Chief Keef x Lupe Fiasco Squash Beef!

It was silly anyways, the recent 5 second beef between two Chicago rappers that appeared to be ‘very ugly’. Chief Keef has said a bunch of crazy things in interviews and via social networks that his publicists and I both wish he could take back. Who can forget his infamous claim that Kanye West had nothing to do with his success. If you thought the kid couldn’t go any further, you were wrong.
… Continue Reading

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DJWillieShakes

A Summer to Die For: Country Held at Gunpoint #PutTheGunsDown:

Days like these, with the feel of sweat rolling down your back.

The sound of Mr. Softie playing in the background and little kids playing hop scotch on cracked pavements; unaware of the danger that may be lurking behind every corner, sidewalk and alley way

Then out of nowhere, without warning or justification, bullets are flying in every direction. Marking an unsuspected victim for death.

Jump ropes are dropped in mid-swing, basketballs are left to roll into oncoming traffic and the only sound left is the pinching cries of a mother holding her baby, as she becomes just another victim of violence.

Stories like those are happening every single day in America, where young people are dying before they are even old enough to vote. Where the price of leaving your home, may mean death. So summer days like these are exterminating our youth, many of who are lacking for opportunities and safe places to play.

We lose more Americans to violence on our own city streets, than on the battlegrounds of war. We have made kid soldiers out of our youth, criminals out of the disadvantaged and funeral attendees out of us all.

Guns are becoming more accessible than textbooks and supermarkets. Yet we continue to serve them up to the unfit and unqualified, which are resulting in mass murders and mass shootings.

Have we not learned anything since the hundreds of victims we have lost since Tucson or the hundreds of thousands we’ve lost prior to?

The body count continues.

Gravesites don’t lie and bullets end lives.

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Jamira Burley

[WATCH] Taste of Chicago’s #1 Street Hustlaz: “Stylez Pro Crew”

“Can’t knock the hustle” is the first thing that comes to mind when I see anyone achieving something or doing something I’m incapable of. While attending “The Taste of Chicago,” a festival in Downtown Chicago centered around food and music, I was instantly drawn to the sight of a waterfall. I began to take pictures and then I hear:

“Ova here, skinny black guy dancing”! Baby mama #3 I got your child support, ova here”

“Everybody this is my hometown, but my friends are from LA. We travel around the world doing our show. This is their first time here so don’t make me look bad. Please give us good energy.”

Then Kanye West “Mercy” blasts form the speakers and the crew begins to hype the crowd up.

[WATCH] Video:

[VIEW] Photos HERE

After this performance, this is how I felt… … Continue Reading

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DJWillieShakes

#PutTheGunsDown: Black Star Angels March in Chicago

In the last few months, Chicago’s homicide rate as jumped more than 50 percent, making Chicago’s murder rate higher than Kabul, Afghanistan. These statistics aren’t lost on the many residents living in some of Chicago’s most violent neighborhoods.

One Chicago-based organization, The Black Star Project, has been calling for thousands of Chicago residents to march for peace. Lead by Rev. Father Michael Plfeger and guest speaker Rev. Jeremiah Wright, these marches have brought together thousands of people against violence.  The marches happen regularly and Chicago residents can get involved by visiting The Black Star Project site.

Thousands answered the call by Father Plfeger to take to the streets for peace!

Peace In the Hood is supported by Illinois State Senator Jacqueline Collins, a member of the Faith Community of Saint Sabina.

Thanks to Kidz Off The Block, National Block Club University, TWO, Temple of Mercy Association, Mark and Paul (Westside), The Nation of Islam, the Faith Community of Saint Sabina, CeaseFire, P.E.A.C.E., Green Acres, Dawn and Pam/Rough Riders and other peace-keeping organizations for their work to make Chicago safer. Most of these organizations receive no funding for their efforts to keep Chicago safe.

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Ife

No Church N the Wild

This past weekend in Chicago, 46 people were hurt and eight were killed. It didn’t make the national headlines. For many, this will go down as just another day in the hood. Everyone screams that we need to do something to stop the violence, but the truth is that there are folks making billions of dollars making sure that nothing happens but caskets and jails stay filled.

Less than a month a go, I received a call which I believed to be prank because I couldn’t recognize the voice. The same number called back, only this time it was a woman on the other saying “CJ,” saying my best friend had been shot and his voice is different because a tube was being ran through it. Fast forward two weeks later and I am standing outside on 75th and Appleton, listening as my best friend explained the play-by-play details of being robbed at gunpoint and shot in the back of the head. Less than two weeks later, he was back at home living in the same location, just another day in the hood.

We often times don’t care about someone else’s problems until it hits our home. Its obvious that no one is coming to save us, so if you dont speak out and stand up, you just might be next. What Chicago and 75th and Appleton has shown me is that when bullets fly, they don’t discriminate.

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CJ