Slavery still exists.....in our minds

Remind me to think twice before calling in to NY's 98.7 The Week in Review program. I called in for the late broadcast (which is an addendum to 98.7's Sunday morning Openline show) and quickly found myself in a verbal battle with one of the cohosts, Peter Noel. For those who may be unfamiliar with Noel and local NY media, he was a reporter for the liberal and noteworthy newspaper, The Village Voice. Incidently, Noel left the Voice over reporting differences relating to the covering of Rev. Al Sharpton-the paper (allegedly) wanted to cover fluff pieces as it pertained to the African American community(i.e. Puffy Combs). Anyway, I was compelled to call, as they were discussing the Sean Bell police brutality case-which to date has resulted in the indictment of 3 out of the five officers involved in this tragic incident.

If anyone has read my prior entry or listened to Afronerdradio last week, my feelings on this case are not exactly lock step with many on the progressive/liberal end of the African-American political spectrum. Just the whisper of young Black males conforming to certain thug stereotypes that may raise the suspicion of the police, caused Noel to go into a rage preventing me from initially voicing my opinion. I felt like Kunta Kinte in the above clip. If I didn't hold the same views that are expected of a man of color, Noel was going to verbally whip me into submission. Toby be damned! He even accused me of working in collusion with NYPD. Note to self-If you are a person of color, you can't have an independent spirit among many Black folk who possess a liberal uni-mind ideology.

If we are going to stop young Black and Brown men from getting killed by police (and other street phenomena), some degree of self-affacement is required. We must be fair-if the police are expected to change their procedures, conversely some men of color should also make changes to disavow their adherence to criminal fashion and mannerisms. I eventually was allowed to make my points on the show, but never let it be said that Black radio is a democracy-the dearth of alternate viewpoints and music proves my point. Check out the link below for my prior entry on the Sean Bell shooting:

Afronerd's take on NYC Police Shooting

Next up, stay tuned for a commentary by my Afronerdradio cohost and now blog contributor, Mr. Starks. Be afraid....Be very afraid.