May Day protest proves a change needs to come

“In 1963, Sam Cooke was in Durham, North performing at a concert after participating in a sit-in,” I began my speech last week at the Triangle May Day protest.

“He left the concert and ran to the tour bus.  There, he penned the words to the song A Change Gonna Come.  I’m still waiting for change.”

My speech followed an unforgettable ride to Raleigh, North Carolina with two members of The Raging Grannies. The two grandmas in the car with me told stories of being arrested for protesting wars. The image of grannies wearing handcuffs was enough to encourage me to do more for those fighting to be heard.

Our walk up the stairs leading to the Halifax Mall was met with the march of a group of men leaving a legislative building.  They passed us like enraged warriors headed to a new battle.

“Good day,” I spoke as they passed in a line, two by two. 

They kept marching devoid of smile or answer.  The badges dangling from their jacket pockets served to identify their position.  These were the dudes making those important decisions.  They refused to speak.  Their disdain for me and the two grannies left me wondering more about the integrity of those who made laws like their conclusions failed to impact real people.

I waited for the crowd of protestors to arrive.  They were nearby brewed in a moment of civil disobedience.  Most of them were college student’s intent on using the Constitutional right to protest cutbacks and other laws certain to amend their plans after receiving a college degree.  Many wondered if the changes would impact their ability to return to school.

The word that five students had been arrested came back to the group at the Halifax Mall.  My speech had ended.  Only a few were gathered to hear my words that conjured memories of a song about pending change.

“I’m still waiting for change.” I barked in between pauses to give time for the Spanish translation.

“They make laws to take us back,” pause.  “But they can’t define who we are,” pause.  “We are not what they say we are.  We are more than that,” another pause in between words to describe why we gathered that day.

“We are a community redefined by our common bond.  We are more than groups defined by race, gender, economic struggle and sexual orientation.  We are that change.  That change has come.  Those over there can’t take that away.  We are here to say Hell no to their efforts to take that common bond away.”

The blood of those slaughtered to escort change fermented in my blood like momentum that refused to go back.  The image of beaten youth and tired grandparents marching for truth attacked my spirit like a madman begging to be set free.  Yes, I’m tired of this – too tired to turn back now.

I titled my head toward the clouds that introduced the fear of rain.

“Where is the sun God? Show me the sun.  If not, bring forth the rainbow,” I whispered in hope of divine intervention.

The gathering of the youth led by drummers descended on the mall.  Their youthful faces blended with determination. 

“They are too young to know the struggles we faced,” I whispered.  “We are too old to know the struggles they face.”

One last closing of my eyes before the storm of tears came rolling down my face.

“Why would the Governor sign a measure that cuts benefits for jobless workers by a third,” I whispered.  “Why God? Why?”

“Why would the Governor sign a bill blocking Medicaid expansion? Why would be pass legislation that will leave 500,000 people with no coverage? Why God? Why?”

“Why would the North Carolina House pass a voter ID bill that will limit senior citizens and poor people from accessing the polls? Why God? Why?

My personal prayer intensified as the faces of youth took me back to the day a gang of white boys kicked me, spit on me, called me a Nigger and walked away.

“This feels like George Wallace all over again,” I whispered softer than before.  “Is this Alabama all over again? Has the rage consumed those unwilling to feel the pain?”

I waited for the sun to come.  Then I waited for the rain. Then I waited for the rainbow.  Nothing.  No sun.  No rain. No rainbow.

Like bones in the valley, we waited for change.  The police remained nearby to remind us of the venom camouflaged in politics.  Like snakes skulking through the weeds, they patiently wait for openings to bite.

“You have a good evening.  Thanks for what you do,” I said to a group of police as I left with the two grannies.

“Same to you,” one responded as the others nodded their heads.

I’m still waiting for that change.  A change gotta come. It’s gotta come soon.

 

Assata Shakur: Hypocrisy on a list

One of the brothers she had a child with

The foulness they would feed her, hopin she's lose her seed

Held tight, knowing the fight would live through this seed

In need of a doctor, from her stomach she's bleed

Out of this situation a girl was conceived

Separated from her, left to mother the revolution

And lactated to attack hate

Cause federal and state was built for a black fate

Her emptiness was filled with beatings and court dates

They fabricated cases, hoping one would stick

And said she robbed places that didn't exist

In the midst of threats on her life and being caged with aryan whites

Through dark halls of hate she carried the light

I wonder what would happen if that woulda been me?

All of this shit so we could be free.

Yeah, I often wonder what would happen if that woulda been me?

All of this shit so we could be free, so dig it, people-

“Song for Assata,” Common

 

The FBI has added Assata Shakur to its Most Wanted Terrorist List one day after May Day. With the announcement the state of New Jersey added $1 million to the FBI’s $1 million reward for her capture.

Who is the black woman who appears on those wanted posters?  She’s the woman known for getting shot with her hands in the air.

It happened on May 2, 1973 at 12:45 a.m. Shakur, Zayd Malik Shakur and Sundiata Acoli were stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike in East Brunswick, NJ by State Trooper James Harper for driving with a broken tail light.

“Hold on – two black males, one female,” The recording of Trooper Harper played at the trials of both Acoli and Assata Shakur.

Zayd Shakur was driving the car.  Trooper Harper asked him for identification. After noticing a discrepancy he asked him to get out of the car. He began questioning him at the rear of the vehicle. 

It was at this point in the trial that accounts of the confrontation differ. During the ensuing shootout, Trooper Foerster, who was present for backup, was shot twice in the head with his own gun and killed.  Zayd Shakur was killed, and Assata Shakur and Trooper Harper were wounded.

With gunshots wounds in both arms and a shoulder, she surrendered after a shootout and being chased in the Pontiac LeMans they were driving. Police moved her to a hospital under heavy guard and was interrogated and arraigned from her hospital bed. 

Assata Shakur was a member of the Black Liberation Army, and had a number of previous run ins with the law. .

Shakur was convicted as an accomplice in the murders of Trooper Foerster and Zayd Shakur, possession of weapons, and attempted murder of Trooper Harper.

During her testimony, Shakur denied shooting either Harper or Foerster.  She also denied handling a weapon during the incident. She was cross-examined for close to two hours.

A key point of Shakur’s defense was medical testimony that demonstrated that she was shot with her hands up and that she would have been unable to fire a weapon.  The median nerve in her right arm was severed by the second bullet, making it impossible for her to pull a trigger.

Shakur was imprisoned in Yardville, NJ before being moved to Rikers Island.  Her daughter was conceived during her trial, and born on September 11, 1974 in the psychiatric ward at Elmhurts General Hospital in Queens.  In her autobiography, written from Cuba, Shakur claims she was beaten and restrained by female officers for refusing a medical exam from a prison doctor.
 

On March 31, 1978, Shakur was transferred to the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey. 

Angela Davis called her a political prisoner.  An international panel of seven jurists representing the United Nations Commission on Human Rights concluded in 1979 that her treatment was “totally unbefitting of a prisoner”. Their investigation that considered human rights abuses of political prisoners cited Shakur’s imprisonment as "one of the worst cases" of such abuses.

So she ran.  On November 2, 1979, she escaped the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women when three members of the Black Liberation Army visiting her drew concealed weapons, seized two guards as hostages and stole a prison van.

She kept running.  Shakur fled to Cuba by 1984 and was granted political asylum. In 1985, she was reunited with her daughter.  In 1987, she published Assata: An Autobiography. 

In 1993, Shakur published a second book, Still Black, Still Strong, with Dhoruba bin Wahad and Mumia Abu-Jamal. Shakur refers to herself as a "20th century escaped slave”.

A documentary film about Shakur, Eyes of the Rainbow, written and directed by Cuban filmmaker Gloria Rolando, was released in 1997.  Hip-hop artist Common recorded a tribute to Shakur, “A Song for Assata,"on his album Like Water for Chocolate. Digable Planets, Public Enemy, and X-Clan have also recorded songs about Shakur.

So, what is implied in placing Shakur on the FBI’s Most Wanted List of Terrorist?  It takes a sad era in American history and white washes the rest of the story.  It hides a sad truth.  Yes, people like Shakur and Mumia Abu-Jamal represent an age of black radicalism.  All of that is true, but let’s not forget the reason for all that rage.

The police had guns and were quick to kill black folks for crossing the street.

Yes, she ran from all of that.  She ran because she was tired of the mistreatment.

Placing her on the Most Wanted Terrorist List is another example of how so many refuse to understand the deep burden that comes with the sad truth.

A blog for Assata

Jason Collins coming out forces a redefinition of black masculinity

Jason Collins jumped out of the closet and told the world he’s gay.  He didn’t do it after his career as a professional basketball player.  He made the announcement while still playing.

Collins’ announcement has been compared to Jackie Robinson’s breaking the color line as a professional baseball player.

“Isn’t it nice that he made the announcement shortly after the release of the movie 42,” Vicki Ryder, a member of the Raging Granny’s, said on our return from the Triangle May Day Rally. 

“I wonder if they planned it that way,” she asked.

Folks of my hue are a bit outraged when people analogize Collins with Jackie Robinson. Many are quick to differentiate between a struggle chosen and one you can’t run from.  Put another way, you can hide being gay, but you can’t cover that black and brown skin.

Time could be spent on debating against that assumption.  I’d rather place it in the pot with the other excuses used to justify discrimination.  The discussion about gay rights not being the same as the fight for black justice is in common with the game to determine who has the biggest war scar. 

Discrimination is discrimination. Case dismissed.

The comparison with Robinson isn’t intended to minimize what Robinson did when he left the old Negro Baseball League to join the white dudes in the other league.  The attacks were vicious.  People assumed black players didn’t belong. 

That’s the point that gives credence to the comments made by Ryder.  The suppositions regarding race are common to notions related to being gay. In addition, the hatred facing blacks is similar to the rage carried by those molded in homophobia.

The coming out of Jason Collins throws a serious curveball at the perceptions people hold regarding legitimate masculinity.  Athletes are used to exemplify authentic masculinity.  Athletic prowess, combine with physique, are used to define the peak of machismo.

Mark Anthony Neal, professor of African and African American Studies at Duke University, considers the ways in which black masculinity has been read and misread through popular culture.  His new book Looking for Leroy argues that black men and boys are bound to the legibility of their bodies.  The most “legible” black male bodies are reflected in images as criminal, and are used by white America to discredit black men.

Neal forces readers to consider the bodies of black men deemed legible as illegible.  He takes the black communities role models and sheds light on the assumptions related to their masculinity.  Neal ponders assertions that Jay-Z is gay, ponders the sexual orientation of the late vocalist Luther Vandross and characters from the hit HBO series The Wire. Neal shows how the uncovering of black masculinity can be used to break the antagonism toward black gay men.

I know. What? He said Jay-Z is gay!

What does it change if that is true?

Neal’s work follows Manning Marable’s Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention.  Marable’s work stripped away layers of myths related to the life of Malcolm X. Many were shocked when Marable exposed Malcolm X’s homosexual relationship with a white businessman prior to his time in prison. 

Critics blasted Marable for exposing Malcolm’s gay lifestyle.  Sadly, Marable died before the release of his book and was unable to promote the work in a way that lifted it beyond the chit chat of academic circle.  As academics pondered the significance of Malcolm being gay, most people were left unaware that it was being discussed.

Does Malcolm’s former homosexual relationship alter the way we evaluate him as a model of masculinity?  Does it alter his message?  Could it be that the saddest part is how men who are gay are forced to hide behind the assumptions of authentic masculinity?

Does any of it matter?

All of it matters.  It matters because it forces a redefinition of black masculinity.  It compels all of us to consider the false suppositions attached to conceptions of the gay body.  They are not less male. They are men who love men.  Their masculinity is not lessened as a result of their sexual orientation.

Both Neal and Marable use prominent figures in popular culture to undo the assumptions held by those who hurl hatred.  Like Jackie Robinson, Jason Collins is that ah-ha moment that attacks the presuppositions of those who discriminate.  Robinson’s skills were no less due to his race.  Collins is no less masculine due to his sexual orientation.

Yes, there is a connection between Collins and Robinson that can’t be avoided.  They both have forced America to face the assumptions that limit progression toward dismantling discrimination.

Black people can compete against white people.

Many athletes are gay.  They’re not that stereotypical depiction in your head.

Look at his physique.  I dare you to call him a sissy.

Lessons from riding the bus

My travels on the bus are becoming more depressing with the passage of each day.  More and more, I’m discovering a vast gap between those who use public transportation and those with the power to rule public policy.

More and more, it’s becoming clear that the people making decisions have no clue.  They care.  They want to make a difference.  They simply lack insight regarding how their votes often make things worse.

Yes, I continue to ride the bus.  My journey to and from home leaves me aching at the increasing disconnect between those functioning with privilege and those who keep trying to find their way.

It’s depressing to listen to their struggles.

I’ve been careful to hide my own privilege.  My attire has been selected to conceal the distance between me and those who ride the bus.   I’ve done my best to spend more time in listening than speaking.  My hope has been to fit in, like an anthropologist hoping to uncover the culture of those on the bus. I’ve discovered that learning requires a willingness to forfeit the comforts that come with being set apart.

Those trips have changed me.

The troubling truth is I’m not so different than those living in poverty.  Each day, I’m becoming more like them, and less like those who make assumptions about those who ride the bus.  I’ve listened to their disappointments.  I’ve heard countless stories from black men who are looking for work.  Any work. 

“I can’t work at that restaurant because the last bus leaves at 10:00 pm and I can’t get home after they close,” I overheard a man share with a former co-worker.

 

“What you need to do is call all the churches and ask for money to pay your rent,” I listened as a woman shared with another as she cried because eviction was coming soon.

I’ve listened to men talk about paying child support.  One was struggling with making the $50 payment each month.  Another man talked about the pain related to paying child support only to discover the child was not his.

I’ve listened to men talk about getting out of prison and doing their best to change their lives.
“Man, I’m not hanging out over there anymore,” I heard a man say. “I’m trying to live God’s way now.”

The long ride from being picked up on the side of the street to the downtown terminal exposes a lot of pain.  It’s pain so deep that those living with it are unable to recognize the pain.  They’ve learned to live with the burden of surviving with never enough.

“Hey man, you want to buy some food stamps,” a man asked after explaining he needed the money to pay his utility bill.

Judgment made me wonder if the money would be used to buy a hit of crack cocaine.  The look on his face left me troubled that a decision was made between eating and paying a bill.  I wondered if those making decision even considered that possibility.

Do they understand?  I mean, is it possible to understand what you have never seen? 

Then I face the other side of that pain.  I listen. I watch.  I pray. I leave frustrated and confused because I know those in the room have no clue.  I don’t want to judge them, but I listen knowing they lack real insight into the lives of those they seek to help.

I listen to them talk about education.  I listen to them discuss poverty and incarceration.  They hurl statistics aimed at defining the problem, and they formulate strategies to alter what their evidence reveals.  Over the years I have listened.  I have functioned with a high level of respect for those willing to do their best to make a difference.

I’ve watched as they walk into schools to talk to administrators.  I’ve listened as those administrators put a positive spin on what is happening in the schools.  I’ve heard the reports from the Superintendent after conversations with parents and students.  I wonder about the distance between the reality presented by those parents and students and the rhetoric promoted by the big wigs.

I witness the pile of pain on the bus, and then I listen to more coming from those at the county jail.  I hear men talk about the battle to overcome their former ways.  I watch them wait for their day in court.  I’ve seen men walk out of jail with murder charges while others wait for months with far lesser crimes.

I listen as they talk about the injustice of the justice system.  I watch as they contend with racial profiling and unfair assumptions.  I’ve watched as I’ve been watched by those making assumptions about me.

Riding the bus has taught me important lessons.  I’ve discovered that being black and brown is harder than I knew.  Getting out from under the weight of stereotypes is heavy to bear.  I’ve discovered that the burden of race and poverty takes much more than those making decisions will ever understand.

They lack the understanding of their own assumptions.  They make decisions without knowing the rest of the truth.

In my opinion, no one should be allowed to lead until they spend some time on the bus. How can who take the test when they have failed to do the homework?

Committed, winner of NBC's Sing-Off, to perform at Navity School benefit concert

“The biggest surprise is how things changed so fast,” Maurice Staple says. “Overnight we’re meeting with important people in the business.”

That’s what happens when you win a competition with 9 million viewers on national television.  Staple is a member of Committed.  Committed won the second season of NBC’s The Sing-Off, forcing a rapid change in the lives of Dennis “DJ” Baptiste, Tommy Gervais, Geston Pierre, Robert Pressley, Theron “Therry” Thomas and Staple.

The all-male a cappella group will perform at the Carolina Theatre on Thursday, August 25.  The show starts at 8:00 pm, and the proceeds benefit the Durham Nativity School Scholarship Fund.  It’s the fourth annual Nativity School benefit concert, and organizers selected Committed because the group’s story resonates with the students at the Nativity School.

Committed was formed in Huntsville, Alabama in 2003.  Although none of the original members remain, Committed is an example of the benefit of hard work and dedication.

“We are grounded in our faith,” Staple says.  “We work hard to not perform music that goes against what we believe.

The group released their self-titled debut album on August 30^th on Epic Records.  The album features a blend of cover songs, including a rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Hold My Hand” which is the song that sealed their win on the season finale of The Sing-Off, as well as original songs. Their first single “Break Free” was co-written by group member Therry Thomas.

The group was discovered by NBC after a recommendation from Take 6, the a cappella group with ten GRAMMY Awards.  Like Committed, Take 6 formed in Huntsville, Alabama on the campus of Oakwood College.  Committed played at a party honoring Take 6 and made such a strong impression that members of Take 6 contacted NBC and recommended the group for the second season of Sing-Off

The connection between the two groups, along with the win on Sing-Off, was enough to inspire administrators at the Nativity School to have them perform at this year’s benefit concert.  There’s a lesson about paying it forward.  There’s a lesson about solidarity and lending a hand to those in need of support.

The Nativity School seeks to teach through the example of black male role models.  Most of the students at the Nativity School are black and brown boys.  Durham’s public education is replete of examples of minority boys who fall through the cracks due to a lack of attention.  The Nativity School boasts a myriad of examples of boys who move beyond the middle school years to obtain academic scholarships to attend the best private schools in North Carolina.

Yes, Thursday’s concert is about raising money to pay tuition. It’s also a celebration of six black males who endured a seven year wait to get a break.  It came after the group they admire saw their gift and moved beyond the comforts that come with success.  That group will be in Durham tomorrow.  Six black men who do more than just sing will come to show what faith can produce.

They sing without instruments.  They depend on each other to make great music.  Just like life - six black men trusting the other to keep the beat. 

A group of boys will be watching.  Who knows what watching Committed will do to shape their future. 

The name is a good start.  Committed.  Six black men singing, hoping, praying and trusting.

Thank God for Take 6.  Thank God for Committed. 

Thank God for the Nativity School.

Durham Nativity School presents

4th Annual Scholarship Benefit Concert featuring COMMITTED

For tickets

http://www.ticketmaster.com/Committed-tickets/artist/1549906?brand=carolinathtr&camefrom=CFC_CTD_WEB

 

It was easy to pass gun laws when the nation had to fight the Black Panther Party

“Senators say they fear the N.R.A. and the gun lobby. But I think that fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets,” Gabrielle Giffords writes in an op-ed piece in today’s New York Times.

“The fear that those children who survived the massacre must feel every time they remember their teachers stacking them into closets and bathrooms, whispering that they loved them, so that love would be the last thing the students heard if the gunman found them.”

Giffords understands that fear.

On January 8, 2011, a week into her third term, Giffords, as a member of the United States House of Representatives, was shot near Tucson, Arizona.  She was shot in the head.  Thirteen people were injured and six were killed.  Among those dead was federal judge John Roll and nine-year-old Christian-Taylor Green.

Now Giffords blames the NRA for manipulating members of the Congress to kill a bill for stiffer background checks.   The NRA successfully used the assumption of Second Amendment protection to destroy a proposal that most Americans desire.

It hasn’t always been this way.

It’s easy to forget the NRA didn’t begin the battle for gun rights.  It was the Black Panther Party who advocated for an individual’s right to bear arms back in the 1970s. 

Those Black Panthers maintained the right to own guns as a way to protect themselves from the police.  They carried their weapons to the California state capitol.  They brought their rifles to the trial of Huey P. Newton. It’s a part of American history that gets lost in the rhetoric related to today’s fight to grant people the right to own guns.

Maybe the resurgence of the Black Panther Party would change that public perception.  I’m not calling for it, but given how racial tension in the 1970s shaped thoughts on gun rights, maybe a few black folks wearing all black with assault weapons will get the attention of Congress.

Gun laws have almost always been about race.  Slaves and freed blacks were forbidden from owning guns due to the fear of an uprising.  The fear was justifiable.  The prevalence of slave revolts is often overlooked in the teaching of American history.

After the Civil War in the South, blacks were prohibited from processing firearms. The law was enforced by members of the Ku Klux Klan, who terrorized black communities to assure no blacks owned guns.

Then there’s the history of the NRA in pushing gun restrictions.

During prohibition, the NRA supported gun control measures as a way to combat organized crime.  The National Firearms Act was passed in 1934, and the NRA not only backed it but led the fight for legislation in many states to limit the carrying of concealed weapons.

Karl Frederick, former NRA president, helped draft the Uniform Firearms Act, a law requiring a police permit to carry a concealed weapon, a registry of all guns purchases, and a two-day waiting period for gun sales.

The NRA fought for gun control after the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.  The NRA promoted restrictions during the turbulent years of racial unrest. Riots sprung up across the nation - Rochester, NY, Newark, New York City, Philadelphia, Jersey City, Patterson, NJ, Chicago, Baltimore, Washington, DC, Louisville, Pittsburg, Augusta, GA, Jackson, MS, Watts, Cleveland, San Francisco, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul – and the NRA pushed for restrictions to limit guns in the hands of blacks.

There was war in the streets. Can you blame them?

The NRA joined forces with Ronald Reagan, then Governor of California, in support of gun control. Reagan wanted to get guns out of the hands of the Black Panther Party. The Black Panthers had their own law enforcement with armed members who showed up at the scene of arrest with weapons to protect black citizens from police brutality.

On May 2, 1967, The Black Panthers walked into the California State Capitol fully armed to protest a bill to limit gun possession. Ronald Reagan signed the bill into law.

Then the Black Panthers Party’s influence weakened.

The NRA shifted their position. Members within the organization began fighting to protect their right to bear arms citing distrust of the government and police. Ronald Reagan, who had signed the law to limit the Black Panther Party, became an advocate for guns as a way to protect people from the state. 

So, it was okay for whites to be protected from the states, but not blacks.

What is the connection between gun laws today versus the mood in the 70s?

Giffords blasting of lawmakers who bowed to the influence of the NRA is instructive to the role race continues to play in the formation of public policy.  It’s a truth that gets lost in the pomposity encompassing Second Amendment Rights.  Although race riots and panic stirred by the Black Panther Party was enough to pass laws limiting gun possession, the death of 20 children and 6 adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School was not enough to do the same.

The fear of a black revolution was enough to pass gun laws.  But a long history of gun violence isn’t enough to sway members of Congress to make a difference.

I hate saying it, but does race play a role in all of this?

As for the history of gun violence in the United States since Columbine, check out the list.  After reading it, call somebody and tell them you’re pissed.

December 11, 2012. Tyler Roberts killed 2 people and himself with a stolen rifle in Clackamas Town Center, Oregon.

September 27, 2012. Five were shot to death by 36-year-old Andrew Engeldinger at Accent Signage Systems in Minneapolis, MN.  

August 5, 2012. Six Sikh temple members were killed when Wade Michael Page opened fire in a gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.  

July 20, 2012. During the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, CO, 24-year-old James Holmes killed 12 people and wounded 58.  

May 29, 2012. Ian Stawicki opened fire on Cafe Racer Espresso in Seattle, WA, killing 5.

April 6, 2012. Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 32, shot 5 black men in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in racially motivated shooting spree. Three died.

April 2, 2012. A former student, 43-year-old One L. Goh killed 7 people at Oikos University, a Korean Christian college in Oakland, CA.  

February 27, 2012. Three students were killed by Thomas “TJ” Lane, another student, in a rampage at Chardon High School in Chardon, OH.  

October 14, 2011. Eight people died in a shooting at Salon Meritage hair salon in Seal Beach, CA. 41-year-old Scott Evans Dekraai, killed six women and two men dead.

September 6, 2011. Eduardo Sencion entered an IHOP restaurant in Carson City, NV and shot 12 people. Five died.

January 8, 2011. Former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) was shot in the head when Jared Loughner opened fire on an event she was holding at a Safeway market in Tucson, AZ. Six people died.

 August 3, 2010. Omar S. Thornton shot a Hartford Beer Distributor in Manchester, CT after getting caught stealing beer. Nine were killed, including Thornton, and two were injured.

November 5, 2009. Forty-three people were shot by Nidal Malik Hasan at the Fort Hood army base in Texas. Hasan reportedly yelled “Allahu Akbar!” before opening fire, killing 13 and wounding 29.

April 3, 2009. Jiverly Wong opened fire at an immigration center in Binghamton, New York before committing suicide. He killed 13 people and wounded 4.

March 29, 2009. Eight people died in a shooting at the Pinelake Health and Rehab nursing home in Carthage, NC. Robert Stewart, was targeting his estranged wife who worked at the home and survived.

February 14, 2008. Steven Kazmierczak opened fire in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University, killing 6 and wounding 21. The gunman shot and killed himself.

February 7, 2008. Six people died and two were injured in a shooting spree at the City Hall in Kirkwood, Missouri. Charles Lee Thornton, opened fire during a public meeting after being denied construction contracts.

December 5, 2007. Robert Hawkins, shot up a department store in the Westroads Mall in Omaha, NE. Hawkins killed 9 people and wounded 4 before killing himself.

April 16, 2007. Virginia Tech became the site of the deadliest school shooting in US history when a student, Seung-Hui Choi, gunned down 56 people. Thirty-two people died.

February 12, 2007. In Salt Lake City’s Trolley Square Mall, 5 people were shot to death and 4 others were wounded by Sulejman Talović.

October 2, 2006. An Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster, PA was gunned down by Charles Carl Roberts, Roberts separated the boys from the girls, binding and shooting the girls. 5 young girls died, while 6 were injured.

March 25, 2006. Seven died and 2 were injured by Kyle Aaron Huff in a shooting spree through Capitol Hill in Seattle, WA.

March 21, 2005. Jeffrey Weise killed his grandfather and his grandfather’s girlfriend before opening fire on Red Lake Senior High School, killing 9 people on campus and injuring 5.

March 12, 2005. A Living Church of God meeting was gunned down by church member Terry Michael Ratzmann at a Sheraton hotel in Brookfield, WI.

July 8, 2003. Doug Williams, a Lockheed Martin employee, shot up his plant in Meridian, MS in a racially-motivated rampage. He shot 14 people, most of them African American, and killed 7.

December 26, 2000. Edgewater Technology employee Michael “Mucko” McDermott shot and killed seven of his coworkers at the office in Wakefield, MA.  

September 15, 1999. Larry Gene Ashbrook opened fire on a Christian rock concert and teen prayer rally at Wedgewood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, TX. He killed 7 people and wounded 7 others.

July 29, 1999. Mark Orrin Barton killed his wife and two children with a hammer before shooting up two Atlanta day trading firms.  He killed 12 including his family and injured 13 before killing himself.

April 20, 1999. In the deadliest high school shooting in US history, teenagers Eric Harris and Dylan Kiebold shot up Columbine High School in Littleton, CO. They killed 13 people and wounded 21.

Ruffin shared his intent to retire in the Hickory Record

On January 6, 2013, Durham County Manager Mike Ruffin wrote an article that states his plans to retire soon.  “Ruffin: Kannapolis pastor retires after 40 years of faith service” appeared in the Hickory Record.

The Rev-elution has reported that multiple sources have shared conversations with Ruffin about his desire to retire in July due to conflicts with members of the current Board of County Commissioners.  Ruffin denied the report through an email sent to Ray Gronberg, a reporter with the Durham Herald-Sun.

“Mike Ruffin is a former Cabarrus County manager who lives in Durham and serves as Durham County manager. He plans to retire in Concord soon,” reads the tagline to the article. (http://www.hickoryrecord.com/independent_tribune/opinion/article_df293abc-5823-11e2-9bc0-0019bb30f31a.html)

The tagline references Ruffin’s devotions that appear at www.devotions.com, and claims it as one of the more popular websites on the Internet for Christian devotions. It list Ruffin’s email address as mike.ruffin@devotions.com.

The mention of his pending retirement, and the place he plans to live, raises questions related to Ruffin’s denial of the Rev-elution’s report.  Although the wording of Ruffin’s tagline fails to give a timeline for his retirement, the mention of it coming soon was done in a context outside the community that deserves to know what he means by soon.

When pressed by Gronberg, Ruffin refused to give specifics regarding his planned retirement.  His lack of clarity, given his mention in a newspaper outside of Durham, forces a critical question about why he is so willing to mention retirement on his devotion website and in another newspaper, while failing to do the same with those in Durham.

Ruffin mentions his pending retirement in January.  Soon would imply a decision within a year.  Durham has a right to know what he means by soon. The right to refuse to share those intentions was taken away when he decided to share plans to retire with others.  He has a right to remain silent, but not when he throws the bone to others while refusing to address the same back home.

The Rev-elution expects the Board of County Commissioners to press Ruffin on when he plans to retire.  Given the issues currently on the table, this is a matter that needs to be treated like an open book.  Members of the commission may desire to remain silent, but the truth is they all know the truth.  That truth has been shared.  Their response is dishonest and a serious violation of trust for those who expect them not to lie when asked a direct question.

To say they do not know, and to suggest reports were pulled from the sky, covers more than what Ruffin has shared.  It exposes their rapid willingness to rally in support of one who has already share his intentions.  Ruffin has done so with more than the members of the Board of County Commissioners.  Members of the Board of County Commissioners are functioning under the pretense that Ruffin has limited his plan to retire to those closed door sessions. That is not the case.

How can we trust those who shift the dialogue by working to find a way for Ruffin to leave after July 1?

Ruffin has shared his intentions.  It’s the truth.  Commissioners know it’s the truth.  Ruffin has written that truth in another paper.

So, why not face that truth?

The Rev-elution stands by reporting on Mike Ruffin

The Rev-elution has confirmed through multiple sources that Mike Ruffin, Durham’s County Manager, has shared his intent to leave his position before July 1. Ruffin denied previous reports from the Rev-elution during an interview with Ray Gronberg of the Herald-Sun.

Multiple sources, both direct and indirect, have shared conversations with Ruffin related to his intent to leave his position with Durham County due to tension with members of the Board of County Commissioners.  The Rev-elution stands by the reporting on this matter.

“I have no plans to retire in July,” Ruffin informed the Herald-Sun via email. “I’ll be here for a while.”

A shift in plans for sure.

Ruffin’s response in the Herald-Sun conflicts with that of sources who shared conversations regarding Ruffin’s plans to leave before July 1.

The report from the Rev-elution led to rapid denial from Ruffin.  Why the shift in what has been reported by the Rev-elution? Why would Ruffin deny what has been confirmed by multiple sources? Why would members of the Board of County Commissioners deny what they know to be true?

There are two issues leading to the back peddling by Ruffin and Commissioners: pressure to locate long term financing for two construction projects (the social services building and the courthouse), and the county’s credit rating.  It is assumed that knowledge of Ruffin’s plan to leave could negatively impact both.  Ruffin does not want to be perceived as a lame duck manager who places the county at risk.

When pressed by Gronberg about a possible departure after July 1, Ruffin was unable to give a definitive answer.  There is suspension that Ruffin may leave after the July date, but there is significant reason to believe he will leave his post before the end of the year.

Members of the board are hush on this matter.  Who can blame them?  They have been advised to keep the matter in house.  The lesson learned relates to Ruffin managing his own secrets.

In Durham, people are listening.  If you wish to keep things quiet, keep it quiet until you’re ready to dance.

Source: Mike Ruffin to step down as Durham County Manager

Multiple sources at Durham County Government have confirmed that County Manager Mike Ruffin has expressed his intent to retire in July. 

Ruffin is serving his second term as County Commissioner. He was first hired in November 2000 to replace former County Manager David Thompson who resigned due to disagreements with commissioners. He was fired during a closed-door session in 2004, after months of conflict with black members of the Board of County Commissioners.  Commissioners Joe Bowser, Philip Cousin, Jr. and Mary Jacobs voted to terminate him.  No reason was given for Ruffin’s dismissal. It was a vote split on racial lines.

Bowser said at the time that Ruffin’s “failure at act upon” allegations of favoritism were a motive for Ruffin’s dismissal. Charlie Hobgood, the internal auditor, alleged 11 instances of favoritism in offering raises and poor record-keeping under former Human Resources Director Jackye Knight.

Shortly after arriving in Durham, Ruffin was attacked for comments he made on the website www.devotions.com. The website, a part of Pen Holder Ministries, founded by Ruffin in 1996, posted columns written by Ruffin that supported teaching creationism in public schools, disputes that the separation of church and state is a principle found in the Constitution, and that homosexuality is a sin.

Ruffin was reinstated as County Manager in 2005 after Lewis Cheek defeated Joe Bowser as a member of the Board of County Commissioners. Again, the vote was split on racial lines.

The last act of business for Ruffin is the approval of the 2013-14 budget. This year’s budget process could be heated due to a number of issues facing members of the Board of County Commissioners.  The county faces a large deficient due to the new courthouse and human services buildings.  Major cutbacks from the state could force significant reductions in the budget for Durham Public School. Commissioners have to find a way to overcome a $16 million difference between revenue and cost. 

Ruffin had proposed a five cent increase in the county’s property tax rate.  He recently offered a three cent increase for the coming year, with an additional two cent increase in fiscal year 2014-2015.  The debate over the budget could stir serious tiffs between Ruffin and commissioners.  Ruffin and Commissioner Brenda Howerton recently engaged in a quarrel after Howerton suggested Ruffin is a dictator for limiting public input in the budget process.

Ruffin and the commissioners have refrained from raising property taxes in the past, but may be forced to do so to offset the threat of losing the county’s AAA rating.  County taxes haven’t been increased since fiscal year 2010-11.

Sources say Ruffin plans to close Durham’s Youth Detention Center.  The proposal would save the county roughly 500 million, but the plan has been met with strong opposition.  Critics of the plan are concerned that the cost to ship youth from the center to other sites may burden the system more than the savings are worth.

Ruffin hoped to make the announcement after the approval of the 2013-14 budget.

If racism is an accident, what do we do with LL Cool J

What are we going to do with James Todd Smith? Most know him as LL Cool J.  Oh, that means “Ladies Love Cool James”.  Black women are having issues with Cool James right now.  We’ll see what happens when he takes his shirt off.

Cool J, also known as Uncle L, is sitting on the hot seat for his recent collaboration with Brad Paisley.  The song “Accidental Racist” has many asking why the 45 year-old mega-star decided to lend his skills to the song.  

"Music is about ... connecting different people, and building bridges and breaking the rules. If it's not compelling, and it's not complex and it's not interesting, then what are we doing it for? So I think that's the right move,” He said on Good Morning American.

“I needed to do something that was going to be interesting like that, and shake things up, and jump out of the box. I'm really proud of it, and I hope the world hears it and enjoys it."

And shake things up he did.  Paisley and Cool J expected the song to facilitate a deeper conversation involving the state of race relations in America.  The lyrics have us looking back in a way that makes it difficult to look forward.  The bottom line is a tough pill to swallow.  It’s hard as it is to take the medicine, the debate on the song may require a collective chill moment. 

Yes, chill and take the pill.

Why would I say that?  Certainly it’s legitimate to raise questions about a song that seemingly justifies the racist ways of those living in the South. Certainly there is reason to attack Cool J for pulling lyrics from a bag of black stereotypes.  Certainly, yes, over and over again, both of them should be taken to the wood shed and spanked for lacking the sensitivity to see how their raunchy lyrics would stir a huge pot of discontent.

Yes, they deserve a beating.

But, if we pause long enough we will uncover the true culprit behind the hysteria.  It’s not just the lyrics. It’s much deeper than that.  The reaction to “Accidental Racist” reminds us that we’re still not ready to talk about race.  It’s too painful.  It’s too close.  We haven’t healed yet, and any mention of the life and culture that fed the racist ideology of the South will be met with extreme disdain.

Cool J’s point is a good one.  He simply tried to stir things up. He wanted people to talk about a topic that we wish would go away.  Yes, it’s an atrocious past filled with too many memories to count. The song forces us to accept that it’s not going anywhere until we talk about how we feel about that past.

So, I commend Paisley and Ladies Love Cool James for trying.  It wasn’t a perfect attempt, but at least they tried.  Yes, I deplore the lyrics for washing over the continued implications of that racist past. I get it, but sooner or later we have to share our views on how all of this makes us feel.

So, back to the point, what do we do with James Todd Smith?

For those jumping on the wagon to take Cool J’s black card, hesitate before you take it away.  He’s been accused of being a Republican and invalidated for that reason.  For those who aren’t black, being accused of being a Republican is, in many black circles, equivalent to saying all black women are ugly.  That mess will get you thrown under a bus after they take your black credentials.

The point is Cool J isn’t a Republican.  He did support George Pataki’s bid for a third term as Governor of New York in 2002.  He also supported New York State Senator Malcolm Smith, a Democrat, and is a staunch supporter of President Barack Obama.  Cool J claims to be an Independent. That’s a far cry from being a conservative Republican.

Why does it matter? Glad you asked.  It’s important because the ploy, within the black community, is to discredit Cool J as one with a white agenda.  Take away his black card.  Prove that he is a traitor and lacks real sensitivity for those below his pay level.  Do it based on the evidence – the song proves it, and his Republican leanings seal the deal.

It’s all a bogus effort to limit the form of creative expression that seeks to stir things up.  That’s what all artists should seek to do.  All who write, sing, dance, act and perform poetry are given space within a limited window to make a point.  It’s often an incomplete point.  It often requires a second chapter.  Most of the time it needs three of four before the conclusion.

It’s a tough pill folks.  One that most can’t take.  You can’t handle the truth!

The truth is we can’t talk about race.  We talk at one another.  We make assumptions related to intent, while minimizing the power of creativity.  Sometimes art is used to poke fun.  Sometimes to heads way over the top.  Most of the time it ends with a variety of missing pieces.

That’s art folks.  Oh, by the way, each of us can play a part.  I suggest jump in the middle and play.

Attack the art.  When you get done, make your own.

That’s the beauty of discovery.