Tuesday, August 14, 2007

An Open Letter
To: 90% of Rap artists in the Music Industry
Re: The "Stop Snitchin' " Movement
Cc: All major record labels


Dear Sir/Madam:

It has come to my (and the nation's) attention recently that a movement has begun among the young African-American youths of our nation. This movement, commonly known by the name "Stop Snitchin'," has become a fairly household phrase, being shown on everything from clothing to being featured in the music and videos that you yourself create. You encourage not only our youth, but the population in general, to not cooperate with the police under any circumstances for any crime, anything from a minor infraction, such as jaywalking, to a horrible crime, such as outright murder.

I would likely to formally ask you to cease this at once, for the following reasons:

— As said before, "Stop Snitchin' " encourages people to not get involved with the police. This is merely helping the drug dealers and gang members do exactly what they want to do: control our neighborhoods through fear. Telling people not to "snitch" is only making our problems with rising crime rates increase.

— Think about what would happen if one of your loved ones was killed and you saw what happened. Can you honestly sit there and say you would not try your hardest to see that murderer brought to justice, not only because of the pain he caused you and the rest of your family, but because it's the right thing to do?

— African-Americans are currently in a hefty amount of turmoil. Our children (along with those of many other races) are constantly criticized and looked down upon because of the ghettos that the drug-dealing and gang members of our society create. It forces our children to grow up in this horrible environment and eventually become the next generation of gang-bangers. And for what? Some "street cred?" Being able to "proudly" state, "I ain't no snitch?" Is that honestly worth sacrificing our children's future?

Admittedly, there are a lot of problems that African-Americans and others in our nation face today. There has to be a lot of work done before we are able to truly say that we've begun to fix them. But this "Stop Snitchin' " movement is not helping matters in the least. It is only serving to worsen the problem on multiple levels. We have babies having babies, babies killing babies and a worsening death statistic regarding crime- and drug-related fatalities on our hands. If anything, this is a time where we need to step up, as a people, and say this needs to stop. We need to take a stand against this.

I kindly ask that you stop promoting this movement in your music and videos. Help to change what so many years of hatred and misdirection have been able to accomplish. Help to work toward a better future for our children. Help to stop "Stop Snitchin'."

Thank you.
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Made it to Evansville. Am alive, well and obviously have Internet capabilities. I reckon that the manga releases and the Otaku Attraction will be making their return this week, but don't quote me on it.

Take care all. Love ya! :3
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