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In recent news, an up and coming rapper was killed in a crowded
Atlanta mall. According to authorities, Joe Blackmon, aka “Killa
Black,” was standing in line for a pair of Air Jordan Concords when he,
accidentally, knocked a Jolly Rancher out of the hand of the man in
front of him. The man, described only as “an African American in a
black hoodie with saggin’ pants” pumped five rounds in him before
fleeing the scene.
Witnesses say that the crowd just stepped over the dying Blackmon
like nothing happened ,some even refusing to let paramedics through for
fear of losing their places in line… Recently, people were shocked that
Brick Squad affiliate, Slim Dunkin, was murdered in an Atlanta studio,
allegedly, stemming from a fight over a piece of candy. This tragic
event was coupled by media images of mobs of people beating each other
senseless over the new Air Jordan XI Concords.
Hip Hop has had its share of deaths; Scott La Rock, Jam Master Jay,
Pac, Biggie to name a few. Unfortunately, the ‘hood is full of tales of
young brothas losing their lives over stepping on someone’s sneakers or
even staring too long at some cat at a stop light. While some may argue
that violence permeates society and it is not a “Black issue,” until I
see Justin Bieber chasing Justin Timberlake with an AK-47, I beg to
differ. Most of the blood spilling on the streets of America pours out
of Black bodies, and Hip-Hop is, predominately, made up of Black males.
It must be noted that this thing is bigger than Hip-Hop. The issue
here is the value (or lack thereof) that this society places on Black
life. Although it is a historical fact that Black folks were once the
kings and queens of civilization, around the 15th century the value of
Black life begin to drop like the 50 percent off after Christmas sale
at WalMart. Man has been fighting man since the beginning of time and
despite the historical romanticism, African civilization was not exempt
as tribal wars have existed on the continent for thousands of years.
However, it was not until the coming of the Portuguese that Black life
was given a discount price tag. During that period, European slave
traders began to use the existing beefs between tribes to trade
Africans for commodities.
As Walter Rodney wrote in “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa,” “it
was so easy to set one against another that Europeans called it ‘a
slave trader’s paradise.” The worst part of the trade was the exchange
of Africans for weapons. According to historian, Joseph Harris in his
book, Africans and Their History, “kings
were sometimes given firearms to raid neighboring areas in exchange for
prisoners of war.” In America, the technique of making the slaves fight
against each other was perfected. Herbert Aptheker wrote in American Negro Slave Revolts,
“the dividing of the victims against themselves, the use of spies and
the encouragement of traitors” were powerful tools to keep the slaves
from rebelling.
This divide and conquer strategy was also used in the ‘60s during
the Civil Rights /Black Power Movement as the FBI, through its
COINTELPRO program, played Black activists against each other. This
caused the destruction of groups such as the Black Panther Party and
led, ultimately, to the formation of “street gangs” in California. It
must be noted that, according to Mike Davis in his book, City of Quartz,
the purpose of the original gangs was not to promote Black-on-Black
violence, but to protect the ‘hood from white racist gangs such as the
“Spookhunters.”
But, after the destruction of the Black Panther Party, gangs such as
the Bloods and Crips were formed, and they saw “the enemy” as other
Black men. This was escalated by the introduction of high-powered
assault weapons and crack into the ‘hood, which Gary Webb in Dark Alliance
alleged was a government conspiracy. Simultaneously, you had the
growing popularity of Hip-Hop and it was not uncommon during the ‘80s
for Black lives to be lost over gold chains, Troop jackets, Jordans, or
other articles of clothing worn by their favorite Hip-Hop artists.
So, this leads us to where we are today, with people being beat down
for $180 sneakers that cost $12 to make in some sweat shop, and young
Black men being killed over candy. Psychologist Dr. Bobby Wright
suggested that Black people have been psychologically programmed to
kill other Black people. In his essay “The Psychopathic Racial
Personality,” he wrote, “historically, the European system has
encouraged the killing of Blacks. Because Blacks have been led to
believe that they are part of the psychopath’s system, they simply
follow the practice.”
We have been conditioned by these historical events to consider
Black-on Black conflict not only a cultural norm, but a reason for
celebration that is ingrained in the minds of the children, often in
very subtle ways. Even something as simple as a Freestyle Friday on
“106th & Park” conditions the young Black mind to accept
Black-on-Black aggression as normal behavior. Unfortunately, when this
“dissin’” is carried into the streets, there are no celebrity judges to
hold up score cards – only EMS workers with body bags and toe tags.
Back in 1989, Kool Moe Dee, as part of the Stop the Violence
Movement, said, “I never ever ran from the Ku Klux Klan/ So I shouldn’t
have to run from a Black man.” Unfortunately, until we deal with the
origin of Black-on-Black violence, we will always be “headed for self
destruction.”
Joe Blackmon a.k.a. “Blackman” is a composite character representing all of the Black men who have died senselessly.
TRUTH Minista Paul Scott represents the Militant Mind Militia. He can be reached at (919) 451-8283, via e-mail at militantmindmilitia@gmail.com, on the web at www.militantmindmilitia.com, on Twitter at @truthminista.Chanzo ni allhiphop.com
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