Posts Tagged ‘start snitching’

START SNITCHING

Friday, May 30th, 2008

START snitching

People have it confused; if you and your man do a crime and you get caught and he doesn’t and you tell. THAT’S SNITCHING! You chose that lifestyle, you are only telling because you got caught. However if a little girl gets shot in the street and you say you’re not going to “snitch”, a. that’s not snitching, b. you’re a punk and you’ll end up dead soon enough. See because you chose not to snitch you bring death to your own front doorstep! 1


START SNITCHING

We see it glorified in old mob flicks, rap records hail it as the sin of all sins; the number one code of the streets; “don’t snitch”. LOYALTY, I understand the concept very well, but when does it border stupidity and become a cause in fact of the violence and destruction of our neighborhoods. The “Stop Snitching Campaign” was subliminally etched into our minds long before the celebrated t-shirts with stop signs and the word snitching embedded within. Well please forgive me, for I am about to break the ultimate code of honor, I’m about to become the rat of all rats, because my charge for us as a community is to… “START SNITCHING”.

There, I said it, START SNITCHING, start snitching if you want your children to live to see past their elementary school graduation. Start Snitching if you want to stop living in fear as you walk to the corner store. This is heavy, because as a people we have a strong distrust for law enforcement. I mean, why wouldn’t we, after seeing many of our leaders crippled by this system of American Justice. We vividly remember news clips of the Civil Rights Era, watching police officers brutally attack people of color with water hoses and K-9 dogs? Many of us can attest to the “random” car stops, the harassment and brutality that our people face on a daily basis from those who are supposed to protect and serve. Yet I still say START SNITCHING, far too many of our children are becoming victims in the crossfire of drug wars, domestic disputes and other various forms of crime that begat violence.

What do you tell a mother who just lost her 6-year-old child to gun violence and you know what happened? What do we put on your grave when you’re no longer here, “here lies a good man cause he wasn’t no snitch”. No, more like here lies a coward who was too afraid to take ownership of his community and protect the lives around him. Now you’re thinking, “I‘m not snitching because then they are going to come and get me”. I agree, and sadly once again law enforcement does an awful job at protecting those who come forward with the truth. There is power in numbers, if we take a stand as a people we can combat these atrocities. We can put pressure on the legislators to create better programs for those who come forward, put pressure on city hall to allocate sufficient funds to the police department for such programs. Once we become aware of our power we won’t have to live in fear, we will begin to think for the system and have our thoughts implemented, as they should be in the first place. We elect, key word “elect” public officials, they are in their positions to serve us. So if we don’t feel safe it is our duty to get that message across to those who we have elected to make us feel protected. We can employ “effective snitching” by going to city council meetings, arranging town hall meetings and charging elected officials with doing their job and implementing programs that will make our streets safer. Our taxes are what pay the salaries of these elected officials and law enforcement personnel, so essentially they work for us, its time that we remind these people who write their checks and demand that produce results!

I’m talking about taking a stand for the well-being of the children we are raising. We know exactly what goes on around the way from violence to drug dealing and we even know what times it is more probable that these crimes occur. Effective snitching means as a community going to these elected officials and providing them with this information, demanding that they not only look at the information but that they create a plan of action to address it. Jail time is supposed to serve as a deterrent for crimes committed, meaning if you do the crime you do the time. By not snitching and taking a blind eye to the crimes within our neighborhoods, we are sending our people the message that what they’re doing is right and will be tolerated. We’re saying there’s no reason to think before you act because no one is going to tell so you don’t have to worry about prison time. No wonder the murder rates are so high, we have sent a message that people can be killed and we will protect the killers by keeping silent. START SNITCHING, effective snitching, lets be a catalyst for the change that we wish to see in our communities. Let’s Make It Happen!

Cedric D. Shine

Busta Rhymes Body Guard Shot Dead

Friday, May 30th, 2008

Real Rap, START SNITCHING….. People need to understand that protecting killers is doing nothing but ensuring your own death, or the death of one of your loved ones. No longer can we sit idly by and watch our people be gunned down!

snitching

According to Allhiphop.com
A man who worked security for rapper Busta Rhymes was shot multiple times and found dead in the back of his pickup truck on Wednesday (May 28th), AllHipHop.com has learned.

Jermaine Williams, 35, of the Bronx, was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds in Ozone Park, Queens.

Police found blood dripping from the backseat of his SUV when they discovered Williams’ body, which was wrapped in a blanket in the backseat of the SUV.
Sources have confirmed with AllHipHop.com that Williams, also known as “Black,” was Rhymes’ bodyguard, although it is unclear if he was working for the rapper as of press time.
Busta Rhymes has been on a tour of Europe and was not in the country at the time of the incident sources told AllHipHop.com.
Williams, who leaves behind two children, reportedly went to Queens to visit his grandmother and ended up missing for almost 24 hours.
Police are still seeking the suspects who committed the murder.
Williams is the second bodyguard employed by Busta Rhymes to be shot dead.
His former bodyguard Israel Ramirez was shot dead on February 5, 2006, outside of a warehouse, where a music video for the remix to Rhymes’ single “Touch It” was being shot
Ramirez, 29, was shot in the chest in front of the building, where as many as 500 people may have witnessed the shooting.

High School Graduate holding on for dear life

Thursday, May 29th, 2008

When will all this nonsense end……. START SNITCHING!!!

Mildred Beaubrun, an 18-year-old student at Olympia High School was looking forward to graduation and nursing school.

teen

Last Monday, she was shot after leaving Club Firestone in downtown Orlando. She and her friends had stopped at a 7-11 for gas and something to drink. Three or four men in a Chevrolet HHR also stopped and followed the young women as they left. “Hey, baby, what’s your phone number?” they called out. The men then began throwing items at the women’s Nissan Maxima and at one point, even swerved into the Maxima’s lane and tried to run the car off the road.

A shot was fired and the bullet struck Beaubrun, who was sitting in the back seat. She’s now lying unconscious at Orlando Regional Medical Center. Doctors aren’t sure that she’ll wake up or walk again.

Her mother, Mireille Jeanlouis, said, “I want them to catch these people who did that to my daughter. I don’t want them to do that to someone else.”
Police have released sketches of two suspects who were riding in the front seat of the HHR:

suspects

If you have any information involving this case, please contact Detective Mike Moreschi at (407) 246-2470.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-mildred2308may23,0,6354335.story

Avenue Report Spring Issue is Here

Thursday, April 3rd, 2008

If you are not familiar, I encourage you to get FAMILIAR with Avenue Report; the young professional man of color’s guide to business, health, fashion, music, and politics. I currently write a column for this Lifestyle magazine which specifically serves men of color. The column is titled “Real Talk” and it seeks to address an array of issues that affect our people and solutions on how to deal with fighting stereotypes, crime in our neighborhoods, and the stresses of growing up in a single parent home among other things. Please check below for an excerpt of Real Talk in this upcoming issue. For more information on how to subscribe and become a part of the AR Family, feel free to check out http://www.avenuereport.com

Spring 2008 Cover.jpg

START SNITCHING

We see it glorified in old mob flicks, rap records hail it as the sin of all sins; the number one code of the streets; “don’t snitch”. LOYALTY, I understand the concept very well, but when does it border stupidity and become a cause in fact of the violence and destruction of our neighborhoods. The “Stop Snitching Campaign” was subliminally etched into our minds long before the celebrated t-shirts with stop signs and the word snitching embedded within. Well please forgive me, for I am about to break the ultimate code of honor, I’m about to become the rat of all rats, because my charge for us as a community is to… “START SNITCHING”.

There, I said it, START SNITCHING, start snitching if you want your children to live to see past their elementary school graduation. Start Snitching if you want to stop living in fear as you walk to the corner store. This is heavy, because as a people we have a strong distrust for law enforcement. I mean, why wouldn’t we, after seeing many of our leaders crippled by this system of American Justice. We vividly remember news clips of the Civil Rights Era, watching police officers brutally attack people of color with water hoses and K-9 dogs? Many of us can attest to the “random” car stops, the harassment and brutality that our people face on a daily basis from those who are supposed to protect and serve. Yet I still say START SNITCHING, far too many of our children are becoming victims in the crossfire of drug wars, domestic disputes and other various forms of crime that begat violence.

http://www.avenuereport.com/index.php/ar_pages/subscribe/