Why are people so FANatic about their meaningless local Football, Baseball and Basketball teams but will NOT VOTE for the team that controls their Jobs, Money, Housing, Education, Air, Water, Food, Transportation, Taxes, Health care, LIVES?
-Paradise Gray of X-Clan-
Words of wisdom from Paradise as we head into the home stretch of the midterm elections… Now there will be some who will cry out that voting doesn’t matter when it really does especially on local levels..We just had a serious police brutality incident in Boston.. what’s the DA gonna do about that? We have judges who sit on the bench and rule on everything from divorce to parking tickets to you smoking weed. That same judge gets to rule on all those issues or set guidelines for a jury to follow. You don’t think thats important to vote on?
You don’t like the Democrats or Republicans?… There are all sorts of third Party candidates running, why not vote for them and make a showing versus complaining that the two main parties are corrupt?
Below are several voting guides for you to look through.. One of them even allows you to make your own and share it with friends via Facebook and twitter.. Take a look at them. get informed and make a difference.
http://www.votesmart.org/voteeasy/ pretty similar.. doesn’t go as deep into local city and town races…This ballot matches candidates to the issues like the death penalty or mandatory prison sentences you feel passionate about
http://theballot.org/ This ballot guide allows you to upload and put out your own..It’s designed for young adults.. pretty dope.
Once again the spectre of police terrorism rears its ugly head. Last week it was the police killing un-armed, Pace College football star Denroy DJ Henry in front of scores of friends in Westchester county NY. This week we catch 12 white police officers beating down a skinny 16 year old kid on a college campus. Twice the kids who were filming were told to put their cameras away, as we see more and more police attempted to intimidate those who film. 12 states have passed laws making it illegal to film cops.
Below is footage from two different angles of this 16 year old getting beaten.
Here’s a press release for a press conference and demands in the wake of this beating
Boston, MA – Local Community Organizers and Activists join with clergy and members of the NAACP and National Action Network to address the latest incidents of violence and police brutality. In light of recent acts of violence as well as the worldwide release of video depicting the Boston Police in an act of excessive force and police brutality committed against a 16 yr. old African-American male, community groups are joining in a call for the Mayor and Police Commissioner of the City of Boston to listen to and implement the suggestions and recommended strategies of the community.
Jamarhl Crawford, one of the organizers of the group stated, “This press conference has been called after repeated attempts and pleas for the Mayor and Commissioner to open the table to new ideas from fresh voices in order to combat all violence in the city, which includes criminal activity, gun violence as well as police brutality.” Crawford continued, “We have asked publicly at meetings and privately through emails, letters and staff. We have demonstrated our sincerity and commitment through hard work which is documented and cannot be dismissed. We are community members and we have families that live, work, vote and pay taxes in Boston. Each time we are ignored another incident occurs which only highlights the problems and proves the importance and urgency of the message.”
The group calls for Mayor Menino and Commissioner Ed Davis to immediately take the following steps:
A. Reinstate the CO-OP (Community Ombudsman Oversight Panel) as well as create a Community Civilian Review Board and grant both bodies subpoena powers as well as the ability to initiate their own independent investigations.
B. Thoroughly follow through on past public promises in other cases of questionable police actions ie: Police shooting of Manuel DaVeiga (age 19) in which the results of the investigation were promised to be made public and to date have not been released.
C. Commit to a Public Town Hall style Community meeting to discuss the relationship between the Boston Police Department and communities of color in order to promote healing and restore public faith.
D. Implement the recommendations of MAMLEO (Mass. Assoc. of Minority Law Enforcement Officers) which include 1) appointing officers of color to positions of authority within communities of color as well as 2) utilizing officers of color in both the police and public response to high profile crimes in communities of color.
This is a dope show where we started off with new music from one of my favorite groups people need to watch for Canary Sing. This Seattle duo initially linked up during Youth Speaks/ Brave New Voices slam. They liked the way each vibed and decided to combine forces. Over the years they made it a point to focus on being tight lyricists… a quick listen to their songs shows mission accomplished. These women are no joke…
As you can tell from the playlist we decided to take folks on a musical journey back through time with special emphasis on songs that address the issue of police terrorism. We kicked off the set with a classic from Schoolly D called ‘Its Krack’, we overlaid that beat with a speech from the late Kwame Toure who was then known as Stokely Carmichael who headed SNCC. He’s talking at a Free Huey Newton Rally in 1968 about white supremacy and American oppression and how it impacted people all over the world. We followed it up with several songs from Bay Area rappers Paris and Sellassie .
A couple of other cuts to check for include Kool G Rap‘s ‘On the Run‘, MC Shan‘s ‘Freedom‘ and Trouble Funk Express‘ ‘Trouble Funk Express which is a Go Go version of the B-Boy classic Trans-europe Express
Breakdown FM on All Day Play #37
01-3x Dope ‘Improve the Groovin’
02-Canary Sing – My Style
03-Canary Sing – Prove It
04-Canary Sing – Heroines
05-Superlover Cee & Casanova Rudd -‘Do The James‘
06-Heavy D -‘You Can’t See What I can See’
07-MC Blanco -‘Insane’
08-Kool G Rap – On the Run
09-Dr Dre -Puffed Up Blunts’
10-MC Shan – Freedom
11-Mr Lif – Be Out
12-C-Murderer – Down For My N
13-Nas – Made You Look
14-Sam Sneed –Recognize
15-Gangstarr – Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
16-Notorious BIG – Kick In the Door
17-Orishas w/ Tony Touch –Represent
18-Jay-Z/Too Short – A Week Ago
19-Petey Pablo – I Told You
20-Trouble Funk – Trouble Funk Express
21-Schoolly D – Its Krack (Stokely Carmichael rmx)
Davey D's Hip Hop Corner 