Again, Big City Killing

Amadou

Oh yes they've killed a Black Man

Not just any but a native Afrikan

Oh yes they've shown they are true Blue

a slaughter by authority, Police who are supposed to protect you

He they say looked like a suspect

Here they show their lack of respect

Does every Black Man have to fit their profile

let us think on this for a while

Oh mother, they've taken your son

We pray he is not the only one

Oh father what should a village do?

Avenge a son, or let god handle this one

For in their scale justice is line with enamel and steel

and there is no impression of a fair deal.

Oh yes, they've killed a Black Man

---by the Pollitikat © 1999

This poem was written in response to the shooting of 24 year old Amadou Diallo, who was killed after being shot 19 times by four police officers in the Bronx, on Feb. 4, 1999. Here the officer said they thought Diallo was reaching for a gun when he put his hands in his pocket and fired a total of 41 rounds. The gun turned out to be his wallet, which he was taking out to show officer his identification. Officers shot Amadou as he was standing in his vestibule. These officers were found not guilty.

I am writing this because of the incidents that took place in November 25, of 2006 early in the morning in the midst of a family celebration. Once again we seem to have trigger happy officers over reacting in a situation that should have been easily controllable.   Five people held a gun on three people sitting in a car. How many times are we going to accept the "I thought I saw a gun defense?" Shouldn't an officer be sure he sees a gun before he starts shooting at someone. I am disturbed whenever I hear police saying their lives are at risk. Would someone please remind them that police officers chose to be police officers. No one is forcing them. They could just as easy get a job doing something else. By choosing to be an officer they volunteer their lives in service. Also they get extensive training to think and work in situations of extreme pressure, I know they are not just given a gun and turned onto the streets.

Recruit Hasselbeck From "The View" For Combat In Iraq

Posted on "The View" website - march 19, 2007

Hey Joy, I agree with you all the time. OK most of the time, but I really can't think of anything that I have disagreed with you on right now. You are so funny and poignant. I love your candid speech and insight. I love that you always come with the facts, putting on your glasses to make sure you get it right. Maybe our president should do that, huh. I don't know if you read my previous email about Elisabeth volunteering to fight in Iraq but I am wondering why no one has confronted her with it. see that's the problem, you still try to be nice, when Elisabeth is ruthless. typical democrat/republican relationship. She does not care who is insulted or hurt by her idiocy, she believes what she wants without ever really doing any research. She only goes where she knows she is going to get the answer to validate her warped views. Elisabeth is like our media, who sold out the country and did not do any research about Bush's claims about Iraq and terror. that is what she represents to me, an ignoramus. 

Before I said that she should go ahead and sign up as a volunteer for the war, as many of our citizens have, some even losing their lives. Elisabeth is the worst kind of person because she is in favor of sending people of to die for a lie, and even though she knows it was a lie she still does not care. She still wants young men and women to die for the lie. How could Elisabeth support the troops and not acknowledge that the troops are dying because Bush lied. Hey Lizzy "BUSH LIED". 

IS HIP HOP DEAD?

I know that in my first posting it sounded like I was saying that Hip Hop died, but by no means am I saying that. I strongly feel however that hip hop is on life support. I know that some people may have a certain connection with different parts or eras of hip hop, so when I speak on the subject I want you to know that I am giving consideration to the different age groups that listen to hip hop and what it may mean to different people of different age. I think you can appreciate hip hop without identifying with or celebrating all aspects of it. I do understand that it is the total package that makes up the culture we call hip hop. Hip hop is entertaining, like Sugar Hill Gang and Will Smith , Doug E. Fresh, or Dana Dane. It is political like Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five or Public Enemy and funky like Afrika Bambaata, . We even have our roots in the burbs, with Run-Dmc. I could go on and on. No matter where it came from it was raw and what people were thinking and feeling, what I'm saying is that we've had many voices but these days I feel like everyone is saying the same thing. Sex, Drug, Violence. Yeah some say my music is different, its real, it me, but then they turn around and make a record with every sucker out there. Where is the realness. Since when did Hip Hop become bragging about your bling and exploiting women. We have always had our hard core rappers, Slick Rick, Rakim, the D.O.C. and NWA. 

Today, you have up and comers rapping about what they heard the other guy say and every other word is a curse. How did the rappers of old do it without cursing so much. I am not saying that you shouldn't be able to, but is that all you have to say. I love Hip Hop, I used to party at Skate Key when they had the spring jams, and T-Connection. I grew up in the Bronx. I've gone through all the phases, and I can see the deterioration, and yes I see the hope too. Hip Hop is our baby, and I want better for my baby. I don't have any hangups about language or content, but it is about skills, credibility and authenticity. Hip Hop needs to go back to it's roots. What people seem to be in denial about is the impact that today's Hip Hop culture is having on our youth. Today's artist forget that they were once young. They can say it's up to parents but remember when you were young and all you wanted to do was hear the songs. You listened at a friends house, at a party, or at school. You listened when your parents weren't at home or in your room late at night. It drew you in. I am grateful for the old school, they gave Hip Hop its foundation, what has the new school offered to the culture. We can blame it on the record labels and distributors, but that argument held water in the early days, not today. If rappers really had a desire to change the situation they would have begun their own distributing by now. If only they didn't waste their money on bling!!