National

Riots and Police Shootings Not Just a National Problem

Published

9 years ago

May 21, 2015

The faces of the men and women pictured above are some who have died at the hands of or during encounters with police from 1999-2014. This list was tweeted by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund last December.

Special to the NNPA from The Miami Times

While America and the rest of the world watch with shock and dismay as Black citizens are gunned down one after the other by rouge police officers, Miami-Dade County has remained almost silent.

Bobby Worthy, president of Justice League United, staged a rally against police brutality May 7 in front of the Miami-Dade County Richard Gerstein Justice Building and it produced more media than participants and spectators.

Michael “Black Jesus” of the Black Man’s Movement and four spectators on a blistering hot afternoon joined Worthy.

“I’m shocked and disappointed that no people are here,” said Worthy, last Thursday. “We had 10,000 people come out in Ferguson, Mo. I just came from Baltimore, Md. I’ve been to North Charleston, S.C., all over the country. Never have I seen so few people interested in justice for Black people.”

But the apathy shown at this rally does not reflect national efforts. The rallying cry against the unaccountability of Black lives has been happening in pockets across the nation. Civil rights leaders rushed to the site of the dead and asked for justice on TV and radio, shouting to stopped-up ears of the justice system. But social media and mobile phone cameras have unlocked the eyes and ears of Americans, particularly the young, and a new civil rights movement has been born.

76 DEAD

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund had been documenting the death of unarmed Black men and women by the police — sometimes when they were already in police custody — from 1999-2014. The first on the list: 23-year-old Amadou Diallo, who was killed in New York after a hail of bullets was fired by police from outside his apartment. Nineteen bullets hit him. The officers were acquitted.

On Dec. 3, 2014, the day it was announced that New York Police Department Officer Daniel Pantaleo would not be indicted, the Legal Defense Fund tweeted 76 names of men and women killed by the police and known by the fund.

Since then, several unarmed Black men have been killed during encounters with police — some of them documented on cameras by witnesses. The latest to set off a literal firestorm was the death of Freddie Gray, who, after his arrest by Baltimore Police April 12, died of a spinal cord injury April 19 while still in police custody. Police said Gray was initially arrested because he ran from police in an area known for violent crime and drug sales.

Baltimore erupted, people flooded the streets and civil unrest continues, even after Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby indicted six police officers on charges ranging from second-degree murder to manslaughter and assault.

The Justice League United staged the Miami rally against police brutality, according to Worthy, as an awakening in the aftermath of the recent deaths of Gray, Walter Scott, Eric Courtney Harris, Laval Hall, Michael Brown, Kajieme Powell, Jack Lamar Roberson, Antonio Whetstone and other Blacks at the hands of police.

The North Charleston State Attorney has since indicted Michael Slager, the North Charleston police officer accused of shooting Scott eight times in the back, on a first-degree murder charge.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

Published

20 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Oakland Post

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Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza 

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

Published

3 days ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee

By California Black Media

“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.

“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.

The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.

Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.

“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.

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Commentary

Commentary: Republican Votes Are Threatening American Democracy

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We needed to know the blunt truth. The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

Published

4 days ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening. That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

By Emil Guillermo

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

We needed to know the blunt truth.

The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

And to save it will require all hands on deck.

It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening.

That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

No man is above the law? To the majority of his supporters, it seems Trump is.

It’s an anti-democracy loyalty that has spread like a political virus.

No matter what he does, Trump’s their guy. Trump received 51% of caucus-goers votes to beat Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who garnered 21.2%, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who got 19.1%.

The Asian flash in the pan Vivek Ramaswamy finished way behind and dropped out. Perhaps to get in the VP line. Don’t count on it.

According to CNN’s entrance polls, when caucus-goers were asked if they were a part of the “MAGA movement,” nearly half — 46% — said yes. More revealing: “Do you think Biden legitimately won in 2020?”

Only 29% said “yes.”

That means an overwhelming 66% said “no,” thus showing the deep roots in Iowa of the “Big Lie,” the belief in a falsehood that Trump was a victim of election theft.

Even more revealing and posing a direct threat to our democracy was the question of whether Trump was fit for the presidency, even if convicted of a crime.

Sixty-five percent said “yes.”

Who says that about anyone of color indicted on 91 criminal felony counts?

Would a BIPOC executive found liable for business fraud in civil court be given a pass?

How about a BIPOC person found liable for sexual assault?

Iowans have debased the phrase, “no man is above the law.” It’s a mindset that would vote in an American dictatorship.

Compare Iowa with voters in Asia last weekend. Taiwan rejected threats from authoritarian Beijing and elected pro-democracy Taiwanese vice president Lai Ching-te as its new president.

Meanwhile, in our country, which supposedly knows a thing or two about democracy, the Iowa caucuses show how Americans feel about authoritarianism.

Some Americans actually like it even more than the Constitution allows.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He does a mini-talk show on YouTube.com/@emilamok1.