Mother seeks justice from Nike and Michael Jordan in her son's murder

[Heeeeers Johnny]

Yeah, because fuck personal accountability, responsibility and any sense of civilized behavior.

We're genuinely fucked beyond any hope if this kind of belief and sub-culture is allowed to be tolerated
and blamed on the 'other guy'.

Mother seeks justice from Nike and Michael Jordan in her son's murder

Mother blames Nike, Michael Jordan for culture that led to son's death as gunmen demanded sneakers

Dazie Williams called her 22-year-old son's cell phone to tell him to be careful picking up high-dollar sneakers at Willowbrook Mall just before Christmas 2012.

The young man and a friend already had navigated the frenzied scene that morning at the mall's Air Jordan release event, bought three pairs of $185 shoes and were headed home.

Just 12 minutes after that call, Dazie Williams' phone rang and a friend said her son was shot and had been in a wreck just blocks away. She went to the scene and tried to get the lifeless body of Joshua Woods out of the car.

"I told him, 'You have to help me help you,' " she told reporters outside a Harris County courtroom on Tuesday. "That's why I'm here fighting for him. I want justice."

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As long ago as May 1990, Sports Illustrated ran a cover story about inner-city teens killing each other over shoes. The phenomenon has continued since then, experts said, centering on Air Jordans, the iconic basketball shoes created for the basketball player in 1984 and released to the public a year later.

"There's some gritty violence that goes down over this stuff," said David J. Friendly, a filmmaker who made a documentary about the shoe subculture. "Particularly in the inner city, these sneakers mean so much more. These kids form their identity around this material possession."

Friendly's 2015 film "Sneakerheadz" highlights Wood's death and the violence surrounding getting the high-dollar shoes before they are even taken out of the box. He estimated that as many as 1,000 deaths a year can be traced to sneakers.

more @ http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Mother-seeks-justice-from-Nike-and-Michael-Jordan-6802244.php

I don't quite buy the "1,000 deaths a year', but regardless if its 1,000/100/1, there's something seriously wrong with
this society when a person is willing to take the life of another over a pair of "kicks", but there's also something
equally wrong when the problem is being blamed on the 'other guy'.

[hobbit709]

1. I wouldn't spend $185 on a pair of shoes to start with.

And I certainly wouldn't hold Nike or Michael Jordan responsible.

[Heeeeers Johnny]

3. Neither would I.

Hell, any time I need a new pair of 'kicks', I think I'm making out okay if I can find a pair
of comfortable summer footwear at Target for less than $40.00.

Then again, in my days, the go to sneakers were PF Flyers or Keds, and you had to search through the bargain bin
for a matching pair.

[Cartoonist]

4. The Gilligan's island rule

You don't sue Gilligan, you sue the millionaire.

[ManiacJoe]

2. The sad part is that there are lawyers who will try to take advantage of her.

[Nye Bevan]

5. I've never spent anything like $185 on a pair of shoes.

But if someone is fortunate enough to be able to afford to buy 3 pairs of such shoes at once, I don't understand how Nike is somehow to blame for this person being murdered for them.

[GGJohn]

12. Trying to hold Nike and Michael Jordan responsible for this murder is like trying to hold the

firearm manufacturers for the criminal misuse of their products.

[Person 2713]

6. A friend of mine got robbed on the street. He didn't have any money on him. The three

men robbing him looked at his shoes and told him to take off his shoes . They left him barefoot and stole his shoes

[madinmaryland]

7. Why the FUCK isn't she sueing the FUCKING NRA and all the fucking ammosexuals????

Oh yeah. The fucking NRA has owns the government.

FUCK THE NRA

[Heeeeers Johnny]

8. Fucking BS.

Reread and refer to my original post

Like it or not, the NRA is no more responsible than Nike or Micheal Jordan for this kind of crap.

Show me one instance, or cite where the NRA, Nike or MJ has said this sort of behavior is acceptable
or endorses any relationship to their message?

Over a pair of fucking sneakers!

It's not the product or messenger... it's the assholes (and their next of kin), that can't accept the fact
that personal responsibility no longer matters when it's more profitable to blame, and go after those
with deeper pockets instead.

Murdering someone over a pair of fucking shoes?

C'mon, who's really at fault here?

[madinmaryland]

15. You just said it....

If there wasn't such easy access to gunz, then this may not have happened.

So yes, easy access to gunz is the issue, thanks to the NRA and the Gun Industry

[GGJohn]

16. And just how do you know that he wouldn't have been stabbed to death for those shoes?

Or beaten to death?
Fact is, it's not about the firearms, it's about the criminal who has no conscious about killing someone for their possessions.

[linuxman]

10. That makes as much sense as what the mother said.

Are you the father?

[GGJohn]

11. ...

7. Why the FUCK isn't she sueing the FUCKING NRA and all the fucking ammosexuals????

And just what do they have to do with this young man's murder?

[NightWatcher]

9. Just going for a "deep pocket" settlement

It's pretty damn pathetic.

[840high]

13. Yes it is. $$$$$

[NightWatcher]

14. Trying to embarrass Nike or Mike