It's Time We Banned Firearms

The lack of U.S. gun laws has created a violence epidemic unlike anywhere else on Earth. This is domestic errorism

- FLAVOR FLAV

“RIGHT, LEFT, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT.” We are marching ourselves into madness, both in the crazy and angry senses of the word. We are caught in an epidemic of gun violence with no sign we can stop or change course.

That's why Chuck D and I created a new Public Enemy song, “March Madness,” a term usually reserved for basketball. To us, March Madness is not about the left or the right or politics—it's about the need to unify, as human beings, to say what is right and what is wrong. Stop putting a price tag on the heads of our children.

This track starts off with a 911 call report about a teacher calling in a school shooting and begging for help.

I fear for my kids when I drop them off at school. Our schools aren't safe and our kids aren't safe. This is because gun protection laws are weak. Guns are falling into the hands of the wrong people. I would know. I went to jail because of guns. I ended up on Rikers Island. So I am speaking from firsthand experience. “No civilian needs to possess semiautomatic weapons.”

Back in the day, guns and drugs were brought into Black communities. It was a time when we were taught that guns and drugs equaled power. We all had guns. There was peer pressure; a gun felt like a necessity to protect yourself from gang wars. This helped create a system of criminals who were forced into legalized slavery.