The United States has once again risen up in protest in the wake of the death of Freddie Gray a week after being taken into police custody. The official police investigation was just turned into the Maryland state attorney, but the past week has seen tensions escalate to riots, looting and clashes with police in the city, resulting in a mandatory curfew and the military being called in to restore order. Protests have broken out in solidarity all over the country in hotspots like New York City, Ferguson and Los Angeles, as well as other cities like Denver. The incident has restarted the conversation on the marginalization of young African Americans in United States society and police brutality and how to right these wrongs. Many people have an opinion on this, some more educated then others, and one is rapper The Game, who was just an 11-year-old kid at the time of the L.A. riots after Rodney King was brutally killed by Los Angeles police and recalls taking part in the looting and rioting that followed. He penned an op-ed for Billboard with his thoughts on the current situation in Baltimore with the perspective of someone there in Los Angeles during the 1992 riots.
"I remember looting and throwing bottles and jumping on bottles, jumping on police cars and just being angry. At the moment, it felt great," The Game reflects. "I felt like, you always hate the police for whatever reason. It all seemed cool for the moment, but now I'm 35. Looking back at what we did as a collective, a young black collective, we ruined our own neighborhood."
The LA rapper understands where the anger is coming from and why it is being expressed in such a strong and destructive manner.
"Young black men in general are targets. People [are] using unlawful force to take our lives. We've seen kids shot [and] beaten. We've seen everything. At the end of the day, we get fed up."
"We're calling these young black kids and our youth 'animals' and 'thugs,' and it makes them more angry. We're doing that when you've got thugs and animals that are police officers, firemen [and] congressmen."
He goes to explain why did not use social media to express his feelings this time around, noting that commenters can be very shallow and negative no matter the viewpoint. Game calls out black leaders to do more to advance the African American community and political leaders to bring down the 1984-like police state that exists.
