Jae Rich

So I’m conversing with a man about voting and how serious of an effect it has on our community. He says that I am part of the reason we live in the conditions in which we do (poor housing, minimum wage jobs, not enough jobs, even crime). He goes on stating how I instigate what goes on in our neighborhoods by not participating in electing the mayors, governors, judges, and city council men/women that have our best interest at heart. I laughed when he said “our best interest at heart”. Sorry to say, but I have never voted and as long as politics remain the same I will never place a ballot. The candidates running for these offices do and say what needs to be done and said to secure that position of power. If you have no money to attend the expensive fund-raisers or sponsor their campaigns… who are you? There isn't a politician that has been elected into any office in Philadelphia that knows me or my family exists. So how any of them could be concerned about my health and wealth is hard to fathom. It bewilders me how politicians want you to vote for actions that will never trickle down the ladder and reach the lower class. Everything promoted and promised like “safer streets” benefits the middle class and higher up. The streets of the lower class people have never been safe, and the badges of power have been passed from hand to hand for way over 100 years. The...

It’s no surprise that the Philadelphia police use excessive force to subdue and arrest a man or young adult considered to be a suspect of a crime committed.  We see it on the local news and read about it in the newspapers all the time. The year of 2013 displayed many examples of the “shoot first, ask questions later” term. It was also a year of clarity for those who do not know that there is no such thing as a shoot to wound rule. “Shoot to stop”, however, is the rule exercised by the officers of the Philadelphia Police Department who are trained to fire center mass (torso) when eliminating a situation involving an alleged suspect with a weapon…  or not. But for some reason or another, these young men aren't just being shot to be stopped, they’re being shot to death. The excuse for shots fired used by those who serve and protect citizens is that these victims all brandished a lethal weapon threatening bodily harm to them. Now maybe I’m a little slow but even the dumbest person knows that if you point a gun at a cop (not to mention discharge) chances are you’re going to get shot. “Man pulls gun, we fired back”. That was the headline of a news article published by the Philadelphia Daily News concerning a 21-year-old male who was shot five times, once in the back and four times in the legs… the back of his legs. The news article states, “Police...

I grew up with one of the longest wish list in the world and never received a single thing on it. In elementary and junior high school I was the class clown without telling a single joke. I was ashamed, embarrassed and hurt by the way I was forced to accept this type of abuse. The girls in my classes weren't interested at all and out of the entire school I possessed one friend. I was officially what you call a VUP (very unimportant person), and life as I knew it became worthless. Killing myself was never an option, it’s a cowardly act that doesn't fit my character. The reality of it was that I didn't want to die, I wanted to live and at the same time be alive… but I didn't know how. I wanted to feel loved enough by my mother to send me to school in a satisfactory and comfortable fashion, loved enough for her to sacrifice the things that made her happy in order to make me happy. When that never occurred I figured the streets had the filling to satisfy my needs and I dived in head first. At 15-years-old I didn't think I would see the age of 25. My relationship with some of the associates I had in my life painted that grim picture every day that I came outside. Not to mention the many times my mother told me I would never amount to anything. I knew nothing about having dreams and aspirations growing up as a child because they were never topics of discussion in...

I chose to be like me because I chose not to be like you... You know who I’m talking to and, why I’m talking too... They say that without you there would be no me... I say that without you, here I stand nigga, all of me... A father, a dad, a friend, a man… that’s my pedigree... A gangster! Naw, that’s what I used to be... Abusive and violent, negative and wild... Living as a savage, dirty and foul... I learned how to treat a woman by administering pain... Lying, cheating, never stealing but driving them insane... Using this penetration tool as a weapon to seek and destroy... Killing that poo nanny, Killing that poo nanny, Killing that poo nanny… Been doing that shit since I was a boy... Had no clue, no awareness, no preparation, and no idea of what life had in store... But you knew from day one what this shit was hitting for... You knew that without guidance, you knew that without love, you knew that without support... You knew that without knowledge the world would chew me up, spit me out, and leave me for dead... Yet you kept it moving, saying fuck me instead... Had my first real fight on the street with a woman standing by my side... Where the hell were you when time came to ryde... I assume somewhere giving me reason to retain these inside cries... Raised by my mother whom you know already, and by my father, the neighborhood...

In 1950, two million was the count for people housed in the city of Philadelphia. Since then, that number has done nothing but decrease due to the ploys used to keep the numbers beneath a particular quota. The Black Community, give the city a 44.3 percentage rate out of 100 according to the United States Census Bureau of 2012, which means that 55.7 percent are of other races (Latino, Caucasian, Asian, Korean, etc.). That does not include the folks who chose not to participate in the census, or the people who provide shelter to family and friends. The two, would give the Black Community a percentage rate well over the fifty mark it’s been kept under. Blacks possess a multitude of threats and must be contained and controlled by any means necessary. For one, if we are allowed to continue to reproduce in the numbers in which we do today then the American Government will eventually have to do something about that. The population would be enormous and who would have the power to control a misdirected and deceived people in numbers surpassing the two million mark, in one city? The higher power (I do not speak of God) finally came up with a solution and did something about it in 1985. The creation, of the opportunity to get rich quick and obtain the finer things in life is one of the most brilliant ideas to ever come to the mind of man. Not only was the idea brilliant, it’s effective...