Maybe because it’s Election Day and I feel really hopeful about this democracy thing that we do here in the States, but I am going heavy soapbox today. I promise that I will return you back to your regular programming of Negro nonsense and gay celebrity fuckery by tomorrow, but today, today we are going to ask the question why we deserve to be the country that GOD smiles upon when we operate a class system designed to obfuscate and persecute Black males.
STEVEN LEVITT is one of the economists responsible for the seminal book called ‘FREAKONOMICS’. By using statistics and averages the authors of that book have uncovered some interesting and controversial hypotheses. In the following clip, STEVEN LEVITT comes to explain how a low level drug dealer actually makes less money than someone working at McDonald’s. What I found so spot on about this clip was how LEVITT made jokes and wisecracks that allowed his audience to feel safe in their entitlement and their privilege. The laughing stopped when LEVITT said that Black males are killed in America at a greater rate than U.S. soldiers in Iraq. That was real talk, and so is this clip…
This media information was provided by TONY’s KANSAS CITY
Lots of truth-talk in here man…this is something I think kids ought to know..rappers got folk out there fooled..
Yo DP, could you give me a link to the video? I need to put it up on my blog and myspace..
all the guy is really saying though is that people in the “ghetto” are hurting each other and themselves. its noone’s fault except the drug dealers in the ghetto. people in the ghetto should stop sticking to the whole stupid and senseless “stop snitching” rule and start snitching on the drug dealers so they will stop hurting their community and tearing it to pieces through drugs and violence. black people basically cannot be “saved” until they start helping themselves and taking their lives into their own hands and making it their own responsibility. just ask bill cosby…
^that’s not all he was saying. LEVITT deconstructed the myth that rap music has been perpetuating for the last several years that somehow you can easily and simply go from hand to hand to making da band.
the Black community in America has a myriad number of issues, some must be addressed internally like the ‘Stop Snitching’ campaign and the desire to excel with education. white folks have to want to dismantle Supremacy also. I have more hope for Blacks removing the ‘Stop Snitching’ virus than I do for whites terminating the cancer of privilege.
Membership has it’s privileges…
Classic.
That is the real…I’ma have to pull this up at work…Props to you and Tony.
Who was the N***** that let them hang out for that damn long…….shit just came to me whilst I was on the phone.
It’s awesome that you posted this Dallas. I think the thing you pointed out about the nervous laughter is true. The Freakenomics crowd inspires me as well but I only wish the TED audience had a few more people in the audience that might make better use of this information . . . Which is why I’m encouraged that you posted it so that even more folks have proof that nearly all of the modern day cRap music mythos is mostly lies.
What’s deep is that the language and ethos of the street goes straight to family, loyalty and all sorts of other grand ideas (“Get Rich or Die Tryin'” — how American is that?) but Levitt and his audience laugh as if that “world” is unrelated to theirs. I’m not as upset with him, though, ’cause at least he delivered the facts. That’s a step in the right direction.
DP…can you send me a link to this video too? Truth must be shared.
Good looking out on posting this.
These TED talks are real.
I’ve been up on it for so long I forgot all about them.
They added a lot since I was last on their site.
Thanks for the reminder.
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