They Reminisce Over You
It has been ten years since The Notorious B.I.G. was murdered after a party at The Petersen Automobile Museum in Los Angeles. A decade, and no one has been convicted of his murder. In fact, no one has ever been arrested.
Now, before you say “Aw, here goes that ‘hip-hop girl’ talking about rappers again.” Give me a chance to explain. See, the unsolved ten-year old murders of Biggie and 2 Pac are relevant to all Black folks. I mean, look at how often the slaying of our men goes unpunished. Emmett Till’s case was recently closed again, with no indictment. Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, their killers were not in court until they were senior citizens. Jam Master Jay’s killer has not been arrested, either.
Then, there are all the Black men who are leaders of their families and their communities who are murdered every day. Some of their assailants are other Black men, which is tragic. But then, why should one Black man value the life of another when society doesn’t?
I was a big fan of Biggie Smalls, and I still remember the shock I felt when I woke up that morning and found out that he had been killed. I remember the anger and anguish I felt. It was happening again. 2Pac had just been murdered six months earlier and like most people of my generation and members of hip-hop culture, I was still in mourning that something as stupid as “East Coast/West Coast Beef” had spilled over from records into real life, and now someone was dead. The two biggest participants, the King of the East and the King of the West. Both murdered… Assassinated.
The fact that no one has ever been brought to justice for these crimes disturbs me the most. It speaks to the value that the life of the Black male has in American society. They are the most incarcerated, the most likely to die of murder, the least employed, and the least likely to graduate from High School, let alone College.
My heart aches for them. I couldn’t imagine how difficult it must be to be a Black man. Constantly assaulted by media images that depict them as weed smoking, s**t talking, trouble-makers. Rappers who are rich for no reason and basketball players who don’t deserve the money they make. The educated ones are an anomaly who are accused of acting white. More often than not, their good deeds go unrecognized and unappreciated.
But, I see them. I encounter them everyday. Beautiful men with beautiful minds. Brilliant men with brilliant spirits. Black man, I recognize you are more than blunt smoking, rhyme sayers, baby-making, booty chasers. I see you for your talent and for the fact that every new music form that has been created in America, it came from you. For that, I thank you. I appreciate you. I reminisce over you.
