This is what Hip Hop is supposed to do.. Speak to the the hearts and minds of the community. Its supposed to reflect our trials and triumphs and give voice to the voiceless.  This is an incredible song and video from Pittsburgh rapper Jasiri X

The press conference will take place Tuesday, July 5, 2011 at noon at City Hall (located at City Hall Park in Lower Manhattan between Broadway, Park Row, and Chambers Street). The Monumental 5 are Louis Pena, Gabriel Diaz, Cynthia Rosa, James W. Ayala, and Jade Everett. Confirmed participants for Tuesday’s press conference include: Pete Rock; General Steele; Shara McHayle (one of the victims of police brutality who is also an entertainment industry professional and the wife of Pete Rock); Lisa “Cynical” Smith (one of the party’s organizers); activist and writer Kevin Powell; activist Lumumba Bandele from the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and Senior Community Engagement Advocate for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund; NYC Council Member Charles Barron; and Kenneth Montgomery, the attorney representing The Monumental 5.

Powell offered this statement: “Pete Rock and Smif N Wessun are not only pioneers and legends in the global, multibillion dollar hiphop music industry with extensive resumes and followers across the planet, but they are also very engaged in their communities locally. Indeed, I have personally worked with Pete and Steele of Smif N Wessun and know their commitment to community, family, and positive, proactive events. That is what makes this over-the-top police violence following their joint CD release party so outrageous and unjust. We say enough of treating every single hiphop gathering in New York like a crime waiting to happen, and we say enough to the NYPD’s use of excessive, inhumane force, especially when it comes to young people and people of color in New York.”

continue reading full article HERE

The situation that took place the other night at Tammany Hall in Brooklyn where NYPD went wylding on innocent concert goers resulting in the arrest and brutal beating of 5 people, including the daughter of the co-headliner  Pete Rock should serve as a stark reminder just how such incidents are  all too common.

Those who attended this album release party described the event as peaceful. There were no problems inside and hardly anyone was aware that an army of police had amassed outside the venue. From the looks of things what took place  was a deliberate and a gross injustice…

When it comes to the issue of  police brutality many of us tend to focus on egregious scenarios where people are shot 50 times as was the case with Sean Bell in neighboring Queens, NY or shot at point blank range as was the case with Oscar Grant in Oakland, California. When these types of incidents occur we tend to rally the troops, hold loud demonstrations and demand justice as we should… After all, the police are on the taxpayer payroll and have been granted much power and authority. With that comes great responsibility. They are are there to serve and protect, not terrorize and oppress.

With that being said, all of us need to bear in mind that police terrorism goes beyond questionable shootings. Those  are just an accentuation of the day to day humiliation, harassment and beatings they put down on marginalized communities all over the globe.

continue reading article at my website Hip Hop and Politics

Just got this video showing NYPD beating down a woman at Pete Rock and Smif N Wessun’s album release party..This took place in Brooklyn.. We sadly have seen this scenario before, where a peaceful gathering is broken up by police who as General Steele pointed out are bent on causing chaos..Such scenes routinely take place from Brooklyn to Oakland..

I’m looking at Pete Rock’s aka @chocboywunda time line on twitter.. He’s explaining that he came out and saw his boy being roughed up on the ground..He said he didn’t get beat up nor did his wife..but a woman did get beaten up. His wife was pushed over a garbage can trying to calm down their daughter.. Cops claim Pete’s daughter punched a cop in the face..

Coincidently this outrageous event went down on the same day that Oscar Grant’s mother settled for a 1.3 million dollars with BART police for the murder of her son who was unarmed and restrained when shot point blank by police officer (Johannes Mehserle) on the Fruitvale Bart station in Oakland in January of 2009 … Mehserle is now home free after serving 11 months in jail..

I bring up the Grant case in relationship to the Smif N Wessun incident to point out that police feel embolden. They Feel they literally can get away with murder. If they can shoot and unarmed, restrained man in front of hundreds and get away with it, beating down a woman (in video they say its Pete Rock’s wifebut Pete says it was another woman..) is no big deal..

There are other videos floating around.. We’ll keep you posted on all this..