shelleyshockley

The Effects of Violence

The poem below was read on the Michael Baisden sydincated talk show on Monday. At the tender age of 16, Yvonne Espinoza offers keen insight into the violence that continues to rage through our communities. As you read try to imagine the heartfelt plea she offered on the radio. With strong conviction, passion and anger Yvonne recited this poem through tear filled eyes. I hope this moves you and prompts some dialouge in your community.

Violent
By Yvonne Espinoza

We’re violent because this is all we know
You taught us this along time ago
We’re violent because you made us this way
You beat us naked, you hung our people,
Raped our kids and stripped us of our pride
And you now wanna ask why?
Give us a reason not to be
You can’t, it’s impossible

Because to give us a reason, you’d have to right all the wrong you’ve done
But you can’t and if you could then
You’ve only just begun
You’d have to beg for mercy, plead and cry
You’d have to feel the pain we felt
The pain that took lives

You go through the hardships,
The trials and tribulations,
The suffering, the heartache, the dying babies
You sit on a boat full of hundreds of sick,
Old people living to die
How about you dance to make money
Look ignorant on t.v.
Go to jail for nothing
Harassed because others don’t like what they see

Have your people get beat to death
By those who get paid to protect
You eat trash to survive
How about you watch your people and babies die
Get sold for a dime
Kill themselves because they don’t want to live this life

We went through it then and we go through it now
And you know it’s true, and you still ask why?
How dare you have the audacity
Who made you king?

Despite common belief and despite what you think
There is only one king, one God
And he walks with me, with us
The ones who were forced to live in grief
Who were cut, killed, raped and beat
Like animals, brainwashed to think like you

You hacked away, pulled and dragged us down
Until we didn’t want to be Black or Brown
We didn’t want to be Colored or Negroes
We wanted to be High, Suddity, White Folk
We though if we looked, smelled, and act like you
We could live a regular life, and though we tried
You still continued to beat and lay us out
To hang us from our necks, to laugh at our bodies

You could never blame us for being this way
Because you taught us violence
So how dare you think of forming any kind of alliance
Now we know that two wrongs don’t make a right
But since we have none,
Why should we spare your life?

It’s your fault for all of this
And if you didn’t teach us violence
Then who did?
It couldn’t have been us
Because, remember, we’re ignorant!

You should be careful what you say
Because your words have power
Say it enough and it’ll come true…
I know you’ve heard of karma
God have mercy on you.

Good vs. Evil

For months now this topic has been playing in my mind and I have wondered just how I wanted to address it. Well I think the “Don Imus” controversy has finally given me a good platform from which to launch my views on the continual lack of good in our society. Our world is becoming more and more evil by the second and Imus has brought this to the forefront.
Over the last three days I have listened to everyone from Al Sharpton to Michael Baisden lament the outrageous comments made in reference to the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers. This whole controversy spoiled a wonderful experience because I had the good fortune to watch these young ladies fight for the championship in Quickens Loan Arena here in Cleveland. It was a good game, they are a very young but talented team with long careers ahead of them.
When I first heard about Imus’ comments I was appalled and saddened for these young ladies who did nothing to deserve such degradation. They are some of the best and brightest in our community and they work hard daily to try to improve their lot in life. Something that everyone hopes for and encourages in young people. How then did they become the brunt of some sick old man’s “joke”.
My question is, “Where was the joke?” Then there are all of those who have stated well he’s a “shock jock” and their aim is to do things that shock you into listening to them. Unfortunately for a large segment of our population this type of entertainment is acceptable and something they look forward to, I for one, had only a vague awareness of Imus prior to this incident and based on everything I have heard since I’m happy I did not have the opportunity to waste any brain cells or valuable time listening to his take on life.
As I pondered this situation I had a number of conversations with many people who agreed that the comments were outrageous, degrading, sexist, racist and they all called for harsh punishment. One conversation with a twentysomething male however rendered a different response. While he found the remarks offensive he felt the outcry from the National Association of Black Journalists in particular was unwarranted because they just as Imus are protected by the 1st amendment offering the freedom of speech. He also recounted comments made by nationally syndicated radio host Russ Parr who also spoke of the freedom of speech and indicated that he himself has said outrageous things, but because he doesn’t have the following of Imus they don’t make national news.
According to my young friend, the Parr show regularly hosts skits on the Chinese, elderly black women etc. Which leads me to my title – Good versus Evil.
Today we (the black community) live in a world in which young men and women appear to have a genuine disregard for one another. We do not respect one another and find it acceptable to use derogatory language in song, comedy and the written word. Many of our young people proudly peddle negative images of themselves and their community, but why?
In many ways this is because they see adults performing in the same manner. We have become a society of people with limited levels of self-esteem and the way one attempts to elevate oneself when hurt is by hurting others. But this phenomenon is not limited to the black community it is a reflection of the larger community. In the constant fight to move ahead we must first denounce and step on those who are the least among us.
It was encouraging this evening to hear that MSNBC had dropped the Imus show, yet despite their statements about the image of NBC Universal I would bet it had a lot to do with the fact that Procter & Gamble, General Motors and Staples had withdrawn their advertising dollars from the show. The bottom line in America is the bottom line! To that end I applaud the aforementioned advertisers for taking a stand against hatred in our community.
I strongly believe in the Freedom of Speech, but I do not believe in degrading young women of any race!
Let’s all take a lesson from this incident and attempt to live our lives in a positive manner. As our mothers taught us – “If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything”, and barring that make your point without being hurtful and bigoted in your remarks. Think before you speak, write, rap or make public your views!

I.N.N .- To the Nth Degree

First I have to thank Tom Joyner for my title, which if you’re not familiar is an acronym for “Ignorant Negro News”. This evening I was taking in the news when I heard the following story that I am now paraphrasing:
Garfield Heights (a suburb of Cleveland) police decided this weekend to do a sting of sorts on illegally parked cars on Broadway Avenue a major thoroughfare in this small suburb. The report said they and residents were fed up with the many vehicles regularly parked illegally near a Sport Bar. So they called out the towing company the city has a contract with and began citing and towing all illegally parked vehicles. One young lady comes out of the club to find her car has been towed and decides she will beat the system because as the tow truck operator is hoisting up other cars she gets a ride to the impound lot which is apparently unattended and drives off in her car, using a second set of keys. I’m not sure why she used a second set, but that’s neither here nor there. She then retires for the evening only to be awakened a short time later by police officers standing over her announcing that she is now going to be charged with theft of her own car and the car is towed again. She and her mother state the police overreacted and she had no idea they would track her down.
Now my question is what made her think she could get away with just idly stopping by the impound lot and retrieving her car? Secondly I want to know why her mother was supporting her in her actions?
This is exactly why children, teens and young adults do such idiotic things – they don’t believe there are consequences for their actions and why should you if your parents support your idiocy?
To read for yourself check out this site Newsnet5.

A new form of segregation?

I meant to write this post last week, but what can I say life got in the way. I was truly intrigued last week when I read Thomas Ott’s story “Shaker Heights may penalize landlords for tenants’ crimes” in the Plain Dealer.
In the story Shaker officials indicate they are trying to deal with “quality of life” issues in one of this community’s first integrated suburbs by proposing a law that would penalize landlords if tenants commit crimes within 1,000 feet of where they live. I read this and began scratching my head, and wondering what were these officials thinking. Landlords should be held accountable for the state of their property and for the actions – to some degree of their tenants if it truly becomes a nuisance property, but to tell me that I am responsible for the actions of someone away from their home is ludicrous.
The more I hear of laws like this I begin to wonder what country am I living in? We are becoming a society of knee-jerk reactionists and no one seems to want to look at the real problems that are causing some of these societal ills and taking the time to try and address the causes not the effects.
Now why would I ask is this a new form of segregation? I’m glad you asked because sadly I have a response. A few years ago, Shaker began to selectively tackle the problem of absentee landlords by aggressively citing residents for neglecting their property. The postcard for this neglect was a black grandmother who was in her late 60s or early 70s with a number of health issues and she was struggling to correct the problems at her property. What did this wonderful community do, they arrested her!
This case sparked my interest because I know several people who live or own property in Shaker and I have watched how they selectively cite certain areas of the city while you can drive through other sections and notice some of the same problems that just continue to persist. The areas they seem to concentrate on are heavily populated by blacks and happen to be closest to the border of the City of Cleveland.
Shaker Heights has always been a progressive city, but this level of progress appears to be more of a regression to times gone by, times many of us don’t want to see revisited.
This article was also interesting because a slight comparison was made to the efforts of Bedford officials to hold parents accountable for the actions of their children if they were detained or arrested repeatedly. This is like comparing apples to oranges – there is no comparison. Parents are the first line of discipline in a child’s life and if they shirk that duty they should be held accountable. If they find they cannot handle an unruly children they should be looking for sources to help deal with them, but if you claim ignorance to the behavior I’m sure a $250 fine will enlighten you!

Venting! I Can’t Do People Today!

I haven’t posted in a few days because my life has been so hectic! It started out as a good hectic, but over the last two days I have come to the conclusion I CAN’T DO PEOPLE! I am a regular lurker on several different blogs, some of which I have listed on the sidebar and others I don’t but one of my favs is Radiogirl. One of her recent posts was on Positive Thinking and I really try to look for the bright spot in everything and everybody just to make life a little easier for me, but today I’ve had it and I’m done dealing with petty, egotistical and ultimately shallow people! I just can’t take it anymore.
I know this sounds a bit like rambling and I apologize, but that is where I am at this particular moment in time. Later today I hope to have calmed down so that I can post aobut my Artist’s Date over the weekend and Daddy’s Little Girl.
Thanks for listening, reading if anyone is out there!