#MNR: The Extinction Agenda

#MNR: The Extinction Agenda

“I see blue lights; I get scared and start running. That shit be crazy, they ‘posed to protect us. Throw us in handcuffs and arrest us. While they go home at night, that shit messed up. Knowing we needed help, they neglect us. Wondering who gon make them respect us...”

Lil Baby – “The Bigger Picture”

I shed tears the first time I watched the video for “The Bigger Picture.” I gained so much respect for a young man I already had a great deal of respect for. I’ve been a Lil Baby fan since “Yes Indeed.” I knew he was far from an ignorant, jewelry clad mumble rapper. I knew from jump that the kid had major talent. But damn it, “The Bigger Picture” transcended music; it was a profound social statement from a young man who truly knew what time it was/is. I’m thankful for the song and the visuals. It meant so much to me. It meant even more to the young men and women of this generation.

I went through so many emotions while I watched televised coverage of the many protests around the country during the summer of 2020. I fully supported my brothers and sisters out there risking it all for their voices to be heard, for the idea of true freedom. I cried like a baby one summer Friday night while watching coverage of the protests, thinking of my gpa AG Warren and wishing he were still alive. I envisioned him and I in the streets of Gotham, me pushing him in a wheelchair, both of us navigating amidst the crowds, fighting the powers that be. He instilled so many virtues within me, the greatest being to stand up for my beliefs. He taught me to discern, to distinguish the real from the bullshit. I’m certain that in his wildest imagination he could have never envisioned what took place in the streets of America two summers ago. He was born and raised in the segregated south, existing as a second-class citizen for the entirety of his early life. He fought in a segregated army, defending his country in World War II. He perished a few years before seeing Obama become president. But I know he would have been extremely proud of the babies, as these types of moves would have never been possible if not for his and others’ sacrifice and effort, way before those babies who risked it all in those streets were even thought of – way before their parents’ parents were born. I boo-who’d because my health precluded me from being able to protest amongst my people. I felt like a sucker because I wasn’t able to join my brothers and sisters in their quest to be heard. Being arrested and locked up didn’t scare me in the slightest; being locked in [central] bookings without access to vital medication completely scared me. Imagine me being locked in a shitty cell in the Tombs unable to comfortably stretch out, asking a C.O. about my blood thinners and diabetes meds. Imagine that pussyclot laughing at my pain, impervious to my suffering. Imagine me dying in a dirty cell. I knew I was past my prime, past being able to endure the bullshit that being locked up would entail. I felt like a failure. I was built for this type of struggle, but that era passed about ten to fifteen years prior. I couldn’t join my brothers and sisters in protest, and it damn near assassinated my soul.

So... Here I am, no longer able to truly walk it how I talk it. But what I do still possess is the ability to effectively communicate with the youth. Even though I am no longer able to move how I used to, I can still cut through the narrative and let the babies know the truth. That’s my role these days, and I promise I won’t stop until I perish. Even then, my words will live on.

1619-1863: American Slavery
1865-1877: Reconstruction
1878-1964: Jim Crow
1964, 1965: Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act
1973-Present: Hip Hop Culture (1979 – 1st “official” rap song – “King Tim III” – Fatback Band/Bill Curtis, slightly before Englewood, New Jersey’s own Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight”)

I included this timeline for perspective on the Black Experience in America. We didn’t gain our civil rights until 1964. Nine years later, hip hop, the predominant culture of today, began on Sedgwick Avenue in #BXNYC with DJ Kool Herc. The art of rhyming, in some form, has existed for millennia, dating back to African griots. But the music we know as rap began in the mid to late ‘70s. Once upon a time, “conscious” rap existed and flourished. Rap uplifted the underserved communities that birthed it. It was a positive in the lives of the downtrodden and underserved. During the early to mid-80s, things began to change somewhat. Artists like Melly Mel and later Schooly D., Ice T., and Kool G. Rap began to rap about street life, which was their reality. Stories about drugs, crime, and violence began to be recorded. They were authentic and necessary, as they added perspective to the culture. Then, in the late ‘80s, a group out of Compton, CA named NWA blew the lid off rap music, officially creating the subgenre of gangsta rap. With little to no airplay, NWA quickly turned the culture upside down, introducing suburban kids (and most of the rest of America) to the ills of inner-city injustice and fuckery in LA. Things haven’t been the same since.

Fast forward to present time and virtually all the rap that’s heard is drugs, violence, gangs, and homicide. There’s virtually no positivity in existence. Homicide is glorified, pitting Black men against Black men. I’m an A1 (First Amendment) champion. I always will be. But the truth is the truth. We lose tens of young men every year within rap music, and thousands more in the streets where the music is tantamount to religion. Rock artists don’t kill each other. Country artists don’t kill each other. Jazz artists don’t kill each other. Have you ever wondered why?

If it were just art, I wouldn’t have a thing to say. I completely respect artistic expression. If rappers only banged on wax, I’d have no problem. A1, A1, A1. But damn, someone must speak the truth. EVERY rap video “ad” on YouTube is gang/drug/homicide based. There are rarely any J. Cole or Cordae (positive artists) video “ads.” So basically, even if a kid doesn’t want to watch some gangster shit, it’s forced on them. I’m not insinuating and I’m not implying a MF thing. There is an agenda that exists within these record labels, an agenda birthed by the federal government. Deliberate warfare was thrust upon us, much like heroin and cocaine were decades ago. When I was a kid and teen, there were a “slew of artists pushing positivity” (RIP Phife). Now there are virtually none. It’s obvious that this is by design. They’ve glamorized violence and death. Just like the drugs, the government set this up so that they’d be able to step back into the shadows and let us exterminate us. They’ve been highly successful. And even when they aren’t, they employ other tactics to make sure they maintain the upper hand.

The Constitution is simply not the same for us as it is for “them.”

“Yes, it is, Ty. You’re lying!”

Shut the fuck up. It is not.

Let’s get into it.

I watch “Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey” every single day. Dr. Richey is a YouTube journalist that, along with TYT (The Young Turks, his umbrella organization), exposes racial injustice and injustice as a whole on a daily basis. There’s video followed by commentary and context to supplement the video. Dr. Richey provides the commentary and context and usually has a member of TYT as a guest to reaffirm his position. Yesterday, I watched a segment whose origin is just a few miles away in Weehawken in which a building manager called the police on a Black man for exercising in the building gym. I guess I should mention that THE BLACK MAN LIVES IN THE BUILDING. Now, there wasn’t any type of calamity (there usually is in these videos). But Dr. Richey made the point that we (Black folk) are immediately told to provide identification. Why? Our word isn’t good enough? Then Dr. made a profound statement, saying that identification, deeds, etc. have become our new freedom papers (IFKYK). Our word means nothing. White folk rarely (if ever) have to go through this type of situation. [If ever asked] they say who they are and that’s that. But our word is never good enough. We’re seldom given the same grace. The cops pull up, pistols drawn, ready to arrest us or worse. Worse is the outcome way too often. The average (white) naysayer will say “just comply.” I say fuck that. If I’ve done nothing wrong, I don’t have to comply with a got damn thing. I know my rights. Many of us know OUR rights. But we still end up tased, shot, or killed anyway. It’s beyond ridiculous.

Black America’s greatest of coons (and there’s stiff competition) is also the longest serving justice on the US Supreme Court. Yes, I’m talking about the evil Clarence Thomas. While recently speaking to an audience of conservative dickheads at some pilgrim function, Coon Thomas had the nerve to say that America is suffering from its “woke agenda.” It’s beyond irony that a Black man born in Georgia during segregation feels that an agenda aimed at true equality is to the detriment of this nation. My gpa couldn’t stand that piece of dog shit. Pop had seen plenty of Coon Thomas’ in his day, the type to make it out and forget who and what he was. He married a white woman who happens to have her fingers all in conservative agendas aimed against minorities in this country. He sees nothing wrong with presiding over cases brought before the court that she’s championed AND supported financially. Yet, he has a big problem with Black folk attaining true equality in a nation that, after almost 250 years of existence, still treats everyday Black folk and other POC like second class citizens. I’d really love to have a one-on-one gloves off debate with the coon. No cameras, no audio recording. Just straight, unfiltered talk. I have to hear him explain why and how easily he’s turned his back on his own people. Then I need him to explain how he sleeps at night all these years after harming Ms. Anita Hill’s life and lying about it before America. Then I need two 50-pound plate weights, rope, and deep water to drown his coon ass. I SAID WHAT THE FUCK I SAID.

Where does the blame lie? Is it all white folks’ fault? Of course not. Is it completely OUR fault? Of course not. The blame lies within the thread that sewed together the fabric of this nation. This shit is all institutional. It breeds apathy from the other side and stokes division on our side. It is why diverse states are FURTHER white washing contextual history through legislation. They know that the proof is in the pudding. They figure that if they continue to sanitize American history it will soon be forgotten. That will NEVER happen as long as people like me are breathing. I’m going to tell it how it is until they hang me from a tree. My words will live forever so, even in death, the truth will be told. And Black folk (yeah US), we need to get rid of the bullshit that clouds our judgement, blinds our eyes, and erases our memory. We need to stop promoting ignorance and placing vanity over substance. How many times does Gucci have to say fuck you for you to stop spending your money with them? How many teenage boys and young men must die in these streets before we do something about it? The band simply continues to play on. The band consists of retail therapy, drugs, self-hatred, and apathy. Too many of us are addicted to the first two and full of the third and fourth. Harold Melvin dem said it best: wake up, everybody. The stakes have never been higher.

Aye yo, CEO, take us the fuck outta here.

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