Summer of the Gun (Oh Jane) memory for Jane Creba ... Bailey Zaveda ... John O'Keefe ...

[floatingcompassmedia]

i hate toronto

[whinersmusic]

1/3 Hi, KEITH here, just wanted to add to the trail ... my intent in writing and presenting this song is to speak about the victim. I never thought of it as some white dude ranting about a white women who was shot by a black guy - it's not about race - if it were I would have added references to colour in the song.

[dundem187]

@whinersmusic

Unfortunately/ultimately that's what it boils down 2. THAT'S y this particular case garnered so much attention/outrage. Ppl have been shot inside & around the eaton centre b4 but garnered little reaction from the city.

& even though it was not your intention to make it a race issue, it would be hard to ignore the fact that it is.

[whinersmusic]

Well, if people want to make it an issue of race it will be. That continues to avoid the innocence of the victim though. I personally believe anyone murdered that day and in that context would have received as much attention.

The end of the song begs the question: are we in full seasons of the gun? I still ask what are we going to do about using guns to solve issues? Like to hear more thoughts about that here. vs. excuses and diversions. Or maybe Ppl don't care about that as much as I.

[whinersmusic]

2/3 A songwriter note: when I sing the line "he should be in ..." I deliberately left the next word out. Many people may infer the next word would be "jail" but that isn't my intention - to me the word could be "school" or "working" . I wanted the listener to draw their own conclusion. So, it has nothing to do with colour but with the situation itself. Out on bail vs. not being in the position to have been out of bail in the first place.

[whinersmusic]

3/3 The issue for me is - did Jane die in vain? Can we learn from it and stop the gun play? Since I posted the song gun crime continues unabated. I never thought I'd change the world but in our little comment-sphere here, I am certainly surprised at the amount of venom. Perhaps I can issue a challenge to future and past posters of comments: can we agree a "gun play" solution is wrong? Further, can we agree that cultural understanding is something we can all work on? Let me know!

[dundem187]

@whinersmusic

Gunplay solution is wrong? That's not what society teaches. Goverments go 2 war, cops shoot unarmed citizens. Compliance usually comes @ the end of a barrell. I agree with the latter part, but most white people posting stuff about jamaicans NEVER grew up around any or encounter any outside of work/school. Black ppl's assumptions about whites come from a lifetime of daily interraction with them. What r they basing their arguements on? The media?

[dundem187]

Whitempeople are always the most opinionated on subjects they know very little about or they try 2 dissmiss facts as "political correctness" and refer to their oown biases (based mostly on media reports/perceptions) as 'facts".

[GlaBurnzUrHouseAK47]

White racism example right here, how this girls gets all then media attention, given so much resources for investigation when racial minority dont' get shit, when they are mostly the victims.

[CHICKENMAN1313]

One of these MOther Fuckers got accuited today....FUCKEN BULSHIT,FUCKEN BULSHITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT­TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT­TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT.....HE SHOULD BE SENTENCED TO DEATH!!!!!YOU TAKE A LIFE,YOU SHOULD BE EXECUTED....FUCKEN BULSHIT.....DID I MENTION THIS IS BULSHIT........FUCK I;M PISSED TODAY....ALL OF THEM DESERVE JAIL FUCKERS.....SORRY FOR THE LANGUAGE......BASTARD LITTLE GANG FUCKS...YOU'LL ALL GET YOURS SOMEHOW IN THE END....

[bdinator]

I believe posessing a weapon in Canada is illegal... but whose to know who has a weapon? its all the back-street dealers who get the guns and sell them... most gun-related murders came from an illegally bought gun...

[dundem187]

ALL GUNS START OFF LEGAL, stupid. Criminals r not manufacturing their own & i dont believe a 16 yr/old gangbanger has the reasources 2 bring milatary issued weopons frm d US. These 'back-street dealers' r usually legal gun owners. Who else has access to assault rifles/shotguns? & sorry 2 say, but long guns get sawed down & used illegally too. Whose 2 know who has a weopon? That's what the registry is 4. The same 1 conservatives r trying 2 get rid of 4 political reasons & nothing more.

[whinersmusic]

Have you heard about L.O.V.E. - Leave Out Violence - a Canadian not-for-profit trying to counter the cycle of violence? D.O. it! is an entity created in the wake of the deaths of Dylan Ellis and Oliver Martin gunned down in the summer 2008 - D.O. it! created a L.O.V.E. Lockdown event a short time ago to raise money for youth violence prevention programs. This is a positive example of proactive action I would say.

[RICK6132]

i can,t belive how many rude pricks are on here a young girl who,s life was cut very short for no reason at all and all some rude pricks can do is come on here and cry the blues cause all they here is how a very young girl had her life taken the fuckers who took janes life i hope they pay for it for the rest of their life so to all the rude pricks i think you should show jane and her family some respect

[whinersmusic]

I'm posting all comments here be they respectful or rude. What concerns me (as the author) is that many of the comments do show a level of insensitivity toward innocent bystanders who have been murdered as well as an intensity toward each other (black, white, asian, jew etc) ... very discouraging to me!

[hiflynblues]

I am touched.....

It could be my sister, my lover, my friend.

[bettytheb]

I'd just like to comment on the song ... it made me think and my heart goes out to all of those victimized ... thanks

[olddanman]

Hey arykhoon, I think you might protest too much. It's not white or black or asian, it's the trend to settle disputes with a gun or knife. If you don't like a three year life span on a story (memory), what about last week's Bailey Zaveda? Her killer is alledgedly white so, agian, it's not black or white but the crime. While I'm at it ... what about Hou Chong Mao or John O'Keefe or Rachel Alleyne or Ephraim Brown or Chantel Dunn or Livvette Miller or Derek Wah Yan ???? - just to name a few.

[ranchai100]

Bull.The only ones using guns are the blacs.That is the reality.Now that the 1st of the nigger murderers has been convited,Im waiting to see just what happens next.Negro males have no respect for life at all.Instead of actually working for a living they choose to rob,rape and murder the innocent.its bad enough that now the truth is considered taboo as in the case of JSR where the Jew judge ruked that the truth was prejidicial.how is justice to be served if the jury doesnt have the full truth

[JamRockProductions]

haha you are a joke to me. Negro males have no respect for life? I guess that's why Canada has recognized me as a Top 20 Under 20 recipient as well as a national scholar. You really lack the cognitive ability to process the fact that a group of people should not be judged for the actions of those who refuse to abide by the law. by the way, blacks are the only one's using gun's right? I guess Hell's Angels are shooting with nerf pistols and water guns then right? ignorant dumbass.

[Raggamuffin2009]

I work in the social services and I'll let you know that most rape cases are committed by whites mostly incest. SO GET your facts straight.

[arykhoon]

ok look this was tragic 3 FUCKING YEARS AGO....alright FUCK JANE CREBA alright....I am sick of the media blowing events like this out of proportion and making it seem like all the black people deserve what they got. I ain't black....but i know what is ethical and what is just a story for the news to fuck with PUSSY WHITE PEOPLE's emotions. JUST SHUT TEH FUCK UP.....btw i'm asian.

[callingjackie]

I cant believe you have that attitude about it! Painless? Shut up about it? Personal? There's got to be a better way than killing people around a dispute - I suppose because you don't know someone when they get killed it isn't personal!! I don't think anyone should shut up about it least of all people in Toronto.

[arykhoon]

ok welll what happened wasn't personal at least and she died a quick and painless death.....SO PEOPLE IN TORONTO NEED TO SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT THIS SHIT....

[ranchai100]

hey idiot,she suffocated due to the bullet penetrating her neck and Aorta,and suffocation is not quick.Oh and just in case your too simple minded to know what the aorta is,its the throat area.The only reason you dont like the publicity about this crime is because it shows all you minority criminals for what you are.This case is almost a carbon copy of the Vi Vi Leimonis murder in 1994,then as now the black community rallied behind the shooters with dudley laws,a convicted rapist as their leader

[vanityandlove]

i understand ur mad but not all black people are like this so back off

[JamRockProductions]

Ummm know the facts before you talk, first off, your biophysical explanation is off. The aorta is adjacent the the heart muscle in the chest. secondly, a criminal is a criminal, minority or not, and do not generalize us as to say the black community rallies behind those low life scum. Because i know i as well as my cultural peers did not support this, so go rethink your argument douchebag.

[vanityandlove]

you are seriously a fool...how dare u say shit like that