What's going on?

 

My fellow Observers,

 

For those of you who grew up listening to rap and hip hop, the above artist had a lot to say to you about "what's going on" in America today. Marvin Gaye and the artists of his generation didn't sing about bitches and ho's, they sung about brothers being killed in war and on the streets of this country.

 

Mad Man's rap days ended when Tupac and biggie were killed, and sure, before rap became hip hop, and it all became "corporate", the artist of this time sung about the illness called "DWB - Dying While Black". Then everything changed when the cursing and the hard living on the street lyrics were censored and the next best subjects were the exploitation of women and lavish living while being "ghetto fabulous"..

 

Whether it's R&B, Rap, or Hip Hop, the stories of the African American experience doesn't change. During slavery they lynched them. When public lynching was abolished, they beat and shot them. Now we are right back where we started, with lynching.

 

When the young and very well liked African American student at the University of Virginia, Martese Johnson, was beaten, Mad Man jokingly stated that progress was being made in the treatment of Black men because the young man didn't get shot.

 

Last week in Mississippi, Mr. Otis Byrd, was found hanging from a tree in an all too familiar pose that causes all African Americans to cringe. Although his death has yet to be ruled a murder, this is a very frightening portrayal of an African American man, especially to African American men of this generation. Is this a sign that a few backwoods bigots are trying to send to Black men?

 

Mad Man is in agreement with the late, great Marvin Gaye, "what's going on"? Many of the white men who control this country are just plain exasperated and accusing African Americans of playing the "race card" about every injustice and ignoring the obvious.

 

1. Trayvon Martin did not have to die and his killer, George  Zimmerman was acquitted.

 

2. Eric Garner didn't have to die and his killer, Daniel Pantaleo, a policeman, was not indicted.

 

3. Michael Brown, did not have to but Darren Wilson, the cop who shot him was also not indicted.

 

4. Most alarming to Black people is that Miriam Carey, the African American woman who drove onto the sidewalk at the white house, with her child in the car, and was shot at 26 times before being killed, sure as hell, didn't have to die. No charges were raised against the officers who were involved due to lack of evidence?

 

To demean the existence of Black people even more, a Hispanic man, Omar Gonzales, jumped the barrier wall at the White House, ran across the lawn, and entered the White House with a knife and not a single shot was fired by security.

 

There are way too many stories of African American men and women, whether guilty of committing a crime or not, being needlessly killed. What is more insulting of one's intelligence, when it comes to the understanding of right and wrong, is that in all cases the perpetrators of these egregious killings are set free!

 

On every college campus in American, especially on St. Patrick's Day, young white men are staggering through the streets of wherever that school is located and none of them are beaten as viciously as Martese Johnson.

 

To all of you old, out of touch, frightened and racist white men, don't you think that it is appropriate that when these young Black men are being needlessly killed, African American's have the right to ask, "what's going on" without your accusing them of playing the race card?