Crime & Justice

The Barrel, Not The “Crabs,” Is The Problem

I say that the fact that the barrel exists, THAT is the problem.

Published

9 years ago

January 22, 2015

The Barrel, Not The "Crabs," Is The Problem

I recently had a conversation with my friend Abraham. As our conversations usually find themselves, we began talking about the conditions that negatively impact the communities in which we, and those that we service and represent, come from.

At this point, Abraham began an analysis that ultimately lead us to talk about the “exceptions” to the term “crabs in a barrel,” referring to the metaphor that we have all heard at least once in our life.

The analogy refers to a way of thinking where all in the barrel have the ideology, “if I can’t have it, neither can you.”

Many people, when hearing this analogy, think about the negative mentality of the “crabs” in the barrel, however, the reality is that we should all be focusing on the barrel itself.

That is to say that the barrel is a premeditated-environment intentionally designed by systems to enclose the crabs, in turn propagating and perpetuating this false ideology of selfishness and negativity.

Once the focus of attention is shifted to the pre-constructed environment then the real question for all of us is, “how do we overcome this structure?”

However, the first step to solving a problem is to understand that there is a problem.

Many people, even some reading this now, still may not see that we have, throughout history and certainly now, been told a lie to believe that we are each other’s enemy.

Dating back to the Willie Lynch methodology of sowing dissension amongst slaves, thus, causing disunity, we have been fooled to see our differences first, before we see our commonalities.

A clear example of this happens in our neighborhoods. Many of us grow up in the same neighborhood, maybe even the same block, maybe even the same building, yet we will say, “s/he’s from the south side of the block/building,” thus making it impossible to ever form unity because we cannot see first and foremost that we are neighbors/community members that are all negatively impacted by the same conditions.

To provide context, let us look at what history has proven to us regarding what our capabilities are if we unite around our similarities and commonalities.

The civil rights and black power movements were both examples of unity based on commonalities, rather than differences.

Regardless of what your perception is of the success of these movements, it cannot be denied that a shared goal lead to unity and progress, to the point that those who created the systems being fought against became fearful of the possibilities that unity could bring.

Looking back further, dissension amongst people was used to enrich control over them in Nazi Germany, Communist Russia, Era of Colonization, Middle Ages and even Ancient Egypt.

The reality is that the crab in the barrel mentality is a false Trojan-horse that was given to all of us, white, black, blue, green, with the intended goal of sowing dissension.

The real problem is not people in the environment; it is the environmentitself and the conditions that stem from the environment. How can we logically conclude that the people who are economically stifled, products of inadequate schooling systems, insufficient housing, over-policing and criminalization are the problem? No, I say that the fact that those conditions exist, the fact the barrel exists, is the problem.

The exceptions to the rule are people like Oprah, Jay-Z, Russell Simmons, Eminem, and the likes. While it is great to see that they have been able to transcend past the disadvantages that they faced, they should also be more critical of the fact that the conditions they worked hard to come out of are still present. If not done in a clear and consistent manner then we will continue to be misled to believe that a “crab-mentality” is the problem, innately implying that a person has to have their own self-interest before any and all others.

Now, I am not saying that people should completely and totally put aside self-interest in efforts and actions, but what I am saying is that the next time someone makes mention of this mentality, take time to ask them, What about the barrel? Is that not the precursor to the mentality?

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Khalil A. Cumberbatch

Khalil A. Cumberbatch is a nationally recognized formerly incarcerated advocate for criminal justice and deportation policy change.

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Crime & Justice

Exonerated man on a mission to rebuild his life

C.J. Rice, a man who served more than 12 years behind bars for an attempted murder he was falsely convicted of, was officially exonerated on March 18, 2024. He is now on a mission to rebuild his life.

Published

3 days ago

April 16, 2024

Unheard Voices Staff

Charles "CJ" Rice (Photo Source: CNN)

Charles “CJ” Rice was just 17 years old when he was convicted of a crime he did not commit.

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CJ Rice Exonerated

Now 30 year old Rice is using the injustice of the last 13 years to galvanize the life he almost spent behind bars after being exonerated and declared legally innocent of the crime he was convicted of in 2013 on March 18, 2024.

According to the GoFundMe, CJ wants to “embrace this opportunity” and become a paralegal.

With the help of Dream.org, the GoFundMe aims to help CJ start a new life with everything from a place to stay to clothes to wear as he builds a new future.

The CJ Rice case

CJ Rice, formally known Charles J. Rice, was convicted in a September 2011 shooting for attempted murder and sentenced to 30-60 years behind bars in 2013.

According to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, the South Philadelphia shooting left a woman identified as Latrice Johnson, a 6-year-old girl and two others injured.

Johnson called 911 after the shooting and described the suspects as two men running away in hoodies and black sweatpants but couldn’t fully identify them.

Through an initial investigation with victims in the hospital, Rice’s co-defendant, Tyler Linder, was identified as one of the shooters. Detectives interviewed Johnson while she was in the hospital and she identified 17-year-old Rice as one of the shooters running away although she hadn’t seen the teen in a few years. Rice had been friends with Johnson’s son when he was younger, according to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project.

In her description, Johnson said Rice was wearing a hoodie and claimed that she was able to see his full face and long braids poking out the side of the hood. However, Rice’s arrest photo depicted him with shorter cornrows flushed against his head. Despite this, a case against Rice and Linder was built.

According to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, among the evidence was a theory that the shooting was retaliatory, which wasn’t proven. That’s because Rice was shot and injured a few days prior. It’s alleged the suspects ran from the scene, and Rice’s counsel never used his medical records as evidence to help Rice’s case.

Rice’s case received national attention after CNN anchor Jake Tapper began reporting on it. His father, Dr. Theodore Tapper, is Rice’s former doctor and treated his injuries.

Although it was alleged that the shooters ran from the 2011 crime scene, this is something that Dr. Tapper believed Rice just physically couldn’t do at the time.

Officials believed the 2011 shooting involved gang affiliations, leading the DA’s Gun Violence Task Force to begin their investigation to see whether or not Rice could be re-tried for the shooting or to dismiss the charges in full.

This suggestion of motive and the sole faulty eyewitness identification of CJ led to his conviction on four counts for attempted murder.

A free man

Rice’s defense counsel filed a habeas petition to get CJ out of prison and have his conviction overturned.

On March 18, 2024, the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas granted the Commonwealth’s motion to dismiss all charges against Rice, officially making CJ a free man.

Read C.J. Rice’s story

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Crime & Justice

Driver intentionally mowed down couple, killing wife, after calling 911 with ‘threats to shoot a school’

Shaunda Bizzell was killed by a man who drove his car into her and her husband minutes after he called 911 and made threats to bomb a building, police say.

Published

3 weeks ago

March 29, 2024

Unheard Voices Staff

Shaunda Bizzell (PHOTO: SHAUNDA BIZZELL FACEBOOK)

Derek and Shaunda Bizzell were taking an evening stroll in their Chesterfield, Virginia neighborhood Monday night when a crazed man plowed into them.

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The unimaginable for Derek and Shaunda Bizzell

“We walked around the curb. We could see a car coming up the middle of the street like cars always do, and then he got closer to us,” Derek Bizzell told WWBT. “I could see him veer. I screamed her name, and all I heard was the thump.”

The husband wound up under the car, while his wife landed on top. When he grabbed his phone to call 911, he was too shocked to be able to speak, but good samaritans who rushed over to help called in the deadly emergency.

Before hitting the couple, police say the man called 911 with “threats to shoot a school, bomb a building and assault police officers.”

Suspect

The driver, identified as Daniel Anderson, 22, purportedly has a history of mental health issues, according to his father. He “intentionally steered” his 2012 Hyundai toward the innocent couple, police said.

Daniel Anderson (Photo Credit: Chesterfield VA police)

Shaunda Bizzell, 42, a married mom of two adult children, was taken to a nearby hospital but died from her injuries. Her husband was also hurt in the collision but has since been released from the hospital.

“I’m a little banged up, but if I could trade places with my wife, I would,” the heartbroken man said.

It was Shaunda’s first time she’d joined her husband Derek on his regular evening stroll around their neighborhood in Chesterfield, according to WWBT.

Derek Bizzell and Shaunda Bizzell

Derek on losing his wife Shaunda Bizzell

Bizzell said he has not been sleeping or eating, and feeling “just numbness” since losing his beloved wife.

He added that while he has not forgiven the driver, “I do pray for his family because I’m pretty sure they are hurting the same way we are hurting right now,” he said.

Anderson has been charged with murder, malicious wounding, making threats of death or bodily injury and making threats to bomb or damage buildings.

He is being held without bond.

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Crime & Justice

Jam Master Jay’s godson and childhood friend found guilty of murder in 2002 killing of Run-DMC pioneering DJ

Ronald Washington, Jay’s childhood friend, and Karl Jordan Jr., Jay’s godson, were convicted of murder in what prosecutors say was motivated by greed.

Published

2 months ago

February 27, 2024

Unheard Voices Staff

Jam Master Jay in 1985 (Photo Credit: Jeff Pinilla • CC BY 3.0)

Two men were found guilty of murder Tuesday in the 2002 killing of Jam Master Jay, the pioneering DJ of the groundbreaking hip hop trio Run-DMC.

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2 found guilty of Jam Master Jay’s murder

Ronald Washington, Jay’s childhood friend, and Karl Jordan Jr., Jay’s godson, were convicted of murder in what prosecutors say was motivated by greed and a drug deal gone awry.

Pioneer murdered in 2002

Jam Master Jay, born Jason Mizell, was shot and killed at a recording studio in Jamaica, Queens, on October 30, 2002.

Run-DMC

For years, no one was arrested for the slaying, leaving one of the most shocking shootings in music history unsolved.

In August 2020, authorities would finally get a break in the case, unsealing a criminal indictment alleging Washington and Jordan conspired to kill Jam Master Jay in retaliation for a drug dispute.

A third defendant, Jay Bryant, was charged in May 2023 with murder while engaged in narcotics trafficking and firearm-related murder. He has pleaded not guilty and is set to go on trial separately in January 2026.

Witness testimony in Jam Master Jay murder trial

The verdict followed a four-week trial in which jurors heard from several witnesses who recounted the moment the pair killed the legendary DJ inside his 24/7 Studio in Hollis.

A witness, who was at the recording studio that night, testified Washington and Jordan came in armed, and he alleged Jordan shot Jay in the head.

Uriel Rincon was playing the “Madden” football video game with Mizell at the studio when the two were ambushed. He suffered a gunshot wound to his left leg from Jordan, also known as “Little D”.

Rincon, said he had kept the attackers’ identities secret because he was “confused and scared,” reports ABC.

Defense attorneys for the men convicted of murder say Jay Bryant is the real killer

A hat found next to Jam Master Jay’s body contained only Bryant’s DNA, and Bryant was the only defendant seen on a security camera, according to the attorneys.

Washington and Jordan each face between 20 years-to-life behind bars at their sentencing.

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