The sequel to the infamous Stop Snitching DVD and its implied message - intended or not - is only part of a larger code of silence, a member of a panel said last night at an East Baltimore church.
To get to the root of a culture in which telling on wrongdoers is discouraged, Tyrone Powers, an education and political activist, told about 75 people at New Life United Methodist Church that drug dealers and murderers should not be singled out, and that there need to be whistleblowers in all walks of life, willing to expose politicians, police officers and clergy.
"In this town, in this nation, nobody tells on anybody else," Powers said. "If we're going to address the `stop snitching' thing, let's get it all out there. Let's not demonize a certain group of people."
Last night's forum was led by the Rev. Heber Brown III, vice president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance.
Carl O. Snowden, director of civil rights for the Maryland attorney general's office, was moderator for a panel discussion that included Lt. Col. Richard Hite, head of community outreach for the Baltimore Police Department; defense attorney A. Dwight Pettit; Farajii Muhammad, host of Listen Up on WEAA-FM 88.9; and Powers, director of the Institute for Criminal Justice, Legal Studies and Public Service based at Anne Arundel Community College.
Rodney Bethea, the video's producer, was scheduled to attend the forum but did not show up. Organizers say they are unsure of the reason. Bethea could not be reached by phone last night.
Organizers held the meeting to foster discussion about police corruption, snitching and witness intimidation.
Focus on sequel
But the impetus for the meeting was the sequel to Stop Snitching, the digital video disc originally released by Bethea three years ago as an underground, profanity-laced ode to street life that became a local political prop and a national emblem of Baltimore's crime problems.
Last month, Bethea announced that he was releasing the sequel, Stop Snitching 2, through his Urly Media Web site. At 54 minutes, it is half as long as the original but features much of the rough-cut montage of street scenes and anti-law enforcement rants.
Bethea has said that his video is for the "urban hip-hop" set familiar with the true definition of a snitch. But the word's meaning was lost in translation, Bethea said, as the original digital video disc - fueled by the appearance of NBA star Carmelo Anthony - gained mainstream attention.
