"In 1997 there were 1,634,773 reported violent crimes, 18,209
murders, 96,122 rapes,497,950
robberies, and 1,022, 492 assaults. The violent crime rate in 1997 was the
lowest since1987"
The Index of Leading Cultural Indicators p 16
Just when you thought things couldn't get worse, I received a call Friday
eveninginforming me a good
friend Ken Bridges, the co founder of the MATAH
Network, was shot andkilled while
pumping gas in Virginia around 9:30 AM that morning. Ken was a beautiful
brother,a conscious
committed family man, extremely spiritual and dedicated to the empowerment andupliftment of
African people. In a very real sense Ken's murder, which may be the work of apsychopath
currently on a rampage of killing in the Washington D.C. area, is a microcosmicanalogy of the
AmeriKKKan psyche. This nation thrives on violence, without it the Europeaninvaders could
never have conquered this land. They brought their culture of violence, bloodletting, war and
repression with them when they came here and unleashed it upon the indigenouspopulation and our
African ancestors whom they kidnapped and transported to this hemisphere.The person who shot
and killed Ken Bridges was like the Europeans who settled thishemisphere, they
callously with premeditation and malice set out to take what was not theirs totake (the land,
lives) and indiscriminately disrupt the existing order. That killer is no
differentthan a George W.
Bush or the puppeteers pulling the strings to facilitate AmeriKKKanimperialism in
Iraq, Central Asia and who knows where else?
What George W. Bush is doing is not unique nor is he the only US
President who
served aswar mongers to
increase US holdings. This legacy extends from the early presidents whosanctioned the
extermination and removal of the native Americans to people like James K. Polkwho ordered US
troops into Texas in 1846 triggering a Mexican response which led to a briefwar. (If you study
that scenario the issues in 1846 were similar to 2002: 1846 imperialistcoveting of Mexican
territory under the mantra of "Manifest Destiny", 2002 war for
oil, naturalresources and
go political positioning under the mantra of US security , 1846
AmeriKKKantroops claimed they
were fired upon by Mexican regulars, 2002 war on Iraq is being linked to911,
1846 the war was fought mostly by volunteers, 2002 all volunteer
force is beingassembled to fight
in Iraq, 1846 the US gained Texas, New Mexico and California, 2002
thegoal is to control
Iraq, its oil, natural gas as well as establish a military occupation force in
theregion.) There are
additional examples and parallels to the Spanish American War, World War Iand II, Vietnam
Wars but space constraints won't allow me to elaborate. How does all this tie inthe Ken's murder?
The US promotes violence, it is the national pass time, only it is disguised as
sports and
entertainment. Violent television content is on the rise, violence involving
gunplayincreased 354% from
1992 to 1995. In motion pictures between 1988 and 1997 17.4 timesmoreR rated films were
produced than G rated films despite the fact that G rated films had a78%higher rate of
return than the average R rated film. (The Index of Leading Cultural Indicators)Violence sells and
producers ware loath not to bankroll or approve movies or televisionprograms that do
not depict some form of violence. This doesn't take into account music videosand video games
which depict all types of violent, unspiritual, AntiAfrican and
anti lifemessages. The irony
is that Ken Bridges loved life, his life had purpose and meaning, he offeredothers hope and a
vision of a better world here and now. It's insane that any life should besnuffed out but to
senselessly lose a man like Ken is doubly tragic.
Taken in a broader context, Ken's murder, though it is called random, is
the norm justlike Columbine is
the norm, how can it not be; given we are awash in a sea of media that lovesto promote
violence. We have a national government that clearly is not averse to using
violenceto benefit the
ruling elites who are the shot callers of this culture.The only difference betweennow and forty years
ago is; back then they plotted and executed their wickedness in secret, nowthey do it openly
in the media to desensitize us to their fascist imperialism. President Dwight D.Eisenhower
contemplated the hit on Patrice Lumumba quietly, John F. Kennedy clandestinelygave the order when
he became President. George W. Bush openly calls for the murder ofSaddam Hussein. Is
it any wonder lives of service and promise like Ken Bridges are beingsnuffed out. The
propaganda spin to oust Hussein is that he used chemical and biologicalweaponry on his own
people, what pray tell is crack cocaine and we know who is behind that.Does the term CIA
Dark Alliance ring a bell? What about the fact that during the anthrax scareimmediately after
911, only a few innocent folks, some random media outlets and Democratsreceived letters
laced with anthrax?! What about unverified reports White House staff memberswere taking Cipro a
month before the anthrax turned up anywhere? Cipro just happens to be theantidote for the
strain of anthrax that surfaced!Is
that true and if it is it coincidental? Perhapsnow we know why the
Democratic leadership punked out and went along with Bush on Iraq. Butthen again, white
men never need a reason to go to war.It
seems the question is not what ishappening to
AmeriKKKa, or how did things reached this nadir, the question is when will
