This is what happens when you’re too “smart” for your own good. When you don’t listen to the people who just know more about things than you do. When you’re so high off your own seminal supply that you don’t/can’t/won’t see that your actions endanger everyone. When you’re so accustomed to having your voice platformed that sitting the fuck down and shutting the fuck up remains elusive.

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What John knew—and what Ellis and Ice Cube and the rest of the “seat at the table”-ass niggas don’t—is that there’s no negotiating with terrorists. Either they win or you win, but there is no winning together. No symbiosis. No quid pro quo. If you’re not actively attempting to punish them, you are a pawn to them, and you will be discarded the moment they’ve exhausted their use for you. (Unless, of course, you just want to be a terrorist too.)