In Memory of Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo, and my good friend Christopher Ridley.

Queens, NY is the most culturally diverse area in the nation (and possibly even the world).  Yet, the powers that be have found new ways to uphold and propagate their racist agenda. Today, a Queens judge and the D.A. from Queens acquitted three police officers who fired a total fifty times at unarmed citizens. The officers tried to justify their actions by saying that they feared for their lives.  A fear that is more like paranoia. In this paranoia the police adopt the gangster motto; shoot first ask questions last. But, it is this shared belief amongst all police that has proven fatal for many.  (esp. when a officer crosses path with a young black male or any young male darker than mocha).  The judge then smeared shit all over the families of the victims by saying that the testimonies of the officers were more credible than that of the victims!!??? That's like me saying that I know more about what it feels like to have menstrual cramps more than a woman would.  It seems to me that the police and the judicial system treat their prejudices as if they are evidence in cases against young men.  In short, many of us are doomed before we hit the courtroom. So to all those naïve assholes who think "America has come so far on race relations". Look again we haven't even left the driveway. Until the cradle to prison pipeline is closed and until the police are held accountable for their actions we are going to continue to have serious race problems in America.  

A day after MLK day in Atlanta, Geo.  SWAT teams decided to shutdown DJ Drama and Cannon's mixtape operation...and charged the two previously well respected entrepreneurs with felony charges of racketeering and bootlegging...The SWAT team operation was industry aided...I was politicking with my man Voc about the issue and he mentioned the Nas video "Hip-hop is Dead"...In the video a police SWAT team shutdown a CD ring where the CD's are made to symbolize drugs...

Unlike illegal racketeering operations that distribute guns and drugs Drama distributed his music on I tunes and was employed by MTV...so one would think that the industry would appreciate his contribution to hip-hop music, because it is well known around the hip-hop community that mixtapes (which have been around for the last 15 years or so) are responsible for the careers of many of the artist that sell hip hop music...

The police issued in a statement that this was not an attack on the hip hop community, but that is exactly what it is...No one had even accused the police of any wrong doings and already they are covering their tracks...I believe Drama and Cannon were made to be examples because they were the most successful mixtape distributors...and furthermore Elvis Pressley Sampled other artist without paying them and no one indicted him...