I done turned Brooklyn to Manhattan...

If there is any day that you'll learn, you gon' learn today. Read a Facebook status about a week ago which inspired this blog post. The person suggested that the faces we as Black people identify with (celebrities) are the ones they send to help destroy us. Sort of how the mafia or mob would send your best friend to kill you, so you'll never see it coming. We've been given poison from the enemy in various forms. The most potent is when it comes with a familiar face. Now I'm an avid NY Knick fan so my allegiance basketball-wise has always been a city thing as far as pride, but don't get it twisted I've liked watching the Brooklyn Nets. In fact the only Knick game I went to this year was against their new rival Nets and I've actually attended 2 Nets games this year. Everyone from Brooklyn no matter how long their residency is proud to be from here; sorry it's just the coolest borough. With that sense of pride comes a price unfortunately. Since there was word of the Nets coming to Brooklyn the whole city has been in a frenzy; new rival, a city divided. What some have failed to realize is that the division does not only fall with one being a fanatic of one of the two teams. See we have a new rivalry in this city and our political friends like to call it "class warfare." Other terms such as gentrification have been tossed around, but simply put it's the same old case of the Haves versus the Have-Nots. The most fucked up thing is that it ultimately boils down to a matter of race and location. Us poor (Black and Brown) people in Brooklyn have been sitting on prime real estate since forever with our easy access to the subway which makes our commute to the luxurious Manhattan a hop, skip, and a jump. Manhattan has become a wealthy European's paradise, so the natives can't keep up with the rising prices to live in the borough. Now moving to the Bronx isn't quite ideal well because there's nothing really there besides a zoo and Yankee Stadium (new and old). The city of NY has not really pumped a whole lot of dollars into revamping that borough, so all efforts have to come from the residents which isn't a whole lot. It's not as industrialized as a Manhattan or has a large enough population as a Brooklyn so it's almost a lost cause in the eyes of the powers that be in this city/state. Manhattanites want to be as close to Manhattan without that Manhattan price. Queens doesn't have enough trains/train stations and NOBODY moves to Staten Island. My Beloved Brooklyn has been gifted and cursed with a new-found desire of people wanting to live here. I mean over the years there has been a spike in residency and rent, but after the new stadium it's had a negative effect on the people. They threw native Brooklyn son Jay-Z all over the face of the Nets before they arrived and We as a whole embraced the new team and stadium never mind the steep cost. Local shops were bought out and demolished, even peoples' homes as well. Still didn't matter, it was a morale boost for the borough. Fast forward to Spring 2013, the Nets have an awesome season and Jay-Z bails out on the team for other endeavors and guess who is stuck holding this expensive ass bag? We were blinded by sports and fame and concerts and fancy new train stations and fucking forgot or didn't care to actually check what the average rent is by Madison Square Garden, this stadiums Big Brother. My wife and I have been passive-aggressively looking for a home to buy in Brooklyn and I swear with each Net win the price jumps another 10 thousand fazules. Damn, (y)our local hero Sean Carter came up in here like our good good long time friend and just whacked us mob style. No prints on the gun and we were the only witness, yet at the same time a victim. We let it happen and now look at the rent in Brooklyn. Look at what these homes cost. Brooklynites cant afford to live here anymore. Look what we let happen to my Beloved Brooklyn. We done turned Brooklyn to Manhattan... Yall gon' learn today, tomorrow, next week, next month, hell HOPEFULLY just any fucking day! Check your ingredients people, Peace!