Not In MY Backyard
Ini Kamoze - World-A-Music
Bushwick Bill - Letter from KKK
Willie D - Put the F**kin' Gun Away
Stop the Violence All-Stars - Self-Destruction
There's a war goin' on outside. And it's closer than you think.
``I got...the cutest little Smith & Wesson, snub-nose .38 you ever saw. I've never been more confident.''
``Things are way worse than they used to be. You have to do something to protect yourself.''
``But it's not much safer at home. The police chased a guy through my yard one time with their guns out.''
"People are in fear of their lives. They're looking for ways to feel safe again."
Are we in the streets of Iraq? The slums of Haiti? The starved chaos of Darfur? The heroine-tinged back alleys of Afghanistan?
Nah. These are the mean streets of New Orleans. Newly crowned the murder capital of the United States, NOLA has counted more than 37 homicides this year, a rate of 96/100,000. To add to this chilling statistic, the number of permits to carry concealed weapons has approximately doubled since Katrina.
Recently, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms conducted a "time to crime" study, asking the question, "What is the interval between the legal purchase of a firearm and its seizure for a crime investigation?" The national average is five years. NOLA's average? 6 months.
With murders, gun purchases, and concealed weapon permits on the RISE, is there anything, other than bodies, falling in NOLA? The NOLA school district's standardized test scores.
The aforementioned problems cannot just be conveniently filed away as post-hurricane clusterfuckery.
- Philadelphia, where you at?!?
- Newark, where you at?!?
- Oakland, where you at?!?
- Cincinatti, where you at?!?
- St. Louis, where you at?!?
This ain't OVER THERE. We have our own war, right here, in our backyard. You may not live in Philly, but it's OUR backyard. You may not live in Oakland, but it's OUR backyard. Cincinatti may be hours from YOUR home, but it's OUR backyard.
posted by vik on Monday, March 26, 2007
6 Comments:
Keep schooling the people, Vik. Everyone seems to this ish is sweet, but it definitely isn't so.
*think*
yo enigmatik -
yeah, it ain't all lollipops and rainbows.
the war is over there AND RIGHT here.
we don't need to go to iraq to get killed.....
the saddest thing is that for many years all rappers can do is brag about how their city is the murder capital, where they murder for capital. where's the protest?
Vik---Another great post. You know you always get props from me for keepin' it real. The situation with NOLA is a national disgrace. Much respect for keeping this issue at the forefront.
what's good, scholar?
biochemical slang keeps it real my dude.
rock rock on.
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