When Did Saggin’ Pants Really Start?

Dont just do what others are doing to fit in or because it’s a trend.  Do your research.  More times than not you will find it is not new.  Just new to you!

As I talked to Kristen, my friend in Phoenix, about the movie Green Book, She asked if I heard about the slavery connection to saggin’ pants.  Well here it is:

Not a prison trend.  Not A Trend That Started In The 80s Back in the late 80s and early 90s, the sagging trend was introduced by rappers like Ice-T and Too Short. Then, Kris Kross took things to a whole new level. Although the trend started in prison systems and correctional institutions around the country, soon, black youth on the outside began adopting the fashion trend. However, it’s much deeper than something you see on television in this day and age.

‘Breaking the Buck’

If you haven’t heard of the process of “breaking the buck,” you’ll never look at a man wearing sagging pants the same. According to diaryofanegress.com, the process was a heinous act used during times of slavery to break down defiant male slaves.  During this brutal process, the slave owners and Overseer would make an example of the slave in front of the entire slave congregation by beating him relentlessly. But unfortunately, that’s not the worst of the punishment. Then, they would cut down a tree and force the battered male slave over the tree stump with his britches removed so he’d be exposed for the entire slave congregation to see. “Buck Breaking” The slave master would then make an example out of the slave and promise others the act would be their fate for defiant behavior. The slave owner would then remove his own clothing and savagely sodomize the slave in front of his family – wife and children – and his friends. But sadly things didn’t stop there. Slave masters were also known to invite their associates from other plantations to participate. Then the owner would make the slave wear his pants below his bottom letting others know that he was broken. It is also noted that the defiant slave’s male children were required to be front and center while the horrific acts were taking place in an effort to break them down mentally at an early age as they witnessed their father’s humiliation. Sadly, the process was successful. In fact, the disturbing process evolved into a “Sex Farm” practice where slaves were put on display for the twisted sexual desires of homosexual slave owners.

Read the full article at: https://www.theblackloop.com/many-think-sagging-pants-started-prison-come-place-much-worst/

 

 

What is Really Going On At Rikers and in Our Courts?

There are too many stories about Black, brown and poor people being arrested unjustly and sent to prisons.  More of these people than the system wants us to know about are not only innocent, but are being held for years without a trial.  Some of the most egregious are being investigated  Sean King in his report tomorrow on The Tom Joyner Morning Show (KISS 104.1FM in Atlanta).

If you miss the report Monday morning, you can find it at BlackAmericaWeb.com

Also, Related is a story CBS Sunday Morning did on the fact that there really is not “equal justice under the law” as is claimed in America.  They reported on a broken system whereby court appointed attorneys rarely, if ever, have a chance to investigate cases or meet their clients before the trial date. Then they encourage their clients to take a plea and serve time despite their innocence and no evidence being presented.  Yale law school Professor Stephen Bright calls it the “Meet ’em and plead ’em” defense.

From Cordele, Georgia to New Orleans, Louisiana and in numerous courts across the U.S. this is the norm.  In one Louisiana city where there is only one attorney who represents all who cannot afford an attorney.  In some towns like Cordele, Georgia, the accused go before the judge in groups of 10 or more. Often the public defender does not even know what each client looks like.  Yet, one by one, each person in the group pleads guilty and accepts the sentence regardless of the sentence length since they cannot afford to pay for an attorney.

Then, many of them lose their job, home and children.  Well, when Shanna Shackelford was accused of arson after a rental home she own caught on fire less than a year after she increased the insurance coverage, her public defender told her to plead guilty and take the 25 year sentence.  Her court appointed attorney did not help her.  So about two years later, and after much frustration, Shackelford was able to get help.  An investigation that took two weeks revealed it was an electrical fire, not arson. Well, she had served two years in jail, lost her home and everything.  Then it took theee years to get her record cleared so she could get a job. See the full story at: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/unequal-justice-under-the-law/

This proves the color of justice is green.

Is this acceptable in the “land of the free, home of the brave”…or “with liberty and justice for all”?