Oh no Baltimore, not you too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSoDgVhkiKo
Printable View
Oh no Baltimore, not you too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSoDgVhkiKo
Where is this all going to stop!
I'm wondering why the cops and Baltimore administration keep trying to say that he was injured in the paddy wagon when he was clearly incapacitated when he was apprehended. He was screaming in pain and couldn't move his legs, so the pigs dragged him into the van. To make things worse, they had him in handcuffs and leg irons but no seatbelts. They subsequently proceeded to make starts and stops on the way downtown to make sure he fell over. That probably injured him even more and in my opinion is probably directly responsible for his death. I've only heard one news pundit suggest that he was already injured when he was put in transit.
The NYC police commissioner was on 'Face the Nation' this morning to talk about all of these cases. He suggested that among lessons learned from the Eric Garner case was that police needed to work hard to engender the trust of the community so that when something happens, it is not automatically assumed that the cops are the enemy. I turned him off because this is the bastard responsible for 'stop and frisk' and he's talking about earning the trust of the community!
It won't stop until empowered citizens review boards are in place in every municipality. These boards need to have citizens from the communities affected, not politicians, judges, or police officials. And they need to be empowered to bring charges as opposed to the faceless grand juries that see only what the district attorney wants to show them and come back time and again on the side of the pigs responsible.
The thing that the media isn't showing [[SHOCKING) is that a majority of the protest was peaceful. In fact, most of these rioters were either, A) not from Baltimore, and/or B) inciting violence and anger for no reason. But, of course, the media is just going to keep spinning this as if Baltimore's going apocalyptic to perpetuate stereotypes about the city.
I do not support or condone violence but when I think about the unimaginable anger and desperation people must feel when they are repeatedly unheard no matter how loudly they shout and they see their community torn apart at the seams by violence that is utterly wrong, completely preventable, and committed by the exact people who are supposed to protect and serve I begin to see the appeal in kicking things up to a level so hot, fiery, and loud that no one can ignore it.
Unfortunately meeting violence with violence usually means that all voices are lost in the fire. And our feckless media focuses on the rocks thrown instead of the peaceful protests that far outnumber the riots. And we are left instead with an even bigger divide between communities.
The request is simple. It's one we all ask no matter who we are and one that every American deserves. Recognize all men and women as equals, and each person as innocent until proven guilty. It doesn't have to be this hard America. We must have open, honest conversations about the current state of race relations in our country today before all is lost.
CE
From Ground Zero:
Good points Jerry.
AntC.....It was B.
Monday.....kids at a high school located a half mile from the service today circulated info on social media that they were going to do something today at the nearby mall. The school is located across the street from the MonDawMin..... a black-centric mall in West Bmore. I'm told the service at New Shiloh was beautiful and peaceful.
The kids were thwarted by police so they moved a few blocks west in the hood, while hurling rocks and other material at the cops and broke into a small store on Gwynn Falls. Later they moved down to the CVS on North Ave near a subway stop and looted. They then moved east and west on North Ave.....Looting. The police did not stop the initial looting.
Side note: If a ton of students in Baltimore, including my own, knew that bad behavior was planned...why didn't someone broadcast a message to these students to stand down....and why wasn't the city better prepared to stop this before it escalated?
The ministers at New Shiloh....an impressive group of black leaders...personally took to the streets....too little.....too late...they marched in the aftermath.....while the cars and looters returned to an unguarded MonDawMin and looted some more.
There was a major police presence downtown.....and nothing happened down there today. Instead.....pockets of violence broke out in a few other places in the city.... Almost all of it in black communities.....mainly stores like 7-11....or a sneaker store on Monument St. The sneaker store made numerous charitable contributions to the neighborhood over the years. I know this first hand.
A skeleton of a 12 million dollar senior center in E. Bmore was completely torched.
Public and Catholic schools are closed tomorrow....as are several other institutions.
Politics reared its ugly head when the governor basically said that the Mayor took too long to declare a state of emergency.
I was scheduled to take my oldest to New Shiloh this evening to practice for her Saturday recital with the accompanist, Mrs. McCallum, one of the most decorated and celebrated pianist in the state. We had a new song to practice and much more to discuss.
I hope that Freddy's case is handled properly.
We have a curfew starting tomorrow. I was scheduled to go to D.C. tomorrow for meetings and testing. I may or may not change plans.
I spent a good deal of time this evening making sure that all of my loved ones have adequate protection. I was successful.
There are plans to target Security Mall tomorrow. I hope the cops are aware and prepared for this.
I can't believe that the press is trying to link this B.S. to The Wire.
Speaking from over 50 years ago about what is basically happening today in Baltimore and will happen in other cities in this country, the Hon. Minister Malcolm X:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXzY_1Y1OT0
I remember when I was young hearing Kruschev saying that America would destroy itself
from within. How prophetic was he.
Remembering the messages of Dr King.
The U.S. hasn't been destroyed from within yet, but it has had a pretty good start.
Sadly, I don't see mainstream America treating the incidents of police brutality [[captured live, thanks to cell phones) as seriously as they will want to treat the subsequent uprisings. I'll bet any amount of money that we'll see a change toward a harsher, more reactive method of putting down social unrest before we see any significant systemic changes in how we hold the peacekeepers accountable when they are caught breaking the laws.
With its history of problems between the police and the community, Baltimore should have been the first city in the country to outfit cops with body cameras and employ community policing. Instead, they are doing things the same way that they've always done them and expecting a largely under-served and poorly educated populace to accept their reasons why it really wasn't the cops' fault that things happened.
The city paid $5.7 million in settlements in the last few years. Wouldn't that money be better spent by outfitting and training the police? Wouldn't they be better served by disciplining the bad cops, up to and including termination, than they are by paying settlement money and looking the other way while the community sees the police as the enemy? With the gang and drug problems in Baltimore, why do they not give the honest citizens a reason to work with them instead of putting them between two devils, both intent on destroying their lives and happiness?
Sadly, we're 50+ years removed from the civil rights movement, but we're seeing the same footage on the news today that we saw back then.
This is from several months ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDTbSmF76N8
In deep conversation with Christ today and asking him for peace and understanding and prayers for Baltimore. Its time we have conversations about police brutality but rioting and looting aint the answer.Attachment 9381
You know why, don't you? Police = good. Black people = bad. Mainstream America = White people. And you know White people are scared of Black folks. Blacks are seen as lawless animals. So, to them, whatever is done to protect decent White folk, even if it means killing a few of those "animals", justifies the police brutality. Then, They can watch all the looting and burning down their own neighborhoods on TV and use it to justify more police, harsher sentences, less funding for public schools, and god-forbid: public assistance!
I have spent many wonderful days and nights in Baltimore over the years. It really was a good town to me and the people were really good people. When you people too far, this is what happens!
While I'm fully aware that ethnic politics are powerful forces in our country, I'm also loathe to make a blanket statement that appears to equate Whiteness with oppression and Blackness with virtue or victims. I understand your point as well as why it was made, but I have been helped too many times in my experience by white folks and held back [[or outright attacked) by many who look like me. Of course, the opposite is quite true as well, but you get my point.
There are enough insecure fools in our land who find strength in numbers. That is why a lot of white people use race to divide and subjugate people of other races. It's also true, though, that criminals of all ethnic backgrounds prey on their own communities, classes, and kind. Generalization is harmful to those who label others as the bad guys because it leaves the door open for fools like the rioters to burn down my property under the guise of seeking justice against someone else. It's quite simply bullshit of the highest order.
I see what I see. I hear Rush and Beck and all of the Faux News 'personalities' using racial buzzwords to keep the lower and middle class citizens stirred up. I look at the initiatives proposed by the Koch brothers' agents and I know they are specifically drawn up to keep minorities [[and Blacks in particular) from ever having a seat at the table. I watched the results of the past midterm elections and realize that no matter what the president does, he's going to be seen as some uppity n***** who had the gall to sit at massa's table by half of the people in this country and it pisses me off.
But as mad as I am, I push back from making statements that I feel are overly broad.
On that, we can agree. I've been on Twitter today and reading some of the comments about how 'if black people don't want problems with the cops, they need to stop committing most of the crime'. The internet is literally a repository for the most vile and small minded racists in the world. To argue with them is to give them license to spout their venom, so I ignore them. I wish more of my brothers and sisters realized how education is their ally instead of a waste of their time.
Now here is probably the most telling sub-story of this whole situation. The media around the country have been lauding this unknown mother for beating her son because he was participating in the protest. Some were calling her "Mother of the Year".
Well guess what? They caught up with her , stuck a microphone in her face to get her comments about what she did. The answer hit folks like a ton of bricks! It certainly was not the answer the "general public" was looking for or expecting when she stated, "He is my only son and I don't want him to end up being another Freddie Gray"! [[a murder victim of the police!)
I will bet you that the media will stop pursuing her after that answer!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qagQmoQRWdM
In the presence of non-peaceful protesters I can't help but wonder at the absence and silence of people such as Oprah, Al Sharpton, Kanye West, etc. Jay Z managed to summon quite a crew of megastars and media interest when he launched his streaming business several weeks ago; why no such congregation of popular figures now to call for peaceful protests?
RobertZ, it's the same old song. When Michael Jordan was asked to speak up for the Third World workers earning $5 a day to make his $200/pair signature shoes, he remained silent. Jay-Z refused to speak when two young people were harassed for nothing more than buying goods from a New York City store with whom he had an endorsement deal. Very few Black celebrities are willing to risk income to help bring attention to injustice.
Sadly, seems true. I'm remembering James Brown and "the night he saved Boston"!
Think of the real difference everyone on that Tidal stage could make if they instead had a network of inner-city schools teaching tech skills, medical care industry skills, etc. I'm not African-American, and I'm not wealthy, so perhaps I should STFU - but it is a nice thought.
You don't need to STFU. The big problem that we have with race relations is not so much White people disrespecting Black people as it is Black people putting up with it. We have multiple options to force change but no compelling leadership to organize policy. We have enough economic power to boycott strategic entities until they work with us. We have enough voting power to influence legislative priorities. We have enough creativity to adapt messages across multiple communication spectrums.
The one thing that we don't have is someone willing to coordinate efforts and combine energy to get it done. There's no reason why Black infant mortality in the US rivals that in Third World nations.. There's no reason for Black kids to be under educated and forced to work for poverty-level wages. There's no reason why in spite of killer cops and a legal system designed to keep us down, we target each other with crime.
Well, no reason beyond us apparently being okay with it. As long as I've got mine, I suppose I should not really concern myself with what happens to someone else, eh?
its not just black celebrities Jerry Justin Timberlake and JayZ both said theyd never perform in Florida again after the Trayvon Martin verdict but both a month later they apperaed in Miami.
http://www.miami.com/jay-z-justin-ti...oncert-article
its just the same as Leo Dicaprios being all about climate change and saving the planet but hes always on and off private jets.
Most celebrities are selfish and full of BS forgive my language please.
Fondly.
Roberta
It would send quite a positive message if, every time municipalities had open applications for the police and fire departments, lets say 20% of the eligible young African-American neighborhood women and men lined up to apply for those jobs.
I'd be happy if they would simply make whoever wears the badge maintain a high standard of behavior. It's it too much to ask that the police do their jobs in compliance with their training and the law?
I taught high school for 49 years, and I still teach part time at 2 colleges. It was hard to tell the kids and young adults what the late 1960's were like. I was at the University of Dayton when the National Guard fired on protesters at Kent State in the late 1960's. Who can ever forget the picture of the girl leaning over a friend who was shot? It just seems that the people with the guns and power are not trained properly. We should all pray for civility among all races and cultures. edafan
They have already started piecing together a bullshit story that maybe Freddie Gray killed himself in the back of the police paddy wagon! They claim another prisoner in the van, that could not see ,b ut could hear Freddie and to him it sounded like Freddie was trying to injure himself! Yeah right! I guess that is why Freddie pleaded for his inhaler!
JerryOz, Ms. Roberta, Marv, etc - what do you think about body cameras? Ms. Clinton has made them a part of her platform. I have not yet fully decided - but right now I would vote "for".
All I will say at this point is be careful what you wish for the next time you jaywalk because you are running late to a meeting or appointment; give a friend an aspirin, a cigarette or not walk in a completely straight line when leaving a bar or a club........................
Above all that, I still would vote for body cameras for police officers especially with state of the art mics on them!
I'm all in favor of body cameras so long as there are strict rules to discipline cops when they turn them off our they mysteriously malfunction just prior to an incident. I strongly suspect the police unions will fight tooth and nail against any significant discipline associated with the usage of body cameras.
There are more 'bad cops' than people suspect. There are also a lot of bad supervisors and the collateral damage tied into catching crooked cops will include those who help cover up the activity. I know we need the institution of law enforcement and policing, but the power that comes with 'protecting and serving' leads to temptation to not only step over the line, but to protect yourself and others from the consequences of doing so. The mafia started as a group of men tasked with protecting their communities as well.
And make it e felony for the cops to turn them off. We have already had a case where body cams caught cops turning off their dash cams while beating a person. And, it had nothing to do with race. It was a Black female cop who wanted to turn them off so they couldn't be recorded beating someone.