Hate Crimes and Justice in the Black Community

Note: Today’s blog is written by a special quest. Melissa Harris-Lacewell is Associate Professor of Politics and African American Studies at Princeton University. She received her B.A. in English from Wake Forest University, her Ph.D. in political science from Duke University and an honorary doctorate from Meadville Lombard Theological School. She is also a student at Union Theological Seminary in New York.

She is author Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought, (Princeton 2004). I’m featured in the section that examines the Black church role in molding political ideologies. The work was awarded the 2005 W.E.B. DuBois book award from the National Conference of Black Political Scientists. It is also the winner of the 2005 Best Book Award from the Race and Ethnic Politics Section of the American Political Science Association. Her academic research has been published in scholarly journals and edited volumes and her interests include the study of African American political thought, black religious ideas and practice, and social and clinical psychology. She is at work on a new book: For Colored Girls Who've Considered Politics When Being Strong Wasn't Enough. It is an examination of the connections between shame, sadness, and strength in African American women's politics.

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Black Christians understand justice. Rooted in a history of struggle against oppression the black church has historically led the nation in a moral quest for human dignity and freedom. Unfortunately, some outspoken African-American clergy have rejected the moral vision of black Christianity by fueling anti-gay prejudice in their opposition to the Matthew Shepard Act. These African-American preachers are more interested in the media spotlight than in honoring the black Christian tradition of justice.

Poised for a vote in the Senate, the Matthew Shepard Act extends federal hate crime protections to citizens who are violently victimized because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. It provides local law enforcement with the resources to thoroughly investigate heinous, bias-fueled crimes. Intending to shift public opinion against this bill, a few conservative African-American pastors are working overtime--through protests and provocative advertisements--to spread the false message that this legislation will criminalize them for condemning gay people.

It is time for black Christians to speak out against this distorted and ugly campaign against the Matthew Shepard Act. The proposed federal statute does not punish nor prohibit free expression of one’s religious beliefs. The hate crimes bill includes language protecting individuals from race-based and religion-based crimes as well. The Act protects first Amendment rights for everyone while ensuring that the authorities fully investigate all violent crimes intended to degrade and oppress their victims. The bill protects our children, because black youth are proportionately targeted and victimized in anti-gay hate crimes.

Homophobic black clergy do not speak for the entire black Christian community. Though they receive dramatically less media attention than Bishop Harry Jackson, many African-American religious leaders are encouraging acceptance and inclusion in their congregations and communities. African-American Christians have long resisted readings of the Bible that exclude and oppress. Enslaved blacks were admonished to “obey their masters” but they believed the story of Moses leading his people from bondage. Jim Crow religion told black people to be silent about oppression because the” meek shall inherit the earth," but Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. called for “justice to run down like waters and righteousness as a mighty and ever-flowing stream.” Lamentably, as the Matthew Shepard Act debate has illustrated, the Black religious voices urging inclusion and respect rarely receive as much media notice as those preaching division and bigotry.

To be sure, there is still much work to be done before homophobia ceases to cause pain and division. African-American gay men and lesbians continue to find themselves marginalized in some churches and in the mainstream black media. On the news, a handful of Black athletes and performers received enormous media attention after making hateful anti-gay statements this year. While homophobia remains a serious and pernicious problem across this nation, it's important for us to recognize that there are far more people within the black religious community who support equality and dignity for gay people than the media has given credit. The public--especially those young people who are now recognizing their sexual orientation and gender identity--should know that those who preach bigotry in their unfounded assault on the Matthew Shepard Act do not define the level of open-mindedness and acceptance in the African-American religious community.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote from a letter from a Birmingham jail to express his grave disappointment in his fellow clergy because they failed to support eh struggle for equal rights and human dignity. Let us now register our equal disappointment with the intolerance or homophobic clergy in our community. When asked why he’d come to Birmingham, King wrote “I am here because injustice is here.” When asked why we support the Matthew Shepard Act black Christians can respond the same.

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Melissa Harris-Lacewell will participate in a symposium entitled: "Sites of Struggle: Centering African-American Women in Politics and Culture" on Monday, October 8 from 5-7 pm in the Hitchcock Room of UNC's Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History on the campus of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

The Katrina Project: A Spirit that Will Not Be Washed Away

Whatever happened to all that talent down in New Orleans? I will never forget the time spent in the Crescent city to unwind and reflect. Cajun country has a way of reminding me of the power of creativity.

The music, the food, the architecture, the ocean- combined to soothe my aching soul in a way unlike any other place. When the levies broke and the water rose flooding years of evolving culture, the mood of the nation sunk with the constant images of countless broken people.

Their tears pierced a part of each of us. Many wanted to do more to aid those who miraculously escaped the venom of Katrina. They could not stay there. After days of abandonment, they finally made the voyage to safe haven. All of us were impacted by the uprooting of Cajun land.

What happened to the voices of these people? The sound of the trumpet and the beat of many drums have been transported to other places. With the uprooting of this unique culture comes the emergence of a new voice. A voice molded in the hub of pain. New songs unfold. New dances leap across the stage to express the bitterness related to being forced to find a new home.

What happened to all talent? Uprooted: The Katrina Project is a collaboration of Gulf Coast musicians, dancers and poets, relocated by Hurricane Katrina, who share their profound stories of enduring after the waters settled down.

The spirit of New Orleans can not be washed away, is the message of the Katrina Project. This work is at the forefront of a relief effort focused on energizing and rebuilding communities. The event takes center stage at The Carolina Theatre in Durham, NC on Friday, September 28 and again on Saturday, September 29. Show time for both days is 8:00 p.m.

In connection with the show, The Carolina Theatre will present community outreach events with the artist from the show on Friday, September 28 at 12:30 p.m. at the Durham Center for Senior Life and 4:30 p.m. at the Durham School of the Arts.

The show and the community events should provide much needed insight into the twinge that comes with witnessing the shifting of a significant culture. The uprooting of New Orleans has impact beyond the placement of people to new communities. It is a city within a nation with a culture of its own. The food of the city is its own. The music and dance have been formed over years of experiences. The language is an inimitable blend of French influence and localized vernacular.

We, those who loved to visit, came because the city offered a break from normalcy. It was our escape away from a community void of a rare identity. Much of what we know and celebrate is borrowed from those who made their way to our cities.

They have joined us in our bland communities. They bring with them that special edge to life. Their uprooting is our gift, for they bring their culture to us. Oh, what a gift to us! With it comes a challenge-never let go of the power of culture. It is what makes each of us special. The assimilation of cultures can mean the death of a unique expression.

The lesson is simple. We must rebuild New Orleans. There are no other cities like it in America. Shame on us if we’re forced to say to our children’s children, there once was a place called New Orleans. Those were the good ole days. Then came a flood and it has never been the same since.

The Public Transportation Blues

The next time you think about getting down with the homies by riding the city bus, take a few pills and rest until you get over that notion.

In my quest to be green conscious, I have decided to exert more energy into walking and riding public transportation versus jumping into the old SUV to get from place to place. Yes, getting rid of the SUV and purchasing a hybrid is on my list of things to do.

The problem with public transportation in Durham, North Carolina is the amount of time it takes to get from place to place. The system isn’t designed for those who have busy lives. If you want to get from point A to point B you must, and again I say you must, give yourself an hour or so to make the trip.

One can come to expect all of that. What took me by surprise during my journey from downtown Durham to near the old South Square area and back was the total lack of understanding coming from the people who drive and manage the buses.

My story began as expected. I was dropped off at the corner of University Drive and Shannon Road. My destination was close to a mile away on the other side of 15-501. Maybe there was a bus that could have gotten me closer, but hey, I don’t do this everyday. Somebody help a brother out.

I gladly made my way in the ninety degree heat. No problem, I’m in good physical condition and walking is good for you. I took care of my business and made my way back near the corner of Shannon Road and University Drive to catch the bus headed back (one hour later) to the downtown terminal. Since I live downtown, everything seemed easy. I sat waiting and thinking, hey, I can do this.

The bus was on schedule. I made my way to the middle of the bus (I refuse to sit in the back. Rosa Parks fought too hard for me to go back there), closed my eyes and imagined the lives of the other people on the bus.

The bus picked up a woman with child. Things were fine until she screams, “You not going to go to….”

“It’s not on my schedule,” the driver responds.

“Yes it is! You’re supposed to go there. This is the last bus to go there today,” the angry but confident passenger pleaded.

The dispute goes back and forth until the passenger calls the DATA office. I was amused that she had the number memorized. “He wants to talk to you,” she shouts after a brief conversation.

The driver pulled to the side of the road. It was clear from the tone of the conversation that the old adage applied in this case-the customer is always right. She was, so the driver made the detour to take the passenger to the requested place.

The moans on the bus began. “What about us!” a man filling out a crossword puzzle with a pen shouted. I was impressed that he had the confidence to use a pen versus pencil.

“This is Bull _ _ _ _,” another man complained. It didn’t matter. We were headed back. No recourse for those on the bus. No I’m sorry coming from the bus driver who made the mistake.

“I’m gonna miss the 6:30 bus and be late for work,” the man with the crossword puzzle yelled. “I’m getting sick of this.”

Sick of what I wondered. The reporter in me took over. “Is it like this all the time,” I asked.

“Buses break down, sometimes there’s no air or heat,” the puzzle master responded. “We have no option. What else can we do?”

We made our way toward the downtown connection. As we approached we saw the 6:30 p.m. buses take passengers to their destination. “Damn, we missed the bus,” the collective moan of frustration echoed throughout the bus.

As I made my way off the bus to make the short walk to my place, I expected, no, I hoped to find someone waiting to apologize for the mistake. Someone to offer a free ride the next time we decided to use the bus. Someone to say something, anything for the mistake that caused some to be late for work.

What’s the lesson in all of this? There are no apologies and explanations for those who ride the bus. They’re treated like none of it matters.

The next day I drove my SUV.

Black Power-Again!

Thursday, September 20 is black Thursday. By now, thousands of people from across the nation have boarded buses headed to a little bitty town in Louisiana-Jena.

Jena is on the national radar screen due to a series of incidents reminiscent of great granddaddy’s ole south. From a noose hanging from what is called “The White Tree” (due to the unwritten rule forbidding colored folks from sitting underneath it), the District Attorney giving a firm warning of what happens when “you people” refuse to do what we say -"I can make your lives disappear with a stroke of my pen," a black student being assaulted by a white adult as he entered a predominately white party. After being struck in the face, the young black student was assaulted by white students brandishing beer bottles and was punched and kicked before adults broke up the fight. Are you tired yet?

Things came to a boil when a white student, Justin Barker (later arrested for having a rifle with 13 bullets in his trunk on school property) was attacked by a group of black students. Less than an hour later six black students were arrested and charged with aggravated battery. Not good enough. Due to complaints coming from disgruntled teachers, the District Attorney upped the charges on the six boys to attempted second-degree murder.

Sadly, this story has lacked national press attention. In previous blogs, I compared this travesty of justice to the Duke Lacrosse Rape case, where the press stayed parked in front of the Durham Court house until all the dust in the city made its way to Nebraska. This case proves that the face of those charged makes a difference when it comes to how aggressive editors pursue the story.

In another blog, I chastised Barack Obama for taking too long to get down to Jena to put pressure on the power players to rethink the case. My attack of Obama was based on the ease in which he put his fresh nose into the Duke Lacrosse Rape case. It didn’t take long after being sworn in as Senator for him to write a letter to the state Attorney General about the happenings with that case.

The bottom line is this. On Thursday, September 20, there is no story more important than this one. This is bigger than the case against six boys being railroaded to prison while white boys are overlooked for their role in the conflict. This is about two dissimilar systems of justice in American. There’s the system for the privileged, and there’s the one where JUST US can be found.

Thursday, September 20 is a day of national protest. For those who can’t get on the bus, it’s time to go old school. Wear all black and raise that black power sign. The protest isn’t limited to black people. Anyone who hates what’s taking place in Jena should stand in solidarity by wearing black.

Enough is enough. Let’s go down there and show them who’s their daddy!

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Youth, Students, Parents, Labor & Community Activists and allJustice-minded Neighbors who cannot go to Jena, Louisiana to showsupport for the Jena 6 are invited to come out to a:Solidarity RallyThursday; September 20, 20076:00pm at theFruit of Labor World Cultural Center4200 Lake Ridge Drive; Raleigh, NC

Lock Him Up!

I can hear the echo of a collective cheer. “We told you he was a crook,” Americans from coast to coast are screaming in celebration of the arrest of the countries most notorious getaway artist-O.J. Simpson.

Who can forget the verdict that had African Americans rejoicing and others shaking their heads? This one was a draw in that the civil case found him liable for the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in the amount of $33.5 million.

‘The Juice” was arrested on Sunday and charged with six felony counts in connection with a reported hotel-room robbery. Two sport memorabilia dealers told police that Simpson and five other men burst into their room at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino. Several of the men were flaunting guns and seized various mementos, including several autographed by Simpson.

Simpson claims that he was conducting a “sting operation” to retrieve property that had been taken from him years earlier by a former sports agent. “I’m O.J. Simpson. How am I going to think that I’m going to rob somebody and get away with it,” he told the L.A. Times in a story published on Sunday. “You’ve got to understand, this ain’t somebody going to steal somebody’s drugs or something like that. This is somebody going to get his private [belongs] back. That’s it. That’s not robbery.”

His arrest comes on the heals of the release of his controversial book “If I Did It” which breaks Orenthal James Simpson’s self-imposed silence and tells, in his own words, the events leading up to and the aftermath of the murders. Now, more than ever, the public is convinced he belongs behind iron bars.

Maybe Orenthal doesn’t understand that all of those laws apply to him. Maybe, in a sick way, he believes he’s provided a do not go to jail card for killing people and robbing folks at gun point. Maybe he thinks that being insensitive enough to write a book about the deaths of his former wife will have no emotional impact on his children. It’s not funny to joke about how you would have done it if you would have done it-heee heee. I’m only kidding people, come on laugh with me, I didn’t do it, I’m only speculating on how I would have done it. Is that what he wants us to believe?

“The Juice” has lost the juice in my eyes and has been demoted to Kool Aide status for that case of poor judgment. My vote says put him in jail. Lock him up for writing the book. Lock him up for thinking his brand of vigilantly justice is a legitimate defense. Maybe that’s been his problem all along. He never grew up. He’s operating with the assumption that you go get your toys when the bad guys take them away. Since that Goldman dude took his toy-his wife-in his mind he can kill. Since his memorabilia was taken he can get some Jesse and Frank James wanna be’s to go and fetch his goods.

They may have been in Vegas, but this isn’t the ole West we see in those Clint Eastwood movies. Hmm, maybe his days as an actor have messed with his ability to distinguish truth from fiction. Whatever the case, I can hear the roars coming from over yonder. We got his ass this time! Anyone seen a white bronco headed down the highway?

Changing the rules is part of the game

I suppose the rules don’t matter when you’re trying to cover a mess that you created. Gov. Mike Easley has appointed David Saacks District Attorney in Durham, NC. The move seems to be a stroke of genius. Saacks lives in Wake County, meaning he can’t run for the office when it comes time for voters to decide on who will hold the office. There’s one major hurdle. A new law signed by Gov. Easley on August 19 states, “a person appointed to fill a vacancy in an elective office must be eligible to vote for that office if an election was held on the date of appointment.”

The law makes it clear that Saacks can’t serve; however, the Governor is arguing that he has the authority to over rule the very law he signed. This most recent addition to the Duke Lacrosse debacle proves again that regulations are made to be broken when those with power opt to change their mind.

On paper, the selection of Saacks seems to be the best thing for Durham. That is if you live outside of Durham, and care less about maintaining credibility of the merits of the office. The Governor, in selecting Saacks and snubbing the law he signed, is making a critical statement regarding the worth of estimable prosecutors who have residence in Durham County.

The maneuver appears as a decision intended to assure this appointee doesn’t run for the office. That’s the mistake Gov. Easley made in choosing Mike Nifong to replace Jim Hardin when he was appointed to serve as Superior Court Judge. We’re told the unwritten agreement was that Nifong wouldn’t run for the office. It’s hard to believe that Nifong is stupid enough to renege on a deal with the Governor.

If appointing a person who refuses to run for the office is priority number one, and doing so is important enough to overlook the laws that you deem important, than the voters of Durham have some important questions that need to be answered.

For one, why is it so important to leave it up to the voters to decide on who should serve as District Attorney. Shouldn’t the Governor help identify a person who can serve not only on an interim basis, but has the credentials to hold the office for the long haul? What’s wrong with exerting strong leadership and helping Mr. and Ms. Average Joe and Jane Citizen think through who is out their worthy of holding the office?

By selecting an outsider, Easley gets off the hot seat by cleaning his hands of a mess he helped to create by first, appointing Hardin to a judgeship and then making a deal, supposedly, with Mike Nifong. He has paved the way for Freda Black to walk into the office by failing to identify one of the strong candidates within the district attorney’s office.

I was hoping voters would get a chance to see that person serve on a trail basis. Give us the opportunity to get to know the person the Governor believes has the leadership qualities needed to function in the office. I was hoping Tracy Kline would get her chance to shine. Durham deserves more than a band-aid to cover the damage caused by a series of bad decisions coming from Gov. Mike Easley.

We want a person who lives in Durham to serve as district attorney. Why should we embrace a person to serve the people of Durham who isn’t committed enough live in the county that pays his bills? Saacks residency in Wake County speaks to his thoughts regarding Durham. He doesn’t want his children going to school there. He doesn’t feel good about the quality of life in Durham, so he opts to live in Cary, NC instead.

From all accounts he’s a great guy. He has a sound reputation as a prosecutor. All of that may be true, but if he wants to lead the people of Durham, he needs to live in Durham. Voters need to see an investment in the community where you work. He needs to show a high level of familiarity to the community that enables him to serve. If the county believes in you enough to hire you, then you should believe in that same county enough to find a home there.

Gov. Mike Easley has wiped his hands clean of the problems within the district attorney office. The voters of Durham should scrutinize this appointment for the underlying assumptions made. One, there’s no one in Durham good enough to serve. Two, when it comes to Durham, NC. residency rules don’t apply because no one, some think, in their right mind would live there. And, three, laws are signed with the understanding they can be changed at any time-especially when it comes to the folks over in Durham, NC.

We deserve much more than that!

Not a penny!

Oh, no they didn’t! I’ve been patient in watching the unraveling of the Duke Lacrosse rape fiasco, but now those boys and their parents have forced me to roll up my shelves and take them to the woodshed.

It wasn’t enough that Roy Cooper, the States Attorney General, decided to drop all charges against Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann, now they have the audacity to sue the city of Durham, North Carolina for a whopping $30 million. No, it wasn’t enough to have Mike Nifong disbarred and thrown in jail for 24 hours. It wasn’t enough to settle things with Duke University for their role in jumping too soon to dismiss them from school. Now, they want to force the 210,000 residents of Durham to pay an estimated $142 each for the police department’s role in the mess.

If I had my say in all of this, and I don’t, I wouldn’t give them a penny. Those boys and their parents have done a great job of convincing people of their innocence. They have become the national poster boys for the pain caused from prosecutorial misconduct. They want you to think they deserve some compensation for being the targets of the national media and the symbols of white arrogance. I’m not buying it.

As much as I’m willing to admit an injustice in this case, I will not fork up a dime to pay them for Mike Nifong’s mistake. I will concede no one in that house raped or kidnapped that woman, but a number of crimes were committed. Those boys aren’t innocent. They are innocent of the charges they faced, but these boys are not the victims of a ploy to destroy them. What happened to them is a consequence of their placing themselves within an environment where bad things happened.

Something happened in that house. Black women were called bad names. Someone made a comment about a broom stick. Someone thanked one of the girl’s grandparents for picking the cotton that made their shirt. Boys under the age of 21 were drinking, and they had called and employed the services of two exotic dancers.

Have we forgotten this wasn’t the first encounter members of the Duke Lacrosse team had with the Durham police department? The former coach of the team has written a book critical of officials at Duke for kicking him out based on an assumption of guilt. Please, please help me understand his position. From what I remember he was dismissed not because of what may have happened that night, but rather because of a series of altercations that had gone unchecked.

Have we forgotten that Duke University purchased homes in the Trinity Park community shortly before the fetus hit the revolving apparatus; due to complaints coming from the residents in the Trinity Park community? Duke decided to take matters into their own hands by acquiring property to give them greater control over what happened.

I have an issue with the language of innocence applied in this case. Even more critical is the application of recompense when the victims possess the resources needed to fight the system. How much did Daryl Hunt get paid after spending time in prison for a crime he didn’t commit? Why is it that the District Attorney in that case has maintained his license to practice law and now holds a position as an assistant in the Attorney General’s office? I’m steaming due to the way in which we, the citizens of Durham, are forced to pay for the mistakes made by public officials when those accused are rich, powerful and pissed off because someone had the nerve to come against them.

As much as I hurt over what they went through, I have no patience when it comes to their intent to sue us for the wrong they’ve endured. I would be more compassionate if they were utterly innocent. They’re not. They violated the rules of Duke University and the city of Durham, and now want us to pay.

I don’t think so!

Black Skin, White Mask

My uncle Lucius took me to task on my last blog post. To place that into proper context, Lucius Warrick was and is to me one of my models of black manhood. He inspired me, without knowing it, to get all those degrees that hang on my wall. Yes, it’s his fault that I’m strapped with a huge student loan debt for attending school at the University of Missouri, Duke University and Princeton Theological Seminary. He convinced me that the key to success was a good education.

Uncle Lucius is from the old school. Back in the day people believed in the notions of both Booker T. Washington and W.E. B DuBois. For some the secret to success is found in pulling up their boot straps. For the fortunate talent tenth, the road to liberation is found in the halls of the academy. It’s a message lost in the new wave of youthful thinkers more enamored with fast cash than hard work.

My uncle maintains that lashing out at Obama may be a bad move. In his words,” I am not sure that Senator Obama should be targeted as the “scape-goat” for a lack of action,” he wrote in an email. “Have you or others in your group contacted Senator Obama to ensure he is aware of the correct facts and details concerning the case?”

His concern gets at the root of the tension facing black candidates for high office. The political game requires a high level of positioning intended to convince those less likely to vote for a person due to their race; that race will not hinder their ability to see things through a white lens.
Put another way, Obama has to be careful not to associate himself with issues that remind voters of previous black Presidential hopefuls. The critical question facing Obama is what makes him different than Jesse and Al. Is he another example of a black dude with a pro black agenda? Or does he have the stuff necessary to stray away from every black concern disrupting the nation?

My chastisement of Obama was more a criticism of the process that goes into being elected than in the person running for the office. My gut tells me Obama has read those accounts of the Jena 6 in the Chicago Tribune. The Trib is his home town paper, and the folks up in Chi town are heading down to Jena, LA to protest the recent conviction of Mychal Bell.

I’m politically savvy enough to understand why it was advantageous for Obama to speak out on the Duke Lacrosse rape case while remaining silent on Jena 6. He has to weigh the pros and cons of how doing so would impact his image. It’s an example of how he could have served us better by staying put as a Senator instead of jumping into the Presidential shuffle.

My uncle’s words speak to another issue. Black folks shouldn’t talk bad about black folks. Instead of attacking Obama, I should find a way to fix things using a different method. In other words, don’t blame Obama, find a way without having to get him involved.

There’s wisdom to my uncle’s words. One shouldn’t hinder the journey toward the prize by raising issues that distract voters. I get the argument. With that being said, there is a more critical issue related to this matter. How much does one have to give up for the sake of winning? How often should black commentators close their eyes when those we want to support fail to respond to our needs?

There’s another way of looking at this. In Obama’s quest to prove to white Americans that he’s not to black to be their President, has he proven to black Americans that he’s not black enough to be their President? Does any of that matter? Is it possible to lead the country as a black President without taking notice of how race continues to strap the nation?

It all reminds me of Frantz Fanon’s book “Black Skin, White Mask”. As much as we would like to think that race doesn’t matter, Obama will face decisions that forces him to contend with the black skin covered by the white mask.

Oh where, oh where has Obama been?

I have to make a confession. I’m pissed! I’m hurt, upset, disgusted and confused over the state of the American judicial system.

Part of my frustration is related to living in Durham, NC, home of Duke University and that infamous rape case. As a long time resident of the city, I have endured the hassle of having outside critics give their perspective on the state of things in my fine city. It irks me that most observers fail to place this case, and all that follows, within the context of the history and happenings of the city. I could talk about that all day, but there’s much more behind my fury.

I’m livid over the mixture of contradictions that remind me that America is a country that places privilege and race above justice. I crave to believe that we have become a nation that is purely color blind when it comes to the dispensing of judgment. That is not the case, and I’m annoyed that I have to waste time to convey the nature of this evil. As much as I want to move past presenting arguments that do more than expound the stance of another mad black man; I can’t let go of how deeply marred I am due to these incongruities.

A little background to my rage-I just finished reading the recent installment of the Duke Lacrosse case. Mike Nifong, former Durham District Attorney, is facing a $500 fine or up to 30 days in jail for criminal contempt. The question for this most recent segment of the soap opera is whether Nifong willfully and intentionally made false statements to Judge W. Osmond Smith III in May 2006.

The brunt of my frustration involves the level of attention given this case in comparison to the countless others that go unnoticed, and that are clear case of prosecutorial misconduct. The most recent example of a district attorneys misuse of power is the Jena 6 case.

A recent response to my blog got it right-why is it that black people are reduced to marching and shouting in front of courtrooms as a means of remonstration? Why do we continue to employ 50 year old stratagems to get the attention of those who manipulate the process?

I’m angry that people have to pack buses to do what we have always done, while high profile attorney’s and politicians jump on the bandwagon to support the causes of these boys in Durham, NC who became the target of an indomitable prosecutor.

Where are the congressmen and senators in that case? Where is Barak Obama? He found time to comment on the Duke Lacrosse rape case, but hasn’t made his way down to Jena to plead on behalf of those boys. Why hasn’t he made a stop on his journey across the country to raise money and prove to Americans he’s white enough to be their President?

I’m annoyed that none of the presidential candidates have made this an issue worthy of their attention. I wouldn’t be as pissed if Obama hadn’t taken time away from his duties as senator to write a memo regarding the Duke Lacrosse rape case. Maybe the assumption of innocence sways the way he and others functions when it comes to speaking up. If that is true, then I’m pissed even more.

Why? Because I utterly abominate the terminology of innocence when applied to those boys involved in the Duke Lacrosse rape case. They are not innocent. They are innocent of rape. They are innocent of kidnapping, but they are guilty, it can be assumed by the evidence in the case, of racial slurs, the communication of threats, underage drinking and lewd behavior. You may reason, why is that important? It’s important in addressing the grave disparity in the way power brokers involve themselves in cases demanding scrutiny.

The focus down in Jena, LA is on the wrong people. Instead of fighting against the local bums in power, we should be calling on those who demand our votes to get their butts down there and handle their business. All that talk about equality in American doesn’t mean a thing when all you do is talk, raise money and appear on television for another debate.

If you have the power to make a change, use it. So, let’s take all of that rage and send letters to Obama and ask him to prove to us he’s real. If not, let’s contact Hillary.

Put on your marching shoes and head down to Jena, LA

My feet hurt. I’m tired of marching. That’s the mindset of many African Americans after years of taking their hostility to the pavement and tramping countless miles to bring awareness to a myriad of issues impacting people of color. They have sauntered through years of hostility. They have sit-in, stood up, prayed through, hollered with tears, and sung “We Shall Overcome”, until the clout of the words fade.

Not since a million men crammed buses headed to the national capitol to atone for their sins, has there been a need for the vigor of black collective voices to merge in one place. It’s time to dig deep into the back of your closet to locate those marching shoes, and get on the bus headed down to the small Louisiana town of Jena to shout Hell no to the lunacy that is taking place.

Sadly, the national media has failed to seize hold to the amazing injustice unfolding down in Jena. In case you haven’t heard, Mychal Bell, 16, a former Jena High School football star, and five other black students had been facing up to 100 years in prison if convicted of attempted murder, conspiracy and other charges for the December beating of a white student who was knocked unconscious but not hospitalized. The episode capped months of swelling racial tension at the high school that began after several white youth hung nooses from a tree in the school courtyard in a deride aimed at blacks.

The case against the "Jena Six," as the defendants have come to be called by their supporters, received national notice after it was featured in a May 20 Chicago Tribune report that detailed how racial animus had divided the mostly white central Louisiana town of 3,000 and erupted into repeated incidents of violence between blacks and whites."The DA is trying to use my son as a scapegoat for these ridiculous charges," Marcus Jones, Bell’s father told the Chicago Tribune after the district attorney reduced the charges to aggravated assault. "He knows there's no proof showing that my son and those other kids were trying to kill that boy. It was a simple high school fight. How can you turn that into attempted murder?" Bell was found guilty and faces a potential 22 year sentence. He will be sentenced on September 20, 2007."I think the district attorney is still overreaching," Darrell Hickman, an attorney for one of the other youth charged in the case, said after charges were reduced. "The new charge is aggravated second-degree battery, which requires use of a weapon. There's no evidence that any weapon was involved."

It all started when black students broke the unwritten rule-never sit under the “white tree”. The white tree is where the white students, 80% of the student body, would always sit during school breaks.

In September 2006, a black student at Jena high school asked permission from school administrators to sit under the “white tree.” School officials advised them to sit wherever they wanted.

The next day, three nooses, in the school colors, were hanging from the “white tree.” “Those nooses meant the KKK, they meant ‘Niggers, we’re going to kill you, we’re going to hang you till you die,’” Casteptla Bailey, mom of one of the students, told the London Observer.

The Jena high school principal found that three white students were responsible and recommended expulsion. The white superintendent of schools over-ruled the principal and gave the students a three day suspension saying that the nooses were just a youthful stunt. “Adolescents play pranks,” the superintendent told the Chicago Tribune, “I don’t think it was a threat against anybody.”

“Hanging those nooses was a hate crime, plain and simple,” according to Tracy Bowens, mother of students at Jena High. It’s hard to press your point when you lack political power.
The ten person all-male government of the parish has one African-American member. The nine member all-male school board has one African American member. (A phone caller to the local school board trying to find out the racial makeup of the school board was told there was one “colored” member of the board). There is one black police officer in Jena and two black public school teachers.

Jena is the site of the infamous Juvenile Correctional Center for Youth that was forced to close its doors in 2000, only two years after opening, due to widespread brutality and racism including the choking of juveniles by guards after the youth met with a lawyer. The U.S. Department of Justice sued the private prison amid complaints that guards paid inmates to fight each other and laughed when teens tried to commit suicide.

Black students decided to resist and organized a sit-in under the “white tree” at the school to protest the light suspensions given to the noose-hanging white students.
The white District Attorney then came to Jena High with law enforcement officers to address a school assembly. According to testimony in a later motion in court, the DA reportedly threatened the black protesting students saying that if they didn't stop making a fuss about this "innocent prank… I can be your best friend or your worst enemy. I can take away your lives with a stroke of my pen." The school was put on lockdown for the rest of the week.
On the night of Thursday November 30, 2006, a still unsolved fire burned down the main academic building of Jena High School.

On Friday night, December 1, a black student who showed up at a white party was beaten by whites. On Saturday, December 2, a young white man pulled out a shotgun in a confrontation with young black men at the Gotta Go convenience store outside Jena before the men wrestled it away from him. The black men who took the shotgun away were later arrested; no charges were filed against the white man.

On Monday, December 4, at Jena High, a white student – who allegedly had been making racial taunts, including calling African American students “niggers” while supporting the students who hung the nooses and who beat up the black student at the off-campus party – was knocked down, punched and kicked by black students. The white victim was taken to the hospital treated and released. He attended a social function that evening.

Six black Jena students were arrested and charged with attempted second degree murder. All six were expelled from school.

The six charged were: 17-year-old Robert Bailey Junior whose bail was set at $138,000; 17-year-old Theo Shaw - bail $130,000; 18-year-old Carwin Jones – bail $100,000; 17-year-old Bryant Purvis – bail $70,000; 16 year old Mychal Bell, a sophomore in high school who was charged as an adult and for whom bail was set at $90,000; and a still unidentified minor.
Mychal Bell remained in jail from December 2006 until his trial because his family was unable to post the $90,000 bond. Theo Shaw has also remained in jail. Several of the other defendants remained in jail for months until their families could raise sufficient money to put up bonds.

The Chicago Tribune wrote in a story headlined “Racial Demons Rear Heads.” The London Observer wrote: “Jena is gaining national notoriety as an example of the new ‘stealth’ racism, showing how lightly sleep the demons of racial prejudice in America’s Deep South, even in the year that a black man, Barak Obama, is a serious candidate for the White House.” The British Broadcasting Company aired a TV special report “Race Hate in Louisiana 2007.”

The Jena 6 and their families were put under substantial pressure to plead guilty. Mychal Bell was reported to have been leaning towards pleading guilty right up until his trial when he decided he would not plead guilty to a felony.

When it finally came, the trial of Mychal Bell was swift. Bell was represented by an appointed public defender.

On the morning of the trial, the DA reduced the charges from attempted second degree murder to second degree aggravated battery and conspiracy. Aggravated battery in Louisiana law demands the attack be with a dangerous weapon. The dangerous weapon? The prosecutor was allowed to argue to the jury that the tennis shoes worn by Bell could be considered a dangerous weapon used by “the gang of black boys” who beat the white victim.

Most shocking of all, when the pool of potential jurors was summoned, fifty people appeared – every single one white.
The LaSalle Parish clerk defended the all white group to the Alexandria Louisiana Town Talk newspaper saying that the jury pool was selected by computer. “The venire [panel of prospective jurors] is color blind. The idea is for the list to truly reflect the racial makeup of the community, but the system does not take race into factor.” Officials said they had summoned 150 people, but these were the only people who showed up.

The all-white jury which was finally chosen included two people friendly with the District Attorney, a relative of one of the witnesses and several others who were friends of prosecution witnesses.

Bell’s parents, Melissa Bell and Marcus Jones, were not even allowed to attend the trial despite their objections, because they were listed as potential witnesses. The white victim, though a witness, was allowed to stay in the courtroom. The parents, who had been widely quoted in the media as critics of the process, were also told they could no longer speak to the media as long as the trial was in session. Marcus Jones had told the media “It’s all about those nooses” and declared the charges racially motivated.

Other supporters who planned a demonstration in support of Bell were ordered by the court not to do so near the courthouse or anywhere the judge would see them.
The prosecutor called 17 witnesses - eleven white students, three white teachers, and two white nurses. Some said they saw Bell kick the victim, others said they did not see him do anything. The white victim testified that he did not know if Bell hit him or not.

The Chicago Tribune reported the public defender did not challenge the all-white jury pool, put on no evidence and called no witnesses. The public defender told the Alexandria Town talk after resting his case without calling any witnesses that he knew he would be second-guessed by many but was confident that the jury would return a verdict of not guilty. “I don’t believe race is an issue in this trial…I think I have a fair and impartial jury…”

The jury deliberated for less than three hours and found Mychal Bell guilty on the maximum possible charges of aggravated second degree battery and conspiracy. The public defender told the press afterwards, “I feel I put on the best defense that I could.” Responding to criticism of not putting on any witnesses, the attorney said “why open the door for further accusations? I did the best I could for my client, Mychal Bell.”

At a rally in front of the courthouse the next day, Alan Bean, a Texas minister and leader of the Friends of Justice, said “I have seen a lot of trials in my time. And I have never seen a more distressing miscarriage of justice than what happened in LaSalle Parish yesterday.” Khadijah Rashad of Lafayette Louisiana described the trial as a “modern day lynching.”

Whites in the community were adamant that there is no racism. "We don't have a problem,” according to one. Other locals told the media "We all get along," and "most blacks are happy with the way things are." One person even said "We don't have many problems with our blacks."

Melvin Worthington, the lone African American school board member in LaSalle Parish said it all could have been avoided. “There’s no doubt about it,” he told the Chicago Tribune, “whites and blacks are treated differently here. The white kids should have gotten more punishment for hanging those nooses. If they had, all the stuff that followed could have been avoided.”
The white victim of the beating was later arrested for bringing a hunting rifle loaded with 13 bullets onto the high school campus and released on $5000 bond. The white man who beat up the black youth at the off-campus party was arrested and charged with simple battery. The white students who hung up the nooses in the “white tree” were never charged.

Like I said, my feet are tired and I’m tired of marching, but there’s still work to be done. Too bad these boys didn’t play lacrosse at Duke University.

Another chance for Vick?

I believe a person deserves a second chance. God knows all of us have made our share of mistakes. As I say during my sermons, but for the grace of God.

Second chances come after cheating on a spouse, a divorce, getting caught with drugs, theft and, yes, training dogs to attack one another and taking bets. With all the bad press related to Michael Vick, he too deserves a second chance.

The hardest part in forgiving Vick is the stupidity that went into his actions. With all that cash on the table (over 150 million in lost income) it’s hard for most of us to understand and forgive a man stupid enough to allow his homeboys and his obsession with animals at war to jeopardize all of that.

It’s difficult to forgive and to understand why a person who made his way out of the hood could risk all of the comforts that come with the biggest contact in NFL history. Vick was in the process of revolutionizing the way people viewed the quarterback position. He was more than the traditional drop back passer; he was a combo quarterback/running back. He was set to go down in history as the man who had General Managers searching for athletes who brought the same depth to their team.

Vick follows a long list of great athletes, with legendary already posted in the history books, who threw it away for reason hard for us to understand. Pete Rose sold his birthright to the Hall of Fame for a few bets. O.J. Simpson may have done it out of jealously. Mike Tyson did it because-that’s one I will never understand.

Vick did it because of street credibility. There was simply too much hood in him to overcome. A few years back the attention was on his little brother, Marcus, who kept getting in trouble at Virginia Tech. He was finally kicked off the team for kicking another player. The public looked at big brother Mike as the role model Marcus needed to help stir him in the right direction.

Shortly after Marcus kicked his way out of Virginia Tech, Michael made an obscene gesture toward Atlanta fans who heckled the team as it came off the field after a 31-13 loss to New Orleans. Vick apologized profusely, paid a $10,000 team fine and donated another $10,000 to charity.

Then in January, Vick reluctantly surrendered a water bottle to security at Miami International Airport that smelled like marijuana and contained a substance in a hidden compartment. He was not arrested and was allowed to board an AirTran flight that landed in Atlanta.

"We are an organization that prides itself on not having off-the-field issues," Rich McKay, general manager of the Falcons, said at the time of the incident. "I think we have done a pretty good job of bringing the right people in here so we don't have to face these types of issues. We don't like it. We don't accept it. It is not what we want."

The Falcons have every right to be upset. They invested $137 million on Vick. They believed he would be the man to lead them for the next 10 years. They expected him to lead the team on and off the field. Smoking weed, flipping off fans and participating in dog fighting is not what they anticipated.

Not to mention he lied to the owner and commissioner about his participation in the dog fighting ring. His arrogance in this matter makes it difficult for those with young children to forgive. We trusted him by embracing his bad boy image. He proved, we thought, that there’s a place in the NFL for a brother to hold onto his street ways while leading a team with credibility.

What is my message to Michael Vick? We’re mad at you. Mad because you have let us down. We believed in you, stood by you, embraced your hip-hop image and desire to keep it real. We fought for the legitimacy of that image. We saw it as a way to educate others on the good that can come out of embracing that culture.

Vick has legitimized what many already felt. Despite all of that money and status as a true role model, he threw it all away for his street ways. That is difficult to forgive. He broke laws. He carried weed on a plane, raised dogs to kill and watched them fight

I could argue that it’s no worse than deer hunting or bull fighting. I could stand in defense of Vick by correlating his actions to those perceived as valid sporting games. I could do that, but this issue goes much deeper than any of that. This is not about the race of the man or the duplicity of the system. This is about a man's willingness to throw it all away for his right to play by his own rules.

Yes, he deserves another chance, but I’m still angry. With all the people in the world who suffer due to lack, he tossed it all away for reason hard to understand. He took it all for granted and now must suffer the consequences of his actions. Be it because of his friends or be it because of his own weakness, it is hard to forgive walking away from all of that.

With that being said, he deserves a second-forgive me-a fourth chance.

Boy! Pull up those pants!

A close friend told me a sad story a few years back. A teenager ran across the street. He was wearing baggy pants and they fell to the ground as a car approached. The pants fell to his ankles causing him to fall and the car hit and killed him. Upon hearing this tale, I wondered if it was an urban legend, or if it was true.

I’m certain that parents and critics of the baggy pants fad have used this tale to convince young men to pull those pants up, and put on a belt. Nothing else seems to work. Making the connection to jail culture was not enough to convince this youthful generation to design a more suitable way to promote their independence.

Since young folk refuse to listen to grown ups, the old heads down in Atlanta have decided to take matters into their own hands. C.T. Martin, a college recruiting consultant and member of the Atlanta city council, is pushing an amendment to the city’s indecency laws that would make any peep of a bra strap or top of boxer shorts illegal.

Martin says the popular style of boys who wear oversize, baggy pants well below their waists, exposing their underwear, is an “epidemic” that has to stop. “I don’t want young people thinking that half-dressing is the way to go,” Martin told a reporter for the Atlanta Journal & Constitution. “I want them to think about their future.”

But do bans against trendy teen styles make kids more respectful or do they just give them a reason to be rebellious? Little children see it and want to adopt it, thinking it's the in thing," Martin said. "I don't want young people thinking that half-dressing is the way to go. I want them to think about their future."

The planned ordinance would also block women from showing the strap of a thong beneath their pants. They would also be prohibited from wearing jogging bras in public or show a bra strap, said Debbie Seagraves, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia.
The proposed ordinance states that "the indecent exposure of his or her undergarments" would be unlawful in a public place. It would go in the same portion of the city code that outlaws sex in public and the exposure or fondling of genitals. The penalty would be a fine in an amount to be determined.

Seagraves said any legislation that creates a dress code would not endure a court challenge. She said the law could not be enforced in a nondiscriminatory way because it targets something that came out of the black youth culture.

"This is a racial profiling bill that promotes and establishes a framework for an additional type of racial profiling," Seagraves told the Atlanta Journal & Constitution.

Atlanta would not be the first city to take on baggy pants. Earlier this year, the town council in Delcambre, La., passed an ordinance that carries a fine of up to $500 or six months in jail for exposing underwear in public. Several other municipalities in Louisiana have enacted similar laws in recent months.

Brace yourself for a national battle between those of divergent generations and cultures. This clash is about defining individual expression as reflected in hip-hop culture. As the nation grapples with the legitimacy of hip-hop, get ready for other battles to alter the impact hip-hop has in molding the minds of youth.

The N.A.A.C.P eulogized the N-word because of the ways it’s used in the music of hip-hop culture. The sisters down in Atlanta at Spellman College attacked Nelly for his music video that likened the female buttocks to an ATM machine. Hip-hop is under attack, and this measure is another example of how the African American community has made a correlation between hip-hop and all that is bad.

This mugging of hip-hip culture goes much deeper than the decisions one makes on what to wear. At the core of this tête-à-tête is defining what it means to be an African American. It is always precarious for those reared in the mores of an elder cohort to impose their values on youth. Martin is making the mistake of correlating fashion with behavior, and the two can’t be approached as Siamese twins.

The modification of conduct can’t be fulfilled through the legislation of fashion. Don’t get me wrong, I hate those baggy pants. With that being said, I would find it insufferable if the city council would get into the business of selecting what belongs in my closet. As much as I loathe catching a glimpse of at a kids “Fruit of the Looms”, I quiver thinking of the consequences that will come once municipalities gets the authority to decide on what is acceptable fashion.

Its best if this matter is left up to the parents. Let the city council deal with infrastructure issues rather than the management of the family. I’m certain that someone on the council will argue they have to step in because the parents aren’t doing their job. Since these kids aren’t being taught, leave it up to the council to lead the way. This analysis is filled with assumptions. Baggy pants don’t make a bad kid, just as a white shirt and silk tie don’t make a person an outstanding citizen.

It’s just clothes. It’s too bad we can’t see past what we wear.

A Prayer for Juanita Bynum

When faith hides behind closed doors people get hurt. They’re hurt by the mendacity of their claims. They proudly stand before revering devotees in search of words of comfort. Masses of broken spirits assemble before them begging for something more. More beyond the humiliation. More beyond the damaged promises and bruised dreams. Something more than this life they’re forced to bear.

These contemporary faith seekers are inspired by the declarations of men and women once broken but now set free from the burden of their yesteryears. Juanita Bynum dares the incalculable women who trek the way to hear her preach and purchase her DVD’s and CD’s to remove the sheets in their lives. Her “No More Sheets” sermon on breaking free of sexual promiscuity made her the hottest African American female preacher within the prosperity theology movement.

Her gripping testimony inspired women because it resonated with their struggles to find meaning within the pain. Bynum’s toil for liberation continues. Police say she was assaulted by her preacher husband in the parking lot of an Atlanta hotel early Wednesday, August 22.

Bynum and her estranged husband, Thomas W. Weeks III, the founder of Global Destiny churches, met at Renaissance Concourse Hotel near Atlanta's airport to try to reconcile, police said. About 4 a.m., they fought in the parking lot until a hotel bellman pulled Weeks off. "She was bruised up and battered," Officer Ronald Campbell said. "She had purple bruising around her neck and upper torso."

No charges had been filed by Wednesday night against Weeks, who left the scene according to police. Bynum, a Pentecostal evangelist who lives in Hempstead, N.Y., has administrative offices in Waycross. The former homemaker, hairdresser and flight attendant got a break when Bishop T.D. Jakes invited her to speak at one of his conferences several years ago.

Her 2002 wedding to Weeks, who started the Global Destiny churches nationwide, was televised and, according to media reports, featured a gown with a bodice covered in crystals and a 7.76-carat diamond ring. Her dream wedding led to a nightmarish marriage. Only God knows how many black eyes and bruised ribs preceded this recent torment.

The high praise and power messages of the mega-Church movement often conceal what happens behind the closed doors of those placed on thrones to be praised by the people deprived of examples of righteous living. In the midst of their declarations of what used to be; the truth underlying it all is things aren’t what they appear to be.

The gloom that comes with this sad story of a prominent religious spokesperson and her estranged husband, who leads a church, are the days spent before the people smiling, promoting faith, advocating the message of joy, granting comfort to those who come to listen, who come to purchase a CD or DVD- while hurting inside.

While presenting the mood of good spirits, beneath it all is a hurting woman-a woman battered by a man who walks the faith, who knows the message of transformation. How many tears dropped from her fragile, tattered face before offering hope to the myriad of women waiting for those inspired words? How many times did she feel like going home?

I can only conjecture the level of brokenness she carries with her each day. After coming so far, after seeing God transform her life and build a great ministry through her, she finds herself back again. Back at the place that led her to preach that powerful message-“No More Sheets”. For her, the sheets remain in her marriage, and she’s fighting to break free from him and the condemning glare of those who seek the façade of perfection.

Bynum’s ministry is not negated by the abuse of her husband. No, it’s solidified by his sin. The promise to her is God’s presence within every throbbing moment. This is not her fault. This she doesn’t deserve. My prayer is for her comfort as she heals again.

That which stays locked in the closet hurts the most. Her pain is exposed for the world to examine. What matters now is the response we give.

Be free Juanita Bynum. Be free. People of faith are praying for you.

Mom pulled off the moutain and shipped back to Mexico

I’ve felt a myriad of emotions after leaving worship services. As a pastor, there are those mountain top occasions that left me reliving the words of the Apostle Peter, let us build three tabernacles and stay here a little longer, were his words during the transfiguration. Then there are those valley moments like the one I experienced on August 22, 2002. That’s when 97 people decided to kick me out as pastor of the Orange Grove Missionary Baptist Church.

The good thing about dwelling in the valley is it’s only for a moment. One can always get back up and climb the mountain again. That is if you have the strength, courage and faith to try again. My season in the valley pales in comparison to that of Elvira Arellano. She was stanched from the mountain top and forced into the valley in handcuffs.

Arellano was arrested on Sunday, August 19th outside Our Lady Queen of Angels church in Los Angeles. Hours later, she was deported. “She is free in Tijuana,” said the Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago, where Arellano had taken refuge. “She is in good spirits. She is ready to continue the struggle against the separation of families from the other side of the border.”

Arellano, 32, became a symbol of the struggles of illegal immigrant parents when she took refuge in the church to avoid being separated from her 8-year old son Saul, who was born in the U.S. making him a citizen.
She spoke the day before about the possibility of being deported. "From the time I took sanctuary the possibility has existed that they arrest me in the place and time they want," she said in Spanish. "I only have two choices. I either go to my country, Mexico, or stay and keep fighting. I decided to stay and fight." Arellano first came to the U.S. in 1997 where she lived illegally in Washington state. She was deported to Mexico shortly after, but returned and moved to Illinois in 2000, taking a job cleaning planes at O'Hare International Airport. She was arrested again in 2002 at O'Hare and convicted of working under a false Social Security number. She was to surrender to authorities last August but failed to turn herself in.She sought refuge at the storefront church on Chicago's West Side on Aug. 15, 2006. She had not left the church property until she decided to travel by car to Los Angeles. She had decided to come out of hiding to bring to light her struggle."She'll be organizing on the Mexican side of the border while we're organizing in the (United) States," Coleman said. "She'll be talking to organizations throughout Mexico and congressmen in Mexico City." Coleman said he and other activists will continue Arellano's original plan to go to Washington, D.C. and take part in a prayer meeting and rally for immigration reform at the Capitol on Sept. 12. "We are sad, but at the same time we are angry," said Javier Rodriguez, a Chicago immigration activist who worked with Arellano. "How dare they arrest this woman"

How dare they deny her the right to be with her son. Most Americans lack sensitivity when it comes to the fight for immigration rights. Let’s face it, people are scared of the implications of opening the borders to allow more to come into the good ole USA. The failure of adequate border control has resulted in America becoming less white, less black and more brown.

White people are no longer the majority and African Americans are no longer the largest minority. Just when white people were willing to embrace African American culture and African Americans were celebrating the impact of years of fighting for equal rights, those people south of the border enter into the picture.

They bring with them a different language and other burdens on public policy. Does this mean we need to learn to speak Spanish? Hmm. The thought of having to think outside the box in learning to adapt to our new neighbors is enough to cause the most liberal thinking person to alter their position.

I’m amused that many African Americans are fighting for stricter immigration laws. What would appear to be a natural collaboration has become one of the most vicious territorial battles. You can feel the jealousy getting in the way of formulating sound social policy. Instead of taking on the cause of their brown brothers and sisters, African Americans are struggling to make sense out of what it means to no longer be the majority minority in America.

My advice to anyone willing to claim that this land belongs to them is to take a trip to a place outside the U.S. It’s easy to fight for the protection of those American borders when your virgin eyes have never seen the pain of men, women and children living in conditions that would cause them to run to another place. It’s easy to forget that people have always found America to be a welcoming place for those hoping to find a better place to call home.

We are the descendents of people who ran away. The only people living in American that can authentically call this home are those who had the land taken out from under them-the Native Americans. African Americans were forced to come as forced labor. Sadly, many are still waiting to get paid the forty acres and a mule they needed to make the transition from enslavement to freedom.

142 years have passed since the end of slavery and African Americans are still waiting for the support from the government. The first African arrived in America as indentured servants via Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. 246 years of slavery can’t be undone in 142 years.

The bitterness can’t be denied. They come here-illegally-yet agencies are there to support them. They build businesses void of citizenship. They purchase homes and automobiles without legal status. African Americans are witnessing this mass influx that, in the minds of many, are reaping advantages denied them.

The increase among Latinos results in a reduction in political power among African Americans. No longer can African Americans give claim to being the most powerful minority in America. More for them means less for us-some may think. All of that can be changed if people would sit down and have a conversation beyond what they feel.

How dare they deny her right to be with her son. Mothers should be marching in the streets. An 8-year-old is without his mother because she fought for the rights of other mothers to be with their children. Motherhood has no political ideology. It looks past assumptions and regards the needs of the child more than the rules related to who has a right to call America their home.
Emma Lozano, Coleman's wife and head of immigration rights group Centro Sin Fronteras in Chicago, said she was Saul's legal guardian. At an afternoon press conference in Los Angeles, the boy hid behind Lozano and wiped away tears. "He's taking it better than we thought he would," Lozano said. While being arrested, Arellano spoke briefly with her son before submitting to authorities, Lozano said. "She calmed him down, hugged him and gave him a blessing," said Lozano

How dare they deny her the right to be with her son.

Intel's message to Black America: Who's Your Daddy

I came close to pulling the Intel Pentium chip out of my Dell Latitude D600 laptop. I was so dismayed by the company’s new advertising campaign that I decided to write a blog post a day early. This matter couldn’t wait another day.

Above is the ad depicting six African American athletes bowing to a white dude wearing khaki pants and an oxford shirt. To some it may appear that the bold headed colored boys are preparing to sprint to the finish line, but for those with a more critical eye, these bold headed Mandingos are submitting to their master in what appallingly resembles a slave ship. Adding insult to the ad is the fact that the white guy isn’t even wearing a suit and tie. The message I’m left with is simple-it’s a white man’s world. Bow sucker!

“Have you seen this!!!??? Damn!,” was the message I received with the e-mail from my friend Mariann Aalda that introduced me to the ad. Aalda is a socially conscious woman who has endured her share of discrimination as an actress. She made history as the first African American female to have a steady role on a soap opera. She played DiDi Bannister, a criminal attorney, on the ABC soap opera Edge of Night. She’s seen her share of insensitivity in the entertainment business, making her Damn! At the end of her message more meaningful.

Damn, are the executives at Intel that stupid? Damn, could it be that they are so comfortable in their market share that they could care less about how black folks feel? Damn, is it possible that they think African Americans don’t buy computers; therefore, why not concentrate on the good ole boys who think like overseers on a plantation.

This ad goes beyond a bad decision made by some corporate big wigs. There’s every reason to believe Intel is promoting a political message with this ad. The company is leading a signature drive for a California ballot measure that would eliminate class action lawsuits over civil rights issues. Intel’s board of directors has been sent 25,000 faxes asking the company to abandon that pending ballot measure.

If passed the measure would end class action lawsuits that claim discrimination. The case against Denny’s that punished the restaurant chain for a pattern of discrimination against African Americans would never have been if for this measure. Victims of discrimination would have no means of vindication. One has to wonder why Intel is so engrossed in this issue.
Intel apologized for its advertising campaign and is withdrawing it. It would help if they would drop their support for the pending ballot measure. You can send them a loud shout out by going to this link: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/corporate/faxintel/. Join others by reminding them of who pays for that plush compensation package. It’s the people with the Intel Pentium chip inside their computer. Damn!

For more information on the issue, go to Jamie Court’s blog

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamie-court/inside-intel-is-there-a-_b_60011.html

Mike Nifong Strikes Back

You get the feeling that Mike Nifong has had enough of being the bad guy. He mailed in his license to practice law in the state of North Carolina with a note disparaging “the fundamental unfairness” of how the bar had treated him.
This seems in stark contrast to the humbled former Durham District Attorney who admitted his mistakes in June, when the bar’s Disciplinary Hearing Commission ended his career for intentionally lying and cheating during his prosecution of rape and kidnapping charges against three Duke Lacrosse players.
The thing that took Nifong over the edge was a change in the panel’s official written order. The initial order found Nifong guilty of 10 counts. Duke Law professor Robert Mosteller, in reviewing the document for two law review articles he’s writing on the case, sent an e-mail message to the State Bar to bring to their attention a missing count.
Lane Williamson, head of the panel, amended the order to include the 11th count-that Nifong ordered a DNA lab director to report only matches between rape kit evidence and specific people.
Nifong attacked the change “Mr. Williamson’s e-mail assertion that the addition of a new conclusion of law based on the request of a Duke University law professor is merely a ‘clerical correction’ is preposterous beyond belief, and is further evidence of the fundamental unfairness with which this entire procedure has been conducted,” he wrote in his letter to the bar.
This one isn’t over yet. Nifong is the first North Carolina prosecutor to be disbarred for cheating. He’s not the first to use his enormous power to manipulate the legal process. He is the first to get his hand caught in the cookie jar for reasons that leave many aching over the outcome. In June, Nifong claimed the process was just. That may have been no more than nice play for damage control.
After the hearing in June, lawyers and family members made mention of a statement Nifong made in his testimony in which he said he still contends something happened that night. That claim is what landed Nifong in trouble. It’s what led him to move forward with indictments against Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann. Nifong has been stripped of his right to practices law and serve as DA because he believes an exotic dancer
He stood in defiance before the world, assuring that those rich boys at Duke would not get away with raping a Black woman who was attempting to make a living. The nerve of him. How dare he take sides with a black woman who lacks the class, financial backing and connections of those young men.
In the end, Nifong still believes something happened. Something that makes someone guilty of crime. He’s not sure who did it. He lacks the evidence to move forward, but he still believes the exotic dancer. He stood on the wrong side of the tracks. He listened to her claims, and when her story changed, over and over again, he still believed she was the victim of something hideous.
He spoke with passion because he believed her. He was willing to go up against a star studded defense team because he believed she was telling the truth. And yes, he lost his job and his license because he continues to believe the testimony of a black exotic dancer over that of rich white boys who attended school and played lacrosse at Duke University.
That is a violation of the rules of social order that have been with us since Columbus tricked us into believing he discovered America. In this country, white race combined with male gender and economic standing is the substance of assumed privilege. Never, again I say never, should a person believe the witness of a poor, black woman over against a rich, white man.
Nifong understood the edgy ground he stood. He knew, given his own standing as a white male with privilege, that believing the exotic dancer placed his job at risk. He understood that he was coming against a boundless collective voice. He had to know that, in time, all that power would wear him down, and that, when it happened, he would be treated as a traitor for believing that woman.
The aftermath of this story has many believing mistakes were made. This, they will claim, never should have been reduced to a case involving race, class and gender. They will have you believing this is no more than an example of what happens when the laws that govern prosecutorial conduct are violated. Some contend that this is nothing more than an example of the dangers that come with power, and how a high publicized case can be used to get a person elected to office.
Those same people are quick to shift the focus away from what Nifong and people who have lived in Durham for a while were afraid of-that race and class would rule the way the case was handled. Durham has seen its share of hostility connected to high profile cases. The demographics of the city make it easier for those on opposite poles to duke it out in public space. Fighting is what Durham does best. That’s not a bad thing, in fact the opposite if true. Durham is not one of those places where black people are reduced to hiding in the shadows out of fear of retaliation.
Nifong did what people in Durham have come to expect from those who pledge to protect the rights of all citizens. He stood before the world and stated what people needed to hear- that he would not be swayed by the power players. He would do something that is rare among elected officials. He was willing to believe the word of a black woman against that of white, privileged males at Duke.
That position caused him to speak too soon. He made statements that shouldn’t have been made by a person in his position. He is, we are told, appointed to be impartial until all the evidence has been placed on the table. By all accounts, Nifong took a stance against the lacrosse players before he had a chance to evaluate all the findings. Despite the public uproar that followed, this isn’t unusual. In fact, I’m willing to bet, this is more of the norm. The deviation is related more to the status of the key players than the handling of the case.
Nifong was amazingly complicit for speaking his position. The molding of cases has more to do with assumptions involving the reputations of those involved. This case proves that notion. In his estimation those boys were guilty of something. He made a calculated decision. In this matter he was willing to believe her versus taking the popular stance in support of the rich guys.
Nifong manipulated the evidence. He held information from the defense team. He violated normal protocol by conducting a line up that only included members of the lacrosse team. Nifong broke the law and misused his power as district attorney. That will not be disputed. At issue is the reason behind these violations. Is it because he wanted to be re-elected, or could it be he believed her and, once the truth unfolded, he was so caught up in what he believed that he couldn’t, in his mind, turn back?
What followed were a series of decisions intended to enhance the case against the lacrosse players. In moving forward it was imperative that the character of the dancer not be tarnished more than it had. This was a complicated task given the attack coming from the defense team and the role of the press. Photos were released and within days the name of the accuser was posted on blogs across the nation. With those photos were claims that dug at the validity of the accusation.
She’s a liar. She’s a thief. She’s a prostitute. She cheated on her first husband, has a history of mental illness, was kicked out of the military, claimed she was raped before, and was so drunk that night that she wasn’t able to stay on her feet to dance.
Despite the ruining of her standing, Nifong continued to believe her story. He fought to protect her declining valor. He decided not to provide the defense team with evidence related to the other men she had slept with. Four of them. Count them-four had sperm deposited within in on her body. That’s a lot for any woman to overcome. It wasn’t just the sperm of her boyfriend. There were three others, and none belonged to the rich boys who played lacrosse at Duke.
After receiving the DNA lab report he didn’t waver. For some reason, reasons that most can’t understand, he refused to drop the case. He pressed forward despite shaky evidence. He dismissed the protective eye of the national press and a well paid defense team. He didn’t care that the line up violated normal procedure, and that many within the community wanted his head on a silver platter.
He made a series of mistakes that led to those teary days in June before the bar panel. Most are left believing this is nothing more than a case of a man consumed with power. He wanted to win that election. He loved the icon status that came with the case. He thrived on keeping things going in an attempt to keep the big trucks with satellite access parked out front of the court house. Sadly, most miss the point of the demise of Mike Nifong. This is not a bad dude who lost his mind to get some attention. He made one glaring mistake-he believed the testimony of a poor, black, female that made her living taking off her clothes. He failed to play by the rules, and, in the end, he paid the price for protecting her right to have a day in court.
Nifong fulfilled his promise to those who feared money and power would win this battle. He promised to stand for the victim. His decision was framed within a context of extreme racial tension. He made a promise to the poor and powerless. He believed her story.
He wasn’t alone. Others believed her as well. They waited for the opportunity to hear the story of an exotic dancer. They wanted to see her face, to tell her they supported her. To remind her that she was not alone. Many of them are survivors of rape. For some strange reason, one that is hard to explain, they believe something strange happened in that house. There’s no evidence to prove it. There will be no day in court to hear her pain, to look her in the eyes and ponder what led Mike Nifong to take a chance on a case with no proof, a victim with a dubious history, and too many loopholes to plug in.
Mike Nifong believed the story. Others jumped to the same conclusions. The only difference is they can go to work today. Nifong has no job or license to practice. That’s what happens when you believe the story of a poor, black woman over against rich, white men.
Mike Nifong mailed in his license. In the end, he said what many have felt-this process was not a fair one. Money and power ruled the day. I hope this doesn’t teach those in the law profession the wrong lesson.

Start Snitchin

Street credibility is killing us. After watching CNN’s Anderson Cooper’s report for 60 Minutes, I’m convinced, more than ever, that many of the well paid Hip-Hop artists need to be taken to Big Mama’s house for a spanking.

The report exposed how “Stop snitchin” is a catchy hip-hop slogan that encourages the attitude that makes those who go to the police the bad guy. The slogan can be found in music videos, on T-shirts, Web sites, album covers and murals. The rule in the streets is never talk to the police.

As a result, police say witnesses are not coming forward and crimes are going unsolved. African Americans have a long history of disdain for the police. Regarded as the enemy of those in the inner city, police departments are forced to contend with the sad reality of the past. The rise and change of focus of the Black Panther Party was stirred by out of control police brutality in Oakland, CA. The movement spread to other urban centers due to the prevalence of police corruption.

In recent years, African Americans have witnessed a series of highly publicized examples that make it difficult to trust the police. Most notable is the Rodney King case and the underlying racial issues during the O.J. Simpson trail. “Stop snitchin” is, for those who promote it, an affirmation that the police are adversaries rather than positioned to protect African Americans living in inner city communities.

“Stop snitchin” is about communities witnessing corruption and a disparity in how crimes involving African Americans are handled versus those involving whites. This law of the streets is designed to bring balance to the system. It brings poise to an arrangement that, in the minds of many, keeps African Americans poor, incarcerated and lacking resources needed to alter their condition.

How bad is it? "People are walking around with shirts. People are going out making, making music. People are saying things that if you're a snitch it's like being an Uncle Tom was when I was growing up," says Geoffrey Canada, an anti-violence advocate, on 60 Minutes. "It's like you can't be a black person if you have a set of values that say, 'I will not watch crime happen in my community without getting involved to stop it."

Canada decided to speak out after Israel Ramirez, a student he had mentored and loved like a son, was shot to death outside a soundstage in Brooklyn. Ramirez was working as a bodyguard for the rap star Busta Rhymes, who was making a music video. Witnesses have confirmed that Ramirez was shot in front of Busta Rhymes.

New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says there were at least 25 people who may have witnessed the shooting. But he says nobody has come forward to testify. "The people that we've located, either were inside and didn't see anything. Or you'll get a version of, 'I have to work in this business. Ask Busta Rhymes what happened,"'Commissioner Kelly said during the 60 Minute report.

Geoffrey Canada said he believes Busta Rhymes refuses to talk because he doesn’t want to jeopardize his “street cred”. To talk to the police would violate the law of the streets-“stop snitching”. "One of the things that sells music is when the artist is looked at as someone who's come up from the streets. Not just any streets, but the toughest, meanest streets of the urban ghetto. And that's called 'street credibility,'" Canada said during the broadcast.

Rap star Cam’ron got shot in both arms in 2005. The shooting occurred in front of members of Cam'ron's entourage, but to this day, neither they, nor he, have cooperated with police. Cooper asked him why. "Because with the type of business I'm in, it would definitely hurt my business. And the way that I was raised, I just don't do that. I was raised differently, not to tell."

"If I was shot, I would want to know who did it. I would want the guy to get caught," Cooper responded.

"But then again, you're not going to be on the stage tonight in the middle of, let's say, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, with people with gold and platinum teeth and dreadlocks jumping up and down singing your songs either," Cam'ron snapped back. "You know what I'm saying? We're in two different lines of business."

"So for you it's really about business?" Cooper asks.

"It's about business but it's still also a code of ethics," Cam'ron replies.

Asked if he thinks there is any situation when it's okay to talk to the police, Cam'ron tells Cooper, "Yeah, definitely. Say 'Hello, how you feel, everything alright?' Period."

"That's it?" Cooper asks.

"There's nothing really to talk about with the police, I mean, for what?" Cam'ron says.

"If there's a serial killer living next door to you, though, and you know that person is, you know, killing people, would you be a snitch if you called police and told them?" Cooper asks Cam'ron.

"If I knew the serial killer was living next door to me?" Cam'ron asks. "No, I wouldn't call and tell anybody on him. But I'd probably move… But I'm not gonna call and be like, you know, 'The serial killer's in 4E.'"

That’s a steep price to pay for “street cred”. There was a time when people didn’t snitch because the police were the enemy. Cam’ron is promoting a code of ethic to promote his music. Cam’ron has taken on 50 Cent in a recent video viewed more than a million times on YouTube. He attacks 50 Cents “street cred” for being a “snitch” for allegedly cooperating with a police investigation.

Cooper met Victoria, Alex, Derrick, Darnell, and Tess through a church-based organization called Uth Turn. They’re 14 through 19 years old, and they told 60 Minutes the "stop snitchin'" code doesn’t just apply to rappers.

"A snitch is a tattletale, a rat, somebody who goes around telling other people business instead of minding they own," Alex tells Cooper.

Asked if he believes that, Alex says, "Yes."

Anybody who comes forward and talks to the police about something they witnessed, a murder or a crime, are they a snitch?" Cooper asks.

"Yes… It's a crime, remember, in our community, to snitch," says Tess.

Most of these kids had witnessed at least one violent crime but had not helped the police identify the culprits. Victoria saw someone get shot a few years ago; she says she was scared to talk to the police then, and she wouldn’t identify the shooter if the same thing happened today.

Asked why, Victoria says, "Because that's the rules."

It’s the rule! Is that what you say to the mother who just lost her son? It’s the rule! That’s what you say to the woman who has been raped? You look her in the face and say, “I know who did it but I can’t tell you because that’s the rule.”

The rule promotes the continuation of crime and violence in inner city communities. Those who live by it deny themselves the right to live void of the fear of crime. The criminal is honored more than being safe. That’s not a law, that’s insanity.

Making things even worse is how the slogan is promoted to give “street cred”. I suppose it’s easy to do that when you no longer have to live in the hood.; when your talent has provided you the resources to move on up to the East side.

Cooper asked Cam’ron an important question. "If your record label said to you, 'Look, we're not going to promote you, we're not going to distribute you if you keep calling Curtis Jackson a snitch.' Or you keep, writing about guns and selling drugs, would you stop?"

"No record company in the world would say 'We're not promoting if you keep calling somebody a snitch. They know what makes money," Cam'ron says. "A record company would never be that stupid. Ever.”

Go back to the plantation. Mr. Charley said you still a slave. We ain’t free.