Friday, January 9, 2009

R.I.P Oscar Grant

Novel - Mad World

It is unfortunate that it takes such sad days like these to see the injustices in the world and more so in the United States, they are rampant.  I cannot imagine the pain the Grant family is going through, my heartfelt wishes are extended to them in these hard times.  The sad truth?  Violence, brutality, racism and most of all fear is alive and well in the United States.  Fear is the propeller of violence and where do we most often find fear?  We find it in the face of the unknown, most significantly when we are face to face with a situation we have not yet experienced.  The strength in character, the resilience and intelligence of the Human Race is how we react in the face of such circumstance.  In that interest, not to say that police brutality is something we have not seen before (it is most certainly not), but perhaps if we address the issue the same way it comes to pass then we may be able to understand and eliminate such circumstance, if we do not we just perpetuate the fear that has been a result of such a tragedy and thus perpetuate such violence.  I am afraid...  

There has been a war waged between the police of America and the youth, the minorities, and the poverty stricken members of our society it is very fucked up!  I speak to all of you out there whom have taken part in this personification of the American Officer and have thus waged war, labeled them as the enemy and I tell you it is a war we cannot win, and it is one we have been fooled to fight!  They have every upper hand, if you do not see that is the case after the tragic events of January 1st, then allow me to make it clear for you.  Oscar Grant, may he rest in peace, was a butcher's apprentice, he was in public, surrounded by on lookers, he was being perfectly cooperative, perfectly innocent, PEOPLE WERE FILMING, and he was murdered in cold blood.  No charges have been brought against Officer Mehserle to date (that is not to say there will not be any he will most certainly be tried but even in the face of such obvious circumstance it takes over a week to try a man whom is FILMED shooting an innocent citizen, and why has it taken so long?  Oh!?  Because he is a police officer...  Wait a minute, somethings not right?).  The playing field is not level, and the solution, is not to level the playing field, it is not to arm yourselves with bigger guns, stronger vests, it is not to riot, to say "fuck the police," however hard they deserve to be fucked, we have tried that tact, IT IS A WAR WE CANNOT WIN!  The Police are here to stay and making them frightened, sending them the message that we do not care if we cannot win, we will continue to fight and making it clear we will do so violently has backed them into a corner, a corner we know when backed into the reaction to expect.  Because, when bitches are backed into corners they act like bitches, and tragically, when those same bitches act out, when they try to fight there way out, we know bitches don't come for those of us whom they should come for, we know bitches act like bitches and innocent lives are often a result.  

For those of you whom continue to contribute to violence in the drug trade, speak on or preach that violence, you have a sad truth to face.  That truth is, some of Oscar Grant's blood is on your hands.  You are the perpetuators of this on going war between young America, especially young impoverished America and the Police, a group of men and women whom we PAY to protect us, you have succeeded in convincing the youth and impoverished that the Police are the enemy, however, the Police are not the enemy they may be your enemy, and they may be mine, but they are not America's enemy on the contrary in fact, you are America's enemy, the one whom most often claims innocent lives, you the violent drug trafficker you are whom to be really afraid of and you have made that clear, you are stopping growth and expansion in the ghettos of America, by perpetuating such violence, and by making people feel unsafe and for making it unsafe.  The sooner the innocent take there lives back, take the streets back from the dealers and from the police, the sooner a message can be sent to the Police of America that we the innocent do exist, and we want your protection, the sooner we can see development, and I mean development in all echelons but especially in poor America, the sooner men and women can be made to feel safe, or at the least to feel like they do not have to be afraid of both sides of this drug war and feel as though they  have some say, the sooner we will begin to see positive growth in especially the ghettos of the United States.  It is a very clever trick the drug nation has played in a ploy to make there lives easier, to make the money come in faster, and to minimize the threat of police, I say it is time to take some responsibility, and stop enabling such tragic events, it is time to take such hard times and use them to look introspectively at our actions and the results of our actions and ask ourselves do we really want to be responsible for the decline of our neighborhoods, for the uneasiness and unsafe  sentiments of our neighbors, do we want to be responsible for innocent lives? maybe the answer is yes?  If so, then how can you ask your neighbors to be supportive of your decision?  And neighbors, how can you honestly think that supporting that decision is what is best?  Don't be dumb, Cheers 2 Crime does not support innocent people being incorporated into violence that is anything but innocent.  

Rest in peace Oscar Grant, may the judicial system bring justice to your murderer (and let it be known if the judicial system fails, we will not).  I am deciding to take a different route this victim around, I am taking the blame, maybe if we all took some of it, internalized it, and do something about it in a positive manner in which brings back some sense of security to the neighborhoods we live in, Oscar Grant's death may not be in vain.  My sincerest apologies go out to the Grant family, I will try my best to make a positive change, I hope we all will.  

On Thursday, Mr. Grant’s family and friends spoke publicly to condemn the violence.
“I am begging the citizens not to use violent tactics, not to be angry,” said Wanda Johnson, Mr. Grant’s mother. “You’re hurting people that have nothing to do with the situation. Please stop it, just please stop.”

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