"Nadra Enzi aka Cap Black is a contributor to Canada Free Press, a security writer on touchy topics; security advisor/founder of Borrow A Brother volunteer safety escorts for female friends concerned about carjackings robbery and sexual assault. $realbrocap on Cash App."
'Here First!," is my policy motto and mantra as I see unhoused and barely housed people struggle while billions are sent to a proxy war in Eastern Europe with no end in sight.
Drug addiction enabled by bad border policy and broken psyches demand same attention as borders belonging to other countries.
Voices outside my living room window tonight inspired the following addition to ongoing observation:
I'm not from here, and am a safety advocate, so the whole "strangers sitting in my front stairs" thing, especially at night, is concerning despite living in New Orleans since 2009.
Any odd sounds or voices near my home will be inspected, often with me easing the front door open and surprising person(s) on the stairs.
As an urban stakeholder and safety creator who is occasionally paid (lol) to create it, I talk to the targeted (good people who dont bother anyone) about mobilizing to displace bad intentions of those targeting them.
Well adjusted folks shudder at the mere thought of someone targeting them for physical harm and material loss. I advise them to readjust tactics not beliefs regarding those paying them the wrong kind of attention.
Part of what I call my "safety creation theory" involves passing the baton of probable cause to police officers for action.
Black safety in this era of 'blue' (police) defunding makes that baton pass prone to being pushed away or dropped as gale force political winds knock it out of officers' grasp.
Liberal refusal to adequately charge, prosecute and convict career criminals has led to a boom in violent crime, theft and burglaries accompanying a bust in police manpower and motivation to do the job.
For years I've combated policies and unofficial postures making officers and police executives look like they're either too scared or too disinterested to do their jobs.
Be VERY careful this Mardi Gras season of group fights and mass shootings outside or worse--inside Carnival crowded venues.
Negative New Orleans trends in shootings and departing NOPD officers strongly suggest events will play host to unwelcome aggression seen daily in our neighborhoods.
Any sign of drama getting too hot, too fast with too few #protectors and #protection protocols (pat searches and metal detectors, etc) is THE warning sign you should heed to quickly leave!
Some things in Safety are no-brainers or at least should be:
• People shouldn't be attacked because of how they look; who they love; who they loathe; how they vote; whether officials agree with their activism or for any other reason.
Expanding reasons we shouldn't be attacked should easily include and is by no means exhaustive:
I'm not going to editorialize overly long regarding the murder of Migos hip hop group member, Takeoff.
Moments like this always underscore what I call an Urban Apocalypse brothers must fight with same evangelical zeal as we do outside opposition.
A hungry death culture that didn't always exist among us nonetheless roams our community now and inflicts sudden violence that we must mobilize and mentor to displace and, through time, deprogram.
The phrase, "people of color," is White liberal-ese for avoiding addressing Black concerns as a unique category and mushing us into a White liberal-led lump with every other ethnicity as they shape our priorities to fit into their, not our, agenda.
Surprise!, I'm not a "person of color." I'm a person of my own color, my own context and my own community.
I've learned that, so long as they aren't being disrespectful, I can converse with partisans on the Left and Right sides of the political aisle.
When helping crime victims, doing security assignments or appearing on other platforms, I've engaged liberals, conservatives, libertarians, moderates, Black nationalists and everything in-between and beyond.
Please consider:
New Orleans mayor, DA and sheriff are content to produce insecurity while local parish executive committees of both parties are more interested in counting votes and donations than dead or wounded citizens.
Creating our own safety amid such insecurity production enabled at the highest levels means organizing at the lowest common denominators.
The following list is by no means exhaustive: Awareness practice; deciding what, if any, weapons one is comfortable with; making accompanying each other more intentional, reviewing access control of homes and public spaces; investing in or joining mentor organizations and deciding if engaging youth and adults in crisis as an individual mentor is an option.
Just like European pirates of old and African ones now off the coast of Somalia, streets of America are roamed by those I call street pirates, more commonly described as car jackers.
Women I talk to drive on or near 'E' for fear of being attacked while pumping gas. This unsafe situation birthed my Borrow A Brother volunteer safety escorts, specifically in response to street piracy as part of advocacy and security advice.
New Orleans inglorious (and inevitable) milestone as America's murder capital once again, makes several systemic points which can no longer be ignored:
• New Orleans police reform has been an epic failure, so much so that officers no longer feel obligated to answer calls not deemed "important enough" nor even classify rape as sexual assault, among many other outright derelictions of duty.
• New Orleans charter school carpet bagging has not changed behavioral norms given the number of violent juvenile career criminals enrolled in booming businesses disguised as public schools.
Think of Aaron Salter, slain heroic Buffalo mass shooting security officer next time you see a bouncer, armed security officer in a supermarket like he was, or any private professional creating safety.
It's not the old days anymore. The sight of somebody on watch isn't the safety slam dunk it once was and truthfully, ups the ante for that person to be assaulted or worse, first.
Security professionals face sudden violence as a norm, just like popularly considered high risk occupations bounty hunters, law enforcement and increasingly, surprisingly (to some) store clerks, in these trying times.
The following came to mind during today's installments of daily deliberation upon limiting liberalism's role in rampant lack of security in society:
We're under no mandate to issue warnings to violent egotists who may cross our paths.
In fact, I urge not issuing warnings should you encounter such destructive mindsets. Let whatever defense (philosophical or physical) you so choose within comfort zones and the law, come as a total surprise.
I don't sleep much. In a city whose criminals have highest self esteem in America, deep slumber may actually aid and abet these malcontents. Hence, my Power Watches done at night as a safeguard. I call it a Power Watch because we must displace negative Power misused upon innocent people.
My late maternal grandfather was a great Power Watcher who'd loudly rattle bedroom window blinds to let night time talkers outside know someone was watching. Another example of how he used his Power was always wearing a holstered snubnosed .357 revolver when going out after sundown.
I'm not super sleuth Easy Rawling nor Muhammad Ali but am inspired by them and more to stand up for my community.
At my last two consulting contracts the ugly shadow of car break-ins fell over parking lots belonging to the building where I managed security. Not surprisingly, I stationed myself in the lot with the most break-ins and warded off area thieves. The direct approach is often the best one.
Before and after the break-in spree I'd also walk female patrons and staff to their cars since harassment and robbery routinely happened in that area.
I just tweeted: "Real case: Years ago at a bus stop I was a block and a half from a drive by shooting, complete with ricochets!
Had shooters circled back to fire on me and other person, obeying law would hav left me unarmed and in an untenable position.
I'm human enough to deserve Constitutional Carry. -"Cap Black"
Not that I need reminders to oppose this ideology but this picture is the ugly daily sight (and sounds when work crew is here) greeting me after of a year and a half of ignored complaints about city ordinance violations the City of New Orleans refuses to enforce.
This snapshot of liberalism is a warning shot of what America could easily resemble if such intense indifference isn't voted out of office.