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

Paramedic involved in Elijah McClain’s death sentenced to probation, work release and community service

Jeremy Cooper, a former paramedic who injected Elijah McClain with a fatal dose of ketamine, has been sentenced to probation and community service.

Published

4 days ago

April 28, 2024

Unheard Voices

Jeremy Cooper paramedic and Elijah McClain

Elijah McClain and Jeremy Cooper (CBS News)

Jeremy Cooper, a former paramedic who injected Elijah McClain with a fatal dose of ketamine, has been sentenced to probation and community service.

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Paramedic Jeremy Cooper sentenced

He had faced up to three years in prison but was sentenced to four years probation, 14 months of work release and 100 hours of community service.

Cooper and another paramedic, Peter Cichuniec, were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in December in the death of McClain, 23, who was subdued by police and injected with ketamine on August 24, 2019.

Both paramedics had pleaded not guilty to the felony charges. Cichuniec was sentenced in March to five years in prison, the minimum.

Police stop turns fatal

McClain was walking home in August 2019 when the 23-year-old Black man was confronted by police officers who forcibly restrained him. When Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec arrived, they injected him with ketamine.

He went into cardiac arrest in an ambulance a few minutes later and died three days after that.

The McClain family sued the city of Aurora for Elijah’s wrongful death and received a $15 million settlement.

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Crime & Justice

Honor student killed by stray bullet while visiting Delaware State University

A shooting at Delaware State University has claimed the life of 18-year-old honor student Camay Mitchell De Silva.

Published

6 days ago

April 26, 2024

Unheard Voices Staff

Camay Mitchell De Silva

Camay Mitchell De Silva, of Wilmington, Delaware, was shot and killed Sunday, on the Delaware State University campus.

The 18-year-old was visiting her best friend, a Delaware State student, when the tragic shooting occurred.

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She was an honor student

De Silva was a 2023 graduate of Concord High School who graduated with a 3.0. She spent her first semester of college at Morgan State University in Baltimore but decided she wanted to come home to Delaware.

She then attended Delaware Technical Community College and planned to attend DSU in the fall to pursue a degree in Computer Science, with the goal of working in cybersecurity.

De Silva often hung out on campus with her best friend to get comfortable before attending DSU.

Delaware State shooting

The family said De Silva was visiting that friend at DSU on Saturday, April 20, and attended a party on campus that night. Around 1:40 a.m. on April 21, DSU Police received a report of shots fired on campus. The responding officers found De Silva in a residence hall suffering from a gunshot wound to her upper body. The officers administered aid and then took her to a nearby hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries.

Police say De Silva was not the intended target. Dover Police Department Chief Thomas Johnson Jr. told NBC10 there was a dispute that she was not involved in and she was hit by a stray bullet.

The suspects were seen fleeing the area and no arrests have been made, said authorities.

Dover Police released a statement from De Silva’s family requesting time to grieve and to plan for her celebration of life.

Photo Source: Dover Police Department Facebook)

They also said they pray for and support the DSU community, law enforcement and the local community as they are “forced to manage this tragedy.”

Delaware State shooting investigation

Dover Police are still pursuing leads in the fatal shooting of Camay Mitchell De Silva.

Anyone with information is asked to contact detectives at 302-736-7130 or reach out to Delaware Crime Stoppers at 800-TIP-3333.

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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

2 weeks 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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