Why?

Troy Davis was convicted in 1991 of a homicide that occurred in 1989, where police officer Mark MacPhails was trying to help a man who was being assaulted in a Burger King parking lot.Witnesses pointed out Davis as the shooter, but what I don't understand is how a man can be executed for a homicide when no weapon or DNA was recovered from the scene. The only piece of evidence they have was from a ballistics test showing the same gun that was used in another shooting that Davis was convicted for, was used to shoot MacPhails. But was that really enough evidence to execute Davis? In New York and in other areas, we have many repeat offenders and career criminals, but they're not the ones being sent to die. They just do their time, get put into the system like every other criminal, and then they're free to walk around in society like nothing has happened. No one deserves to die because of a crime they've committed, they should just be punished accordingly. But execution should not be one of the methods of punishment. So why did he die?

A good question is why was he executed if evidence wasn't present. I mean when trying to convict a criminal, or the wrong suspect, you would need evidence to back up your claim to get the jury to rule on your behalf and convict that person. And it is very questionable on why did 7 out of 9 witnesses change part or their whole story. Was it because Troy Davis was actually innocent? This case raises so many questions, and many people have so much doubt and think he was in fact innocent. I've read about this case online and he does have a past criminal record, and I can see that that would be a reason for convicting him but to me it seems like they weren't being fair in this case. I say this because they had no evidence against him. They had no psychical evidence that would point to him as the criminal. They had a ballistics test that said that the gun that was used to shoot the victim matched a gun that he used in another crime that he committed before. But they had no gun! I don't get it, how is someone put to die when there's nothing that would help the prosecutor put this man in jail for a rational reason? Many people were outside a church not far from the prison where Davis was incarcerated in. The Department of Parolees denied him clemency. 4 out 5 of the Parole Board members of retired police officers, along with hundreds of people, and artists like Pill, Killa Mike, and Big Boi came out to show support, and try to protest and stop Troy Davis' execution sentence. After rallies, prayers, petitions and even media help and support, unfortunately after many legal setbacks, Troy Davis was executed in the state of Georgia and pronounced dead at 11:08 on September 21, 2011. I hope this case doesn't set as precedence for future cases, because in the end it might not end well for another possibly innocent inmate.

The Barbie Affect

I don’t understand, I thought music was a form of entertainment? Well, it seems to be more than that. Onika Tanya Minaj, known as Nicky Minaj, has impacted her audience with her confidence and sense of style, along with calling herself a Barbie (to the left). Ever since Minaj became Young Money’s First Lady, the impressionably young crowd (mainly young adolescents) as been influenced by her style, especially African American females. I mean an artist being your role model or your inspiration, that's understandable, but trying to look like him/her? I've seen many pictures online of these young women wearing fake pink wigs, wearing chains that say Barbie on it, and "acting" just like Nick Minaj.



An example would be the picture to the right, which is either a man, or a woman posing just like Nicki Minajs album cover, with a different name. When you see Nicki Minajs videos, you can see that she puts on different acts for her songs. For example, in her video Super Bass, as she sings her chorus, you can see that she does her valley girl impression.  She's the latest female rapper, and shes a symbol of female empowerment. Shouldn't women take that and learn from her instead of just copying her look? Its disappointing.

People pay attention to trends, fashion instead of paying attention to  more valuable things like personality, intelligence and a persons perseverance to achieve what they want in life. Being successful in life is what should matter, not looking like a Barbie. Some people even add "Minaj" to the end of their names?! Be yourself! Its not only Nicki Minaj though, its also rappers like Wiz Khalifa that have influenced youngsters, but not in a way that is positive or useful. I personally don't really like rap music these days because it has nothing to offer. All these tracks by rap artists are about sex with "bad bitches", getting money, drugs, what they own and what they can get. Rap is ignorant and stupid now. 

People should listen to what their mom told them and go to school. Same thing goes with this rapper Wiz  Khalifa. Guys are putting Khalifa at the end of their names for what reason, I don't know. Artist like these have no intentions or purpose to the music they produce. They're just there in the studio bragging about their lifestyle, instead of sending a positive influential message to their audience, especially young people. A message to the people: Be who you are, not what's in style.