We all murdered Jam Master Jay that night. Maybe you didn't. But anyone that purchases and continues to support music, art, businesses that do not honor life, do not honor the Black community participated in Jam Master Jay's murder. Some of us think that our hands are clean because we escape to the nice area of suburbs, yet I caution you to be apathetic to a circumstance makes you still guilty. We share this universe together, and as long as there is one person that desires to murder instead of respect life, then we are just as guilty as the cold blooded killers.

We watched corporate executives take Hip-Hop and rape her without mercy. Yet we watched without uttering a word. We heard Hip-Hop cries of foul play by Common, by Kam, by The Coup, by dead prez, by KRS-One, by Paris, by Malik Z. Shabazz, by Public Enemy. Instead of stepping up and taking up for Her, we blamed her for the rape. Unfortunately the rape of Hip Hop made her believe it was ok to be a prostitute for anyone and thing with the right money. We continue to spend our $16.00 on CDs that glorify dangerous life styles and self degrading concepts, we take part in the continuous murder of our community. We murder our standards of ethics, of high morale, and of respect for human life.

No one said anything when Tupac was murdered, when Biggie was murdered. Everyone blamed it on their life style, and some orchestrated east versus west. We all knew deep within that it was Self versus Self. It was self hatred that continued to allow the prostitution of Hip-Hop, thus our community. Corporations realize that we have a deep-seeded wound and a deep seeded need, so they profit off of our madness of our illness off of our sadness. We spend billions on music that identifies our Women as Bitches our Men as Niggas and our work ethics as a Slimy Hustle. Corporations can continue to prostitute Hip-Hop as long as we have such a low self esteem in our genes, that we spend billions of dollars on designer jeans. Any name but our own name will do. The fashion industry participates in this prostitution.

We take on names and images from crime bosses, fashion of industry blood suckers, and listen to music that defiles our vessel. We defile our vessel (bodies daily), so it shouldn't have been a shock when someone could actually walk up to a Black man and shoot him without regard to his life, his breath, his journey, and his destiny.

A lot of us believed that the Civil Rights era took care of our needs. Although I respect the Civil Rights era, many wanted to prove to Caucasians that they were worthy of being honored. What really should have taken place was proving to ourselves that we are worthy. Now, Hip-Hop generation - you have emerged, we have emerged to take on our ancestors battle. Many of us are so disenchanted with this system that we don't even respond when a crisis takes place in our community. So many of us are not even available to make a change. Thus we all murdered Jam Master Jay that night.

Some blame the "youth". Some believe that it is only the "youth" in the Hip-Hop era. But if you remembered listening to Curtis Blow, the Dead Presidents, then you too are apart of this changing Hip-Hop community. People born in the late 50's and 70's are the hip-hop generation, rather they realize it or not. The generation that decided to pound loudly and go back to the drum, step up and be entrepreneurs. We are the Hip-Hop community. And until we take a stance and help heal our communities we will continue to murder. Until we make a definite pact to no longer support artists who glorify murder, going into debt over cars and clothes, use sexual exploitation, disrespect Black women, we will continue to murder. We already murdered Tupac, Biggie, and Jam Master Jay.