Its Progress I Guess

Officer James Mandarino is the cop in the video above beating the holy crap out of the defenseless citizen. He has been charged with official misconduct and aggravated battery, and was released on $50,000 bail and is on administrative leave from the Streamwood Police Department.


Below is the Rodney King beating video.  I guess its a weird sort of progress when video of one cop beating the crap out of an unarmed and defenseless citizen results in criminal charges against the officer 18 years on from a video of a bunch of a cops beating the crap out of an unarmed and defenseless citizen doesn't.

The context of the situations is different, but the unjustified nature of what happened to the citizen isn't really very different at all. Two videos, same injustice, different results. Progress I guess, until you consider that the cop in the video above would face no sanction at all if there were not rock solid, incontrovertible video evidence. In Rodney's case, the video didn't do much. 

Girls Are Not For Sale

GEMS Testifies at Senate Hearing 2.24.2010 from GEMS GIRLS on Vimeo.

Hat tip soulbrotherv.2.  I have a beautiful 10 year old daughter as well as two wonderful young sons.  I love and value my children and because I do, I love and value children in general.  Human trafficking is a monstrous crime against humanity and trafficking in children just basically makes me want to take out out the perpetrators no questions asked. Its bad around the world, but in America, this stuff is going on too and its unacceptable.  Because the safety and security of black women and girls is often simply not regarded as very important (both within and without the black community), they are highly vulnerable targets and victims of trafficking and exploitation. It behooves us all to be aware of this issue and to support all efforts to eradicate it and the people who engage in it. The testimony in the video above also highlights something else: the critical importance of rebuilding strong two parent families in America and in the black community as the normal and naturally preferred state for raising kids.  These girls are victimized in part because they are not deeply connected to a caring family structure and are open to be victimized by the human trash that preys on vulnerable young people.  Strong black families with a Mom and a Dad prevent trafficking point blank.  My daughter will NEVER be in position to be victimized in this way because anybody trying to hurt her has to get past her Daddy first.  Thats the ultimate protection for our precious little girls and boys: intact, healthy and whole black families is the best defense and offense to the abomination of human trafficking.

Moron Implosion

You simply can't make this stuff up.  Gilbert Arenas, a grown man, with a six-year, $111million contract, plus an additional $50 million deal with Adidas, thought it was a good idea, a harmless practical joke, to bring not one, not two, but three guns into the Washington Wizards locker room and display them to teammate Jarvaris Crittendon, in some doofus attempt to emphasize his seriousness about a gambling debt. He does this within the District of Columbia's jurisdiction, home of some of the toughest gun laws in the nation governing concealed weapons.  He came from his home in Maryland, so he also crossed state lines with the weapons and we don't even know yet if he had a license for any of them.

You'd think that if moron boy was going to be brandishing weapons in anyone's face, it would be that of his fellow teammate Shaq, who's been dunking his fiance since forever apparently. Now, I file this hot mess in the same moron file with other cases of terminal stupid fever: Chris Brown beating down Rihanna, Michael Vicks dealing in dog fighting and the Plaxico Burress self inflicted bullet wound.  None of these cats gets any sympathy from me whatsoever.  You're on top of the world, millions of dollars at your disposal, but you can't get your mentality out of the ghetto long enough to remove your head from your backside and engage the common sense mode on your logic module?

Now here's the deal.  In the world that you and I live in, if we brought three concealed weapons to our workplace and then brandished or otherwise displayed them to a co-worker, we would be summarily fired and charged with a crime. That's what should happen here.

UPDATE: Black radio is reporting that after having some sense talked to him by his lawyer, Arenas has admitted that Crittendon had a weapon of his own that he pulled out in the locker room in response to Arenas idiotic idea of a joke.  He omitted that detail in an effort to shield Crittendon from getting in trouble, figuring he would likely weather the storm and be back playing ball, while Jarvaris is a much more minor player easily disposed of and replaced by a team.  So their both idiots.  Like I said above, in the real world, these guys would not have jobs.  I find the whole thing to be even more idiotic given the fact that Arenas is a multi-millionaire.  Living the rarefied air of the NBA clearly kills brain cells.

Sentencing Guidelines: An Opportuntity for Steele and the GOP

If the GOP and Michael Steele really wanted to put its money where its mouth was when it comes to opening up the party and bringing blacks into a better relationship with the party, here is a perfect opportunity.

Color of Change has ginned up a campaign to fight sentencing disparities, a timely effort given that their might be some daylight for this issue. Legislation is moving around in Congress to eliminate the sentencing disparities that have created a national disaster: 1 in 15 Black adults in America are now behind bars. Not because they commit more crime but largely because of unfair sentencing rules that treat 5 grams of crack cocaine, the kind found in poor Black communities, the same as 500 grams of powder cocaine, the kind found in White and wealthier communities.

You have to be convicted of moving roughly $500,000 worth of cocaine to trigger a 5-year sentence. For crack? About $500 worth. These laws punish the lowest-level dealers, while providing a loophole that helps those running the trade escape harsh sentences. The U.S. Sentencing Commission, which provides sentencing guidelines for judges, has petitioned Congress numerous times to change the sentencing laws. Senate bill 1711 will completely eliminate the sentencing disparity and end the mandatory minimum for crack possession, while increasing funding for drug treatment programs.

This has been a long running injustice in the sentencing guidelines, made law by Democrats no less including our current vice president. The GOP has run on a law and order ticket often and has made hay with issues like sentencing for political gain. But the sentencing guidelines are unjust and unfair in this regard and have done great damage to black communities. That damage is compounded when add in the problems of recidivism and reentry. It takes nothing away from the GOP's rule of law bona fides to support a move to correct this problem. If we were smart, we'd pick up this ball and run with it and give ourselves an argument for black support that would resonate with every family that has had a loved one do hard time under these guidelines.

If we were smart.

The Lack of a Coherent Immigration Policy is Costing Us

Hispanics outpace African-Americans as federal prisoners

Hat tip - Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog 

NATIONAL: "Hispanics Are Largest Ethnic Group in Federal Prisons, Study Shows," by Solomon Moore, New York Times, 19 February 2009.

Annual number of federal offenders doubles from 1991-2007. Thank you War on Drugs. But the Latino numbers quadruple, with the vast bulk being immigration sentences, followed by drug sentences. Of the Latinos in our fed prisons, 72% are not citizens--nice. Most are sent there by the four border states (CA, AZ, NM and TX). Cross the border illegally and--thanks to our zero tolerance--we toss you in jail. The average sentence for Latinos is 46 months. This is a good use of our taxpayer money all right.

Free At Last

Flanked by a family member on the left and Innocence Project attorney Barry Scheck on the right, Walter Swift looks out at the world from the steps of the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 as a free man. Swift was freed after spending 26 years in jail for a rape he didn't commit.

I'm interested in solutions for black America. Clearly, reform of the justice system in this country is needful, because Walter's story occurs too often. And for every Swift that the Innocence Project frees, there are another 20 or more that never get the light of justice shined on their situation. The Innocence Project worked for 11 years to free Swift. 11 damn years. The man languished in prison for a decade before someone began to look into his case, and another decade of his life came and went in prison while the battle was fought. Its a terrible injustice. The Innocence Project isn't just working on the cases of the wrongly convicted, they have also assembled information about the kinds of policy reforms which would reduce the number of people who are wrongly convicted in the first place.

The reforms that can address and prevent wrongful convictions include:

• Eyewitness Identification Reform
• False Confessions
• Access to Post-Conviction DNA Testing
• Evidence Preservation
• Crime Lab Oversight
• Criminal Justice Reform Commissions ('Innocence Commissions')
• Exoneree Compensation

As always, when I look at whats needed to bring about real, lasting changes on substantive issues, I'm struck by the fact that the work that must be done is tedious, costly and decidedly unsexy. Its not marches or protests (they have their place), its organization, fund raising and long term activism to marshal people power and deploy human and political capital. The issues above don't get solved or fixed without hard, dogged effort over time.

Walter Swift hugs his daughter Audrey Kelly Mills, 27. She was an infant when Walter went to prison. He has not seen or touched her during her life until the day this picture was taken.

Visit the Innocence Project. Learn more about the issues and get involved. Because God forbid that you or I or someone we love should ever need an Innocence Project in the first place.

Horrid Crime in South Florida: Black on Black Crime & the invisible black woman

Dunbar Village. Ring any bells? Call up any images in your mind? Or are you drawing a blank? If you answered blank, its not surprising. The story of this horrible crime against a black woman that happened in this housing project has gotten little national coverage and no response at all that I'm aware of from the black establishment (NAACP, Urban League) or from the race hustlers (Sharpton, Jackson). None of the presidential candidates have mentioned it either. In a nutshell, on June 18th, 2007, a single mother and her 12 year old were assaulted for over three hours. The mother was gang raped and sodomized by 10 black thugs and forced to perform oral sex on her 12 year old at gun point. They were then doused with cleaning fluids and household chemicals, blinding the son and burning the mother. Four are in custody and the remainder are being sought. All of this took place within the paper thin four walls of the victims public housing apartment, surrounded by other people who ignored their screams for over three hours and neither helped nor called the police. Even after the assault was over, no one in the projects lifted a finger to help. They walked miles to a hospital emergency room before anyone did anything for them.

And yet there is nothing from main stream black organizations. The national media has ignored it. Even in West Palm Beach where this happened, the outrage and urgency to do something about it is not there. The Mayor of Newark, Corey Booker, is all over the murder case of the four black students there. The contrast between his response and that of Mayor Frankel ( a woman) in Florida could not be more different.

The horror of the event is only increased for me as time passes because of the response of black America. In the time since this horrid crime, we have invaded Jena and a march is being planned in support of Megan Williams, who was viciously raped and tortured by five white people in Texas. But Dunbar Village no one is talking about. Why? Seemingly because the crime against her was committed by black men. Had it been a group of white men, I suspect that the outrage of black America would be evident and Jesse and Sharpton would have made many a visit. But we have no outrage to spare for the Dunbar Village victim because she was brutalized by other blacks? That seems to be the case and it is a sad commentary on our community. Gina Smith who authors "What About Our Daughters" has been on this issue for months now. She contacted the NAACP and their spokesman actually told her that the Dunbar Village case is not within their mission. In mission or not, that the NAACP can't muster itself to make any statement on the case or to get involved in assuring pressure is maintained for these criminals to be caught is hard to understand.

However, the NAACP chapter in Atlanta thought it was necessary to publicly comment on Michael Vick, who was not being railroaded by anyone, but was justifiably suffering the consequences of his very foolish actions. But there is no comment for the Dunbar Village victims or seemingly caring, because they were brutalized by other blacks.

Its a too common circumstance that we focus great amounts of attention and energy on injustice to blacks from whites, but have no commentary about the harms we do to each other. We will expend tremendous energy to call whites to account, but miss the opportunity to call ourselves and our community to account. Surely, the atrocity in Dunbar Village is an opportunity for us to say to each other, "this must end". The crime infested, low quality of life environment of Dunbar Village that provided the conditions, setting and the attitude of indifference by other residents for this crime is an example of the low standard that we too often tolerate. No one called the police, no one intervened and after it was over, residents behaved as though they did not care that it had happened.

The criminals have not all been brought to justice. Where is our community to demand that these people be caught? Where is the outpouring of support for the victims to help them put their lives back in order? We give support to the Jena Six, who were charged far in in excess of the crime, but who nevertheless did initiate and commit a six on one assault against another student. Protesting the prosecutor's overreach does not mean we abdicate our responsibility to make some moral critique of the Six's behavior. They are making appearances on BET. But what are we doing about the Dunbar victims to aid their recovery or address the crime committed against them? Clearly less than these other cases. And why is that? Because we are apparently far less committed to demanding accountability from ourselves than we are from white people. Had the Dunbar Village victim been brutalized by whites, we would be marching now. But we are making no effort to demand accountability from ourselves. The black community in Miami Beach should be turning these criminal dogs in. There should be no place they can find rest or shelter. The reward should be huge. But there is no outrage. Nothing on the level of what the lying woman in the Duke rape case received. Even after it was clear she was a liar, Jesse was saying his offer of help and a scholarship were still open.

Our moral compass is so off track, that we lose all perspective in the drive to press claims for redress in cases of crimes committed by whites against blacks, while at the same time basically ignoring the daily death we practice against one another. Dunbar Village is a savage example of this myopia.