Childish Behavior

You know I’ve got to stop reading stories on the internet and then reading the comments section. I read the story and watched the video of the young girl in class who after refusing to give up her cell phone and demands that she leave class was assaulted by a police officer…yes assaulted. Some of the comments in the articles were cringe worthy. Not only did these police apologist condone the behavior of this officer, this young girl was called an animal, a thug and a sassy black bitch who got what she deserved. The reaction was the same last summer at the pool party in Texas where cops were called in and another young Black girl was assaulted by a police officer. This is exactly what the Black Lives Matter movement is all about and it proves what they’ve been saying all along, there is a total disrespect and disregard for Black lives. When these situations arise the person of color is viewed as somewhat less than human and deserving of the treatment received. The point of the movement is not to say that Black lives have more value than others but simply that Black Lives Matter Too.

I know some will say it’s not about color but let’s be honest, the situation would have been handled differently at a school involving white students. If blonde haired, blue-eyed Becky had refused to give up her phone and leave the classroom the police would not have been called in. Instead, the school psychologist would have been contacted to discuss with Becky her compliance phobias and her fear of authority. There then would have been a round table discussion including the other students to air their grievances after which there would have been tears shed and hugs all around. Becky certainly would not have been tossed around like a rag doll and then cuffed, arrested and charged. And by the way since when is it a crime to simply speak up when you see a police officer dragging a girl around the room as was the case of the second student arrested.

Was the girl wrong? Yes. I’m not condoning her behavior but my point is the cop completely overreacted. Teens didn't start rebelling against authority in 2015, this was going on when I was in high school (insert preferred age joke here). We had kids disrupt the class and some may have refused to leave but we didn't have a police officer twice their size come in and flip them out of their desk and toss them across the room. Yes she resisted but the type of resistance she exuded did not merit that kind of force. She wasn't being violent and not one person in that room was in physical danger. Her crime was sending a text. His response was totally unacceptable. He got angry and lost his cool because he didn’t know how to handle an unruly teenager.

To be clear I’m not saying all police officers are bad. However, you will have to deal with non-compliant people when you are a cop. The good ones will use the appropriate amount of force based on the situation. Part of his job was to get this high school student, this child to comply with his orders with minimal disruption to the class and without anyone getting hurt.  Well not only was the girl hurt physically but I suggest you view the video again and look at the faces of the students as he’s attacking her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3T5yVBz5j4 Some hid their face or attempted to look away but all except the second girl arrested remained silent. The mental damage and trauma inflicted on these children forced to witness the violent acts of this police officer thug may be irreparable.

Fallen

I cried the day Michael Jackson died. Of course I didn’t know him personally but I knew him through his music. I grew up with him. We went through puberty together, high school and for me college. I felt a kinship as if he was in fact my real life brother. So when he died I felt a loss like a really close relative had passed and I mourned. I feel the same way about Bill Cosby. I didn’t think of him as just “America’s Dad” I knew him long before Cliff Huxtable existed. I remember I Spy and how proud African-Americans were to welcome a positive Black character into their homes weekly. As a kid I listened to his comedy albums over and over again until I knew the routines by heart. I remember Fat Albert & the Cosby Kids and The Bill Cosby Show. I remember it all, so the news of the sexual allegations hit hard and I quite honestly refused to believe any of it. It just couldn’t be true of the Bill Cosby I knew.

But that’s exactly the problem. Because we allow ourselves to develop this distant yet personal kinship with celebrities, we think we know them. We take them into our homes through music, television and movies and we create a persona of who we think they are or more importantly who we want them to be, when in fact we don’t know them at all. Actors are just that, performers who create characters. Fictional characters who may be based on real life or real life events but fictional just the same. America’s Dad was never any more real than Santa Claus yet we have no problem separating fat & jolly from real life. I suggest we need to do that with Mr. Cosby. I don’t know if he did it or not but I refuse to defend him because quite simply I don’t know him. I never really knew Bill Cosby despite the character I had allowed my mind to manufacture, so I refuse to support him any further.

However, whether the allegations are true or not it shouldn’t devalue the characters Bill Cosby created. It is not for me to forgive or condemn the man for what he’s accused. I continue to hold a kinship to those characters and I’m happy to do so. Perhaps I’m wrong but it shouldn’t diminish the charities and scholarships he created or any of his philanthropy. But I’m sure it will. Yes he’s a hypocrite, he’s talked down to the African-American community on many occasions and it’s become increasingly evident that he has done horrible things that have hurt countless people. What he’s accused of is unconscionable and absolutely unforgivable and no one should apologize or speak for the man. Even Whoopee Goldberg has finally within drawn her support after hanging in there even after he admitted in released court documents that he had given drugs to women in order to have sex with them.  But I gotta be honest, it would give me more comfort to go back to dismissing the allegations as lies and embrace the Bill Cosby character I knew and loved. The one I created. I won’t support him and I hope this post doesn’t come off as some Cosby apologist but serial rapist or not, I just can’t bring myself to let his arrogance diminish the memories or the love I have for the characters he created.

Identity Crisis, A Tale Of Two Women

Rachel Dolezal, the president of the Spokane, Washington, chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and also a professor of Africana studies, was revealed to be in fact a White woman although for years she has presented herself and identified as Black. Ok maybe the right wing conservatives are right and we have gotten to a post-racial America. I mean White people are now passing for Black? WTF! Seriously, so many questions. Apparently she was outed as White by her White parents who pretty much described her as a complete loon. And before we all attack the parents and question their motives ask yourself how you would react if you found out your daughter had rejected her ancestry and lineage and decided to pass for white. She’s lied for years and denied her parents, you know the ones that adopted four Black children and raised them? That’s right mom and dad of whom she has made numerous disparaging remarks have adopted Black children.

I know a lot of you are saying “so what, she has done a lot of good work for her NAACP chapter. She should be lauded for her accomplishments and her dedication.” Granted, but couldn’t she have done the same thing as a White woman? Wouldn’t you have more respect for her as a White woman with a heart for social justice and without the façade of a struggle? An interview she gave was recently released. In it she said her Black grandfather fought back and hit a white cop and had to leave town with her then 5 year old father in the middle of the night or they would have been killed. She also said her Black father was an officer in the Marines who was almost killed three times by his White soldiers. Don’t know about you but dumb shit like this leads me to question the authenticity of her work. Her accomplishments may have been many but reaching them under the guise of a struggling Black woman is questionable and at the least extremely deceitful.

So she permed her hair developed Black affectations and reinvented herself in blackface. Oh, did I mention this was after she sued Howard University for reverse racial discrimination. Yep, 14 years ago Rachel Dolezal then known as Rachel Moore, the white lady from Montana, sued Howard University claiming she was denied a teaching assistant position based on race. To be clear based on the fact that she was denied the position as a White woman. She also claimed her artwork was removed from a student exhibition in favor of African-American students. But to be fair this was before she identified as Black so maybe we should cut her some slack. So let’s recap. Before she became a sister down with the struggle she was a put upon White woman being hated on by the Blacks. But after she herself became Black she recounted on many occasions the discrimination she faced as an African-American woman, with mile high dookey braids, in the largely white community of Spokane…loon doesn’t do her justice. I guess her race just comes and goes dependent on the benefits afforded to her.

Here’s the deal being Black is not something that you can just put on and take off. It’s not a fad. And to be clear, misappropriation of Black culture is nothing new but this is some new level shit. This woman has publically called out Iggy Azalea the White female rapper from Australia for attempting to be down and for her insulting racial affectations. She said as a Black woman she was insulted…except you’re not a Black woman you nut ball. She attacked White people who became involved in the Black Lives Matter movement saying that because they’re White they would not be able to understand the perspective of Black people and their plight in this country for equality. Talk about projection.

I don’t know, maybe she felt bad about the Howard lawsuit or felt some kinship to her Black adoptive siblings. But how do you look at her work authentically when she claimed to look at situations through the eyes of a member of an affected racial group when in fact she wasn't? There are several Whites around the country who lead chapters of the NAACP and there always have been. In fact the NAACP was started by White people but none faked being Black. The organization has a rich history of a racially diverse leadership, both at the local and national levels. To be clear just because you have shared the Black experience (whatever the hell that means) does not make you Black. You want to work for causes go right ahead but “you ain’t got to lie Craig”. Her deception was unnecessary and insulting.

No Soup For You

So now I have to worry while my partner and I are sitting in a movie theater or out having dinner that some nut case will creep up and shoot me in the back of the head because they think it’s legal. Sound crazy? Well some despicable low life attorney in Orange County, California is attempting to do just that with the “Sodomite Suppression Act." This guy, from Orange County, is attempting to get enough signatures for a ballot measure to legalize this hate crime with legislation that states “any person willingly engaging in sexual activity with someone of the same gender should be shot in the head”. I know, right? Well to be fair, he does say that other "convenient" methods of murder would be acceptable as well. It sounds so silly it’s almost funny…almost. So think about this, some stranger wants to make it a law to legally murder me, your friend. He wants to be able to legitimately put a bullet in my brain and if you are not as disgusted and upset as I am perhaps, well you figure it out. This guy’s not just thinking about how he'd like to shoot people in the head, he's promoting the idea as actual law. And I know what you’re thinking, “there’s no way this will ever become a law” and you’re probably right but that’s not the point and it doesn’t take away from the fact that this guy and others like him think that it should. Just imagine if someone was promoting the idea of killing all Chinese people, all left-handed people or all people who have an outie navel. This nut ball should be arrested and convicted for promoting genocide.

No, it won’t become a law but they’ve already begun conditioning people with things like the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in Indiana. This law would allow businesses to legally use religion as a means to deny services. And believe me I am completely aware that there are those among my friends who don’t necessarily disagree and find justification in allowing this form of discrimination. Those who say people should not be forced to go against their religious beliefs. But what if I belong to a religion which states that those who have a second toe bigger than their first are inherently immoral and allowing them to marry would be an abomination. So here you come strolling (not sure if that’s the correct term considering that toe of yours) into my bakery and you expect me to bake a cake for your deviant ass. Uh no, ain’t gonna happen take your irregular digit out of here, we don’t serve your kind. As ridiculous as that may sound that’s exactly what this type of legislation does. Seriously, can someone point out the biblical passage which states thou shalt not serve the Gays because I must have missed that one in Sunday school. And as an aside no self-respecting Gay couple is going to have some greasy ass pizza joint cater their wedding. Their Gay cards would be revoked before they hung up the phone. 

Then there are those of you who say just take your business elsewhere. Fine but I shouldn’t have to worry when I walk into my local burger joint whether or not I’m going to be denied a burger with cheese hold the tomato, based on some fundamentalist nut ball theology and then have to search until I find an accepting one. If you open your business to the public, you must serve the public. All the public. You're not allowed to slice and dice and pick and choose the portion you find acceptable and not serve those you find icky. And stop with the stupid analogies. No, if an African-American owns a print shop you cannot be forced to print an offensive sign for the KKK. What you can be forced to do is to produce the same product for everyone who comes into your business. That’s not discrimination because you’re not printing hate speech signs for others and then refusing to do the same for the KKK. It’s simply not the same as refusing to make somebody a cake or a pizza just because they're Gay. You can restrict your product not your customers and if you feel your religious beliefs are being trounced maybe you should open up a private bakery, perhaps in your church hall. And by the way just because you’re baking a damn cake doesn’t mean you’re participating in the wedding. Nobody sent your dumb ass an invitation, drop off the cake and keep it pushing.

Let’s not forget folks that religious misinterpretation has been used for centuries as a tool to subjugate and rule over others. Check these out, Ephesians 6:5-6 and Titus 2:9-10. White supremacy in the south had its curse of Ham roots in southern Baptist and Protestant churches where Jim Crow laws used the Bible as justification for their racist segregationist ideology. Today just replace interracial marriage with Gay marriage in any anti same sex marriage conversation, tie it up in a big pretty religious bow of intolerance, and you sound just like George Wallace in front of a schoolhouse circa 1963 Alabama. And for those who believe in its absolute literal interpretation just remember the Bible was written by people who were confused and baffled as to where the sun went at night. Take the Bible for when it was written and by whom. Anyone who would propose killing in the name of God is absolutely wrong. That’s not God that’s man.

A Life With No Value – The Sequel “Me & My Lying Eyes”

I’m sorry somehow I must have slipped and fell into Mr. Peabody’s Way Back Machine because I could swear I’m living in Jim Crow era 1932. Yesterday it was announced that a Grand Jury would not hand down an indictment for the police officer who killed Eric Garner in New York last summer…apparently videotaped evidence is meaningless. I found it strangely bizarre because as you know these are post racial times in which we live…at least according to certain Supreme Court Justices. Seriously all this talk of having cops wear cameras would be a complete waste. A better idea may be to tape these crazy ass secret Grand Jury proceedings to see what the hell is going on with them. Or perhaps it’s time to bypass the Grand Jury altogether and take these cases directly to a federal prosecutor. It seems apparent, well at least to me that there is a conflict of interest with state and local prosecutors and police officers. Why are these police officers allowed to be investigated by the very people they work with every day? In the case of Michael Brown in Ferguson the prosecutor purposely presented the Grand Jury with as much conflicting evidence as he could and ignored the witnesses who stated he was shot with his hands up and any others whose version conflicted with that of Officer Darren Wilson as he deemed their testimony unreliable. In both the Brown and Garner cases the police officer was allowed to testify to the Grand Jury, which no competent lawyer would ever allow his client to do…unless perhaps there was an immunity offer or a guarantee of no prosecution. Of course neither of these officers was cross examined either.

If you have not yet seen the video please check it out here and listen closely to the audio, I’ll wait. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1ka4oKu1jo . There is little doubt as to what happened and the problem is obvious, it’s one of constant harassment of poor and minority citizens and it has created a culture of killer cops. This man was not an immediate danger to anyone, as we so often hear from police and no one feared for their life. He was not armed or threatening and as far as resisting arrest he was never told he was under arrest to begin with and even if he was, the degree of force used was definitely unwarranted. He simply asked to be left alone as he had been harassed numerous times by the police for the horrific and heinous crime of selling untaxed loose cigarettes…by the way he had no cigarettes on him at the time of his death. This was cold blooded murder plan and simple. In fact the coroner ruled his death a homicide so can someone please explain to me why this officer was not indicted. There were no conflicting witness statements, there were no outrageous claims of Eric Garner charging the police it’s all right there on the video. Let’s put aside the use of the illegal choke hold, this officer jumped on Mr. Garner’s back as if he was some wild untamed animal and brought him face down on to the concrete. Then the entire team of officers, who apparently just happened to be out on tax evader patrol, piled on him like they were trying to recover a loose ball fumble.

Here’s the thing, everyone talks about simply cooperating with the police when stopped to avoid confrontation but it’s not that simple. If I’m stopped by the police I’m going to ask why, now maybe that’s just me and it may piss off some hot headed police officer but you do have a right to know why you’re being arrested. If you watch the video it’s apparent from the conversation that the officer speaking to Eric Garner knows him from previous arrest for selling cigarettes but Mr. Garner wants to know why he was being harassed that day. Where were the cigarettes he was selling THAT day? This apparently wasn’t the first time he had been harassed which is why he was upset and fed up as he stated “it ends today” ironically moments before he was killed. Avoiding confrontation works both ways. These officers are supposedly trained so why did Rambo who jumped him from behind in mid conversation with the other officer continue to choke him with a knee placed in his back as he pleaded “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe” over and over? The man was obviously obese did you not think cutting off his air supply would cause serious damage and ignoring that, why wasn’t CPR administered when it became apparent he wasn’t breathing? Why the arrest for the simple crime of selling untaxed loose cigarettes to begin with? Loose cigarettes you can get at your local liquor store for 50 cents apiece…untaxed. This was not some perilous life or death  situation where there was no time for these questions to be answered and certainly not a situation requiring the death penalty. So again, why no indictment? If not for murder why not manslaughter or even negligible homicide, why nothing? Why is it that the killing of Black men by White police officers is continually judged as justified?

As a side note, the young man filming the incident was indicted the following month by a Grand Jury on a charge of weapons possession. He’s Latino and says he was set up by the police in retaliation for filming and posting the video but the Grand Jury decided to indict him anyway…no surprise there. Of course the police wouldn’t resort to framing and railroading this guy just for filming and making public their illegal and fatal arrest.  Oh, and just one more thing, fuck you Charles Barkley you should stick to sports commentating…dumb ass.

“I'm minding my business, officer, I’m minding my business. Please just leave me alone. I told you the last time, please just leave me alone. Please, please, don't touch me. Do not touch me.  I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe.”

A lIfe With No Value

Ok I’m not an attorney but I’ve seen countless episodes of Law & Order and never once have I seen a prosecutor act as defense council for the accused and not one time has the prosecutor presented evidence to the Grand Jury without a recommendation of charges. Like some episode right out of Bizarro World, this is exactly what St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch did with the Grand Jury charged with deciding whether or not to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the murder of Mike Brown. He chose the evidence he wanted them to see and pretty much said “go for it, you’re on your own”.  There were no options given on how to charge the officer. He also allowed the testimony of Officer Wilson to be presented without dispute, testimony by the way which is virtually unheard of in Grand Jury proceedings. So last night when announcing the Grand Jury’s decision prosecutor McCullough gave this strange rambling speech chastising the media and attacking the witnesses he claimed were biased. To be clear what he said was that all the witnesses in defense of Darren Wilson’s account of the events were credible and accurate while those who opposed were confused and unreliable. From beginning to end he did nothing but offer excuses for Darren Wilson and justifications for the non-indictment. Oh, and according to him social media is the devil. He offered what he considered to be the facts in the case but what he failed to mention was his bias, his refusal to recuse himself and the fact that he gets to choose what evidence is submitted to the Grand Jury.

Of course the facts presented are to be considered but what also has to be considered is the history of violence by white cops against African-Americans in the community. And again you don’t let a cop come in and give his side of the story uncontested. While the officer was given the benefit of the doubt with his contrived “he was reaching for my gun defense”, no such benefit was given to Michael Brown. There was no advocate for his side of the story. There was no one to contest Officer Wilson’s account.  A trial would have allowed for that. A grand jury does not hear all of the evidence in the case they only hear what is presented by the prosecutor. A trial would have allowed for more evidence. Instead this prosecutor chose the testimony, how it was presented and chose to allow only the evidence that made Michael Brown look bad. And once again a black unarmed youth is responsible for his own death. I encourage you to read Darren Wilson’s account of the incident here it is ridiculously unbelievable: http://www.vox.com/2014/11/25/7281165/darren-wilsons-story-side