Tookie MUST NOT DIE

The other day I was informed by a coworker that Stanley "Tookie" Williams, co-founder of the infamous Crips in L.A. is sentenced to be executed on December 13, 2005. Stanley Williams has been in prison for the murder of four people since 1981. In 1988 he was put in the hole (total isolation). He didn't come out until 1994.

During the time he was in the hole, Tookie found purpose in his life. He was inspired to study the dictionary and read, read, read. When he came out, he coauthored 6 books for children on the negative effects of gangs and gang life. He wrote a book for young adults titled "Life in Prison" about the realities of prison life, another attempt at keeping kids from getting into the downward spiral of street life all together. He earned enough merit to travel to schools across the country while still incarcerated. He started a newsletter that is circulated to young offenders in juvenile detention centers and adult prisons. Corrections officers have used his materials for young inmates being reintroduced to society.

Criminoligists say that he has done more to articulate the causes of black-on-black crime than anyone else, criminologist or criminal. Now the State of California has decided to execute him after 24 years behind bars. The highest federal court in California rejected his plea for a stay of execution. The only person who can save him at this point is Governor Arnold Scharzenegger(sp?).

He is not even trying to get out of prison, he's just trying to continue doing what he's been doing with what's left of his natural life. I was truly touched by this story, because there are too few people who give hope to kids wrapped up in street life. So here I am asking that you think, read, and pray about this issue. Then, if God so compels you, call the governor, spread the word to as many people as you can.

If you want to know more about this issue:

http://www.savetookie.org/

The actual petition for clemency:
http://www.cm-p.com/pdf/executiveclemency.pdf

Check it and see what you can do...

And yes, I wrote this all myself. I am not copying and pasting spam.

Blessings

Michael Frost wrote
[One core practice in our church community is to bless] others at least 3 times every week- someone in the community, someone outside of the community and a third from either of those groups.

Jeannie U. wrote
what does it mean to "bless" someone? how you would all describe it, in terms of what it really looks like, feels like. is it just praying for each other?

_________________________________

I was about to reference Strong's concordance when I actually read Jeannie's post more thoroughly. Blessed is she for asking this question! It's a great one. "Bless" is one of those words that Christians love to toss around often without thinking about what it might actually mean beyond sounding generally positive. To me, to bless someone else would be to show them favor.

When I say that I'm blessed, I am acknowledging God's favor toward me as one of his adopted children, set apart by the work of his son. When I think of being blessed, I think of Jesus' opening words in his sermon on the mount, where he uses the term "blessed" over and over again. I think the implication is that for those who mourn their poverty of spirit, who are meek and hungry and thirsty for righteousness, who are pure-hearted peacmakers, persecuted for their righteousness, these are favored by God. It is a favored position, not one to be ashamed of, because the rewards that God bestows are manifold!

Thus, after rambling, I will sum it up by saying that, for me at least, blessing others is showing favor. Maybe that means buying a homeless person a slice of pizza, or giving your friend a ride to work even though it makes you late, calling someone to tell them you love them, praying for their strength and faith to grow, or healing on the sabbath. Maybe what Frost has in mind is different, but that's blessing to me.

Hip Hop Battles: What Are They Good For?

[For context to this blog read this and then listen to the battle raps ("Kevin Winkle" and "Eat35 Battle Record", respectively) on the following web pages: htttp://www.myspace.com/835rappin and http://www.myspace.com/yamio263. WARNING: EXPLICIT LYRICS AND NOT SO NICE CONTENT]

Before the beef between 8:35 and Yamio emerged online--it is, as Yamio states on his own blog, close to a decade stale--I sent Yamio a message in response to something he wrote in a song called, "It's Like That." A track seething with venom, an emcee featured on the song says that his music will sell because "it's blood. They love it." Then he says something to the effect that he's hard enough to walk around "with a gun in public."


Yamio, for his part, proceeds to speak negatively of virtually everyone in his middle verse. This, of course, is the nature of the emcee battle. But he starts talking about the crew Forgotten Dialect, of which I was a part back in the day. He dissed everyone specifically, with the exception of Kayer (a.k.a Kazrah, Kaerah, Kaer) and myself. Kayer still raps and puts out straight hip hop material, so I suppose that's why he goes untouched. And though he doesn't explicitly diss me in the middle of a battle track, he says, in effect, that as long as I am not putting hip hop first (making beats, writing rhymes, doing shows, etc.), I am wasting my life.


Forgotten Dialect disbanded long ago, and many of the guys who were in the original crew have continued to make music, or remained involved in the hip hop world in some capacity. Some still Dj, some still rap, some still bomb trains, but for the most part, hip hop is not what they do for a living.  Yamio took this to mean that they--really, we--have fallen off.


So I wrote to Yamio expressing my dismay at the way he wrote about me, and the context in which he wrote about me.  I felt as though he was being condescending, like I needed to check myself and my priorities in life.  That hurt. I have two children and my beautiful wife to support. I work at a bookshop full time, I'm going to school part time, I spend my weekends with the fam. My initial reaction was to respond in kind. I got him started making beats and writing rhymes and painting. I know his family. But I knew that wouldn't solve anything. I knew I would end up right where he is with 8:35.  And everybody knows that this is unproductive.  This is a microcosm for the eastcoast/westcoast, B.I.G./Tupac, Jay-Z/Nas, 50 Cent/Ja Rule P.R. entertainment bullshit that I thought we all hated. But I see people jumping on and posting this and that, so I guess I was wrong.


I told Yamio in my message that battling is hardly useful in building hip hop community, with the exception of being aimed at the betterment of one's opponent.  If an emcee tore into their competitor's real flaws, not that they're like a dog that needs a whooping for stepping out of line, or telling them that they're a bitch, but got down to the real issues, I might actually appreciate it more. But see, these guys don't even know each other well enough to do that.  They just have hate (or boredom) that needs appeasement, so they channel it in whichever direction sets them off. That's wack. Ask anybody who has been through it (that doesn't have an ego the size of Texas).


Back in the day, emcees would battle about who was the dopest, and yeah, there was some real beef, but look at those same cats now. The beef is hip hop legend, now they're working on building global community together.  That's what we need to do.  We need to continue to battle wack emcees who rape the culture for its lucrative appeal, or who cheapen it by inflating their egos beyond reason or comprehension.


I know what battles are about. I have witnessed and participated in them more than once. I have Canibus' "Second Round K.O." on vinyl. What I'm saying is that everybody needs to sit down and listen (I know that's hard for rappers) to "Hello, Hi, Hey" like it's a textbook for the class, cause they nod their heads, but they don't hear it.


"Beef is when workin' niggas can't find jobs/
So they tryna find niggas to rob/
Tryna find bigger guns so they can finish the job/
Beef is when the crack kids can't find moms/
Cause they end up inna PINE box or locked behind bars...


When a soldier ends his life with his own gun/
Beef is tryin' to figure out what to tell his son/
Beef is oil prices and geopolitics/
Beef is Iraq, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip/
Some beef is big and some beef is small/
But what y'all call beef is not beef at all..."
--Mos Def (with Talib Kweli), "What's Beef", 2003

Visa to Heaven Rewards Program

I'm talking the results of your life...
And that means character and Christ-likeness...

-Bob Hyatt

Here's how I see the Visa to Heaven Rewards Program:

Our mission is to know Christ and to see him as he truly is. Paul and the rest of Christ's closest friends were clearly closer to Jesus than any of us will ever be in this life. When we start over with the perfectly purified life, the character and Christ-likeness that we developed will carry over into that incorruptable life with God. Some will have learned less of the treasure and beauty and power of Jesus than others, but all of us will see him as he really is--no bias. And if God's being is infinite, then there will never be an end to knowing him. We will know all of his perfections, but we will never know them fully; we will spend eternity delving into that infinite depth of perfection that is our God.

The apostle Paul, because of his life experience with Christ and the way he chose to live, is way ahead of me on that journey into knowing God. That is his reward, being closer, being "ahead" in the unending race for the fullness of God. This eradicates envy, jealousy, resentment, and regret. We all will have what our hearts have been longing for, and we will all be striving forward through eternity for more. Yet each of us, as a result of our life lived, will begin post-death eternity from different places. And when we see Paul, we will see Christ in him and want more of Christ, not more power or money or authority. When we see Peter, we will ask him why he was so freakin' stubborn and laugh at him, walking away.

But really, that's how I think of rewards in heaven. Not the cause of class, but the effect of our earthly relationships, with God, people, creatures, and the planet.