Stopping the N Word Starts With Blacks

JASMYNE CANNICK: Stopping the N Word Starts With Blacks
(November 28, 2006)

http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur30016.cfm

*Black leaders are calling on the entertainment industry to stop using the “N” word, a move in theory that I support wholeheartedly.

Do I think that the entertainment industry gives a damn? Absolutely not, but it makes for great news clips and if one didn’t know any better they’d think we were really doing something here. But in actuality, Blacks would be foolish to expect an industry that is only concerned with making money and lots of it to voluntarily comply with the request of a few Black leaders when there’s millions of dollars to be made.

The N word is profitable, let’s face it.

How do I know? Because every Tuesday millions of us disperse to our local music stores and support artists, many of whom are Black, that in their lyrics degrade women and use the N word freely. In we fact, we expect to them do it, that’s what we want and that’s why they’re rich.

To expect record companies, who are raking in millions each year off the N word to voluntarily give that up is irrational. The only way we’re going to make sweeping systemic changes in the way the N word is used is if we force it economically and quite frankly I don’t think we really want to do that.

In order for change to be made that would mean that we would have to stop listening to the artists that we love so much. It would mean that we couldn’t support films where the N word was used, no matter who’s starring in it. It would mean the boycotting of radio stations that play songs from artists who use the N word. No more buying designer clothes from artists who use the N word. No more buying concert tickets for artists who use the N word and of course watching BET and MTV would be out of the question.

Are Blacks really ready to give up the N word? Because the only way it’s going to happen is if we effect their bottom line but alas, we’re too busy making their bottom line.

I’ll be the first to admit that I love hip-hop. However, my love for hip-hop does not mean that I turn a deaf ear to its use of the N word and homophobic and misogynistic lyrics like so many of us often do with the disclaimer, “I like the beat not the words.” That’s a cop out, plain and simple.

And let’s be clear, we are the same group of people that liked R. Kelly’s beats so much that we turned a blind eye towards the very blatant proof that he was engaging in at best questionable activities with minor girls and put him and his new album on top of the charts.

We should not be in the business of asking other people to do something that we aren’t even willing to do ourselves.

I think Black people are just fine with the N word. Sure, we may get riled up when a white person uses it, but can we really when most of us use it everyday in our daily conversations.

Consider this, Black people went from referring to each other as “brothas and sistas” to nigga’s and bitch’s and sometimes worse.

Until the majority of Blacks are willing to make a conscientious effort which requires a lifestyle change in regards to the N word, it will continue to be used not only by Blacks but by other races as well.

Jasmyne Cannick is a commentator and activist who is known for addressing the issues others can't or simply won't. Chosen as one of ESSENCE Magazine's 25 Women Shaping the World in 2005, at 29, Jasmyne writes a popular daily blog at jasmynecannick.com and myspace.com/jasmynecannick. She resides in Los Angeles.

Angry crowd protests NYPD shooting

Story Highlights
• Five officers involved are placed on paid administrative leave
• Angry crowd gathers to demand answers about NYPD shooting of groom
• Crowd shouts that Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly 'must go'
• Police say no gun was found in victims' car
Adjust font size:
Decrease font Decrease font
Enlarge font Enlarge font

NEW YORK (AP) -- An angry crowd shouted "No justice, no peace!" Some called for the ouster of the city's police commissioner. Many counted off to 50, the number of rounds that are estimated to have been fired by police at three unarmed men, killing one on his wedding day.

Several hundred people gathered Sunday for a vigil and rally to demand answers about why officers let fly a flurry of bullets at 23-year-old Sean Bell early Saturday, hours before he was supposed to marry the mother of his two young children.

The five officers were placed on paid administrative leave and stripped of their guns, said Paul Browne, chief spokesman for the NYPD. Police and prosecutors promised a full investigation.

But none of that stemmed the fury of a community outraged by the shootings. (Watch the crowd count down the number of shots fired Video )

"We cannot allow this to continue to happen," the Rev. Al Sharpton said at the gathering outside Mary Immaculate Hospital, where one of the two wounded men was in critical condition. "We've got to understand that all of us were in that car."

Relatives of the men, including Bell's fiancee, attended the vigil and rally but none spoke publicly.

Some in the crowd called for the removal of Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, yelling "Kelly must go!"

Kelly has said that police shot at the car after it drove forward and struck an undercover officer and an unmarked police minivan. The information was based on interviews with witnesses and two officers who did not fire their weapons, he said.

But a witness account emerged Monday disputing that version of events.

Trini Wright, a dancer at the strip club where Bell's bachelor party was held, told the Daily News she was going to a diner with the men and was putting her makeup bag in the trunk of their car when the police minivan appeared.

"The minivan came around the corner and smashed into their car. And they (the police) jumped out shooting," Wright, 28, told the newspaper for Monday editions. "No 'stop.' No 'freeze.' No nothing."

Kelly had said Saturday the police department was still piecing together what happened and that it was too early to say whether the shooting was justified. He said it was unclear whether the officers, who were in plain clothes, identified themselves before firing.

On Sunday, Browne said, "We are continuing to look for additional witnesses to shed light on the incident and assisting the district attorney's office with its investigation."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Kelly planned to meet with community leaders at City Hall on Monday. Bloomberg and his aides were in contact with Bell's family and community leaders throughout the weekend.

The shootings occurred after 4 a.m. Saturday outside the Kalua Cabaret in Queens. Kelly said the incident stemmed from an undercover operation by seven officers investigating the club.

Bell was struck twice. The survivors were Joseph Guzman, 31, who was shot at least 11 times, and Trent Benefield, 23, who was hit three times. Guzman was in critical condition Sunday and Benefield was stable.

The officers' shots struck the men's car 21 times. They also hit nearby homes and shattered windows at a train station, though no residents were injured.

Police thought one of the men in the car might have had a gun, but investigators found no weapons. It was unclear what prompted police to open fire, Kelly said.

According to Kelly, the groom was involved in a verbal dispute outside the club, and one of his friends referred to a gun.

An undercover officer walked closely behind Bell and his friends as they headed for their car. As he walked toward the front of the vehicle, the car drove forward, striking the officer and minivan, Kelly said.

The officer was apparently the first to open fire, Kelly said. He had served on the force for five years. One 12-year veteran fired his weapon 31 times, emptying two full magazines, Kelly said.

In total, it is believed 50 bullets were fired, he said. It was the first time any of the officers, all of whom carried 9 mm handguns, had been involved in a shooting, he said.

At some point, Bell backed the car onto a sidewalk, hitting a building gate, police said. He then drove forward, striking the police vehicle a second time, Kelly said.

The police department's policy on shooting at moving vehicles states: "Police officers shall not discharge their firearms at or from a moving vehicle unless deadly force is being used against the police officers or another person present, by means other than a moving vehicle."

The police officers' group 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care said it was issuing a vote of no confidence in Kelly over the shooting.

Community leaders planned a rally December 6 at police headquarters.

This isn't the first time the NYPD has come under scrutiny over officer-involved shootings.
In 1999, police killed Amadou Diallo, an unarmed immigrant from Guinea in western African who was shot 19 times. The four officers in that case were acquitted of criminal charges. And in 2003, Ousmane Zongo, a native of Burkina Faso in western African, was hit four times, twice in the back