RSSAnatomy of a Gangster Part 2
i’m thinking about making this either a 3 or 5 part series.. maybe i’m on my R. Kelly ish right now, but i’m inspired to blog again.. to blog with purpose.. please check part 1 for an understanding of how we got to this point..
i’m having more and more philosophical conversations.. i love them, but i’m saddened after a lot of them.. just because of how we allow the media to be our education.. i recently said in a conversation that placing blame is the American way.. from Bush on down to the Imus situation.. when we can’t own up to something, we place blame elsewhere.. we can’t find Osama, let’s go to Iraq.. we make racist statements, let’s blame hip-hop.. we use the n-word 6 times during a taped recording to our son, and we respond by going on a show no Black people watch and claim that we are Black too.. come on now.. we find excuses.. and the society allows it to go clean.. Imus got off big time, just by blaming hip-hop.. from a man that doesn’t even listen to hip-hop.. blame hip-hop if you’re truly influenced by it.. and influence is not hearsay.. blame hip-hop when you have all of Snoop’s albums and a copy of any NWA album.. i’ll start buying your story a bit more..
but this doesn’t surprise me.. i look at this country, my place of residence, as a nation of followers.. we go where the wind blows us.. we are educated by the “idiot” box.. not by publications such as The Economist, Hidden Agenda (R.I.P.), TROUBL, but nah, CW11 and MSNBC.. that’s our reference point.. beginning and end.. and it’s sad.. a nation of followers.. a minority of leaders..
let that marinate.. a minority of leaders.. double edged sword.. a mouth full of marbles.. call it what you want, but that’s where my head is at in this country.. we are a minority of leaders.. meaning, our leaders are minorities.. both in the sense of far and few between as well as in the sense of our community..
i’m cool with both sides of that coin that i just flipped.. seriously.. there shouldn’t be a gang of leaders running around.. but there should be a team of them.. and i think we can make it happen.. self-reflection.. reflection eternal.. look in the mirror people.. some of us are chosen.. it’s time for us to accept that calling, instead of waiting for others to take or make a step.. if you’re not a leader, it’s not a bad thing.. all leaders need a team to help carry them to the promised land.. i played on a squad that had a few, but i was the point.. it was my job to lead other talented cats.. they believed in me, and i believed in them, and we made some nice memories.. put the ego to the side.. i ain’t pressed.. we ain’t pressed.. together we pressed on to make a difference..
as minorities, we are leaders.. think about it.. we’re placed at the bottom, and it takes a leader to climb out of that.. so look around, and see how many of us have made it out.. that’s not by coincidence.. it’s innate.. it’s what we do.. for every 1000 of us, it’s 1 of them.. i made that up.. but it feels right.. maybe i’m off by a few more 0’s.. who knows.. but it can’t be far from the truth.. we can do this if we want to.. we have to..
just the other day another kid was shot in BK.. for having a hair brush in his hand that was assumed to be a gun.. i don’t know the whole story, cuz i’m waiting for someone i trust to cover it.. it’s all over the news, but i ain’t buying any of it just yet.. the fact remains that an unarmed child got killed.. point blank.. not a man.. a child.. by individuals who are trained to assess the situation and act accordingly.. why are we continuing to get killed by cops? why are we shooting to kill? can we at least aim for a knee cap or something? or maybe it is about there being so many cops shooting, that one will eventually be a kill shot? them dudes doing the shooting are followers, though.. they followed their colleagues.. doing what their colleagues did decades before them..
i’m going to stop promising getting moving on some of these town hall meetings and just make them happen.. what do i have to lose? my business? come on, i have people coming for that every day.. and they are doing a good job of stopping my business.. i remain resilient, even during times of weakness.. i’m strengthened by my sense of self-worth.. so again, what do i have to lose? my sanity?? nah, never that.. the strong survive, and i’m built strong.. trust me on that.. i’ll lose my sanity by remaining the status quo.. i know that for a fact.. i have family members who are a testament to that.. there are dudes from the South Side of Chicago, that i no longer can call my friends because they remained with and amongst the status quo until they met their demise..
our community is a community of mirrors.. that’s just real talk.. i walk down the streets and see the same thing.. if that ain’t a mirror, i don’t know what is.. i see my reflection in a bunch of them.. in dang near all of them.. pieces of myself.. cuz i refuse to see what others see.. what others feel.. i don’t see drug dealers and ball players.. i see business men and talent.. call me naive if you want, but that’s what i see.. i see the good in us.. i just deal with the bad.. but i’ma stop dealing with that nonsense.. i’m going to influence the nonsense.. so i’m writing these words to be my own line in the sand.. my own reflection point.. it’s out there, so i gotta follow up on it..
we have the anatomy to be a leader.. we sit on the graves of hundreds of them.. we walk alongside hundreds more.. self-reflection.. we gotta start from within..
our community.. our friends.. our families.. ourselves..
let that marinate..
Fuzion
6 Comments, Comment or Ping
Malia
Whoah!!!!! VERY NICE WRITE!!!!! I will have to make a habit of reading your posts!!!! You got me on the edge of my seat and the comic relief in such a serious piece has a great edge!!!! Bravo *standing ovation*
[Reply]
mrschocolatestuff
when i heard to story about the mentally ill kid being shot the first thing i thought is that he was a fool sans the mental illness. you hear on the 911 call he’s yelling that he has a gun and the mother said you heard it from his mouth, not mine… then he runs out with a BLACK brush on his person at NIGHT. our streets are not so well lit (esp in the hood) to the point where you can clearly identify a brush, from a comb, from a gun, from a stick. you can’t. in the dark, cops approcah, tell you to stay still and you keep on in addition to pointing something at them- yeah, they are going to shoot. my issue here is the amount of shots- what’s up with shooting in the kneecap or foot these days??
there is a part of me that says he planned his demise. he was obsessed with death and dying and i’m sure his illness played a huge part in this. demons, voices, struggles, trying to cope with daily life can definitely put a person in the ground either by their own hand or by someone else’s…
the hispanic and black boys here are dumb. have you heard of our girls being shot up like this? nope. there’s nothing wrong with a group of them hanging out but it’s what they are doing during the hanging out that causes the problems…and a huge majority think they are Scarface anyway- they are invincible and quite frankly, to them, it’s cool to have been shot at least twice in your life. the key is living to tell about it.
[Reply]
KEVIN DAVY
Mrs. Chocolate, I would never condone the unwarranted shooting of an unarmed man, but you New Yorkers have a pretty special idea of how the law works. It is kind of like the game we played in nursery school, red light, green light.
Cops show up.
You have a gun.
Cop says freeze.
You run with the gun.
You just broke the rules. In my mind, you just gave the police officer the right to tax your ass.
Why do we only hear these stories out of New York/New Jersey? What makes the brothers think that when the cops say freeze, they can run their silly asses up and down the street waving guns.
I advocate a bullet for your ass if you do. I will be at the protest of the protest to punish a police officer who would like to return home to his family, but has the ability to do that threatened because a damn fool- and to hell with the race, any damn fool- is running up and down the street with a loaded gun with the intent to use it.
Please explain New York to me. I have been to Ithaca and to Atlantic City and I still can’t quite get it, but it seems illogical to post articles such as this one. To me- and probably to many of us, the brother must have failed the game “red light, green light” Should have paid attention during nursery school.
[Reply]
Mikie R
You can also add we have become a society that does not think for ourselves. It starts when “we” get our first jobs at fast food. Don’t think wait until the buzzer goes off and then remove the fries. As a real question as to what someone really thinks and you will get the same rehash as you mentioned
[Reply]
Mikie R
That some thing or some being is behind the dulling of the minds of humanity. It is very systematic if you think about it. GPS has taken the thinking out of actively driving…mmm.
Oprah tells us what books to read…mmm…ever thought about that? Do the books she recommend have value or promote values? Or or they just entertaining? Nothing wrong with being entertained. The problem I have overall is with all the resources available news organizations has stopped providing accurate info.
We are being treated like cattle lead to the slaughter. MOOOO…MOOOOO… Moooo…
[Reply]
Q.
Kevin:
It appears that you missed the main point of this piece.. It really isn’t about the kid getting shot, but we can talk about those facts.. In the words of Val Kilmer in Tombstone, I’ll be your Huckleberry..
For me, we know that misinformation was provided by the media and the police.. Longer transcripts were provided about the 911 call.. Even the 911 operator called back to make sure he had a gun.. When she found out that he didn’t have a comb, that was relayed.. BUT, i also understand that during the time period, maybe that wasn’t relayed to the police..
My main issue is that these officers are supposedly trained to act and react responsively without using deadly force.. Your point of it always happening in NYC adds fuel to the fire in my opinion.. These dudes should be used to this, and have experience, but each time it’s 20, 30, 50, 70 shots.. 4, 10, 20 officers.. Why? For a child? and let’s not get it twisted, this is one of the few instances where a child comes out saying he has a gun.. Many of the other times, it was shoot first, ask later.. a wallet.. no wallet.. hands in pockets, hands out of pockets..
This has to be talked about and brought to light.. Why not have only the 1st officers on the scene being given the authority to shoot, rather than 80 cops all shooting at the same time? Where are the leaders??
Just my thoughts..
Malia, thank you for the kind words..
Q.
[Reply]
Reply to “Anatomy of a Gangster Part 2”
SEE ALSO
♦ Q - Anatomy of a Gangster
November 9, 2007
♦ TROUBLMan - Black Zombies
June 20, 2008
♦ Q - Anatomy of a Gangster Part 3
December 24, 2007
♦ Q - Anatomy of a Gangster: Our Own
January 21, 2008
♦ Terry - The Difference
January 16, 2008