Only Adding To Our Legend: Politics

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JUSTICE4TRAYVON

Cops don't give a damn about a negro, pull the trigger and kill a nigga he's a hero - Tupac Shakur

I was planning on leaving this whole Trayvon Martin case alone, seeing that events like this happen every day. But after doing some more research I sit here utterly amazed that a killer is walking the streets free man, while another family is burying their child. This incident, as sad as it is, really doesn't come as a surprise to me. It just adds further proof that racism is still very much alive.

For those of you who somehow still don't know anything about the case, Trayvon Martin was a seventeen year old African-American male from Florida who was gunned down by neighborhood vigilante George Zimmerman. The reasoning for the slaying? Zimmerman claims that Martin looked suspicious because of his hoodie and acted in self defense. It was discovered that Trayvon was unarmed and was carrying a pack up skittles and a can of sweet tea. Yes, a child gone forever while he held a bag of candy. And yet this still doesn't warrant the proper reaction from me as it should because it's nothing new.

Now, racial profiling leading to acts of violence by the police have been well documented over the years. From Amadou Diallo in the Bronx, to Sean Bell in Queens, to the most ~~famous~~ infamous case with Rodney King the police have long been getting away with brutality and murder against minorities. The thing that makes the Martin case standout is that he wasn't killed by the police, he was murdered by another citizen. Now first let me remind you that vigilantism is illegal. Yet, even though Zimmerman acted illegally with no justification, he was never even arrested. Let me say that again. Zimmerman was never even arrested for shooting an unarmed person who was not committing a crime. The part that saddens me the most is that you know it was racially motivated. If Trayvon would have been a seventeen year old white teenager named Taylor there would never have been any doubt in Zimmerman's mind that he was out of place in that neighborhood. Although Zimmerman says it wasn't a matter of race, his 911 calls are saying otherwise. But of course like other important leads in this case, the police have came out and said that they must have "missed" that part of the emergency call. It is honestly insane how the police are doing everything to avoid bring Trayvon justice.

So now the question is what to do. In 2012 there is no reason for minorities not to take a stand for injustice they are still receiving. President Obama kept quiet about the issues until recently (remember it's an election year, that's just the game) when he said "if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon". Besides, the President cannot take on every local issue. So no relying on Obama to fix our problems, what needs to be done? Maybe we should have a 2012 L.A. riot and burn half the city down? Or maybe we should do as Geraldo Rivera says and stop wearing hoodies. Or maybe we should just stick to the same routine and have Al and Jesse do some interviews and marches, and move on to the next one. Whatever it is something has to be done. I don't mean having another black male throw their life away by killing Zimmerman out of rage. I mean something has to be done legally. For far too long the criminal justice system has not been in our favor. As unfortunate as it is that this kid had to die for nothing, let's not have his murder be in vain. We need to use this as opportunity to gain justice the legal way, and hopefully we won't have anymore tragic stories like Trayvon Martin.

#OccupyWallStreet

By now if you've been watching the news (for those of you who do watch the news) you have heard of the Occupy Wall Street movement that has gotten the attention of media outlets everywhere. For weeks a small protest group had been constructing a plan to literally go on Wall Street and stage a non-violent protest. The group, which had gained a lot of cult support on social networks such as Twitter, planned to invade the district of Wall Street for up to two months until their sole demand was met. The only problem? The Occupy Wall Street movement has not said their demand for which they're protesting.

Since September 17th hundreds of protestors have been flooding Wall Street every day for what they have just called resistance to American economic practices. Although it has remained a non-violent protest, Occupy Wall Street has gained national attention for the police response they have received. Since day one of the protest demonstrators have been pepper sprayed, barricaded, arrested, and beaten for exercising their free speech in a public place. Many have seen this as a violation of the first amendment by the police, although it has continued at an alarming rate. It has raised the question of the power of the government to deny citizens their rights, and how people have grown tired of "Big Brother" and have fought to challenge it.

The Occupy Wall Street movement is still continuing as of press time with no signs of showing down. They have even gained the support of some celebrities such as hip hop star Lupe Fiasco and film director Michael Moore. Now it is impossible to see how far this movement will go, and there's a very small chance that they can challenge those who control the money and win. But with their internet support in the form of first-hand Youtube videos and instant news feeds from social networks like Twitter r and Facebook, it seems like they are beginning to get their message across. For decades now your money has been used to finance pointless organizations and personal funds, and people are sick of it. As ignorance is bliss, knowledge is power; and you have the right to know what these people are doing with your money. So it is not only occupying Wall Street, it's occupying your money, and therefore occupying yourself.

You can visit Occupy Wall Street's website at www.occupywallst.org or follow on Twitter @OccupyWallSt.

Mission Accomplished

As with most of the country, I was up in amazement last night as the internet and news outlets alike were buzzing about the death of Osama Bin Laden. It seemed like the impossible. For almost ten years Bin Laden had avoided capture by the U.S military, even with a $25 million dollar international bounty on his head. Then with a single bullet to the head, the leader of Al-Qaeda and the world's most dangerous terrorist was dead.

Bin Laden had become kind of a mythical figure over the years. In hiding since 2001, he had remained undetected and rarely seen. Assumed dead numerous times, Bin Laden had only been seen through his many personal video tapes that he filmed to assure his well-being. He was assumed to be hiding in the mountains of Pakistan but his exact location was never able to be obtained. Despite being on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list for years he was unable to be captured during President Bush's two terms. During President Obama's late night announcement last night he claimed that he had obtained a tip regarding his whereabouts in August of 2010. On May 1st a small team of U.S. soldiers raided the mansion he was staying in and killed him.

Late last night there were crowds of people at the White House in celebration of Bin Laden's death. They cheered and sang God Bless America, The Star Spangled Banner, and We Are the Champions by Queen. Yes, even We Are the Champions. The mastermind behind the worst terrorist attacks on American soil had finally been killed. People were once again proud to be an American, and for the moment they now felt safe to be an American.

Perhaps it's only fate that the death of Osama Bin Laden would come on the eighth anniversary of President Bush giving his speech where he claimed that the mission was accomplished after the major combat in Iraq. Now we all know that there will always be terrorism. With Bin Laden gone it's only inevitable that someone will step up and fill his shoes. But for today, the Obama Administration can kick back, light a cigar, and pop a bottle of champagne. They have closed the chapter on that era, and the mission is truly accomplished.

A Drug[law] Free America?

So I'm watching HBO's The Wire the other day (if any of you know me then you know that it is my favorite show) when one of the episodes catches my attention. Somewhere in the middle of the critically acclaimed season three I get to the episode titled Hamsterdam. Now for those of you who are unfamiliar with the series, Hamsterdam is a section of Baltimore where the police have made drug dealing legal. The rules are actually quite simple. If you sell drugs in the designated areas the police will leave you alone. If you choose to sell drugs elsewhere the police will fuck you up and then proceed to charge you with the harshest penalties. It essentially works until the national news circuit gets word of it prompting city officials to shut it down. Now although it worked in the TV show my question to myself is would it work in real life?

Short term answer: Yes. Long term answer: HELL NO

Now to clear something up when I say drugs I mean hard drugs such as heroin, cocaine, etc. (the ganja should have been legalized a looong time ago anyway). So going back to the question, at first it would work. To be honest it would really work. Just think, it would be a society where the two worlds would be completely separated. If you to want indulge yourself in the drug culture you know exactly where to go; if you want no part in it you'd never see it. In the show the areas where routinely patrolled by uniformed cops, so there would be some supervision. With all the drug traffic in one small area the rest of the city would be drug free, making the community better as a whole. Crime would be down and moral would be up. Even going back in history we see that the first thing prohibition did was make bootlegging increase, so it's safe to say that perhaps the same thing is happening with the drug problem. Besides, it seems that drugs are here to stay, so why not just make them legal in the most run down part of the city?

So it seems like the obvious thing to do is to make a Hamsterdam in every city. But what happens when the honeymoon period is over? We all know that besides the obviously destruction drugs do to the community and to those who use it one of the main reasons drugs remain illegal is the violence that is associated with it. And where does this violence stem from? One word: competition. Competition for customers, product, turf, and everything else is the one aspect of the drug game that would make something like Hamsterdam impossible in the real world. In an area that small and regulated it would become saturated with all different kinds of dealers all looking to make a dollar at everyone else's expense, and that would lead to a situation where everyone loses.

Although an idea such as Hamsterdam seems like a dream solution in all reality it's just that; a dream. A dream that would later turn into a nightmare. Maybe there is a solution to America's drug problem, but making an area for dealers to do their thing isn't it.

JUSTICE4TRAYVON

#OccupyWallStreet

Mission Accomplished

A Drug[law] Free America?

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