A.G. Gancarski
Luther Campbell is best known globally for his work in 2 Live Crew. As it happens, though, he’s reinvented himself many times over: as an entrepreneur, and now, as a columnist for the Miami New Times.
Tuesday’s column calls attention to “a rash of homicides” in the Miami area, after which “there have been no marches or demonstrations by Miami’s black community demanding the killers be brought to justice.”
“Even when David Queen, the son of longtime Miami black activist Tangela Sears, was murdered in Tallahassee in May,” Campbell wrote, “there was no public protest to proclaim that his black life mattered. The only time African-Americans get riled up over one of us losing our lives to gun violence is when a white cop pulls the trigger.”
Campbell, whose history in Liberty City and other parts of Miami that became notorious in the 1980s is well-known, contends that for “Black Lives Matter” protests to bear fruit, community accountability must prevail.
“Before we point the finger at white officers, we need to hold ourselves accountable when it comes to black-on-black violence. The no-snitching culture applies to thugs killing thugs, but not when innocent young blacks with promising futures are the victims,” Campbell writes.
“Often, people in the neighborhood don’t rat out the guy who shot up somebody’s front porch because they know him. But when their grandmother’s house gets sprayed by bullets, they bitch about the police not doing their job. But the cops can’t solve murders if witnesses don’t come forward,” Campbell continues.
“When a young black man is killed by another young black man, activists should go door-to-door seeking information that can help homicide detectives find the criminals,” Campbell adds.
