The recent release of Philadelphia Eagle, DeSean Jackson, has left jaws gaping across the Delaware Valley. Jackson was coming off a banner year with career high 82 receptions and 1,332 yards. The young player is as fast as he is graceful. But to Eagles’ bigwigs, none of that mattered. A story broke noting Jackson’s friendships with several members of the notorious Crips gang. After that, he was cut, a classic case of guilt by association. Despite press accounts, gangs have been here in the United States virtually since its beginning. In the 1800s, Irish gangs fought pitched battles between so-called “Nativists” and newly arrived immigrants. Check out the movie “The Gangs of New York.” You want to know what happened to them? They became the core of the NYPD, the New York Police Department. DeSean Jackson was hired to play ball, and this he did outstandingly. They didn’t hire him for his friends nor his homies, neither should he have been fired for them. According to news accounts, he’s been hired by the Redskins for three years — the Redskins — but that’s another story. From Imprisoned Nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
