Chokwe Lumumba Running for Jackson (Mississippi) City Council

For over 40 years, Chokwe Lumumba has advanced the causes of human rights and social justice in the courtroom. In the final days of 2008, he began another path in the fight to improve the lives of the people as a city councilman. “I have a passion for the goals of freedom and justice. Our success requires that this city have dynamic leadership from elected officials and from our community --to be educated, motivated, and organized to make and sustain fundamental positive change.” – Chokwe Lumumba

Lumumba will bring a wealth of experience, dedication and passion to the city of Jackson. In addition to serving as a member of the Mississippi and Michigan bar for 40 years, he has been a small business owner, factory worker, teacher, youth program director, and board member of several non-profit organizations.

“Chokwe Lumumba is one of the finest attorneys in this country. He brings excellence and commitment to every endeavor. Our city needs that kind of quality in our politicians. Our city needs Lumumba.” – Ernest Stanton, Jackson City resident.

“Attorney Lumumba represents the people and truly cares about the community. He helped my family and hundreds of families like mine…” – Quincy Griffin, client and son of Johnny Griffin who was wrongfully killed by police in Jackson, MS.

Fore more information, or to make a donation, please visit www.electlumumbaward2.com. Also, if you're in or near one of the cities below, please attend one of the following events:

Washington DC, Friday, February 13, 2008 6-9PM at
Sankofa (2714 Georgia Ave. NW)

Featuring:

Adeyemi Bandele – National Black United Front
Nkechi Taifa –National
Conference of Black Lawyers*
Jared Ball – WPFK, 89.3 and
Khaleaph Luis – Malcolm X Grassroots Movement

Light refreshments will be served. Sponsored by The Committee to Elect Chokwe Lumumba and the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement


Brooklyn, New York, Sunday,February 15, 2008 4-7PM at
Food for Thought Cafe (445 Marcus Garvey Blvd, corner of MacDonough)
Featuring:

Jitu Weusi – National Black United Front and the East Organization,
Bob Law – Night Talk Radio,
Ron Daniels – State of the Black World and 1984 Campaign Manager for Jessie Jackson, and
Kamau Franklin – Malcolm X Grassroots Movement

Light refreshments will be served. Sponsored by The Committee to Elect Chokwe Lumumba and the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement.


Atlanta, Saturday, February 28, 2009 at
The Diamond Hall and Conference Center (5495 Old National Highway, College Park, GA)

The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement presents the 18th annual Malcolm X Commemorative Banquet. Attorney Chokwe Lumumba will be the keynote speaker. Award recipients are Dazon Dixon Diallo of Sister Love and Hekima and Tamu Kanyama of the African Community Centers. Performance by Mausiki Scales and the Common Ground Collective. For more information call 770-987-9390 or visit http://www.malcolmxbanquet.com/.

Torture and Prison Abuse Not Limited to Guantanamo

All of the attention being paid to Guantanamo and the issues of torture and human rights abuses is good, and closing the facility is a good start. But at the end of the day, we know that the intersection of political repression, torture and prison abuse did not start at Guantanamo.

In 1973, thirteen alleged "Black militants" were arrested in New Orleans, purportedly in connection with a 1971 crime in San Francisco. Some of them were tortured for several days by law enforcement authorities, in striking similarity to the horrors visited upon detainees in Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib.

In 1975, a Federal Court in San Francisco threw out all of the evidence obtained in New Orleans.

It would have been bad enough if the story simply ended there. But more than 30 years after the original failed investigation and torture tactics, the FBI and police re-opened the case. In 2005 several former members of the Black Panther Party were held in contempt and jailed for refusing to testify before a San Francisco Grand Jury investigating the 1971 shooting, and in 2007 eight former Black community activists – Black Panthers and others – were arrested in California, New York, and Florida on charges related to the case. These eight activists are now known as the San Franciso Eight (SF8).

The following is a trailer from a video, "Legacy of Tortue", that describes the original torture and the continuation of the police/FBI vendetta against the Black activists.



To order the video, you can visit The Freedom Archives

For more background on the case, you can visit the SF8 website and for the latest developments you can visit the SF8 blog site.

You can also view a recent interview from GritTV with Kamau Franklin, from the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, and Francisco Torres, former Black Panther and member of the SF8. In the video, they discuss ongoing COINTELPRO activities against Black activists.

Finally, we should not forget that closely related to the issue of torture is the issue of prison abuse. This is a harder issue to deal with, since many people, even within the Black community, have the attitude that "if you do the crime, you should do the time." But doing the time should not mean that basic human rights should be violated.

The issue of prisoner rights is made more complicated by the increasing trend towards privatizing prisons, which inherently decreases government oversight over prisoner rights. Although prison officials have said that they don't know the cause of recent prison rebellions in Texas, i would bet money that the incidents have been related to prison conditions. After all, the incidents are reminiscent of the 1971 Attica rebellion. Attica led to a limtited amount of prison reforms. What will the more recent rebellions and all of the attention being paid to Guantanamo lead to?

On that "note", i'm outta here...

How Did Billey Joe Johnson Die?

This comes to us from our friends at ColorOfChange

The facts don't add up. His family deserves answers. Billey Joe Johnson's future looked bright, but authorities claim he killed himself during a routine traffic stop. It's hard to believe that a 17-year-old star athlete with his pick of college football scholarships would do such a thing, but that's the story a Mississippi sheriff's department is standing by.
According to an independent investigation, the pieces of that story don't add up--witness accounts and an autopsy report contradict the sheriff's explanation, and official documents indicate that officers may have been pursuing Johnson. We don't know what happened, but in the racially divided town of Lucedale, all the ingredients exist for a miscarriage of justice.

For a more background on this case visit the original ColorOfChange e-mail.

Please visit ColorOfChange and complete the online petition. Take action!

NOTEworthy News, 2/5/09

Bill Would Require Paid Confederate Holiday in SC
(February 4, 2009, Jim Davenport, AP)
A black state senator is pushing a bill that would require South Carolina cities and counties to give their workers a paid day off for Confederate Memorial Day or lose millions in state funds. Click here for the full article.

[Cliff Note: Evidently, this bill is being pushed by the same Black senator that is considering a run for South Carolina governor (see this article). I guess the best way for a Black man to get elected to statewide office in the south is to pay homage to the legacy of slavery.]


Hillsborough GOP official rebuked for racial e-mail joke
(Adam C. Smith, Robbyn Mitchell and Stephanie Garry, St. Petersburg Times)
TAMPA — Florida Republican chairman Jim Greer said Wednesday that longtime Hillsborough state committeewoman Carol Carter may lose her position because of the racial joke she forwarded in an e-mail…
The e-mail read:

From: Carol Carter
Friday, January 30, 9:30 AM
Subject: FW: Amazing!
I'm confused
How can 2,000,000 blacks get into Washington, DC in 1 day in sub zero temps when 200,000 couldn't get out of New Orleans in 85 degree temps with four days notice?

Click here for the full article and to see Ms. Carter’s “explanation”.

[Cliff Note: the full article makes reference to some other recent racial incidents in Florida. Unfortunately, it makes NO reference to the massive and systematic disenfranchisement of Black voters in 2000 and beyond. But i digress…]


Arkansas panel rejects resolution congratulating Obama
January 29, 2009 (Jill Zeman, AP)
An Arkansas House committee has rejected a resolution congratulating President Barack Obama on his electoral victory after some lawmakers questioned wording that referred to the United States being founded by slave owners. Click here for the full article.


4 Charged with Hate Crime in Richmond (California) Assault
(February 4, 2009, Jill Tucker, San Francisco Chronicle)
Richmond -- Four East Bay men were charged Tuesday with a hate crime in the assault of 24-year-old Brandon Manning, an attack that left the victim with six broken bones and numbness in his face, Richmond police said. Manning, who is black, said that as the men beat him, he recalled hearing them yell "coon," and then, "How do you like this, you f-ing n-?" Click here for the full article and a video from the local news station.

[Cliff Note: Now, i’m the absolute last person to minimize racism in any way, but i do feel the need to give young brother Manning a little advice. The next time 7 white boys who you don’t know offer you a ride in the middle of the night—RUN!]


Proposal to cut Macon road funding sparks anger
(February 5, 2009, Matt Barnwell, Macon Telegraph)
The three Macon City council members who represent east Macon on Wednesday announced their unified opposition to Mayor Robert Reichert’s plan to partly balance the budget by canceling road paving projects in their ward. Click here for the full article.

[Cliff Note: In a previous commentary, i highlighted the views of some of the white residents of Macon, GA. This article highlights one of the many ways that such viewpoints get incorporated into public policy.]


3 Mass. Men Indicted in Post-election Black Church Fire
(January 27, 2009, AP)

SPRINGFIELD — Three Massachusetts men have been formally indicted in the torching of a predominantly black church hours after the election of President Barack Obama. Click here for the full story.


Black Leaders Condemn 'Vestiges of Racism' in School Rezoning
(Jan. 26 2009, Jeff Woods, Nashville Scene)

Black leaders held a press conference this morning as part of their unfolding strategy to stop Nashville's impending return to a more segregated school system. At NAACP headquarters, the Rev. James Lawson--a white-haired eminence of the civil rights movement--took center stage to express his outrage over the student rezoning plan. Click here for the full story.

[Cliff Note: The reality is, Brown vs. Board of Ed was never fully implemented and American schools have remained segregated and unequally funded. This will be the topic of a future Cliff Note Commentary.]

‘Nuff said.

Post-Racial America? Welcolme to Macon, Georgia!

Part of the reason I write this blog is to spread the word about racial incidents that don’t make it into mainstream media. It’s hard enough for these stories to make the news when they happen in major cities, and even then it usually has to get caught on video in order to be newsworthy. But more importantly, a lot of times, these incidents take place in smaller cities and towns that the major networks and newspapers don’t pay a lot of attention to.

A few weeks ago in Macon, Georgia, students at Mercer College discovered that someone had tampered with a bulletin board highlighting Mercer’s National Association of Black Engineers student organization. The letters on the board were rearranged to spell “the N word”. Both the original incident, as well as the student rally that was organized in support of diversity, received coverage in the local newspaper, the Macon Telegraph. The online version of the newspaper articles generated a string of reader comments that I found quite revealing.

Obviously, the Mercer bulletin board incident is not the most egregious example of racism in America; indeed, it’s not even the most egregious example in Macon alone. But for the purpose of this post, the critical issue isn’t so much the incident itself, but the comments and emotions that the incident revealed. I recognize that often the people who comment on newspaper articles represent extreme opinions, and that some will argue that these types of comments do not truly represent the “post-racial” direction in which the country is headed. But I would argue that these commentators, speaking with the freedom of anonymity, speak for far more people than we should be comfortable with.

I considered adding commentary after each quote, but I’ve decided to let the comments just speak for themselves. The comments are NOT listed in the order in which they were originally posted, but I have not shortened any of the comments at all, and have not edited them, except to add bolded emphasis in a few cases. Again, to view the full comments, including those from Black readers, visit the Macon Telegraph.

With all of that said, here are my Cliff Notes…

Comment 1

A rally about using a word. Wow, how about a rally about all of the crime and how Mercer students could make a difference in the community. Could Mercer’s National Association of Black Engineers student organization hold neighborhood rallies to educate young blacks about the opportunities out there for educated blacks with no criminal record? A rally about one person's use of a word. Puhleeze! Are you one? Then it doesn't apply to you.

Comment 2

If you look at previous news stories about this type of incident you will find that when caught the culprit is often a member of the group being "slurred". Stir it up, get some sympathy from the naive.

Comment 3

Why do you black 'engineers' commit so many crimes?

Comment 4

I don't know what percentage the black population is of Macon, but it's very high. Again, read the papers and look at the TV everyday, you will see there is an enormous amount of violent crimes. I lived in Middle GA till 2 years ago, smarted up and moved to the North GA mountains. There are more crimes in Macon in one week that there is in several years up here. Wonder why???? The only reason I read the paper is for the obits since I have a lot of friends and acquaintances in the Middle GA area. I can't help but see the front page when I click the website. I find it amusing that you folks have nothing better to do. Get a life.

Comment 5

[addressing a Black commenter], you talk too much; maybe you need your own page. A black woman is twice as racist as a black man and raises her brats to be the same. You want to be the equal of the white man, you got a long way to go, baby; maybe by the year 3000, possibly never. I, too, am finished with this discussion, only I mean it.

Comment 6

I am sick and tired of everytime someone does not agree with an opinion you are a racist. And, it is usually a black person who is the first to say it. You are not special just because your great, great, great so and so might have been a slave. You(meaning blacks) have the same opportunities as everyone else to get an education and make something of yourselves. But, you would rather quit school, have a baby every year and let the gov't take care of you.

Comment 7

[addressing a Black commenter]...you will never understand what it feels like to grow up "white" in America...and frankly, I do not expect you to understand, but let's try. I hear about "black" this and "black" that on a DAILY basis and it makes me cry. Why are there not any "white" organizations out there just for "WHITES" like me? "Blacks" have the NAACP, United N-Word College Fund, people like Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton who will come to a "blacks" defense for ANYTHING. I don't have any "white" people or college funds SPECIFICALLY just for ME. It makes me cry. This is why I do not have and never will have compassion for "blacks" because they are the ones who keep the RACIAL thing going. Now do you understand????

Comment 8

Yeah it's wrong to discriminate against others. We should all look at ourselves and fix our own problems before we point at others and voices our dislikes.... Think to yourself and think WHO is the most racist people around. Those are the real problems. I don't see the lite skinned people out screaming racist remarks in Night Clubs. But, you sure do see them dark skins doing it. Now don't you... The racist type people need to throw away the Black and White TV's and get a colored TV. Because, guess what, there's more to life than black and white.

Comment 9

It’s always a racist thing when it comes from a white person. What about what the black people do. They made a song about a black president if a white person did it it would be racist. what about all the black men killing the white women. Is that racist? i guess not

Comment 10

I watched the parade in Washington, DC Tuesday and I was so surprised to see how many bands had hoochie choochie females leading the bands. Is this the way you want to be admired for your talent. just what do the blacks want. do they admire all the shootings, druggings , robbings, and home invasion. over time all white names have been changed to all black. Just like this black engineers society. Black is beautiful but not white is beautiful.. When is enough enough.

Comment 11

All the Africans want to point to Obama as an example; this I do not really understand as Obama has just as much white blood as he does black and most important of all, he was raised by a white family. When a black makes president who is all black raised by black parents, then there is cause for the blacks to be proud. Most of the great black men had white blood; without those genes I don't think they would have made it far. [emphasis added]

Comment 12

When will you people "Get it"? Obama is NOT "The First African American President".......HIS MOTHER IS (WHITE)! This makes him MULATTO. I guess if the U.S. had ALL BLACK Presidents BEFORE, Obama would now be (The First White American President)???? You are lucky enough to be in School, So get an EDUCATION!!! And forget this nonsense. As for some of the post on here a "Deplorable Action"..."Culprit" etc.., just think of 9-11. HIT THE BOOKS KIDS! Stop trying to play like you know it all.

Comment 13

I for one would like to thank the blacks, thank you for the crime, thank you for the shootings, thank you for the fatherless children. The poor white folks would have lost their way without all these fine examples. THANK YOU

'Nuff said.