"livin in a violent world"

I am just making some observations tonight, but I am not getting on my soapbox, because that's what friends do; we just talk to each other.

A few years ago a former client came to me and wanted me to represent his little brother. He was upset because, as he put it at the time, the young man was a "civilian" and wasn't in "the game". He didn't have a record and was just caught up with some bad kids in the neighborhood. According to his brother, "he (his little brother) wasn't a soldier" like him, and he didn't want him to become one. 

Anyway, I have since heard that term "civilian" used to describe folks who aren't involved with a certain lifestyle by folks who are in that life. And I have since heard them address themselves as "soldiers" as well. I suppose that in their own minds, most of the people getting killed in our inner cities are "soldiers" fighting their own meaningless wars for drugs, money, and turf.

That is how the rest of society views them as well. Maybe not as "soldiers", but people thugs caught up in a deadly and violent lifestyle who kill each other all too frequently. But we know where they are, and we know when to stay away and who to stay away from. It is why even though we have had 193 murders and counting so far in Philly (not to mention the carnage taking place in other cities all over America) we don't even seem to notice or care. They are way at the bottom of our consciousness scale. Those killings don't affect us.

It is why President Obama did not make an official statement about the 274 murders in his hometown of Chicago so far this year, but he had to make one about the shootings in a movie theater in Colorado.

When violence is random and in places that we don't expect it, we get 24 hour cable coverage and front page news headlines. We know the names of all the victims and the shooter will forever live in infamy. It ignites gun control debates and we ponder and pontificate about the violence of our culture until it fades away and the next tragedy strikes.

That doesn't happen when we pick up the paper on Monday morning and read about the shootings and mayhem in the streets of pick a city, that's just the way it is with "those people". We expect that. It's like reading the box scores from last night's baseball game. And, believe it or not, the "soldiers" fighting their senseless and violent battles want it that way. They have their turf and their enemies are defined: Other "soldiers" in the game who know the rules and who, for the most part, play by them.

Sadly, the folks who live within the confines of their battle field do not have the luxury of just moving out or tuning out the violence. They might not be soldiers in the battle, but they are also at war. Unfortunately for them, though, the presidential candidates will not take a break from their campaigns to consider their plight and mourn with the rest of the country. Flags will not be flown at half-mast, and the residence of North Philadelphia, East St. Louis, or the city of Detroit will not be getting a visit from the president.

 “Turned on the TV this morning. Had this shit on about — about livin’ in a violent world. Showed all these foreign places…where foreigners live, and all. Started thinkin’, man. Either they don’t know…don’t show…or don’t care about what’s goin’ on in the ‘hood. They had all this foreign shit. They didn’t have shit on my brother, man.”   ~Doughboy (Ice Cube) Boyz N The Hood~

Well Doughboy, Aurora, Colorado is right here in America, but it might as well be in a foreign place to folks "in the hood".





    

    

       

Bullets over Broad Street.

"I'm back at the club with a snub, twistin up dubs
Sippin on Crist', bout to snatch your bitch....When the bar's sold out and aint no Belvedere No crowd control and the cops is scared
You know, the, the Roc, the Roc was here
Catch Mac V.I.P., section of the place
With the weapon on his waist, weight, two steppin to the base
I don't dance, I just move the crowd
And keep a big ass tool that's loud, that'll move the crowd
Only play the club dog if the music loud"

Question for Beanie Sigel: Why can't you just enjoy the club and have a good time without having a weapon on your waist? I know you are from a rough neighborhood in South Philly, and you are rapping about your reality, but I think it's time to take it down a notch.

This is a tough time to be in certain neighborhoods here in Killadelphia. Kids get their first choppa before a baseball glove or a bicycle. Young shooters will split a total stranger's wig for little or nothing. It's that serious.

"Police are asking for the public's help after a wave of weekend shootings claimed seven lives and left 12 people wounded across Philadelphia.

The violence began about 10 a.m. Friday in the 500 block of York Street, where police answered a call and found James Hall, 58, with a gunshot to the head.
Police arrested Calvin Atkerson, 22, who they said was shooting at another man when the gunfire struck Hall, whom they described as an "innocent bystander who was just sitting there."

About 12:30 a.m., police responding to a report of a home invasion in the 1800 block of South Newkirk Street in the Southbrook Park section found Aaron Tucker, 20, shot multiple times. He was pronounced dead inside the home. Three other men, ages 27, 28, and 42, were also shot in the incident and hospitalized in critical condition.

Police said three men and a woman knocked on the door of the home and, when they were let in, brandished guns and demanded money. When they did not get money quickly enough, they began firing. The four fled on foot, police said.
On Saturday about 3:30 a.m., police were called to the 3300 block of North 13th Street, where they found Shari Harris, 22, who was shot once in the head and pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators determined that Harris was killed during an apparent robbery. Police said that a gunman shot her and that when she fell to the ground, the man took something from her pockets and fled on foot.

About 3 a.m. Sunday, police responding to a call found Alfredo Santiago, 22, fatally shot inside a silver Honda Accord at Fifth Street and Girard Avenue. Police said Santiago was driving the car when an unknown man started firing at the vehicle.

About 4 a.m., police answered a call at a home in the 2700 block of Erie Avenue, where they found Kevin Underwood, 22, with multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead a short time later.

Police said Underwood had been sitting in a chair at the address when an unidentified man walked up to him and shot him in the head at close range and then fled on foot.

In the 1600 block of North Lindenwood Street in West Philadelphia about 7:30 p.m. Sunday, police responding to a call found Christopher Lee, 22, shot multiple times.

Police said Lee had been walking with several men when two unidentified men approached, announced a robbery, and went through the men's pockets. Lee, who attempted to run, was shot several times, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

On Sunday about 8 p.m., police were called to 52d and Master Streets, where they found Alonzo Dennis, 28, shot multiple times. He was pronounced dead a short time later at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, police said.
They Dennis had been walking from a store on 52d when he was approached by a man who announced a robbery. When Dennis began to run, the gunman shot him..." [Article]

You Negroes done lost your minds! It's as if you are living out a damn video game. The only problem is that you are shooting real people and you can't reset and start the game over. Of course these killers living among us could care less about another person's life. Why? Because they don't even care about their own. I visit correctional facilities from time to time, and the inmates there actually seem happier on the inside than when they are out on the streets. Most hardcore inmates don't want to leave prison because the conditions are bad or they are afraid. They want to get out to get back on the block because they think that they are losing money or valuable turf while they are away. Being away at prison for these young bucks is like being away at college for some folks. It's a necessary right of passage. It's just that, unlike a college curriculum, what they learn in prison can't be parlayed into a decent 9-5.

I wish I could give you some encouraging news and some answers, but I can't. The truth is that these killings are not going to be ending anytime soon. Knuckleheads kill for money;to retaliate; for respect;for love;or just to impress their peers. With all those different reasons to kill and guns so easily available, expect the killings to go on for awhile.

"Beef? C'mon dog who you think gon bleed
Not Mac, never slip in the club
4/5Th in the club, told y'all never slip in the club
Niggas hit like shit, how that get in the club
You think I'm playin when I'm sayin shit'll drip in the club?"

No Beanie, I am sure that you are not.