A movie about the true story of the man in the iconic portrait of “WhippedPeter”, a runaway slave who manages to find his way through the swamps of Louisiana, on a tortuous journey to escape plantation owners that nearly killed him.
EmancipationMovie #BlackMovieSunday
Two photographers/abolitionists arrange Peter’s posture as he sits in a chair. They ask him to turn his scourged back toward the lens, to move his face to the side.
Peter asks, “Why are you doing this?” The photographer reverently responds: “So the world might know what slavery truly looks like.” In a film about the universally historic impact of the image known as “Whipped Peter,” the conversation is historic. And still over 150 years later, we’re still suffering from the horrors of slavery in this country, no one can deny.
Facing Hell In Prison …
HOMOPHOBIA, RACISM & 16-HOUR WORK DAYS
Brittney Griner will face horrific conditions during her time in a Russian prison … with environments that will include homophobia, racism and 16-hour work days.
According to The Nation’s Dave Zirin, prisoners in Mordovia — where Griner was taken to earlier this month — are barely treated like humans.
Bigotry is commonplace, medical care is nearly nonexistent … and, Zirin says, inmates are expected to sew the uniforms for police and guards.
In fact, it’s unclear if Griner will even get a bed that will fit her 6-foot-8 frame.
Musician Nadya Tolokonnikova, a founder of the feminist group Pussy Riot, spent two years in Mordovia following a 2012 arrest, and per Zirin, described the place as hell, where “beatings and torture” are common.

Griner’s camp, however, has insisted the WNBA star is trying to remain brave in the face of it all … saying in a statement following her move to Mordovia earlier this month that “Brittney is doing as well as could be expected.”
“Despite the fact she is alone and now nearing her ninth month in detention separated from her loved ones,” her reps said, “she is trying to stay strong.”

Griner has been detained in Russia since February after she was accused of bringing hashish oil in her luggage to a Moscow airport. In August, she was sentenced to nine years in prison. An appeal of that sentence was denied in October.
U.S. officials, meanwhile, have said they’re actively working to get her out, currently in the process of negotiating a prisoner swap with Russia.
A beautiful evening in deed! Black Women of Faith along with many of our Black Community Partners, presented The AZ Recovery Care Give Thanks Dinner, at United Nations Church with Special Guests of A Better Way Transitional Home Foundation.
We served mighty men who are in the process of recovering from drug and alcohol addictions. Many of these men have lost all but hope!
Our special guest speakers included, Minister Tye Rush, Apostle Timothy Craig, and Dr Larry Witherspoon, whom gave the men a charge to be encouraged in their pursuit of stability.
After much sharing of information, it has come to our understanding that the organizations who focus on caring for the recovering persons, need support in their endeavors. The chance for one being successful in sobriety is increased when their spirituality is engaged in the process. Recovery is not only a personal effort, but a community effort, and the church and leaders, must take its rightful place in our society to assist.
Awards of recognition were presented to our servants for their engagement and leadership within our community.
Special recognition was given to a several of our front line Black owned recovery home owners; A Second Chance Group Homes, Residential Rehab Services, Community Builders, A Path to Resilience, and A Better Way.
A great Thank you to the many ladies of @BlackWomenofFaith, and our men of faith who spent their thanksgiving eve to serve for this purposeful event. I’d also like to give special mention to the United Nations Church, and it’s Pastor for hosting our event in excellence!
🙏🏽AZ RECOVERY CARE HOMES and BLACK COMMUNITY PARTNERS, serve as a network of resources for our Black owned nonprofits and transitional homes families. We are making great strides to network our efforts of care for our community. Our businesses have long standing needs to build and collaborate to find funding and resources available to them. We pray we fill that need. Over the course of the next couple months, we will be sharing information on our growth and success in this process, and endeavor.
AZ Recovery Care Homes Black Women of Faith Black Community Partners BLM TV United Nations Church Glendale Mr. Black Arizona OCCUPi Media & Entertainment Ctyc-tv Network – Connect to Your City, LLC Black Woman in AZ Rights and Wishes of Will and Trust Annual Walkathon Miasia Pasha
Two Yeezy sources say West’s plan for his own small “universe” has been in the works for years, describing it as a self-sustained enterprise that would have its own branded products and services.
In the midst of all the chaosfrom West’s past month, his team filed a slew of trademark applications that would allow West to create his own mini-community — or as West intends to call it, the “Yecosystem.”
West’s plan for his own small “universe” has been in the works for years, two Yeezy sources confirm to Rolling Stone. The sources describe it as a self-sustained enterprise that would have its own branded homes, retail stores that sell Yecosystem-branded food items and beverages. The plan is serious, with arrangements to launch the first campus as early as next month, one source says. Eventually, West hopes to establish these mini-communities across the country, the source says.
West’s vision is on par with Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, another source says, adding that West is adamant on creating something equally as world-changing. “He’s trying to do shit that people couldn’t even conceive of and he’s trying to make it happen,” they explain. “He comes from a good place. It’s definitely his goal that everything that people touch that’s his is a good thing and has a good impact on the world.”
KANYE WEST MIGHT have plans as ambitious as running for president.
In the midst of all the chaosfrom West’s past month, his team filed a slew of trademark applications that would allow West to create his own mini-community — or as West intends to call it, the “Yecosystem.”
West’s plan for his own small “universe” has been in the works for years, two Yeezy sources confirm to Rolling Stone. The sources describe it as a self-sustained enterprise that would have its own branded homes, retail stores that sell Yecosystem-branded food items and beverages. The plan is serious, with arrangements to launch the first campus as early as next month, one source says. Eventually, West hopes to establish these mini-communities across the country, the source says.
West’s vision is on par with Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, another source says, adding that West is adamant on creating something equally as world-changing. “He’s trying to do shit that people couldn’t even conceive of and he’s trying to make it happen,” they explain. “He comes from a good place. It’s definitely his goal that everything that people touch that’s his is a good thing and has a good impact on the world.”
Instead, West said he wanted to build his own company and purchase his own factories, boasting that his new private school, Donda Academy, would “focus on bringing the American economy back, starting with our children.” “We are focusing on engineering for our species — what’s the thing we need the most? Food. [We are] engineering food,” he told CNBC, adding that Donda Academy students would also be learning automotive, software and shelter engineering.
Days after his CNBC appearance, West’s company Mascotte Holdings filed numerous trademark applications that create the framework of a mini-community, trademark attorney Josh Gerben tells Rolling Stone.
“The way these series of trademark applications were filed would very much be how you would file trademark applications to protect this type of idea of building this type of community out,” Gerben explains.
The trademark applications cover branding and typical products, such as clothing items and retail goods. But in a first for West, the CEO of Mascotte, these new filings include a range of beverages; pre-made alcoholic drinks and liquors; raw fruits and vegetables; snacks, candy, and other processed foods.
The filings indicate that West plans to create a variety of services under the Yecosystem umbrella, such as consulting services for nutrition, beauty, interior design and a public relations firm. Yecosystem has filings that would establish a production arm for movie, television, and radio programs, as well as an online media site that features “information on a recording artist in the fields of beauty, fashion, modeling, acting, music, [and] the arts.” The Yecosystem also hopes to create its own “residential buildings and houses.”
There’s also a philanthropic arm associated with the filings, indicating charitable services that include biological cloning, reproductive healthcare, children’s education and supporting members of the United States military.
West’s vision is borne out of a sincere desire to make the world a better place, one Yeezy source explains, such as creating new technology like his Stem Player and offering a new approach to education with Donda Academy. “There’s a saying that he would say, which is like, ‘Yeezy makes life easy,’ they say. “I think his ideal vision is, ‘Let me use where I’ve come from and what I’ve achieved to spread good in the world.’”
Linkage disequilibrium (LD) is a population-based parameter that describes the degree to which an allele of one genetic variant is inherited or correlated with an allele of a nearby genetic variant within a given population (Bush and Moore, 2012).Feb 11, 2020
Tishkoff SA, Dietzsch E, Speed W, Pakstis AJ, Kidd JR, Cheung K, Bonné-Tamir B, Santachiara-Benerecetti AS, Moral P, Krings M. Global patterns of linkage disequilibrium at the CD4 locus and modern human origins. Science. 1996 Mar 8;271(5254):1380-7. doi: 10.1126/science.271.5254.1380. PMID
Not only is Kanye West the richest Black Man in America, but he is also the richest musician in the world.
Kanye Explains his rant…
His portrayed declaration of War against the “Jews”, is just the beginning of a Full Pledge Act of Purposeful Exposure of an Industry built on our backs and from our pain, to expose their true agenda against the Black American People of True Jewish descent.
They should arrest him if they feel that bad, but they don’t…they’d rather exercise their authority and expose their power to socially, and materially execute him.
Defcon 3 means “increase in force readiness above normal readiness” and would be used in situations that may not pose immediate danger but warrant significant alert. Under this warning, the military must be prepared to launch operations within 15 minutes of warning.
6 days ago — “I’m sorry for the families of the people that had nothing to do with the trauma that I have been through,” the rapper said.
What Kanye has said…
1. “Ima use you as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me.”
2. “Jesus is Jew”
3. “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” he wrote.
5. “The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also,”
6. “You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”
7. Planned Parenthood as being created “to control the Jew population.” When I say Jew, I mean the 12 lost tribes of Judah, the blood of Christ, who the people known as the race Black really are.”
8. “I prefer my kids knew Hanukkah than Kwanzaa. At least it will come with some financial engineering,” he said, in a comment that appeared to allude to ideas that Jews are good with money.
10. “Think about us judging each other on how white we could talk would be like, you know, a Jewish person judging another Jewish person on how good they danced or something,”
Indiana’s attorney general, Todd Rokita, tweeted that “Kanye’s message in this instance is fair and accurate, & regardless, he is entitled to his opinion,” adding, “The media will steamroll anyone if they do not kowtow to their way of thinking. According to them, you’re not thinking correctly if you don’t completely agree with them.”
Profoundly sad movie 😢 But what must be received, is that this was the beginning of the #CivilRights movement for our country. Not even 90 days later did Rosa Parks refuse to give up her seat! 🙅🏽♀️
Like @mamietillmobleymemorial knows, our children’s blood need not be in vain. This movie teaches valuable lessons of tragedy, and strategy. ✍🏽 #LettheWorldSee #TillMovie
Special Thank you to the #EmmettTill Family for their blessings, and participation.
Black Women of Faith and BLM TV Network To Sue Multiple Company’s In a Class-Action Lawsuit for Selling Products Hair Straightening Chemicals that Cause are Linked with Uterine Cancer
Katt Mckinney
(Nancy Lipid)
Oct 17
Hair-straightening products may significantly increase the risk of developing uterine cancer among those who use them frequently, a large study published on Monday suggests.
“We estimated that 1.64% of women who never used hair straighteners would go on to develop uterine cancer by the age of 70, but for frequent users, that risk goes up to 4.05%,” study leader Alexandra White of the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Safety (NIEHS) said in a statement.
“However, it is important to put this information into context. Uterine cancer is a relatively rare type of cancer,” she added.
Still, uterine cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer in the United States, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with rates rising, particularly among Black women.
Researchers tracked 33,947 racially diverse women, ages 35 to 74, for an average of nearly 11 years. During that time, 378 women developed uterine cancer.
Call To Action –
Have you worn a straightening perm? If yes, please continue.
Have you experienced any pain in your stomach area?
Have you had a diagnosis or have ever had uterine cancer?
Contact Medical Provider right away for records.
Call BWF LEGAL SERVICES at (702) 683-2521.
Leave a message with your name, age, and diagnosis.
List of Pending Lawsuits
Soft Sheen-Carson, Hawaiian Silky, Beautiful Textures, Gentle Treatment, Affirm, QRS, Crème of Nature, TCB, Designer Essentials, Silk Elements, Just For Me, Africas Best, and more.
Ames Family Rejects Apologies of City of Phoenix Mayor, and Police Chief.
Monday, June 17th, 2019
FAMILY BRUTALIZED AND VIOLATED BY PHOENIX POLICE TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY AT 11:00AM OUTSIDE OF THE MAIN ENTRANCE TO PHOENIX CITY HALL IN RESPONSE TO MAYOR AND POLICE CHIEF’S “MEANINGLESS SHAM APOLOGY AND CONTINUED LACK OF SUBSTANTIVE ACTION” TO FIRE AND DISCIPLINE ALL OFFICERS INVOLVED IN ATTACK THAT OUTRAGED MILLIONS.
“YOU WILL NOT INSULT US,” SAYS KATT MCKINNEY OF BLACK WOMEN OF FAITH.
NEW ALLEGATIONS OF ABUSE RELATED TO THE VIOLENT ENCOUNTER WILL BE REVEALED, AS THE MOTHER INVOLVED RECOUNTS HER BODY SEARCH BY MALE OFFICER AND HIS FAILURE TO CALL FOR OR WAIT FOR A FEMALE OFFICER.
THE FAMILY, THEIR LAWYERS, AND SPOKESMEN WILL ALSO DETAIL THE LIES AND SLANDEROUS DEMONIZATIONS THAT POLICE ATTEMPTED TO PASS OFF AS FACTS TO THE MEDIA IN THE NOW WIDELY CRITICIZED POLICE REPORT.
MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY WILL ALSO OUTLINE PLANS FOR A PROTEST OF THE MAYOR AND POLICE CHIEF’S PLANNED TUESDAY MEETING AND WEDNESDAY’S COUNCIL MEETING. FURY BUILDS.
MASS MARCH BEING PLANNED FOR THURSDAY TO DEMAND OFFICERS INVOLVED IN AMES-HARPER FAMILY ASSAULT BE FIRED IMMEDIATELY…
Phoenix, AZ – As the City of Phoenix continues to reel from national outrage over two damning videos that captured police officers assaulting and abusing an innocent Black Family over an alleged theft of a dollar-store doll, the community is mobilizing for mass action intended to pressure elected officials to take action, including the firing of the officers involved. Outrage grows.
At 11:00AM TODAY, Dravon Ames and his fiancé Iesha Harper will join the Rev. Jarrett Maupin, Katt Mckinney of Black Women of Faith, their lawyers, and community members outside of the main entrance of Phoenix’ City Hall to respond to what the family and the public are describing as, “The meaningless sham apologies and continued lack of substantive action” of the Mayor and Police Chief with respect to their failures to properly discipline, terminate, and reform a citizen abuse-prone police force.
The group will debunk and denounce the police report of this incident. Glaring omissions and altered facts that contradict video tape will be outlined and condemned. Ames and Harper will also speak about failed attempts by police to destroy and assassinate their character.
The family and their representatives will also share, for the first time, Iesha’s gut-wrenching account of her body search by a male police officer who refused to call or wait for a female officer to conduct it. Ms. Harper was not guilty of committing any crime and the officer has not been fired.
Members of the community will also outline protest plans for THURSDAY of THIS WEEK, intended to increase pressure on city leaders to fire all of the officers involved in this incident and adopt the 12 POINT PLAN residents submitted to police. The department has FAILED to implement the community recommendations for policy and procedural reforms for more than half a decade. Community members say the police department is hostile to civil rights and guilty of collusion to violate the Constitutional rights of people of color.
The press conference will also detail plans for protests at the planned TUESDAY meeting organized by the Mayor to try and mislead and manipulate the community with, “More lies and false promises that mean absolutely nothing.”
“There are a lot of new facts, new abuse allegations, and new attacks on this family to unpack,” says Rev. Maupin, “The Family continues to be victimized by Phoenix Police but that will not deter them from their quest for justice and reform. The officers involved must be fired and policies and procedures must be strengthened. There will be a change. We must demand it.”
The Reverend Jarrett Maupin and Katt Mckinney of Black Women of Faith, are releasing a video today of a Black family that has come forward with accusations that Phoenix Police Officers engaged in unlawful acts of brutality and excessive force following a harrowing encounter, just days ago, that ended with no arrests or charges. Luckily, there is footage.
The FIRST, of TWO videos, is being released as of today, see below…
The FIRST video (recorded on May 29th, 2019) shows an officer using abusive and foul language while employing extreme violent force to, unlawfully, detain and restrain the father (Dravon Ames, 22 years old, 5-5, 140lbs).
Another Officer is also seen pointing a loaded and live service weapon at pregnant (5 months fiancé) Aisha Harper, 24, 5-2, 130lbs, and their two small daughters (Island, age 4, and London, age 2.)
On the recording, officers can be seen grabbing and injuring the mother and the youngest child (the little girl suffered an injury to her arm, shoulder, and hand).
Again, no criminal charges were filed and NO ONE was ever arrested and booked, only handcuffed and detained, removed from the scene, nor transported to a jail.
The victims and several eye witnesses reported officers saying such things as:
“I will shoot you in your face in front of your kids.”
“I will shoot you in your fucking face.”
Among other vile and memorable lines…
One of the cops in the video has been identified simply as, “Officer Welch”. Police never signaled nor made any obvious effort to pull the family over. Police waited until the family parked (on a routine trip to the babysitter) to pounce on the unsuspecting and law abiding family. And Police were NOT wearing body cameras!
According to officers, the 4 year old stole a DOLL from a nearby FAMILY DOLLAR.
Officers did recover the DOLL. Neither the store nor the state are pressing any charges.
The parents were never charged with or suspected of being co-conspirators. Despite this, both were handcuffed and harassed for an hour after the assault.
The father was ticketed for having an expired license, though the courts informed his attorney that no ticket was ever processed or turned in by police.
The Reverend Jarrett Maupin says he will release a SECOND and more graphic video, which more closely and clearly shows the identity, actions, words, and fury of the officers involved.
“The second video is worse than the first. These officers are acting like bullies and thugs. They endangered an unborn child and traumatized two toddlers. Shame on them and shame on the department for not suspending them immediately – without pay,” says Maupin, “We want to know, are any of these sickos on the so-called Brady List of known rogue or problem officers? Are any of these cops part of the 75 identified social media racists who kept their jobs? What happens to officers when they are caught on tape violating policies and procedures and how fast does it happen? The culture of wilding within the Phoenix PD is making a mockery of police everywhere.”
As soon as the pregnant mother is healthy enough to endure a press conference, Maupin will bring the entire family forward. He says his team is planning for a Thursday morning press conference outside the main entrance of Phoenix City Hall. “We are planning for Thursday (June 13th, 2019) at 11:00am. We just want to make sure that mother and baby are fit for the gauntlet that is taking on the Phoenix PD,” says the Reverend, “This Family has more footage and more facts to share.”
Jarrett Maupin says the family will sue and is being represented by former Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne. He adds, “The family would like the chief of police to apologize to the children, now. After the second video is released, she will, but it won’t be enough.”
“Give her her baby doll back!” Katt Mckinney demands of #PhoenixPolice
Come out to support the families and victims of the City of Phoenix Policing Crisis, and speak along with them to City Council Members on why this problem in our community must be addressed.
This is a National, International and Humanitarian Crisis that we must SPEAK ON!
#PolicingCrisis
#PHXPOLICINGCRISIS
#NationalPolicingCrisis
#12PointPlan
More Info:
1. Request to Speak
The public may request to address the Council regarding an agenda item by submitting a yellow “Request to Speak” card at the meeting, or may submit a white card to state their support or opposition to an item for the record without speaking. Individuals wishing to speak or submit their position on an item should arrive and submit a card by the beginning of the meeting, before action is taken on the item.
2. Citizen Comments
Citizen Comments are heard for up to 30 minutes (unless extended by the Chair) before adjournment or recess of the formal meeting provided a quorum of the Council is present. Additional time for Citizen Comments may be allowed at the discretion of the presiding officer. ANY member of the public may address the Council to comment on issues of interest or concern to them. Citizen Comments will be televised as part of the formal meeting. Members of the public will be given a maximum of three minutes each to address the Council. In compliance with the Arizona Open Meeting Law, the City Council cannot discuss or take formal action on any matter raised during Citizen Comments.
3. Accommodations
An assistive listening system is available in the City Council Chambers to assist individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. Headset units for this system are available at the front table in the Council Chambers. In addition, with 72 hours advance notification, the City Clerk’s Office will provide sign language interpreting services.
Join us as the COMMUNITY marches and rallies against racism and police brutality after NEW EVIDENCE has come forward proving the Phoenix Police Department is riddled with racist police! (See Latest News Articles Below)
NOW WE HAVE IRREFUTABLE, UNDENIABLE, OUTRAGEOUS PROOF OF ACTIVE RACISTS WITHIN THE PHOENIX POLICE DEPARTMENT!
It is time to shut down the city! SHUT IT DOWN!
Come and show your support for the families and victims of police racism and brutality!
Stand side by side with the families of Michelle Cusseaux, Jacob Harris, Edward Brown, and others as they lead the community on a march and rally through downtown and at police headquarters!
Show up, show out, shut down the streets as we demand the officers involved in this blatant racist and culture of discrimination be FIRED!
We will gather at 620 W. Washington Street (Phx PD HQ) at 7:00pm on THIS FRIDAY! (June 7th)
We will no longer tolerate the abuse, racism, hostility, prejudice, bigotry, and physical / verbal violence openly practiced on our community by Phoenix Police officers!
JOIN THE COMMUNITY and make your voices heard! BRING SIGNS, BRING FRIENDS, BRING YOUR LOUD VOICES AND DEMANDS FOR JUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY as we take bold action to demand the badges of racists!
DETAILS:
Join the families of police brutality and racism victims as we stand up to the EXPOSED culture of racism and violence against BLACK AND LATINO residents within the Phoenix PD!
7:00PM FRIDAY (June 7th)
Outside of
Phoenix Police Headquarters
620 W. Washington Street
Phoenix, AZ 85003
BE PRESENT FOR THE MARCH AND RALLY!
SHOW UP, STAND UP, SPEAK UP!
As we mobilize the masses and shut down the streets of downtown to DEMAND that racist police be immediately FIRED!
Join us as the COMMUNITY marches and rallies against racism and police brutality after NEW EVIDENCE has come forward proving the Phoenix Police Department is riddled with racist police! (See Latest News Articles Below)
NOW WE HAVE IRREFUTABLE, UNDENIABLE, OUTRAGEOUS PROOF OF ACTIVE RACISTS WITHIN THE PHOENIX POLICE DEPARTMENT!
It is time to shut down the city! SHUT IT DOWN!
Come and show your support for the families and victims of police racism and brutality!
Stand side by side with the families of Michelle Cusseaux, Jacob Harris, Edward Brown, and others as they lead the community on a march and rally through downtown and at police headquarters!
Show up, show out, shut down the streets as we demand the officers involved in this blatant racist and culture of discrimination be FIRED!
We will gather at 620 W. Washington Street (Phx PD HQ) at 7:00pm on THIS FRIDAY! (June 7th)
We will no longer tolerate the abuse, racism, hostility, prejudice, bigotry, and physical / verbal violence openly practiced on our community by Phoenix Police officers!
JOIN THE COMMUNITY and make your voices heard! BRING SIGNS, BRING FRIENDS, BRING YOUR LOUD VOICES AND DEMANDS FOR JUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY as we take bold action to demand the badges of racists!
DETAILS:
Join the families of police brutality and racism victims as we stand up to the EXPOSED culture of racism and violence against BLACK AND LATINO residents within the Phoenix PD!
7:00PM FRIDAY (June 7th)
Outside of
Phoenix Police Headquarters
620 W. Washington Street
Phoenix, AZ 85003
BE PRESENT FOR THE MARCH AND RALLY!
SHOW UP, STAND UP, SPEAK UP!
As we mobilize the masses and shut down the streets of downtown to DEMAND that racist police be immediately FIRED!
Memorial Day was started by former slaves on May, 1, 1865, (post Civil war) in Charleston, SC to honor 257 dead Union Soldiers who were buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp? They dug up the bodies working for 2 weeks to give them a proper burial as gratitude for fighting for their freedom. Afterwards a parade of 10,000 people led by 2,800 Black children marched, sang and celebrated.
During the Civil war, Union soldiers, who were prisoners of war being held at the Charleston Race Course, died and were buried in unmarked graves. Together with teachers and missionaries, Black residents of Charleston organized a May Day ceremony in 1865, which was covered by the New York Tribune and other national papers.
The Black freedmen cleaned up and landscaped the burial ground, and built an enclosure and an arch labeled, “Martyrs of the Race Course.”
Nearly ten thousand people, mostly Black freedmen, gathered on May 1 to commemorate the dead soldiers. Involved were 2800 school children newly enrolled in freedmen’s schools, mutual aid societies, Union troops, Black ministers, and white northern missionaries. Most brought flowers to lay on the burial field.
Today the site is used as Hampton Park. Years later, the celebration would come to be called the “First Decoration Day” in the North.
Standing in the United States Capitol today, President Obama reflected on the progress we’ve made since the U.S. abolished slavery in 1865.
On December 6, 1865, the U.S. ratified the 13th Amendment to the Constitution: the abolition of slavery. It was a long overdue step in the long road we continue to walk in our efforts to address and uproot the systemic injustices embedded into our society.
Standing in the United States Capitol today, President Obama reflected on the history of our progress — hard-fought, hard-won, incomplete, but always possible. Watch his remarks here:
As many made clear at the time of its ratification, the 13th Amendment was not a final step, but rather the first step in making real the promise that all men are created equal. Read the letter that Annie Davis, an enslaved woman living in Maryland, wrote to President Lincoln asking if she was free after he had signed the Emancipation Proclamation. He never replied, but the answer was no. It would take an amendment to Maryland’s constitution — and the 13th Amendment — to ensure that she and all enslaved people in the U.S. were free in the eyes of the law.
Emancipation Proclamation
Drafted December 22, 1862 The 13th amendment, which formally abolished slavery in the United States, passed the Senate on April 8, 1864, and the House/Congress on January 31, 1865. The National Consensus of the Proclamation/Bill/Amendment happened after end of Civil War December 6th, 1865. The 13th amendment abolished slavery in the United States and provides that “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”.
Transcript of Emancipation Proclamation (1863)
Read By the President of the United States of America,
September 22, 1862:
A Proclamation.
Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit:
“That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.
“That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States.”
Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days, from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:
Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth[)], and which excepted parts, are for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.
13th Amendment signed by all states on December 5th, 1865
And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.
And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.
And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.
And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh.
By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
Mr. President
On August 25, 1864, Annie Davis, an enslaved woman living in Maryland, wrote this letter to President Lincoln asking if she was free. No reply from President Lincoln has been located, but the answer to her question would have been: “No.”
President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, freeing slaves in states that had seceded from the Union. But it excused slave-holding border states like Maryland that had remained loyal to the Union, as well as parts of the Confederacy already under Northern control. And further the Emancipation Proclamation ultimately depended on a Union military victory.
That means slavery continued to exist in Annie’s Maryland until a rewritten Maryland Constitution freeing slaves came into effect on November 1, 1864. And the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States finally finished the work of freeing the slaves nationwide when ratified after the end of the Civil War on December 6th, 1865—150 years ago this week.
It is my Desire to be free. To go to see my people on the eastern shore. My mistress won’t let me. You will please let me know if we are free. And what I can do. I write to you for advice. Please send me word this week. Or as soon as possible. And oblige.
Annie Davis
“Our freedom is bound up with the freedom of others—regardless of what they look like, or where they come from, or what their last name is, or what faith they practice.” —President Obama
Letter from Annie Davis to President Abraham Lincoln 08/25/1864 RG 094 Old Military and Civil Records Colored Troops Division, Letters Received D-304, 1864 Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780s-1917 00913_2005_001
“Verily, the work does not end with the abolition of slavery, but only begins.” Frederick Douglass
Last week Delpani was hit with a lawsuit by Alan Meyer, a former top scientist for the company. The suit claims that Delpani made a number of disparaging and racist comments about Jewish and black people. Delpani is accused of saying that he “could smell a black person when he entered a room.”
Recent photos posted to the company’s Instagram account are overrun with comments — primarily from black women — urging others to #BoycottRevlon. Their latest photo, posted 2 days ago, received nearly 150 comments. That’s a noticeable spike from images posted before news of the lawsuit broke. Unfortunately for Revlon, the overwhelming majority of those comments are from women vowing not to buy their products.
In a Revlon post featuring an African-American couple, one commenter quips “Can he smell those to from the picture?”
Another writes, “Looking for a new foundation this weekend. Until you remove that CEO you WON’T smell any of my money.”
However it seems as if Revlon is standing by their man. The company said the following in a statement last week:
Revlon’s CEO Lorenzo Delpani
Alan Meyer’s lawsuit is a completely meritless attack by a former employee who is trying to distract from his own failed performance with false, sensational, and offensive allegations. Our Chairman, Ronald Perelman has expressed his unequivocal support for Lorenzo Delpani in the face of these offensive allegations.
Across this country a persistent flurry of unjust police shootings, acts of excessive force, and wanton police violence has and will continue to rob our communities of the lives of our brothers and sisters. We must respond.
Just this year we’ve added Mike Brown – Eric Garner – Michelle Cusseaux – Tamir Rice – Ballentine Mbegbu – Rumain Brisbon and many other names to the ever growing list of victims. Victims, sacrificed to the evil trinity of police brutality, racial profiling, and antiquated policies that instill in law enforcement a seemingly insatiable drive to criminally dehumanize people.
The time for action is at hand. As a result of the latest case of a preventable police related fatality, we are organizing a town hall & march in Phoenix, Arizona to refocus our energies and redouble our efforts for a national push to solve this pandemic of hate defined violence.
Brothers and sisters, all roads lead to Phoenix.
We invite you and your organizations to become actively involved in this campaign to right wrongs and to combat injustice.
Please find below, an outline of the events taking place in Phoenix:
____________________
– December 16th, 2014
The Stop The Killing Organizing Committee will be hosting a training for local and visiting organizers to ensure the effectiveness of our upcoming protests and give an overview of what has and is happening in Phoenix. You are invited. This event is by invitation only.
The meeting will be held at the HISTORIC Tanner Chapel AME Church in downtown Phoenix from 7:00PM to 9:00PM. Doors open at 6:30PM.
Historic Tanner Chapel AME Church
20 S. 8th Street, Phx, AZ 85034
_____________________
– December 20th, 2014
STOP THE KILLING!!!!
MARCH ON PHOENIX
3:00PM
Cesar E. Chavez Plaza
251 W. Washington Street, Phx, AZ 85003
This march is set to descend on downtown Phoenix and will include stops at Phoenix city hall, Phoenix police headquarters, the Maricopa county attorney’s office and will culminate outside of the office of the United States department of justice satellite office.
__________________
– December 22, 2014
STOP THE KILLING !!!
NATIONAL TOWN HALL
(open to the public)
Featuring:
Attorney Malik Zulu Shabazz
President/ Founder
of Black Lawyers for Justice Association
(Keynote Speaker)
Special Guests
Student-Minister Akbar Muhammad
(International Representative of the Nation of Islam)
Bro. Anthony Shaheed – Ferguson, Mo
Tori Russell – Hands Up United
Other special invited guests, members of the clergy, and the elect.
Starts 7:00PM
Historic Tanner Chapel AME Church
20 S. 8th Street, Phx, AZ 85034
Doors Open At 6:00PM
ALL roads lead to Phoenix! We strongly encourage our youth, fraternities/sororities, churches mosques, nonprofits, community organizations, elected and appointed officials, and other groups to attend. We’re stronger together and through our unity we will: STOP THE KILLINGS!
YOU ARE INVITED!
PLANNING MEETING FOR CLERGY, GROUP AND ORGANIZATION LEADERS, AND INTERESTED PROFESSIONALS (SINGERS, DOCTORS, NURSES, BAND MEMBERS, COMPUTER NETWORK SPECIALISTS, ARTISTS, SOCIAL NETWORK SPECIALISTS, PROMOTERS)
REGISTER YOUR GROUP, ORGANIZATION, CHURCH, OR SELF AT: STOPTHEKILLINGSMEDIA@GMAIL.COM
Nat Turner, (born October 2, 1800, Southampton county, Virginia, U.S.—died November 11, 1831, Jerusalem, Virginia)
Nat Turner was a Black American slave who led the only effective, sustained slave rebellion (August 1831) in U.S. history. Spreading terror throughout the white South, his action set off a new wave of oppressive legislation prohibiting the education, movement, and assembly of slaves and stiffened proslavery, antiabolitionist convictions that persisted in that region until the American Civil War (1861–65).
Turner was born the property of a prosperous small-plantation owner in a remote area of Virginia. His mother was an African native who transmitted a passionate hatred of slavery to her son. He learned to read from one of his master’s sons, and he eagerly absorbed intensive religious training. In the early 1820s he was sold to a neighbouring farmer of small means. During the following decade his religious ardour tended to approach fanaticism, and he saw himself called upon by God to lead his people out of bondage. He began to exert a powerful influence on many of the nearby slaves, who called him “the Prophet.”
In 1831, shortly after he had been sold again—this time to a craftsman named Joseph Travis—a sign in the form of an eclipse of the Sun caused Turner to believe that the hour to strike was near. His plan was to capture the armoury at the county seat, Jerusalem, and, having gathered many recruits, to press on to the Dismal Swamp, 30 miles (48 km) to the east, where capture would be difficult. On the night of August 21, together with seven fellow slaves in whom he had put his trust, he launched a campaign of total annihilation, murdering Travis and his family in their sleep and then setting forth on a bloody march toward Jerusalem. In two days and nights about 60 white people were ruthlessly slain. Doomed from the start, Turner’s insurrection was handicapped by lack of discipline among his followers and by the fact that only 75 blacks rallied to his cause. Armed resistance from the local whites and the arrival of the state militia—a total force of 3,000 men—provided the final crushing blow. Only a few miles from the county seat the insurgents were dispersed and either killed or captured, and many innocent slaves were massacred in the hysteria that followed. Turner eluded his pursuers for six weeks but was finally captured, tried, and hanged.
Nat Turner’s rebellion put an end to the white Southern myth that slaves were either contented with their lot or too servile to mount an armed revolt. In Southampton county black people came to measure time from “Nat’s Fray,” or “Old Nat’s War.” For many years in black churches throughout the country, the name Jerusalem referred not only to the Bible but also covertly to the place where the rebel slave had met his death.
As the video below unmistakably shows, Eric Garner was killed by the cops.
His crime? Allegedly selling cigarettes not approved and taxed by the state. Garner was knocked to the ground and a white police officer, Daniel Pantaleo, strangled him to death. The suffocation was exacerbated by the fact Garner suffered from asthma.
With Ferguson fresh in their minds, Police Commissioner William Bratton met with elected officials and clergy members on Staten Island Monday to talk about possible reaction to a grand jury decision (scheduled to be released any day) in the Eric Garner case. NY1’s Amanda Farinacci filed the following report.
Bratton Meets Officials on SI Ahead of Eric Garner Grand Jury Decision
“Staten Island is not Ferguson.” That was the message after a 90-minute meeting in St. George Monday between Police Commissioner William Bratton, community leaders and elected officials.
The agenda, according to Staten Island Borough President James Oddo, was “how we’re going to deal with the emotions coming in this next week.” That’s because a special grand jury could soon announce whether or not it’ll hand up an indictment against police officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of 43-year-old Eric Garner.
Pantaleo is seen on video putting Garner in a chokehold as officers tried to arrest him this summer for illegally selling cigarettes.
Garner’s death happened less than a month before Michael Brown’s, and the case has stirred some of the same strong emotions.
“There certainly will be increased police presence in the area, especially around the vicinity of where they anticipate demonstrations to be taking place, and that is something that I believe the NYPD is taking very seriously,” said Assembly woman Nicole Malliotakis, whose district covers parts of Staten Island and Brooklyn.
A rally for Garner this summer drew thousands of protesters. While some businesses along the march route decided to close their doors that day, the demonstration was largely uneventful.
“The businesses that remained open actually got business, a lot of business, and it was just a peaceful demonstration. We’re expecting the same thing,” said City Councilwoman Debi Rose of Staten Island.
“Here on Staten Island, Eric Garner had a lot of friends, especially in that area, and he’s very, very well missed by a lot of people who’s anxiously waiting the decision,” said Cynthia Davis of the National Action Network. “So I even think maybe some agitators may try to worm their way in and try to cause problems, but we’re just praying and hoping that that doesn’t happen.”
The National Action Network said it isn’t planning a march or protest on Staten Island after a decision is announced. Instead, the group says it plans to march over the Brooklyn Bridge to federal court in Brooklyn.
“We’re praying that federal prosecutors take over the case,” Davis said.
“The tone and tenor that has been set by his mother Gwen and by all of the family is that they do not want to see violence, and we’ve tried to echo that message throughout the city,” said the Rev. Victor Brown of the Mt. Sinai United Christian Church.
On July 17, 2014, in Staten Island, New York, United States, Eric Garner died of neck compression, combined with asphyxia proximate to chest restriction, as a result of a chokehold applied while police officers were arresting him for the suspected sale of untaxed cigarettes.[3][4] Garner previously had been arrested for selling untaxed cigarettes. When a police officer attempted to arrest Garner, he had broken up a fight which brought additional police units to the scene. He was approached by police officer Justin Damico.[5][6] A New York City Police Department officer, Daniel Pantaleo, put Garner on the ground by the use of force, which included the use of aheadlock, backed by video evidence of the event.[1] Garner died some minutes later. NYPD Union leader Patrick Lynch challenged that chokehold claim.[7]
On August 1, 2014, medical examiners concluded that police brutality as the primary causes of Garner’s death and Garner’s heart problems, obesity and asthma as additional factors.[8] As a result of Garner’s death, four EMTs and paramedics who responded to Garner’s death were suspended without pay on July 21, 2014, and officers Justin Damico and Daniel Pantaleo were placed on desk duty, the latter stripped of his service gun and badge.
The event stirred public protestsand rallieswith charges of police brutality and was broadcast nationally over various media networks.
Response to Current Events by the Minister Louis Farrakhan
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 4.
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6.
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 7.
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8.
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
Article 9.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 10.
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
Article 11.
(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.
Article 12.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
Article 13.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
Article 14.
(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 15.
(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
Article 16.
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 17.
(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
Article 18.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Article 20.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21.
(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
Article 22.
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
Article 23.
(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
Article 24.
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 25.
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
Article 26.
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
Article 27.
(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
Article 28.
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
Article 29.
(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 30.
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
A US prisoner who once faced execution has been cleared of doing anything wrong after spending 39 years of his life in prison! Ricky Jackson from Ohio spent almost four decades in captivity until a key witness at his trial admitted this year that he had lied as a boy. (WOW!!!!)
Ricky Jackson
He was jailed alongside two other men over the 1975 murder of a Cleveland, Ohio man called Harold Franks. There was no other evidence linking the prisoner to the murder. Mr Jackson is said to have cried in court as all charges were dropped against him. He is the longest-held US president to be completely exonerated, according to legal group the Ohio Innocence Project.
“The state is conceding the obvious,” Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said, as charges were dropped against Mr Jackson. He is expected to be freed on Friday November 21st, 2014.
The men jailed alongside Mr Jackson have also asked for a retrial, though their petitions have not yet received a response. Authorities were said to be within 20 days of starting the execution of the men until Ohio ruled the death penalty unconstitutional. Execution has since been reinstated as a punishment in the state, with those found guilty suffering a lethal injection.
SUPERHUMAN – being above the human :divine: exceeding normal human power, size, or capability : having such power, size, or capability magical, miraculous, phenomenal, preternatural,supernatural, supernormal, transcendent, transcendental, uncanny, unearthly.
In the first test– researchers Kelly Marie Hoffman and Sophie Trawalter, of the University of Virginia, and Adam Waytz, of Northwestern University, performed Implicit Association Tests. White participants were asked to associate certain words to images of a person. It was found that white people were more likely to link words commonly associated with the supernatural, (ghost, paranormal, spirit, wizard, supernatural, magic, mystical), to pictures of black people, and more likely to link “human words,” (person, individual, humanity, people, civilian, mankind, citizen), to pictures of white people, New York Magazine reported. These results remained consistent, even as researchers varied the experiments in order to rule out the possibility of bias.
In the second test — to account for the possibility that the bias in test one occurred in part because of White-Human associations as opposed to Black-Superhuman associations — the researchers used categorization tasks, again asking participants to quickly associate a word with an image, this time with more groupings, (Black/Human, Black/Superhuman, Black/Subhuman, White/Human, White/Superhuman, White/Subhuman), and asking participants to quickly sort words as belonging to a category based on the image of a face flashed on the screen. They found the same bias present as in study one.
The third test — was a bit more specific. In it, the participants were shown images of both a white person and a black person and were asked to choose which person they believed possessed a series of supernatural abilities. The questions included:
1. Which person is more likely to have superhuman skin that is thick enough that it can withstand the pain of burning hot coals?
2. Which person is more capable of using their supernatural powers to suppress hunger and thirst? 3. Which person is more capable of using supernatural powers to read a person’s mind by touching the person’s head? 4. Which person is more capable of surviving a fall from an airplane without breaking a bone through the use of supernatural powers? 5. Which personal has supernatural quickness that makes them capable of running faster than a fighter jet? 6. Which person has supernatural strength that makes them capable of lifting up a tank?
White people chose an image of a black person an overwhelming 63.5 % of the time for everything except for the abilities to survive a plane crash and read minds.
The final study — “specifically shows superhumanization of blacks predicts denial of pain to Black versus White targets.” The results suggest superhumanization of black individuals may contribute to the undertreatment of pain for black patients because they’re viewed as being able to endure more. (Which supports earlier research from the same authors that showed nurses of any race see black patients as less sensitive to pain than white patients.)
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The authors assert superhumanization may also explain white tolerance for police brutality against black people. The authors of the study suggest that “perhaps people assume that blacks possess extra (superhuman) strength that enables them to endure violence more easily than other humans.” The authors say their results “might also explain why people consider Black juveniles to be more ‘adult’ than White juveniles when judging culpability.”
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How is this bias reflected in American culture? Sportscasters discussing fast-twitch muscle fiber, stereotypes about genitalia, and phrases like “black don’t crack” are common.
The Boston Globe pointed out a Los Angeles Times op-ed from 2007 calling out the elevation of Barack Obama as a savior figure by some who had outsized expectations of his ability to single-handedly effect change.
The paper cites Director Spike Lee’s famous criticism of the way black characters are portrayed in Hollywood films like The Green Mile or The Legend of Bagger Vance: “These films all have these magical, mystical Negroes who show up as some sort of spirit or angel, but only to benefit the white characters.”
The phenomenon has received virtually no empirical attention thus far, according to the authors, though the studies “demonstrate this phenomenon at an explicit level,” showing that “whites preferentially attribute superhuman capacities to blacks versus whites.”
And while imbuing a group of people with superhuman abilities might seem like a complimentary thing on the surface, the study contends this bias leads to dehumanization on the personal and political level.
Work with us!!! We challenge you to stand up with your people to do something! To donate money for busses to get ppl from around the country there…not to riot, but to organize!! Contact me if u up to it got time for it care about it! DO YOU REALLY HAVE THE PROPER MINDSET TO LEAD AND HELP YOUR PEOPLE???? CALL ME IF YOU DO!
The Ferguson Protester community is home to many voices and experiences. Informed by many voices, this letter serves as a statement of purpose for those who may not yet understand the movement in #Ferguson or why protests still continue, 102 days later.
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Originally published October 17:
In Ferguson, police met our protesting of police brutality with the disgusting irony of greater brutality, the likes of which Americans have rarely seen on our own soil. In this American town, officers tapped their batons, pointed guns in our faces, kneed our women’s heads, threw our pregnant mothers to the ground, jailed our peaceful clergy and academics, and tear gassed our children.
We are living an American Horror Story.
But it is significantly past time for the story to end. Never to be told again.
The onus to close this book falls directly on our leadership. Our elected leaders bear direct responsibility to ensure the safety of every one of its citizens at the hands of its agents, and to capture justice for every life taken. In this, the land of the free, you are responsible for securing and preserving that freedom for all of your citizens, irrespective of — or perhaps, especially because of — our skin. In a story in which we have been overwhelmingly targeted, unduly struck down by threat of our blackness, we require explicit attention, protection and value. We require freedom, and will hold everyone accountable to preserving our inalienable right.
We will no longer live this American Horror Story.
Nonviolent direct action is a necessary, vital, and wholly American tool in forcing meaningful, permanent, transformative action from our leaders and fellow citizens.
Today, the 70th day of this nightmare, some may wonder why we have yet to stop – to stop chanting, stop marching, stop occupying. But we have not yet found peace because we do not yet know justice. Therefore we, together with our allies, will continue to occupy the streets and the American consciousness until the book is closed.
Even in facing this terror, we have not met those who mean us harm with the same. Even in the face of this terror, we will continue to force the readers and writers of this, a most American of horror stories, to face the blackness that they fear, the blackness they have spent this entire story trying to erase, trying to soften, trying to co-opt, trying to escape. We will no longer allow you to escape this story and pretend that the epidemic of black lives dying by white hands is merely a figment of an active Black imagination. You must come face to face with the horror that we live daily. You must come to know and profess the truth of this story, and be determined to end it.
We are not concerned if this inconveniences you. Dead children are more than an inconvenience.
We are not concerned if this disturbs your comfort. Freedom outweighs that privilege.
We are not concerned if this upsets order. Your calm is built on our terror.
We are not concerned if this disrupts normalcy. We will disrupt life until we can live.
This is an American Horror Story. Together, we are writing the final chapter.
Michele Roberts – Executive Director of NBA -First Black and First Woman to Head Any Major Professional Sports Union in North America.
When it comes to our players having caps on salary, and the revenue generated has none, Roberts states, “It’s incredibly un-American. My DNA is offended by it.”
Michele Roberts, the NBA players’ union executive director, on Wednesday questioned several of the principles that for decades have governed owner-player relations in the league, objecting to the concept of a salary cap while making clear she’d push for much more than a 50-50 split of basketball-related income.
“Why don’t we have the owners play half the games?” Roberts said, speaking in her Harlem office to ESPN The Magazine. “There would be no money if not for the players.”
“Let’s call it what it is. There. Would. Be. No. Money,” she added, pausing for emphasis. “Thirty more owners can come in, and nothing will change. These guys [the players] go? The game will change. So let’s stop pretending.”
But given the context of a nine-year, $24 billion TV deal set to begin in 2016, and the players’ ability to opt out of the league’s collective bargaining agreement after the 2016-17 season, Roberts’ relatively radical perspective could prove to be just as profound a change.
“I don’t know of any space other than the world of sports where there’s this notion that we will artificially deflate what someone’s able to make, just because,” she said, talking about a salary cap — a collectively bargained policy that, in its current form, has constrained team spending in the NBA since 1984-85. “It’s incredibly un-American. My DNA is offended by it.”
Roberts, a prominent attorney who will finish up her work for the prestigious law firm Skadden, Arps, does not have an extensive background in labor or sports but through work or pleasure is familiar with both. “Her background is in negotiation, it’s in changing minds and it’s in listening ability and all of those skills will be very important to the union,” Ogletree said. “People will have a chance to see a woman who is well-prepared, willing to push for what’s right and has the ability to understand what it means for the long haul.”
All those factors are very important for the NBPA, which has struggled since the 2011 lockout and resulting collective bargaining agreement. Former executive director Billy Hunter was fired during All-Star weekend in 2013 after it was discovered he mismanaged union business, and the union has been without a permanent director since.
She sold the players on two key points: her personal story (growing up in a Bronx project) and her basic vision of a union.
“The players’ vision of the union is that it belongs to them and it should exist to promote, protect and advance their interest and not any other stakeholder or any other person,” Roberts said. “What they wanted in an executive director was someone who understood that and would not consider any deviation from that vision.”
Based in Washington, D.C., Roberts, who will turn 58 in September, has worked at Skadden, Arps for the past three years. She graduated from Wesleyan University in 1977 and California-Berkeley’s law school in 1980.
Roberts was raised in a housing project in the South Bronx. She attended a prep school in the New York City suburbs. She earned her B.A. from Wesleyan University in 1977 and her J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley in 1980. She began her career in 1980 at Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. She served in that role for eight years, rising to the chief of the trial division. She was mentored by attorney Charles Ogletree.[2][3]
Roberts was named executive director of the National Basketball Players Association in July 2014.[1] She succeeded Billy Hunter in the position, who was ousted for incompetence and nepotism. She received 32 of 36 votes.
Interesting question KRS One asked the KKK…Where are the thousands even millions of Klan robes? (It is said that at height of their movement, during the 1920’s, there were over 4 million members). One thing we know for sure is that they are still making and selling them, so we know, for our common sense tells us, they are still being used!
So I ponder a different perspective. Id like to know where are all the members? Im sure many are still alive! I would like to know why one must be anonymous to participate? I would like to know for what reason are the ceremonies kept a secret? If the belief of the organization is so strong, Why hide? If its right for you, surely its right for all. Please help all who don’t know to understand your logic towards the whole world. We must know, as this mindset is dictatory of our survival.
At the end of the 19th century, no book in the history of Western literature had more editions, spin-offs and translations than Robinson Crusoe. What’s interesting is that this book houses the reasoned teaching of the slavery indoctrination.
Given to the Western World (The New World) at it’s inception, with more than 700 such alternative versions, including children’s versions with mainly pictures and no text, accounts of one mans trial and error of protocols (adventure) of domesticating a savage. He depicted that the slave owner would first make the savage fear him and his gun, he would then chain him (for his own protection), then change his name to one he chooses, make him call him master, then tell him who his God was.
The author shows a sharp distinction of savage versus human, and perpetuates that it was his duty to offer humanity to the cannibal. I contend that this book issued America its much needed reasoning’s, quieted the new slave owners consciousness, and justified the actions, of wicked men for many generations. An American Classic? Shameful!
Jesus of Lubeck (Name of first Slave Ship to Grace the America’s.)
What has come to be referred to as “The Good Ship Jesus” was in fact the “Jesus of Lubeck,” a 700-ton ship purchased by King Henry VIII from the Hanseatic League, a merchant alliance between the cities of Hamburg and Lubeck in Germany. Twenty years after its purchase the ship, in disrepair, was lent to Sir John Hawkins by Queen Elizabeth.
Hawkins, a cousin of Sir Francis Drake, was granted permission from Queen Elizabeth for his first voyage in 1562. He was allowed to carry Africans to the Americas “with their own free consent” and he agreed to this condition. Hawkins had a reputation for being a religious man who required his crew to “serve God daily” and to love one another. Sir Francis Drake accompanied Hawkins on this voyage and subsequent others. Drake, was himself, devoutly religious. Services were held on board twice a day.
Off the coast of Africa, near Sierra Leone, Hawkins captured 300-500 slaves, mostly by plundering Portuguese ships, but also through violence and subterfuge promising Africans free land and riches in the new world. He sold most of the slaves in what is now known as the Dominican Republic. He returned home with a profit and ships laden with ivory, hides, and sugar. Thus began the slave trade.
Admiral, Slaver John Hawkins
Admiral John Hawkins is often remembered as one of the greatest men in the early English navy. Along with his cousin and companion Sir Francis Drake, he helped defeat the Spanish Armada and cement England’s role as ruler of the seas. But like most men who fell under the category of “Sea Dogs”, his career was filled with a blood-thirsty ruthlessness far removed from the modern ideas of heroes.
Come on Mississippi! You just now have ratified the 13th Amendment? I found this fact to be quite startling, shocking, and hilarious.
An oversight of document filing from 1995, led to an error that has kept the Law of Slavery unratified in the state of Mississippi. They have inevitability won title as “Last State to Free Their Slaves”, doing so on February 6, 2013!
This discovery was made by an unsuspecting citizen, inspired to learn of his own state ratification date by the movie “Lincoln”.
(This document was historically adopted by the government on January 31, 1865.)
This lady has saved most of humanity from being annihilated by uncureable diseases…
Henrietta Lacks
(August 1, 1920 – October 4th, 1951)
Henrietta Lacks is the source of the immortal cell named “Hela”. Lacks, was an impoverished black woman who died on October 4, 1951 of cervical cancer at just 31 years old. During her cancer treatment, a doctor at Johns Hopkins took a sample of her tumor without her knowledge or consent and sent it over to a colleague of his, Dr. George Gey, who had been trying for 20 years, unsuccessfully, to grow human tissues from cultures. A lab assistant there, Mary Kubicek, discovered that Henrietta’s cells, unlike normal human cells, could live and replicate outside the body.
Her cells, (a very significant contribution to the world), have been essential in many of the great scientific discoveries of our time: curing polio; gene mapping; learning how cells work; developing drugs to treat cancer, herpes, leukemia, influenza, hemophilia, Parkinson’s disease, AIDS … and the list goes on and on (and on). If it deals with the human body and has been studied by scientists, odds are those scientists needed and used Lacks’ cells somewhere along the way. HeLa cells were even sent up to space on an unmanned satellite to determine whether or not human tissue could survive in zero gravity.
Go to just about any cell culture lab in the world and you’ll find billions of HeLa cells stored there. In contrast to normal human cells, which will die after a few replications, Lacks’ cells can live and replicate just fine outside of the human body (which is also unique among humans). Give her cells the nutrients they need to survive, and they will apparently live and replicate along forever, almost 60 years and counting since the first culture was taken. They can be frozen for literally decades and, when thawed, they’ll go right on replicating.
Before her cells were discovered and widely cultured, it was nearly impossible for scientists to reliably experiment on human cells and get meaningful results. Cell cultures that scientists were studying would weaken and die very quickly outside the human body. Lacks’ cells gave scientists, for the first time, a “standard” that they could use to test things on. HeLa cells can survive being shipped in the mail just fine, so scientists across the globe can use the same standard to test against.
Lacks died of uremic poisoning, in the segregated hospital ward for blacks, about 8 months after being diagnosed with cervical cancer, never knowing that her cells would become one of the most vital tools in modern medicine and would spawn a multi-billion dollar industry. She was survived by her husband and five children; the family lived in poverty for most of their lives, and didn’t find out about the fate of Lacks’ incredible cells until years later.
Watch more about the Life and trials on Henrietta Lacks here:
Former decorated government official and officer Christopher Jordan Dorner was killed by federal agents today. Dorner was found in Big Bear, California after a week long massive manhunt. The standoff with Dorner, a former member of the LAPD, reached a violent close in a cabin in the ski area east of Los Angeles. Since Feb. 3, he’s accused of a crime spree that left four people dead, including two officers, and several others wounded in shootings in L.A. and nearby San Bernadino County.
Dorner was accused of blowing whistle on his former training officer, Sgt. Teresa Evans. He stated that Evans had kicked a schizophrenic suspect, Christopher Gettler, during a 2007 arrest. This accusation inadvertently led to his being laid off. He filed an appeal which led to the facts of his case being investigated. This investigation, as issued by the discipline board led to his dismissal as a police officer. Dorner was consistent in his rightful stance, believing his lawyer, Randall Quan (Father of slain victim Monica Quan) did not present the facts properly. He claims to have been a victim of racism, and undue justice. During Dorner’s appeal, the suspect, Gettler testified of his receiving “kick to the face” by officer Evans.
Below you find the testimony of the suspect:
A Manifesto: Defined
The word manifesto traces its roots to the Latin manifestum, which means clear or conspicuous. A manifesto is defined as a declaration of one’s beliefs, opinions, motives, and intentions. It is simply a document that an organization or person writes that declares what is important to them.
A manifesto functions as both a statement of principles and a bold, sometimes rebellious, call to action. By causing people to evaluate the gap between those principles and their current reality, the manifesto challenges assumptions, fosters commitment, and provokes change.
While manifestos are traditionally public declarations, every man can also have a personal manifesto.
A lot of people already have books or documents that are important to them and that sum up their beliefs. For some, it’s a religious text, and for others it’s the Constitution. This is a copy of Chris Dorner’s Manifesto.
“I never lied! Here is my vindication…”
From: Christopher Jordan Dorner /7648 To: America Subj: Last resort Regarding CF# 07-004281
I know most of you who personally know me are in disbelief to hear from media reports that I am suspected of committing such horrendous murders and have taken drastic and shocking actions in the last couple of days. You are saying to yourself that this is completely out of character of the man you knew who always wore a smile wherever he was seen. I know I will be villified by the LAPD and the media. Unfortunately, this is a necessary evil that I do not enjoy but must partake and complete for substantial change to occur within the LAPD and reclaim my name. The department has not changed since the Rampart and Rodney King days. It has gotten worse. The consent decree should never have been lifted. The only thing that has evolved from the consent decree is those officers involved in the Rampart scandal and Rodney King incidents have since promoted to supervisor, commanders, and command staff, and executive positions.
The question is, what would you do to clear your name?
Name;
A word or set of words by which a person, animal, place, or thing is known, addressed, or referred to.
Name Synonyms;
reputation, title, appellation, denomination, repute.
A name is more than just a noun, verb, or adjective. It’s your life, your legacy, your journey, sacrifices, and everything you’ve worked hard for every day of your life as and adolescent, young adult and adult. Don’t let anybody tarnish it when you know you’ve live up to your own set of ethics and personal ethos. In 8/07 I reported an officer (Ofcr. xx xx/now a Sergeant), for kicking a suspect (excessive force) during a Use of Force while I was assigned as a patrol officer at LAPD’s Harbor Division. While cuffing the suspect, (xx xx), xx kicked the suspect twice in the chest and once in the face. The kick to the face left a visible injury on the left cheek below the eye. Unfortunately after reporting it to supervisors and investigated by PSB (xx/xx), nothing was done. I had broken their supposed “Blue Line”. Unfortunately, It’s not JUST US, it’s JUSTICE!!! In fact, 10 months later on 6/25/08, after already successfully completing probation, acquiring a basic Post Certificate, and Intermediate Post Certificate, I was relieved of duty by the LAPD while assigned to patrol at Southwest division. It is clear as day that the department retaliated toward me for reporting xx for kicking Mr. xx xx. The department stated that I had lied and made up the report that xx xx had kicked the suspect. I later went to a Board of Rights (department hearing for decision of continued employment) from 10/08 to 1/09. During this BOR hearing a video was played for the BOR panel where xx xx stated that he was indeed kicked by xx xx (video sent to multiple news agencies). In addition to xx xx stating he was kicked, his father xx xx, also stated that his son had stated he was kicked by an officer when he was arrested after being released from custody. This was all presented for the department at the BOR hearing. They still found me guilty and terminated me. What they didn’t mention was that the BOR panel made up of Capt. xx xx, Capt. xx xx, and xx xx xx had a signigicant problem from the time the board was assembled. Capt. xx xx was a personal friend of xx xx from when he was her supervisor at Harbor station. That is a clear conflict of interest and I made my argument for his removal early and was denied. The advocate for the LAPD BOR was xx xx. xx also had a conflict of interest as she was xx friend and former partner from Harbor division where they both worked patrol together. I made my argument for her removal when I discovered her relation to xx and it was denied.
During the BOR, the department attempted to label me unsuccessfully as a bully. They stated that I had bullied a recruit, xx xx, in the academy when in reality and unfounded disposition from the official 1.28 formal complaint investigation found that I was the one who stood up for xx xx when other recruits sang nazi hitler youth songs about burning Jewish ghettos in WWII Germany where his father was a survivor of a concentration camp. How (expletive) dare you attempt to label me with such a nasty vile word. I ask that all earnest journalist investigating this story ask Ofcr. xx xx about the incident when Ofcr. xx began singing a nazi youth song about burning jewish ghettos.
LAPD Administration Office Los Angeles, California
The internal affairs investigation in the academy involving xx was spurned by a complaint that I had initiated toward two fellow recruit/offifcers. While on a assigned patrol footbeat in Hollywood Division, Officers xx xx xx and xx xx (both current LAPD officers) decided that they would voice their personal feelings about the black community. While traveling back to the station in a 12 passenger van I heard xx refer to another individual as a (expletive). I wasn’t sure if I heard correctly as there were many conversations in the van that was compiled of at least 8 officers and he was sitting in the very rear and me in the very front. Even with the multiple conversations and ambient noise I heard Officer xx call an indivdual a (expletive) again. Now that I had confirmed it, I told xx not to use that word again. I explained that it was a well known offensive word that should not be used by anyone. He replied, “I’ll say it when I want”. Officer xx, a friend of his, also stated that he would say (expletive) when he wanted. At that point I jumped over my front passenger seat and two other officers where I placed my hands around xx’s neck and squeezed. I stated to xx, “Don’t (expetive) say that”. At that point there was pushing and shoving and we were separated by several other officers. What I should have done, was put a Winchester Ranger SXT 9mm 147 grain bullet in his skull and Officer xx’s skull. The Situation would have been resolved effective, immediately. The sad thing about this incident was that when Detective xx from internal affairs investigated this incident only (1) officer (unknown) in the van other than myself had statements constistent with what actually happened. The other six officers (xx xx, xx xx, xx xx, xx xx and names I have forgotten) all stated they heard nothing and saw nothing. Shame on every one of you. Shame on Detective xx (same ethnicity as xx) for creating a separate 1.28 formal complaint against me (xx complaint) in retaliation for initiating the complaint against xx and xx. Don’t retaliate against honest officers for breaking your so called blue line. I hope your son xx xx, who I knew, is a better officer than you, Detective xx.The saddest part of this ordeal was that Officer xx and xx were only given 22 day suspensions and are still LAPD officers to this day. That day, the LAPD stated that it is acceptable for fellow officers to call black officers (expletive) to their face and you will receive a slap on the wrist. Even sadder is that during that 22 day suspension xx and xx received is that the LAPPL (Los Angeles Police Protective League) paid the officers their salaries while they were suspended. When I took a two day suspension for an accidental discharge, I took my suspension and never applied for a league salary. Its called integrity.
Journalist, I want you to investigate every location I resided in growing up. Find any incidents where I was ever accused of being a bully. You won’t, because it doesn’t exist. It’s not in my DNA. Never was. I was the only black kid in each of my elementary school classes from first grade to seventh grade in junior high and any instances where I was disciplined for fighting was in response to fellow students provoking common childhood schoolyard fights, or calling me a (expletive) or other derogatory racial names. I grew up in neighborhoods where blacks make up less than 1%. My first recollection of racism was in the first grade at Norwalk Christian elementary school in Norwalk, CA. A fellow student, Jim Armstrong if I can recall, called me a (expletive) on the playground. My response was swift and non-lethal. I struck him fast and hard with a punch an kick. He cried and reported it to a teacher. The teacher reported it to the principal. The principal swatted xx for using a derogatory word toward me. He then for some unknown reason swatted me for striking xx in response to him calling me a (expletive). He stated as good Christians we are to turn the other cheek as Jesus did. Problem is, I’m not a (expletive) Christian and that old book, made of fiction and limited non-fiction, called the bible, never once stated Jesus was called a (expletive). How dare you swat me for standing up for my rights for demanding that I be treated as a equal human being. That day I made a life decision that i will not tolerate racial derogatory terms spoken to me. Unfortunately I was swatted multiple times for the same exact reason up until junior high. Terminating me for telling the truth of a caucasian officer kicking a mentally ill man is disgusting. Don’t ever call me a (expletive) bully. I want all journalist to utilize every source you have that specializes in collections for your reports. With the discovery and evidence available you will see the truth. Unfortunately, I will not be alive to see my name cleared. That’s what this is about, my name. A man is nothing without his name. Below is a list of locations where I resided from childhood to adulthood.
Cerritos, CA.
Pico Rivera, CA.
La Palma, CA.
Thousand Oaks, CA.
Cedar City, UT.
Pensacola, FL.
Enid, OK.
Yorba Linda, CA.
Las Vegas, NV.
During the BOR an officer named, Sgt. xx, from Los Angeles Port Police testified on behalf of the LAPD. XX stated for the BOR that he arrived at the location of the UOF shortly before I cuffed the suspect. He also stated that he assisted in cuffing the suspect and that’s old the BOR he told me to fix my tie. All of those statements were LIES!!! XX, you arrived at the UOF location up to 30 seconds after I had cuffed Mr. xx. All you did was help me lift the suspect to his feet as it was difficult for me to do by myself because of his heavy weight. You did not tell me to fix my tie as the BOR members and everyone else in the room know you lied because the photographic evidence from the
UOF scene where xx’s injuries were photographed clearly shows me wearing a class B uniform on that day. A class B uniform is a short sleeved uniform blouse. A short sleeved uniform blouse for the LAPD does not have a tie included. This is not Super Troopers uniform, you jackass. Why did you feel the needto embellish and lie about your involvement in the UOF? Are you ashamed that you could not get hired on by any other department other than port police? Do you have delusions of grandeur? What you did was perjury, exactly what xx did when she stated she did not kick xx xx.
What they failed to mention in the BOR was xx xx own use of force history during her career on the LAPD. She has admitted that she has a lengthy use of force record and has been flagged several times by risk management. She has a very well known nickname, xx, which she was very proud to flaunt around the division. She found it very funny and entertaining to draw blood from suspects and arrestees. At one point she even intentionally ripped the flesh off the arm of a woman we had arrested for battery (sprayed her neighbor with a garden water hose). Knowing the woman had thin elastic skin, she performed and Indian burn to the woman’s arm after cuffing her. That woman was in her mid-70’s, a mother and grandmother, and was angry at her tenants who failed to pay rent on time. Something I can completely understand and I am sure many have wanted to do toward tenants who do not pay their rent. XX XX was also demoted from a senior lead officer rank/position for performance issues. During my two months of working patrol with xx xx, I found her as a woman who was very angry that she had been pulled from patrol for a short time because of a domestic violence report made by Long Beach Police Department because of an incident involving her active LAPD officer boyfriend, xx xx, and herself. XX XX is the same officer investigated for witness tampering. She also was visibly angry on a daily basis that she was going to have to file for bankruptcy because her ex-husband, a former LAPD officer and not xx xx, who had left the department, state, and was nowhere to be found had left her with a tax bill and debt that she was unable to pay because of a lack of financial means. XX, you are a POS and you lied right to the BOR panel when xx xx asked you if you kicked xx xx. You destroyed my life and name because of your actions. Time is up. The time is now to confess to Chief xx.
This Coin As Shot by Christopher Dorner, and sent to Anderson Cooper was used as symbolizing an attack upon the LAPD. Coining is a tradition amongst high ranking officials. Military leadership has long recognized the power of coins as symbols to lead and motivate the soldiers who serve them. Most every high-ranking U.S. military official today obtains custom minted coins to present to troops at their discretion as a leadership tool. (http://custom.nwtmint.com/landing_MSC.php)
I ask that all journalist investigating this story submit request for FOIA with the LAPD to gain access to the BOR transcripts which occurred from 10/08 to 2/09. There, you will see that a video was played for the BOR members of Mr. xx xx who suffers from Schizophrenia and Dementia stating that he was kicked by a female officer. That video evidence supports my claim that xx kicked him twice in the upper body and once in the face. I would like all journalist to also request copies of all reports that I had written while employed by LAPD. Whether in the academy, or during my 3 years as a police officer. There are DR#’s attached to each report (investigative report) that I have ever written so they all exist. A FOIA request will most likely be needed to access these at Parker center or at the Personnel/Records. Judge my writin/grammar skills for yourself. The department attempted to paint me as an officer who could not write reports. Even though Sgt. xx xx a training officer who trained me stated for the BOR panel that there was nothing wrong with my report writing and that I was better than all rookie/probationer officers he has ever trained. Officer xx xx stated the same but refused to testify as he did not want to “get involved” with the BOR’s. Contact Sgt. xx xx ,(now a Captain at Lompoc PD), Sgt. xx xx, and Sgt. xx xx. All will state that my report writing was impeccable. I will tell you this, I always type my reports because I have messy handwriting/penmanship. I never had a single kickback/redlined report at Southwest division and Sgt. xx and Sgt. xx can testify to that. I never received an UNSATISFACTORY on any day or week. The same can be said within the U.S. Naval Reserves. All commanders will state that my report writing was always clear, concise, and impeccable. Even search my AAR (after action reports),chits, Memorandum’s, IIR’s (Intelligence Information Reports) which were written in the Navy. All were pristine.
I had worked patrol at LAPD’s Harbor Division from 2/06 until 7/06 when I was involuntarily recalled back to active duty (US Navy) for a 12 month mobilization/deployment to Centcom in support of OIF/OEF. I returned back to LAPD’s Harbor division on 7/07 and immediately returned to patrol. I worked at Harbor division until 11/07 where I then transferred to Southwest Division. I worked At Southwest division until 6/25/08 when I was relieved of duty. I have exhausted all available means at obtaining my name back. I have attempted all legal court efforts within appeals at the Superior Courts and California Appellate courts. This is my last resort. The LAPD has suppressed the truth and it has now lead to deadly consequences. The LAPD’s actions have cost me my law enforcement career that began on 2/7/05 and ended on 1/2/09. They cost me my Naval career which started on 4/02 and ends on 2/13. I had a TS/SCI clearance(Top Secret Sensitive Compartmentalized Information clearance) up until shortly after my termination with LAPD. This is the highest clearance a service member can attain other than a Yankee White TS/SCI which is only granted for those working with and around the President/Vice President of the United States. I lost my position as a Commanding Officer of a Naval Security Forces reserve unit at NAS Fallon because of the LAPD. I’ve lost a relationship with my mother and sister because of the LAPD. I’ve lost a relationship with close friends because of the LAPD. In essence, I’ve lost everything because the LAPD took my name and new I was INNOCENT!!! Capt xx xx, xx xx, xx, xx xx, and Sgt. xxn all new I was innocent but decided to terminate me so they could continue Ofcr. xx xx career. I know about the meeting between all of you where xx attorney, xx, confessed that she kicked xx xx (excessive force). Your day has come. I’m not an aspiring rapper, I’m not a gang member, I’m not a dope dealer, I don’t have multiple babies momma’s. I am an American by choice, I am a son, I am a brother, I am a military service member, I am a man who has lost complete faith in the system, when the system betrayed, slandered, and libeled me. I lived a good life and though not a religious man I always stuck to my own personal code of ethics, ethos and always stuck to my shoreline and true North. I didn’t need the US Navy to instill Honor, Courage, and Commitment in me but I thank them for re-enforcing it. It’s in my DNA.
Package sent to Anderson Cooper on February 1, 2013. A DVD with a message, and bulleted coin.
Luckily I don’t have to live everyday like most of you. Concerned if the misconduct you were apart of is going to be discovered. Looking over your shoulder, scurrying at every phone call from internal affairs or from the Captains office wondering if that is the day PSB comes after you for the suspects you struck when they were cuffed months/years ago or that $500 you pocketed from the narcotics dealer, or when the other guys on your watch beat a transient nearly to death and you never reported the UOF to the supervisor. No, I don’t have that concern, I stood up for what was right but unfortunately have dealt with the reprocussions of doing the right thing and now losing my name and everything I ever stood for. You (expletive) knew xx was guilty of kicking (excessive force) xx and you did nothing but get rid of what you saw as the problem, the whistleblower. XXr himself stated on video tape ( provided for the BOR and in transcripts) he was kicked and even his father stated that his son said he was kicked by xx when he was released from custody. The video was played for the entire BOR to hear. Tingirides, Eisenberg, and Martella all heard it. You’re going to see what a whistleblower can do when you take everything from him especially his NAME!!!
Look what you did to xx xx (now lieutenant) when he exposed the truth of your lying, racism, and PSB cover-ups to frame and convict an innocent man. You can not police yourselves and the consent decree was unsuccessful. Sgt. xx, I met you on the range several times as a recruit and as an officer. You’re a good man and I saw it in your eyes an actions.
Self Preservation is no longer important to me. I do not fear death as I died long ago on 1/2/09. I was told by my mother that sometimes bad things happen to good people. I refuse to accept that.
From 2/05 to 1/09 I saw some of the most vile things humans can inflict on others as a police officer in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in the streets of LA. It was in the confounds of LAPD police stations and shops (cruisers). The enemy combatants in LA are not the citizens and suspects, it’s the police officers.
People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. How ironic that you utilize a fixed glass structure as your command HQ. You use as a luminous building to symbolize that you are transparent, have nothing to hide, or suppress when in essence, concealing, omitting, and obscuring is your forte.
Chief xx, this is when you need to have that come to Jesus talk with Sgt. xx xx and everyone else who was involved in the conspiracy to have me terminated for doing the right thing. you also need to speak with her attorney, xx, and his conversation with the BOR members and her confession of guilt in kicking Mr. xx. I’ll be waiting for a PUBLIC response at a press conference. When the truth comes out, the killing stops. Why didn’t you charge me with filing a false police report when I came forward stating that xx kicked Mr. xx xx? You file criminal charges against every other officer who is accused and terminated for filing a false police report. You didn’t because you knew I was innocent and a criminal court would find me innocent and expose your department for suppressing the truth and retaliation, that’s why.
The attacks will stop when the department states the truth about my innocence, PUBLICLY!!! I will not accept any type of currency/goods in exchange for the attacks to stop, nor do i want it. I want my name back, period. There is no negotiation. I am not the state department who states they do not negotiate with terrorist, because anybody with a Secret or TS/SCI has seen IIR’s on SIPR and knows that the US state department always negotiates by using CF countries or independent sovereign/neutral country to mediate and compromising.
This department has not changed from the xx xx and xx xx days. Those officers are still employed and have all promoted to Command staff and supervisory positions. I will correct this error. Are you aware that an officer (a rookie/probationer at the time) seen on the Rodney King videotape striking Mr. King multiple times with a baton on 3/3/91 is still employed by the LAPD and is now a Captain on the police department? Captain xx xx is now the commanding officer of a LAPD police station (xx xx division). As a commanding officer, he is now responsible for over 200 officers. Do you trust him to enforce department policy and investigate use of force investigations on arrestees by his officers? Are you aware xx has since promoted to Sergeant after kicking Mr. xx in the face. Oh, you Violated a citizens civil rights? We will promote you. Same as LAPD did with the the officers from Metro involved in the May Day melee at MacArthur Park. They promoted them to Sergeant (a supervisor role).
No one is saying you can’t be prejudiced or a bigot. We are all human and hold prejudices. If you state that you don’t have prejudices, your lying! But, when you act on it and victimize innocent citizens and fellow innocen officers, than that is a concern.
For you officers who do the job in the name of JUSTICE, those of you who lost honest officers to this event, look at the name of those on the BOR and the investigating officers from PSB and Evans and ask them, how come you couldn’t tell the truth? Why did you terminate an honest officer and cover for a dishonest officer who victimized a mentally ill citizen.
Sometimes humans feel a need to prove they are the dominant race of a species and they inadvertently take kindness for weakness from another individual. You chose wrong.
Terminating officers because they expose a culture of lying, racism (from the academy), and excessive use of force will immediately change. PSB can not police their own and that has been proven. The blue line will forever be severed and a cultural change will be implanted. You have awoken a sleeping giant.
I am here to change and make policy. The culture of LAPD versus the community and honest/good officers needs to and will change. I am here to correct and calibrate your morale compasses to true north.
Those Caucasian officers who join South Bureau divisions (77th,SW,SE, an Harbor) with the sole intent to victimize minorities who are uneducated, and unaware of criminal law, civil law, and civil rights. You prefer the South bureau because a use of force/deadly force is likely and the individual you use UOF on will likely not report it. You are a high value target.
Those Black officers in supervisory ranks and pay grades who stay in south bureau (even though you live in the valley or OC) for the sole intent of getting retribution toward subordinate caucasians officers for the pain and hostile work environment their elders inflicted on you as probationers (P-1’s) and novice P-2’s. You are a high value target. You perpetuated the cycle of racism in the department as well. You breed a new generation of bigoted caucasian officer when you belittle them and treat them unfairly.
Those Hispanic officers who victimize their own ethnicity because they are new immigrants to this country and are unaware of their civil rights. You call them wetbacks to their face and demean them in front of fellow officers of different ethnicities so that you will receive some sort of acceptance from your colleagues. I’m not impressed. Most likely, your parents or grandparents were immigrants at one time, but you have forgotten that. You are a high value target.
Those lesbian officers in supervising positions who go to work, day in day out, with the sole intent of attempting to prove your misandrist authority (not feminism) to degrade male officers. You are a high value target. Those Asian officers who stand by and observe everything I previously mentioned other officers participate in on a daily basis but you say nothing, stand for nothing and protect nothing. Why? Because of your usual saying, ” I……don’t like conflict”. You are a high value target as well.
Those of you who “go along to get along” have no backbone and destroy the foundation of courage. You are the enablers of those who are guilty of misconduct. You are just as guilty as those who break the code of ethics and oath you swore.
Citizens/non-combatants, do not render medical aid to downed officers/enemy combatants. They would not do the same for you. They will let you bleed out just so they can brag to other officers that they had a 187 caper the other day and can’t wait to accrue the overtime in future court subpoenas. As they always say, “that’s the paramedics job…not mine”. Let the balance of loss of life take place. Sometimes a reset needs to occur.
LAPD Discipline Board state that he was fired for falsely accusing former training officer Teresa Lewis-Evans.
It is endless the amount of times per week officers arrest an individual, label him a suspect-arrestee-defendant and then before arraignment or trial realize that he is innocent based on evidence. You know what they say when they realize an innocent man just had his life turned upside down?. “I guess he should have stayed at home that day he was discovered walking down the street and matching the suspects description. Oh well, he appeared to be a dirtbag anyways”. Meanwhile the falsely accused is left to pick up his life, get a new, family, friends, and sense of self worth.
Don’t honor these fallen officers/dirtbags. When your family members die, they just see you as extra overtime at a crime scene and at a perimeter. Why would you value their lives when they clearly don’t value yours or your family members lives? I’ve heard many officers who state they see dead victims as ATV’s, Waverunners, RV’s and new clothes for their kids. Why would you shed a tear for them when they in return crack a smile for your loss because of the impending extra money they will receive in their next paycheck for sitting at your loved ones crime scene of 6 hours because of the overtime they will accrue. They take photos of your loved ones recently deceased bodies with their cellphones and play a game of who has the most graphic dead body of the night with officers from other divisions. This isn’t just the 20 something year old officers, this is the 50 year old officers with significant time on the job as well who participate.
You allow an officer, xx xx, to attempt to hack into my credit union account and still remain on the job even when Det. xx shows the evidence that the IP address (provided by LAPFCU) that attempted to hack into my account and change my username and password leads directly to her residence. You even allow this visibly disgusting looking officer to stay on the job when she perjures (lies) in court (Clark County Family Court) to the judge’s face and denies hacking into my personal credit union online account when I attempted to get my restraint order extended. Det. xx provided the evidence and you still do nothing.
How do you know when a police officer is lying??? When he begins his sentence with, “based on my experience and training”.
No one grows up and wants to be a cop killer. It was against everything I’ve ever was. As a young police explorer I found my calling in life. But, As a young police officer I found that the violent suspects on the street are not the only people you have to watch. It is the officer who was hired on to the department (pre-2000) before polygraphs were standard for all new hires and an substantial vetting in a backround investigation.
To those children of the officers who are eradicated, your parent was not the individual you thought they were. As you get older,you will see the evidence that your parent was a tyrant who loss their ethos and instead followed the path of moral corruptness. They conspired to hide and suppress the truth of misconduct on others behalf’s. Your parent will have a name and plaque on the fallen officers memorial in D.C. But, In all honesty, your parents name will be a reminder to other officers to maintain the oath they swore and to stay along the shoreline that has guided them from childhood to that of a local, state, or federal law enforcement officer.
XX, xx, xx, xx, xx, xx, xx, xx, xx, xx/xx, and xx. Your lack of ethics and conspiring to wrong a just individual are over.
Suppressing the truth will leave to deadly consequences for you and your family. There will be an element of surprise where you work, live, eat, and sleep. I will utilize ISR at your home, workplace, and all locations in between. I will utilize OSINT to discover your residences, spouses workplaces, and children’s schools. IMINT to coordinate and plan attacks on your fixed locations. Its amazing whats on NIPR. HUMINT will be utilized to collect personal schedules of targets. I never had the opportunity to have a family of my own, I’m terminating yours. XX, xx, xx, and BOR members Look your wives/husbands and surviving children directly in the face and tell them the truth as to why your children are dead.
Never allow a LAPPL union attorney to be a retired LAPD Captain,(xx). He doesn’t work for you, your interest, or your name. He works for the department, period. His job is to protect the department from civil lawsuits being filed and their best interest which is the almighty dollar. His loyalty is to the department, not his client. Even when he knowingly knows your innocent and the BOR also knows your innocent after xx xx stated on videotape that he was kicked and xx attorney confessed to the BOR off the record that she kicked xx.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants-xx. This quote is not directed toward the US government which I fully support 100%. This is toward the LAPD who can not monitor itself. The consent decree should not have been lifted, ever.
I know your TTP’s, (techniques, tactics, and procedures). Any threat assessments you you generate will be useless. This is simple, I know your TTP’s and PPR’s. I will mitigate any of your attempts at preservation. ORM is my friend. I will mitigate all risks, threats and hazards. I assure you that Incident Command Posts will be target rich environments. KMA-367 license plate frames are great target indicators and make target selection even easier.
I will conduct DA operations to destroy, exploit and seize designated targets. If unsuccessful or unable to meet objectives in these initial small scale offensive actions, I will reassess my BDA and re-attack until objectives are met. I have nothing to lose. My personal casualty means nothing. Just alike AAF’s, ACM’s, and AIF’s, you can not prevail against an enemy combatant who has no fear of death. An enemy who embraces death is a lose, lose situation for their enemy combatants.
Hopefully you analyst have done your homework. You are aware that I have always been the top shot, highest score, an expert in rifle qualifications in every unit I’ve been in. I will utilize every bit of small arms training, demolition, ordnance, and survival training I’ve been given.
Do you know why we are unsuccessful in asymmetrical and guerrilla warfare in CENTCOM theatre of operations? I’ll tell you. It’s not the inefficiency of our combatant commanders, planning, readiness or training of troops. Much like the Vietnam war, ACM, AAF, foreign fighters, Jihadist, and JAM have nothing to lose. They embrace death as it is a way of life. I simply don’t fear it. I am the walking exigent circumstance you created.
The Violence of action will be HIGH. I am the reason TAC alert was established. I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty. ISR is my strength and your weakness. You will now live the life of the prey. Your RD’s and homes away from work will be my AO and battle space. I will utilize every tool within INT collections that I learned from NMITC in Dam Neck. You have misjudged a sleeping giant. There is no conventional threat assessment for me. JAM, New Ba’ath party, 1920 rev BGE, ACM, AAF, AQAP, AQIM and AQIZ have nothing on me. Do not deploy airships or gunships. SA-7 Manpads will be waiting. As you know I also own Barrett .50’s so your APC are defunct and futile.
You better have all your officers radio/phone muster (code 1) on or off duty every hour, on the hour. Do not attempt to shadow or conduct any type of ISR on me. I have the inventory listing of all UC vehicles at Piper Tech and the home addresses of any INT analyst at JRIC and detachment locations. My POA is always POI and always true. This will be a war of attrition and a Pyrrhic and Camdean Victory for myself. You may have the resources and manpower but you are reactive and predictable in your op plans and TTP’s. I have the strength and benefits of being unpredictable, unconventional, and unforgiving. Do not waste your time with briefs and tabletops.
Whatever pre-planned responses you have established for a scenario like me, shelve it. Whatever contingency plan you have, shelve it. Whatever tertiary plan you’ve created, shelve it. I am a walking exigent circumstance with no OFF or reset button. JRIC, DOJ, LASD, FBI and other local LE can’t assist and should not involve themselves in a matter that does not concern them. For all other agencies, do not involve yourself in this capture or recovery of me. Look at the big picture of the situation. They (LAPD) created the situation. I will harm no outside agency unless it is a deadly force/IDOL situation. With today’s budgeting and fiscal mess, you guys can not afford lose several officers to IOD or KIA/EOW. Plus, other officers should not have to take on the additional duties and responsibilities of dead officers. Think about their families, outside agencies, Chiefs/Directors.
Outside agencies and individual officers on patrol. If you recognize my vehicle, and confirm it is my vehicle thru a dmv/want warrant check. It behoves you to respond to dispatch that your query was for information purposes only. If you proceed with a traffic stop or attempt to notify other officers of my location or for backup you will not live to see the medal of valor you were hoping to receive for your actions. Think before you attempt to intervene. You will not survive. Your family will receive that medal of valor posthumously. It will gather dust on the fireplace mantel for years. Then one day, it will go in a shoe box with other memories. Your mother will lose a son or daughter. Your significant other will be left alone, but they will find someone else to fill your void in the future and make them just as happy. Your children, if you have them, will call someone else mommy or daddy. Don’t be selfish. Your vest is only a level II or IIIA, think about it.
No amount of IMINT, MASINT, and ELINT assist you in capturing me. I am off the grid. You better use your feet, tongue and every available DOD/ NON-DOD HUMINT agency, contractor to find me. I know your route to and from home, and your division. I know your significant others routine, your children’s best friends and recess. I know Your Sancha’s gym hours and routine. I assure you that the casualty rate will be high. Because of that, no one will remember your name. You will merely be a DR# and “that guy” who was KIA/EOW or long term IOD/light duty in the kit room. This is exactly why “station 500″ was created. Unfortunately, orphanages will be making a comeback in the 21st century.
The Violence of action will be HIGH. I am the reason TAC alert was established. I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty.
If you had a well regulated AWB, this would not happen. The time is now to reinstitute a ban that will save lives. Why does any sportsman need a 30 round magazine for hunting? Why does anyone need a suppressor? Why does anyone need a AR15 rifle? This is the same small arms weapons system utilized in eradicating Al Qaeda, Taliban, and every enemy combatant since the Vietnam war. Don’t give me that crap that its not a select fire or full auto rifle like the DoD uses. That’s bullsh*t because troops who carry the M-4/M-16 weapon system for combat ops outside the wire rarely utilize the select fire function when in contact with enemy combatants. The use of select fire probably isn’t even 1% in combat. So in essence, the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle is the same as the M-4/M-16. These do not need to be purchased as easily as walking to your local Walmart or striking the enter key on your keyboard to “add to cart”. All the firearms utilized in my activities are registered to me and were legally purchased at gun stores and private party transfers. All concealable weapons (pistols) were also legally register in my name at police stations or FFL’s. Unfortunately, are you aware that I obtained class III weapons (suppressors) without a background check thru NICS or DROS completely LEGALLY several times? I was able to use a trust account that I created on quicken will maker and a $10 notary charge at a mailbox etc. to obtain them legally. Granted, I am not a felon, nor have a DV misdemeanor conviction or active TRO against me on a NCIC file. I can buy any firearm I want, but should I be able to purchase these class III weapons (SBR’s, and suppressors) without a background check and just a $10 notary signature on a quicken will maker program? The answer is NO. I’m not even a resident of the state i purchased them in. Lock n Load just wanted money so they allow you to purchase class III weapons with just a notarized trust, military ID. Shame on you, Lock n Load. NFA and ATF need new laws and policies that do not allow loopholes such as this. In the end, I hope that you will realize that the small arms I utilize should not be accessed with the ease that I obtained them. Who in there right mind needs a ****ing silencer!!! who needs a freaking SBR AR15? No one. No more Virginia Tech, Columbine HS, Wisconsin temple, Aurora theatre, Portland malls, Tucson rally, Newtown Sandy Hook. Whether by executive order or thru a bi-partisan congress an assault weapons ban needs to be re-instituted. Period!!!
Mia Farrow said it best. “Gun control is no longer debatable, it’s not a conversation, its a moral mandate.”
LAPD considered him as one of their biggest threats. This highly decorated officer had turn his back towards his accolades, and sought revenge.
Sen. Feinstein, you are doing the right thing in leading the re-institution of a national AWB. Never again should any public official state that their prayers and thoughts are with the family. That has become cliche’ and meaningless. Its time for action. Let this be your legacy that you bestow to America. Do not be swayed by obstacles, antagaonist, and naysayers. Remember the innocent children at Austin, Kent, Stockton, Fullerton, San Diego, Iowa City, Jonesboro, Columbine, Nickel Mines, Blacksburg, Springfield, Red Lake, Chardon, Aurora, and Newtown. Make sure this never happens again!!!
In my cache you will find several small arms. In the cache, Bushmaster firearms, Remington precision rifles, and AAC Suppressors (silencers). All of these small arms are manufactured by Cerberus/Freedom Group. The same company responsible for the Portland mall shooting, Webster , NY, and Sandy Hook massacre.
You disrespect the office of the POTUS/Presidency and Commander in Chief. You call him Kenyan, mongroid, halfrican, muslim, and FBHO when in essence you are to address him as simply, President. The same as you did to President George W. Bush and all those in the highest ranking position of our land before him. Just as I always have. You question his birth certificate, his educational and professional accomplishments, and his judeo-christian beliefs. You make disparaging remarks about his dead parents. You never questioned the fact that his former opponent, the honorable Senator John McCain, was not born in the CONUS or that Bush had a C average in his undergrad. Electoral Candidates children (Romney) state they want to punch the president in the face during debates with no formal repercussions. No one even questioned the fact that the son just made a criminal threat toward the President. You call his wife a Wookie. Off the record, I love your new bangs, Mrs. Obama. A woman whose professional and educational accomplishments are second to none when compared to recent First wives. You call his supporters, whether black, brown, yellow, or white, leeches, FSA, welfare recipients, and ni$&er lovers. You say this openly without any discretion. Before you start with your argument that you believe I would vote for Obama because he has the same skin color as me, **** you. I didn’t vote in this last election as my choice of candidate, John Huntsman, didn’t win the primary candidacy for his party. Mr. President, I haven’t agreed with all of your decisions but of course I haven’t agreed with all of your predecessors decisions. I think you’ve done a hell of a job with what you have been dealt and how you have managed it. I shed a tear the night you were initially elected President in 2008. I never thought that day would occur. A black man elected president in the U.S. in my lifetime. I cracked a smiled when you were re-elected in 2012 because I really didn’t think you were going to pull that one off. Romney, stop being a sore loser. You could’ve exited graciously and still contributed significantly to public service, not now. Mr. President, get back to work. Many want to see you fail as they have stated so many times previously. Unfortunately, if you fail, the U.S. fails but your opponents do not concern themselves about the big picture. Do not forget your commitment to transparency in your administration. Sometimes I believe your administration forgets that. America, you will realize today and tomorrow that this world is made up of all human beings who have the same general needs and wants in life for themselves, their kin, community, and state. That is the freedom to LIVE and LOVE. They may eat different foods, enjoy different music, have different dialects, or speak a second language, but in essence are no different from you and I. This is America. We are not a perfect sovereign country as we have our own flaws but we are the closest that will ever exist.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time an authoritative figure has lied on me.
—–, assistant principal, Cypress HS. Remember when you lied to my mother and the police officer in your office about stating that you never stated to me in a private conversation that you know the theft suspect (—–) stole my watch. Let me refresh your memory. A physical education teachers assistant, a student, stole the list of combination codes to peoples lockers, from the P.E. teacher. That student then opened many of those lockers and stole students personal property. My watch was taken in that multi theft an I reported it to you. A week later you discovered that the theft suspect was —–, a student. You stated to me in private that you know for a fact he stole my property. When I attempted to retrieve my property from the suspect. Campus security was called and you lied and stated that you never stated to me that you “know he stole my watch”. You sat there and lied to their faces right in front of me. You said it with such a deliberate, stern face. I never forgot that and was not surprised when 13 years later I was lied on again in the BOR by —–. maybe you can confess to your family at the very least in the private of your own home. After that, contact my mother and apologize for lying to her in 1996.
If possible, I want my brain preserved for science/research to study the effects of severe depression on an individual’s brain. Since 6/26/08 when I was relieved of duty and 1/2/09 when I was terminated I have been afflicted with severe depression. I’ve had two CT scans during my lifetime that are in my medical record at Kaiser Permanente. Both are from concussions resulting from playing football. The first one was in high school, 10/96. The second was in college and occurred in 10/99. Both were conducted at Kaiser Permanente hospitals in LA/Orange county. These two CT scans should give a good baseline for my brain activity before severe depression began in late 2008.
34 years old
From La Palma, Calif.*
Graduated from Cypress High School 1997*
Graduated from Southern Utah University in 2001*
Former LAPD officer
Former Naval reservist^
–Active: July 2002 until last week (Feb. 1, 2013)
–Rank: Lieutenant, attained 2006
–Deployed to the Persian Gulf from 11/06 – 4/07
–Served in a riverine group aboard patrol craft based in Bahrain
–Provided security for offshore oil platforms
–No evidence that he served inside Iraq
–No evidence that he engaged in any combat operations
–Received the Iraq Campaign Medal
–Received Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
–Awarded a Rifle Marksman Ribbon
–Awarded a Pistol Expert Medal
Served with Mobile Inshore Undersea Warfare Unit at Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station
Weapons he claims to have:
–Beretta handgun
–.50 caliber rifle
–SA-7 shoulder launcher (ground-to-air missiles)
Joined Facebook Jan 21*
–Listed under Interests: Jimi Hendrix, sushi, Memento Mori
–Listed under Activities: “Getting My Name Back”
(*Source: Unverified, according to his Facebook page) | ^Source: KNBC)
Sure, many of you “law enforcement experts and specialist” will state, “in all my years this is the worst……..”, Stop!!! That’s not important. Ask yourselves what would cause somebody to take these drastic measures like I did. That’s what is important.
To my friends listed below, I wish we could have grown old together and spent more time together. When you reminisce of our friendship and experiences, think of that and that only. Do not dwell on my recent actions the last few days. This was a necessary evil that had to be executed in order for me to obtain my NAME back. The only thing that changes policy and garners attention is death.
—–, greatest friend, Marine officer, aviator, and an even better father and husband. I Couldn’t have had a better big brother than you. Your spoken wisdom was always retained by me, you old salty Mustang. You sternly told me that no matter what I accomplish I will always be a ni#%er in many individuals eyes. At the time, I did not comprehend your words. I do now. I never forgot the quote you state below. I love you bro.
I never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever feeling sorry for itself. -D.H. Lawrence
It’s kind of sad I won’t be around to view and enjoy The Hangover III. What an awesome trilogy.
—–, greatest friend, Naval officer, aviator, Great Father, husband, doctor, and even better human being. I always strived to live my life parallel to your similar values and personal disciplines. —– is lucky to have found a man like yourself, and you are fortunate to have married an irrefutable imperfect woman. Always focus on your IMMEDIATE family as they are the ones who have loved you unconditionally and always been their to support you in difficult times. I always lived my life as WW—–D (what would —– do). —–, take care of this guy. —–, I’m sorry I missed your wedding and you had to find another best man. I’m sorry my predicament with the department stopped me from watching you and —– get married and arguing with you about issues that were insignificant when I was really angry at the LAPD for what they did to me. I’m deeply sorry and I love you guys.
—–, great friend, attorney, father, husband, and the most cynical/blatant/politically incorrect friend a man can have. Best quality about you in college and now is that you never sugar coated the truth. I will miss our political discussions that always turned argumentative. Thanks for introducing me to outdoor sports like fishing, hunting, mudding, and also respect for the land and resources. Us city boys don’t get out much like you Alaskans. You even introduced me to PBR. A beer, that when you’re a poor college student is completely acceptable to get buzzed off of. I’m sorry I’ll never get to go on that moose and bear hunt with you. I love you bro.
—–, greatest friend, accountant, entrepreneur, and even better Human being. You are probably the most well balanced person I’ve ever met and the most driven for success. In college, and after graduation, I was inspired by your personal drive. Never settle. When you make your first million, promise me you won’t forget to enjoy it a bit. I know your first reaction will be to invest it somewhere else. Spend a little, just a little. I love you bro.
—–, great friend, entrepeneur, husband and father. You showed me the importance of fatherhood and friendship. Love you bro.
—–.
You guys were all important and very special to me. Don’t be angry with me. I missed some of your weddings and unfortunately, some of your funerals. This was a necessary evil.
Gov. Chris Christie. What can I say? You’re the only person I would like to see in the White House in 2016 other than Hillary.
Some say it is my fault that I was terminated. Yes, —–, I remember you stating this to me in an angry fit. You said that I should have kept my mouth shut about another officer’s misconduct. Maybe you were right. But I’m not built like others, it’s not in my DNA and my history has always shown that. When you view the video of the suspect stating he was kicked by —–, maybe you will see that I was a decent person after all. I told the truth. It still hurt that you abandoned me in my time of need. I hope you’re happy, that’s all I ever wanted for you.
Sgt. —–, you meant well but you should have known with your time on the job that the department would attempt to protect someone like —– because of her time on the job, personal friendships, and ethicity. I’m not angry with you, but you should have known as an IA investigator.
Sgt —– LPPD, Ofcr —– LPPD (ret), and Chief —– LPPD, your guidance and mentoring as a young police explorer was second to none and invaluable as a young man, police officer, and naval officer. Sgt —–, you forewarned me long ago about joining LAPD as they were “different” and operated differently from other modern law enforcement agencies. I now know it was your humbleness and respect for all who wear the badge and protect their communities that you didn’t just express what you wanted to say, that they lack values and basic ethics as law enforcement officers. Chief —–, your ****ing awesome. Thanks for the long talks over the years when I was an explorer, college student, Naval officer, and Police officer. Your are a great leader and carry your heart on your sleeve. Your son will be a great Air Force officer with the upringing you provided. —–, what can I say? Your just an awesome person and my first exposure to what law enforcement was really about was on our ride alongs. Your realistic approach and empathetic approach to treating all people as humans first is something I carried with me daily. Thank you, every one of you.
Dr. —–, thank you for the superb surgery you performed on my knee on 7/98 in Irvine, CA. I never had the opportunity to thank you for allowing me to live a life free of knee joint pain. Thank you.
CM1 —– (Ret.), I learned more from you about leadership than most of my own commanders. You lived by a strict ethos of get it done, and get it done right. I wanted to attend your retirement, I really did. But because of my predicament I was unable to. Hope you and Ritchie are still together. I’ve always held you in high regard.
Wayne LaPierre, President of the NRA, you’re a vile and inhumane piece of sh*t.
Sgt Maj. —– USMC, Thank you for the intense instruction and mentorship and time spent forging me into a never quit officer. You were challenging as a DI. You made sure the vicious and intense personality I possess was discovered. On a lighter note….Don’t feel humbled you never broke me. I made it a personal goal to never give up years before. The Corp is lucky to have you at the front. Your leadership is essential and needed for all marines, especially staff NCO’s and mentorship and advisement to company grade officers. You are the epitome of a US marine and never forget that.
I thank my friends for the awesome shared experiences. I thank the unnamed women I dated over my lifetime for the great and sometimes not so great sex.
It’s kind of sad I won’t be around to view and enjoy The Hangover III. What an awesome trilogy. Todd Phillips, don’t make anymore Hangovers after the third, takes away the originality of its foundation. World War Z looks good and The Walking Dead season 3 (second half) looked intriguing. Damn, gonna miss shark week.
Mr. Vice President, do your due diligence when formulating a concise and permanent national AWB plan. Future generations of Americans depend on your plan and advisement to the president. I’ve always been a fan of yours and consider you one of the few genuine and charismatic politicians. Damn, sounds like an oxymoron calling you an honest politician. It’s the truth.
Hillary Clinton. You’ll make one hell of a president in 2016. Much like your husband, Bill, you will be one of the greatest. Look at Castro in San Antonio as a running mate or possible secretary of state. He’s (good people) and I have faith and confidence in him. Look after Bill. He was always my favorite President. Chelsea grew up to be one hell of an attractive woman. No disrespect to her husband.
Gov. Chris Christie. What can I say? You’re the only person I would like to see in the White House in 2016 other than Hillary. You’re America’s no sh*t taking uncle. Do one thing for your wife, kids, and supporters. Start walking at night and eat a little less, not a lot less, just a little. We want to see you around for a long time. Your leadership is greatly needed.
Wayne LaPierre, President of the NRA, you’re a vile and inhumane piece of sh*t. You never even showed 30 seconds of empathy for the children, teachers, and families of Sandy Hook. You deflected any type of blame/responsibility and directed it toward the influence of movies and the media. You are a failure of a human being. May all of your immediate and distant family die horrific deaths in front of you.
Willie Geist, you’re a talented and charismatic journalist.
Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborough, Pat Harvey, Brian Williams, Soledad Obrien, Wolf Blitzer, Meredith Viera, Tavis Smiley, and Anderson Cooper, keep up the great work and follow Cronkite’s lead. I hold many of you in the same regard as Tom Brokaw and the late Peter Jennings. Cooper, stop nagging and berating your guest, they’re your (guest). Mr. Scarborough, we met at McGuire’s pub in P-cola in 2002 when I was stationed there. It was an honor conversing with you about politics, family, and life.
Willie Geist, you’re a talented and charismatic journalist. Stop with all the talk show shenanigans and get back to your core of reporting. Your future is brighter than most.
Revoke the citizenship of Fareed Zakaria and deport him. I’ve never heard a positive word about America or its interest from his mouth, ever. On the same day, give Piers Morgan an indefinite resident alien and Visa card. Mr. Morgan, the problem that many American gun owners have with you and your continuous discussion of gun control is that you are not an American citizen and have an accent that is distinct and clarifies that you are a foreigner. I want you to know that I agree with you 100% on enacting stricter firearm laws but you must understand that your critics will always have in the back of their mind that you are native to a country that we won our sovereignty from while using firearms as a last resort in defense and you come from a country that has no legal private ownership of firearms. That is disheartening to American gun owners and rightfully so.
The honorable President George H.W. Bush, they never give you enough credit for your successful Presidency. You were always one of my favorite Presidents (2nd favorite). I hope your health improves greatly. You are the epitome of an American and service to country.
General Petraeus, you made a mistake that the majority of men make once, twice, or unfortunately many times in a lifetime. You are human. You thought with your penis. It’s okay.I personally believe you should have never resigned and told your critics to shove it. You only answer to two people regarding the affair, your wife and children, period. I hope you return to government service to your country as it is visibly in your DNA.
General Colin Powell, your book “My American Journey” solidified my decision to join the military after college. I had always intended to serve, but your book and journey motivated me. You are an inspiration to all Americans and influenced me greatly.
To all SEA’s (senior enlisted advisers), you are just as important if not a greater viability to large and small commands. It’s time you take a more active role in leading your enlisted and advising officers. These are not your twilight years or time to relax. You can either strengthen the tip of the spear, or make it brittle. You decide.
Pat Harvey, I’ve always thought you carried yourself professionally and personally the way a strong black woman should. Your articulation and speech is second to none. You are the epitome of a journalist/anchor. You are America.
Ellen Degeneres, continue your excellent contribution to entertaining America and bringing the human factor to entertainment. You changed the perception of your gay community and how we as Americans view the LGBT community. I congratulate you on your success and opening my eyes as a young adult, and my generation to the fact that you are know different from us other than who you choose to love. Oh, and you Prop 8 supporters, why the **** do you care who your neighbor marries. Hypocritical pieces of sh*t.
Westboro Baptist Church, may you all burn slowly in a fire, not from smoke inhalation, but from the flames and only the flames.
Tebow, I really wanted to see you take charge of an offense again and the game. You are not a good QB by todays standards, but you are a great football player who knows how to lead a team and WIN. You will be “Tebowing” when you reach your next team. I have faith in you. Get out of that circus they call the Jets and away from the reality TV star, Rex Ryan, and Mark Rapist Sanchez.
Christopher Walz, you impressed me in Inglorious Basterds. After viewing Django Unchained, I was sold. I have come to the conclusion that you are well on your way to becoming one of the greats if not already and show glimpses of Daniel Day Lewis and Morgan Freeman-esque type qualities of greatness. Trust me when I say that you will be one of the greatest ever.
Jennifer Beals, Serena Williams, Grae Drake, Lisa Nicole-Carson, Diana Taurasi, N’bushe Wright, Brenda Villa, Kate Winslet, Ashley Graham, Erika Christensen, Gabrielle Union, Isabella Soprano, Zain Verjee, Tamron Hall, Gina Carano, America Ferrara, Giana Michaels, Nene, Natalie Portman, Queen Latifah, Michelle Rodriguez, Anjelah Johnson, Kelly Clarkson, Nora Jones, Laura Prepon, Margaret Cho, and Rutina Wesley, you are THE MOST beautiful women on this planet, period. Never settle, professionally or personally.
Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” is the greatest piece of music ever, period. Hanz Zimmer, William Bell, Eric Clapton, BB King, Bob Marley, Sam Cooke, Metallica, Rob Zombie, Nora Jones, Marvin Gaye, Jay-Z, and the King (Louis Armstrong) are musical prodigies.
Jeffrey Toobin and David Gergen, you are political geniuses and modern scholars. Hopefully Toobin is nominated for the Supreme Court and implements some damn common sense and reasoning instead of partisan bickering. But in true Toobin fashion, we all know he would not accept the nomination.
John and Ken from KFI, never mute your facts and personal opinions. You are one of the few media personalities who speak the truth, even when the truth is not popular. I will miss listening to your discussions.
Bill Handel, your effin awesome. For years I enjoyed your show.
Anthony Bourdain, you’re a modern renaissance man who epitomizes the saying “too cool for school”.
Larry David, Kevin Hart, the late Patrice Oneal, Lisa Lampanelli, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Louis CK, Dave Chapelle, Jon Stewart, Wanda Sykes, Dennis Miller, and Jeff Ross are pure geniuses. I’m a big fan of all of your work. As a child my mom caught me watching Def Jam comedy at midnight when I should have been asleep. Instead of scolding me, the next night she let me stay up late and watch George Carlin,, Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryo, r comedy specials with , , her for hours. My sides were sore for days.
Larry David, I agree. 72-82 degrees is way to hot in, a re, side, nce. 68 degrees is perfect.
Cyclist, I have no problem sharing the road with you. But, at least go the ****ing speed limit post, ed or get off the road!!! That is a feasible request. Livestrong you fraudulent a**holes.
Cardinal Mahoney, you are in essence a predator yourself as you enabled your subordinates to molest multiple children in the ch, urch over many, decades. May you die a long and slow painful death.
If you continuously followed me while I was walking at dusk/night I would confront you as well. Too bad Trayvon , didn’t smash your skull completely open, Zim. While Trayvon’s body erodes to bones 6 feet under, Zimmerman has put on no less than 40 pounds while out on bail. Z, , immerman was arrested for battery on a Peace officer and avoided jail/prison because he completed a diversion program. Thats a history of being an a**hole. Zimmerman couldn’t get hired by a LE agency because of poor credit/and a history of violence/restraining orders with women. So what does he do? Designate himself, neighborhood watch captain and make complaints to his city council about the horrible work ethic and laziness of the officers patrolling his neighborhood. Good one Zim. How classy that your father attempts to use his veterans status “disabled veteran” during your bail hearing but doesn’t state what his disability percentage is. Prior service personnel know it can be 5% disability to 100%. You and your attorneys always avoid mentioning your fathers occupation as a magistrate/judge because I’m sure he’s utilized his position to get you out of way more jams then the public has discovered and that your family is not indigent. Oh, tell your wife to stop perjuring herself in court.
KCCO
Anonymous, you are hated, vilified, and considered an enemy to the state. I personally view you as a culture and a necessity that brings truth to a cloaked world. Forge ahead!
Charlie Sheen, you’re effin awesome.
My opinion on women in combat MOS’, Designators, Rates, and AFSC’s. I wish all of you who attempt to pursue combat occupational roles the greatest success in completing, graduating, and qualifying in their respective schools/courses. Many want to see you fail. Remember, everyone of you is a pioneer. There was a time when they didn’t allow blacks to fight the good fight. This is your civil rights. Don’t quit!!!
Charlie Sheen, you’re effin awesome.
It’s time to allow gay service member’s spouses to utilize the same benefits that all heterosexual dependents are eligible for. Medical, Dental, Tricare, Deers, SGLI, BX, Commissary, Milstar, MWR, etc. Flag officers, lets be honest. You can’t really give a valid argument to as why gays shouldn’t be eligible as every month a new state enacts laws that allow same sex marriage.
LGBT community and supporters, the same way you have the right to voice your opinion on acceptance of gay marriage, Chick Fil-A has a right to voice their beliefs as well. That’s what makes America so great. Freedom of expression. Don’t be a**holes and boycott/degrade their business and customers who patronize the locations. They make some damn good chicken! Vandalizing (graffiti) their locations does not help any cause.
Mr. Bill Cosby, you are a reasonable and talented man who has spoken the truth of the cultural anomalies within the black communities that need to change now. The black communities’ resentment toward you is because they don’t like hearing the truth or having their clear and evident dirty laundry aired to the nation. The problem is, the country is not blind nor dumb. They believe we are animals. Do not mute your unvarnished truthful speech or moral compass. Blacks must strive for more in life than bling, hoes, and cars. The current culture is an epidemic that leaves them with no discernible future. They’re suffocating and don’t even know it. MLK Jr. Would be mortified at what he worked so hard for in our acceptance as equal beings and how unfortunately we stopped progressing and began digressing. Chicago’s youth violence is a prime example of how our black communities values have declined. We can not address this nation’s intolerant issues until we address our own communities morality issues first. Accountability. We need to hold
James Hood, made famous by the “stand in the schoolhouse door” policy, died at his home in Alabama, Thursday, at age 70. He was thrust into the national spotlight during a long fight to attend college in his home state of Alabama at the height of the civil rights movement. Alabama was the last state to integrate its education system.
On June 11, 1963, after a U.S. court ruling ordering Alabama to desegregate, James Hood and Vivian Malone attempted to register for classes at the University of Alabama, but they were blocked at the door by then-Gov. Wallace and several state troopers.
Later that day, President John F. Kennedy federalized the Alabama National Guard and issued a presidential proclamation ordering Wallace to execute federal court orders that would allow Hood and Malone to enroll at the university.
Guardsmen then escorted Hood and Malone via a side door into the school auditorium, where Wallace stepped aside and allowed the two to register.
Later that evening, Kennedy addressed the nation and called for sweeping civil rights legislation that would ban discrimination in all public places.
Wallace had long proclaimed he would stand at the front door of any school that was ordered by the federal courts to admit black students. During his inaugural speech five months before the standoff at the university, Wallace famously proclaimed, “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”James Hood (1943-2013)
James Hood left the school a few months after the historic day and moved to Michigan, where he finished out his undergraduate degree. He said he did so to avoid “a complete mental and physical breakdown,” according to the school website dedicated to a civil rights memorial named after Hood and Malone.
Hood returned to the University of Alabama three decades later to earn a doctorate in higher education in 1997.
University of Alabama President Judy Bonner issued a statement today honoring the civil rights figure.
“James Hood will be remembered for the courage and conviction he demonstrated as one of the first two African-American students to enroll at The University of Alabama,” Bonner said.
Wallace renounced his segregationist views before his death in 1998. Following his death, according to the New York Times, one of those who came to pay their respects to the former governor was James Hood.
“I think he made peace with God,” Hood told the paper.
John Brown’s Black Raiders – Harpers Ferry Revolt 1859
Resource Bank Contents
“On October 16, 1859, John Brown led 21 men on an assault at Harpers Ferry — an event that shook the nation and [nudged it even closer toward civil war]. Among these raiders were five black men: two of these men would die at Harpers Ferry, two would be captured and executed, and one would escape to Canada.
On October 16, Brown set out for Harpers Ferry with 21 men — 5 blacks, including Dangerfield Newby, who hoped to rescue his wife who was still a slave, and 16 whites, two of whom were Brown’s sons. Leaving after sundown, the men crossed the Potomac, then walked all night in heavy rain, reaching the town at 4am. They cut telegraph wires, then made their assault. First they captured the federal armory and arsernal. They then captured Hall’s Rifle Works, a supplier of weapons to the government. Brown and his men rounded up 60 prominent citizens of the town and held them as hostages, hoping that their slaves would join the fight. No slaves came forth.
The local militia pinned Brown and his men down. Under a white flag, one of Brown’s sons was sent out to negotiate with the citizens. He was shot and killed. News of the insurrection, relayed by the conductor of an express train heading to Baltimore, reached President Buchanan. Marines and soldiers went dispatched, under the leadership of then Colonel Robert E. Lee. By the time they arrived, eight of Brown’s 22-man army had already been killed. Lee’s men moved in and quickly ended the insurrection. In the end, ten of Brown’s men were killed (including two blacks and both of his sons), seven were captured (two of these later), and five had escaped.
Brown, who was seriously wounded, was taken to Charlestown, Virginia (now Charles Town, West Virginia), along with the other captives. There they were quickly tried, sentenced, then executed. John Brown’s statements during his trial reached the nation, inspiring many with his righteous indignation toward slavery. The raid ultimately hastened the advent of the Civil War.
Dangerfield Newby, a strong, 6’2″ African American, was the first of Brown’s men to die in the fighting. Born a slave in 1815 but later freed by his white, Scottish father, Newby married a slave who was still in bondage in Virginia. A letter found on his dead body revealed his motive for joining Brown. . .
Dear Husband: I want you to buy me as soon as possible, for if you do not get me somebody else will. The servants are very disagreeable; they do all they can to set my mistress against me. Dear Husband,. . . the last two years have been like a troubled dream to me. It is said Master is in want of money. If so, I know not what time he may sell me, and then all my bright hopes of the future are blasted, for there has been one bright hope to cheer me in all my troubles, that is to be with you, for if I thought I should never see you, this earth would have no charms fo me. Do all you can for me, which I have no doubt you will. I want to see you so much.”
I believe this story should be credited as having Inspired the character Django.
Henrietta Lacks
(August 1, 1920 – October 4, 1951)
Once lived a woman whose cells continued to multiply themselves outside of her body, and even long after her death!
The woman was Henrietta Lacks, and her immortal cells—dubbed “HeLa”—have been essential in many of the great scientific discoveries of our time: curing polio; gene mapping; learning how cells work; developing drugs to treat cancer, herpes, leukemia, influenza, hemophilia, Parkinson’s disease, AIDS … and the list goes on and on (and on). If it deals with the human body and has been studied by scientists, odds are those scientists needed and used Lacks’ cells somewhere along the way. HeLa cells were even sent up to space on an unmanned satellite to determine whether or not human tissue could survive in zero gravity.
Lacks was an impoverished black woman who died on October 4, 1951 of cervical cancer at just 31 years old. During her cancer treatment, a doctor at Johns Hopkins took a sample of her tumor without her knowledge or consent and sent it over to a colleague of his, Dr. George Gey, who had been trying for 20 years, unsuccessfully, to grow human tissues from cultures. A lab assistant there, Mary Kubicek, discovered that Henrietta’s cells, unlike normal human cells, could live and replicate outside the body.
Go to just about any cell culture lab in the world and you’ll find billions of HeLa cells stored there. In contrast to normal human cells, which will die after a few replications, Lacks’ cells can live and replicate just fine outside of the human body (which is also unique among humans). Give her cells the nutrients they need to survive, and they will apparently live and replicate along forever, almost 60 years and counting since the first culture was taken. They can be frozen for literally decades and, when thawed, they’ll go right on replicating.
Before her cells were discovered and widely cultured, it was nearly impossible for scientists to reliably experiment on human cells and get meaningful results. Cell cultures that scientists were studying would weaken and die very quickly outside the human body. Lacks’ cells gave scientists, for the first time, a “standard” that they could use to test things on. HeLa cells can survive being shipped in the mail just fine, so scientists across the globe can use the same standard to test against.
Lacks died of uremic poisoning, in the segregated hospital ward for blacks, about 8 months after being diagnosed with cervical cancer, never knowing that her cells would become one of the most vital tools in modern medicine and would spawn a multi-billion dollar industry. She was survived by her husband and five children; the family lived in poverty for most of their lives, and didn’t find out about the fate of Lacks’ incredible cells until years later.
Oprah Winfrey Preserves Henrietta Lacks Story in upcoming Mini Series.
What happened to the “40 acres and a mule” that former slaves were promised? We’ve all heard the story of the “40 acres and a mule” promise to former slaves. It’s a staple of black history lessons.
The promise was the first systematic attempt to provide a form of reparations to newly freed slaves, and it was astonishingly radical for its time, proto-socialist in its implications. In fact, such a policy would be radical in any country today: the federal government’s massive confiscation of private property — some 400,000 acres — formerly owned by Confederate land owners, and its methodical redistribution to former black slaves.
What most of us haven’t heard is that the idea really was generated by black leaders themselves. Try to imagine how profoundly different the history of race relations in the United States would have been had this policy been implemented and enforced; had the former slaves actually had access to the ownership of land, of property; if they had had a chance to be self-sufficient economically, to build, accrue and pass on wealth. After all, one of the principal promises of America was the possibility of average people being able to own land, and all that such ownership entailed. As we know all too well, this promise was not to be realized for the overwhelming majority of the nation’s former slaves, who numbered about 3.9 million.
What Exactly Was Promised?
We have been taught in school that the source of the policy of “40 acres and a mule” was Union General William T. Sherman’s Special Field Order No. 15, issued on Jan. 16, 1865. (That account is half-right: Sherman prescribed the 40 acres in that Order, but not the mule. The mule would come later.) What many accounts leave out is that this idea for massive land redistribution actually was the result of a discussion that Sherman and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton held four days before Sherman issued the Order, with 20 leaders of the black community, in Savannah, Ga., where Sherman was headquartered following his famous March to the Sea.
The Three Relevant Sections of the 40 Acre and a Mule Order:
Section One: “The islands from Charleston, south, the abandoned rice fields along the rivers for thirty miles back from the sea, and the country bordering the St. Johns river, Florida, are reserved and set apart for the settlement of the negroes [sic] now made free by the acts of war and the proclamation of the President of the United States.”
Section Two: (Specifies that these new communities, moreover, would be governed entirely by black people themselves) ” … on the islands, and in the settlements hereafter to be established, no white person whatever, unless military officers and soldiers detailed for duty, will be permitted to reside; and the sole and exclusive management of affairs will be left to the freed people themselves … By the laws of war, and orders of the President of the United States, the negro [sic] is free and must be dealt with as such.”
Section Three: (Specifies the allocation of land) ” … each family shall have a plot of not more than (40) acres of tillable ground, and when it borders on some water channel, with not more than 800 feet water front, in the possession of which land the military authorities will afford them protection, until such time as they can protect themselves, or until Congress shall regulate their title.”
(See Entire Order Here http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/40acres/ps_so15.html)
With this Order, 400,000 acres of land — “a strip of coastline stretching from Charleston, South Carolina, to the St. John’s River in Florida, including Georgia’s Sea Islands and the mainland thirty miles in from the coast,” as Barton Myers reports — would be redistributed to the newly freed slaves. The extent of this Order and its larger implications are mind-boggling, actually.
Who Came Up With the Idea?
Abolitionists Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens and other Radical Republicans had been actively advocating land redistribution “to break the back of Southern slaveholders’ power,” as Myers observed. But Sherman’s plan only took shape after the meeting that he and Stanton held with those black ministers, at 8:00 p.m., Jan. 12, on the second floor of Charles Green’s mansion on Savannah’s Macon Street. In its broadest strokes, “40 acres and a mule” was their idea.
Stanton, aware of the great historical significance of the meeting, presented Henry Ward Beecher (Harriet Beecher Stowe’s famous brother) a verbatim transcript of the discussion, which Beecher read to his congregation at New York’s Plymouth Church and which the New York Daily Tribune printed in full in its Feb. 13, 1865, edition.
Stanton told Beecher that “for the first time in the history of this nation, the representatives of the government had gone to these poor debased people to ask them what they wanted for themselves.” Stanton had suggested to Sherman that they gather “the leaders of the local Negro community” and ask them something no one else had apparently thought to ask: “What do you want for your own people” following the war? And what they wanted astonishes us even today.
Who were these 20 thoughtful leaders who exhibited such foresight? They were all ministers, mostly Baptist and Methodist. Most curious of all to me is that 11 of the 20 had been born free in slave states, of which 10 had lived as free men in the Confederacy during the course of the Civil War. (The other one, a man named James Lynch, was born free in Maryland, a slave state, and had only moved to the South two years before.) The other nine ministers had been slaves in the South who became “contraband,” and hence free, only because of the Emancipation Proclamation, when Union forces liberated them. Their chosen leader and spokesman was a Baptist minister named Garrison Frazier, aged 67, who had been born in Granville, N.C., and was a slave until 1857, “when he purchased freedom for himself and wife for $1000 in gold and silver,” as the New York Daily Tribune reported.
Rev. Frazier had been “in the ministry for thirty-five years,” and it was he who bore the responsibility of answering the 12 questions that Sherman and Stanton put to the group. The stakes for the future of the Negro people were high. And Frazier and his brothers did not disappoint. What did they tell Sherman and Stanton that the Negro most wanted? Land! “The way we can best take care of ourselves,” Rev. Frazier began his answer to the crucial third question, “is to have land, and turn it and till it by our own labor … and we can soon maintain ourselves and have something to spare … We want to be placed on land until we are able to buy it and make it our own.” And when asked next where the freed slaves “would rather live — whether scattered among the whites or in colonies by themselves,” without missing a beat, Brother Frazier (as the transcript calls him) replied that “I would prefer to live by ourselves, for there is a prejudice against us in the South that will take years to get over … ” When polled individually around the table, all but one — James Lynch, 26, the man who had moved south from Baltimore — said that they agreed with Frazier. Four days later, Sherman issued Special Field Order No. 15, after President Lincoln approved it.
What Became of the Land That Was Promised?
The response to the Order was immediate. When the transcript of the meeting was reprinted in the black publication Christian Recorder, an editorial note intoned that “From this it will be seen that the colored people down South are not so dumb as many suppose them to be,” reflecting North-South, slave-free black class tensions that continued well into the modern civil rights movement. The effect throughout the South was electric: As Eric Foner explains, “the freedmen hastened to take advantage of the Order.” Baptist minister Ulysses L. Houston, one of the group that had met with Sherman, led 1,000 blacks to Skidaway Island, Ga., where they established a self-governing community with Houston as the “black governor.” And by June, “40,000 freedmen had been settled on 400,000 acres of ‘Sherman Land.’ ” By the way, Sherman later ordered that the army could lend the new settlers mules; hence the phrase, “40 acres and a mule.”
And what happened to this astonishingly visionary program, which would have fundamentally altered the course of American race relations? Andrew Johnson, Lincoln’s successor and a sympathizer with the South, overturned the Order in the fall of 1865, and, as Barton Myers sadly concludes, “returned the land along the South Carolina, Georgia and Florida coasts to the planters who had originally owned it” — to the very people who had declared war on the United States of America.
Adapted from Article Authored by Henry Louis Gates Jr. ( the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and the director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Research at Harvard University. He is also the editor-in-chief of website, The Root.)
To unify with one another, we must first find (and embrace) common ground that we as a people have come to understand…our current culture provides for one. Kwanzaa is our first established holiday that acknowledges our African and American (Black) Heritage, Culture and Presence as a People that Exist in Today’s Consciousness using Principles We Can Agree to Implement…
The seven principles, or Nguzo Saba are a set of ideals created by Dr. Maulana Karenga. Each day of Kwanzaa, emphasizes a different principle. The Dates of Celebration are from December 26 – January 1:
Unity: Umoja (oo–MO–jah) To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
Self-determination: Kujichagulia (koo–gee–cha–goo–LEE–yah) To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.
Collective Work and Responsibility: Ujima (oo–GEE–mah) To build and maintain our community together and make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and to solve them together.
Cooperative Economics: Ujamaa (oo–JAH–mah) To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.
Purpose: Nia (nee–YAH) To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
Creativity: Kuumba (koo–OOM–bah) To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
Faith: Imani (ee–MAH–nee) To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
Negro Motorist book used during Jim Crow Era…In 1936 a Harlem postal worker and activist named Victor H. Green decided to develop a guide that would help African Americans travel throughout the country in a safe and comfortable manner. The Negro Motorist Green Book (also called The Negro Travelers’ Green Book), often simply known as The Green Book, identified places that welcomed black people during an era when Jim Crow laws and de facto segregation made it difficult for them to travel domestically without fear of racial backlash.
The Green Book listed businesses and places of interest such as nightclubs, beauty salons, barbershops, gas stations and garages that catered to black road-trippers. For almost three decades, travelers could request (for just 10 cents’ postage) and receive a guide from Green. Eventually the guide expanded to encompass information about Canada and Mexico.
Like users of today’s popular recommendation sites such as TripAdvisor, travelers collected information during their journeys, which they shared with Green and his team of editors. The data were then incorporated into future editions. “Historically, The Green Book falls in line with the underreported activism of black postal workers and the heightened awareness of driving while black in certain regions of the country,” says Robert Smith, associate professor of African-American and civil rights history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “Although many think of this book in historical terms, the challenges facing black travelers then resonate with black travelers now, particularly as it relates to racial profiling and stop-and-frisk laws.”
The girls of our Community Enrichment Project held a cook off!
They each choose a mystery bowl in which contained a variety of ingredients which had to be used. They were able to use simple garnishments and seasonings of their choice.
They created incredible dishes! Batter dipped Chicken breasts, Dressing, Fried Salad, Tomato Bisque with Avacado, Potatoes Green Beans and Bacon, and Cheese Bread with Lemonade…umm umm
Aliyah won Best Tasting; Santi won Best Creativity; and Amiyah won Best Presentation. Beautiful!
There are many things you can do to start your children with learning how to cook. This is also a creative way to use the odds and ends in your pantry. Encourage and Inspire (and get some help) during cooking time!
“With God, everything is possible!” is Mrs. Kathryn S. McKinney’s personal faith declaration. The firm belief that there are no impossibilities with God has enabled her to be a success at professional and ministerial endeavors she has embarked upon.
Growing up in the heart of Los Angeles, California and attending Langston University, a Historical Black University in Oklahoma, and later attending Azusa World Ministry Training Institute, in Phoenix, Arizona, has given her a broad prospective of her societal responsibilities. She has been inspired by an array of mentors from Myles Munroe and Maya Angelou, to Xan Lundgold.
Kathryn recognized that her desire to be a servant, coupled with her entrepreneurial spirit could purposefully integrate the world with God’s business!
Kathryn, during a 12-year career in nursing, became the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities for the City of Glendale in Arizona.
During her career, she started Guardian’s Choice Healthcare, a staffing agency that met the healthcare needs of disabled children in the Glendale Unified High School District, the Upward Foundation, MGA Pediatric Home health, and various healthcare facilities and schools within the state of Arizona.
Kathryn authored the state’s nursing policy and procedure manual for schools that service children with disabilities.
Kathryn also pioneered the medical food and supply exchange, which services the low-income disabled children in the metro Phoenix, and Glendale areas.
Kathryn has gone on to diversified her portfolio by establishing Kat and Dodie’s Catering, in which she was employed by General Electric, America’s Baseball Camps, and Bio Source of Arizona.
While she feeds people naturally, she also feeds people spiritually and has created an inspirational section titled, “The Faith Forum” in the Write Up, an urban newspaper circulated throughout Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada.
Writing has proved to be a very effective method of ministry for Mrs. Kathryn S. McKinney, as it has enabled her to reach a diverse and national audience, through national magazines like the Black Atlas and her very own nationally acclaimed The International Black Women of Faith Association when she is the Founder / CEO.
Kathryn found a voice and a great joy in writing. She continues to inspire people on her internet blog at www.findyourpurposehere.com.
Through personal experience, she knows walking in purpose creates manifold blessings, and she strives to help others find that place of peace and increase.
Her passion for purposeful living prompted the creation of the International Black Women of Faith Association (BWF), Arizona’s largest social network of Black women, in October 2010.
As Founder, President and CEO, Kathryn brings awareness to women, by encouraging them to unearth, unveil, and uncover their own personal purpose through the thoughtful expression and exploration of their gifts and talents.
Kathryn proposes to cultivate a mindset of moral and social responsibility towards GOD first, our families, communities, and world.
She has been charged by God to gather women together online and off to uplift, their spirits through the BWF website and Facebook group pages that serve as a place of encouragement, intercessory prayer, and as an advertising platform for professional black executives of God.
Kathryn S. McKinney is an anointed woman of GOD highly sought after for strategies in consulting, planning, promotions, and directing of various events.
Kathryn knows that praise, prayer, and the pursuit of purpose, is what it will take to release our communities, our States, Our Nation and our world from bondage!
Kathryn knows the most important thing in our lives today is the praise and the worship of THE GOD of no impossibilities!
The tragic statistics our communities suffer from, holds onto our children in its numbers. But, this community is destined to reverse its fate!
The Community Enrichment Program (CEP), directed by Kathryn
McKinney, is determined to alleviate the community of its projected failure, and replace it with its purposed future. The Rose Terrace Apartments, a HUD Community in Avondale, Arizona, was on the verge of losing its summer lunch program, due to lack of participation, when Mckinney stepped in, and began implementation of an eight week curriculum created to instill hope, service, and faith in the parents and children.
The CEP is a summer academic and activity based program that interweaves history, culture, discipline, manners, goal setting, higher education, and commitment throughout i
t’s curriculum. This program reaches an average of 50 students per day, providing lunch to its participants, and instruction in the week’s activities.
The curriculum is a conglomerate of Black and National Histories, focusing on the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Emancipation Proclamation. It also focuses on Current Events, Careers, and Writing. Since the induction of this program, others have taken in some of the action! The Athletic Advantage Association, and the Phoenix Youth Football Association has added this site to their roster, with the inclusion of deeply discounted rates for our children. This CEP has also created a co-ed Performing Drill/Dance/Step team hosting acclaimed name, “The Southwest Show Steppers”. Some of the exceptional children of this site, have formed a Journalism Club, and will feature their own articles in their online newspaper for Children named, The New Black Citizen.
The CEP, is open to all children and is held each weekday, from 1-4 pm, at the Rose Terrace Activity Center in the urban area of Avondale, Arizona. Join Us!
FIFTY YEARS
(1863 - 1913)
O brothers mine, to-day we stand
Where half a century sweeps our ken,
Since God, through Lincoln’s ready hand,
Struck off our bonds and made us men.
Just fifty years—a winter’s day—
As runs the history of a race;
Yet, as we look back o’er the way,
How distant seems our starting place!
Look farther back! Three centuries!
To where a naked, shivering score,
Snatched from their haunts across the seas,
Stood, wild-eyed, on Virginia’s shore.
Far, far the way that we have trod,
From heathen kraals and jungle dens,
To freedmen, freemen, sons of God,
Americans and Citizens.
A part of His unknown design,
We’ve lived within a mighty age;
And we have helped to write a line
On history’s most wondrous page.
A few black bondmen strewn along
The borders of our eastern coast,
Now grown a race, ten million strong,
An upward, onward marching host.
Then let us here erect a stone,
To mark the place, to mark the time;
A witness to God’s mercies shown,
A pledge to hold this day sublime.
And let that stone an altar be,
Whereon thanksgivings we may lay,
Where we, in deep humility,
For faith and strength renewed may pray.
With open hearts ask from above
New zeal, new courage and new pow’rs,
That we may grow more worthy of
This country and this land of ours.
For never let the thought arise
That we are here on sufferance bare;
Outcasts, asylumed ’neath these skies,
And aliens without part or share.
This land is ours by right of birth,
This land is ours by right of toil;
We helped to turn its virgin earth,
Our sweat is in its fruitful soil.
Where once the tangled forest stood,—
Where flourished once rank weed and thorn,—
Behold the path-traced, peaceful wood,
The cotton white, the yellow corn.
To gain these fruits that have been earned,
To hold these fields that have been won,
Our arms have strained, our backs have burned,
Bent bare beneath a ruthless sun.
That Banner which is now the type
Of victory on field and flood—
Remember, its first crimson stripe
Was dyed by Attucks’ willing blood.
And never yet has come the cry—
When that fair flag has been assailed—
For men to do, for men to die,
That have we faltered or have failed.
We’ve helped to bear it, rent and torn,
Through many a hot-breath’d battle breeze;
Held in our hands, it has been borne
And planted far across the seas.
And never yet—O haughty Land,
Let us, at least, for this be praised—
Has one black, treason-guided hand
Ever against that flag been raised.
Then should we speak but servile words,
Or shall we hang our heads in shame?
Stand back of new-come foreign hordes,
And fear our heritage to claim?
No! stand erect and without fear,
And for our foes let this suffice—
We’ve bought a rightful sonship here,
And we have more than paid the price.
And yet, my brothers, well I know
The tethered feet, the pinioned wings,
The spirit bowed beneath the blow,
The heart grown faint from wounds and stings;
The staggering force of brutish might,
That strikes and leaves us stunned and daezd;
The long, vain waiting through the night
To hear some voice for justice raised.
Full well I know the hour when hope
Sinks dead, and ’round us everywhere
Hangs stifling darkness, and we grope
With hands uplifted in despair.
Courage! Look out, beyond, and see
The far horizon’s beckoning span!
Faith in your God-known destiny!
We are a part of some great plan.
Because the tongues of Garrison
And Phillips now are cold in death,
Think you their work can be undone?
Or quenched the fires lit by their breath?
Think you that John Brown’s spirit stops?
That Lovejoy was but idly slain?
Or do you think those precious drops
From Lincoln’s heart were shed in vain?
That for which millions prayed and sighed,
That for which tens of thousands fought,
For which so many freely died,
God cannot let it come to naught.
This Apology Letter was Addressed to Blacks on June 18, 2009.
Whereas during the history of the Nation, the United States has grown into a symbol of democracy and freedom around the world; (Referred to House Committee after being Received from Senate)
SCON 26 RFH
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. CON. RES. 26
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 18, 2009 Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
——————————————————————————–
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Apologizing for the enslavement and racial segregation of African-Americans.
Whereas during the history of the Nation, the United States has grown into a symbol of democracy and freedom around the world;
Whereas the legacy of African-Americans is interwoven with the very fabric of the democracy and freedom of the United States;
Whereas millions of Africans and their descendants were enslaved in the United States and the 13 American colonies from 1619 through 1865;
Whereas Africans forced into slavery were brutalized, humiliated, dehumanized, and subjected to the indignity of being stripped of their names and heritage;
Whereas many enslaved families were torn apart after family members were sold separately;
Whereas the system of slavery and the visceral racism against people of African descent upon which it depended became enmeshed in the social fabric of the United States;
Whereas slavery was not officially abolished until the ratification of the 13th amendment to the Constitution of the United States in 1865, after the end of the Civil War;
Whereas after emancipation from 246 years of slavery, African-Americans soon saw the fleeting political, social, and economic gains they made during Reconstruction eviscerated by virulent racism, lynchings, disenfranchisement, Black Codes, and racial segregation laws that imposed a rigid system of officially sanctioned racial segregation in virtually all areas of life;
Whereas the system of de jure racial segregation known as `Jim Crow’, which arose in certain parts of the United States after the Civil War to create separate and unequal societies for Whites and African-Americans, was a direct result of the racism against people of African descent that was engendered by slavery;
Whereas the system of Jim Crow laws officially existed until the 1960s–a century after the official end of slavery in the United States–until Congress took action to end it, but the vestiges of Jim Crow continue to this day;
Whereas African-Americans continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery and Jim Crow laws–long after both systems were formally abolished–through enormous damage and loss, both tangible and intangible, including the loss of human dignity and liberty;
Whereas the story of the enslavement and de jure segregation of African-Americans and the dehumanizing atrocities committed against them should not be purged from or minimized in the telling of the history of the United States;
Whereas those African-Americans who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow laws, and their descendants, exemplify the strength of the human character and provide a model of courage, commitment, and perseverance;
Whereas on July 8, 2003, during a trip to Goree Island, Senegal, a former slave port, President George W. Bush acknowledged the continuing legacy of slavery in life in the United States and the need to confront that legacy, when he stated that slavery `was . . . one of the greatest crimes of history . . . The racial bigotry fed by slavery did not end with slavery or with segregation. And many of the issues that still trouble America have roots in the bitter experience of other times. But however long the journey, our destiny is set: liberty and justice for all.’;
Whereas President Bill Clinton also acknowledged the deep-seated problems caused by the continuing legacy of racism against African-Americans that began with slavery, when he initiated a national dialogue about race;
Whereas an apology for centuries of brutal dehumanization and injustices cannot erase the past, but confession of the wrongs committed and a formal apology to African-Americans will help bind the wounds of the Nation that are rooted in slavery and can speed racial healing and reconciliation and help the people of the United States understand the past and honor the history of all people of the United States;
Whereas the legislatures of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the States of Alabama, Florida, Maryland, and North Carolina have taken the lead in adopting resolutions officially expressing appropriate remorse for slavery, and other State legislatures are considering similar resolutions; and
Whereas it is important for the people of the United States, who legally recognized slavery through the Constitution and the laws of the United States, to make a formal apology for slavery and for its successor, Jim Crow, so they can move forward and seek reconciliation, justice, and harmony for all people of the United States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That the sense of the Congress is the following:
(1) APOLOGY FOR THE ENSLAVEMENT AND SEGREGATION OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS- The Congress–
(A) acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow laws;
(B) apologizes to African-Americans on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow laws; and
(C) expresses its recommitment to the principle that all people are created equal and endowed with inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and calls on all people of the United States to work toward eliminating racial prejudices, injustices, and discrimination from our society.
(2) DISCLAIMER- Nothing in this resolution–
(A) authorizes or supports any claim against the United States; or
(B) serves as a settlement of any claim against the United States. Passed the Senate June 18, 2009.
According to Statistics, many Black men suffer from Post Traumatic Syndrome, which lands them in prison due to violent crimes.
When committing these crimes, an emotional stage of fly or flight sets in. A series of thoughts of rage overtakes them and they become victims of an innocent turned passionate yet angry crime.
The problem lies here…when men do something of this nature they are usually diagnosed as psycho or sociopaths, and receive the needed treatment and rehab in medical facilities. Most Black men are never properly assessed, evaluated, or treated and suffer from more than life sentences where they will have to continue to fight to live, never finding peace or content with themselves or crimes committed towards others.
This gives basis to believe that many Black men criminally charged, should have records reviewed for proper assessment and diagnosis, to ensure they have been properly assessed and treated for mental illness they have no control or responsibility over.
Traditions unknowingly hold fast in the Black culture. One such tradition is the schoolyard game of Hopscotch!
This game, once played in slave quarters, slipped through the cracks of slavery and has embedded itself into our society by way of our childhood.
Around the world, children have enjoy drawing grids on the sidewalk or on the ground and then jumping or hopping from one end of the grid to the other. There are many different types of grids that are drawn. Some are squared,like the one in the photo. Others are round and curl in a circle. Still others are a large square with many small squares inside.
How to Play the Game
Hopscotch has many variations. This is how it is played in South Africa. Find South Africa on your map. Player 1 stands in the semicircle and places a stone in the first rectangle. The player hops in on one foot and with the same foot kicks the stone to the second rectangle. The player continues doing this up the hopscotch without stopping. However, if the player does not hop, falls, or kicks the stone into the wrong area or outside the hopscotch, that turn is over. It isn’t as easy as it sounds. When a player is successful at reaching the semicircle above rectangle 4, she or he jumps into the semicircle and says “Ara-uru!” (Hoorah!), picks up their stone, and hops back down the hopscotch, landing with two feet on the opening semicircle. Then, with their back to the hopscotch, the player tosses the stone into it. A circle is drawn where the stone lands, if it lands on the hopscotch. No player may land on any part of that circle in future turns.
(Materials: stones and chalk OR masking tape to mark the hopscotch indoors)
Harlem Hopscotch by Maya Angelou
One foot down, then hop! It’s hot.
Good things for the ones that’s got.
Another jump, now to the left.
Everybody for hisself.
In the air, now both feet down.
Since you black, don’t stick around.
Food is gone, the rent is due,
Curse and cry and then jump two.
All the people out of work,
Hold for three, then twist and jerk.
Cross the line, they count you out.
That’s what hopping’s all about.
Both feet flat, the game is done.
They think I lost. I think I won.
Young men, of the village Tlokweng, share with visitors their traditional wedding Setswana Dance.
A team of young men entertain the crowd with an exciting piece of traditional setswana dance during a wedding inTlokweng..Enjoy the scincillating performance!
BRITTNEY GRINER
McKinney, is determined to alleviate the community of its projected failure, and replace it with its purposed future. The Rose Terrace Apartments, a HUD Community in Avondale, Arizona, was on the verge of losing its summer lunch program, due to lack of participation, when Mckinney stepped in, and began implementation of an eight week curriculum created to instill hope, service, and faith in the parents and children.
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