2 premiere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5pf3uSD4HM

Chris Rock is already hinting to a third installment and actually we would be interested. Would you?

Sony Pictures, Grown Ups 2 hits theaters nationwide Friday July 12th, 2013.

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Fruitvale Station Panel Discussion w/ Cast and Director at Oakland Premier

July 10, 2013 By

Fruitvale station oscar daughterThis weekend the movie Fruitvale Station opens up nationwide..Its the true story of Bay Area resident Oscar Grant who was brutally murdered Jan 1 2009 by an out of control transit cop named Johannes Mehserle.. For folks in Oakland and the Bay Area, Oscar’s death which was caught on tape by multiple cameras was a shock, especially 3 weeks before the inauguration of the nation’s first Black president Barack Obama..

His murder led to 18 long months of protests, organizing and agitating resulting in a conviction of Mehserle..Sadly, he served less than two years thanks to the bias rulings of a pro-cop Los Angeles judge named Robert Perry who every step of the way manipulated things to favor this renegade cop.

The movie Fruitvale Station is powerful, gripping, moving and healing.. Director Ryan Coogler deserves lots of praise for doing a movie that focused on Grant’s last 24 hours.. It highlighted his humanity and the relationships he had with his family, friends, fiance and daughter..This was lost during the trial and the protests, many forgot or never really got to know who Oscar was flaws, good parts and all..Actors Michael B Jordan, Melonie Diaz and Octavia Spencer bring their A game to this flick and give us lots to grow on.

After the Oakland premier, I got a chance to host an incredible panel discussion, featuring all the cast members and key folks who worked magic behind the scenes like famed actor Forest Whitaker.. Our convo was wide-ranging and compelling as we discussed everything from their inspiration as actors to the impact police brutality has had on their personally.. Click the link below to peep what was said..

Fruitvale station cast

HKR-Fruitvale Station-Oscar Grant Panel

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Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: , , ,

Afro-Mexicans on Hunger Strike to Protest Death of Malcolm X’s Grandson

July 9, 2013 By

Protest for Malcolm ShabbazzRight now the eyes of the world are focused on two hunger strikes..One just kicked off in California at Pelican Bay with inmates, demanding improved conditions including an end to solitary confinement…Yesterday (July 8th) more than 30 thousand inmates refused food…

The other big hunger strike is the one in Guantanamo Bay which was started by detainees and has been going on for more than 100 days.. Yesterday Yasiin Bey aka Mos Def made a video where he demonstrated how striking prisoners were being force fed food. It was grueling and beyond disturbing. Yasiin because of the extreme pain, could not complete what detainees are forced to endure everyday.

There is a 3rd hunger strike that we should pay attention to…This one involves Afro-Mexicans in Mexico City who launched a hunger strike last week to protest the brutal slaying of Malcolm Shabbazz who was the grandson of Malcolm X.. Below is a video of the news report coming out of the DF.. Below that is a link to their blog explaining whats going on in their own words.. We took the liberty of translating two of the entries, but encourage folks to stay up to date

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSP5EcsjrS0&feature=youtu.be

Here is a link to the Citizens’ Committee Defense not Naturalized and Afro-Mexicans blog

http://ccdnam.blogspot.com/p/noticias.html

Protest In Mexico City

A demonstration outside the government headquarters in Mexico City •

The Steering Committee of Defense and African Naturalized demanded a dialogue with the city government head Miguel Angel Mancera, to clarify the death of Malcolm Latif, otherwise continue with the hunger strike in front holding government offices of the Federal District since 4 July.

Wilner Metelus, CCDNAM president, said Monday afternoon met with the DF government secretary, Hector Serrano, to reach an agreement.
However, the official said that the committee has not been clear in the demands made by a letter submitted to the Government on 18 June.

“This morning with Serrano invited me to discuss my application, but it says that my claims are not accurate. We will not lift the hunger strike without having a meeting with the presence of Mancera, enough is enough, not racism, that must end, “he said.

He said that all they ask to know is what happened with the death of Latif Shabazz and the Nigerian’s Echidenu Isaac, who was killed two years ago, the same day as the death of the grandson of activist Malcolm X, near the station Metro San Antonio Abad.

He also assured that the four police officers involved in the death of Echidenu are free and the Committee can not allow the same impunity for Latif.
“We know that our brothers abuse are receiving from the police, with pressures and threats. Echinedu Isaac’s death was a hate crime, it’s a shame, “he said.
He noted that at the meeting, Serrano could not provide information regarding the case of Latif and asked to forward a new letter, with clear requests about what is required by the organization.

“They listen to us, we are citizens (…) in the letter ask to have a meeting with Mancera to know how Echinedu Isaac died in the investigation were quite a few mistakes, and also asked to know what happened to the video of the death of Latif” added

Begin fasting grandson case of Malcolm X

protest for Malcom Shabbazz

Mexico • Members of the Citizens’ Committee Defense not Naturalized and Afro-Mexicans began a hunger strike outside the headquarters of the Federal District, in protest of the results in the murder of the grandson of activist Malcolm X in Garibaldi, occurred in May .

Metelus Wilner, president of the organization, considered that there is sufficient provision to two Eastern Prison this nightclub waiters, who are accused of killing Malcolm Shabazz, so requested a meeting with the president of the capital, Miguel Angel Mancera.

“We delivered a letter from May 18 to have an audience with the prime minister about the case of our brother Malcolm Shabazz because we believe that there is no progress, there are only two detainees and do not know what is happening with the other responsible” said.

Metelus revealed that he met with the Secretary of Government, Hector Serrano, but its intention is that the holder receives the GDF to discuss the progress of the Attorney General of the DF, as well as others in terms of discrimination suffered by police.

The civil association representative said that during the administration of Marcelo Ebrard four policemen killed a Nigerian in San Antonio Abad Station of the Metro, and “are now free”, so he said, do not want to repeat this situation.

NEWS – THURSDAY JULY 4 INITIATE A HUNGER STRIKE AGAINST GOVERNMENT OFFICES City, MADE FOR JUSTICE FOR THE DEATH OF OUR BROTHER LATIF African-American MALCOLM X MALCOLM GRANDSON WAS MURDERED IN COLD BLOOD DF. ! NOT ONE STEP BACK! ! CCDNAM VIVA! ! AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL!

Wall of silence surrounding the murder of the grandson of Malcolm X in Méxicoç

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Ice Cube Disses the Hell outta Dwight Howard for Leaving the Lakers

July 8, 2013 By

ice cube scowlIce Cube is a diehard Raider fan and a diehard Lakers fan.. The other night during his concert, Cube let the world know how he feels about D12 rushing off to be with the Houston Rockets.. He predicts Kobe will win a championship before Dwight even smells one..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6leufELg1s&feature=youtu.be

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: , , , ,

Prison Hunger Strikes Kick off in Cali.. Yasiin Bey Shows solidarity w/ Gitmo Hunger Strikers

July 8, 2013 By
Yasiin bey aka Mos Def

Yasiin bey aka Mos Def

Today on Hard Knock Radio – 94.1 we will be covering the newly launched prison hunger strike.. We interviewed one family member whose brother has been in solitary confinement for 29 years at Pelican Bay..His crime? Reading a book by the late George Jackson, who led the prison reform Movement back in the 70s before he was killed by San Quentin guards.. As you think about the hunger strike in Cali.. please connect it to the hunger strike currently going on at Guantanamo Bay.. They are more than 100 days into it..

Sadly at Gitmo they are force feeding prisoners in a manner that is horrific.. Remember many of those at Gitmo are former prison guards who come from places like Pelican Bay… Tune into today at 4pm for our coverage.. But also peep what Yasiin Bey formerly known as Mos Def has done to bring attention to the plight of hunger strikers in Gitmo..

Below is our Hard Knock Radio interview

Hard Knock Radio logo

HKR-07-08-13 Hunger strike Mixdown final

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6ACE-BBPRs

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