Why me? It’s a fitting title for a new song and video from rapper Ice Cube.
The centerpiece of the video is the Jamiel Shaw Jr. murder case. It’s a story Beyond90Seconds.com has followed closely.
Shaw was gunned down in March while walking home and speaking to his girlfriend on his cell phone. Police say the accused killer, an illegal immigrant named Pedro Espinoza, didn’t know Shaw.
Shaw’s family believes he was targeted because he was black.
Espinoza had been released from jail only a day before the murder.
At the time of the shooting, Shaw’s mother was serving her country in Iraq.
When the sound of gunfire ripped through the air, Shaw’s father could hear it; not yet realizing the bullets had been aimed at the son he’d spoken to by telephone only minutes earlier.
According to a story published by the Associated Press this afternoon:
The song “Why Me?” speaks out against senseless violence and gun crime devastating communities. Cube says the Shaws are a powerful illustration of the pain that remains after a murder.
Shaw’s parents also appear in the video.
“To drive this home, it was only right to use real family and not use a bunch of actors,” Cube told the AP.
Cube’s video, Why me?, appears below. (Original link for this video that appeared on this post no longer works. Updated with another YouTube source).
(WARNING: Explicit language)
