**well....there are two main places one can hear my rants and stuff. most of you come here. and longtime roots supporters go to my website (where i can sorta relax) www.okayplayer.com

when this incident went down i made the decision to just share it with them because of the two sites that one is more "family" oriented and i wanted less rebel rousing and outbursts....

but the main reason i was skeptical to reprint the post was perhaps the embarrassment of this incident happening twice to me since the "buffalo" incident.....don't get me wrong---i've had minor situations since then (pulled over a few times)---but nothing like this shit here. but the okayplayers told me that a person in my position should expose crooked law enforcement people whenever i get the chance.

note: there are good cops. there are bad cops.

the following story is about FUCKED up cops.

actually imma tarentino this for you and go to the very end (something i didn't put on okayplayer)



fast forwards to the end.

(on the phone with manager from enterprise car rentals)


"..mr thompson we got your message last night, we apologize for the situation that occured....but our records show that the registration and the license plates on the vehicle are updated and registered"

(to self) yeah i figured as much....they were just reachin.



(and now the post from okayplayer)

i decided not to myspace this because this shit aint really about a pity party.
and getting kudos everytime cops fuck with me.
so maybe im just typing for the therapeutic aspect of needing someone to talk to.

i guess i gotta rewind to yesterday.

so i was invited to help campaign on O's behalf yesterday for super tuesday. i did various things in the last 48 hours from calls to door-to-door JW style hawking to errand running to holding signs to doing press. whatever was called for i was their man.

so while doing the press run they asked me about certain issues that i felt barack was behind that i have yet to hear the other candidates bring up.

one of the points was racial profiling

(from his website: Obama will ban racial profiling by federal law enforcement agencies and provide federal incentives to state and local police departments to prohibit the practice.)

this along with rehabilitating criminals and drug addicts (and dealing with the rockefeller laws) seemed pretty important to me. so thus i talked about this alot in the past 48 hours to whomever had a mic in front of my face.

so fast forward 24 hours later leaving a movie theater (outside of venice)

and i noticed in my peripheral view that a cop was behind me. paid nothing to it for this was LA and "red and blue lights is a common sight" ((c)) cube. but 3 blocks later?

i joked in the car "see this is where obama will come in handy because these motherfu---


"blueep blueep!!!"

(pullovertootheriiighttnow!!!!)

pulls over.

(makearightandpullover!!!!!!!!)


"what's he saying?"

(turns volume down on radio)

(rolls window down....)

"again please?"

(MAKEARIGHTANDPULLOVER)

(turns on them flashing lights....and not the Ye variety either)

i swear the buffalo situation aint have SHIT on this situation. i mean they were condescending assholes but at no point did i feel like if i said or exhaled the wrong way id have a bullet up my ass.---but this situation....man......aint NOTHING like getting fucked over by lapd. and i've had a taste of jersey turnpike justice, nypd bs, murderdelph's finest, and even the dea of buffalo.

but man....

guns cocked.

(let me note first off that noone is in their right mind when cops pull them over.....actually because of a phone conversation that kinda put me in a near depressing mood (we mastered al green today and there was a glitch in the mix that blue note is claiming we are releasing this record as is ("noone will notice and we aint spending not one red dime on fixing this") )---so this situation didn't have me in normal panic "oh fuck i forgot im a drug dealer and guns in the trunk" paranoia for i was really thinking "man i may lose half a star rating in rolling stone and be stuck with a regular @@@@ for this al shit (and yes this shit is classic al)---

"step out of the car"

man...the look on dudes face man. i now know why james brown ran 20 years ago. part of me was wishing i had faked not hearing him tell me to make a right and then pull over.

cause now we were secluded.

and these mofos looked like they were out for blood.---meanwhile im going over the lyrics of "99 problems" in my head like ("dare i take the probable cause route?" "do i do that king's english shit to see if this spares me a bullet?" "or do i just shut the fuck up?"


he gave me no reason as to why as to why i was being pulled over.

he asked for my contract for the rental car.

--i mean....sue me....i saw a 12 gage, AND a .57 not to mention cars are driving by now very slowly.

they can't.....place....the ....face....but.....*snap**snap".....---they drive by and stare.

meanwhile my passenger (ms lil angela davis in training) is in the passenger seat trying to sneak out her video camera to maybe record my possible ass future ass whuppin...and im praying to god "please dont let them see her sneak her hands in her pocketbook and think that shit is a gu---


now we are both being frisked near Crash style.

now we are both in the paddy wagon.

and once again...the "carlton" voice inside me is like

"look at us....we look like bohemian black hippies from silver lake---surely they don't think we are like..."real" criminals..."

(even with a phd)

they started questioning her and the carlton voice once again assured me "well when they see that she lives in a rich neighborhood they will realize their mistake and see that we aint criminals....

(even with a phd)

so the process of cleaning out my car happens----again...that carlton voice inside me was like "maybe they'll cut us a break when they see all the fruit and health food shit on the floor....what type of criminals eat mixed fruit?


(even with a phd)

300 dollars worth of psychology books and magazines with our faces in em?

(even with a phd)

scrabble board in the backseat?

(even with a phd)

(for those in the dark....the carlton voice i refer to is when carlton on Fresh Prince was making lame excuses for why him and will got fucked with by the cops....and all he could muster was "*sigh*....they were just doing their jobs will...."---not saying that i would EVER take that disposition....but in my head i was like "yo did you ever think in your life that you would be in the back of a paddywagon?"

i guess the denial was "am i still a nigger in their eyes"


malcolm x said that a black man with a phd is still a nigga in the eyes of many.

i have to say that no matter how clear my diction was....or how "preppy" i styled or if i read strunk and white from top to bottom or if i tried to ease in my occupation in hopes of preferential treatment ---

the answer was emphatically YES.

so now to the point of this post.

well kinda two things:

do laws vary as to what and when cops can fuck with you?---just found out that in philly nutter has given cops permission to randomly search now.--for those well versed in law
are warrants needed to search?

and for those that have been in similar degrading situations (i assure you my idea of a good time is not getting my nuts felt in front of my lady fr----sheeeit my idea of a good time is not seeing my lady friend getting her shit all felt up)--

but its like is this the shit that mofos be thinking about when they like "the fuck am i voting for?!?!?" where is my justice?


cause im like.....aint no amount of apologies or money or time machines going 88 mph
or "we're sorry ?uest" or black presidents that know what its like to be in my shoes gonna take any of that shit back.

the whole drive back was silent as shit.

how can you not help but internalize that shit?

i mean for that 37 minute ordeal what about slavery that occurred to my ancestors for 37 years? how could they but NOT internalize that shit and pass that venom off to their offspring? and so on and so on and so on and on and on......

i mean fuck it.....fucked up ordeal or not....how do you not internalize that shit so it don't chip at your inner being? cause right about now? i am none to happy about cops right about now. and its shit like this that makes me feel less sorry for them once tragedy stirkes....


----so there it is. another day another harassment story.