THE HARVEY WEINSTEIN EFFECT
With 28 mass shootings in October and the latest Southerland Spring shooting, gun violence is squarely in our faces like a barrel to the nose.
With mass shootings, police brutality a la Black Lives Matter, and the daily murder by gun rate in American cities, it’s a multi-faceted issue. For some, it’s tightly wrapped in a conversation about gun control topped with a big bloody bow by the NRA.
The other big story in the news, aside from every moronic statement and blunder made by our current commander in chief, is sexual harassment.
The over 50 Cosby accusers weren’t enough to open the floodgates, but Harvey Weinstein and the stories from Roses (Rose McGowan) to tampons (yeah, if you missed it, look that one up if you can take it) have put sexual harassment on the top of the social media food chain.
It took a couple of brave people to open up that dam and now it’s flowing like the Nile with Hollywood icons shaking in their boots as they wait for flagrant established “secrets” to come to light and women around the country reveal their #metoo moments with fervor and fury.
So, what does that have to do with gun violence you ask?
It has me asking where the fervor and fury is when it comes to the every day bullet to the head on the streets of New Orleans and Detroit. Note, I didn’t say Chicago, because believe it or not, on a per capita basis, Chicago barely makes the list even though the sheer number of victims is off the chain. Chicago is a big city.
Why is everyone, and by everyone, I mean the hip-hop community, mostly silent on this issue?
They’re willing to take a knee with Kaepernick against police brutality, but where are they on these outrageous mass shootings?
Are our personal callouses so thick that we don’t care?
Are we afraid they’ll look under our skirt? By the way, I hate that saying! It’s sexist and uncomfortable. Let’s stop using it.
After the Texas shooting, I did a quick scan of social media hip-hop royalty and I didn’t see any big outrage or sorrow. If I missed something, please let me know. That would make me feel much better.
In terms of the daily mayhem, I’ve seen a few brave souls like Common and Chance the Rapper put their money, time and voice to good use, but where’s everybody else?
The day after the Texas shooting, a judge in Philadelphia sentenced Meek Mill to two to four years in prison for a probation violation stemming from a 2008 drug and gun conviction. The prosecutor didn’t recommend prison time, but the judge in the vein of Ava DuVernay’s 13th (a must see if you haven’t already) threw down the gauntlet.
The outrage from Jay-Z to Shaun King lit social media on fire. I agree, it’s f*cked up, but dude, are we really gonna go out like that, not showing sympathy for 27 lives lost the day before or putting focus on and making efforts to alleviate the national homicide rate that’s going up day by day?
Black people are being killed and maimed by their own every single day!! Come on!!! This is unacceptable.
Is it the Harvey Weinstein effect at play?
Do we fear that the spotlight will be on those that hold some ugly truths behind the scenes, the same truths that are known industry wide?
Will it open up a torrent of lost bullet shells, the untold, but known stories?
All I know is that Black bodies are piling up from Baltimore to Miami and we’re not doing nearly enough to stop it.
I met a 20 year-old kid in October of 2016 named Anthony Nelson in Los Angeles. He was in the foster system, an aspiring rapper (yeah, he wanted to be like you), who told me that we have to stop killing each other. Anthony was dead by December.
So, what’s next?
What are we going to do?
Who’s going to stand up?
I’m ready to stand with you and put all that I have and all that I am behind an effort to save our people.
I’m waiting.
TweetAbout the Author
Seanne N. Murray, Esq. Seanne is a businesswoman, creator, visionary, activist, advocate, and social entrepreneur. Seanne is also a published author, screenwriter, designer, and brand engineer. She is the founder of Stop Stuff™, an American action oriented social enterprise and the first clothing line created to address gun violence. She is also the founder of Dream House Blue an organization developed to encourage dream fulfillment via social entrepreneurship. As a 9/11 survivor, she speaks of the terror she experienced, but never without revealing the greatest love she experienced in the aftermath. She calls it “oneness”, and shares it as the foundation for her commitment to personal satisfaction and world change.Seanne's motto is, "Be Yourself. Change the World." She believes that self-actualization is the first and most important step for all of us and one that can and will lead to profound change worldwide. She has a passion for helping people of all ages find their voice and for speaking out against injustice of all kinds.
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