The officer who brutally beat special needs student Marshawn Pitts has been identified as 38-year-old Christopher Lloyd, according to Chicago Breaking News, which spoke to Lloyd's father.
The news agency reported that Lloyd is currently in jail after being charged with the rape of a woman he knew and is facing a 20-year sentence should he be convicted.
The Chicago Tribune-backed service adds: "A lawsuit filed by his ex-wife, Nicole McKinney, last summer alleges he gunned down her new husband Cornel McKinney in front of their children outside their home on the 6100 block of South Langley Avenue on Feb. 17, 2008."
AAPP: As one who has worked with young people who stutter, I find it insulting that she would play the "stutter card" against Creigh Deeds. i'm glad to hear Ms. Johnson apologized after mocking Deeds at fundraiser.
I'm also glad that fellow blogger and blogtalkradio host , Kenda Bell wrote the BET co-founder regarding her disparaging actions in regards to stuttering.
You see, Kenda like thousands of people who stutter, have made it a point to address the hatred behind the actions of those who would insult people whether they are child or adult.
I hope Sheila Johnson and others who may not understand stuttering will read the below open letter from Kenda. It just may open your eyes.
Ms. Sheila Johnson,
I sincerely wish I was writing you this letter under better circumstances; I truly do. I am a resident of Maryland; I was unaware of Creigh Deeds and his campaign bid for the governorship of Virginia, let alone his speech impediment until your mockery of something I have battled with daily since childhood. In light of the Bob McDonnell fundraiser incident, I could not sit silent. This is something I have done much too often as a stutterer; today I choose to be heard. I hope you read these words and listen with an open ear and receptive heart.
Being an African American woman, I am sure you can identify with the desire to not be limited or judged because of presumed deficiencies. As a trailblazer in your own right, I am sure you have had to debunk and dismantle many prejudicial psychoses, many times shrugging aside ridicule and humiliation. I don’t have to cite numerous studies that postulated that African Americans were mentally inferior or women by virtue of birth were best relegated to the kitchen and the bedroom. Make no mistake, everyone has a right to their own opinion; what I ask is that it be a fair and educated one. Approximately 50 million people world-wide, 10.5 million of which reside in the United States, battle to not only be heard but to be respected a viable member of society. Allow me to share from a personal account, what it is like to be one of 50 million stutterers.
I have stuttered for as long as I can remember. I can think of very few moments in my life, where I have not felt a tinge of anxiety before I spoke. Can you imagine being forced into introversion…choosing to keep silent when you wanted to speak. Not because you didn’t have anything worthwhile to say but because you felt the presentation was not worthy.I use to preface and footnote every stammer with “I’m sorry”; I have to catch myself from apologizing even now as an adult when I am in conversation. I pause as I re-read that last sentence and think of that skinny fuzzy haired little girl, bubbling with thoughts , who would cried profusely in kindergarten when she couldn’t make it through the whole alphabet…chocking and sputtering at the letter D. Kids laughing, my teacher with an awkward stare , I stood eyes full of tears, vulnerable and ashamed. In my head all I kept saying was “I know it! I am smart! I can say them from A-Z, in my head, just not out loud!” Thus began, my quest for expression without fear of reproach.
Now pause for a moment, think back to a time when you had to present an idea and anxiety gnawed at your insides mercilessly. Not quite sure of what your audience’s disposition maybe; thoughts loomed in your head “How do I look?” or “What will they think?” Did you ponder if you would “sound good”…would your words matter to the listener? What you though and had to say did have meaning; every word; every inflection of your voice matters. Imagine if you had a stutter? Should you have resigned to keep silent?
As a natural extrovert and people person, stuttering was an aggressively hurdled stumbling block that never ceased to strengthen my humility and challenge my ego. Elementary school was the vestibule of hell but junior high was slightly better. By time I reached high school, I had a host of friends and was fairly popular. Some of the 50 million people I represent share similar triumphs; many I know personally are successful educators and preachers; while some in that group not so lucky. Many are reclusive and socially mitigated due to a culture that deems us inadequate and less intelligent; a source of comedic relief through mockery and disparaging treatment because we may not be the “smoothest talker” on queue. Can you imagine that?
Fast forward to adulthood… still stutter. While 75% of documented stutterers outgrow it by adulthood, I remain in that 25%. As a woman and African American; studies show that I am less likely to stutter BUT here I am. When my phone rings at work, anxiety sometimes chokes me…other days I flow with ease. I have good days and bad days, more good than bad as I get older and more confident in whom I am. Yet and still, calling my son’s school … ordering food … asking for directions…simple task for some; can be an intricate dance between words and the tongue. Don’t even ask about when I have a job interview. How many times I have wondered if my qualifications were disqualified because I stutter; was I a subject of “a funny thing happened at the office” during dinner. I can only thank God that I have been afforded the opportunity to temp to perm most of my jobs; at least the employer was able to see me in action and see my assets.
At present , I have much to say and much more to do. My pen had become my best friend, allowing me to express my thoughts with more ease and confidence than my tongue sometimes allows. Make no mistake, once I get my stride you may forget I even stutter... it’s the mounting up that can be tricky. Facing it head on and jumping over it. Yes, it is daunting but can I allow that to hold me from moving toward my goals. No way!
I have decided speak up. My thoughts and words are relevant and have meaning; both verbally and written. I do workshops, book-signings, host events…even have a little internet show…yet and still …I fear reproach and mockery…but I must press on. I have a vision of myself being a motivational speaker to not only stutterers but anyone who feels as though they should resolve to be silent and hide quietly on the fringes of society.
As I close this letter, I sincerely hope that some of these words have provoked thought and consideration for people such as myself who aspire to do great things. I humbly hope that stutterers or anyone who feels maligned based upon gender, race, creed, class, age or presumed disability can be judge by the content of our character and our works; with respect and not mockery. I also hope, you would not find in robbery to help me in this cause whether through words of encouragement or social influence to bring a message that every person is viable and relevant to society. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
ok, so I'm reading Andrew Sullivan's All Over The World post in which he writes, This president has done a huge amount to bring race relations in this country to a different place."
AAPP: I'm like what world is he in? What has this guy been smokin'
Candidly, I'm with so many Americans on this one. I'm wondering what did President Barack Obama do to win the Nobel Prize. What did he really do? Did he really win because he is the first black to win the Presidency of the United States? If so, this will be the first "Race Card-Nobel Prize." Barack has not solved the color arousal problem in America, Stopped the War on Afghanistan, or brought Peace to the Middle East, So... What did Obama do to get the Nobel Peace Prize?
As reported by the Huffington post, The stunning choice made Obama the third sitting U.S. president to win the Nobel Peace Prize and shocked Nobel observers because Obama took office less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline. Obama's name had been mentioned in speculation before the award but many Nobel watchers believed it was too early to award the president. More HERE
Reaction is mixed UPDATE:Dr. Cornel West has spoken out on the Nobel Peace Prize and Barack Obama. As reported by The Huffington Post, Dr. Cornel West spoke at the Central Library in Los Angeles Friday, Oct. 9, and weighed in on what winning the Nobel Peace Prize will mean for President Obama.
Dr. West said, "It's gonna be hard to be a war president with a peace prize. Gonna be difficult. Very, very difficult. And so I think he knows that and we as fellow citizens have to, um, as brother Tavis would say in his wonderful book Accountability, keep him accountable and loving and self critical, not self-righteous way. I think it's very difficult for any head of an empire to be under the pressure of peace. 'Cause you're head of the largest military in the world, you got over a thousand military installments on the globe, you got ships in every sea. It's very difficult. And I think following brother Martin King, we know that peace is not the absence of conflict, peace is the presence of justice. So They go hand in hand.
I salute and congratulate our President for winning the Nobel Peace prize, I just wonder out loud why he received the prize for his outreach to the Muslim world and attempts to curb nuclear proliferation. As the Financial Times points out— “It is hard to point to a single place where Obama’s efforts have actually brought about peace.” Also, as the big tent democrats notes in a recent post in the blog, TalkLeft.com; Final thought - future headline "Nobel Peace Prize Winner Escalates War in Afghanistan." The Times of London, is right! The Nobel committee has made a mockery of the award.
I agree with President Barack Obama's comments below.
Candidly, I would like to see our President outreach into communities like New Orleans here in the US of A and attempt to curb black on black gun violence, tasering of Americans by police and gun proliferation in America, particularly in the African American communities. Then he would be a Nobel Peace Prize winner of the caliber of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Until then, This Prize is nothing more than the first "Race-Card Nobel Peace Prize."
Who are the people behind the ‘Leave Or Else,’ YouTube Video Warning President Barack Obama? The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that sometime Wednesday night, the video was removed from YouTube. No word on who’s responsible for putting it there in the first place, or taking it down.
It may be one of the many ominous posting on YouTube from the “Patriot” crowd.
It advises President Obama and other prominent people (“Our Dear Leader and co.”) to “leave now and give us our country back” and to do so by next week.
“If you stay,” the silent video message continues, “ ‘We, The People’ will systematically dismantle you, destroy you and reclaim what is rightfully ours. …
“We are angry and we are ready to take back the rights of the people. We will fight and We will win. …
“Dead line [sic] for your national response: October 15, 2009
“Thank you to all patriots who support our cause. … Be prepared for when the fateful day of the declaration of war is nationally announced.”
In August, The Southern Poverty Law Center issued a special report, “Return of the Militias,” documenting a resurgence of Patriot and extreme-right militia activity around the country.
UPDATE: Former White House speechwriter John L. Perry suggesting that the U.S. Military, could stage a bloodless coup to oust President Obama.
Former White House speechwriter John L. Perry has courted controversy by suggesting that the U.S. Military, upholding their oath to defend the Constitution against domestic enemies, could stage a bloodless coup to oust President Obama.
In an article originally posted on the Newsmax website, Perry wrote, “There is a remote, although gaining, possibility America’s military will intervene as a last resort to resolve the “Obama problem.” Don’t dismiss it as unrealistic.”
Despite the fact that Perry was not explicitly advocating such a coup, Newsmax later removed the article to ensure it “was not misinterpreted”.
The article outlines how military officers, outraged at Obama’s “trampling” on the Constitution, nationalization of American institutions, rising deficits, unemployment and taxes, could peaceably seize power from the “radical-left commissars” of the Obama administration. More HERE
AAPP: Where were these so called “Patriots and Liberators" at when George W. Bush and his God Bless America, Vice President and Supreme Court were RAPING the constitution and flushing average Americans rights down the America's toxic drain?
Should teens be allowed to cross dress in public schools?
Get this, according to an AOL report, when it comes to picking out an outfit to wear to school, there's a fine line between self-expression and unnecessary distraction.
One Georgia high school has decided that one of its 16-year-old male students crossed that line, and has asked him to start dressing in a more "manly" fashion, The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
Jonathan Escobar had recently transferred to North Cobb High School in Kennesaw, Ga. and immediately caused quite a stir among students and staff with his penchant for wearing wigs, makeup, skinny jeans, vintage tops and women's flats.
Should male students be allowed to cross dress in public schools. Let's talk about this and other school issues tonight on African American Political Slugfest... If you can handle the truth...
During the show one of the Judges, Harry Connick Jr.complained on air, saying: “If I knew that was going to be part of the show I definitely wouldn't have done it. Get this, as reported by Times Online, The show’s host, Darryl Somers, apologized on air to Connick Jr, who lives in New Orleans, for causing offense. Get this, Somers said today that the controversy over the “blackface” routine, which aired as part of the Red Faces talent segment, had been blown out of proportion. More HERE
“If there were any Australians who were offended ... on behalf of the show I apologize,'' he told Sky News. “To most Australians I think it's a storm in a tea cup.”
AAPP: Is this Post Racial Australian Television? Or does Australian Television = Bigotry This black face issue reminds me of the UNICEF Black Face Campaign that I reported on a number of years ago.
At least UNICEF apologized and pulled the ads. Everything has changed and nothing has changed.
Mike Soraghan, Molly K. Hooper and Sam Youngman over at The Hill.com are reporting that there is an unusual twist, Republicans sought to provide Obama with political cover should he increase troop levels.
They report Democrats, however, were reserved and nuanced in their statements after a bipartisan, bicameral meeting at the White House.
Get this, they also report the meeting demonstrated that if Obama decides not to seek additional troops, he and the Democrats who back him will be criticized for not supporting the decisions of his commanders on the ground. Ouch! More HERE
You know Code Pink, the group founded in 2002 to oppose the US invasion of Iraq. Damn, now as reported by the Christan Science Monitor, the women's antiwar groups being forced to rethink its position as Afghan women explain theirs: Without international troops, they say, armed groups could return with a vengeance – and that would leave women most vulnerable.
Though Afghans have their grievances against the international troops' presence, chief among them civilian casualties, many fear an abrupt departure would create a dangerous security vacuum to be filled by predatory and rapacious militias. Many women, primary victims of such groups in the past, are adamant that international troops stay until a sufficient number of local forces are trained and the rule of law established. (Read more about Afghan women's concerns here.)
AAPP: I guess we can add Code Pink into the mix of groups following the Republicans and now supporting the war. Holy shit, what the hell is wrong with this country? What strange bedfellows!
Here is an interesting story out of the Chicago Sun Times and the NY Times.
Fraser Robinson III, Marian, and their children, Craig and Michelle - now Michelle Obama.
The New York Times reports the fascinating story of Michelle Obama's slave heritage back to a 6-year-old slave girl named Melvinia in pre-Civil War South Carolina.
The Times story covers the first lady's history to her great-great-great-grandparents, the lone girl and an unknown white man who took ownership of her a few years before the Civil War in Georgia. Born from that coupling was Dolphus T. Shields.
The exploration of family roots by Megan Smolenyak, a genealogist, and The New York Times -- bears out longstanding family rumors about a white forebear, the former Michelle Robinson said.
The Times reports that it's unclear who the actual father of Dolphus Shields was once Melvinia became the property of Henry Shields in 1852:
It is difficult to say who might have impregnated Melvinia, who gave birth to Dolphus around 1859, when she was perhaps as young as 15. At the time, Henry Shields was in his late 40s and had four sons ages 19 to 24, but other men may have spent time on the farm.
"No one should be surprised anymore to hear about the number of rapes and the amount of sexual exploitation that took place under slavery; it was an everyday experience, " said Jason A. Gillmer, a law professor at Texas Wesleyan University, who has researched liaisons between slave owners and slaves. "But we do find that some of these relationships can be very complex."
Yet, the Violence by police against black youth must also stop! As many of the readers of my blog know. I and many other bloggers have been tracking the Tasering of black folks by police agencies for two years or more. But I have to wonder when is the attack on black america going to stop? When will black America rise and say enough is enough.
Check out how Marshawn Pitts, 15, was beaten and suffocated because his shirt was not tucked in.
As reported by Chicago 2.com, NewsOne, and many other news outlets, Security cameras captured the beating of a 15-year-old Special Education student by a police officer. Marshawn Pitts says the officer started shouting and swearing at him because his shirt wasn't tucked in. More HERE
As reported the Chicago 2 news, in the video, you can see that he gets slammed to the ground and his face smashed into the floor. His nose was broken.
AAPP: I'm surprised the officer didn't use a taser on him. Is it not obvious yet, that black folks are feeling the impact of hatred towards the election of Barack Obama as president. There is clearly an attack on black America. What do you think?
African American Pundit (AAP) formerly African American Political Pundit, is a nationally recognized, writer, internet political activist, internet blog talk radio host, black internet pundit and political analyst, who addresses black American politics and social issues. He is works with other afrospear bloggers to shape Black America’s political discourse through punditry, pontification and political action organizing.
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The officer who brutally beat special needs student Marshawn Pitts has been identified as 38-year-old Christopher Lloyd, according to Chicago Breaking News, which spoke to Lloyd's father.
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