Political articles | Hip-Hop and Politics

Reality TV, Cops Mistreating Little Kids & the Tragic Death of Aiyana Stanley Jones-Who Protects Us From You?

May 18, 2010 By mrDaveyd

By now many of you have heard of the tragic shooting around 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley Jones. It’s beyond heartbreaking. It’s beyond shocking.. and sadly it underscores the disrespect and disregard far too many have for Black life. When word of this first came out, there were far too many who asked, ‘What did they do wrong?”, meaning that the family or even the little girl must’ve done something as opposed the police being dead wrong in their procedures. many were quick to point out that the police were looking for a suspect in the killing of a 17-year-old earlier that week and the family was supposedly harboring him.. Again, folks conditioned to immediately side with the boys in blue..

Of course we now know that the police entered the wrong resident, tussled with the girls grandma after they tossed flash grenades in the house and shot Aiyana ‘by accident’. Here’s something many don’t know. Most police departments are media savvy and deeply embedded in the corporate media machine. They allow camera crews to follow them and we are bombarded with numerous ‘reality Cop spin-off shows that result in us forever having a ‘soft spot’ for the police who take us on highly edited and somewhat scripted adventures through the sordid world of crime and vice.

The city of Detroit is one such department being profiled for reality TV -in this case 48 Hours and it was on that fatal night that Aiyana was killed that these dip shit cops with a camera crew in tow came busting into the wrong house, storm trooper style, tossing flash grenades and ‘shooting’ the girl-oops lemme rephrase.. the gun ‘accidently’ went off. What we all need to be asking is; ‘How much of their outlandish actions were attributed to them showing off and hamming it up for TV cameras?’ How much was their over the top approach attributed to them wanting to show LAPD, NYPD and every other city profiled on reality shows that Detroit PD was ’bout it bout it’?

I ain’t no expert in police work, but I covered enough of these stories and had enough police officers on my shows to understand a few things. First, officer safety is paramount. The goal is to come home at night, hence if you are not chasing down a suspect and you know he’s holed up in a unit that has children and other folks, you wait it out. You catch dude when he leaves the building. There’s all sorts of ways to flush someone out a resident that you have surrounded. However, the gung-ho shoot em up bang bang, Tea Party crowd that watches these types of reality cop shows would find thoughtful, methodic police work boring. So with TV crew on hand, and anxious producers needing some ‘action’ to satisfy the thirst of viewers, the police as was the case here in Detroit are gonna ham it up and perhaps break a few rules-end result a dead 7-year-old girl name Aiyana Stanley Jones.

Folks need to ponder on that for minute-serious ponder that…Was police work compromised by TV cameras. I been on TV sets before and I know the type of pressure producers can exert when looking for an angle or a result.I also know cops are human and while some are shy about the cameras, others play to it..Why a flash grenade in a house with innocent people? Let’s all pause and ask ourselves that for a second.

Second thing, folks need to understand that this isn’t the first time police have gone overboard when it comes to dealing with 7 year old girls. A couple of years ago in Pittsburgh, PA a mother Pamela Lawton was pulled over for what appeared to be a routine traffic stop. She was on her way to a Pee Wee league game with her two girls in the car age 7 and 8.

Pamela Lawton and One Hood member Reverend Cornel Jones

When the officer Eric Tatusko approached the car he had already drawn his gun on the mother and ordered her to put her hands up. As he approached the car, the mom, not knowing what was going on and why she was ordered to put her hands up was shaken and scared. She became more frightened when the officer went over to the passenger side where the girls where with the gun drawn. The whole ordeal caused Ms Lawton’s kids to cry frantically. The officer became annoyed when the girls would not stop. Bear in mind the mom still has her hands in the air.. Next Officer Tatusko pointed his 9mm gun at the 7 year old Joshalyn Lawton and threatened to shoot her if she didn’t stop crying.

When other officers arrived on the scene, they ordered Tatusko to withdraw his weapons. Then in an attempt to justify this egregious behavior, officers searched Pamela’s car ‘looking for weapons’. Of course they found nothing. Ms Lawton was cited her for having expired insurance and then hit with disorderly conduct charges for yelling at the officer. She spent an year in trial as the police did everything they could to spin the story.. Lawton thanks to the outrage and help of community members like X-Clan member Paradise Gray and rapper Jasiri X and their fellow members of the group One Hood who helped bring national attention to this story, was eventually found not guilty.

The Aiyana Jones tragedy, the Pamela Lawton case are coupled with a slew of cases including 3 officers entering a kindergarden class to put handcuffs on and arrest a 5 year old girl who was having a tantrum in Florida..Or the 94 pound, 10 year old in Martinville, Ind who was tasered by police .. There’s a long list and sadly what’s been missing is not only some sort of change in policy on how to deal with small children, but a lack of good cops stepping up and telling folks that these types of incidents are wrong. From what I been told; many are afraid to cross the blue line for fear of retaliation.. is this what are tax dollars are paying for?

-Davey D-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_Ig34hQQXo

Below is the link to the interview we did with organizer and author Adrienne Maree who attended the vigil for Aiyana and wrote the moving piece below

http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/61117

———————————————————–

there is no justice for aiyana

by Adrienne Maree

http://adriennemareebrown.net/blog/?p=1423

there is no justice. not for aiyana stanley jones.

there is punishment, and perhaps accountability. someone to point towards, many people, a trail of blame, stories, mistakes and tears.

but there is no justice.

i’m just home from a vigil for aiyana. i don’t like to go to these things because they make me feel too raw and hopeless. my partner, however, knew that we had to go and make sure aiyana’s story was told. so here it is: she was alive yesterday, 7 years old. she went to bed on a couch in a first floor room with her grandmother last night. in the wee hours of the morning, cops raided her house. a man outside the house shouted that there were kids inside. a man on the second floor of the house was a suspect in the murder of a 17-year-old last Friday.

the police threw a “flash bang” through the front window. it blinded everyone inside; it lit aiyana on fire.

the news reported a tussle with the grandmother, during which the firearm discharged. everyone in the family says there was no tussle, that the grandmother was throwing herself over the baby when aiyana was shot in the head.

what do you call the blinded, terrified groping of a grandmother who knows her grandchildren are in the room, blasted from safety and sleep into chaos and danger, whose granddaughter is on fire? how do you comfort a man like aiyana’s father, which was forced to lie face down in his daughter’s blood by the same police officers who killed her?

the police shot and killed aiyana. they shot her in the forehead. her family saw her brain on the couch. by accident, perhaps. which doesn’t even matter to a 7-year-old. you don’t get let off any hooks for your intentions in this case, officer.

apparently a crew from the television show 48 Hours were with the police during the raid. i can’t help but wonder what their footage shows, and if filming for the show had anything to do with the drastic tactics and fatal timing – flash bombing a home in the middle of the night when the women and children are most likely to be home and sleeping.

standing on the sidewalk with over 100 black people, some shell-shocked, some sharing bits and pieces of the tragic gossip, some railing against the mayor, some staring at each other or holding each other in quiet sadness…i only saw the children. they were running, kicking, punching each other. playing. they were all 7 to me, however big or small. they were all potentially aiyana. yesterday she was with them, today she is martyred for no cause.

several members of imam luqman’s family were present, in prayer as we approached the house, present in solidarity with the particular grief of losing a loved one to violence at the hands of authority figures.

as we left the crowd, a man walked past us – more literally was dragged past us, barely able to walk, wailing in grief. his voice ripped through the southern twilight on the street, the realest voice there. i had spent the whole day around beautiful, vibrant children – little boys who ran circles around me and kicked everything because they were ninjas, and then grabbed my hands gently and easily to cross the sidewalk. and then i held a 2-day-old baby, totally fresh, just barely opening his eyes to say hello. what is more valuable than our children? this man, stumbling down the sidewalk weeping – this is how it feels when society offers up our babies as human sacrifices in pursuit of an unattainable justice.

i wanted to hold him. i wanted to say it would be ok, that there would be justice for aiyana. but i don’t believe, right now, there is any real justice for the violent deaths of our youth.

every thread i pick up in the story leads to more impossible questions.

why are police officers legally able to use military tactics on a house with children in it on a sunday morning…or any morning, on any house, with anyone in it?
why do the grieving faces of people on this street look so unsurprised?
and when 17-year-old Jerean Blake was killed Friday, wasn’t that equally devastating? did we do enough as a community at that moment?
do we know how to keep our children safe?
can we admit that we don’t know anything about how to be the kind of society where this could never happen?

to step back from the immediate events is to see what happens in communities who internalize the corporate military worldview that some people are expendable. the way we function as an economy that places profit first is that it’s normal for people in uniform to throw bombs into the home of civilians and shoot children.

an economy that valued people first could never justify those tactics.

i think of the children in my life – those blessed and loved and safe, and those who will never really be safe because of how the world sees them. the way aiyana died, the last minutes of her life – that is terrorism. to know that that kind of terror and pain can happen to a child in this time – IS happening to children, funded by our tax dollars, right now, in iraq, afghanistan, palestine, arizona, and here in detroit – is to understand that as things stand, there is no justice. nothing will make it right, nothing will take away the pain, nothing will heal us – and anyway, there is no time to heal. not for aiyana.

detroit police, at the behest of the detroit city government, are on the offensive in this war against our community. this is national in scope – international really. we cannot keep half-healing from the wounds inflicted on us – we have to fundamentally shift the way we participate in our lives and in the creation of our local economies and societies. we have to demand that police fundamentally shift how they are allowed to function in our communities – they must be disarmed, we must demand they focus their training on the humanity of communities, unlearning these tactics of creating devastation from a safe distance.

we have to make today’s events impossible – that is the only way to regain our humanity. then, maybe, we can use the word justice.

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles Tagged With: 48 Hours, Aiyana Stanley Jones, cops arrest little kids, Detroit police abuse, imam luqman, jerean blake, justice., Pamela Lawton, Police brutality

This is Not Good-LA’s Gang Problem Just Got Worse-Homeboy Industries Lays off Most Employees

May 14, 2010 By mrDaveyd

This is such a troubling story..We have to find a way to make sure Homeboy Industries doesn’t shut down.. Can’t we get some of these radio stations to do a a few summer jam concerts? cant Hollywood have a fund-raiser?

Gov Arnold Scwartznegger is setting us up to fail.. 300 unemployed gang members and next month he’s releasing a few thousand folks from over crowded jails .. No jobs, no money.. meanwhile we have greedy bankers getting billions-I repeat BILLIONS in bonuses..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoyMGtlC-do

L.A.’s Homeboy Industries lays off most employees

The institution dedicated to helping gang members quit lives of crime has been unable to raise the $5 million it needs. A quarter of the staff will remain.

May 13, 2010: Young man after young man hugged Fr. Greg Boyle and shoock his hand and Homeboy Industies in Los Angeles, CA May 13, 2010.

Homeboy Industries, the Los Angeles institution whose mission for more than 20 years has been to turn jobs into a recipe for saving the lives of gang members, laid off most of its employees Thursday because of crushing financial problems.

Father Gregory Boyle, who started Homeboy Industries in Boyle Heights during the height of the city’s gang wars, said 300 people were laid off, including all senior staff and administrators. Boyle said he has stopped taking a paycheck.

“We let people know so they could apply for unemployment, which I’m going to do as well,” he said.

Inside the organization’s headquarters at Alameda and Bruno streets in Chinatown, employees — many of them former gang members — took turns embracing and consoling Boyle. Young men crowded around him and promised to come back even without pay.

“We love you, G. We’ll be here tomorrow,” said one. The 55-year-old priest called it a “Frank Capra moment,” but he was noticeably dejected.

For two decades, Homeboy Industries has offered counseling, removed tattoos and helped gang members find jobs. Its motto: “Nothing stops a bullet like a job.”

But Boyle said no amount of campaigning and fundraising could make up the roughly $5 million the organization needed to operate. He said pleas for donations had resulted in some help, but not nearly enough.

He acknowledged that the people Homeboy Industries helps have always been a hard sell, and more so when the economy is struggling.

“If these were puppies or little kids, we wouldn’t be in this trouble,” he said. “But they’re tattooed gang members with records. So I think a lot of people love this place, but not the folks who can write the big checks, the ‘Save the Hollywood sign’ check.”

The only employees not laid off were more than 100 who work in the organization’s businesses, including its store, bakery and Homegirl Cafe. Boyle said that for the moment, the social services offered would continue, precariously, only because employees said they would keep coming. Eventually, like others left in the lurch by the worst economic downturn since the 1930s, many would need to find work elsewhere.

“We cobbled together payrolls since November. But it was not enough to save us,” Boyle said. “Hope has left the building a little bit. Miracles happen. They just haven’t happened for us lately.”

Still, the priest emphasized to his staff that this was not the end for Homeboy Industries.

Boyle acknowledged some blunders. When he embarked on a campaign to raise money to buy the building on Alameda Street, the organization did not factor in enough money to pay for operations that serve more than 12,000 gang members and former gang members a year, he said.

The $5 million “should have been included in our capital campaign, and it wasn’t,” Boyle said. “And that was our error…. We sort of forgot that we were going to put a program in this place.”

Homeboy Industries probably would have weathered that mistake, but then the recession struck — and the organization became busier.

“The recession happened, and everyone and his mother, every ZIP Code that has a gang had people coming here from all over the county,” Boyle said.

Homeboy Industries has gotten plaudits from influential politicians, celebrities and, increasingly, high-ranking LAPD officials — though over the years, rank-and-file officers have been critical, calling Boyle an apologist for gangbangers who don’t always change.

But Boyle has become an L.A. icon because of his work, with some supporters saying he should be considered for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Hector Verdugo, 35, a former gang member from Boyle Heights who became a top administrator at Homeboy Industries, said it was only natural that the priest’s wards would try to comfort him when they saw him crying Thursday. Together, they prayed in the lobby and vowed to return as long as they could, even without pay.

“Everyone just said, ‘Thank you, G, for bringing us this far,’ ” said Verdugo, a father of three. “But this isn’t the end. Like Father G said, this is just a pause.”

hector.becerra@latimes.com

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corners

Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Essential videos to peep, Political articles

Limewire Loses Major Case to the RIAA-But Will that make a Difference in Record Sales?

May 13, 2010 By mrDaveyd

A couple of articles to peep around the issue of file sharing…The first talks about the recent court ruling against Limewire where the RIAA is happy as heck as it validates their long held complaints about how file sharing is ruinning the music biz..

The second story is the exact opposite. It talks about how yet another study been published that shows there is no correlation between illegal downloading and record sales.. This is a hard pill to swallow for many in the industry. The thought of having to find another cause to explain low album sales is daunting for those who are still yearning for the old glory days of the industry where money and album sales was plentiful. Them days will not be returning anytime soon..

There are far too many cats in this biz who have totally forgotten about handling the basics which centers around relationships. They refuse to go out and create a solid community. Instead of seeing fans as friends and allies, they see them as mindless consumers who they accuse of morphing into despical theives when they don’t sucumb to the charms of a cheesy marketing plan. Too many executives and artists forget that a good relationship will be rewarding, not punitive.

There’s a very vocal segment of the music industry that reminds me of the proverbial loud mouth artist who is barely known on his block but will be the first to complain that his lack of success is due to downloading… He’s the first to show up and say “no’ to technology, but the last to show up and put in the hard work of shaking hands, kissing babies and leaving a lasting impression.

Everytime I hear this type of charcter whine, I feel like holding up a sign that says;

‘Son fallback..Nobody knows or cares who you are..Ain’t nobody on Limewire looking for your joints..’

Sadly in an industry full of insecurities and egos, my line of thinking will rub some the wrong way.. no matter how true the assessment.

The reality is far too many artist refuse to really put in work and sincerely reflect the realities of the people they want to purchase their music. They wanna stand around and talk big like they’re entitled to the next fat check when they never really put in work. These types of folks need to go the way of the dinosaur.

Fortunately there’s a growing segement that has learned to embrace change. These are the types that consistently take every challenging situation and turn them into a fertile opportunity.

For example, I recall LA Hip Hop pioneer Egyptian Lover talking how his peers were moaning about getting bootlegged. He said he understood early on the bootleggers were there to stay and the best thing he could do was create a situation where it could work to his advantage. Instead of woofing he said basically saw the bootleggers as a street team. They become promoters. He figured he was gonna need one earlier, might as well let the bootlegger do the work.. Egypt put on his creative thinking cap and did what so many The record labels execs and artists have forgotten to do because they’ve become too comfortable. He figure out how to ‘flip the script’.

Something to ponder

-Davey D-

LOS ANGELES — File-sharing software company LimeWire has lost a long-running court battle to the major recording companies.

A judge with the U.S. District Court in New York ruled this week that the company and its chairman, Mark Gorton, were liable for inducing copyright infringement.

The decision in the case, which began in 2006, doesn’t mean the site will shut down right away. The record labels and LimeWire are to meet with Judge Kimba Wood on June 1 to determine the next steps, such as a possible deal to work together going forward and a potential award for damages.

Recording Industry Association of America Chairman Mitch Bainwol said in a statement Wednesday that the ruling was “an extraordinary victory” against one of the largest remaining file-sharing services in the United States.

The RIAA said more than 200 million copies of LimeWire’s file-sharing software have been downloaded so far, including 340,000 in the last week alone.

The ruling could pave the way for a deal, similar to the way Napster was sued out of existence in 2000 but was reborn and is now under the ownership of Best Buy Inc. with licensing deals with all the major recording companies.

“This isn’t about getting something shut down, it’s about getting something licensed and legal,” said Steve Marks, general counsel for the RIAA.

LimeWire CEO George Searle said in a statement that while it “strongly opposes” the court’s decision, the company held out hope for a deal. The company sells an “Extended Pro” version of its free software for $34.95 a year, leaving open the possibility that a new business model could emerge in cooperation with the music industry.

“LimeWire remains committed to developing innovative products and services for the end-user and to working with the entire music industry, including the major labels, to achieve this mission,” Searle said.

original source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/12/limewire-loses-riaa-case-_n_574338.html

————————————————————————————————-

Another Study Vindicates Filesharing

By Jerry Del Colliano

http://insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com/2010/05/another-study-vindicates-filesharing.html

Steve Meyer, who as I have often said is the smartest observer of the record industry, knocked my eyes out in a recent issue of his publication Disc & DAT (Digital Audio Technology).

Yet another study that exonerates filesharing as the culprit in today’s music industry.

It’s a lack of innovation — not filesharing – that’s the conclusion.

I’m sure that doesn’t come as a surprise to you, but it may be to the record labels who are acting like it is 1999.

Professor Nico van Eijk of the University of Amsterdam conducted the latest study and his conclusion speaks volumes:

“The entertainment industry will have to work actively towards innovation on all fronts. New models worth developing, for example, are those that seek to achieve commercial diversification or that match supply and end-user needs more closely. In such a context, criminalizing large parts of the population makes no sense. Enforcement should focus on large scale and/or commercial upload activities. . . Introducing new protective measures does not seem the right way to go…”

In other words, filesharers are consuming all media especially concerts, films and games – not just copyrighted music.

I’ve linked to the 55-page report here.

Let me comment on a few of the findings my friend Steve Meyer highlighted:

“The study concludes (among other things) there “isn’t a clear relationship” between the decline in sales and file sharing, while also finding that fear of evolution prevented the recording industry from adequately adapting their business models to the broadband age. While the recording industry is having problems, argues van Eijk, it has less to do with file sharing, and more to do with the fact they’ve been “abstaining from innovation” — as the study phrases it”.

Think about it.

The labels could have bought Napster, not annihilated it, thus avoiding creation of the Napster vacuum that was promptly filled by bit torrent sites, etc.

The labels could have innovated along with Steve Jobs when the Apple CEO caught them off guard with his offer to help stop piracy. That offer was the iPod and iTunes store. He played to their fears. They allowed him to become the de facto Big Kahuna of the Record Industry.

They could have laid off streamers and come up with an easy to swallow royalty payment schedule that would have grown music consumption instead of dampened it.

Could have launched its own cloud.

Could have done Pandora itself as an industry consortium – that is, if they could have gotten along together for a minute. Bet Steve Jobs would have loved to own Pandora. Bet he still does.

A Special Message to African-Americans about the ‘Illegal Alien Invasion’

May 13, 2010 By mrDaveyd

I’ve written pretty extensively about the various attempts to divide Black and Brown communities over the immigration issue. At the root of this are racists who hate both Black and Brown but will conveniently show up and suggest to either group why they should hate and distrust the other.

Blacks are often told that Browns are taking away jobs and that gangs on the west coast are attacking us indiscriminately.

Browns are told Blacks are dangerous and will rob and kill them at any chance. Many are told that they are harder worker and better assimilated then their Black counterparts.

Lastly many corporate backed individuals and entities will seek charismatic individuals and give them a platform to espouse backward and divisive views about either race. These newly minted spokespeople are often depicted as sound leaders for the community..Divide and Conquer is the name of the game..

My man Carlos from DC aka Carlos A. Quiroz has hit the issue of Black-Brown unity for a while..We first met during a Netroots Conference in Pittsburgh.. There we discussed the issue..and did a number of interviews..

Recently Carlos dropped a hard-hitting commentary.. He’s getting ready to drop it in Spanish..Here’s what he wrote:

This video is a response to questions and suggestions sent by readers of this blog and my Youtube subscribers. Please leave a comment if you want to add some ideas to this debate. I’m speaking based on my experience as an Indigenous man who have migrated to a Black-majority city.

We all need to know who is behind the Illegal Alien Invasion scare scam. We need to understand that we Brown and Black communities need to work together to solve our real problems, we must honor our common history of struggle for equality.

Peep his blog and excellent writings.. Ponder his video message.. on the so called ‘Illegal Alien Invasion

http://carlosqc.blogspot.com/2010/05/message-to-blacks-against-illegal-alien.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRUz-xw_bjE&feature=player_embedded

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: A Special Message to African-Americans and the Illegal Alien Invasion, Blacks and Immigration, Carlos from DC, immigration reform

Hawaii Puts the Smash on Obama Birther Nuts..They Make New Law

May 13, 2010 By mrDaveyd

HONOLULU — It’s now law in Hawaii that the state government can ignore repetitive requests for President Barack Obama‘s birth certificate.

Republican Gov. Linda Lingle signed into law Wednesday a bill allowing state government agencies not to respond to follow-up requests for information if they determine that the subsequent request is duplicative or substantially similar to a previous request.

The law is aimed at so-called “birthers,” who claim Obama is ineligible to be president. They contend the Democratic president was born outside the United States, and therefore doesn’t meet a constitutional requirement for being president.

Lingle didn’t elaborate on her reasons for signing the bill, but state Health Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino previously issued statements saying that she’s seen vital records that prove Obama was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born American citizen.

Both Fukino and the state registrar of vital statistics have verified that the Health Department holds Obama’s original birth certificate.

Health Department officials supported the law because the state still gets between 10 and 20 e-mails seeking verification of Obama’s birth each week, most of them from outside Hawaii.

A few of those requesters file repeated inquiries seeking the same information, even after they’re told state law bars release of a certified birth certificate to anyone who does not have a tangible interest.

Advocates for openness in government oppose the law because they fear it could be used to ignore legitimate requests for information. The bill is SB2937.

original source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/13/obama-birth-certificate-l_n_574430.html

Here’s a bit of info for folks to ponder…that this poster shared

Im about to kill you birtherism right now. Even if Barack Obama was born in Kenya or another country do you know the law says he still would be a citizen because of his American mother. Don’t believe me here is the law:
A child born abroad to one U.S. citizen parent and one alien parent acquires U.S. citizenship at birth under Section 301(g) INA provided the citizen parent was physically present in the U.S. for the time period required by the law applicable at the time of the child’s birth. (For birth on or after November 14, 1986, a period of five years physical presence, two after the age of fourteen is required. For birth between December 24, 1952 and November 13, 1986, a period of ten years, five after the age of fourteen are required for physical presence in the U.S. to transmit U.S. citizenship to the child.

http://travel901d.his.com/law/info/info_609.html

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: Birthers, Gov. Linda Lingle, President Obama birth certificate, The bill is SB2937., They Make New Law

Attorney General Eric Holder Comes to Oakland-Speaks on Gang Injunctions, Immigration & Legalizing Weed

May 12, 2010 By mrDaveyd

Yesterday May 11th 2010, US Attorney General Eric Holder swung through the Bay Area to visit Youth Uprising in East Oakland. For those outside the Bay Area, Youth Uprising is a state of the art community center located in one of Oakland’s toughest neighborhoods. It’s been an oasis of sorts where folks gather to do everything from learn how to shoot film and make beats on down to taking classes. Everyone from Too Short to Casual of Hiero can be found there working with folks. Over the past couple of years the center has made its mark as to being a ‘go to location’ that many feel should be replicated in other cities.

Apparently Eric Holder heard about the center and wanted to come out here to visit as he and other law enforcement communities are trying to find innovative ways to quell youth violence. Holder came and met with some of the youth from the center as well as stake holders like Oakland police chief Anthony Batts, Mayor Ron Dellums, folks from the probation department, school district and grassroots organizations. Sadly many who wanted to attend, including the community orgs that have been fighting Oakland’s proposed Gang Injunction did not get a chance to get inside.

In any case below are a series of videos documenting the occasion…I got a chance to ask Holder the first question, which centered around ‘How can we solve crime when the police are out and control and the community doesn’t trust them?’ I also asked him about Oakland’s controversial gang injunction. I also got to ask a couple of the youth who met with Holder privately if the issue of police brutality came up..

During the press conference with Holder covered a variety of topics including California legalizing marijuana, Arizona’s harsh immigration law, racial profiling and the war on terror.. Below are clips from the Eric Holder event and press conference…

Clip 1– Attorney General Eric Holder came by Youth Uprising in Oakland to speak with community folks about Youth Violence. He got a tour of the place and then held a press conference. Here he addresses a number of issues. In this clip he weighs in on police brutality, gang injunctions and legalizing marijuana…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x41qeKbKo4Y

Clip-2-Eric Holder addressed a variety of issues including Arizona’s controversial immigration law SB 1070. He said it was divisive and would keep entire communities from working with Law Enforcement. He said the feds are looking to see if it violates Civil Rights laws…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUcxG6j0Jks

Clip 3– Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts and Mayor Ron Dellums talked about what they discussed in their meeting and round table with Attorney General Eric Holder. . They talked about getting fed money which would free up city money for social programs.. Chief Batts talked about various methods he wants to employ to stop crime in Oakland..

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

Clip-4-We spoke w/ Netty & Marcus during yesterday’s (May 11 2010) press conference about their meeting w/ US Attorney general Eric Holder around the issue of ending teen violence. I asked them if police brutality was an issue. They talked about Code 33 which is supposed to help youth and police interact better.. Marcus and Netty spoke about the press always focusing on bad news in Oakland.. They wanted more accountability from the press. They said it hurts people to always see Oakland depicted in a bad light.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqN1-kUrNU0

Clip-5-During US Attorney General Eric Holder‘s visit to Oakland’s Youth Uprising, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and Police Chief Anthony Batts talked about Code 33 which is a program OPD has to better interact with youth.. Chief Batts then talked about the controversial Gang Injunction which he’s has been proposed for North Oakland. I wanted to know how he will balance police suppression and preventive measures..

Mayor Ron Dellums added to the discussion and then directed his concerns about the way Bay Area media often covers Oakland casting the city in a negative light. Dellums reminded the press that their coverage impacts real people and that they should be more mindful..

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

Clip-6-We caught up w/ Def Poet and community activist Paul Flores who was in attendance when US Attorney General Eric Holder came to Oakland. Holder addressed the issue of Gang Junctions, Immigration and racial profiling.. Paul Flores felt like Holder didn’t come correct.. Here’s his response to Holder’s visit…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYQQpie__a8

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: Attorney General Eric Holder Comes to Oakland-Speaks on Gang Injunctions, Chief anthony Batts, Davey D TV, Eric Holder, Immigration & Legalizing Weed, Mayor Ron Dellums, Media reform, Social justice, Youth uprising, Youth violence

This is Beyond Sports: A Conversation w/ Chuck D & Dave Zirin on the Fight in Arizona

May 12, 2010 By mrDaveyd

http://edgeofsports.com/2010-05-11-531/index.html
“This is Beyond Sports” Chuck D on the fight in Arizona

By Dave Zirin

Dave Zirin & Chuck D

Chuck D. The Hard Rhymer. The man on the mic for the most politically
explosive hip-hop group in history, Public Enemy. With albums like “It
Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back,” “Fear of a Black Planet,”
and anthems like “Fight the Power” and “Bring the Noise” along with
the breathtaking production of the Bomb Squad, PE created a standard
of politics and art. Perhaps their most controversial track was “By
the Time I Get to Arizona” (1991) about seeking revenge against
Arizona political officials for refusing to recognize Dr. Martin
Luther King’s birthday [Lyrics include: ‘Cause my money’s spent on The
goddamn rent/Neither party is mine not the Jackass or the elephant.]
Today, in the wake of Arizona’s draconian anti-immigration Senate Bill
1070, “By the Time I Get to Arizona” has been remixed and revived by
DJ Spooky. Chuck D also recorded his own track several months before
the bill was passed called “Tear Down That Wall.” I spoke to Chuck
about the music and the nexus between immigration politics and sports.

DZ: Why did you choose to record “Tear Down this Wall?”

Chuck D: I had done “Tear Down this Wall” four or five months ago
because I heard a professor who works with my wife here on the West
Coast speak in a speech about the multi-billion dollar dividing wall
between the U.S. and Mexico, so, therefore, I based “Tear Down that
Wall” on the policy of the United States border patrol in the states
of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. I just wanted to put a
twist of irony on it saying if Ronald Reagan back in 1988 had told Mr.
Gorbachev to tear down that wall separating the world from countries
of capitalism and communism, we have a billion dollar wall right here
in our hemisphere that exists that needs to have a bunch of questions
raised. Questions like: “What the Hell?” I wrote the song about five
months ago and I did it coincidently, with all that’s brewing in the
state of Arizona. Immigration laws and racial profiling is happening
right here and I think the border situation, not only with the U.S.
and Mexico but the U.S. and Canada, on both sides is just out of
control. It’s crazy.

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

DZ: You did “Tear Down This Wall,” we have the DJ Spooky remix of “By
the Time I Get to Arizona,” and with your wife, Dr. Gaye Theresa
Johnson, you wrote a syndicated column on SB 1070. What’s the response
been to you being so out front on this issue?

Chuck D: Well the response is the usual, but I make it a habit not to
look at any blogs, because I think the font of a computer gives as
much credence to ignorance as it does to somebody who makes sense. So
I try not to read those responses, because anybody can respond
quickly. Back when people had to write letters it took an effort,
especially if someone didn’t have decent penmanship and handwriting. I
try not to look at the responses. I try to do the right thing. I tell
you this much, there is a rap contingent, a hip-hop contingent from
Phoenix, who did a remake of “By the Time I Get to Arizona.” I think
that needs to be recognized because these are young people. The song
is about eight minutes long. There’s about 12 MCs on it, and they are
putting it down. They are talking about how ridiculous this law is.
They are speaking out against it and they are putting all the facts on
the table, and they need to be acknowledged and highlighted. There is
a stereotype about young people and young MCs [being apolitical]. They
break it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Web707z2oB0

DZ: It’s remarkable how the original “By the Time I Get to Arizona”
has been resurrected from the early 90’s now that the struggle has
picked up. Did you hear former NBA player Chris Webber before the
Suns/Spurs game say, “Its like PE said ‘By the Time I get to
Arizona.’”?

Chuck D: [laughs] My Dad told me about that, You know Chris Webber is
the man. I wasn’t tuned into TNT at that particular time.

DZ: He said more than that. He said, “Public Enemy said it a long
time ago. ‘By the Time I Get to Arizona.’ I’m not surprised. They
didn’t even want there to be a Martin Luther King Day when John McCain
was in [office.]. So if you follow history you know that this is part
of Arizona politics.’” So he brought it all together with Public Enemy
at the center of it.

Chuck D: Unfortunately when it comes to culture, the speed of
technology and news today makes things out of sight, out of mind.
While these situations [the MLK fight and the immigration fights] are
different, the politics of both things stay around like a stain….
Once again Arizona has put themselves into this mix. I don’t know what
the hell was on Gov. Jan Brewer’s mind or what contingent is behind
her, but, you know, to make a decision like this and to be told to
ignore the people who have been in this area on this earth the longest
period of time. It just kind of resonates with me as being crazy.

DZ: Do you support an athletic or artistic boycott of Arizona until
this gets settled?

Chuck D: Dave, you know I do. Artists and musicians can say we’re
going to play Texas, El Paso, New Mexico, Albuquerque, and we gotta
play L.A. But we’ll skip Phoenix, Flagstaff, Tucson and the like. But
you know what this is really a challenge for: that’s Major League
Baseball. You’ve got nearly a third of the players that are Latino. If
they don’t stand up to this bill, they will actually be validating the
divide amongst Latinos [between documented and undocumented
immigrants].

At the same time they’ll also be lining themselves right
into the stereotype of what an athlete is if they don’t speak out: a
high priced slave that doesn’t say anything. And to me it’s beyond
just boycotting the All-Star game. What are those Latino players on
the Diamondbacks going to do? What are the players going to say who go
into Arizona to play against the Diamondbacks? What are they going to
say and what are they going to do? Major League Baseball has to step
up.

The NBA has very few players of Latino descent and [the Suns] are
saying something. But Major League Baseball, if they don’t say
anything, it’s crazy. The owners, the team, the league, and especially
the players, whether they come from the Dominican Republic, whether
they come from Venezuela, whether they come from Puerto Rico, they
better step up. If they don’t step up, the music industry, at least
from my area, we’re going to clown them.

For us to speak out against
this law, and basketball stepping up, and Major League Baseball not
stepping up at all?! Come on now, give me a break. And I know a lot of
the cats they live in the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico or
whatever, there’s like a trillion years difference between them and
their high salaries and the average people living in the streets. They
might build themselves a castle with a militia to protect them, but
this is the time to unite yourself with the people and at least live
in the legacy that [Major League Hall of Famer] Roberto Clemente set
of uniting people just to protect against the nonsense that the other
side can come up with. They need to know that it’s going to spread if
they don’t come up and say something about it.

DZ: Any final thoughts? Perhaps about Major League Baseball pulling
the All Star Game out of Phoenix?

Chuck D: At the end of the day man, sports is really not that
important compared to people living their everyday lives. Say you have
a Major League player, and he happens to play for another team, or he
happens to play for the Diamondbacks and he gets pulled over because
people think he’s an illegal immigrant. Then all of a sudden that’s
when the “ish” finally hits the fan? Come on. This is beyond sports.
We want athletes to speak up because they have advantages. They have
everyday coverage. They’re covered by a person that has a mic and a
camera in their face, and this is the time to step up. Major League
Baseball pulling the All-Star game out of Arizona should be the least
of it.

[Dave Zirin is the author of the forthcoming “Bad Sports: How Owners
are Ruining the Games we Love” (Scribner) Receive his column every
week by emailing dave@edgeofsports.com. Contact him at
edgeofsports@gmail.com.]

Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: alto arizona, Boycott arizona, By the Time I get back to Arizona, Dave Zirin, Diamond Backs, Edge of Sports, illegal alien, illegal immigrant, immigration reform, SB 1070, Tear Down That Wall, This is Beyond Sports: A Conversation w/ Chuck D & Dave Zirin on the Fight in Arizona

Drill Baby Drill-Would It be Socialism if We ‘Bail Out’ Those Impacted by this BP Disaster?

May 11, 2010 By mrDaveyd

Watching this Gulf Oil spill and realizing that when everything is said and done, the economy and the ecology of the Gulf Coast states are gonna be ruined for years. It’s been 21 years since the Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound up in Alaska and we are still finding contaminated water, so you can only imagine what’s gonna happen here. After all, with the Valdez spill everything was concentrated in one spot. Here with the BP spill its spread over a larger area.

21 years after the Valdez spill, much of the wildlife including, Harlequin Ducks, Sea Otters, Clams and Pacific Herrings have not returned. So as I’m watching this black gooey oil wash up on the shores of Louisiana and Alabama, I’m recalling that the Gulf of Mexico is one of the most fertile fishing grounds in the world and already there is ban on fishing in large parts where the oil has leaked. Its hard not to think about radio host Rush Limbaugh on the air spewing pure ignorance by telling everyone to not worry about the spill. He said we should ‘let the ocean work it out’ and if a few ducks get hurt, then too bad because people are taking a hit as well…

I guess its pretty easy to be so cavalier in the face of an environmental disaster of this magnitude when you make millions of dollars and have the luxury of bouncing out to another state or country when things get too heated. If by chance a guy like Rush has to stick around he has more than enough money to buy what ever scarce supplies of food that’s around. His economic reality is not the same as the millions who will most be effected by this oil spill.. Here’s talk show host Ed Shultz giving a run down of ridiculiness of Limbaugh’s remarks..

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

Is it 'socialism' if we go to help those impacted by this oil spill?

The people who are likely to be most affected by this disaster are poor folks who are barely making it. It’s important to keep in mind that many of the Gulf Coast states are among the poorest in the country. What many may find to be a bit ironic is how many of these poor folks have allowed themselves to be seduced by corporate backed, rich media turds like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Michael Savage to name a few, who have railed about the ‘evils of socialism‘ and the ‘redistribution of wealth‘. This has resulted in lots of people who don’t have a whole lot of wealth running around holding signs protesting that President Obama is a socialist and how we here in America don’t need like Cuba or China.’.

Certainly, y’all remember the healthcare debates and Tea Party rallies with all those signs? I’m wondering if all those sign waving folks who are angry and fearful of socialism, tax payer supported bailouts and wealth re-distribution will turn down any sort of financial help being offered by the government in the wake of this oil disaster? If they were upset when tax dollars went to bailout the banks and auto industry, will they be mad if tax dollars are used to bail them out of this ecological disaster?

Is it fair to point out that many of these Tea Party types impacted by this oil spill are also the same folks who told us that they don’t want the government in their business. You’ve heard the rhetoric. The aforementioned corporate backed media personalities have railed and frightened people into demanding that the government NOT put restrictions on big business. They’re the ones that sat up there yelling ‘Drill Baby Drill‘ and were in lock step with politicians like Michael Steele, Sarah Palin, Rudy Guiliani and Newt Gingrich who first uttered the refrain. Y’all remember this right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRtuKGS-QXU&feature=related

These folks said they didn’t want any government regulation and the end result was a company like BP having one of the worse safety records in the industry. I’m wondering if Gulf State Tea Partiers realize or even care that BP spent millions lobbying politicians so they didn’t have to comply with strict safety standards … The government stayed away, and these idiots went and ruined the ecology and economy of an already fragile system.. People can check out this interview and news story.. http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/5/bp_funnels_millions_into_lobbying_to.

With all this in mind, should we be helping people who have ferociously campaigned and done everything in their power to shun government help and involvement? If Socialism was bad last summer during the healthcare debates when people were bum-rushing townhall meetings, shouldn’t it be bad a year later even as we are opening the coffers to help victims of this Gulf Oil Spill? The humanity in me says help these people anyway. That’s what someone with any sense of humanity would do. However, should we be reminding folks that the help being offered is what they have campaigned against?

Many who live in these impacted regions are quick to point out that America is a Christian nation and thus it would be Christ-like to help those who are without..My question is a year from now will those folks who getting helped be running with ‘I hate Socialism’ signs? If we are using tax payer money to bail them out from the Drill Baby Drill policies they supported is that a form of socialism? Should we be like Marie-Thérese from way back in the days during the French revolution and tell people suffering in the Gulf ‘Let them eat cake’? Should we insist that people own up to their words? Should we demand that those politicians who who pushed hard to eliminate government oversight take care of this situation sans our tax dollars and will the people in those regions be satisfied?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pZtCzGbsfU

As we close out, it would be wrong for me not ask ‘Where’s PETA in all this? Forget about some actress wearing a fur to an award show, wildlife was and is being slaughtered in the Gulf thanks to this BP Spill… I would expect to see them picketing the homes of BP officials alerting us to the fact that their corporate negligence led this environmental disaster. Next time anyone sees one of their members them ask if they’ll be hitting up these major killers of wildlife? Until then ask yourself. should be ‘bailing out’ victims of this BP environmental disaster-after all we wouldn’t to force any sort of socialist action on them…

Something to Ponder..

Davey D

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: BP Oil, Drill baby Drill, Drill Baby Drill-Would It be Socialistic if We Bail Out Those Impacted by this BP Disaster?, Michael Steele, Newt Gingrich, PETA, President Obama, Rudy Guiliani, Sarah Palin, Socialims, socialism

Seattle Officer Kicks & Hurls Racial Epithets at Innocent Man-Is This What’s In store for Arizona?

May 9, 2010 By mrDaveyd

As I watched this video of a young Latino brother being detained and kicked in the head while a white officer makes hurls some sort of racial epithet at him, the first thing that came to mind is what may be in store for all those folks in Arizona who may find themselves in similar situations…It’s one thing when an elderly person is pulled over, but when young teenagers are stopped and detained in way too many instances the cops go off.. For those apologist and disbelievers who think what I’m saying is far fetched..I invite them to look at the policies that started under LA police chief William H Parker where he recruited officers from the South who held racist attitudes and made it a point to make sure officers engaged young Black and Brown folks by age 15 to make sure they understood the police were the ones in charge.

Those policies continued under police Chief Daryl Gates who passed away two weeks ago. Both Gates and Parker are seen as iconic and many departments adapted their policing policies. How this relates to this Seattle situation is that what is shown on this video is outrageous to some but all too familiar to folks in the hood, many who can tell you horror stories of being roughed up by police at young ages. We see this here in the video where the man in question is innocent and yet offered no apology or medical attention. What’s gonna happen with detainees in Arizona?

The other thing that was disturbing was seeing a Black and woman office on the scene doing nothing. The woman officer actually partakes in the brutality. The Black officer doesn’t do anything. It would be interesting to see what he and other officers reported. Did they note the abuse or lie in their reports? Should there be some sort of law on the books to make it a crime if an officer sees another officer commit a crime and not say anything? In any case many of us fought to have more women and people of color on the force thinking they would bring a sensitivity and attitude that would help change entrenched cultural practices… Not seeing those two officers intervene makes you wonder if all those efforts were wasted..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g1uvG5WoX0

Seattle Detective Apologizes for Racial Epithet

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/seattle-detective-shandy-cobane-apologizes-for-racial-epithet-beating/19469856?ncid=webmaildl1

(May 8) — A Seattle police officer offered a tearful apology after being caught on camera kicking an innocent man and using a racial epithet.
The video shows a group of officers standing around three men who are lying on the ground. Seattle Police Detective Shandy Cobane shouts, “I’m going to beat the [expletive] Mexican [expletive] out of you homey! You feel me?”

Cobane later kicks the man in the head and another cop kicks him in the hand.

The detective sobbed as he gave a news conference on Friday to apologize to the Latino community, his colleagues and the city of Seattle, The Seattle Times reported.

“I know my words cut deep and were very hurtful,” Cobane said. “Please know that I am truly, truly sorry.”

The video was shot by a freelance videographer at around 2 a.m. on April 17.

The incident in question took place as officers were investigating an armed robbery in Seattle’s Westlake neighborhood. The 911 call reporting the crime had described the suspects as Hispanic

The man attacked was not involved in the robbery. After officers let him go, the freelance videographer asked the unidentified man why he had been beaten.

“I don’t know. They knocked me down and kicked me in the head,” he responded.

Cobane and another officer have been placed on administrative leave. The city’s police department is carrying out an internal investigation, according to the Times.

Seattle police learned of the event a few days after the incident, and launched the investigation soon after, according to the AP.

Cobane, a 15-year veteran of the police force, said he never imagined he would “do anything to bring such notoriety to my department. Sadly, I did.”

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles Tagged With: Detective Shandy Cobane, police abuse, Seattle Officer Kicks & Hurls Racial Epithets at Innocent Man-Is This What's In store for Arizona?

Un-American America (Why Fear-Mongering is So Damn Frightening)

May 7, 2010 By mrDaveyd

Freelance Journalist Nida Khan

We are living in precarious and dangerous times. The economy remains unstable, joblessness is continuously skyrocketing, development is stagnant and unpredictable circumstances around the world are exacerbating the fears of many. But what is also quietly bubbling underneath the surface is a far more treacherous and detrimental push for a shift in American psychology that in effect undermines the core principles upon which this great nation was founded. It is the concerted, conscious effort to stoke the qualms of many with a great divide that is once again pitting ‘us’ against ‘them’. Except this time, the ‘them’ could virtually be you, me or any one who slightly looks as if he/she doesn’t belong.

For the past few days, we have been inundated with images of the now infamous failed Times Square car bomb suspect, Faisal Shahzad. What began as a thorough search for the person or persons involved in this foiled attempt has culminated into a drastic transformation in dialogue that is establishing dangerous precedent for many to be presumed guilty on the basis of their national origin, familial ancestry or travel records.

Faisal Shahzad

When authorities first released footage of an initial suspect over the weekend, the vast majority of broadcasters and reporters stayed clear of mentioning this man’s race. Save for a few exceptions, the bulk of coverage on all three major networks – conservative Fox News, more liberal MSNBC and ‘fair and balanced’ CNN – weren’t focusing on this man’s Whiteness, but rather leading with copy like ‘officials are seeking a middle-aged man seen here’ or ‘they are searching for a man in his 40’s’. Fast-forward to Mr. Shahzad and all you see blaring across your TV screen is this man’s ethnicity and ties to another land far far away off in the distance somewhere. But it isn’t only Pakistanis or Pakistani Americans that should be deeply concerned about this troubling imaging and change in verbiage.

This past month, Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona signed the most controversial immigration bill in our country’s history. Literally institutionalizing and justifying racial profiling, this SB 1070 legislation transferred immense authority into the hands of local police that are often-times notorious for their biased behavior and poor judgment (one needs to only look at NJ were racial profiling was found even at the state police level). But what is even more troubling than the potential backlash against all minorities in Arizona, is the ripple effects this is having across the nation. Several other states are already pursuing their own versions of immigration ‘reform’ which amount to nothing more than criminalizing and dehumanizing certain groups of people. The politicians and pundits that are pushing this anti-immigrant message need to be reminded of the intricate benefits that immigrants from all over the world have bestowed upon the United States and the plethora of ways in which they continue to do so. If the backers of this SB 1070 wanted to be truly honest, they might as well say ‘if you’re not White, show me proof you belong here’ – because that’s literally what this bill means.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8EKhl4-bCA&feature=player_embedded

Everyone is familiar with the inscription on our symbolic emblem of freedom, the statue of liberty, that reads in part: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”. But ask yourselves, how did we go from that optimistic, inclusive message to one filled with fear mongering, division and a sense of entitlement? If you are Brown, Black or tan in Arizona, who’s to say your family members weren’t here before the area even received statehood in 1912? And as some on the right push for all Pakistanis and all Muslims – whether citizens or not – to be monitored and watched, they are in fact turning back the clock on decades of progress.

If they espouse that we ‘end political correctness’ by questioning everyone who ‘doesn’t look like us’, what is to become of our inalienable rights that led the vast majority here in the first place? For those who do not see the ominous bias in our mainstream press when it comes to coverage of others versus coverage of so-called natives, just watch and observe over the coming days, weeks and months as Shahzad’s background is probed and dissected. But unlike when Timothy McVeigh slaughtered scores and injured hundreds, the focus won’t be on his own troubled life (which includes the recent loss of his home and other economic troubles), but it will instead be on any ties to extremist elements.

Was isn't Joseph Stack considered a terrorist even though he flew his plane into an IRS building?

Now in no way am I condoning his behavior or stating that he didn’t have ties to any groups in Pakistan, but what I am doing is reminding people that when Joseph Stacks flew a plane into an IRS building less than three months ago and killed an African American man, he was not labeled a terrorist. And yet this foiled attempt in Times Square, where nothing thankfully happened, will almost certainly create a backlash for Pakistanis, Muslims or anyone that resembles them.

As the jargon gains momentum with talk of homegrown terrorists and the cells within, we have to wonder, are we at stake here to slowly lose all of our basic fundamental civil liberties? There is now even talk from politicians like Senator Joe Lieberman pushing for legislation that would strip anyone accused of terrorism of his/her citizenship. But if terror and terrorism are terms used at our own discretion, do we now hold the power to determine one’s allegiance, patriotism or love of country? If we can now be stopped in Arizona simply for jay walking and asked to ‘produce our papers’, isn’t that creating and justifying bigotry and racism? Are these consistent regressive maneuvers a reaction to an ever-unstable economic future? Or is it something more nefarious at play? When did the United States of America became a land of ‘us’ verses everyone else?

These are indeed volatile times, and we should all be very, very afraid.

written by Nida Khan

Nida Khan is an independent journalist and producer working in both print and radio. She is currently a news correspondent with WRKS 98.7 Kiss FM NY, and is a member of the production team of Rev. Al Sharpton’s nationally syndicated broadcast, ‘Keeping it Real’. Nida previously served as the Editor-in-Chief of elan: The Guide to Global Muslim Culture, and has contributed pieces for such diverse outlets as the Associated Press, Alternet.org, DUB Magazine, Lifetimetv.com, The Source Magazine, The Women’s Media Center and more. hit her up at

twitter.com/NidaKhanNY

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: Faisal Shahzad, Governor Jan Brewer, Nida Khan, Terrorism, Times sqaure bombing, Timothy McVeigh, Un-American America (In These Times We Should All be Very Afraid), Un-American America (Why Fear Mongering is So Damn Frightening)

Categories

This is such a troubling story..We have to find a way to make sure Homeboy Industries doesn’t shut down.. Can’t we get some of these radio stations to do a a few summer jam concerts? cant Hollywood have a fund-raiser?

Gov Arnold Scwartznegger is setting us up to fail.. 300 unemployed gang members and next month he’s releasing a few thousand folks from over crowded jails .. No jobs, no money.. meanwhile we have greedy bankers getting billions-I repeat BILLIONS in bonuses..

L.A.’s Homeboy Industries lays off most employees

The institution dedicated to helping gang members quit lives of crime has been unable to raise the $5 million it needs. A quarter of the staff will remain.

Another Study Vindicates Filesharing

Seattle Detective Apologizes for Racial Epithet