A Requiem for Sean Bell

Perspective is defined as the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance.

After the Sean Bell shooting I was able to gain some perspective. Let me share it with you.

Sean Bell was intoxicated when he hit the minivan that the undercover cops were in. This by no means justifies Mr. Bell and his friends getting shot at fifty plus times. This fact gives me perspective.

Mr. Bell was arrested (but never convicted) of dealing drugs and gun possession. This fact also gives me perspective.

At the time of the shooting neither Mr. Bell nor anyone in his party had a weapon. This fact also gives me perspective.

I mentioned those two facts because they were taken into consideration when the judge handed down the acquittal last week. Whether he cares to admit it or not Bell’s past was taken into consideration.

What I’ve learned from this case is that people who support the cops feel that Bell’s past is relevant to his creditability. Basically in some people’s minds all the cops did was kill another drug dealer. On the other hand people who see past the surface see that the cops used excessive force in that situation.

My POV is as follows. I feel that the cops did use excessive force. I feel that the cops should serve some kind of time for man-slaughter. Now I’m not saying the cops should be locked up for life but they should serve some kind of time.

But here’s what I see in the BIG PICTURE. If you are a man (or woman) of color and a police officer kills you, the chance of that officer being punished for that crime are SLIM to NIL. That basically means that ex-cons or anyone with an arrest record has fewer rights in a court of law than a person who doesn't have a criminal record, based on creditability alone. Now please by no means do I think this is fair. I am just stating what I’ve observed.

So what is the lesson here? The lesson is that young black men (and women) need to keep their records clean because if they don’t their lives can be snuffed out without a single thought by the same people we pay to protect us.


My Final Thought.

The day of the verdict I had one of the best conversations when an 11 year old kid in a book store. We were in the comic book section and I was explaining how Captain America didn't know at first that Winter Solider was really Bucky and various comic book geek stuff. After I left the store I was filled with a bittersweet feeling. At first I was kind of taken back that I was able to talk to a kid and I wondered if that was how conversations would go if I was to have a son. Then I thought about all the things I would have to explain to him and then I started to think of Mr. Bell.

How does a parent explain to their child the cops can kill an unarmed man and not be punished? Is this the kind of world I want to bring a child into?

Still here.

After the results of last night's PA Democratic Primary I have come to realize that Hillary Clinton would be an ideal choice for the VP slot. Maybe she can raise some money to get out of debt now that she's won PA.

By the way why is it that Obama was able to raise more money than Hillary after losing Ohio and tying in Texas? Hmmmm...

Now I know some of you are saying. But wait Doc, she's won all the BIG states? Who decides what a BIG STATE is? How do you think the people in S. Carolina, Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware, Vermont, Mississippi, Louisiana, Minnesota and Kansas (just to name a few) feel that the media and Hillary Clinton think their states AREN'T CONSIDERED BIG.

Big is another word the media is using for industrial. See Obama has won a lot of states that the Democrats gave up on during the last election cycle. Last time around it was all about RED STATES vs. BLUE STATES. Now it’s about BIG vs. LITTLE.

But what this really is about is the Electoral College. Hillary has won in the states in where the Electoral College vote is HIGH. In theory you can win the presidency by just winning only 15 states? How unfair would it be if you won all the other states but your EC count didn't match up? This whole system needs an enema.

Speaking of systems…….There are a lot of children that are going to be put in through the system because they were born to people who felt it was their religious duty to be separated from the outside world. How cool was it that a black woman from Colorado was the one who dropped dime on these fools. Heh just leave it to a sista to pull salt in the game huh? I feel sorry people but I cannot help but to draw a similarity between these people and the Taliban. The only difference is the women in the Texas Mormon cult wear prairie dresses and the women under the Taliban wear burqas. It amazes me how we sit in judgment of other people’s religions but yet we have the SAME SH*T going on under our noses.

Sometimes the hypocrisy is enough to make me vomit.

Did someone say bitter?

So let me get this right? April 6th Obama was in San Francisco and made the following comment:

"You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and no thing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

And then everyone took what he said out of context. So am I to believe that people in small towns and some cities across this country aren't bitter because the factories have shut down and there are no jobs because they've been outsourced?

At best his words may have been harsh. What word should he have used? Angry? Disenchanted? Unhappy?

Can we cut the bullshit for just once? Who wouldn't be bitter about there being NO JOBS in their community?

But let’s get to the last part. “-they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

If that statement came out of Rush Limbaugh’s mouth would it have been taken out of context?

So after watching the debate I’ve come to a conclusion. Barack Obama has been vetted enough by the press. They dug up people he’s been loosely associated with, they havegone on about him not wearing a flag pin, they have criticized his pastor and the church he’s a member of and through all of this I have realized one thing.

NONE OF THESE THINGS HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH HIS VARIOUS POSITIONS ON THE ISSUES.

Question: When Hillary calls Obama an elitist is that code for Uppity Negro?

Random thoughts

I just finished watching Randy Pausch's Last Lecture (the condensed version).

I found it to be very inspiring. For some reason it made me think of the late Bill Hicks. On Feb. 26 1994 Bill died of pancreatic cancer. Bill in some ways did what Dr. Pausch with an album titled Arizona Bay. Which is an absolute classic. In some ways that album was his last lecture. Check it out when you have the time. Bill Hicks in my opinion is probably in the top five on my list of the greatest comics of all time. He was truly a visionary and WAY ahead of his time.

Question: Is America ready to have a black first lady?

In my humble opinion, I don't think America knows what's in store for them if Michelle Obama becomes first lady. Let me explain. Michelle Obama is a black woman, please note I did not say African-American I said BLACK. Yes people there is a difference.

If you've read her senior thesis you would understand what I mean. Let's just say that she is not one to be f*cked with and I hope the Washington press core understands that she will cut a muthaf*cka that steps out of line.

Our Story....

What if I told you a story about a white girl who grew up in the hood, ran with gangs and dealt drugs, all while in the care of a black foster mother. Now what if I told you this same girl wrote a book?

Here's the catch. It's all a lie. Margaret B. Jones aka Margaret (Peggy) Seltzer is the author of 'Love and Consequences' a critically acclaimed memoir about girl being raised in a black foster home in South-Central Los Angeles and following her black foster brothers into the gang life.

When I first heard about this story I could not help but to be offended. But then I started to read a little more about Ms. Seltzer. She admits that though this isn't her story, many of the details in the book were based on the experiences of close friends she had met over the years while working to reduce gang violence in Los Angeles.

So this begs a few questions. Who gets to tell "our story"? And why is it more marketable when it comes from a white person?

Let's start with the first question. I believe that anyone is capable relaying their perspective on various peoples. But I do think there is a line and Ms. Seltzer crossed that line. It's one thing to relay a perspective but it's another to fake the funk. If Ms. Seltzer wrote a book about her experiences in South Central as an volunteer trying to end gang violence it probably would have been a decent book. But instead she choose to fabricate a memoir while painting herself as an urban female Tarzan if you will.

She probably knew that it would sell better. Which leads me to my second question. Why is it more marketable when it comes from a white person?

The same reason why Tarzan movies where popular back in the day. The concept that no matter what environment you are thrown into you know that you will overcome and rise above it is a popular one in the mainstream...To put it simply: White people like the idea of being dominant no matter what environment they are thrown into.

I know that sounds little bit harsh to some of the white people who may stop by here to check in but, hear me out.

It's an entertaining concept when (what Bell Hooks calls) the "other" is able to rise above their socioeconomic strata especially when it's a person who doesn't fit the stereotype. I'm sure if I made up a memoir about my life as a gang-banger who eventually gets accepted into Harvard the mainstream would eat it up.

Hmmmmm. I better get crackin.