The Spinzone

First, click here and read this article by Jason Whitlock dated July 18, 2007.

Then click here and read his article dated August 20, 2007.

Click here to read excerpts from the "Summary Of The Facts" filed in U.S. Federal Court in Richmond VA August 24, 2007. The statement was signed by ex-Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick and his attorneys.

NFL Suspends Falcons' Vick Indefinitely After Plea Agreement.

This is the comment I posted in response to Jason Whitlock's article along about Michael Vick, Hip Hop & Prison Culture with many others who had opinions.

O.K. I'm 50. Yes. 50 years old. Someone my age probably really knows nothing about Hip Hop. Dead wrong. I read your article and had to respond.

Kool Herc started out back in the mid-70's at 1520 Sedgwick Ave. I was a teenager then. I was listening to the music, watching the movies (saw the DJ's, the break dancers, the graffiti...Wild Style, Breakin', Beat Street...just about all of the early Hip Hop movies). I NEVER saw a dogfight in a video or at any HIP HOP event I EVER attended in all of my 50 YEARS ON THIS PLANET. I have met Ice-T, Afrika Islam, Grandmaster Caz, Jazzy Joyce, Lady B, Young MC, MC Hammer, Jazzy Jay, Chuck D, Hank & Keith Shocklee, Flavor Flav, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Biz, Kane, Luke, Clarke Kent, Scratch, Lyte, Milk, Giz, Red Alert, Jon Schechter...just too many to name) Only in the last 15 years or so( like someone mentioned earlier in this forum)  DMX had dogs in his videos. That was the only time I can recall seeing dogs in a hip hop video .

Hip Hop Culture has nothing to do with dogfighting. Look it up. Do your homework before you make a statement. People are gong to check you on it if they are a part of the culture you refer to. Trust me. The Hip Hop Community takes offense. I believe I can speak for them. The title of your article is begging for a response.

It's easy to blame it on Hip Hop. It's the convenient scapegoat it seems in almost every issue. It's much bigger than Hip Hop. It's really about the money. Let's watch what the Atlanta Falcons do now. What will Nike do. Oh yeah...right now it's just suspensions and news releases saying "we have cut all ties with Michael Vick". After all of the millions they have made off of his image, ticket sales, the jersey, the shoes and his name. Now they say his name like it's mud because of a dogfight?

Babies are dying in Iraq. Babies are dying in my neighborhood. People are losing homes at an all time high. People in my neighborhood are starving. People are being locked up with no trial based on some new "terrorist", "homeland security" policy and we're worrying about some dogs? I don't condone dogfighting but I have seen blood on many highways in November in my home state of Michigan running from deer that people have strapped on their truck, car, trailer or whatever. It doesn't affect me the same way it does when I see the blood of a man shot 50 times by the police and he had absolutely no weapon on him at all. Hip Hop artists are talking about those 50 shots and many other issues but that's not what the mainstream media is talking about. All we hear about is Vick the crime boss of the dogfighting ring. Please. Gotta come better than that. I see right through it and won't be distracted. America has some issues that are much more serious than dogfighting. Human rights are being trampled on at this very moment. (Can you say Guantanemo Bay?)

If Michael Vick had immediately went with his lawyer to the LOCAL authorities in Virginia where the property is located where all of the alleged activity with dogs took place and admitted that he was fighting dogs and asked one question. "What is the fine or penalty for this offense and can it be worked out between my lawyer and the prosecutor in the local courts?"

If Vick offered to pay a fine of $200,000 and do community service right away with cities, towns & counties throughout the nation strapped for cash with all of the Federal government dollars going to a war in Iraq does anyone in this forum believe they would turn it down? The people who do the books in both county and city jurisdictions taking a $100,000 split and even getting Vick to possibly make public service announcements for the city. It was an easy fix but it didn't happen.  Even if Vick spent $500,000.  He would be way ahead of where he is today financially.  They (the Feds) are just getting started. Now he may be subjected to testify in Grand Jury proceedings regarding other criminal activities and if they say he isn't being truthful, he will still be fully exposed to more prison time for perjury.

Vick thought he was rolling with someone like Scooter Libby (Scooter should be wearing a "Stop Snitching" shirt and go on 60 minutes with Cam'ron).

Everyone is entitled to redeem themselves.

What if it was Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Brett Favre, Donovan McNabb, Brady Quinn, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart or any other starting NFL quarterback? If the right people doing damage control and directing Vick on how to work the media after the very first raid on his property nobody would be talking about him now. Everybody would be talking about the Atlanta Falcons' playoff chances this year. Trust me. If he took a bag full of money to the local jurisdiction immediately this would have not made the news like it has.

This is America. Cash Rules Everything Around Me. Why is America in Iraq (5 words: "That's where the oil is")? What was so important about Central America in the 1980's? Why was there a Desert Storm operation? It always comes down to the money.

If he was alive you could ask Prescott Bush how he would have handled the situation if his son or grandson got caught up in a dogfighting investigation. I "bet" he would know what to do.

Get at me (Dog).

P.S. - Like someone said earlier. DJ, MC, Break Dancing, Graffiti=Hip Hop Culture. Dogfighting=Not Hip Hop Culture.

P.S. - Click here to see how the Hip Hop Police are operating since Vick's plea agreement.

posted by The Funkadelic Relic  # 3:38 AM 0 comments