Much was made about the Harvard professor who was arrested in his own home last week, but incidents like the Vernon Forrest tradgedy infuriates me more than any racist, cowardly, ignorant bastard could, EVER!!!
I'm by no means excusing or belittling the acts of racism/prejudice that ALL people from various backgrounds/races/creeds/sexual orientation/etc are subjected to, but particularly when it comes to the plight of Black People...... All too often, WE ARE OUR OWN WORST ENEMY!!!
Why do we continuously betray, rob, steal from, and kill each other for insignificant gains?? Why do we find it so easy to accost, and hate on each other, very often, without "legitimate" provocation. I'm all for getting "GULLY" when it's warranted, but to do this to a member of the Black Community who was actually "trying" to do the right thing is INEXCUSEBLE, and should be punishable by DEATH if they have unmitigated PROOF, once the perpetrators are caught.
We could use vile remarks to castigate those in power, those who use that power/badge irresponsibly, or those who fan the flames of Hatred with ignorant rhetoric/laws/policies, but if we continue to DESTROY each other simultaneously, as we do all around the world, the UNEQUIVOCAL culprit is "US". There's no way we would be subjected to this level of abuse if we didn't routinely commit some of the most vile acts against ourselves. This goes all the way back to the motherland.
This level of IGNORANCE should be unilaterally DENOUNCED by the Black community. We should no longer provide safe haven {i.e. Stop Snitching}, or compassion when these so called "Thugs/Gangstas" senselessly take ANYONE'S life, but especially, one of our own. We should react with the same type of passion, and relentless protest/vigilance, as when a caucasian person is the defendant. Not taking action is the greatest form of cowardice. I would shoot ppl like this myself if I had a licensed gun, and I wouldn't feel one OUNCE of remorse either.
I don't care what "THEY" say, if you know someone, or witness someone who knocks an old lady down and takes off with her purse, or senselessly rapes, assaults, shoots, or KILLS someone {{without provocation}} turn their FN asses in ASAP!!!!!!!!! We need to take back our communities and ensure it is safe for a Black person to be prosperous and walk amongst his/her own people without CONSTANTLY being a target.
It is far more cowardly to protect the lives, act on behalf of, or pretend to uphold some type of CODE when it comes to these punk ass n!&&@$ {That's right I said it, call them what they are, it's justified in this instance},
We'll never totally eradicate IGNORANCE or VIOLENCE, but we can set a tone of INTOLERANCE for this type of BS.... We should POLICE ourselves so that the "man" does not have the opportunity to intervene and dictate how we should remedy the problems in our households/communities.
Hasn't 400 years of blood sweat and tears taught a thing? IDGAF!!!!! I truly despise/hate people that commit these types of crimes, ESPECIALLY, when it's Black on Black. If you're really a thug, go rob a bank, or a brinks truck. While I don't condone that behavior either, without a doubt it's far more lucrative, but it takes wayyy more BALLS, risk to your freedom and your LIFE, to do that.
I will speak out against this type of ignorance WHENEVER I get the chance. I am confident I am in the right of way. In this instance, no weapon formed against me shall prosper, I am not AFRAID, and I am willing to die for what I believe in.
THE INSANITY HAS TO STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TAKE BACK OUR STREETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sincerely,
Blaq Ops
Vernon Forrest One of True Good Guys
Posted Jul 26, 2009 11:01PM By Kevin Blackistone (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Boxing
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Vernon ForrestThe truth is that, often times, those of us in this business find ourselves struggling to say only good things about a recently deceased personality whose acts in life demanded that we make him or her known to the public. With Vernon Forrest, it seemed to be the opposite.
It is not manufactured hyperbole for the purpose of being polite that you are hearing and reading such wonderful things about Forrest, a three-time boxing champ who we learned Sunday was fatally shot Saturday night in a carjacking attempt in Atlanta. A more famous Atlanta fighter, Evander Holyfield, may be most well-known as the Real Deal, but there was absolutely nothing phony about the good guy who was Forrest. As HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg, whose network carried many of Forrest's bouts, told the Associated Press on Sunday of Forrest: "He was one of the most gracious and charitable fighters in boxing and he will be missed by the entire boxing community and all of his friends at HBO."
Forrest will be missed most, however, by people beyond the ring -- people who need people, as the old Barbra Streisand song goes.
Forrest told this story any time he was asked. It goes that he was hanging out at the home of a friend who worked with the psychologically and emotionally challenged. (How novel is that? He wasn't hanging out at the strip club or dogfighting ring.) He watched one of those in his friend's stead, an autistic child, who Forrest said struggled for an hour to tie his shoes.
Forrest said he became so frustrated watching the child fight to do something most of us take for granted that he could no longer take it for granted. His friend refused to help the child because the friend hoped the child would break through alone. The child's battle broke Forrest, however, and Forrest eventually helped the child tie his shoes. Then Forrest set out to help others with similar struggles.
"If you sit there and watch a person take about an hour to tie his shoestrings, then you realize that whatever problems you got ain't that significant," Forrest recounted to the New York Times in August 2006 before a match against Ike Quartey. "A light just turned on in my head."
Deaths in Sports
Jae C. Hong, AP
Vernon Forrest, July 25: The 38-year-old Forrest, left, during a 2008 fight against Sergio Mora, was shot and killed in an apparent robbery, according to Atlanta police. Click through to see recent deaths in the world of sports.
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Deaths in Sports
Vernon Forrest, July 25: The 38-year-old Forrest, left, during a 2008 fight against Sergio Mora, was shot and killed in an apparent robbery, according to Atlanta police. Click through to see recent deaths in the world of sports.
Jae C. Hong, AP
Marco Antonio Nazareth, July 22: The 23-year-old boxer dies four days after suffering a brain hemorrhage in a technical knockout loss to Omar Chavez.
Martin Venegas, Mexsport
Ed Rudolph, July 19: The former national speedskating champion, pictured here in 1961, was killed in a crash when the driver of a GMC Suburban swerved to avoid a deer and collided with his Acura.
AP
Sue Burns, July 19: A part owner of the San Francisco Giants and devoted philanthropist, Burns died of complications from lung cancer.
Donald Miralle, Getty Images
Arturo Gatti, July 11: The former junior welterweight champion was found dead in a hotel room at the age of 37. Gatti, known for his legendary bouts that electrified fans, participated in Ring Magazine's 'Fight of the Year' a total of four times.
Frank Franklin II, AP
Rene Capo, July 7: A two-time judo Olympian, Capo also played college football at the University of Minnesota. He was 48.
Lou DiGesare / realjudo.net
Mathieu Montcourt, July 7: The French tennis player was found dead by his girlfriend outside his apartment.
Lionel Bonaventure, AFP / Getty Images
Lou Creekmur, July 5: The Hall of Fame lineman was known for his tenacious style of play and starred on three Detroit Lions championship teams.
AP
Steve McNair, July 4: A fan favorite during his 13 years in the NFL, McNair was found dead in a Nashville condo, the victim of a gunshot wound to the head.
Gail Burton, AP
Alexis Arguello, July 1: The former boxing champion, pictured here in 1986, was one of the best junior lightweights to step in the ring.
Allsport / Getty Images
It was the mid-'90s when Forrest had his epiphany. He was closing in on 20 professional fights without a loss but didn't have much bank or accolades to show for it. A native of Augusta, Ga., Forrest had planned to jumpstart his pro career in 1992 like Oscar De La Hoya with an Olympic gold medal from the Barcelona Games, but he was easily upset in his opening match and said afterward that he'd been stricken with food poisoning.
Nonetheless, Forrest scrapped together around $80,000 with some other easily touched people, like his hip-hop video friend Ki Toy Johnson, and formed a company called Destiny's Child Inc. Their idea: to provide long-term care to people like the autistic child whose shoestrings he helped tie.
Forrest, who studied business administration at Northern Michigan University, and his partners purchased a suburban Atlanta home in 1996 and retrofitted it for the demands of their business. Destiny's Child, which took in patients from institutions or families that were no longer able to care for them, didn't get any cheaper to finance than it was to start up. This was healthcare, after all, the very industry President Obama and many others are saying is too costly to meet the needs of everyone who should have it and, as a result, needs to be reformed. Forrest was experiencing all of that.
Forrest's payroll grew to include as many as 25 caregivers, coordinators, and administrative staff. There was a $5 million insurance policy as protection against malpractice that he had to pick up. And in 2000, the state of Georgia requested that Forrest's company take in 17 patients who were enrolled in a competing firm that folded. Forrest couldn't say no to the extra patients anymore than he could sit idly by as that autistic kid fought to tie his shoes.
It didn't matter that the increased patient load nearly bankrupted Destiny's Child.
The story continues that, with Forrest at the helm, Destiny's Child picked up the clothing and medical cost for the new patients. Forrest was said to have financed the entire $100,000 rescue operation. It would be six more months before Medicaid payments kicked in.
"One of the things that I always wanted to do is help people out," Forrest told Black Enterprise magazine in March 2003. "But I didn't want to do something cosmetic. I want to know what I do is going to make a difference in somebody's life."
"I didn't want to do something cosmetic. I want to know what I do is going to make a difference in somebody's life."
-- Vernon Forrest By 2003, Black Enterprise stated that Forrest's altruistic venture had 30 patients and generated just over $1 million in annual revenues that were derived mostly from Medicaid reimbursements.
"Our objective as a whole is to make sure nobody is abused or mistreated, and so we try to do right by the people we have there," Forrest told the magazine.
Forrest was standing out in the ring by then, too. He was 35-0 at the end of 2002 after beating Shane Mosley in back-to-back fights to win and retain the World Boxing Council's welterweight title. He was Ring magazine's Fighter of the Year.
That proved to be Forrest's zenith in the ring. He lost for the first time in 2003, twice to Ricardo Mayorga. After battling his way back to a light middleweight title in 2007, he lost it to a star from the boxing reality show The Contender, Sergio Mora, in 2008. He got the belt back in a rematch.
But ultimately Forrest will not be remembered by what he did as a prizefighter. He'll be recalled for what he did as a fighter for people not as fortunate as he was.
Vernon Forrest didn't just sound like one of the good guys in the sport of boxing. He sounded like one of the good guys in sports, period.
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