Posted on 05/02/2016 10:38:43 PM PDT by TigerClaws
Kwame Gates, who goes by the rapper name K-Gates, has produced a documentary about violence in New Orleans, called "Murda Capital." He is hoping to shed light on the problems facing this city and stop the cycle of murder and violent crime.
Even though he is a rapper, he believes the rap culture has had a strong influence on young people, glorifying drugs, money and violence.
He introduced us to Althea Phillips, whose four sons were all killed in gun violence. As we left her house, Gates introduced us to a couple of rappers who call themselves the 8-9 Boys.
“It's borderline 9th Ward, 8th Ward,” they explained.
Gates said his friend Al, who goes by the rap name Easy Money, now has a son and is re-thinking the rapper lifestyle.
“You know, they kind of stereotyped us as a gang when they really was just a group of friends who was trying to do something positive, when they stereotyped us as a gang,” Easy Money said.
Gates and Easy Money say just because you rap about the street life, drugs, guns and violence doesn't mean you live that life.
“He would be the representative of people who are just trying to get out of the hood,” Gates said.
“I’m the voice of the streets,” said Easy Money.
Then the conversation turned to why so many people carry guns. Gates stopped mid-sentence and a man who used to be in a rap group with Easy Money started yelling obscenities about Gates being in the neighborhood.
It was obvious it was time to leave, which we started to do. Then Easy Money, with his son and a friend alongside him, confronted the man. A conflict that should have been settled with words turned violent. Then we see the man is carrying gun and realize this could have turned deadly.
A woman crying out “This is where the killing starts” is Althea Phillips, the woman who lost four sons to gun violence. Soon the fight breaks up.
Later, Gates met us in front of Channel 4’s studios because we wanted to know how this escalated so fast.
“I hate to have brought you into that environment, but in hindsight it was a close call because the person who was angry at you and me, had a firearm,” Gates said. “I don’t know why it happened, but I think he was disarming him so it didn’t escalate into something further.”
This time no shots were fired, but it's a perfect example of how pride, anger and not walking away can turn into violence where no one wins.
“It’s borderline 9th Ward, 8th Ward,”
Why are their neighborhoods referred to in the same way as sections of mental hospitals and prisons ?
You don’t know what a ward is? Don’t you vote?
What timing !
A lot of times these things are staged. It adds to whatever cred’ they are trying to achieve.
Shoulda done capped his ass.
My sympathies to the mother, and the dreams she once had for each of her children. All four sons, now dead of bad decisions and/or Gang violence. Unbelievable. This in Louisiana, not Iraq or Syria. Not even Chicago.
It’s a prime example of why Lincoln should be dug up and shot again.
They buried him in a steel cage below 3 tons of concrete for a REASON.
Yeah, with the gun held sideways and about ten inches above the shooter's eye line for maximum accuracy.
Ah. You are one of the Children of Atom.
Iirc some recidivist rebels actually did try to steal his body.
Oh, I don’t know about that. A lot of the recent murders here in the DC area seem to be just what happened in the story - a stabbing at a bus stop, a shooting in a parking lot, a shooting after school - all followed arguments of pride or territory that escalated to murder. Most of these weren’t even gang-related.
Lack of self-control and civility and the inability to foresee consequences more than a few seconds in the future are pretty common amongst a large portion of the population.
Yes, I have accepted the gift of ‘The Glow’...
There you have it: Dindu Nuffins.....................
Wards refers to the administrative and political territories of New Orleans municipal government. The same term is used in other US cities. It is also the basis of the term “ward heeler,” meaning a political operative who works his ward for his paerty or political boss.
Family breakdown and rampant drug use explain much of the problem. In blunt terms, most of the shootings are by fatherless boys who smoke dope and roam the streets.
The Progressives keep telling us that the family is an oppressive institution and it should be broken up, and that it is a fine and healthy thing to stand around street corners smoking dope. They say if there is a problem it is because of those bad old guns and the Second Amendment.
A conscience in a pit of Hell.
I don’t have a problem with the variety of arts, but it’s not the arts that are problematic.
Which leads to the obvious next question: nature or nurture?
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