Straight Outta Lakewood, Living in Austin

#LAKEWOOD #WASHINGTON

Yo _____ (insert your name) I have something to say!

 So I just watched Straight Outta Compton and well if you haven’t seen it, you are slackin’ on the pimpin’. I know it’s only been out for a little while now but seriously go watch it. NWA literally shaped the late 80’s and early 90’s. The music you listen to right now is directly influenced by the musical geniuses that came from the direct lineage of NWA. Now if you don’t know what NWA is . . . ummm where have you been? Well let me give you the short synopsis of the movie because if you haven’t guess it, although the movie serves as the background information, this blog is not a movie review. Anyways, its basically a biopic of the members of NWA who are Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, MC Ren, Arabian Prince, and the D.O.C. If you are still not sure what impacts these gentlemen from Compton have had on the world, I'm sure you have probably heard of or listened to Snoop Dogg, Tupac, Eminem, Bone Thugz in Harmony, etc.  If you still are shaking your head no, well I'm sure you have or know someone with some beats headphones . . . courtesy of Dr. Dre. Anyways, this blog isn’t about music or headphones. This is about society.

One thing to know about society or just events in general is that most things happen in cycles. So what is occurring now in regard to the police and racial tension is something that was occurring 20 years ago, and again 30 years before that and so forth. Once again the police are in the spotlight for the few of their members who are doing direct violations of their limitations. When you hear a song by NWA, the lyrics were a direct observation of the life that was the late 80’s. If you listen to their songs now . . . well what do you know, they are the same observations of the present day. People, minorities in particular, are getting harassed, beaten, killed, and threatened by those who claim to serve to protect us. We are being censored and our voices hushed. We lash out, they strike back, and there are riots, I.E., Ferguson, Baltimore, etc. This tells you that within the last 20 years, all the strides we as a people have made . . . nothing progressive has yet to happen. The crime of being black is still around and I could sit here naming all the ones of recent but you can definitely refer to the other blogs we have written about them. For those on the other side, change isn’t comfortable. But neither is sitting in a jail cell when you hadn’t committed any crimes. You can take your medicine with the sugar and acceptance of the new world that will happen or you can perpetuate the violence that comes with ignorance and intolerance.

Earlier tonight, I had a bouncer at Mooseknuckle Pub in Austin on 6^th street take my ID to check it, as they are supposed to . . . but he turned to talked to his friends and when you turned back to me he didn’t have my ID anymore. I can only suppose he gave it to someone else. Instead of listening to me, who was sober and hadn’t had a drop of alcohol, he told me I was lying and disregarded me. I went to the police who told me that there was nothing I could do. So apparently you can steal someone’s shit in real life, give it to your friend and that’s legal. Why is this related? Well I couldn’t help but wonder how things would have played out if I was a white girl. If I was white, would I have been dismissed as a liar? Would the cop have been more helpful? I was basically robbed of my ID and they just shrugged. Yet I'm supposed to smile and not feel some type of way. What kind of justice is that?

Obviously the cycle needs to be broken. I don't want my future children to get into situations in their lives and have their immediate thoughts be of racial inequality. The lessons of the late 80's have yet to be learned. I haven't even brought up the whole civil rights movement or the civil war. The struggle is today, yesterday and if we don't do anything tomorrow. So do yourselves a favor, put yourselves in our footsteps. Watch NWA and get a little taste of what life is like. See the world from the eyes of those artists who were brave enough to make commentary on the world outside their front steps. Don't just sweep the issues underneath the rug for another 20 years. Understanding is the road to a better tomorrow and the hardest part of anything is taking the initiative to begin.