Okay, enough already.

Take a look around at this city. This is supposedly one of the great ’crossroads of the world’ ... but yet look at it. There is blight EVERYWHERE. No, not just on 125th Street uptown in Harlem or further up on Old Gunhill Road in the Bronx or in Fort Greene (where all these gigantic construction projects are supposedly "great for the community") BUT EVEN ON FIFTH AVENUE their money can’t stop cranes from falling down on people and killing them. AND EVEN IN THE VILLAGE many of these condominium tower monstrosities, with their ceiling-to-floor glass windows, remain VACANT - yet many of us want to act like we can’t feel its soul slipping away.

Yes, it’s the brunt of capitalism, the chickens coming home to roost - all that. Yes, it is. BUT WHAT ABOUT US?

Look at dance music now. Um, wasn’t house music supposed to be about a feeling? Wasn’t house music supposed to uplift our spirits? Wasn’t house music supposed to be FOR EVERYBODY - whether or not we could afford (or even want) drinks and/or drugs behind the velvet rope of someone’s circuit party? WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO US? Yes, this is New York City and we’ll ALWAYS be surrounded by corporate greed, but what happened to US? Didn’t we learn ANYTHING from 9/11?

I’ll tell you part of what it is: we haven’t dealt with our OWN shit. Gay people - can you honestly tell me that we’ve dealt with racism? Take a look at any of the party rags on ANY given day - WE HAVEN’T. Black people, wherever you come from - can you honestly tell me that we’ve dealt with our homophobia? Just listen to the radio - WE HAVEN’T. Take a walk through ANY of our neighborhoods - WE STILL HAVEN’T. And all of y’all - every time you allow someone to say "Oh, that’s so gay." in your presence when you KNOW it means something fucked up and every time you allow someone to refer to ANYONE as ’nigger’ and let that energy go unabated and unquestioned and unchallenged - YOU STILL HAVEN’T. Right here, in this city of dreams, we STILL haven’t dealt with OUR OWN SHIT - not to mention HOW WE TREAT EACH OTHER and the SAVAGERY that we wield against one another. In 2008, it’s HEARTBREAKING and TRAGIC, in THIS city - OUR city.

Yes, there ARE some of us who got their ’piece of the pie’ - whatever that means. I sure hope you savor the flavor while it lasts and that it was worth every crumb you got.

Meanwhile, here we are - the rest of us. Those of us who haven’t died are still here. As long as we can breathe and can survive, there is still hope for our city. What are WE going to do now? I don’t know what you’re going to do, but I know I’m tired of being depressed about it. I know I’m tired of walking around shellshocked, wondering what the fuck happened. And I know that I’m going to do more than just rant about it.