LIVING LEGENDS AND FADING STARS AMIDST THE FUNK OF INJUSTICE

Aretha Franklin celebrated her 70th birthday yesterday!  DAMN!!!  God bless her, she is truly anointed – YES!  Twas not long ago that she was very ill, and yet she’s still with us, as we continue to mourn the passing of her god-daughter Whitney Houston. Houston’s mom Cissy, sang back-up for Franklin, Mahalia Jackson and Elvis Presley, in addition to forging a solo career.  It’s sad and unfortunate when a parent has to bury a child, I sympathize with Ms. Houston for her loss.  As it’s too often it seems that our stars on earth continually fall from the sky, from grace or off the face of the planet…

NOTHING COMPARES TO THE INJUSTICE THAT IS OCCURRING BY ALLOWING GEORGE ZIMMERMAN TO NOT BE INCARCERATED.  These continued acts of undue and unwarranted violence against the innocent are beyond unacceptable.  If you put a sane person in a mental institution with no means of being released, eventually chances are that person is going to go insane.  If people are continually being assaulted for no good reason, they will fight back.  Assault, abuse and injustice occurs in various ways and comes in many forms.  The latest polarized incident in this regard is the death of teenage boy Trayvon Martin.  A child walking in a gated community of Sanford, Florida was shot and killed by Zimmerman, because he claimed that Martin looked suspicious.  Zimmerman was told by police officers that he need not pursue the child in the midst of his pursuit.  This dialogue has been played from the 911 tape from that fateful day, via various news shows, yet Zimmerman is still at large.  How crazy is this?  What’s even crazier is that it’s not even a debatable issue for any race of people, liberal, republican, democrat, activist or bigot, that if Zimmerman was a black man, his ass would be in jail right now.  The injustice is compounded by the fact that Zimmerman, killed a young black man – YEAH I SAID IT!!!  I can’t imagine being Trayvon’s parents.  I have no idea of the pain they must be feeling, but happy to know that they take solace in those that are spiritually with them, and writings of expression such as these.

On Friday, members of the Miami Heat basketball team tweeted pictures showing team members wearing “hoodies,” in solidarity with the family of Martin, who was wearing the popular hooded jacket when he was shot.  Last week, President Obama weighed in on the controversial case, saying that if he had a son he would “look like” Trayvon Martin.  According to the Huffington Post: Just before 2 p.m. on Friday, the Martin family responded to the president’s remarks in a statement — “The President’s personal comments touched us deeply and made us wonder: If his son looked liked Trayvon and wore a hoodie, would he be suspicious too?”  “We’d like to thank the President and the millions of people from around the world who have shown their support for Trayvon by participating in hoodie marches, rallies or through social media,” the statement continued.  “We are all working together to not only get justice for Trayvon, but also to ensure that this kind of senseless tragedy doesn’t happen to another child” — end Huffington Post item.  As of yesterday, according to ABC News, the New Black Panther Party offered a 10,000 dollar bounty for Zimmerman’s capture.  The image below was created by an unknown source in the same vein.  Zimmerman is reported to be in hiding.

And the beat goes on…  “We shall overcome some daaaaay, ooohh deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall overcome someday”  But it’s a mutherf*cker in the interim ain’t it?  No matter how far we’ve come, for as much as we’ve accomplished as a people, there’s so much work that has to be done.  I find myself saying that more and more lately.  No matter how many honors are bestowed for the work and efforts of those that are good, we still have to endure this bullsh*t.  As much as I do my best to make circumstances better for my family and those in my circle, the more sh*t goes awry in my community and on a global scale.  Can you feel the heat?  The fuse has been lit and this powder keg is heating up.  We’re at about 60-degrees right now with no signs of cooling off.  It’s way past time for people to truly come together for more than just the cause of the day, but for everyday.  Consider this a PSA, a public service announcement, I could continue… but if you’ve read this much – you get it.

Martin was killed on February 26th.  The shooting has set off a nationwide debate over race and justice. Martin’s family believes he was killed in part because he was black.  Neighborhood crime-watch captain Zimmerman, whose father is white and mother is Hispanic, claimed self-defense.  He has not been arrested, though state and federal authorities are still investigating.  A legal adviser to Zimmerman said the shooting had nothing to do with race.  If it didn’t have anything to do with race that’s awesome, the fact still remains that an innocent child was killed by a man in Sanford, Florida, we know who he is and he hasn’t been arrested.

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