Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Keepin It Gangsta

Many of us have grown up in one of the many hoods in America. In these neighborhoods or "Hoods" there are many widely held beliefs that are never held up to the light of the truth. One such belief is the "Keeping it Gangsta" mantra that you hear on subways, on the streets, in barbershops, night clubs, etc. Basically anywhere there are young black men. Let’s look at some of the beliefs of those that "Keep it Gangsta" and how their actions are not only far from "Gangsta", but reveals a deep self hate that is hard to ignore.

In America the word "Gangsta" is most commonly associated with the Italian Mafia, aka "Organized Crime". Many rappers have named themselves after Italian American gangsters. "Capone", "Irv Gotti" "Three Six Mafia" "Junior Mafia", are a few examples.

The real Mafia has their own set of rules and here are a couple of them. First, they will try very hard not to commit crime in their own neighborhood while they are involved in illegal activities to earn a living. Second, they also believe that women and children are off limits when it comes to their criminal activity. One way to insure a quick death from this green earth is to try and sustain criminal activity in a mob run neighborhood.

Third, they also believe in taking care of family first. Most Italian American gangsters believe in being married and raising a family. Fourth, Mob guys have been very successful using their money from illegal and criminal activity to invest in legitimate business. Fifth, Mafia organizations believe in placing their members on a ladder of power just like the military with those at the top having more power than those at the bottom.

These real gangstas usually do not run their criminal operations out of their own neighborhoods, daring anyone from law enforcement to the residents to do something about it. Let’s see how the "Keeping it Gangsta" crowd measures up.

So is it safe to assume that those in the Hood that "Keep it Gangsta" do not commit crimes in their own neighborhood? That they exclude women and children from their criminal activity? That for all their negatives, they at least take care of family first?

The truth is the only place the "Keeping it Gangsta" crowd commits crimes is in their own neighborhoods. Selling drugs, robbery, murder, and assault all goes on in the very same "hood" these so-called "gangstas" live in. They prey on their own people, afraid to even dream of committing their misdeeds in a white neighborhood. That would be truly gangsta.

This is why "black on black crime" is out of control in the hoods of this country. All the so-called gangstas are afraid to take their show on the road and see how it plays out. White people love to point out that black men are always killing other black men. They commit crimes against their own people all the time. Their actions simply destroy their neighborhoods.

How about protecting the women and children from the nasty under belly of their criminal activity? Innocent women and children are killed by stray gun fire daily in the hood. Women are also left to raise children on their own. The majority of women in the hood almost never becomes a wife and almost always becomes a “baby momma”. Too many kids in the hood are abandoned and left fatherless because “baby daddy” is either a dead beat dad, in jail, or six feet under.

The Italian Americans in the Mafia believe in family and try their best to raise their children in a home with a wife. This is a home that they will one day own after paying off the mortgage. Too many “Keeping it Gangsta” brothers never own a home and are either renters or living with Mom. Owning a home has always been one of the best investments a person could make in America because the value over time will increase and the property can be passed on to loved ones when one dies.

How often do we see illegal money in the hood being invested in legal businesses that really add value to the community. The last time it was checked, most of the businesses in the hood were owned by people that do not live in the hood and do not look like the guys that are "Keepin it Gangsta".

When did "Keepin it Gangsta" come to mean that you are a gangsta because no one tells you what to do? This was actually stated by Lil Wayne in a documentary about the rapper. This statement does not pass the truth test. Gangstas do what they are told to do all the time. There is a hierarchy in the the world of organized crime with one person at the top of every Mafia family.

This one person is the only one person in the organization that does not answer to anybody. He also got to where he is by being extremely good at doing what he was told to do. To not follow orders and do what one wants to do in the Mafia is a good way to get fitted for a pair of custom made cement boots.

One thing the "Keepin it Gangsta" crowd does have in common with the Italian Mafia is that they both believe in the "don’t snitch, stop snitching" or "don’t be a rat" mantra. The difference is the Mafia believes in not ratting out other mobsters that are committing crimes in other people’s neighborhoods.

The "Keeping it Gangsta" crowd believes in not "snitching" on those that are murdering and assaulting our brothers, beating our mothers, sisters and daughters, and selling drugs in their own neighborhoods, and killing our children with stray gun fire. The Mafia believes in keeping quiet about crimes that destroys other people’s neighborhoods while the “Keeping it Gangsta” guys believe in keeping quiet about crimes that are destroying their own neighborhoods.

Let’s be clear about one thing. Anyone can sit down, keep their mouth shut, and not speak out. It takes a tough guy to stand up and speak out when he realizes that it is his own people and community that is almost always on the losing end of the do not snitch policy in the hood.

What are the contributions of the "keep it gangsta" giants? Crimes in the hood almost never get solved because too many tough guy deaf mute witnesses are "Keeping it Gangsta".

It is interesting that in almost every instance, the silence and or actions of the "Keeepin it Gangsta" crowd hurts people who look like and face the same struggles as him. All of his anger, hatred and bitterness are directed toward people who look like him. If the “Keepin it Gangsta” brothers really want to be mobsters, then they should try to be like the Italian American Mafia by owning profitable bussinesses while also supporting their families and building up their communities.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Do The lobbyists Own Health Care Reform?

Health Care reform appears to be headed for passage. The Senate and House must now come together to negotiate and combine their separate bills into one. At this moment, it appears that the Public Option is out. The same is true for reimporting drugs from places like Canada which would lower drug prices in America. The proposal to lower the age limit for those who could access Medicare is also out at this time.

Many people are saying that it is better to have a flawed bill instead of no bill at all. The argument goes that a flawed bill will be fixed just like Social Security was fixed over the years. Social Security was basically for orphans and widows and basically excluded African Americans in the beginning. The counterargument is that politicians said the same thing about No Child Left Behind which was very flawed when it passed. Many said that it would also be fixed and resources would be allocated with time. This has not happened and most politicians today see it as a disaster.

With all of the lobbyists working to defeat real Health Care reform and the money spent in the process, it is clear that this group has major influence over the government in America.

From start to finish, the insurance and drug industries -- and their army of lobbyists had control over the process that resulted in a bill that is reform in name only at this point. A study by Northwestern University's Medill News Service and the Center for Responsive Politics found that 13 former congressmen and 166 Congressional staffers were actively engaged in lobbying their former colleagues on the bill. The companies they were working for -- some 338 of them -- spent $635 million on lobbying.

New Credit Card Rate has 79.9 Percent Rate

It's no mistake. This credit card's interest rate is 79.9 percent. Stay away from this credit card at all cost. If your credit is not the best, there are other options that will not empty your pockets in fees.

The over the top interest rate is how First Premier Bank, a subprime credit card issuer, is skirting new regulations intended to curb abusive practices in the industry. It's a strategy other subprime card issuers could start adopting to get around the new rules. - Read Story

Free After 23 Years In Prison


Another innocent man is free from jail in Texas. Ernest Sonnier was released on Friday, August 7TH, 2009 after DNA testing implicated two different men in the 1986 rape for which Sonnier was convicted. Sonnier has spent twenty-three years in prison, always maintaining his innocence.

The release of Ernest Sonnier is just the latest case that highlights the ongoing problem of wrongful convictions in Texas. - Read Story

Free After 14 years In Jail


After spending 14 years in North Carolina prison for the rape of two teenagers, Joseph Abbitt became a free man again on Septemeber 3, 2009 because DNA evidence has now proved him innocent of rape.

In 1991, two sisters were preparing for school when someone broke into their home and raped them both. The girls believed that the intruder was a man who lived 2 doors down, and then picked Joseph out of a photo lineup. Abbitt was convicted in 1995 even though he had been working at the time of the attack.

In late 2008, with the help of the innocence center, Abbitt was granted DNA testing on remaining evidence. After two rounds of testing, Abbitt was excluded. - Read Story

Free After 35 Years in Jail


James Bain used a cell phone from Florida for the first time Thursday, December 17Th, 2009 calling his elderly mother to tell her he had been freed after 35 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit.

Mobile devices didn't exist in 1974, the year he was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping a 9-year-old boy and raping him in a nearby field.

Neither did the sophisticated DNA testing that officials more recently used to determine he could not have been the rapist. - Read Story

Monday, December 21, 2009

Free After 28 Years in Jail


An Arizona man is free after serving 28 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit.

On Tuesday, December 15TH, 2009 a judge in Washington, D.C. ordered the immediate release of 58-year-old Donald Eugene Gates after DNA testing showed he was innocent of the rape and murder of a young woman.

Gates was released from a federal prison in Tucson. He left the facility with $75, winter clothes and a bus ticket to Ohio, which is where he is originally from.

The work of a Federal Bureau of Investigation forensic analyst involved in the rape and murder investigation has now been called into question. - Read Story

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Baltimore Mayor Found Guilty Of Taking Gift Cards


This is another political learning moment for all past, current, and future politicians. If this is your line of work, you must know the laws. Too many capable people who have managed to be elected by the people and come into power find themselves on the wrong side of the law over small amounts of money.

Baltimore's mayor was convicted Tuesday on a single charge she took gift cards intended for the city's poor. Although Sheila Dixon was acquitted of a felony theft charge, her conviction could force her from office.

Jurors deliberated more than six days after hearing the Democrat accused of using or keeping $630 worth of gift cards. She allegedly solicited most of the cards from a wealthy developer and then bought electronics at Best Buy, clothes at Old Navy and knickknacks at Target.

I am not sure why, but so many of these politicians being found guilty of financial transgressions have to do with a contractor or development - hint.
 

Brothers Connected Copyright © 2009 Community is Designed by Bie