Journal 13

Just for them Student Organization at Howard changed my life.

What interests me about this program is how involved it is in the youth of the Washington, DC community. To me, the reason why the youth get incarcerated is due to the lack of guidance within their community. It is not uncommon that juveniles grow up to be convicted adults. Becoming a mentor to juveniles would stop the cycle of crime within our community. I want to inspire the youth and to teach them that there is another way of life through education and to strive for their dreams instead of becoming a statistic.

I do not believe there is a black and white answer to why people commit crimes. The term “crimes” in itself is a broad term. I do however believe that poverty induced crime. To me, people commit crimes when they are in desperate need of surviving and they feel there is no other way. Whether its selling drugs to feed your family or committing armed robbery to keep the bills paid, it’s survival. And once a community is like that, babies grow up in an environment where they normalize crime and make it a living.

Restorative Justice to me is a form of closure. I do not hear about this approach to justice often. The first time I heard of restorative justice being an option was for DUI manslaughter cases where it was incorporated into their sentencing. In this sense, I thought restorative justice was a brilliant way for not only the family to have closure, but also give the perpetrator a chance to express their guilt to the victim’s family and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness and growth are two big concepts when I think of restorative justice. I believe that restorative justice should be the only sentencing for delinquent youth. The current juvenile justice system relies heavily on costly and harmful incarceration and punitive probation, treating mislead black and brown children with disparate, inhumane and excessively harsh sanctions. This severe approach has poor outcomes, little victim satisfaction, and high recidivism. I do believe that elements within incarceration might make delinquent youths more likely to engage in criminal behavior after serving their time. While most approaches to juvenile justice concentrate on punishing or treating delinquent youths, the restorative justice process seeks to repair the harm by involving the entire community in rehabilitating offenders and holding them accountable for their behavior. This way, the offender can see his wrong doing and have the support system to change his or her ways thus lowering juvenile incarceration rates.

I genuinely do believe in the death penalty. As morbid as it sounds, I do believe certain crimes should be punishable by death. For instance, mass murderers and serial rapists should receive the death penalty. In my opinion, those are serious offenses where the person has continued to commit those serious crimes. Although I believe in the death penalty, I do not think it should be a sentence for all offenses. I do not believe any other crime besides the two that I stated are death penalty worthy. Receiving the death penalty for crimes such as theft or drugs is quite unreasonable. Even the killing of one person or the rape of one person should not qualify for the death penalty. To me, the death penalty is for high offenses that have been repeated against unprovoked innocents. There also must be undeniable evidence in these cases. I cannot support the death penalty without acknowledging its dark path with wrongful convictions with fatal consrquences.I also believe in the life sentence, again with boundaries. I generally think some crimes may not be worthy of the death penalty, but are worthy for life in prison. I do not believe in the life sentence without parole for perpetrators under the age of 18 however because that takes away the option for rehabilitation for the youth. I will end in saying that I think there are pros and cons on the death penalty and life sentences. It is hard to completely rationalize one’s own stance on both topics because they come with a lot of complex contributions. Generally, these are my thoughts on them.

This is what I love so much about Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole. They are two of the most woke artist of our generation, which is why I believe they are compared to one another so frequently. It just so happens that this week two groups studied both of their work. J. Cole is no stranger to charitable work. From his inception as a rap artists, the rapper has shown his love for his community and giving back. In October of 2011, J. Cole founded The Dreamville Foundation to uplift the youth in the Fayetteville, North Carolina, community. The website’s mission statement states its purpose is “to reveal to the urban youth, their limitless potential, through positive life-altering experiences.” J. Cole is committed to assisting the urban youth through his music and the different programs the foundation holds. Founded in 2011, the organization’s aim is to provide urban youth with the tools they need to achieve their dreams. Some of Dreamville Foundation’s events include a Young Men’s Book Club, community dinners, back-to-school supply giveaways, panels and many other services. “The idea is that it’s a single mother with multiple kids and she’s coming from a place where all her kids is sharing a room,” he explained. “She might have two, three kids, they’re sharing a room. She gets to come here rent-free. I want her kids to feel how I felt when we got to the house.”

As for Kendrick Lamar, The Compton, CA bred rapper has always stayed local, and cared about the growth of music and education. In 2013, he gave his high school a $50,000 to help improve their music facilities. Overall, Kendrick Lamar has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Compton’s school district’s sports, after-school, music and other programs. On top of all that, he’s also donated and worked with Compton and other local charities. KDot won an award from the California State Senate in 2015 for his community work.

J. Cole and Kendricks work is a form of community service as well because their music speaks to the community in effort to help the black community. As race takes on a majority of the album’s theme, Daily Emerald best summarized the album as a “track-by-track journey of a black man’s experience of growing up in our nation, from encountering ghetto violence at a young age, suffering inescapable racial prejudices in real life and in the media and dealing with death and mortality.” Kendrick Lamar’s album To Pimp A Butterfly, is a politically-charged response to the racism, violence and police brutality that continues to plague society.It’s very telling the album deals with many of the same themes as other notable protest songs written by the artists mentioned above, among others, yet arrived decades after those were composed.The US has certainly made some progress in establishing a more equitable society, but obviously still has a way to go. My personal favorite song “Blacker The Berry,” is arguably the most powerful and emotive track, was written in direct response to the death of Trayvon Martin.

Kendrick and Cole respect each other as lyricists and emcees. So much so that they were reportedly working together on a collaborative album. Kendrick and Cole’s respect for each other might stem from how much they have in common. Both are socially conscious rappers, both are really great lyricists, both were inspired by Rap Gods like Tupac, and both have inspired and connected with younger generations by spitting rhymes about Black experiences and social issues. While this is a tough call — this debate must be settled.Back in December 2016, while promoting his new album “Do What Thou Wilt,” Ab-Soul told the Breakfast Club the acclaimed rappers were working on the album together, following much speculation. These days we don’t know if the joint album will ever really happen.

All in all, the black community needs help, and uplifting. Restorative Justice to me is a form of closure. I do not hear about this approach to justice often. The first time I heard of restorative justice being an option was for DUI manslaughter cases where it was incorporated into their sentencing. In this sense, I thought restorative justice was a brilliant way for not only the family to have closure, but also give the perpetrator a chance to express their guilt to the victim’s family and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness and growth are two big concepts when I think of restorative justice. I believe that restorative justice should be the only sentencing for delinquent youth. The current juvenile justice system relies heavily on costly and harmful incarceration and punitive probation, treating mislead black and brown children with disparate, inhumane and excessively harsh sanctions. This severe approach has poor outcomes, little victim satisfaction, and high recidivism. I do believe that elements within incarceration might make delinquent youths more likely to engage in criminal behavior after serving their time. While most approaches to juvenile justice concentrate on punishing or treating delinquent youths, the restorative justice process seeks to repair the harm by involving the entire community in rehabilitating offenders and holding them accountable for their behavior. This way, the offender can see his wrong doing and have the support system to change his or her ways thus lowering juvenile incarceration rates. This is something I find interest in which is why I chose my minor in sociology.

The civil rights movement in the United States was a decades-long struggle by African Americans and their like-minded allies to end institutionalized racial discrimination, disenfranchisement and racial segregation in the United States. It still feels like we are fighting the same war sometimes. Both of these artist’s music, gets me through it all.

The opening lyrics of the 4 Your Eyez Only song really shows Cole’s ability to depict Black life. Hence why he’s a littllleeeeeee bit more favorited.

Hey, niggas be dying on the daily
It seems my dreams faded for far too long, the consequences deadly
Can’t visualize myself as nothing but a criminal
Control the block, serving up rocks and stay subliminal
’Cause young niggas is hardheaded, they letting off
Full of adrenaline, ignorant to what death can cause
Ain’t no coming back, family dressed in black
Plus it’s hot now, the cops outside, it’s hard to flip a pack
And my daughter gotta eat
Her mama be stressing me like I ain’t the one who put them Jays on her feet
Like I ain’t out in the field like that
I might be low for the moment but I will bounce back
Despite the charges,

Who starts a song like this? The greats do. Straight to the point and real.