Marcus Washington I am an angry Black man. Not for traditional, stereotypical reasons. I am angry because if Black blood shed were crude oil, we would be richer than all the kings in Asia combined. Black on Black murder is at an all time high and if we as a people don’t do anything about it we will have reached an all time low.

With all of this fratricidal conflict going on amongst ourselves, we have the nerve to hold sacred a “no snitching” rule in the hood. My question is “what must we do to establish a “no killing” policy that the streets would hold just as sacred as the no snitch policy? Marcus Washington, 35, is one of the latest victims of the mindless murder that haunts us as a people today.

Washington was a Halliburton employee who was only months away from obtaining a masters degree from the University of Houston. He was home from work taking a holiday on July 3rd when it appears someone entered his Northwest Houston apartment and shot him several times.
It was broad daylight outside.

Police have no leads and no arrests have been made.  I  recently  helped organize a candlelight vigil for the Washington family, who put up an additional $20,000 in reward money for information leading to an arrest and/or charge in the murder case.

At the time of this writing, no one has come forward with any substantive information. The Washington family deserves closure and so does the community, but we have been brainwashed into believing that “silence is safety.” Let’s be clear.

I was raised in the hood. I was brought up under the “no snitching” code and followed it to the teeth as a youth. However, maturity demands that we see things more clearly than when we were younger. What do you do when there is a serial rapist living next door to you? What is more important; to adhere to a “no snitching” rule or to protect the virtue of little innocent girls in your community? We must not allow ourselves to be pimped by a rule that is usually broken by the very individuals that scream it the loudest.

What is a snitch? If you and an accomplice decide to rob a bank and he gets caught while you get away, he’ll certainly be questioned by police. When he reveals your identity and turns you over to the authorities in exchange for a lighter sentence, this is what is defined as a “snitch”.
It is usually the guy with the “No Snitching” t-shirt who has already sold somebody out for a lighter sentence. In the case of Marcus Washington, all investigative roads lead to the fact that he was a good guy with no known enemies. His family deserves closure and justice. No one has the right to take a life that they did not create.

Eventually the killers will be brought to justice anyway; through a higher law. But, who else will they victimize in the process? Many of us are fearful of what will happen if we give out information.

We should be fearful of what will happen if we don’t. Any murderer of our people does not deserve the protection of the community. We should’ve adopted the “no killing” rule first, because killers too many killers are hiding behind the “no snitch” rule. Anyone with information about this murder should call Crimestoppers at (713)222-TIPS.