Teen Takes “Stop Snitching” To His Deathbed

In are you forking kidding me news…

17 year old Robert Tate took the hood credo “stop snitching” to his grave. The teen was shot in the chest as someone approached him on a Chicago sidewalk earlier this month. As he lay dying, police asked him “do you know who shot you?” Tate’s response, “I know, but I ain’t telling you sh!t.”

Really?

Seriously?

Has it come to this, that we’d rather die than point a finger at someone who’s done the ultimate wrong?

Tate's mother doesn’t buy the cop’s story. Cynthia Washington describes her son as a "very respectful child" and doesn’t believe he’d withhold that information.

One cop said he knows that “stop snitching” has become the matra for the streets, but he says he’s never seen anyone take it to the grave like this.

Damn.

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WTF? Files: More Than 40 Shot In Chicago

What is really going on in the streets? Chicago has been hit with a wave of violence in the last couple of days. More than 40 people have been shot since Thursday night. One of the shootings happened in front of police.

Sadly, many residents have become used to the violence. What needs to be done in communities around the country, not just in Chicago, to put an end to this senselessness? We have got to do better.

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David Banner Speaks Out Against Derrion Albert's Murder

Add David Banner to the short list of hip hop celebs who are stepping forward with anti-violence songs, open letters and pleas for healingin the wake of Chicago honor student Derrion Albert's murder. Banner's new song "Something Is Wrong" dropped on YouTube today. He touches on everything from violence to gay teens to sexual violence. Whoa!

Take a listen...

Nas Speaks on Chicago Violence

Nas has been one of the few celebs to step up and speak out against the violence taking place on the streets of Chicago (and many other urban areas). He penned an Open Letter to Young Warriors after the video taped beating death of Derrion Albert hit the Internet.

Over the weekend, Nas hit the CNN airwaves to talk about the deadly street violence and what (if any) role music plays in the healing process.

Brew Commentary: Does Chicago Deserve The Olympics?

Yesterday, we told you about the brutal beating death of Derrion Albert in Chicago. All because the honor student walked into a street fight between other kids. That case got me thinking about the ongoing black-on-black/youth-on-youth crime taking place in Chicago. And it led me to ponder: in light of what's going on there, does this city really deserve a chance to host the 2016 Olympics?

When (or, if) the Olympics makes it to Chicago, will its violence problem simply be swept under the rug or buried in the B section, after all the glorious stories of Olympic gold?

Our president, Chicago's adopted son, is campaigning hard to woo the Olympic committee. President and First Lady Obama are even traveling to Copenhagen this week to lobby on behalf of the Windy City. An unprecedented move, especially for a wartime-recession president with so much on his plate.

Shouldn’t President Obama be lobbying equally as hard for more afterschool programs in Chicago to give kids constructive things to do after 3 pm? Should he be lobbying hard for a ban on guns? How about more year-round student-job programs to give kids opportunities to build resumes, develop professional skills AND make money legally? Should he be lobbying for a sweeping clean-up of Chicago's school system and its legendary corrupt political machine? Or, perhaps lobbying for all of the above?

In the race to make this era post-racial and this presidency not about 'race,' has this White House missed a key opportunity to break ground on combating black-on-black crime than any previous politicians have?

Why has this White House been so noticeably silent about what ills Chicago (and many other cities)? Even CNN has taken note by producing a lengthy series on Chicago's violence problem. This president is teetering inside a unique bubble: one that could burst if he pays TOO MUCH attention to race. But, it could also pop if he doesn't address it ENOUGH.

We all know it takes a village, but is it also THIS president's job to make ending Chicago's youth violence problem a priority? Should he make it as much of a priority as he's making bringing Olympic dollars to the Magnificent Mile?

What's your call?