Nipsey Hussle

I was a little confused when I heard about the murder of rapper Nipsey Hussle.

Seems I’d confused him with the old comedian Nipsey Russell who I remembered from the old game shows.

I’d never heard of the rapper, but then I read all about the guy, and what a shame it is that he was gunned down in L.A.

There was an outcry. Even LeBron chimed in.

It seems that he was a integral part of the community. He tried his best to make changes.

My boys would be the judge of it all.

“Did you hear about Nipsey?” Jake asked, as soon as I walked in.

“I did hear about it,” I said.

Jake showed me a clip of an anti-Trump song.

The rappers have always included Trump in their lyrics. In the old days, they’d sing about his money, and now they sing about how much they can’t stand him.

Sam joined the conversation.

“I knew who he was, but never listened to him.”

“The government killed him,” their friend, Ben, said. “He made a documentary about Big Pharma. He pissed off the wrong people.”

I’m not much for conspiracy theories, but I did read a few articles that made reference to the same claim.

By Tuesday there was a APB out for a young black man who was the main suspect.

Later in the day, the man was arrested.

“Guess it wasn’t the government,” Sam said. “They arrested a guy.”

It sounds like another crazy turf war of sorts between rival gangs.

I thought of Tupac who was another hero in the hip-hop community.

“Senseless,” I said.

The thing is, a lot of black men die young...

...just like this in communities all over this country...

...and what pains me is that we have learned to just sort of shrug it off.

Read a newspaper on the weekend.

Young men shot to death.

Most we can offer is a huge, collective sigh.

Too bad.

May he Rest In Peace.