The Sticky Case of Reggae Artist Buju Banton, Sentenced to 10 Years to the Feds

by Eco.Soul.Intellectual

Tampa, FL - In a federal court filled with supporters, reggae artist Buju Banton, real name Mark Myrie, was sentenced to 10 years for being involved in a 2009 drug trade for 5 kilograms (roughly 11 pounds) of cocaine from undercover officers. His conviction for conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine, includes a drug trafficking offense, as well as a gun charge.

Banton pleaded not guilty with his lawyers using entrapment as their defense, but audio and video surveillance recorded Banton serving as the go-between for the dealers and buyers. Surveillance also showed him tasting cocaine and bragging about him being involved in previous drug trades.

According to the US District Judge James Moody, 10 years is the minimum federal sentence, and if you know anything about fed time, you are doing at least 80 percent of your sentence, so Bantan will not see the light of day for a minute.

Veteran Jamaican DJ and activist, Jason Walker began a campaign asking for leniency for Bantan during his trial. In a letter from one of his 15 children, his son Mark Myrie, Jr., asked that the courts have mercy upon a man who is a hard working father, artist, and philanthropist, who is a victim of his personal human imperfection.

There have been other free Buju campaigns, and celebs who have come out to support are son of Bob Marley, Stephen Marley, actor Danny Glover, and NBA player and poet, Etan Thomas. Glover wrote in his statement of support, "Society would not benefit from his incarceration."

A statement that is a true revelation on the failed drug policies in this country that highlight racial and economic disparities; hence the recent trials of Lindsey Lohan, or the admitted cocaine usage of two US presidents, Obama and Bush jr.


Banton is a well-celebrated reggae artist who has created music that has won him numerous accolades. As of late, he just garnered a Grammy for Best Reggae album for his work, Before the Dawn; but his 1992 song, Boom Bye Bye, won him the reputation of being a serious homophobe.

His lyrics, 'boom bye bye to a batty boy head" literally means to shoot a gay man, and is in support of the social practice in Jamaica (and in the Caribbean and Africa to a large degree) to harm and sometimes kill gays and lesbians by a mob if discovered.

Mixed with ultra-conservative Christian fanaticism, Rastafarian views that are against homosexuality, and a local culture that sees homosexuality as taboo, Boom Bye Bye became a war car for islanders (even local police officers) who participate and support the death of homosexuals.

Gay activists cited Jamaica as one of the most homophobic places in the world, especially at the height of anti-gay terrorism which included the murders of two of the island's most prominent gay activists, Brian Williamson (June 9, 2004) and Steve Harvey (November 30, 2005). Williamson who has hacked to death with a machete, and Harvey, found dead with multiple gun wounds, sounded off an alarm to protest famous Jamaicans who supported violence against gay and lesbians.

Myrie also was brought on charges in 2004, after a local gay man named Brian accused him and a group of men bursting into his house and beating him and five other men with a board. Bantan who was vocal about his views on homosexuality was slammed with a global anti-Bantan movement.

In the US, many of his concerts were shut down due to protests and in some cases, melee and protests broke out while he was on stage. As a result, promoters and Bantan were losing thousands of dollars. For a while, Banton was more of a liability to the entertainment world than an asset. You see reggae artists bank in their performances in California and on the West Coast, but the LGBT community frequently blocked and put political/economic pressure on Banton.

In 2009, Banton agreed to meet with gay activists, but the meeting was unfruitful. The activists requested that the proceeds to Boom Bye Bye go to the J-FLAG organization and asked for Banton to hold a town hall in Jamaica addressing homophobia. Banton rejected the demands and later that night his concert was pepper sprayed by protestors.

On a radio program hosted by Mutabaruka, Banton said:

 Them come with demands which I and I a go flop dem right now, because give thanks to my culture and upbringing I coulda never endorse them things. I can't sell myself out, neither would I do that in a thousand years, "" he continued. " I love everyone in the world. I don't love no special group from another group. There are other needy organizations out there.

Banton who is a known philanthropist maintained his anti-gay stance, and has become the face of virulent homophobia in dancehall and reggae songs that are against homosexuality.

Banton's case presents a conundrum. On one hand, it is seen as justice served. While on the other, it is viewed as injustice upheld.

The reggae artist who never had any convictions is an example of failed American policies in this "War on Drugs" because the real issues with drug abuse in the US still has not been properly addressed. At the same time, gay activists and the LGBT community are shaking their heads and thinking that karma was the bitch who has him by the balls.

At the same time, the Banton case is loaded with political objectives and smoking mirrors covered by his culturally-religious-political views. The system took someone who is a bad guy in one arena, and unjustly stuck him in another way to allow him become the poster child for an absurd law that  is justified because of his actions dealing with something else. It is okay to some because they popped a rude boy one way or the other, not realizing that we all can suffer the same fate.

Impact of Failed Universal Healthcare

A couple of days ago I was floored to discover that one of my favorite paranormal writers, L.A. Banks was fighting late stage renal cancer. Her editor notes that she is in an "uphill battle" that also includes skyrocketing health care costs.

Ironically, this video is of Banks talking about her healthcare insurance issue a couple of years ago when Obama's universal healthcare system was being pushed. Eerily, Banks talks about an issue that she is now facing, not enough healthcare coverage to pay her bills.

Along with the F for failure in universal healthcare, I am ashamed to have voted for someone who is consistently turning their backs on those who put him in office.

I represent a new class of people, it is the professional poor, people who have degrees out of the ass, but are barely or not making it at all. In this recession we are either unemployed, underemployed, or being pimped out at a job paying us a for a portion of what we do. We are either without healthcare insurance or under-insured, and in serious debt. Just like Banks, my talents, my education, my contributions to American society bear very little significance when it comes to protecting greedy corporations and jack-legged politicians.

Though I know that healthcare is being dragged through the courts, I just hoped he'd fight for it as hard as he allowed banks to get the biggest welfare check after slavery, or him igging critics in his support to drop NATO bombs in Libya, though the African Union has called for a peaceful resolution.

Yep, change did come, and it its not the change we bargained to get.

In the meantime, please buy a book for LA Banks to help support her return to good health. The last thing we need is a writer who writes more than "street lit" to pass before their time.

Eco.Soul.Intellectual

The Friday Sex Blog [Mambo]

[Note: Aside from its better-known definition of a Latin@ dance form, Mambo is the term for a female High Priestess in the Vodou religion. They are the highest form of clergy in the religion, whose responsibility it is to preserve the rituals and songs and maintain the relationship between the spirits and the community as a whole (though some of this is the responsibility of the whole community as well). They are entrusted with leading the service of all of the spirits of their lineage.]

* * *

I had a friend once who fainted while getting his cocked sucked. This is true…

To be fair, the woman responsible was no ordinary woman. Her skin was an almost impossible shade of buttery brown and she was sublimely beautiful. Regal in her bearing, her prominently chiseled cheekbones framed eyes shaped like goldfish, her full lips, evoking her African ancestry, glistened with dew, her lush ripe breasts hung just right, and the possibilities and potentialities between her shy smile and her magnificently shaped ass were infinite. She walked as if she were royalty and the world syncopated itself to the sway of her curvaceous hips. A subtle but palpable energy enclosed her and her amber eyes shone with an intelligence and wisdom beyond her young years.

And she would have nothing to do with me. In fact, I believe at times she was downright scared of me. She once told a mutual friend that I had powerful spirits all around me -- some benevolent, but many evil.

Many would say she was just a whore, but many more whispered she was a bruja, a Vodou priestess, a succubus. She had many admirers, and she could’ve quite possibly enjoyed a comfortable life of leisure if she chose. I don’t k now if she was any of these things, but I do know she absolutely worshiped cock. I can still remember clearly all these years later. It was a summer night, the air hot as held breath. And we, my friends and I, we were on a drug and alcohol-induced prowl and somehow we ended up at her place -- in the middle of some crazy party.

My friend was absolutely taken by her and I wondered why she even bothered with him. If she was a whore, as many claimed, she was obviously a high-priced one and my friend was broke. In fact, we were all just a group of five horny motherfuckers barely into our twenties, just out for a good time. I had seen her around occasionally accompanied by an older man who walked around scowling all the time. Some said he was her husband, but that seemed unlikely to me. In any case, the scowling man jealously guarded her and word was he had stabbed Blackie just for looking at her wrong. And Blackie was a Golden Gloves champion, just starting out on a promising professional boxing career.

Anyway, my friend just had to have her and she seemed willing, but there was the problem of the old man, so we decided we would act as lookouts while he tried to get with the Black Angel.

North Carolina Seeks to Compensate Victims of Forced Sterilization by Eugenics Program

A good friend and longtime reader hit me up this week and mentioned that North Carolina was attempting to right their wrongs by compensating women who were sterilized via a Eugenics program. I kinda knew that this was the practice in many states back in the day, but when I really looked into it this week, I was surprised to find that this was the practice in 33 states total. And of course, these programs targeted poor, disenfranchised, and uneducated women and men; yes, and of course most of them were Black.

More surprising to me, was the fact that this practice was allowed to continue up until 1974 in the state of North Carolina. Some of these women were told that they would lose their public assistance should they refuse to be sterilized. Quite naturally, for many poor women, this was a life or death decision

RALEIGH, N.C. — Nearly 35 years after ending the country's most active post-war sterilization program, North Carolina is the only state trying to make amends to thousands of people who cannot have children because of eugenics-inspired theories about social improvement.

Next week, victims and their relatives will tell their stories to a state task force considering compensation to victims of sterilizations that continued into 1974. Roughly 85 percent of victims were women or girls, some as young as 10. North Carolina has more victims living than any other state because a majority was sterilized after World War II, said Charmaine Fuller Cooper, director of the state Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation.

Eugenics programs gained popularity in the U.S. and other countries in the early 1900s, but most abandoned those efforts after World War II because of the association with Nazi Germany's program aimed at racial purity. However, North Carolina's expanded, with sterilizations peaking in the 1950s and early 1960s. About 70 percent of the state's 7,600 sterilizations occurred after the war, state figures show.

Overt rationalization for the programs ranged from protecting the potential offspring of mentally disabled parents to improving the overall health and intellectual competence of the human race. Before the atrocities of World War II, it was seen by many — both blacks and whites — as a legitimate effort to improve society.

"Sterilization was always a cost-cutting measure," said Paul Lombardo, a professor at Georgia State University's College of Law. "The argument was, anybody who generates social costs shouldn't be allowed to have children." (source)

I did some more digging and then I found the following story by CBS, which  features one of the victims of this practice in the state of North Carolina. Her story I'm sure is not unique; and, as heart-wrenching as her story happens to be, I'm pretty sure there are others with similar tales which have affected their lives. This week state officials heard testimony from many victims, but the following testimony, is a must see. Seriously, check it out:

 WATCH CBS STORY HERE,  HERE & HERE




Now, as you know, I'm not a woman: and obviously, I'm not able to bear a child. I also know a few women who for medical reasons aren't able to bring children into this world; and. The few that I know would love nothing more than to be able to have children; and in all honesty, for them, this is a source of pain. Having said that, being a man, I can only imagine what Elaine Riddick is feeling today. A rape victim at the age of 14 that produced a child? Being labeled promiscuous by folks who don't know you?, Then being "punished" by having your natural ability to have children away ? Can you imagine having to deal with this, or even being her?But yet some asshole who today reads a story involving what they deem "bad parenting" will always have the audacity to suggest that some parents shouldn't be allowed to have children.

Dear, White Men: Like the Women of Wal-Mart, You Fuckers Need Real Oppression in Your Lives

First of all, E-Verify isn't a "federal law," as the turd in the video above says - it has yet to be federally mandated. As of right now employers have the option of using it or not to check the employment eligibility of potential and current workers, But more on that in a future post, so, so me a favor and ignore Bubba above who strikes me as yet another racist-freedom-loving Conservative...

Listen up white men; we gotta talk. OK, so I've been watching you guys for a while now, and quite frankly, you guys are scaring me right about now. Yes I know that recent trends have given rise to your feelings if irrelevance. Your kid loves rap music and wears his hat backwards, the president is Black, and you just found out that your 17-year0old daughter lost her virginity to some Mexican kid named Jesus. So yes, I do realize just how traumatic you existence has been lately. No seriously, after centuries of world domination this type of thing can lead to alcoholism, punching your white mail order Russian wives in the face for no reason other than thinking O.J. Simpson might have been innocent, and even suicide. Yes, I know it's hard being a white man in America.

Of course the weak minded among you would be affected by all these changes this way. However, there's no way you guys could have dominated the world for as long as you have by being weak. So what do you guys do with your new-found fetish for all things nostalgic outside of a '37 Chevy? Well, of late I see you guys have focused on the obvious threat to your God-given right and entitlement that is American citizenship. That would be, women and immigrants. I mean nothing is more a threat than the thought of the current illegal immigrant explosion, and just how its miscegenation will undoubtedly lead to your near extinction. And of course we can't have that; I mean, what would Hitler think. More importantly, what would your ancestors think of you?

So what do you guys do? You do as always; you come up with ways to systematically oppress both groups; and you do so after yet another round table white man discussion where you guys drink Pabst Blue Ribbon, or whatever beer you guys drink these days. You get fellow white men to pass some of the most racist laws in Georgia and Alabama that targets illegal immigrants with brown skin specifically. Yes, I seriously doubt whether anyone will be labeled a criminal if they knowingly transported an illegal immigrant who who happens to love Cheese Wiz as all white people do unlike people of color. Nor do I think a Landlord in Alabama would be worried about the Canadian white family who has overstayed the limit of their visas seeking housing.as a potential threat of arrest, should they rent property to them. But don't tell that to Rush Limbaugh; yep, none of this is racist. Yep, there's no racism or discrimination when it comes to the enforcement of laws in the United States.

You Know, sorta like the Supreme Court did this week?

America's First Transgender Student Prom Queen is Latino [VIDEO]

Uninsured Man Robs Bank for $1 to Get Access to Medical Care via Prison

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to yet another example of what it's like for the working poor in America in 2011. Naturally if you've been following this site for some time you'll know, that unemployment if high, there are millions still uninsured as health care costs continue to rise, and most importantly, the government doesn't give a damn. Or, they don't give the impression that they do, whilr attempting to convince us otherwise.

So what's a person in need of medical care to do while wealthy politicians sit around and squabble over cutting necessary services for poor folk and also Medicare & Medicaid? Well, I'll leave that up to you because only you can determine your level of desperation. However, meet Richard James Verone, and check out what he did about his situation, and what he did about his need for medical attention, Clearly his is an example of American ingenuity, that can do spirit, and all out desperation. Or simply put: a man doing what he has to do:

STON, N.C -- A North Carolina man suffering from an undiagnosed growth on his chest and two ruptured disks walked into an RBC bank and handed a note to a teller demanding $1. He then sat by the door and waited for police to arrive.

Richard James Verone says he needs medical attention and hoped that by getting arrested, he would have access to health care in prison.

"I'm sort of a logical person and that was my logic, what I came up with," Verone told WCNC. "If it is called manipulation, then out of necessity because I need medical care, then I guess I am manipulating the courts to get medical care."

Three years ago, Verone was laid off from Coca-Cola after 17 years on the job. He says he has had part-time work since then, but nothing with health insurance.

He is hoping for a three-year sentence, enough time to collect social security and obtain the medical help he requires, Verone says.

"If you don't have your health, you don't have anything," he says.

The 59-year-old was unarmed at the time of the incident.

He is being charged with larceny and is held on a $2,000 bond. He will appear in court June 28. (source)

Lemme tell you, as a person who for the last four years has struggled with major health issues for the last four years, I empathize heavily with what this man has done. For the past four years I've struggled to deal with complications from 17yrs of diabetes with my eyes. And as I've mentioned before, at one point and for a very long time I was legally blind. Most important to note, is that I dealt with this while having insurance, as well as without having any. And to understand where I'm coming from, I've had at least six surgical procedures done dur8ng this time. Yep, and I have the bills to prove it, by God.

Check out Ricard's jailhouse interview:



With 2012 being an election year, Democrats are going to try to convince us that the Health Care Reform bill was the best thing for America, while Republicans attack it. Hopefully someone will be audacious by asking just how are people going to be able to afford coverage wityhout jobs as costs continue to ricse? No seriously, where is the jobs bill, and why hasn't health care reform controlled cost? Surely our wealthy elected officials will have honest answers...

National Black Church Initiative Not Happy Wiith POTUS Over Gay Marriage [VIDEO]

This story is kinda old, but with the hoopla over gay marriage in New York coupled with the fact that I'm a bit under the weather with my eyes again. I figured throw this out there because I could imagine just how many Black church organizations out there are actively working against legislation in New York and pretty much everywhere else it pops up. As you folks know, I don't like the marriage of religion and politics. So with that said, lemme just say that I think this particular organization needs to go fuck themselves.

Obama 2012... BITCHES!

Michelle Alexander on the Hypocrisy of the Obama Administration on the War On Drugs

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"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

I don't know how much of a stir Michelle Alexander's statements have created throughout the blogosphere. But, as it has been seen throughout the Obama era, any critique of president Obama that links his race or cultural upbringing is a no-no. Let's be honest, "certain people" aren't too happy whenever his "blackness" is questioned. However, in the context of the War On Drugs and its obvious attack on people of color over the last 40yrs, Michelle is right in her commentary. Unfortunately, the central message will be missed in defense of Barack Obama as it always is; and, it's a damn shame.

On Facebook, Michelle Alexander said:

I was on MSNBC last night talking about the failed drug war. I called out Obama as a bit of a hypocrite, given that he, himself, has admitted to using cocaine and marijuana. If he had been raised in the 'hood rather than in Hawaii by white grandparents, the odds are good that he would have been arrested. Far from being president of the United States, he might not even have the right to vote today.

As I pointed out in a recent post, Obama has flip flopped on his position regarding the war on drugs. In 2006 he clearly stated that said war has been ineffective, and questioned its method of application in the criminalization of certain illegal substances. Back then, he also recognized the egregious targeting of communities of color. But today, his stance is different; he has asked for more federal funds for the upcoming fiscal year 2012 to further increase enforcement of a now 40-year0old failed policy.

Of course some of you may see nothing wrong with this much like the guy I had a conversation with last week. In his opinion, there is no racial bias associated with the war on drugs. According to him, Black folks should be like white folks and not walk around with drugs in their possession. Which is bullshit because there is no empirical evidence to support the idea that people of color are genetically predisposed to drug use or sales. If anything, studies have shown that unlike white folks, people of color are more likely to face time in prison for drug convictions relative to white people.

Of course these facts don't matter; as long as Blacks and other poor minorities retain the stereotype, all is well with America. I refuse to get into any debates over this today with anyone, especially a person of color as was the guy I spoke with last week. I'll  however say this: If you think nothing is wrong with the War On Drugs targeting communities of color? Or that white folks are more just as likely to use drugs but get less time in prison? That's fine! Don't say shit when you get stopped by the cops and they go up your rectum with a Roto-Rooter without any probable cause other than your stupid ass being Black.

The Sunday Morning Sex Blog [Relationship Challenges]

I am playing the game I suppose,
out of habits
learned long ago,
but I have been in these waters
far longer than
even my tired eyes could tell you.

Okay, so I’m going to start out by copping to the fact that I’m not all that great in the relationship arena. I don’t even have a pet… Therefore, take the rest with a grain of salt.

Something happens when I realize I’m feeling deeply for a woman and how painfully clear it is that considering a relationship is a lot like standing at the abyss and jumping. In other words, along with feelings, there comes the realization that I am also becoming vulnerable to that person I have feelings for. And that’s not a great revelation for me because, I have to admit, it’s scary.

There, I said it: relationships scare me.

It’s not a fear of commitment, that’s not it. I have and can commit to living with another person. The part that’s fearful is the part of being vulnerable. Believe me, there are plenty of people who are in committed relationships who choose not to be vulnerable. It’s not that hard. You can be in a long-term, committed relationship and not really share deep intimacy. I see it all the time. But because of the kind of person I am, when I open and give, it’s about going…

All.

The.

Way.

That’s why I’ve previously admitted that beginnings are extremely difficult at times with yours truly. If I’m seeing you and we both know there’s a surrender looming in the near future -- we’re both feeling these feelings and we know it’s headed somewhere -- then I’m not holding much of anything back. I’m not saying that I’m blabbing everything out by the third date, or that I immediately go overboard. LOL! That’s closer to codependency, not love. I am saying that I work at being transparent. I don’t play hide and seek. If I’m feeling something, I will look you in the eyes and let you know, “Sweetie, I don’t know how or why, but I’m starting to have these feelings… ” I won’t play The Game. The one thing you can always count on with me, is that you will always know where I stand (sometimes this is not such a good thing).