But a cop is the last thing he wanted any of us to be. He wanted us to be good citizens, and he always wanted us to be respectful of the law, but he never wanted us to be involved in law enforcement in any capacity. I had a friend named Jasper, and his dad was a police officer, too. When we were in elementary school, his dad got killed. That had a lot to do with my dad leaving the force. By then, he had gotten up to about three, four children. I think the job just seemed too dangerous, and he didn't want to risk not being there for his children, so he made the sacrifice to goin another direction.

Thankfully, my dad got out before the drug war started. Reagan mandated it; Oliver North helped bring the dope in; and Gary Webb is dead for exposing these truths. That was the turn in policing: police became solider-like operators and pushers of this false drug war. It's part of a tradition of encounters between black men and police in this country, from the time where you were trying to run away from a slave trader through the '60s, where cops were just knocking your head in during protests. Everywhere you go, you are objects of scorn to the police. And it ain't even just the cops' fault; it's federally mandated with the bullshit drug war, and it's sold to you through media. We're still hopelessly caught up in this circle of hype, lies, and the mythology of black men being monsters. So now police are policing that image rather than policing the community itself and interacting with people on a human level.

As an American citizen, I'm guaranteed rights by the Bill of Rights and the United States Constitution. You can't decide when you'll give me these rights; you can't split hairs over who deserves the rights. If the government isn't properly adhering to the guidelines of our United States Constitution, then the will of the people should make the government fall in line. The will of the people should have the government fearful.

That's something my dad has been telling me my whole life: you would be insane not to own a gun. I'm a member of the National Rifle Association and a proponent of the Second Amendment. Now, is the NRA headed by some kooky-ass, crazy, bigoted, maybe even racist people? Abso-fucking-lutely. But name any other U.S. institution that isn't. If you look at federal guidelines about the drug war—overtly racist for over 30 years. If you look at the hospitalization and proper cancer care for black women in the medical field in Atlanta, black women get far worse treatment than their white counterparts. There is racism everywhere in this country. I'm not going to let that stop me from fighting for my constitutional rights. If my constitutional rights are honored, I don't give a fuck what you think of me.