The petition started because of this:

For anyone with an ounce of humanity, that video is hard to watch. Listening to that girl screaming, “Wait! Wait! Wait!” as Lil Reese pummels her head with his shoe has brought shock, tears and outrage. So a woman named Sasha Johnson started a petition on Change.org to boycott Def Jam records for its support of the woman-beating cretin. About two or three days ago, news of a boycott was reported on Global Grind, with the author advising against such a petition, stating that we should “show love” to this “man” who pushed his way into a woman’s house and beat her while his friends laughed and took video of the event with their camera phones.

He is clearly a product of his environment, an environment that exists in our country. The South Side of Chicago, like many inner cities, has nothing for these kids to productively do with their time. There are barely any afterschool programs and more often than not, they are living in a single-parent home, with a working guardian who likely does not have the time to constantly shield their children from the drugs and gangs right outside of their front door.

Is it so surprising that kids like Lil Reese could care less about life, or the consequences of their actions when the world seems to not care about them?

Take note that the author is more concerned with Lil Reese’s history, his needs, his struggles. She (yes the author was a woman!!) did not once mention what the victim’s history, needs and struggles might have been, and you know why? Because she just didn’t give a shit, that’s why.

In the story, one man mocked Sasha Johnson and the low number of signatures on the Change.org petition.

This pissed me off. I made a decision to use my social influence to bring up those numbers, and I set to Twitter (15,000+ followers), our fan page (almost 8,000 fans) and my friends list (over 4,000). Of course my efforts were not without it’s detractors…

Wait. My bad…boZ*o is right. Lil Reese did apologize…

Silly me.

Of course, I was called out of my name and called ugly, the DBR standby insult for black women who don’t tow the line…

So this “ugly Twitter ranting bitch” got busy last night and the petition when from 250 signatures to 502 and counting. That my friends, is the power of social networking and using your influence to effect change.

You know what’s funny? I have seen a thing written about this from the Crunk Feminist Collective or Madame Noire. I wonder why. I’ll let you speculate on the reasoning for that. I mean, it seems like a pretty straight-forward case of domestic abuse where there is absolutely no gray area, yet the activists are mum. Hmmmm….

To everyone who is reading this post, let’s show these arrogant a-holes what we can do when we unite for a cause we believe in. No one else is standing up for black women, so it might as well be us. Shout out to Andreas Hale, The former editor of HipHopSite.com, HipHopDX.com and BET.com and current Founder & Editor-In-Chief of TheWellVersed, and Clutch magazine for disavowing this behavior, which other media outlets chose to focus on Lil Reese’s half-assed non-apology, if they covered it at all.

But 500 signatures isn’t enough for Def Jam records to feel the pinch. We need more. So if you haven’t yet signed this petition, do it now. It just takes a second, and it’s the easiest form of activism you’ll ever do.

Now some will say that a little petition isn’t enough. They’re right, but it’s a start. Evil prevails when good men (and women) do nothing. So sign the petition. Share this post. DO SOMETHING.