Seems like street lights glowing
Happen to be just like moments passing in front of me
So I hopped in the cab and I paid my fare
See, I know my destination, but I’m just not there
- Kanye West (“Street Lights”)
posted on March 22nd, 2009 in lyrics
No matter how wide you stretch your fingers, your hands will always be too small to catch all the pain you want to heal. Believe me, I’ve tried.
- Sarah Kay (from her poem, “B”)
It’s taking quite a bit of willpower to not turn this site into Sarah Kay’s Daily Quotable blog. Watch her on Def Poetry (at age 18).
posted on February 23rd, 2009 in lyrics
The system ain’t for us, it’s for rich people.
- Saul Williams (“Telegram”)
I have two quick stories.
first
Roy Brown, a 54-year-old homeless man robbed a bank in Louisiana. The teller handed him three stacks of cash, but he took a single $100 bill, saying he was homeless and hungry. Feeling remorseful, he voluntarily surrendered to the police the next day, saying his mother didn’t raise him that way. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
second
Christian Milton of Pennsylvania, an AIG executive was convicted of conspiracy, securities fraud, mail fraud and making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission in a $500,000,000+ fraud case. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison and fined $200,000. His lawyers are preparing an appeal.
posted on January 28th, 2009 in lyrics
Bunk: You could go a long way in this country killing black folk. Young males, especially. Misdemeanor homicides.
McNulty: If Marlo was killing white women—
Freamon: White children—
Bunk: Tourists—
McNulty: One white, ex-cheerleader tourist missing in Aruba.
Bunk: Trouble is, this ain’t Aruba, bitch.
Freamon: You think that if 300 white people were killed in this city every year, they wouldn’t send the 82nd Airborne?
-From an episode of The Wire (“Unconfirmed Reports”)
We are fifteen days into the new year and there have been 13 murders in Baltimore, Maryland. The city’s homicides are covered in the weekly column, Murder Ink. A fucking weekly column for an American city with less than 640,000 people — dedicated solely to those who have had their lives shortened at the hand of a fellow human being.
Murders in other cities last year: 344 in Detroit, 332 in Philadelphia, 124 in Oakland. These are improved numbers — All these cities had more homicides the previous year.
posted on January 15th, 2009 in movies/tv
I don’t like mondays.
- Brenda Ann Spencer
The quote above is 16-year-old Brenda’s answer to why she shot and killed Cleveland Elementary School’s principal and head custodian, while injuring 8 children and a police officer. Her remorseless response & lack of serious explanation for the attack inspired the song I Don’t Like Mondays. Listen to Tori Amos’ haunting cover rendition.
There’s an unfortunately long list of school shootings, with a tiny silver lining: A local community college (that I eventually attended for a quarter) is omitted from this list, thanks to Kelly Bennett, who helped prevent a tragedy in January 2001.
posted on January 12th, 2009 in quotes