Rev. Yearwood: Another Victim of Democracy

Rev. Yearwood: Another Victim of Democracy
AMW !.e. Talent: Single Handed
Sept. 15, 2007


On Monday, September 10, the current version of “democracy” in this great country of ours scored another point by breaking the legs of and arresting a voice of peace.

A Congressional hearing on Capitol Hill took place, and one of the attendees was Rev. Lennox Yearwood, the president of the Hip Hop Caucus. According to a televised interview conducted by activist organization Democracy Now!, Rev. Yearwood explained that he was there to report back the results of the hearing to his community. His overarching goal was to make the actions of the government visible to his younger constituents to encourage them to get involved and work within the system, such as registering to vote. He pointed out that many of his younger supporters don’t trust the system to begin with.



YouTube displayed the results of his actions for all to see: he was wrestled to the ground by Capitol Hill police, which resulted in him tearing ligaments in his legs, arrested, and charged with “assaulting an officer.”

The video showed Rev. Yearwood repeatedly asking the police officers who confronted him: “why am I being singled out?” His conduct was not what could be considered by any means of the word “disorderly.” He did not use any form of violence, and he was not showing any form of resistance even when the police repeatedly told him to “stop resisting.” His only resistance came in the form of questioning why the officers were doing this to him to begin with.

I can tell you what he did wrong. He was a familiar face to the police, which he admitted during the aforementioned interview, and known to them as a peace activist. He was wearing a white button that read “I love the people of Iraq.” He is a black man. Let’s put that all together now: a black man known for expressing dissent towards the government. Peaceful tactics or not, that’s still illegal in today’s version of democracy.

Normally, I would feel slightly redundant since this apparently happened almost a week before I’m reporting on it. I just flat out didn’t find out about it until today, Saturday, September 15. I’m a regular viewer of the news, mostly from the networks and newspapers, and I searched on Google for this story. I only found coverage on independent media outlets and people’s blogs. I find it amazing that this injustice didn’t get the widespread coverage that it deserves, but on the other hand, I’m not naïve enough to be surprised.

One thing that I noticed in the video that hasn’t been pointed out in other articles was the arrest of someone else while Rev. Yearwood was on the ground. People started yelling out “Arrest Bush, not the Rev.!” After a few rounds of chants, the camera cut away to a woman in a yellow shirt with a big peace sign being taken away in handcuffs. Though I can’t substantiate it for sure, it looked as though another woman was handcuffed as well.

So folks, this is what democracy looks like. I’m sorry I was unable to bring myself to cover the 50 Cent vs. Kanye West phenomenon (even though I’ve been rooting for Kanye). I just don’t care anymore. There are more important things to worry about. Spread the word, and feel free to leave a comment on this article.

Sources: Democracy Now, Hiphopdx.com, YouTube