Sharpton and Jackson..both Reverends
…Silent on the subject…but hounds
Posturing..politicizing…yet nary a word
Not even a visit..to the 'Burial Grounds'
The happenings a 'ghetto' phenomena
...Historically…without any doubt
Black on Black murder…prevalent
Despicable…as Giuliani points out
Snide though..Rudolph's observation
….Who was once a prosecutor himself
His heritage……….Italian-American
…Ethnic to the Gangsters themselves
Citizens whose subsistence demanded
Their joining some criminal mob
…Keeping food on the family's table
‘Twas the Gangster's nefarious 'job'
Which required annihilating one another
… Documented….it's factually true
Staking territory…mowing folks down
….Killing….ain't a damn thing new
‘Tis society's..latter-day…analogy
Black on Black murder…..addressed
Whatever resolve altered Italian behavior
..May Black…on Black murder..be blessed
Author's Note:
In the immediate aftermath of the Ferguson tragedy, and New York City's "chokehold" death, much has been countered, and questions raised in stark criticism with regard to the unabated crisis of Black on Black murder within the confines of the Black Community. Indeed we have seen a pattern of civic irresponsibility shamelessly on display, as the Clergy and Politicians of the area deliberately ignore the generations-old travesty daily playing-out before their very eyes. On its face, the complaint is a valid indictment in the wake of countless finger-pointing demonstrations, and riotous behavior as witnessed in varied communities across the United States. A closer look suggests an even deeper egregiousness, politically complicit, spiraling downward from the Highest Offices of Government, in blatant reluctance to legislate an effective end to this cancerous malady.
The poem "Black On Black Murder…..Addressed" recalls the days of the "Prohibition Era, " where through economic necessity, crime became the 'Gangster' way of life amongst a small minority within the Italian Community. Today's Black on Black violence, its attendant economic causations, the movement's desperate few; are all historically reminiscent of the ethnic pain of the distant past. The Congress of the 1930's, once realizing the error of its ways, enacted legislation legalizing the root cause of the economic woes of the day, abruptly putting an end to the 'Gangster' spectacle of, "White on White" murder.