BigCed making it happen.... - Nov 18 add/view comments (2)

Another Black person shot and killed by NYPD police officers. Another death at the hands of the people who are sworn and paid to protect the very same citizens they end up killing. Of course, I don't know the circumstances, but it seems to be an alarming pattern to shoot to kill Black people, despite or in spite of the situation. And, he had no criminal record but I would imagine if he did, it would have been key in the defense of the police officers.

I am still and will always be a staunch opponent of the shoot to kill mentality of police officers when it comes to facing Blacks. It always seems to me that at any other time, with a different race, in a similar situation, the police are never that quick to, not only shoot, but shoot to kill. How often do you hear of white people being shot to death by police officers in stark contrast to their Black counterparts?

Now, I'm in no way saying that the young man killed was right in any way or that he didn't pose a realistic threat to the cops, all I'm saying is that it seems all too common that we are reading and hearing that Blacks are more than likely to be killed by police officers than whites. What makes it worse is that there hasn't been any referendum, retraining or even talk about the aggressiveness of police forces when it comes to the 'apprehension' of Blacks, even if they are innocent of anything outside of being Black.

This is the time when I'd like to see politicians, especially the likes of the more visible Blacks in office to take a stand, do a study, at the very least, INVESTIGATE the reasons this is a common occurrence! President Obama, Governor Patterson, Mayor Booker and any Black politician or influencer NEEDS to speak about this and have reforms when it comes to the mentality of police officers!

It just shouldn't be Al Sharpton being the leader when it comes to this, we NEED dialogue and answers as to why this happens ALL THE TIME!

And my brothers, stop giving the police reasons to shoot us! It's that simple! You know what's going on and yet, your ignorance puts my life in jeopardy because of your actions, police fear me based on the stereotype you perpetuate! It won't stop if you're out here doing stupid shit....

I know, I know, I'm starting to sound like a bitter old parent reminiscing about the 'good ole days' but I'm starting to see a shift that is quite alarming. The industry, as we know it today, isn't the exclusive, 'pay your dues' mindset of recent years. I would never knock someone's hustle but it's too easy for people to 'think' they are part of the entertainment industry these days.

Even when I worked at The Source 4 years ago, these interns had the attitude that they didn't need to do anything to 'earn their stripes'. You can't go into a company and declare yourself a CEO when you're applying for an internship. People think they are the next Diddy, Puff, Puff Daddy, Sean Combs or whatever his moniker is today. Yes, Diddy stared as an intern and is now a mogul but even if you ask him, he will tell you that there are certain protocols and unwritten rules that must be followed in order to 'get ahead'. Some of these interns act as if they are doing you a favor by becoming an intern. I can guarantee that if Puff had that attitude 22 years ago, he wouldn't have gotten too far!

And let's talk about what we used to call journalism. Nowadays, anyone with internet access can obtain a FREE blog, go to other sites/blogs, copy content from these sites, place it in their blog and now they're in the industry! What da fuck!?!?! No, just because you grab an embedded code from Vlad TV, or grab a story from All Hip Hop, doesn't make you a part of this industry! And whatever happened to originality, doing something different, creating your own niche? NETWORKING, building up REAL contacts and actually knowing what you are talking about when you might write or knowing the 'rules' about giving credit when you swipe content from another source?

And how can you call yourself industry when you can't call anyone to get anything?!? When you can't get an interview or a quote because you know no one in the industry and you HAVE to wait for another site to post something so this way you can post it in your blog. What part of the game is that?

I had a conversation this summer with a 'blogger' who was complaining that he doesn't get invited to industry events. No listening parties, no screenings, no exclusive interviews, etc. I'm looking at him like he has 3 eyes. I asked him if he knew any publicists, he says no. I ask, who does he know at the labels? He knew a mailroom guy and the cousin of a neighbor who works as a receptionist. I then asked him how does he get his content and of course, he names the more popular sites he gets it from. So, I look at him and then ask him, why would ANYONE invite him anywhere for anything with that great resume he has! The audacity that no one invites him to anything!

It's that attitude that is making this not an industry anymore because anyone with a blog, a camcorder, a voice recorder and a studio, can declare themselves industry, just because....

Why is it that in this society and specifically in New York City, the police are supposed to protect and serve but only if it's another police officer? Of course I will say that there are good cops but the whole police force takes a beating when they, um, are doing the beating. Whether it's beating civilians or beating the law, it' s getting to a point that they are, in fact, above the law, not the enforcers of the law. We always hear about police shooting, the majority of the time, minorities. It wouldn't be so bad if they mistreated all races but it's very rare you ever hear of police shooting whites!

But, that's not what this article is about today. We have witnessed 2 drunk driving cases in New York recently. Both cases involved drunken police officers who not only hit, but killed their victims. Innocent victims who may not have even seen the vehicles coming towards them. And both times, both cops refused to take a breathalyzer test and both times at least 5 hours passed before either cop had been tested. One passed the test after 7 hours of refusing and the other, after 5 hours, had 2 1/2 times the legal limit (imagine if he took the test sooner).

I may be wrong but, if I or any other civilian, were stopped for suspected drunken driving, would be charged with a DWI if we refuse to take a breathalyzer, yet, police officers are allowed to do so? What's wrong with this picture? If anything, they should be held at a higher standard or at the very least, be treated like a civilian when they're off duty.

We have to start putting pressure on our elected officials to stop being punks and hold law enforcement accountable for any and all criminal acts committed by police officers! I would even go as far as having harsher penalties for these type of officers as well as the officers who attempt or accomplish covering up the misdeeds of criminal cops. I know I'm sick of reading in the papers and internet and watching on television about cops practically getting away with murder and elected officials not speaking out against it!

OK, I will say this, I haven't heard the Beanie Sigel song yet but I am amazed that a grown ass man is relying on another grown man to take care of him. Now, my beef with Hip Hop and the mentality of the Black community is that if my man is of a certain status or he is a celebrity, he should be taking care of me. What kind of bullshit is that? Yes, it's cool when an artist brings his boys with him when he gets put on, but the ignorance factor usually ends up hurting an artist who is trying to have a successful career. The artist is being loyal and I understand that, but if your ignorant boys are preventing you from making money, are they really your boys?

Most times, when an artist is in any trouble, more than likely, it's one of his boys that is causing problems but the artist gets the attention from it, even though he may not have had anything to do with it. But people don't see the artist's boy, they see who the boy is hanging out with and attributes that problem to that artist. But, instead of containing his boy, he, instead, allows his boy to continue being an ass and preventing him from elevating his career, thus limiting or eliminating the financial earning aspect of the artist. All of this in the name of staying loyal or being concerned of being labeled a sellout if he cuts his boy off.

So, when an artist finally realizes that his earning potential increases once he leaves his boys alone, he does the right thing for his business and then is labeled as a betrayer because he starts to think about his longevity in his career. But, if his boys were really his boys, they would stop the ignorant shit or allow him to make his money and have a successful career but the ignorance factor is so high that it usually leads to these same characters beefing that their man thinks he's too large for them. This primarily happens in the Hip Hop/Black community where a lot of people would rather see their peoples on the corners than on their own property.

So, for a grown man to say that he is upset or disappointed that another man hasn't taken care of him, I can't respect a man who isn't or hasn't thought about taking care of himself. Unless that man is my father and I am unable to take care of myself, then there is NO WAY I should be relying on another man who doesn't share my DNA to take care of me and mine.