Feds Watchin'

Feds Watchin’:

How They Tune In When We Get Turnt

 Up Ima be fresh as hell if the feds watchin’

                                        Feds Watchin’  2 Chainz



Many people across the country are upset over the outcome of the George Zimmerman trial for the murder of Trayvon Martin. And rightly so. The trial was a miscarriage of so called justice if I’ve ever seen one. However, the fact that we can’t sleep on. is that for the past two weeks the whole ‘hood has been on trial.

  From the day that the George Zimmerman trial began, most of the focus of the media was not on the death of an innocent 17 year old Black kid, but on how Black folks in Sanford, Florida and ‘hoods across America were gonna react if Zimmerman was found not guilty. While people in this country claimed to be on a nightly “verdict watch,” in reality, they were on a 24/7 “riot watch.” What is interesting is that the tactics the Feds used to monitor black rage in Sanford were the same ones that they have, historically, used over and over again when they think that there is the possibility of “urban unrest.”


The preemptive strike against the hood has gone on for decades. One of the strategies that they used in preparation for the Zimmerman verdict was to call together “local leaders” (preachers/community organizers) in order to get their followers to remain calm after the verdict was announced. They have used this tactic before. During the pre-LA Rebellion in 1992, the Po Po instituted a program called “Operation Cool Response” where they reached out to the same group of folks to keep the streets from gettin’ rowdy. So, since one of the current catch phrases in Hip Hop is “turnt up” maybe they call this ”Operation Turnt Down?”

Also, according to media sources such as USA Today, the Sanford Police Department set up snitching operations called “rumor control hot lines” to keep tabs on the streets. So, if you heard your next door neighbor blastin’ F*** the Police by NWA verdict night, it was your civic duty as a law abiding citizen to call the snitch hot line and drop a dime. This tactic has also been used before..

According to Dr. Patricia Turner in her book. “Heard It Through the Grapevine,” rumor control networks go as far back as World War II as “an effort to prevent potentially adverse hearsay of all sorts from gaining credibility.”

The media has, also, long played a role in snitching on the hood. I’m sure that many freedom fighters during the Black Power Movement were confused as to how statements they made to a mild mannered news person wound up in their court case file. According to Samuel Yette in his classic work, “The Choice: The Issue of Black Survival in America” , in 1969, the Justice Department subpoenaed the “unpublished notes of reporters from Newsweek, the New York Times, CBS and Time Life” who had interviewed members of the Black Panther Party.

I also found it strange that the pre -verdict police predictions of no violent protests in major cities across America was followed by a post verdict CNN map pinpointing protests across the country that they claimed to be nonviolent. So the question becomes, how did they know? There had to be some level of surveillance both pre and post Zimmerman verdict.

What is most ironic is that barely a month ago, white America was all up in arms by the “Prism” revelation by Edward Snowden that accused the government of using social media and cell phone data to spy on American citizens. If there had been an announcement that a Tea Party or a National Rifle Association protest had been monitored because of unsubstantiated threats of violence, you can best believe that there would have been hell to pay. But since many people in power think that Black people are only interested in rap music and reality shows, there was no such outcry.


African Americans did not really need an Edward Snowden to tell us that we're being watched, as researchers such as the late Steve Cokely ,warned us about the intelligence community 20 years ago. We have a long history of being under the microscope via the military or the Feds that goes back to the Marcus Garvey Era of the early 20th century.

And more information is being revealed everyday. One of the most interesting things that came out of the trial coverage was Fox News’ revelation that the US Justice Department’s Community Relations Service, took an active role in the Trayvon Martin rallies, last year. The agency was set up in 1964 and, supposedly, serves as a “peacemaker for community conflicts over race.” But the same question must be posed that was asked of FBI agents during the Civil Rights Movement, “are you protecting us or are you watching us?”

Although the powers that be would like to downplay the outrage in the hood over the Zimmerman acquittal it must be noted that they invested a lot of time. money and resources to keep the hood in check.

The tactics that were used against the Black community during the recent Zimmerman trial seem to have been taken right out of the Richard Nixon playbook on “Law and Order” and anyone one who cannot see that is either blind or stupid.

Like Dead Prez once said:

Can You relate/We’re livin’ in a police state.


TRUTH Minista Paul Scott can be reached at info@nowarningshotsfired.com or call (919) 308-4233. Follow on Twitter @truthminista 
Be sure to check out Militant Minded Radio every Tuesday night at 9PM EST

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Is the Hood Better Off Now Than Four Years Ago?

The World’s Still a Ghetto:
Is the Hood Better Off ?

TRUTH Minista Paul Scott


“Don’t you know/ that it’s true/that for me/ and for you/the world is a ghetto”
The World is a Ghetto-War


The Democratic National Convention was going as scripted ,as each speaker bragged about what the party had accomplished over the last four years and what the President would do if elected for another term . That was until 18 year old ,aspiring poet “Terrell from Taco Bell, “ yelled out from the cheap seats , “Is my neighborhood better off than it was four years ago?” As silence fell over the auditorium, it was clear that everyone knew the answer....

It’s not everyday that a sitting president feels the agony of defeat. So back in 1980, when Ronald Reagan beat Jimmy Carter , it sent a shock wave through the political system. Many people say that Reagan's knockout punch came when he asked the American public “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”

If this same question was posed in 2012, the answer would, largely ,depend on who you ask. Some people are eatin’ good in this economy while others are strugglin’ to feed their families.

This is not about blaming the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., as you can ask the people in the ‘hood if they were better off 4, 8 or 12 years ago and get the same answer...

Emphatically, no ! There are millions of people in this country who are generations deep in poverty and despair.

Recently, rapper Kendrick Lamar hurt some people’s feelings when he said, during an interview on truthisscary.com, “I don’t do votin'.” Although criticized, he actually hit on what most people refuse to admit; ITSS. ( It's The System Stupid!”)

Lamar was not the first entertainer to voice reservations about voting. Music icon, Prince says he abstains for religious reasons. The late comedian George Carlin gave a brilliant analysis of the political system in his ““American Dream” stand up routine. Even Hip Hop artist KRS once claimed on “Ah Yeah” that “every president we ever had lied.”

But Lamar was an easier target to criticize because he presented an off the cuff comment instead of an in-depth political analysis. If he had really dropped some science instead of some solution -less, incoherent ramblings ,none of his critics would have touched it.

When President Obama was elected, I was under no delusion that he would be able to deliver the “Change “ that he promised during his campaign .The system just ain’t set up for that. However, I did expect more on an aesthetic level.

I thought, at least, the beauty of the election of America’s first Black president would change the perception of African Americans in the media.

It didn’t. Just more reality shows.

And after Young Jeezy’s song ,My President’s Black”, I assumed that rap music was moving in a more political direction.

I was wrong. How many times did you hear the stripper anthem, “ Bans to Make Her Dance” on the radio today?

Or, at the very least, the racist attacks on the Prez by the Tea Party and Right Wing radio would stop the Black on Black violence in the streets, as the gangsta’s would realize that they had a common enemy.

Wrong, again. Look at Chicago.

So perhaps the problem is not Obama. Maybe the problem is us.

We have to break out of this Hegelian Dialectical paradigm and stop looking for the forces that created the problem to give us the solution.

It is the nature of Capitalism to have a permanent underclass. And any president who ,at least ,appears to be deviating from it’s tenets will be dogged for promoting Socialism throughout his administration. (Case in point Barack Obama.)

So we are not really dealing with a Democracy “of the people ,by the people ,for the people. We are dealing with what KRS would call “ the politics of pimps and hos” And politicians sell people on the idea that ,in this country ,every ho has the the opportunity to become a pimp.

Let’s be clear. It's no big secret that I think Fox News' Sean Hannity is the poster boy of white supremacy and Rush Limbaugh is a racist, right wing wind bag. So, my hatred of conservative politics does not have to be repeated here.

However, I am also not a fan of the benign neglect of the Dems who turn their backs on the poor while kissin’ the butts of the middle class. Nor of the "non-economic liberalism" that Harold Cruse discussed in his work “,Plural But Equal, where feel good speeches and promises take the place of a redistribution of wealth in this country

Although the media has focused on the back and forth between the pro -Obama, Rev. Al Sharpton and the anti- Obama team of Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West, the sharpest criticism came from people like Omali Yeshitela of the Black is Back Coalition and Glen Ford of the Black Agenda Report. Although , their ideologies are more in line with the masses of African Americans, they are largely ignored by mainstream media.

The purpose here is not to suggest that people should be politically apathetic , but politically educated. We have to develop new ways of dealing with the political machine. To borrow from the Dilated Peoples line on “This Way,” “This industry will play with your life man/ they're playin’ with your rent , food ,water ,and lights, man”

We have to ask the question, while rappers like Kendrick Lamar have criticized the political system, with the economic power of the Hip Hop Nation, why haven't they created a third political party ? The money and other resources are there.

Could it be a lack of serious commitment? Although many people in Hip Hop catch voting fever every four years, if the next presidential debate comes on TV at the same time as the season premier of Love and Hip Hop, which one will they watch ?

I rest my case.

The best solution to this country’s problems is not gonna come from Democrats or Republicans who just parrot the party line, but from Independent voters and thinkers who not only make candidates earn their votes but mobilize to force them to keep their campaign promises.

The Democrats have enough cheerleaders and the Republicans already have their “Joe the Plumbers.” What the ‘hood needs is more "Terrells" who are not scared to say ," even though Obama has been talkin’ change, the ‘hood remains the same.”

Because, at the end of the month, what good is talking about “change “ when it doesn’t mean more change in your pocket when you're adding up your bills.

Like Jay Z once said, “Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t.”

TRUTH Minista Paul Scott’s weekly column is ,This Ain’t Hip Hop, a weekly column for intelligent Hip Hop headz. He can be reached at info@nowarningshotsfired.com . His website is NoWarningShotsFired.com Follow on Twitter @truthminista

Is Hip Hop Scared of the Tea Party?

Open Challenge to Hip Hop regarding the lack of attention to the Tea Party

Washington, Wake County and Wal-Mart

Washington, Wake County, and Wal-Mart:
Slavery is Back in Effect

Paul Scott

"Racism was here but they didn't take it seriously and they said that I was crazy."

Final Solution:Slavery is Back in Effect- Sister Souljah

It was a typical Spring afternoon at the local Wake County "Up Against the Wall" Mart and African American budget hunters were busy trying to catch a deal on the latest Jay Z cd or the recent Tyler Perry dvd release when, suddenly, it happened. A voice came blaring over the store intercom announcing that "slavery was back in effect." On cue, store security began to herd the shocked black customers to the paddy wagons waiting outside the store aided by a bunch of good ol' boys, who just happened to be in the sports section rifle hunting at the time...

Last week, the Associated Press circulated a story about some goober who got on the intercom at a New Jersey Wal-mart and told all the black customers to leave the store. While this was ,obviously, the act of some bored trickster, the fact that the story made national headlines is alarming. While the above sci-fi type, futuristic scenario was based on a 1992 video, "Final Solution:Slavery is Back in Effect" by Hip Hop raptavist, Sister Souljah, the present climate of racial hate and hostility makes such an actual warning possible if not probable.

The best example could be the Tea Party protest, supposedly ,over the health care bill in Washington DC, last Saturday, where some members of the angry pseudo lynch mob of thousands of mostly white people, allegedly, hocked loogies at African American congressmen and yelled out "the N word."

Locally, one has to look no further than Wake County NC and the raging controversy over plans to end the school system's diversity program, hence, re-segregating the public schools. The head of the school board was caught on tape, allegedly, referring to the desegregation protesters as "animals."

While some would, naively, write these incidents off as "Democracy in action" in actuality, they are blatant cases of, at best, vigilante voter vengeance or ,at worst, militant mob rule. Although most folks on the Right would ,vehemently, deny it, there has been a steady push in this country, especially since the Obama presidential win, to "turn back the hands of time" in American history to when Negroes knew their place."

America stands on the verge of a racist, Right Wing revolution and issues such as health care reform and anti-busing legislation are merely part of a smoke screen to hide their true intention; to reduce African Americans to second class citizenship.

We have to call these recent events what they are; temper tantrums and attempts at disenfranchisement. I don' think that the Tea Party people in DC are concerned about my terminally sick neighbour or the Wake County segregationists are any more concerned about the black kids in the 'hood than the teenager in NJ who, allegedly, pulled that prank at Wal-Mart.

These are power moves. Disgruntled people flexing their collective muscles and preparing to roll over anyone who gets in their way.

The main strategy of the Tea Party and the rest of the Conservatives has not changed since Reconstruction. As Dr. Lerone Bennett wrote in his book, "Before the Mayflower," concentrate on local leaders." He also recorded "one by one local leaders were killed, driven out of state or compromised."

This is why the March 23 Wake County School Board vote will have major implications not only in North Carolina but across the country.

At the National Tea Party Convention, last Black History Month, a top NC Conservative bragged on C-Span how, in Wake County , the Republicans were able to "take back the school board " and now they are going to get rid of "diversity and busing"

Talk about birds of a feather flocking together.

There is an old saying that if you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to ask for a cup of milk. If the Conservatives in Wake County are successful, Tuesday, they are going to try to take the whole dairy!

Unfortunately while the Right Wing soccer moms were busy holding weekend war room strategy sessions with their hubbies in preparation for the upcoming Wake County diversity vote, black women were getting their hair and nails done for the "All Star Celebrity Women's Empowerment After Party."

Sometimes our priorities are just jacked up.

Maybe we don't believe that disenfranchisement can creep up like a thief in the night. Perhaps, we don't believe that there are a lot of folks in this country who believe that African Americans are only good for pickin' cotton and shinin' shoes. Maybe we think life is easier if we don't believe...

That is until the morning you turn on conservative WRDU Rush Radio and hear the hosts send out the clandestine, cryptic message that "it's coon hunting season again, Yeee Hawww!"

As Malcolm X warned back in 1965, "You're in a society that is just as capable of building gas ovens for black people as Hitler's society was."

Back during the 1800's, our ancestors used to sing songs like "Wade in the Water" or "Hush, Somebody's Callin' My Name," to alert runaway slaves that the slave catchers were a-comin'.

However, since this is the Hip Hop Era, the moment that you hear your favorite Beyonce song preempted by Public Enemy's "Fight the Power," know that it's on!

So the solution for black people?

As Sister Souljah, already told ya, the "brain is the weapon."

Put down your ghetto street romance novel and pick up a black history book. Log off of Facebook and log on to No Warning Shots Fired.com. Turn off BET and turn on CNN.

And for Heaven's sake, pull your darn pants up 'cause you are either gonna have to fight or flee when the slave catcher's hounds are bitin' at your heels.

Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 or info@nowarningshotsfired.com
"No Warning Shots Fired.com, going where other columnists fear to tread."

Sacha's Little Black Sambo

Sacha's Little Black Sambo:
Hollywood Still Pickin' on Picaninnies

Paul Scott



Back in the late 1800's a Scottish woman wrote the controversial book "Little Black Sambo." Although, the story was about a dark skinned Indian child with exaggerated Negroid features who liked to rumble with tigers, Sambo gave birth to a long line of Sambo- like comedic characters for the next century .


Based on the reviews of Sacha Cohen's new movie, "Bruno" some people still find this type of racially, offensive humor hilarious.

According to the trailers for the upcoming movie, Cohen plays Bruno, an Austrian, homosexual fashion reporter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAGpmNb2xfQ

However, the part that they are highlighting in the commercials deals with Bruno adopting a black baby to whom he ,lovingly, refers to as "Gayby."

When we first meet Gayby he is being lifted out of a box at an airport by Bruno who is decked out in traditional African ceremonial garb.

The reason for the black baby in the box:

"Angelina's got one. Madonna's got one. Now Bruno's got one."

Later there is a scene where the baby is covered with bees, which I suppose is a reference to those Sally Strothers "Feed the Children" info-mericials with Ethiopian children covered with bugs.

In the movie Bruno, also mentions that he swapped his Ipod for the baby.

Not very funny to a person whose ancestors were traded for cheap gin and rum.

Of course, the Hollywood honchos and their stable of PR apologists will swear that there is ,absolutely, nothing offensive about this movie, as it is a satirical film that pokes fun at many cultures. Anyone offended by the movie just can't take a joke.

We are not amused.

I have an embedded keen sense of when people have stopped laughing with me and have started laughing at me. So excuse me for being a little hypersensitive.

Also, I am aware of the mass media's historical use of "picanninies" to sell movie tickets and boost ratings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSfGvptL_TY

From the Topsy character in Harriet Beacher Stowe's, well intended, Uncle Tom's Cabin novel to those old Shirley Temple movies and even to the 80's "Arnold" character on "Different Strokes," who would puff his cheeks out and go "What you talkin' 'bout Willis" in every episode to the absolute delight of his adopted white father and white housekeeper, the picaninny character has survived.

As Thomas Cripps wrote in the outstanding anthology "Split Image: African Americans in the Mass Media by Janette Dates and William Barlow:

"Hollywood movies have always exhibited a sort of cultural politics in their treatment of ethnicity but their usages of African Americans have always seemed resistant to change, even under the pressure of social crisis."

Even with two beautiful black girls living in the White House, Hollywood is still pickin' on picaninnies.

Now, I'm sure that some of my "post racial" black and liberal white friends will say that I need to calm down; perhaps get a cup of green tea and mellow out.

I do have a sense of humor, black folks have a long history of "playin' the dozens" and dissin' each other for fun. But there is always a point where a "yo mama is so black joke" goes too far and then...

Pow...In the face!

As the late comedian Richard Pryor said in his skit that was immortalized via Public Enemy's sample on "Prophets of Rage"

"I have a right to be hostile. My people are being persecuted!"

Sacha Cohen needs an old fashion back ally beat down for exploiting black babies like that.

(So, if I ever catch you in tha hood, homie be prepared for a behind whippin'.)

Why is it that black folks are the only ones who have to wait for an official national consensus before they express outrage. Or they must wait until some black leader gives them the green light to get angry and then the red light to tell them when to chill back out?

In 2009, I don't have to wait for Rev. Al or anybody else to give me permission to express my sense of moral outrage.

For too long African Americans have been at the bottom of the ladder of social advocacy.

When members of the Jewish community were upset over a verse in Michael Jackson's "They Don't Care About Us," it did not take an act of Congress to have the song pulled from store shelves.

Even if someone abuses a squirrel while filming a nature flick, you can bet that a militant group of PETA activists will mobilize in a matter of hours in front of the director's house pelting it with pistachio nuts.

Black folks should demand the same respect instead of buying into the coming PR spin that Bruno is a humanitarian effort with the sole purpose of bringing about a new era of world peace and universal brotherhood.

I guess that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One man's treasure is another man's piece of racist trash.

Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com