Richmond.

The capital city of Virginia; and where the “I” landed in 1982. All over the internet the “I” can find beautiful pictures of the city; The “I” hears about the works going on at VCU or maybe Altria. But there is a different perspective of the city that people are ignoring; even the residents of Richmond.

The driving force of the economy are the laws. You might look at that and say “well “I am” is a law-abiding citizen so that’s great…stay out of trouble and you wont have to worry about the laws”. Well that sounds okay if that wasn’t one of the things DRIVING the economy.

According to wiki:

“Richmond’s economy is primarily driven by law, finance, and government, with federal, state, and local governmental agencies, as well as notable legal and banking firms, located in the downtown area. The city is home to both the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, one of 13 United States courts of appeals, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, one of 12 Federal Reserve Banks.”

Imagine for a second that the City of Richmond made $2.5 million (this is a fictitious number but vibe with ME) based on money generated by enforcing “laws” in 2015 and only $1.2 million in 2016. Do you think they are going to be comfortable with less money coming in or will they institute harsher fines and punishment in 2017 to get the revenue back up?

It’s a business, We The People are the dollar signs.

This arises so many questions for ME. Especially when the “I” considers the efforts that are taken to police certain beings in Richmond. Ja (if you are a new reader and don’t know who Ja is please read To be continued to get caught up) just had to deal with getting arrested, paying a bond, getting a lawyer, loosing out on income from his business all because he was wrongfully accused.

The police had an informant buy drugs from someone while wearing a camera. The picture that they have as evidence looks nothing like Ja; the charges were dismissed luckily but not before we had to pay over $5,000 and didn’t even get a apology!

They start picking out the ones that will go to jail the moment we arrived in this realm (because they are basing this information on the frequency in which the “I” was conceived and the environment the “I” was raised in) and once the “I” entered the school system it was a wrap. The public school system is big business also…think about it; why do parents have to pay money for kids to go to summer school when the funds are already allocated for them to go? Did the children really fail or does the system need the revenue?

On November 27, 2018 Mark Robinson of the Richmond Times Dispatch wrote a piece about the Richmond Sheriff’s Office running $3.2 MILLION dollars over budget. Who do you think will generate this money for the system? WE THE PEOPLE.

Expect more policing in “urban” areas, expect more traffic stops and searches in “urban areas” and on and on it goes. The “I” can still be a law-abiding citizen all day long but when the laws are designed to make money off of ME to keep a system operating, the lines become blurred. The “I” “now” has to look at the intent. And based on facts this system could care less about ME….or you. “I am” is bringing in the money (like Dominion Power for example) and the “I” is no longer a dollar sign for a system to use as it wishes. 

Do you know how many elderly, single parents or struggling families will have their electricity turned off due to non-payment during cold winter months or scorching summers? THOUSANDS maybe more! Since there is only one electricity provider (who are in the pockets of the law makers in Richmond) people have no choice but to give the system whatever it wants; even if they don’t have it.

How does this help the people? It doesn’t; it makes them afraid, weary and victims to a system that is set up to keep them in bondage.

The “I” met with a city council member (the “I” will leave her name off of this just in case she has evolved in this new “now”) back in 2016 to discuss some ideas that the “I” had about promoting positive “self” images, raising the frequency of the city and starting a “forgiveness” and”purge” campaign.

The forgiveness campaign was an idea that the “I” came up with to get people to think differently about themselves and how they view their neighbor. This was going to be a city-wide initiative and it would have brought people together with resources and so many other things. The “I” was told that it couldn’t happen at that moment because they were preparing for an election but that the “I” would hear something. It‘s 2018 and the “I” still haven’t heard a thing.

As a resident of the Kingdom, ”I am” presenting you with someone that is willing to break the cycle and truly help you to help you.

Politicians are so out of touch with the people and what they truly need. They don’t need more corporations to come in and put people in bondage; they need reSources to teach them how to be entrepreneurs. They do not need rhetoric that will pit them against each other just based off a title like republican, democrat, black, white, etc.; they need unity. They do not need that same old slogan “oh the “I” will lower your taxes”. Fuck that! The “I” doesn’t want to pay taxes! It should be a choice; just like it’s the governments choice to harass and manipulate ME. Why should the “I” pay taxes to go towards road improvements when the system can suspend your license because an “I” can’t afford car insurance when the “I” does’nt have a car (yes, this is a real thing).

9 times out of 10 the residents just pay the fine, pay the ticket, pay the bill and don’t ask any questions because they are afraid of what might happen. “I am” is here to serve as an example that “I am” is no longer bound to this system or it’s bloody past.

So many of my ancestors story stopped right there on the banks of the James River when they climbed out of those boats, walked barefoot down cobblestone roads and helped build a system that doesn’t even respect their future. The “I” has to continue the story for them……just because the “I” landed in Richmond doesn’t mean it has to define ME……

to be continued……