Speaking with HipHopDX in a recent interview, West Coast emcee Bishop Lamont recalled his personal experience with the 1992 Watts Truce among rivaling Los Angeles gangs and explained why he wants to mobilize a similar energy in cities around the country today.
“I was there in ’91, ’92 when the gang truce happened, and it was a beautiful time in the streets,” he said. “We need that again because what they love to spin in the media right now is, ‘Oh, you’re making a big deal about Eric Garner or Tamir, or whatever, but Black people kill Black people everyday.’ All that shit is fucked up and has to be addressed too but stop trying to make that the cop-out for why it’s okay for them to kill us. Any killing is wrong. My thing is, I wanna get the word out from hood to hood, city to city, let’s start the truce up again. That going from city to city, state to state, can become something nationwide and resonate around the world. Once that stops, all them guns could be aimed in the right direction if it comes to that. I’m not saying, I’m just saying. But we gotta empower ourselves from the streets to these prisons. That would send such a message and an energy.”
“That’s where I’m at, that’s my conversation more than anything is needing that truce again, needing that unity,” he later added. “There’s strength in numbers. We gotta figure it out. We all breathe the same air, we stand under the same Sun. We in this together.”
I’m glad that we have artists that really care about more than fame. I commend Bishop Lamont for speaking out and meaning it. It’s time for us to start supporting artists that are here for a great cause. Bishop Lamont, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Talib Kweli, all of these great minds that want to help make the world a better place. #FreeMyMind
Gotta start somewhere. Systemic issues, especially regarding violence and self loathing has to be dealt with on every level of the social ladder. Hopefully we get this thing moving in the right direction
Yes let’s start pushing this city to city. It’s time for unity.
Yes this is exactly what needs to happen We need to end gangs. its almost 2015 the gang mentality is obsolete. we went from slaves treated as low class citizens to middle class and gangs…. gangs are the cancer to our race. Everyone supporting and joining these gangs need to remember that the world is more important than the fake gang love. we need family love brother and sisterhood. help each other not fight each other. no more red and blue crabs in a bucket. every hood every community needs to call a gang truce. Bloods, Crips, VLs, GDs every single gang. and we need to stop claiming NORTH SOUTH EAST WEST sides of our cities and states. we create imaginary borders. The world is ours. we can’t have this violence continue to weaken us…. I wish I had a bigger platform to express this…. I really want to change the mentality of every gang member. I really want them to wake up. I’m from Indianapolis but people from here claim all different sides of town…. Stop! We must grow out of the streets and into the world. We must change our culture…. It’s embarrassing and humbling, the gang culture in every community in with every race not only Black humans but every type of human being. we are humans not gangsters. a gangster is the creation of the devil.
i hear a lot of talk but the bodies keep piling up
Respect you for this Lamont
On a real tip, there aint no black on black crime. The real issue is white people keeping the black man down. The white man creates an institution where the black man can’t break his shackles.
But times are changing and the wheels of revolution slowly move forward. White America is being flanked by the Blacks and Latinos, the same people they attempt to keep subjugated.
this dude is dope
spits and speaks nothing but the truth
support this mothefucker
It’s not all about the “system” instead of going into default thinking mode…. we need to change the Black homes not the white house. We can’t wait forever for the white people to stop being racist. white people as a whole may never stop being racist. racist white people are the ones that make the system target black people we have to try SOMETHING NEW. The black population has to out smart the racist side of the white population. we already have enough support from the non racist white people to over come. now we have to take the next step and that’s to end gang “wars” and blank on black crime if not end at least admit it has to decrease drastically
lmao nigga fuck a truce we need to get rid of gangs PERIOD