We have a big leadership crisis across America. We also have a big "black leadership" crisis across Black America both locally and nationally. Here is a post from the Black Accountability Project -Indy that provides more detail on the local crisis of black leadership in one city; Indianapolis. I think in many ways this black leadership void in Indy is replicated across Black America in every major city.
Hat TipBlack Accountability Project -Indy for addressing the issue in such as constructive way. I'm sure The Black Accountability Project - Indy will be working to highlight and take action to address what we know.
Simply put, we have very little of it. Across the board, black led organizations are almost incapable of exercising principled, effective, strategic leadership. This phenomenon holds true across the spectrum of black organizations, from churches, to social service organizations to community development corporations. Whether you're talking about homeowners associations, civic organizations, local chapters of national organizations, greeks, or political organizations, effective, accountable leadership is few and far between. Read More Here
I recently posted on what I considered a video that showed the brutial tasing and torturing of a black man in Georgia back in 2004. No I'm not talking about 1904, I'm talking 2004. And no I'm not taliking about the 3 words, "hi tech lynching' used politically by snow flaker Clarence Thomas during his U.S. Supreme Court nomination. (you remember Clarence Thomas, who was nominated by, get this, Republican President George H.W. Bush).
I'm talking about a real High Tech Lynching, torture and killing of a black man in Georgia just a few years ago. After watching the video in horror, I decided to look into the federal laws against this type of high tech lynching, if any. Then I started to wonder what was the history of prosecution of lynching in America? As there seems to be no prosecution of African Americans taser torture victims, who are being tortured every day in the streets of America by means of the new high tech lynching tool, the taser.
AAPP: Now it appears the threat of lynching has been influenced by another major event, internet activism.
For most of the history of the United States, lynching was rarely prosecuted, and when it was, it was under state murder statutes. In one example in 1907-09, the U.S. Supreme Court tried its only criminal case in history, 203 U.S. 563 (U.S. v. Sheriff Shipp). Shipp was found guilty of criminal contempt for lynching Ed Johnson in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Starting in 1909, over 200 bills were introduced to make lynching a federal crime, but they failed to pass. During the Roosevelt Administration, the Civil Rights Section of the Justice Department tried, but failed, to prosecute lynchers under Reconstruction-era civil rights laws. The first successful federal prosecution of a lyncher for a civil rights violation was in 1946, and by that time, the era of lynchings as a common occurrence was over.
Many states now have specific anti-lynching statutes. California, for example, defines lynching, punishable by 2-4 years in prison, as "the taking by means of a riot of any person from the lawful custody of any peace officer," with the crime of "riot" defined as two or more people using violence or the threat of violence. Read More about Lynching HERE
Rewind!
Although lynchings became much more rare in the era following the civil rights movement, they do still occur sometimes. In 1981, KKK members in Alabama randomly picked out a nineteen-year-old black man, Michael Donald, and murdered him in retaliation for a jury's acquittal of a black man accused of murdering a police officer. The Klansmen were eventually caught, prosecuted, and convicted, and a seven million dollar judgment in a subsequent civil suit bankrupted a subgroup of the Klan, the United Klans of America.[20]
In 1998, James Byrd, Jr. was murdered by Shawn Allen Berry, Lawrence Russel Brewer, and John William King, in Jasper, Texas. Byrd, a 49-year-old father of three who had accepted an early-morning ride home with Berry, King, Brewer, was instead beaten, stripped, chained to a pickup truck, and dragged for almost three miles (5 km). An autopsy suggested that Byrd was alive for much of the dragging and died only after his right arm and head were severed when his body hit a culvert. [3] The three men dumped their victim's mutilated remains in the town's segregated Black cemetery and then went to a barbeque. [4] Many of the aspects of this modern lynching echo the social customs surrounding older lynchings documented in Without Sanctuary. King wore a tattoo depicting a black man hanging from a tree as well as Nazi, Aryan and Confederate Knights of America symbols.
Local authorities immediately treated the murder as a hate crime and requested FBI assistance. The murderers were later caught and stood trial. Brewer and King were sentenced to death. Berry received life in prison.
In 2006, five white teenagers—Justin Ashley Phillips, 18; Kenneth Eugene Miller Jr., 18; Lucas Grice, 17; Christopher Scott Cates, 17; and Jerry Christopher Toney, 18—were given various sentences for the second degree lynching of Isaiah Clyburn, 17, a young black man in South Carolina. South Carolina law defines second degree lynching as "[a]ny act of violence inflicted by a mob upon the body of another person and from which death does not result shall constitute the crime of lynching in the second degree and shall be a felony. Any person found guilty of lynching in the second degree shall be confined at hard labor in the State Penitentiary for a term not exceeding twenty years nor less than three years, at the discretion of the presiding judge."
I have been wondering, how come there are has been no American Crusade Against the Tasering of Black folks, like there was an American crusade against lynching?
Fast forward - 2003,04,05 and 06. There were limited voices being raised in the states concerning the high tech lynching of black folk. But at least the United Nations was looking at what has been going on. They saytasers are a form of torture.
I guess most white bloggers are scared of getting labeled by the FBI and or Homeland Security. i must give up some respect to bloggers like The Liberal Journal.
I'm glad Einstein was not scared, even though he was branded as a communist sympathizer.
But I guess black folks can't be scared, the only fear we may have is the fear of our children or our children's children getting branded, tortured and Tasered While Black.
I wonder why Obama, Edwards, Hillary and the rest of the Democrats (that's who we vote for by over 80% every 4 years) have gotten a free ride on the question of black folks being Tasered 'and tortured' While Black.
It appears no one in black leadership, except local branches of NAACP and the afrospear have been concerned. Maybe it's because older black leaders are more concerned about Bill Clinton being every bit as black as Barack or get this, how many black women Bill Clinton has made love with?
Thank God for the afrospear and thank God for local branches of the NAACP.
Former CIA operative John Kiriakou also told CNN's "American Morning" that he disagrees with a decision to destroy videotapes of certain interrogations, namely of al Qaeda's Abu Zubayda. Kiriakou made the remarks as two congressional committees prepared to grill CIA Director Michael Hayden on the destruction of the tapes and on "alternative" means of interrogation.
Waterboarding begins by placing a suspect on a table with the suspect's feet slightly elevated, said Kiriakou, who was waterboarded several years ago as part of his CIA training. He said he elected not to learn how to perform the technique, which is designed to emulate the sensation of drowning.
Once a suspect is secured on the table, interrogators wrap his or her face in a cellophane-like material, Kiriakou said.
"There is a bladder, or a water source, above the head with water pouring down on the mouth, so no water is going into your mouth, but it induces a gag reflex and makes you feel like you're choking," Kiriakou said. Watch the ex-agent describe the procedure »
Don't have your hands in your pocket in Erie, PA. That is only for people who have a right to place their hands in their pocket. Candidly I would be more concerned about Cheney than I would 1 Guy surrounded by Vice Cops.
A group of vice officers serving a search warrant used a Taser on a man who refused to take his hands out of his pockets, who police say "could have been armed." He was not armed, but he sure got tasered, because anyone with there hands in their pockets could be armed in Erie. so tell your kids, don't walk with your hands in your pocket in Erie, you could get "Tasered While Black."
Erie police patrol officers started carrying Tasers this weekend, though the nonlethal weapons got their official tryout on the city's streets weeks ago, Patrol officers got the Taser X26 on Saturday, after the officers completed training and certification on Thursday, police spokesman Lt. Kirk Werner said.
While patrol officers have yet to fire their Tasers in day-to-day use, Werner said Monday, the Bureau of Police used the weapons three times in special assignments to control suspects.
The officers who used the Tasers in those instances were members of the SWAT team or vice squad, the units that received Taser training first, said Lt. Les Fetterman, head of the Erie police's training unit.
Fetterman said the incidents occurred over the past two weeks. Read More Here
OK, now you have heard bout the stupid things cops do. lets take a look at another situation.
About a year or so ago Chytoria Graham (above), used her 4-week-old baby as a weapon in a domestic dispute, swinging the infant through the air and striking her boyfriend with the child, authorities said. The baby was critically injured. what would you have done if you were a cop on the scene Shot Graham with a taser, gun, or what? more HERE.
OK, we have been warned. And by the way it is not a bad warning. The Liberal Journal Man, at Liberal Journal has let us know that Mike Huckabee would be the toughest matchup in a general election against any Democrat. He shares the fact that Polls show Mike Huckabee beginning to run away with it in Iowa. There was one poll which showed a 22 point lead Read More HERE
Here is a great article on Barack Obama's health care plan, or lack therof. OK, you know, I've been having a hard time connecting with Obama and his "lack of a real agenda." I've even posted on my concerns about his plans and strategy to fight poverty. OK, folks stop saying that I'm hating on Obama - no I'm not. Politico.com is hating on Obama. Now hold on, Obama is asking for our votes, my vote, and I feel that he like Hillary, edwards and others should say what their plans are. Am I wrong? Well I'm not the only one concerned about his plans, the folks at Mother Jones (one of the most truly progressive Mag's in the U.S.) is asking the same questions. i'm truly more concerned about health care and how he would address poverty in America, than I to whether he says I will become the first Black President.
Obama's Health Care Problem: Why It Has Become the Biggest Mistake of His Campaign
When Barack Obama released his health care plan, the health care heavies around the web noticed it lacked the mandate that John Edwards' plan had. That was a demerit. The whole point of universal health care is that because the healthy have to buy health care, there is a enough money around to pay for the exorbitant health care costs of the sick. Obama claims that his plan makes health care affordable so the poor can buy in, but the problem isn't just the poor. It's the young and strapping, who have no incentive to buy health care at any price.
Court Rules Judges Can Reduce Crack Sentences Supreme Court decides judges may impose shorter prison terms for crack convictions to reduce disparities in crack and powder cocaine cases. Damn, now all of a sudden the Supreme Court is concerned about Black and Brown People. as reported in WaPo: In the crack case, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said it was reasonable for a federal judge in Virginia to impose a lower sentence than one prescribed by the guidelines because of his disagreement with the rule that imposed the same sentence for a crack dealer as for someone selling 100 times as much powder cocaine. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit said the law did not allow the judge to make such a determination.
But Ginsburg wrote that "the cocaine guidelines, like all other guidelines, are advisory only" and that the "the court of appeals erred in holding the crack/powder disparity effectively mandatory."
The disparity has been challenged by civil rights groups because crack is most often used by African Americans, powder cocaine by whites, thus subjecting blacks to the tougher penalties. The court's decision did not touch on that argument.
I guess this won't help Michael Vick who was sentenced to 23 months. CBS News.comMichael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison Monday for his role in a dogfighting conspiracy that involved gambling and killing pit bulls.
The suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback could have been sentenced up to five years by U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson. Vick, who turned himself in Nov. 19 in anticipation of his sentence, was wearing a black-and-white striped prison suit.
The judge is a former prosecutor, with a reputation for tough sentences from the bench with photographs of his own dogs hanging in his office, says CBS News chief legal analyst Andrew Cohen.
"You add all that up and you get what Vick got: A tough sentence," says Cohen.
After Vick apologized to the court and his family, Hudson told him: "You need to apologize to the millions of young people who looked up to you."
AAPP: I don't agree with the sentence, the sentence was in my opinion much to harsh. I do agree that he needs to apologize to the millions of young people who looked up to him. let's see if Vick will be allowed to come back like so many others who are not black have?
Ok, Now we learn those democratic son of a bitches in Congress have been supporting torture all along. So our American government is becoming (or still is) a torture nation. Not only outside of America but inside America as well. Now we learn that Congress was briefed on Waterboarding in 2002. OMG, we also learn that in meetings, the spy panels' chiefs did not protest.
Yes, the Washington Post is exposing the Democrats and Republicans for who they really are. You know those rodents that we can't stand.
WaPo reports: In September 2002, four members of Congress met in secret for a first look at a unique CIA program designed to wring vital information from reticent terrorism suspects in U.S. custody. For more than an hour, the bipartisan group, which included current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was given a virtual tour of the CIA's overseas detention sites and the harsh techniques interrogators had devised to try to make their prisoners talk.
Among the techniques described, said two officials present, was waterboarding, a practice that years later would be condemned as torture by Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill. But on that day, no objections were raised. Instead, at least two lawmakers in the room asked the CIA to push harder, two U.S. officials said. More HERE
Well that is the question asked byJohn Aravosis ·at AMERICAblog (H/T MakeThemAccountable.com) John says: Sure looks that way. [Sunday’s] Washington Post reports that Pelosi was briefed about the CIA's waterboarding in 2002 and raised no objections… [R]emember, it took place in the first year after September 11 - Bush and the Republicans would have leaked [an objection] to the public (like they just did) and destroyed her career and marked her publicly as a traitor. No member of Congress, no American, could have spoken up about anything in the months after September 11 and survived… I hope this teaches Pelosi and Reid and all the Democrats that no matter what you do, this administration will mark you as a traitor and try to … destroy you. You might as well fight back and try to win, because if you don't, you'll sit back and lose.
OK, So why am I not so impressed with the new Oprah/Obama campaign?
I guess that is the reason. Because it seems like the "Oprah/Obama Campaign" instead of Obama campaign.
It's interesting what Hillary had to say about Obama, in Des Moines on Friday:
"Change is just a word if you don't have the experience to back it up." Ouch!
but i got to give it to Oprah who defended Obama Saturday: "We recognize that the amount of time you spend in Washington means nothing unless your accountable for the judgments you made at the time you had them." More HERE
Hello!
As the Times Reports — the weekend was gentle and apolitical. Winfrey tried to motivate the HyVee crowd, but she didn't talk policy so much as treat Obama like a favorite book; she raved about how much he moved her, and told her friends to check him out. Obama stood by in a black suit and white shirt with no tie, soaking it all in before giving a version of his standard 30-minute stump speech. More HERE
I guess I'm in agreement with Political Analyst Larry Sabato who also doubts that Winfrey's success in selling Steinbeck will translate into getting votes for Obama.
"Politics is a one-day sale," says Professor Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics in Charlottesville. "Getting 10,000 people to buy a book is a big deal. Getting 10,000 people to vote doesn't mean anything in a national election. Ultimately, candidates have to make their own sale." More HERE
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When Barack Obama released his health care plan, the health care heavies around the web noticed it lacked the mandate that John Edwards' plan had. That was a demerit. The whole point of universal health care is that because the healthy have to buy health care, there is a enough money around to pay for the exorbitant health care costs of the sick. Obama claims that his plan makes health care affordable so the poor can buy in, but the problem isn't just the poor. It's the young and strapping, who have no incentive to buy health care at any price.
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