The InJustice of the century, one year later #J4TM

#Trayvon Martin

Today marks the one year anniversary of the miscarriage of justice of the century,  when the 5 white and 1 Hispanic, all female jury,  acquitted George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin. 

 What we do know is that the Trayvon Martin case says a lot about the state of our politics at the moment.  It’s not very post-racial and, yes, it is very tense and polarized.  Certain elements in the political process, including decision makers from state legislatures to Capitol Hill, are holding the gun.  People of color are in the cross-hairs.  And the only thing we seem to be armed with these days is a high unemployment rate and a sense that the future is not looking as bright.

One year later, the jury is still anonymous.

 To date, little is known about the mainly faceless jurors who deliberated for more than 16 hours before rendering George Zimmerman's fate. Five white women and one black Hispanic woman were on the main panel; four alternate jurors, two men and two women, were also selected. Juror B29 told ABC she believed Zimmerman "got away with murder" but that she had to "grab our hearts and put it aside and look at the evidence." Alternate juror E54 told WOFL he "supported the verdict." Juror B37, the first juror to speak, told CNN that Zimmerman was "justified in shooting Trayvon Martin" but that he "had good in his heart, he just went overboard." She initially planned to write a book about her experience but withdrew after major backlash against her comments.

One year later, violence against unarmed black people continues.

Spare us the invocations of "black-on-black crime." I will not respect the lie. I would rather be thought insane. The most mendacious phrase in the American language is "black-on-black crime," which is uttered as though the same hands that drew red lines around the ghettoes of Chicago are not the same hands that drew red lines around the life of Jordan Davis, as though black people authored North Lawndale and policy does not exist. That which mandates the murder of our Hadiya Pendletons necessarily mandates the murder of Jordan Davis. I will not respect any difference. I will not respect the lie. I would rather be thought crazy.

One year later, Rachel Jeantal blames herself for the jury's actions.

Immediately, I heard newscasters referring to her prior testimony, which I had watched on video, as combative and aggressive. And I felt my pressure start to rise.
These kinds of terms – combat, aggression, anger – stalk black women, especially black women who are dark-skinned and plus-sized like Rachel, at every turn seeking to discredit the validity of our experiences and render invisible our traumas. By painting Rachel Jeantel as the aggressor, as the one prone to telling lies and spreading untruths, it became easy for the white male defense attorney to treat this 19-year-old, working-class black girl, a witness to the murder of her friend, as hostile, as a threat, as the one who needed to be regulated and contained and put in her place.

One year later,  we still have Stand Your Ground Laws, as a matter of fact, Stand Your Ground  laws were  expanded in Florida.

One year later,  neither President Barack Obama, the media, or any racial incident has forced the nation to talk about race in any sort of serious way.

So yes, let's have a real discussion about race and racism.  I mean a real hope-to-die, get it all out in the open discussion.  It's times to drain the poison off, so that this nation can heal.  The whole world is watching.  I don't know about you people, but I don't plan to set my clock back, I plan to set it forward.

One year later, The Justice Department is still investigating the death of Trayvon Martin.

One year later and Trayvon Martin is till dead.

We are the ones that failed.

Truth first then justice.
We’re the ones that failed. Not us specifically, but the people who knew and understood the truth and common sense and had the format to speak out about it. We let another narrative take place so we can avoid calling what we are seeing what it really is.

"Trayvon belongs to all of  America and until you see him as your child too, we all remain in bondage."

Rest in Freedom Sweet Child, we will never forget you.

What is wrong with this picture?

@Here_ISound_Off And this is flip side, when a black man is armed and protects himself in Florida. A US Vet no less! pic.twitter.com/qO6hWEfwI8
— Mary (@MFL1956) February 17, 2014

One and Dunn

Now that Michael Dunn has been convicted of attempted murder of the three young men with Jordan Davis the day he was murdered in cold blood for loud music, his family will have to endure another trial. "The state attorney for Jacksonville, Angela Corey, said immediately after the verdict that she planned to retry Mr. Dunn on first-degree murder. Ms. Corey discussed "overcharges" and that she hoped jurors would explain why they could not agree on that charge, which could help her team in the new trial. Even without that new trial, Michael Dunn will be in prison for possibly 60-75 years. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 24th. And if Michael Dunn was afraid of a car full of teens playing rap music, his convictions give him new reasons to be afraid. Prison justice is calculated, covert, swift and severe.
The actions of George Zimmerman (the one who "won") and Michael Dunn (who is so-o-o done) show it's open season on young black men. The George Zimmerman trial taught racists how to kill a black teenager and legally get away with it. (George, by the way, now bemoans the fact that he can't live a "normal life," is homeless and thinks he is suffering from PTSD - a probable pitch for disability.) Not that I care, if only to say that he ought to be damn happy to live a life in obscurity, always looking over his shoulder, anticipating some dreadful event. Life, after all, is what he denied Trayvon Martin.
Jordan's mother, Lucia McBath, became an advocate with Moms Demand Action, fighting to end "Stand Your Ground" laws, "...also called “shoot first” laws because they empower armed vigilantism – are associated with a clear increase in homicides, resulting in up to 700 more homicides nationwide each year...".
Moms Demand Action notes that Stand Your Ground laws: embolden vigilante behavior and tripled the justifiable homicide rate; disproportionately affects communities of color; and, doesn't deter crime. All of which support the most egregious fact that when: "white shooters kill black victims, the resulting homicides are 11 times more likely to be deemed justifiable than when the shooter is black and the victim is white."
That's a fact that Michael Dunn quite possibly could have known when he reached for his handgun to discharge his magazine into the red SUV. He might have known his chances of getting away with it were pretty good. After all, he considered himself pretty smart, according to his neighbors, and he had learned the nuances of Stand Your Ground during the George Zimmerman trial. His neighbors describe Michael Dunn as a violent, perverse man so eager to make a buck that he was willing to screw his own parents, and as a man willing to kill somebody.
Jordan's father, Ron Davis, said simply though it wasn't in his nature to be stoic, he would do so for his son, Jordan: "[Dunn] is going to learn that he must be remorseful for the killing of my son, that it was not just another day at the office.”

Remember Trayvon Martin Today. Remember Trayvon Martin Tomorrow. Remember Trayvon Martin Forever.

H/T Chip via John S. Randal with links inserted for emphasis.

 Don't ever forget Trayvon Martin, born February 5, 1995. I know that by posting this photo, it will elicit a lot of emotion, both good and bad. I'm not posting it to create fights, to create arguments, I've already gone through much of that. I'm posting it because we need to see that Trayvon Martin was a son, a brother, a friend. When Trayvon was 9-years-old, he saved his father's life by pulling his father, who had been immobilized by burns to the legs, out of a fire in their apartment. Trayvon washed cars, babysat, and cut grass to earn his own money. Trayvon's former football coach said he was a shy kid and always walked with his hoodie and headphones on listening to music. Those who knew him said he was a kind and loving person. He probably wasn't perfect, I don't think any kids his age are perfect, he was after all just a kid. Please don't attack this post, please don't attack anyone who comments on this post. I'm posting this because I think we need to look deep inside and see that inside, our heart, our soul, we are all the same. Trayvon was just a kid, he could have been your son, he could have been your little brother. Peace and love to all...

"Trayvon belongs to all of America. And until you see him as your child too, we all remain in bondage."

"I'm marching to save my own life, and the lives of millions of other Black people who will not be able to attend this march"

Memorializing the Freedom Riders

Joseph Postiglione, Freedom Riders' bus after attack in Anniston, Alabama, 1961. Courtesy of Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. - See more at: http://www.southernspaces.org/2009/memorializing-freedom-riders#sthash.CUJdcdJM.dpuf

Joseph Postiglione, Freedom Riders' bus after attack in Anniston, Alabama, 1961. Courtesy of Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. - See more at: http://www.southernspaces.org/2009/memorializing-freedom-riders#sthash.CUJdcdJM.dpuf

 Joseph Postiglione, Freedom Riders' bus after attack in Anniston, Alabama, 1961. Courtesy of Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

Why I Will Not Be Marching to Commemorate the 1963 March on Washington

I am still emotionally reeling from the death of Trayvon Martin and devaluation of Black life in our society. I am outraged at Black unemployment rates hovering above 12% and hundreds of thousands of hard-working Black Americans who live in poverty while working at poverty-wage paying jobs. I am tired of the constant attacks on our rights and policies put forward by radical right-wing legislators that codify inequality and put our lives in danger. I am marching to demand an end to injustices that are having a very real impact on my life today. In a sense, I am marching to save my own life and the lives of millions other Black people who will not be able to attend this march.

Hide your children and your wife.....George Zimmerman is on the prowl for a new gun

Let us March on until Victory is Won!

See you Monday.

White hate, I mean talk, radio cracks me up

 

Radio Boy, aka Dale Jackson(?), and Rush Limbaugh wanna be, uses the public airways to promote white, I mean right wing spin all the time, UNfair and UNbalanced, and sees everything through a racial prism.

I don't listen to his show, but I browse his blog because everybody knows it's his job to keep the white, I mean right wing bigots in line, and I must admit he is doing a pretty good job.

In the interest of full disclosure I was banned from his blog, but he's not banned from mine, which I why I am responding to his latest round of right wing  malarkey here.

According to Dale:  Blacks make up 13.6% of the population and commit 28.4% of the crimes,AND almost half the murders in the entire country because they are well......black and that's just what they do.

Dale is WRONG on every level and FBI Table 43A-C  of the Uniform Crime Code for 2011 is PROOF not only that blacks don't COMMIT the most crimes, but  that blacks are ACCUSED,  ARRESTED and CONVICTED of  more crimes than whites.

Numbers don't lie.  

 In the 25 states that have similar "Stand Your Ground" type of laws, white people who kill black people are 354% more likely to be cleared than whites who kill other whites. If we are to ask the United States Department of Justice to investigate a potential civil rights violation against Trayvon, we should also ask them to investigate the racial disparity of how these laws are applied across the country. In the words of Attorney General Eric Holder last week at an NAACP convention, do we have the right to “stand our ground to insure that our laws reduce violence, and take a hard look at the laws that contribute to more violence than they prevent?”

Ask George Zimmerman.

If there is anything black people can understand, it's the loss of life without justice

"While the judge limited the ability of the prosecution to bring race into focus and to talk about racial profiling, among other things, race remains at the center of the trial and the criminal justice system—at the heart of life and death. The demands for colorblindness amid the realities of a racist America means that this trial, like those before, are playing out according to the hegemonic script: black criminalization and white innocence.  It is my hope for a new ending where justice and mourning no longer remain a dream deferred. " David J. Leonard

George Zimmerman's defense team is defending the indefensible by profiling Trayvon Martin even in death.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad at Zimmerman's team for mounting a vigorous defense of their client,  this is America and everyone has a right to a fair trial, my fear is the 100% white 0% African American jury will fall for the Okey-Doke and say it's okay for an armed adult to stalk an unarmed black teen, get into an altercation because the teen is scared to death (literally)  shoot them, then claim self-defense.

Despite the claim coming from the mouth of the Lord of Loud in an attempt to rile up his base,  black folks aren't going to riot if the jury acquits George Zimmerman.  To be honest. I'm more worried about some (not to be confused with all) white folks reaction if George Zimmerman is convicted.

Just in case George Zimmerman walks free...

All we ever asked for was for equal justice for the young man who was killed that drizzling night in Sanford, Florida. If George Zimmerman had rights, so did Trayvon Martin. And that is why Mr. Zimmerman was properly arrested and charged with murder in the second degree. He will soon be judged by a jury of his peers, and that is the best we can do. Whatever decision they make, is a decision that we must live with, whether we like it or not. Whether George Zimmerman is found innocent or guilty by the jury, I am firm believer that all of us live by karmic law, and he will ultimately be punished for the death of Trayvon, no matter what. However, if he walks free out of that courtroom, I understand that some people will be very sad, but we must remember the mission we are on. As I have heard Trayvon's parents say time and time again, they are not only fighting for justice for their son, they are fighting for all of us, especially those parents who have to live through the misery of burying their child and the sadness that comes after.

Honestly, Redeye, if I were black I don't think I'd have the courage to have children in this country.~havealittletak

Honestly havealittletalk, it takes courage to be black in this country.

Correction~ Justice and Change for Trayvon Martin

 

Correction/edit to original post contained  in the last paragraph.~RedEye

Today is the one year anniversary of the death of Trayvon Martin.  Instead of celebrating his 18th birthday, getting ready for prom, playing sports, getting ready to graduate from high school and possibly head off to college, he is lying in his grave.  May God grant comfort and mercy to his parents and those who mourn with them. 

Driving in my car this morning, listening to a radio talk program on XM128 The Power , the question was posed,  "What if George Zimmerman is found not guilty in the death of Trayvon Martin?"  I didn't get to hear the response, but I thought about it and this is what I say....If George Zimmerman is found not guilty, not to be confused with innocent, we (black folks)  will accept the verdict without throwing rocks, bricks, or setting stuff on fire, because that is what they (white folks) expect black folks to do.  No, black folks will except the verdict with calm, dignified, outrage, out of respect for the memory, and the legacy, of Trayvon Martin.

It's not like we aren't used to injustice.

I do believe a not guilty verdict will send the chilling message to black and brown boys everywhere they are viewed with a deadly combination of  fear and loathing,  sometimes even  by those who are sworn to protect and serve.

 Correction~Trayvon Martin is dead because George Zimmerman was suspicious of him.  Why was he suspicious of Trayvon?  Because of the color of his skin.  If George Zimmerman had just been suspicious of Trayvon... and didn't have a gun..... Trayvon would be alive today.

If only Rosa Parks had an AR 15 and a 100 round mag

I wonder if Rosa Parks had boarded the bus armed with an AR 15 and 100 rounds of ammunition would the bus driver have ordered her to give up her seat in the "colored" section so a white man could sit down?  What if she had jut stood her ground  with an AR15?   As a matter of fact, there probably wouldn't have been a "colored" section if black folks had exercised their 2nd amendment rights.  Oh wait....black folks don't  have 2nd amendment rights back then.   Big Snark

100 years ago today Rosa Louisa  McCauley Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama.  In her book, The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, author Jeanne Theoharis  replaces the myth of the tired Negro seamstress who refuses to give up her seat because her feet hurt, with facts about Rosa and her husband her husband Raymond, detailing their  long history of resistance and commitment to the civil rights movement.  It was more than a single act.  It was bigger than one woman.

Presenting a powerful corrective to the popular iconography of Rosa Parks as the quiet seamstress who with a single act birthed the modern civil rights movement, Theoharis excavates Parks's political philosophy and six decades of political work to reveal a woman whose existence demonstrated-in her own words-a "life history of being rebellious." From her family's support of Marcus Garvey to her service with the NAACP in Alabama in the 1940s and 1950s, and from her courageous bus arrest and steadfast efforts on behalf of the Montgomery bus boycott to her work in Detroit challenging Northern racial inequality on behalf of a newly elected Congressman John Conyers and alongside Black Power advocates, Parks's contributions to the civil rights movement go far beyond a single day. Even as economic hardship and constant death threats exacted a steep toll on Rosa and her husband, Raymond, she remained committed to exposing and eradicating racial inequality in jobs, schools, public services, and the criminal justice system.

 Hear Rosa Parks in her own voice, in her own words describing what happened on  December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, AL.

RedEye's Week in Reviw

Fist Dap jobsanger: Don't Back Down

The week ended just like it started, with the republicans still in state of denial, and the media trying to turn the losers (republicans)  into the winners (democrats).

We seem to be in a cycle that mimics the movie "Groundhog Day." The election ended with the resounding re-election of Barack Obama, something the Republican Party, with its customary rabid partisanship, refuses to accept.    

I wonder what part of  significant reforms to entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid, deep spending cuts and not raising tax rates for the wealthy LOST on election day don't they understand?  Been there, done that, and guess what, it didn't work then, it's not working now, and it won't work in the future. If their way worked we wouldn't be in this mess.

Conservative economic thought is based on a single simple premise, which just so happens to be wrong. The premise is that if you make sure businesses* have as much money as possible, they'll hire more workers. One easy way to do that, they claim, is to lower their taxes.
If that were really the case, though, the economy would be in great shape. After all, corporate profits after taxes are at all-time highs (and the same is true even after accounting for inflation. So why aren't more businesses hiring?

 Annoy the media, it's time for democrats to act like democrats and stop pandering to voters who MIGHT vote for them at the expense of voters who DO vote for them.  What good is electing democrats if they are going to govern like a republican?

In 2010, Beltway Democrats miscalculated badly. Many of them-- with the acquiescence and even the encouragement of the leadership-- decided the safer bet was to vote like a Republican rather than to embrace and explain a progressive vision for solving real problems that face the country. So Democratic voters didn't go to the polls and dozens of House Democrats-- mostly Blue Dogs and New Dems but a few good people as well-- lost their seats. Preventing another catastrophe like that should be a big focus of the House Dems.

No more Twinkies, the execs get $1.76 million in bonuses, 18,500 workers get the shaft. Blame the Union.

But before you jump, be sure to blame it on the union workers. Those workers who were too greedy to swallow yet another pay cut, this time for eight percent. Or see their pension fund gutted, and their benefits slashed 17 percent. Or take these demands from a CEO who saw his own personal salary triple from $750,000 to roughly $2.5 million.

NOT.  Blame the gop infused media enabled Tea Party and the Suckers who elected them.

 On the other side you’ve got the Tea Party supporters, brandishing their swords and demanding free enterprise unfettered by government. In another world that might be a good idea, but apparently nobody’s told them that the corporate-political machine is playing them like puppets on a string. In the end, they’re nothing but bouncers for that top one percent.

The White on Rice Offensive was in full gear this week as republicans blamed United Nations Ambassodor Susan Rice for being the National Security Adviser on 9/11,  the Secretary of State in 1998, and a political operative in 2012.  There is more than a whiff of hypocrisy.

 “We find it utterly incredulous that the Honorable Senators who uncritically supported the war against Iraq, based on inexplicably flawed intelligence or outright deception, could even perk their lips to criticize Ambassador Rice.”

Wednesday nights memorial service for 17 year old Jordan Davis was of course very sad and full of emotion
as his parents prepare to bury him in Powder Springs, Georgia on Saturday.   Davis was shot and killed after 45 year old Michael Dunn  fired 8-9 bullets in the car he was riding in because he (Dunn)  thought he had the right to order a car load of African American teens to turn their music down.  After the shooting Dunn fled the scene because he was afraid a gang of blacks were going to come after him.  I wonder why he would think something like that?  Sounds like Florida is a good place to be from, and the home of  black parents worst nightmare.

To sum up, Dunn shot at an unarmed group of teens (of color) because they cursed at him while refusing to turn down their music, which evidently makes them gang members. It sounds to me like Dunn, much like George Zimmerman, may actually believe he is the victim here.

Shock and Shame in Pro Life/Stand Your Ground America

Move over George Zimmerman

 On March 15th, 2012 havalittletalk said;

Honestly Redeye if I were black I don't know if I would have the courage to have children in this country. 

 And that's exactly what it takes, courage, and prayers if you are born poor/black/brown in the United States of America. Sigh

Seventeen year old Jordan Russell (17) was shot and killed by Michael Dunn (45) in the parking lot of a convenience store in Jacksonville, Florida last Friday.  Dunn's car was parked next to the car Russell was in and ordered them to turn their music down.  Words were exchanged, Dunn pulled a gun and fired 8-9 shots into the car, striking Russell 2 times and drove off the a Jacksonville Hotel.  Witnesses jotted down his tag number (thank God) and he was arrested at his home in Satellite Beach, FL. {source}

Michael Dunn, his attorney, and his daughter said he acted responsively is invoking the Stand Your Ground defense. 

Oh, Okay.

Father in Auburn University N-word case: Charges dropped against son

"They look  heavenwards and say War Eagle!"

Let's recap;

22 year old Auburn student Kenyan Carter was arrested for disorderly conduct because he took offense with Auburn football players Reese Dismuke and Patrick Miller calling his sister the B-word, and both of them the N-word,  at a local McDonald's restaurant.  They also told Kenyan they would crush him like they just crushed a CD that was placed on the table. 

 Kenyan's father Henry Carter turned to Facebook to get his story out.  The story was picked up by CBS in Atlanta via the ReddingNewsReview.com .  

Henry Carter reports charges that never should have been filed in the first place, will be dropped.  Cased closed.  Move along.  Nothing to see here.

Not.

Calling a black person the N-word is a fighting word.

What if Kenyan Carter felt that his life was in danger after being approached by two 300 lbs football players who said they would crush him like the CD they just crushed on the table?

What if Kenyan Carter had a permit to carry a gun and was "packing" as the young people say?

What if Kenyan Carter stood his ground?

For the record, I am not advocating punishment of any kind for Reese Dismuke and Patrick Miller for their behavior,  it's  a reflection of them personally, not Auburn University or the football team.  They have the first amendment right to call African American women B's and African Americans  N's.  They will have to face their African American coaches, team mates, teachers,friends. Their families must be so proud of them. 

Why was Kenyan Carter arrested for disorderly conduct in the first place?

If Kenyon's father hadn't got his story out, would his son have been tried and convicted for disorderly conduct?  

Do white athletes receive special treatment because of their status, and individuals involved in conflict with them receive more severe treatment?

When police are called to an altercation between black and white students are the black students automatically assumed to be the guilty party?

These are questions that need to be answered by Auburn University and the Auburn Police Department.

Mega Fist Dap to Henry M. Carter of Atlanta, GA  for being the kind of father who isn't afraid to stand up for the rights of his children.

War Damn Eagle!

What if Desmonte Leonard claims the Stand Your Ground defense?

The Auburn Police Chief signed 3 warrants charging Desmonte Leonard (above) with capital murder.

Let me begin by expressing my deepest sympathy to the parents, friends, and relatives of the deceased and injured young people involved in the tragedy in Auburn.  It's every parents worst nightmare to send their students off to college and have them return home in a body bag,

I also want to express my sympathy to the parents, friends and relatives of Desmonte Leonard (not to be confused with sympathy for Desmonte Leonard) for the pain they are suffering as the result of his actions.  It's also every parents nightmare to have your child be the focus of a police manhunt, accused of a heinous crime.  It's a tragedy.

Never let it be said black folks don't speak out against black on black crime like the Auburn tragedy.  I submit we could stop a lot of the black on black crime if the white law makers and their lobbyist pals didn't make guns more accessible than a quality public education, and give black folks a license to kill each other,

Maybe if all the people at the pool party had been armed they could have protected themselves from Desmonte Leonard.  Snark

It's not an Auburn University Football problem, it's an easy access to guns problem.

That said, as some of you may know, Alabama has the Stand Your Ground defense, or as I like to call it, the I felt threatened so I shot them law.

I've always said the quickest way to repeal  Stand Your Ground laws is for the situation to reverse, and Al Sharpton and Company tell  black folks to arm themselves and start Standing Their Ground.

Ask the Indians about white men and rules...~Chris Rock on the Tom Joyner Morning Show 7/01/2008


I'm just saying...... 


Today's Must Reads
Today in Stupid, if republicans are scared of their crazy base maybe we should all be scared.
5 Stand Your Ground Cases You Should Know About  but  you won't hear about on TeeVee.
Stop and Frisk Watch an NYCLU Phone App to hold the NYPD accountable for it's actions.

RedEye's Talking Points~Update

H/T jobsanger who reminds us of an ugly truth via Yellowdog Granny

About that black folks are going to vote for Willard "Mitt" Romney because the black pastors are against same-sex marriage meme.... the majority (not to be confused with the one or two they put on TeeVee) of black pastors aren't stupid.  Informed, intelligent, tolerant, black pastors recognize and respect the separation of church and state. This is the bottom line regarding marriage equality...you have every right (pun intended) to be opposed to same-sex marriage....you don't have the right (pun intended) to force those who don't share your opposition to do so.  If you are against gay marriage, don't be gay and get married.  End of story.

H/T Black Agenda Report Managing Editor Bruce Dixon who says it's time to "let pharaoh go" 

There is a huge disconnect between the mainstream media and the 99%.  This is the same media that enabled Bush and Company to take us to war based on dead wrong intelligence, raid the surplus to give the rich a huge tax break, spy on Americans without a warrant, out an undercover CIA agent, impeach President Clinton for trying to conceal getting a BJ, and all the votes not to be counted in Florida in 2000.  The same media who is enabling the lynching (yes lynching) of former Senator John Edwards for trying to conceal an affair and child.  Why do we know more about Bill Clinton and John Edwards male members than we know about the war or the economy or anything else that's important to real people? It's the media we have, instead of the media we wish we had.

Marissa Alexander H/T Abagond

Tale of two separate and unequal Stand Your Ground defenses in the sunshine state of Florida.  Marissa Alexander of Jacksonville FL was sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot into the ceiling when her abusive husband threatened to kill her.  She claimed a Stand Your Ground defense, but it was rejected by the Judge.  Ironically the prosecutor, in this case, is Angela Cory, the same prosecutor who is prosecuting Trayvon Martin's killer, George Zimmerman. Why do they think black people are animals?

H/T Geek Pavaler  education is the hope of the republic

All Politics is Local Remix.  Alabama TeaPublican's attempt to re-segregate the public school system failed thanks to effective lobbying and several prominent republicans coming to their senses.  Meanwhile, in Huntsville, rich parents are in a tizzy because the state legislature chose tourism dollars over fall break.  Not a peep about the school district funneling tax dollars to a private, residential, drug treatment program.  Not one word about poor/black/brown parents being forced to buy uniforms for their students.  Not one word about poor/black/brown schools being staffed with non-certified teachers.   But why should they care?  After all, "their"students/schools are doing just fine.  The students/school pictured below....not so much.

The Huntsville Times

Today's Must Reads

CNN Racist Depiction of The Black Church and Gay Marriage

It's a Democracy, Not a Theocracy:  How the Black Church Gets it Wrong

The Black Church:  How Corporate Media and the Prosperity Gospel Make Legions of Ready Dupes

Charters have nothing to do with Community Control of Schools

Why the U.S. Can't Compete Educationally

Just because we're black doesn't mean we are stoopid

The prevailing thought in Rightwingdom is black folks riot when they don't get their way.  In this case, getting their way was the arrest of 9 mm toting, self appointed neighborhood watch Captain George Zimmerman, in connection with the death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teen.   The fact this was accomplished nonviolently is lost on those itching for a race war.

For the record, black folks will not tarnish the memory of Trayvon Martin, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other's by resorting to violence if the justice system let's us down again.  It's not like black folks have a document history of violence and retaliation against white folks.  Besides, it would be stoopid to bring a knife to a gunfight.

Today's Must Read with commentary
Justice and Trayvon Martin:  Where was Left in Alabama the Informed.  Involved.  Progressive blog of record?  Other than an  explanation in plain English of what "stand your ground" means by the resident righty/legal contributor there was not a mumbling word said about Trayvon Martin.  Inquiring minds want to know why?

Wednesday’s decision by Florida Special Prosecutor Angela Corey to charge George Zimmerman with second-degree murder in connection with February’s fatal shooting ofTrayvon Martin, an unarmed African American teenager, raises numerous troubling questions. Among the least considered, but perhaps most vexing: In the quest for justice in this case, were progressive and other well-meaning white people?

RedEye's Week in Review~Edit

It's been an eventful and emotional week in the United States of America.  George Zimmerman was finally arrested and charged with murder in the2nd degree in the death of Trayvon Martin.  Rick Santorum packed up his marbles and went home.  Newt Gingrich's check bounced to enter the Utah primary.   Anne Romney picked a girl fight with Hillary Rosen for telling the truth, and President Obama  ran away because he didn't want to upset the the moderates/independents who are really republicans   that aren't going to vote for him any way.

I won't exhale until George Zimmerman"\'s case goes before a jury, if it goes before a jury.  There are some who believe the Special Prosecutor threw black folks a bone because in the end Florida Law allows a Judge to throw the case out under the Stand Your Ground law.

The Concern Trolls about so called black on black crime statistics were out in full force this week.  FYI black folks are concerned about ALL crime.  If you are so concerned how  about supporting the Fix Gun Checks Act of 2011?  Why aren't we talking about the guns?.

Today's Must Read

Jury Convicts Black Man in Shooting Death of White Teen

Today's Must See YouTube
Bowling for Columbine~A Brief history of the USA

The Struggle Continues

I don't feel noways tired after the struggle for justice for Trayvon Martin.  But I have to ask, why African Americans have to struggle for basic equal, civil and human rights in the land of the free and the home of the brave?

I place much of the blame on the white male dominated  mainstream media.   When the Trayvon Martin story finally hit the national media Al Sharpton, President Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder and others who led the fight for simple justice became the targets of racial hatred.

What get me is conservative don't believe black folks should have the same rights as white folks.  When Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee and State Attorney Norm Wolfinger said there would be no arrest in the Trayvon Martin case that was the end of story, and black folks were supposed to just say Yessir Massa  Suh weeze won't be asking for no justice, weeze just shuffle on off into the sunset like good little effing coons.


 Not.


So where do we go from here?  

We keep our eyes on the prize and struggle on.

We must remember that this problem is must bigger than Zimmerman. What about the Sanford Police Department that let Zimmerman go free? What about the continuing systemic and nationwide problem of racial profiling? What about racial differences in charging and sentencing? What about those ridiculous “stand your ground” laws in over 20 states?

Stand Your Ground=Lose Your Life

"What a terrible intimidating sight."

I posted the grpahic above for those who like to claim the Trayvon Martin case is not about racist/racism.  But  let's take the race element out of it and just present the facts;
An unarmed, teenager was shot and killed by a community watch volunteer.  The parents weren't notified of his death until three days later.  The 911 tapes weren't released until national, media attention was bought to the case.  The person who killed the unarmed, teenager was not arrested and is currently missing.

Today's Must Reads

Stand Your Ground~In other words if you try to murder me and I fight back will your act of murder suddenly become an act of self defense?


DEAR WHITE FOLKS:  You Don't Know How Easy You Have It.~We aren't Trayvon Martin, We are George Zimmerman:  presumed innocent until proven guilty.


Reading while white: crime statistics~What ever White Americans do is normal.


8 Things White Parents Should Teach About Black People~Always remember there is a difference between a black neighborhood, a poor neighborhood and a bad neighborhood.


It Wasn't Just the Hoodie~Certainly skin privilege gave George Zimmerman some benefits at this moment.

"Trayvon belongs to all of America. And until you see him as your child too, we all remain in bondage."

Racism is alive, well,  and flourishing in the United States of America

 43 days and counting and still no arrest in the killing of Trayvon Martin, I seriously doubt there will be one.  Why?  Because George Zimmerman was standing his ground with a 9 mm against the unarmed, but  suspicious, black, 17 year old, hoodie wearing, thug, and the majority of white Americans think that's the American Way. 

Another reason I don't believe there will be an arrest is because the  city of Sanford, FL is mobilizing. because white folks are skeered the ni**ers are going to riot when/if it's announced the Prosecutor won't being charges against George Zimmerman, because that's what they do when they don't get their way.  Remember?

What I can't understand is why they are mobilizing against these guys, but not these guys?  Strike that.  Yes I can. Snark

Black folks will be disappointed if charges aren't bought against George Zimmerman, and although the mainstream media is itching for a race war for ratings, black folks aren't stoopid enough to start a war they can't win.  To quote the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr~

God grant that we wage the struggle with dignity and discipline. May all who suffer oppression in this world reject the self-defeating method of retaliatory violence and choose the method that seeks to redeem. Through using this method wisely and courageously we will emerge from the bleak and desolate midnight of man’s inhumanity to man into the bright daybreak of freedom and justice.

No, black folks will not resort to violence, nor will we sit around waiting on the government to take care of us, because we've learned from experience, that just ain't going to happen.  Black folks know how to make a way out of no way.


Wanna know why we African Americans are so upset about Trayvon--aside from the obvious? The obvious being that a child was senselessly slain. It's our history. Probably 85 to 90% of present day African Americans are here as a result of slavery. While none of us are alive that remember being slaves some are still alive who knew slaves and were the children of slaves. More importantly, we have a collective cultural memory of slavery after 400 years of it.

 If you know anything about American slavery at all, you know that black children were taken from their parent and sold far away at the whim of "owners" and there wasn't a damn thing that could be done about it. Black parents had to watch as their children were brutalized overworked, underfed, uneducated, sexually assaulted and there wasn't a damn thing to be done about it, because the law sanctioned it.

 Later, in post slavery years, in the southern states especially, the legal system continued to allow inhumane and differential treatment towards people with black skin until the the 1970s when the federal government finally stepped in again. In between was 100 years of brutal lynching--both north and south-- black men and boys swinging from the nation's trees, or forced to work southern mines with no pay, and locked away for the slightest crime or no crime at all.

The brutal murder of Emmett Till took place in 1955. As you no doubt know, Emmett was 15-year old kid from Chicago, visiting family in Mississippi, who's 'crime' was whistling at a white girl. White men came and snatched him out of his house, and there wasn't a damn thing that his family could do about it, except of course show his hideously battered and disfigured corpse to the nation. Had his mother not insisted on doing so, we probably Emmett Till would have been another nameless faceless murdered black boy. His murderers were tried and acquitted, then later bragged about the killing.
    
        Fast forward to 2012. A black man holds the highest office in the land. Undoubtedly, we've made progress. But 3 weeks ago when Trayvon Martin was chased down and shot for simply walking in his own neighborhood--unarmed and minding his own business-- and now we watch as the law of the sovereign state of Florida shielded and protects his shooter, all of us are instantly plunged back into the dreadful reality that if you have a black child in America, he can be taken away at a moment's notice and the law will not help you. In fact, it will protect the person that harmed your child. Maybe we haven't come anywhere at all. You might get to be president, but your children can still be slaughtered legally. Only this time we're not taking 'no' for an answer. We will see that justice is done.
    
        One last thing. To those of you who sit silently watching and perhaps not sensing the same outrage at this miscarriage of justice, because your children are safe, or because you don't feel this is your problem, ponder, if you will, Martin Niemöller's words:
    
        First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out--
        because I was not a communist;
        Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out--
        because I was not a socialist;
        Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out--
        because I was not a trade unionist;
        Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
        because I was not a Jew;
        Then they came for me--
        and there was no one left to speak out for me.
    
        Trayvon belongs to all of America. And until you see him as your child too, we all remain in bondage.

H/T Edie Lee Harris

Zimmerman Camp Standing their Ground

Funeral Director, no cuts or bruises on Trayvon's hands and knuckles, calls police investigation the most unprofessional he's ever seen.


Several explosive new developments today in the case of Trayvon Martin.  

What took so long for the police to notify Trayvon`s parents about the death of their son? Why wasn`t the suspect, George Zimmerman arrested? Why has he been able to claim self defense when the facts contradict that claim that in fact he chased Trayvon? And why weeks later, Zimmerman is still free and still able to carry a weapon?

What Everyone Should Know about the Trayvon Martin Case. 

What Joe Scarborough said all the damn way!

"If the facts are as they appear now, whoever is running the Police Department, whoever is running the State Attorney's office down there are not worthy of the public trust, have betrayed the public trust.  They are unworthy of representing the people of Florida..