Blogging Black Miami

Dunbar Village Rape Case puts civil rights blocs at odds

Web-based activists, old-guard leadership not seeing eye to eye on Florida assaults

By Howard Witt

Tribune correspondent

March 30, 2008


HOUSTON - The crime was unspeakably horrific.

A 35-year-old Haitian immigrant and her 12-year-old son were forced into their home at gunpoint in the bleak Dunbar Village housing project in West Palm Beach, Fla. The woman was beaten, raped and sodomized for hours, allegedly by a gang of African-American teenagers, then forced to abuse her son. Finally the attackers doused the victims with household chemicals-pouring them directly into the boy's eyes-and attempted to set the two on fire before fleeing.

Yet outside South Florida, the attack last June largely escaped notice, and it scarcely registered on the radar of national civil rights leaders because it involved the awkward topic of black-on-black crime.

Three weeks ago, however, Al Sharpton and local representatives of the NAACP held a news conference in West Palm Beach where they declared that four black teenagers arrested for the Dunbar Village attack are being treated unfairly because they remain incarcerated without bond, while five white teenagers recently accused of sexually assaulting two white girls in nearby Boca Raton were freed on bail.


Triggering dual outrage

"You cannot have one set of rules for acts that are wrong and horrific in Boca and another set in Dunbar Village," Sharpton said, as parents of some of the Dunbar defendants nodded behind him. "You must have equal protection under the law."

It was, for Sharpton and the NAACP, a familiar situation and a routine news conference: Contrasting the treatment of blacks and whites in the criminal justice system and calling for fairness.

But Sharpton's remarks-and his apparent call for the Dunbar Village suspects to be released on bail-triggered outrage on dozens of blogs devoted to civil rights, feminism and the interests of African-American crime victims. Now the Dunbar Village case is deepening a growing schism between traditional civil rights organizations and a new, Internet-driven generation of younger activists who take a more nuanced view of many issues.

"For Sharpton and the NAACP to come out and recklessly say we need to free these guys because some white guys over in Boca Raton are out on bail is just unconscionable," said Gina McCauley, an Austin, Texas, attorney and author of an influential African-American civil rights blog called What About Our Daughters?

"We've lost our way in the civil rights movement," McCauley added, "when in every case, no matter what an African-American is in custody for, we automatically start screaming about unfairness-even when they are in custody to protect the black community from them."

Color of Change, a Web-based civil rights group that counts nearly 400,000 members, criticized Sharpton for choosing the accused Dunbar Village assailants to champion.

"I question whether this is the case we want to be standing up for," said Mervyn Marcano, the group's spokesman. "At the end of the day, when we choose to fight for equal justice, we have to be aware of who's being affected. A lot of people think no one was speaking for the victims of this terrible crime."

For his part, Sharpton strongly denied in an interview with the Tribune last week that he was ignoring the plight of the Dunbar Village victims or insisting that their accused attackers should be freed on bond. He said his comments at the March 11 news conference had been misunderstood, and that he had visited Dunbar Village several times this year to show support for the residents and denounce the "hideous, deplorable" crime.

"My position is there ought to be one standard," Sharpton said. "The white kids in Boca Raton ought to be held just like the black kids in Dunbar Village. Why are they not doing the same with the white kids?"

Yet freedom for the four Dunbar Village defendants was the clear demand of the other participants at the news conference, where fliers were distributed proclaiming the teenagers to be "voiceless, vulnerable victims."

"We don't like what's going on. It's not right," said Ruby Walker, the mother of defendant Nathan Walker. "I don't think we should have to suffer."

Maude Ford Lee, president of the local West Palm Beach NAACP chapter who joined Sharpton at the news conference, said she hoped Sharpton's presence would help expose the "injustice" of the case.

"Our kids are incarcerated, they can't even get a bond, and it's unconscionable what is happening," Lee told reporters.

Lee declined to return several phone calls seeking further explanation of her comments. But NAACP officials at both the state and national level said their organizations had taken no position on whether the Dunbar suspects should be released on bond.



Comparison issues

Sharpton's critics say it was wrong to equate the Dunbar Village and Boca Raton rape cases in the first place because the Dunbar assault was far more vicious. Among the awful details: The attackers forced the mother to perform oral sex on her 12-year-old son.

In the Boca Raton case, the five white teenagers are accused of sexually assaulting two middle-school students after the group of seven engaged in a night of drinking on Jan. 1. The Dunbar defendants, by contrast, face multiple felony counts for the torture and gang-rape that could send them to prison for life if convicted.

Prosecutors say they have DNA evidence implicating three of the suspects: Walker, 17; Avion Lawson, 14; and Tommy Poindexter, 18. A fourth suspect, Jakaris Taylor, 16, pleaded guilty in November to charges of burglary and armed sexual battery in exchange for a 20-year sentence and a requirement that he testify against the others.

The rift between the new generation of civil rights activists, organized via blogs, Web sites and e-mail lists, and their old-guard forebears such as Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and the NAACP, opened last September over the civil rights march through Jena, La., that drew more than 20,000 demonstrators.

Even though many of the marchers traveled to Jena in response to e-mail appeals and postings on scores of African-American blogs, Sharpton, Jackson and mainstream civil rights groups claimed credit for orchestrating the huge turnout.

Two months later, black civil rights bloggers were perplexed when Sharpton organized a march for justice in Washington without tapping their organizing abilities.

"I've concluded that we can expect no leadership on the issues that are of concern to African-Americans today from these traditional civil rights groups," McCauley said. "It's at least equally important to address black-on-black violence, and it's not being addressed at all."

Reflections on Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Trinity United Church of Christ

What Kind of Prophet?

Reflections on the Rhetoric of Preaching in Light of Recent News Coverage of Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. and Trinity United Church of Christ

The Rev. John H. Thomas
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ

Over the weekend members of our church and others have been subjected to the relentless airing of two or three brief video clips of sermons by the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr., pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ for thirty-six years and, for over half of those years, pastor of Senator Barack Obama and his family. These video clips, and news stories about them, have been served up with frenzied and heated commentary by media personalities expressing shock that such language and sentiments could be uttered from the pulpit.

One is tempted to ask whether these commentators ever listen to the overcharged rhetoric of their own opinion shows. Even more to the point is to wonder whether they have a working knowledge of the history of preaching in the United States from the unrelentingly grim language of New England election day sermons to the fiery rhetoric of the Black church prophetic tradition. Maybe they prefer the false prophets with their happy homilies in Jeremiah who say to the people: "You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you true peace in this place." To which God responds, "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds. . . . By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed,"

(Jeremiah 14.14-15). The Biblical Jeremiah was coarse and provocative. Faithfulness, not respectability was the order of the day then. And now?

What's really going on here? First , it may state the obvious to point out that these television and radio shows have very little interest in Trinity Church or Jeremiah Wright. Those who sifted through hours of sermons searching for a few lurid phrases and those who have aired them repeatedly have only one intention. It is to wound a presidential candidate. In the process a congregation that does exceptional ministry and a pastor who has given his life to shape those ministries is caricatured and demonized. You don't have to be an Obama supporter to be alarmed at this. Will Clinton's United Methodist Church be next? Or McCain's Episcopal Church? Wouldn't we have been just as alarmed had it been Huckabee's Southern Baptist Church, or Romney's Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?

Many of us would prefer to avoid the stark and startling language Pastor Wright used in these clips. But what was his real crime? He is condemned for using a mild "obscenity" in reference to the United States. This week we mark the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq, a war conceived in deception and prosecuted in foolish arrogance. Nearly four thousand cherished Americans have been killed, countless more wounded, and tens of thousands of Iraqis slaughtered. Where is the real obscenity here? True patriotism requires a degree of self-criticism, even self-judgment that may not always be easy or genteel. Pastor Wright's judgment may be starker and more sweeping than many of us are prepared to accept. But is the soul of our nation served any better by the polite prayers and gentle admonitions that have gone without a real hearing for these five years while the dying and destruction continues?

We might like to think that racism is a thing of the past, that Martin Luther King's harmonious multi-racial vision, articulated in his speech at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 and then struck down by an assassin's bullet in Memphis in 1968, has somehow been resurrected and now reigns throughout the land. Significant progress has been made. A black man is a le! gitimate candidate for President of the United States. A black woman serves as Secretary of State. The accomplishments are profound. But on the gritty streets of Chicago's south side where Trinity has planted itself, race continues to play favorites in failing urban school systems, unresponsive health care systems, crumbling infrastructure, and meager economic development. Are we to pretend all is well because much is, in fact, better than it used to be? Is it racist to name the racial divides that continue to afflict our nation, and to do so loudly? How ironic that a pastor and congregation which, for forty-five years, has cast its lot with a predominantly white denomination, participating fully in its wider church life and contributing generously to it, would be accused of racial exclusion and a failure to reach for racial reconciliation.

The gospel narrative of Palm Sunday's entrance into Jerusalem concludes with the overturning of the money changers' tables in the Temple courtyard. Here wealth and power and greed were challenged for the way the poor were oppressed to the point of exclusion from a share in the religious practices of the Temple. Today we watch as the gap between the obscenely wealthy and the obscenely poor widens. More and more of our neighbors are relegated to minimal health care or to no health care at all. Foreclosures destroy families while unscrupulous lenders seek bailouts from regulators who turned a blind eye to the impending crisis. Should the preacher today respond to this with only a whisper and a sigh?

Is Pastor Wright to be ridiculed and condemned for refusing to play the court prophet, blessing land and sovereign while pledging allegiance to our preoccupation with wealth and our fascination with weapons? In the United Church of Christ we honor diversity. For nearly four centuries we have respected dissent and have struggled to maintain the freedom of the pulpit. Not every pastor in the United Church of Christ will want to share Pastor Wright's rhetoric or his politi! cs. Not every member will rise to shout "Amen!" But I trust we will all struggle in our own way to resist the lure of respectable religion that seeks to displace evangelical faith. For what this nation needs is not so much polite piety as the rough and radical word of the prophet calling us to repentance. And, as we struggle with that ancient calling, I pray we will be shrewd enough to name the hypocrisy of those who decry the mixing of religion and politics in order to serve their own political ends.

Boycott the 2008 Olympics in Beijing

From Vanessa: Unplugged!:

I would be the first to tell you that I really didn't understand the somewhat muffled uproar in the United States over boycotting the Olympic Games this year in China. After reading the comments from Linda and Matt regarding the plight of Tibetan monks and nuns, a little research disclosed a history of pain and strife.

I found much more information on boycotting the Olympics because of Darfur and this post does not suggest that there should be a competition between to the two issues. I submit that the horrors these people are dealing with are unimaginable to us in the United States.

Much, much more needs to be done to publicize what's going on in Tibet and Darfur. China should stop selling weapons to the Sudanese who in turn use those weapons in a massive campaign of genocide leveled against the people of Darfur.

There also needs to be an all out assault on the staging of the 2008 Summer Olympics in China. The president of the IOC (International Olympic Committee), Jacques Rogge, said that protests would only penalize athletes. Is he serious? Why the IOC would choose China as the site for the Olympics is shameful. Mr. Rogge and anyone who participates in the Olympics in China have blood of the people of Darfur and Tibetans on their hands.

Arrests of Miami Edison students may be ruled invalid

The melee at Miami Edison was unfortunate but a tremendous lesson for the entire community. We cannot escape the need for bilateral communication to avoid such situations. From each perspective, all involved thought they were right and perhaps they were to some extent but our community cannot survive with such demonstrations of violence.

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Vague arrests muddle Edison High case

Posted on Sat, Mar. 08, 2008

BY EVAN S. BENN AND TRENTON DANIEL

[email protected]

ALEXIA FODERE/FOR THE MIAMI HERALD

A Miami Edison Senior High school student looks down as she is accused of resisting a police officer with violence. The 15-year-old girl suffered injuries during an arrest in school Feb. 29.

» More Photos

• Slide Show | Edison students protest morning classes
• After conflict, a valuable lesson
• Police to hold no-confidence vote
• 18 Edison students freed as peers protest
• School fracas a lesson in civics
• Superintendent Crew silent before Edison students
• Edison students not troublemakers
• Activist group might be trying to help itself
• Video | Opinions differ on what happened at Edison protest
• Video | Power U activists and Edison students stage protest
• Video | Edison students stage peaceful protest
• Video | Interview with Miami Edison High senior

Most of the Miami Edison High students arrested in a recent school fight will be hard to convict of any crime, legal experts say, because police failed to say in their arrest affidavits exactly what the students did.

Officers responding to the Feb. 29 brawl changed the names and contact information on each student's form, but the charges and descriptions of what happened are almost identical on 23 of the 26 forms.

''Form affidavits are a huge red flag that the arrests were done hastily,'' said Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, a Miami lawyer and past president of the local American Civil Liberties Union. [More]

Edison students to continue protest Monday

Two students were released for insufficient evidence while others will have to deal with the legalities surrounding the Friday disturbance at Miami Edison Senior High School. Assistant principal Javier Perez is still the subject of the students' protest which has escalated to their dissatisfaction as to how they were treated when staging the peaceful protest on Friday.

Here is an excerpt of today's Miami herald coverage of the incident.

MIAMI EDISON SENIOR HIGH

Students released from jail

A judge sent home 18 teens arrested after a clash with police. The students say they were protesting the vice principal's behavior.

Posted on Sun, Mar. 02, 2008

BY ROBERT SAMUELS AND TRENTON DANIEL

[email protected]

ALEXIA FODERE/FOR THE MIAMI HERALD

Edison High student Gregory Danny, 15, listens to one of his lawyers, Ariol Eugene, in courtroom 4-1 on Saturday morning. Edison students, 17 in all, were arrested on Friday during a protest against Assistant Principal Javier Perez, who was accused of racism.

» More Photos

A Miami-Dade Circuit judge on Saturday sent home 18 teens who were arrested for their role in a lunchtime melee between students and police at Miami Edison Senior High.

Circuit Judge Barbara Areces said she found insufficient evidence to hold two students in jail, citing vague police arrest affidavits. Sixteen other teens were given home detention until a Monday hearing. [More…]

Stop Complaining and Do Something for Your Community!

If You Don’t Read Any Other Blog Posts, READ THIS: Starving Haitians Eat Dirt Cookies! Spread the Word!

The story below was published in the Houston Chronicle. Why it wasn't published in a South Florida newspaper, we don't know. We received a couple of e-mails about this and thought it was a hoax. It's not. It's time to do something. Please spread the word and stay tuned.

Cookies made of dirt, salt and vegetable shortening cost about 5 cents apiece. ARIANA CUBILIOS: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Jan. 29, 2008, 11:02PM
Starving Haitians eating dirt cookies
A traditional remedy becomes a daily necessity

By JONATHAN M. KATZ
Associated Press

Haiti's poor take desperate measures

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI — It was lunchtime in one of Haiti's worst slums, and Charlene Dumas was eating mud.

With food prices rising, Haiti's poorest can't afford even a daily plate of rice, and some take desperate measures to fill their bellies.

Charlene, 16 with a 1-month-old son, has come to rely on a traditional Haitian remedy for hunger pangs: cookies made of dried yellow dirt from the country's central plateau.

The mud has long been prized by pregnant women and children here as an antacid and source of calcium. But in places like Cite Soleil, the oceanside slum where Charlene shares a two-room house with her baby, five siblings and two unemployed parents, cookies made of dirt, salt and vegetable shortening have become a regular meal.

"When my mother does not cook anything, I have to eat them three times a day," Charlene said.

Though she likes their buttery, salty taste, Charlene said the cookies also give her stomach pains. "When I nurse, the baby sometimes seems colicky too," she said.

Food prices around the world have spiked because of higher oil prices, needed for fertilizer, irrigation and transportation. Prices for basic ingredients such as corn and wheat are also up sharply, and the increasing global demand for biofuels is pressuring food markets as well.

The problem is particularly dire in the Caribbean, where island nations depend on imports and food prices are up 40 percent in places.

At the market in the La Saline slum, two cups of rice now sell for 60 cents, up 10 cents from December and 50 percent from a year ago. Even the price of the edible clay has risen over the past year by almost $1.50. Dirt to make 100 cookies now costs $5, the cookie makers say.

Still, at about 5 cents apiece, the cookies are a bargain compared to food staples. About 80 percent of people in Haiti live on less than $2 a day.

A reporter sampling a cookie found that it had a smooth consistency and sucked all the moisture out of the mouth as soon as it touched the tongue.

Assessments of the health effects are mixed. Dirt can contain deadly parasitess, but can also strengthen the immunity of fetuses in the womb to certain diseases, said Gerald Callahan, an immunology professor at Colorado State University who has studied geophagy, the scientific name for dirt-eating.

Funeral home helps with teen’s burial

OPA-LOCKA

'Angel' appears to slain girl's family

An Opa-locka funeral home, founded by a woman in honor of her slain father, will host a viewing for a teenage girl who was shot to death in a car on Christmas Eve.

Posted on Wed, Jan. 02, 2008

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BY LAURA MORALES

[email protected]

• Audio | Interview with Lori Davis

When Lori Davis opened her own funeral home in Opa-locka, she named it Hadley's after her father Emory Hadley Jr., who was stabbed to death by a nephew in July.

''I wanted to honor my dad's memory and I wanted to do work where I would be in a position to help people in difficult times,'' said Davis.

After reading about 14-year-old Natasha Calixte, a Westview Middle School seventh-grader who died of a gunshot to the back on Christmas Eve, Davis knew the girl's family had no money for a funeral or burial. [More]

Black Men march in unity and in remembrance

Posted on Sat, Dec. 29, 2007

Marchers mourn the loss of black men to violence

BY ANDREA ROBINSON

The men came from South Dade, Miami, Miramar and beyond to Carol City Park Saturday to march in silence and remember black fathers, sons and brothers who have died violently.

Declaring the killings a curse on the community, they evoked a clear message: We must do better.

The Miami-Dade branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, People United to Lead the Struggle for Equality and ministers led about 300 men, teenagers and toddlers in a silent march through Miami Gardens followed by a rally to protest the increasing violence plaguing South Florida.

Organizers hope the display of unity will encourage peace.

''This march is in memory of all the brothers we've lost. They can't speak any longer so we have to do it for them,'' said Victor T. Curry, the local NAACP branch president who suggested the idea months ago, following fatal police shootings of unarmed black men, and ``brothers killing each other.'' [Continue reading…]

The Spirit of Kwanzaa dims for perennial community Kwanzaa Celebration

Since 1989, the Miami-Dade Chapter of the Florida A&M University National Alumni Association has celebrated Kwanzaa. We grew from celebrating in the living room of an apartment in South Miami with a kinara drawn on a poster board to the largest celebration in the Miami area.

In 1999 we were honored to have Tavis Smiley as our special guest. At least 500 people packed the meeting room at the Joseph Caleb Center to hear Smiley, enjoy the entertainment and feast on American soul food, Caribbean delicacies and African entrees. The next year, our event expanded to include the Caleb Center auditorium for the main performances and the meeting room for more performances and the feast.

The event has always been free to the public with members of our organization providing the karamu (feast) and various musicians and drummers sharing their talent gratis. Through Miami-Dade County, the facility, security and custodial services were provided at no charge to the organization.

Unfortunately, this year, we will not celebrate Kwanzaa because support from Miami-Dade County has been reduced tremendously. That is most disheartening because practicing the principles of Kwanzaa is exactly what the black community needs. Sometimes it appears as though those in responsible positions of government and other influential positions want the people to remain un-enlightened and un-conscious.

Even when other local organizations received assistance to present the Kwanzaa celebration and make money from vendor booths, members of our organization continued to provide in the true spirit of Kwanzaa.

The Kwanzaa Celebration provided an opportunity for family and friends to celebrate together, in spite of religious and perhaps political differences. Kwanzaa principles reinforce individual pride and pride in the community. It also promotes support of businesses in the community as well as appreciation for the artistically gifted among us.

Most important is Kwanzaa's foundation of non-commercialism and lessons of faith and responsibility to children and respect for elders.

Several people in the community have contacted us about the event this year and we've had to share the bad news of our forced break this year but our intent on enlarging our circle of support for 2008.

Florida’s latest voter suppression scheme thwarted

Westside Gazette
Originally posted 12/27/2007

On Dec 18, the Advancement Project, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, and Project Vote won a preliminary injunction that blocks a Florida state law prohibiting applicants from registering to vote if the state cannot match or otherwise validate the driver’s license or Social Security number on a registration form. This law stood to disenfranchise tens of thousands of eligible applicants, particularly Black American and Latino voters, in the upcoming elections.

A federal court in Gainesville, Fla. held that Florida’s law conflicts with both the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. HAVA requires every state to obtain a unique identifying number for voter registration applicants, but it does not make the “verification” of one’s ID number a prerequisite for one’s eligibility to vote. As a result, the court ruled that Florida’s “matching” statute violates HAVA. The court also held that the matching process would result in thou-sands of eligible voters being denied the opportunity to vote “for reasons unrelated to their voter qualifications under the Florida Constitution,” thereby violating the Voting Rights Act. [Continue reading...]

Silent March to Stop the Violence, Saturday, Dec. 29

SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN!!! We must stop the Violence (Miami ) On December 29, 2007, the Miami-Dade Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, (NAACP) under the leadership of Bishop Victor T. Curry, President, People United to Lead the Struggle for Equality, (P.U.L.S.E) along with community leaders, organizations and citizens will lead 1000 Men and Boys in a silent march against the increasing violence and crime that continues to plague South Florida. On that date, at 9:00am men and boys will gather at Miami Carol City Park , 3201 NW 185th street and march silently through Miami Gardens in reverence and solidarity. They will return to the Park and will be joined by concerned women for a rally and demonstration. This Event seeks to put public spotlight on the violence that is still taking place in Miami-Dade County . "We must stop the shootings that continue to occur, says Bishop Curry, the visionary for the Event. "We must stop the crimes, particularly those against each other. As men we must take the lead and teach our brothers that there are alternatives to solving differences." "We are asking fraternities, men's groups and boy's organizations to march," says Bishop Victor T. Curry. "Men, lets take the action that is needed for our families." Voter Registration, as well as Health, Employment and Restoration of Rights information will be available. This event is free and open to the community. For group participation, call Kevin "Dr. K" Moyd at 305.769.1100. For more information call 305.685.3700. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an interracial membership organization, founded in 1909, that is devoted to civil rights and racial justice. The NAACP has been instrumental in improving the legal, educational, and economic lives of people of color. Throughout its existence, it has worked to fulfill its goals to secure full suffrage and other civil rights, with the ultimate goal to end segregation and racial violence. MORE NEWS... email: [email protected] phone: (305) 835-0321 web: http://jebapresents.com

Judge Opens Mychal Bell’s Trial to Media and Public

In another setback for LaSalle Parish District Judge J.P. Mauffray, the upcoming trial proceedings of Mychal Bell will be open to the public and the media in a lawsuit brought by the Chicago Tribune and other media outlets. Mark your calendar and stay alert for the December 6^th trial. Click here to read Howard Witt's coverage of this latest episode in the Tribune.

Related link:

Comprehensive coverage of Jena 6 at Chicago Tribune website

Michael Baisden’s Beat Down

The sound that you hear is radio talk personality and author Michael Baisden being slammed all over the media. Pick a format --- print, radio, television, internet --- and Baisden's beat down reputation litters the place. It is what it is.

Check out Howard Witt's coverage at the Chicago Tribune and then read Glen Ford's slicing and dicing of Baisden and others over at the Black Agenda Report.

When monies are involved, someone is likely to try something funky. In the case of the Jena 6 and other fundraising initiatives in which Baisden and others profit, it's time for the pimpin' and getting pimped to stop.

Noose at Northeast Miami Water and Sewer Facility

A noose was found hanging at the County's Water & Sewer Department in northeast Miami on October 12 of this year. There was an investigation by police that resulted in no finding of criminal activity, thus no action. That should not be a surprise as the incident was reported some five days after it happened. Local civil rights group, PULSE (People United to Lead the Struggle for Equality), was notified of the incident and made the noose hanging incident public.

Most of the employees at the facility are Hispanic but the head of the facility, Benny Walton is black. It is suspected Walton's ethnicity may have something to do with the noose. The threat of job loss due to county budget cutbacks may also contribute to this madness.

PULSE held a press conference on Thursday to make sure the incident is properly investigated and not swept under the rug.

 

WSVN video

Feds in Charge of Local Housing Agency

Feds take over Dade housing, meet leaders

With a pointed welcome from local activists, federal officials took over Miami-Dade County's scandal-plagued housing agency.

Posted on Sat, Oct. 27, 2007

BY MATTHEW I. PINZUR

[email protected]

• Video | Federal takeover of Miami-Dade Housing Agency

Striking a cooperative, deliberate tone on Friday, federal housing leaders officially took control of the Miami-Dade Housing Agency -- and unexpectedly received an ominous welcome note from activists.

''Welcome to the neighborhood,'' the card announced in bold, blue marker. ``Respect your neighbors.''

A small group of organizers delivered the oversized greeting card by interrupting a morning meeting between senior staff from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the local housing agency.

''We just want to give them a gentle reminder that they're new in town,'' said Aiyeshia Hudson, an organizer with the Miami Workers Center, one of the activist groups.

One of the nation's top public housing administrators, HUD Assistant Secretary Orlando Cabrera, quickly thanked the group. Later, the executive who will run day-to-day operations said he is willing to meet with the activists. ''We want to listen to what they have to say,'' said Donald ''D.J.'' LaVoy, a retired Marine and veteran HUD administrator.

During a 90-minute meeting with housing agency workers, ''We said a little and listened a lot,'' Cabrera said.

Housing Agency Director Kris Warren, who now reports to LaVoy, declined comment and referred questions to HUD's spokesmen. [Read more…]

What do you know about Darfur?

There's a lot of madness in the world and sometimes it can be overwhelming. With so many people in need, how and when do you just say I give up…throw in the towel…retreat to your own world and close out the rest?

As human beings, we can't do that and continue to be blessed by our Creator. As such, today several bloggers have taken on the subject of Darfur. Surely you've seen photos and commercials about the thousands of lives that have been lost either through war or starvation or disease or murder.

How thousands of lives can be lost without action by the United Nations or the United States is sad and shameful. The government and janjaweed faction's fight with native rebels has wreaked havoc upon the people of Darfur.

Yes, there are people in the U.S. that need help as much as those in Darfur. How can we sit idly by while millions continue to be made refugees and thousands are raped and murdered? Too many more just die from starvation; this must stop. We've wasted gazillions of dollars and thousands of lives in Iraq supposedly in the name of democracy, there's no excuse for us not to save the people of Darfur.

The blog on Darfur Awareness phrases the situation best: "On a micro-level, the Darfur conflict can be described as a tribal conflict. On the macro-level however, it's about the oppressed and neglected Darfurian people fighting collectively for their fair share of Sudan's wealth and fair share of power in the Khartoum government.

200,000 to 400,000 are estimated dead and more than 2.5 million have fled their homes. The conflict has spread to neighboring Chad and Central African Republic (CAR). It still continues and threatens to destabilize the whole region of central Africa."

 

 

 

Marching for Justice for Martin Lee Anderson and Others

Concerned citizens throughout Florida will assembled in Tallahassee today to protest the not guilty verdict in the case of guards and a nurse at a Bay County (FL) boot camp in the death of Martin Lee Anderson. Students at Florida A&M University and Florida State University took to the streets in an impromptu protest after the verdict was delivered almost two weeks ago.

The Florida State Conference of the NAACP expects hundreds to participate in the march this morning. Marchers want the federal government to investigate the Martin Lee Anderson case and others. This all sounds too much like a throwback to the civil rights era we thought had passed. The Jena 6 and Mychal Bell locked up again, Genarlow Wilson still locked up in Georgia, the rape-torture of Meagan Williams, nooses hung to intimidate and even as a fashion accessory. Is this the Twilight Zone or what?

The State of Florida awarded Martin Lee Anderson's parents millions in his death. That won't bring him back and that certainly was not sufficient resolution in this case. The future Martin Lee Andersons need to be spared from such a horrendous experience. The 30 minute video of the abuse of Martin Lee Anderson is difficult to watch. Even if he was in a juvenile facility, he did not deserve to be tortured to death.

Boot camps in Florida were closed because of the Anderson incident which led to other reports of abuse. To accurately frame the situation, it must be noted that one of the guards involved was black another Asian. There have also been boot camp incidents reported to national officials regarding the torture and death of young white males.

The ethnicity and gender of teens abused in boot camps are such non-issues. They are children and should not be tortured. Discipline? Yes. Torture? No. There is a difference.

Related Links:

Martin Lee Anderson verdict sounded like Jim Crow era

Anderson Case Sparks FAMU Activism

Boot Camp Death -- Caught on Tape

How the Black Blogosphere Has Driven the Jena 6 Protest

Today, protesters will descend upon Jena, Louisiana by the thousands. Those unable to attend in person will wear black to symbolize support for the Jena 6 and unity with the marchers. The awesome significance of this latest demonstration may be lost on many but is captured by Howard Witt's latest article in the Chicago Tribune. Do click here to check it out. You see, the methodology of civil rights protest has forever changed and the internet is the reason for the paradigm shift.

I joined a group of bloggers, the Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition, in the Day of Blogging for Justice back on August 29. I've never met these folks in person or even talked to any of them on the telephone but the positive change effected, without a "meeting", was awesome. Witt is so correct in framing the position of traditional civil rights leaders like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and organizations like the NAACP. For them, the Jena 6 issue was a game of catch up.

Well before the traditional civil rights leaders got involved, folks like Yobachi over at Black Perspective and Villager at the Electronic Village had sent up the drum call to black bloggers and black bloggers answered. Similar actions were the reason Paris, Texas teen, Shaquanda Cotton was released.

I will not be in Jena, Louisiana today and I will try to keep abreast of the day's happenings. Most definitely I am wearing black. I send up prayers of love and peace for those who make the journey to Jena.

Here's an excerpt of Howard Witt's article...

chicagotribune.com

TRIBUNE UPDATE

Bloggers inspire new civil rights wave

Jena 6 protest nurtured on Web

By Howard Witt

Tribune senior correspondent

September 19, 2007

JENA, La.

There is no single leader. There is no agreed schedule. Organizers aren't even certain where everyone is supposed to gather, let alone use the restroom. The only thing that is known for sure is that thousands of protesters are boarding buses at churches, colleges and community centers across the country this week, headed for this tiny dot on the map of central Louisiana.

What could turn out to be one of the largest civil rights demonstrations in years is set to take place here Thursday, when Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III, popular black radio talk show hosts and other celebrities converge in Jena to protest what they regard as unequal treatment of African-Americans in this racially fractured Deep South town.

Yet this will be a civil rights protest literally conjured out of the ether of cyberspace, of a type that has never happened before in America -- a collective national mass action grown from a grass-roots word-of-mouth movement spread via blogs, e-mails, message boards and talk radio.

Jackson, Sharpton and other big-name civil rights figures, far from leading this movement, have had to scramble to catch up. So have the national media.

As formidable as it is amorphous, this new African-American blogosphere, which scarcely even existed a year ago, now includes hundreds of interlinked blogs and tens of thousands of followers who within a matter of a few weeks collected 220,000 petition signatures -- and more than $130,000 in donations for legal fees -- in support of six black Jena teenagers who are being prosecuted on felony battery charges for beating a white student. [Click here to read more…]

Related links:

Chicago Tribune articles on the Jena 6 case: Trouble in Jena

Coral Gables attorney filed lawsuit against several tobacco companies accusing them of targeting black consumers. Are YOU eligible to join the lawsuit?

If either you or anyone in your family was diagnosed with cancer, due to smoking, prior to Nov 21, 1996, you may be eligible to join a billion dollar lawsuit filed on behalf of Gloria Tucker of Coral Springs, a black woman whose mother and grandmother died of health problems related to smoking.

See article featured in the Broward Times newspaper Suit claims tobacco companies targeted black smokers.

If there is any interest in this subject matter individually or for a group, contact:

Rose Reeder

Public Relations

305.300.9949

Protesters' rap: Stop using offensive lyrics

BY YAMICHE ALCINDOR

[email protected]

A message to hip-hop artists: Please stop. We're tired of your words.

That's what more than 100 people gathered Tuesday to say at a protest organized by The National Action Network, a civil rights organization headed by the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Amid poetry, speeches, and shouts of anger outside the South Beach FYE Music Store, protesters want hip-hop artists to cease from using degrading lyrics or lyrics that offend racial groups.

The protest, part of ''A National Woman's Day of Outrage,'' was one of 22 demonstrations happening across the country. Click here to read more.

NAACP State Prez, Adora Obi Nweze, among honorees at sorority scholarship fundraiser

Adora Obi Nweze, state president of the NAACP, is among the community members honored at the 4^th Annual Emerald Gala and Silent Auction. The event is schedule for 7 p.m. Saturday, October 27, 2007 at the Radisson Hotel (formerly the Omni). Tickets are $60.

Other honorees include Nelson Adams, MD-Access Health Solutions; Rev. Dr. George McRae, Pastor-Mt. Tabor Baptist Church; and Richmond Heights Townhouse Development-James Brown, president.

The event is  sponsored by the Gamma Zeta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and its non-profit arm, the WISH Foundation [Women Involved In Service to Humanity]. Linda Johnson is the organization's president; contact her at (305) 758-4457 or [email protected]

You can also get tickets through me at [email protected].

Click here to read about last year's scholarship recipients.

website: www.akagzo.org

Deal...No Deal: Political games Miami-style

Just when it appeared that the Umoja Village Project was headed in the right direction and the land would be conveyed to the people to develop affordable housing, The Homeless Trust throws a monkey wrench in already agreed upon commitment between Umoja and the city commission. Trust president Ron Book, a powerful lobbyist, convinced the commission to completely reverse its position on this issue. That move was not only a power play but a reality check for Rameau and anyone else who thinks that the government is actually for the people.

Check out a few blogs that have captured this situation: Umoja Village Burned Again, Umoja Village Saga Continues and Max Rameau and Rich Lobbyist Duke it Out.

After you check those blog posts, share them with your family and friends. If we keep doing what we're doing, we'll keep getting what we got. It's time for a change.

Commissioner Spence-Jones Reneges on Conveyance of Umoja Village Land?

Umoja Village residents, organizers and supporters are ticked with City of Miami Commisioner Michelle Spence-Jones. See the message below.

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Take Back the Land is calling on supporters to attend the city of Miami Commission meeting on Thursday, July 26, 2007, beginning at 3:00pm. Miami City Hall is located at 3500 Pan-American Drive, in Coconut Grove. At the meeting, the Commission will vote on the fate of the Umoja Village Shantytown's land.

After promising to convey the land to the residents and organizers of Umoja, Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones is going back on her promise and putting the lot out for bid, a notoriously corrupt process in the city of Miami. We demand that the city keep its word, and convey the land to the Umoja Village.

Following the tragic fire which destroyed the Umoja Village, Miami Commissioner Spence-Jones contacted Umoja Village, met with organizer Max Rameau and resident John Cata, and offered direct conveyance of the land, without a bid process. She also agreed to provide immediate housing for former Umoja residents, and the deal was reported in the Miami Herald and Miami Times.

After intense debate, we called off our planned protests and accepted the offer. We met with potential partners and crafted a proposal, which we submitted to Spence-Jones, as agreed, and tried to confirm the item for the July 26^th Commission meeting.

Instead, Spence-Jones unilaterally and without explanation, nixed the deal and put the lot out to bid. Miami's bid process is notoriously rigged and corrupt, as often reported in the media, giving politically connected developers the inside track to use this public land for a gentrification project.

This is the same kind of double dealing which got us into this mess in the first place. Umoja was a tremendous victory for this community, and will not be swept under the rug.

Show your support for Umoja by attending this meeting and demanding elected officials live up to their commitments and convey the land directly to the residents and organizers of the Umoja Village. If officials are able to continue to lie to us and get away with it, we will be forced to resort to more drastic measures to house people ourselves.

PLEASE CONTACT US if you want to attend.  RSVP via email, [email protected] or phone 305-757-3867.

Forward,

Max Rameau
Take Back the Land
a project of the Center for Pan-African Development
www.TakeBacktheLand.net