http://nnpa.org/nnpa_newswire/city-struggles-to-balance-transparency-vs-investigation-integrity-in-grays-death-probe/?_sft_category=national
http://nnpa.org/nnpa_newswire/friends-remember-freddie-carlos-gray-25-as-the-life-of-the-neighborhood/?_sft_category=national
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LYNCH FINALLY SWORN-IN - Last week, after a prolonged five-month delay, The US Senate finally confirmed US Attorney Loretta Lynch to become the 83rd US Attorney General of the United States, succeeding Eric Holder. On Monday, Lynch, flanked by her father, Rev. Lorenzo Lynch Sr. and husband, Stephen Hargrove, was officially sworn-in by Vice Pres. Joe Biden. AG Lynch, a North Carolina native born in Greensboro and raised in Durham, is the first black woman to serve in the post. [ Photo courtesy US Dept. of Justice]
EXCLUSIVE
CHAVIS SAYS BALTIMORE
COMMUNITY MUST UNIFY
FOR JUSTICE
By Cash Michaels
Editor
He’s seen
it many times before.
Black
youth, angered by police abuse and racial injustice, peacefully taking to the
streets to express their outrage, only later to have that devolve in violence
and destruction.
Indeed,
this veteran civil rights activist was unjustly sentenced to prison in North
Carolina because the powers-that-be wanted to hold him responsible for the
firebombing of a white-owned grocery store during the height of the Wilmington
race riots in February 1971.
And that’s
why, for Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., president of the National Newspaper
Publishers Association, and leader of what infamously became known as “The
Wilmington Ten,” the wrenching events in Baltimore, Md. this week are all too
familiar, and sad.
Thanks to years of police abuse and
oppression, magnified by the decades-long negligence of city and state leaders
to rebuild Baltimore’s African-American community after the tumultuous 1968
riots that ravaged neighborhoods, Baltimore exploded Monday as hundreds of high
school students, later joined by adults, attacked the police, looted and burned
local businesses, and even torched a new $16 million senior living facility.
What did not get as much attention
were the numerous peaceful demonstrations that had been held there previous to
Monday’s tumult.
As many protestors
later expressed to the media, they were frustrated not only by the imposed
impoverished conditions they’ve had to endure all of their lives, but the
perceived slow injustice in the wake of the fatal alleged police abuse of
Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old Baltimore man who died from severe injuries while
in police custody after he was arrested on April 12th.
Over two
weeks later, Baltimore Police officials have not been able to fully explain why
Gray was even arrested, or how his spleen was severely ruptured once police
made contact with him, dragged him to a police van, and transported him to
jail. Gray eventually was taken to the hospital, where he died a week later of
injuries his family’s attorneys charge six Baltimore police officers are
directly responsible for.
No less
than four investigations are underway, including one by new US Attorney General
Loretta Lynch, who called the rioting “senseless.”
Pres. Obama
echoed that sentiment, but added that police officers must be held accountable
for the numerous instances of alleged abuse that have come to greater light
thanks to social media and the ready availability of citizen video.
A police
report on the Freddie Gray case is expected to be handed over to a Maryland
state investigator on Friday, but anxious Baltimore citizens are also expecting
to get a full accounting of exactly what happened as well.
If that
doesn’t happen, many observers fear that Baltimore could see a recurrence of
the violence and destruction that gripped the west side of the city after
Gray’s funeral Monday.
Since
Tuesday, Baltimore has been in relative peace, with community leaders coming
out to call for order, and begin the cleanup process in aftermath of the riots.
According
to Dr. Chavis, the way forward, regardless of the police report on the Freddie
Gray death, must be one of young and old working together to become an even
stronger, and more vital community.
That did
not happen in Wilmington when he was called to come in February 1971 to assist
black students who had boycotted the New Hanover County Public Schools because
racial violence perpetrated against them by white students, teachers and
administrators.
“The
continuing drama in Baltimore, Md. today is reminiscent of what happened in
Wilmington, NC in 1971,” Dr. Chavis told The
Carolinian in a exclusive phone interview Wednesday from Detroit.
Chavis went
on to say that young people today, just like in Wilmington over 40 years ago,
were becoming more outspoken because of the continuing series of police abuse
cases that have permeated the media over the past several months – from Michael
Brown in Ferguson, Mo. and Eric Garner in Staten Island, NY to Walter Scott in
North Charleston, NC and now Freddie Gray in Baltimore.
“I believe
what is going on in Baltimore is symptomatic of what’s going on across the
country,” Chavis added. “If not for video, we would not know how to demand
justice for [the victims].”
Noting the
dreaded conditions that African-Americans have to live in in places like
Ferguson and West Baltimore, Chavis said, “Poverty and injustice, particularly
when it’s longstanding, gives rise to uprisings and unrest.”
When Rev.
Chavis counseled the black student boycotters in their quest to demonstrate
against the racist white Wilmington power structure at the time, he taught them
to do so employing Dr. Martin Luther King’s philosophy of militant nonviolent
confrontation.
He says he
hopes that now that the destructive nature of violence to the community has
become evident, that the young people in Baltimore will also learn, and then
adopt the same nonviolent, civil disobedience character and principle in their
movement for justice.
“When we
speak out and stand up, it is very important that the people control the
narrative,” Dr. Chavis continued, “and not allow the perpetrators of violence
to control the narrative.”
The NNPA
president said it would be a “tragic error” if Baltimore city leaders were not
“transparent” in releasing their report on the Freddie Gray incident when
promised on Friday, May 1.
“Truth is
always…therapeutic,” he said.
What is
ultimately important, beyond bringing about the justice and equality that
demonstrators seek as they challenge police abuse and social injustice, is
making sure that the deaths of Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, Eric Garner and
other victims “…are not in vain,” meaning that young people’s movement must
remain nonviolent and strategic in order to bring about the best results.
And while
there seems to be friction between today’s youth leaders and established civil
rights leaders like Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jessie Jackson, Dr. Chavis says
the community is strongest when young people realize that older leaders have
the experience and wisdom to help navigate their movement, while those older
leaders must realize that young people have the energy, focus and passion to
get the job done.
That is the
key to the way forward for Baltimore, and other communities across the nation
that are mobilizing to bring about positive social change, says Dr. Chavis.
“There will
be no peace in Baltimore until there’s justice,” Chavis says.
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PRESIDENT OBAMA’S
REMARKS REGARDING POLICE ABUSE AND THE BALTIMORE RIOTS
[Editor’s note - During a joint press conference
in the White House Rose Garden Tuesday with Japanese Prime Minister Abe,
President Barack Obama, in response to a reporter’s question about the recent
series of alleged police shootings and the v violence in Baltimore in the wake
of the Freddie Gray alleged police abuse case, said the following:]
With
respect to Baltimore, let me make a couple of points. First, obviously
our thoughts continue to be with the family of Freddie Gray.
Understandably, they want answers. And DOJ has opened an
investigation. It is working with local law enforcement to find out
exactly what happened, and I think there should be full transparency and
accountability.
Second, my thoughts are with the police officers who were injured in last
night’s disturbances. It underscores that that’s a tough job and we have
to keep that in mind, and my hope is that they can heal and get back to work as
soon as possible.
Point number three, there’s no excuse for the kind of violence that we saw
yesterday. It is counterproductive. When individuals get crowbars
and start prying open doors to loot, they’re not protesting, they’re not making
a statement -- they’re stealing. When they burn down a building, they’re
committing arson. And they’re destroying and undermining businesses and
opportunities in their own communities that rob jobs and opportunity from
people in that area.
So it is entirely appropriate that the mayor of Baltimore, who I spoke to
yesterday, and the governor, who I spoke to yesterday, work to stop that kind
of senseless violence and destruction. That is not a protest. That
is not a statement. It’s people -- a handful of people taking advantage
of a situation for their own purposes, and they need to be treated as
criminals.
Point number four, the violence that happened yesterday distracted from the
fact that you had seen multiple days of peaceful protests that were focused on
entirely legitimate concerns of these communities in Baltimore, led by clergy
and community leaders. And they were constructive and they were
thoughtful, and frankly, didn’t get that much attention. And one burning
building will be looped on television over and over and over again, and the
thousands of demonstrators who did it the right way I think have been lost in
the discussion.
The
overwhelming majority of the community in Baltimore I think have handled this
appropriately, expressing real concern and outrage over the possibility that
our laws were not applied evenly in the case of Mr. Gray, and that
accountability needs to exist. And I think we have to give them
credit. My understanding is, is you’ve got some of the same organizers
now going back into these communities to try to clean up in the aftermath of a
handful of criminals and thugs who tore up the place. What they were
doing, what those community leaders and clergy and others were doing, that is a
statement. That’s the kind of organizing that needs to take place if
we’re going to tackle this problem. And they deserve credit for it, and
we should be lifting them up.
Point number five -- and I’ve got six, because this is important. Since
Ferguson, and the task force that we put together, we have seen too many
instances of what appears to be police officers interacting with individuals --
primarily African American, often poor -- in ways that have raised troubling
questions. And it comes up, it seems like, once a week now, or once every
couple of weeks. And so I think it’s pretty understandable why the
leaders of civil rights organizations but, more importantly, moms and dads
across the country, might start saying this is a crisis. What I’d say is
this has been a slow-rolling crisis. This has been going on for a long
time. This is not new, and we shouldn’t pretend that it’s new.
The good news is, is that perhaps there’s some newfound awareness because of
social media and video cameras and so forth that there are problems and
challenges when it comes to how policing and our laws are applied in certain
communities, and we have to pay attention to it and respond.
What’s
also good news is the task force that was made up of law enforcement and community
activists that we brought together here in the White House have come up with
very constructive concrete proposals that, if adopted by local communities and
by states and by counties, by law enforcement generally, would make a
difference. It wouldn’t solve every problem, but would make a concrete
difference in rebuilding trust and making sure that the overwhelming majority
of effective, honest and fair law enforcement officers, that they're able to do
their job better because it will weed out or retrain or put a stop to those
handful who may be not doing what they're supposed to be doing.
Now, the challenge for us as the federal government is, is that we don't run
these police forces. I can't federalize every police force in the country
and force them to retrain. But what I can do is to start working with
them collaboratively so that they can begin this process of change
themselves.
And coming out of the task force that we put together, we're now working with
local communities. The Department of Justice has just announced a grant
program for those jurisdictions that want to purchase body cameras. We
are going to be issuing grants for those jurisdictions that are prepared to
start trying to implement some of the new training and data collection and
other things that can make a difference. And we're going to keep on
working with those local jurisdictions so that they can begin to make the
changes that are necessary.
I
think it’s going to be important for organizations like the Fraternal Order of
Police and other police unions and organization to acknowledge that this is not
good for police. We have to own up to the fact that occasionally there
are going to be problems here, just as there are in every other
occupation. There are some bad politicians who are corrupt. There
are folks in the business community or on Wall Street who don't do the right
thing. Well, there’s some police who aren’t doing the right thing.
And rather than close ranks, what we’ve seen is a number of thoughtful police
chiefs and commissioners and others recognize they got to get their arms around
this thing and work together with the community to solve the problem. And
we're committed to facilitating that process.
So the heads of our COPS agency that helps with community policing, they're
already out in Baltimore. Our Assistant Attorney General for the Civil
Rights Division is already out in Baltimore. But we're going to be
working systematically with every city and jurisdiction around the country to
try to help them implement some solutions that we know work.
And I’ll make my final point -- I’m sorry, Mr. Prime Minister, but this is a
pretty important issue for us.
We can't just leave this to the police. I think there are police
departments that have to do some soul searching. I think there are some
communities that have to do some soul searching. But I think we, as a
country, have to do some soul searching. This is not new. It’s been
going on for decades.
And without
making any excuses for criminal activities that take place in these
communities, what we also know is that if you have impoverished communities
that have been stripped away of opportunity, where children are born into
abject poverty; they’ve got parents -- often because of substance-abuse
problems or incarceration or lack of education themselves -- can't do right by
their kids; if it’s more likely that those kids end up in jail or dead, than
they go to college. In communities where there are no fathers who can
provide guidance to young men; communities where there’s no investment, and
manufacturing has been stripped away; and drugs have flooded the community, and
the drug industry ends up being the primary employer for a whole lot of folks
-- in those environments, if we think that we're just going to send the police
to do the dirty work of containing the problems that arise there without as a
nation and as a society saying what can we do to change those communities, to
help lift up those communities and give those kids opportunity, then we're not
going to solve this problem. And we’ll go through the same cycles of
periodic conflicts between the police and communities and the occasional riots
in the streets, and everybody will feign concern until it goes away, and then
we go about our business as usual.
If we are serious about solving this problem, then we're going to not only have
to help the police, we're going to have to think about what can we do -- the
rest of us -- to make sure that we're providing early education to these kids;
to make sure that we're reforming our criminal justice system so it’s not just
a pipeline from schools to prisons; so that we're not rendering men in these
communities unemployable because of a felony record for a nonviolent drug
offense; that we're making investments so that they can get the training they
need to find jobs. That's hard. That requires more than just the
occasional news report or task force. And there’s a bunch of my agenda
that would make a difference right now in that.
Now, I’m under no illusion that out of this Congress we're going to get massive
investments in urban communities, and so we’ll try to find areas where we can
make a difference around school reform and around job training, and around some
investments in infrastructure in these communities trying to attract new
businesses in.
But if we really want to solve the problem, if our society really wanted to
solve the problem, we could. It’s just it would require everybody saying
this is important, this is significant -- and that we don't just pay attention
to these communities when a CVS burns, and we don't just pay attention when a
young man gets shot or has his spine snapped. We're paying attention all
the time because we consider those kids our kids, and we think they're
important. And they shouldn’t be living in poverty and violence.
That's how I feel. I think there are a lot of good-meaning people around
the country that feel that way. But that kind of political mobilization I
think we haven’t seen in quite some time. And what I’ve tried to do is to
promote those ideas that would make a difference. But I think we all
understand that the politics of that are tough because it’s easy to ignore
those problems or to treat them just as a law and order issue, as opposed to a
broader social issue.
That was a really long answer, but I felt pretty strongly about it.
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MORAL MONDAY MOVEMENT
CELBRATES SECOND ANNIVERSARY
[RALEIGH]
APRIL 29TH was the second anniversary of the Moral Monday Movement,
the NCNAACP-led massive demonstrations at the NC General Assembly to protest
what organizers call the “repressive” policies of the Republican majority
there. Almost 1,000 people were arrested during those protests. This week, led
by NCNAACP Pres. Rev. William Barber, demonstrators from across the state were
back at Jones Street to pray, and demand an expansion of Medicaid for the poor,
and an elimination of restrictions on voting, among other issues.
STATE HOUSE SEEKS TO
CHANGE EXECUTION MEDICAL MANDATE
[RALEIGH]
Members of the state House are working to remove the requirement that a doctor
be present at executions to monitor a prisoner’s vital signs, and then legally
declare him dead. North Carolina has not been able to carry out executions
since 2006 because the State Medical Board has refused to allow doctors
participate in executions. A proposed bill will allow any “medical
professional, ” including any licensed physician assistant or paramedic, to
take the place of a medical doctor during an execution, though a doctor would
still have to legally certify that the inmate is dead. Critics say the bill is
flawed because in cases of a botched execution procedure, a doctor would not be
present.
ADVOCATES CONTINUE PUSH
FOR ANTI-POLICE BRUTALITY BILL
[RALEIGH] In the wake of growing controversies
involving alleged instances of police brutality across the nation, advocates
for a North Carolina bill that, if passed, would require more training against
racial profiling by law enforcement, more civilian complaint review boards, and
better data collection from officers in the event of a police shooting, pushed for
its passage again this week. Republican opponents counter that North Carolina
already has enough laws on the books to prevent racial profiling, but bill
sponsor Rep. Rodney Moore [D- Mecklenburg] disagrees, saying that North
Carolina needs to do more to hold its law enforcement officers accountable.
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TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS 4-30-15
RALEIGH CITY COUNCIL APPROVES DORTOHEA DIX DEAL
Amid controversy, the Raleigh City Council last week unanimously approved the $52 million deal with the state for the Dorothea Dix Hospital campus. The city hopes to turn the 308-acre property into a destination park. Approximately 109-acres will be leased back to the state for 10-25 years for the state Dept. of Health and Human Services can continue to occupy its facility there. The NC Senate this week decided to drop its bill opposing the deal.
RALEIGH CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL RATED TOPS BY WASHINGTON POST LIST
The top North Carolina high school on the Washington Post 2015 list of America’s Most Challenging High Schools is the Raleigh Charter High School, which ranked number 119 out of 2300 high schools across the nation. Twenty-two public and private high schools in the Triangle area made the WP list. Other schools included East Chapel Hill School (#3 in the state) and Woods Charter School in Chatham County (#4). Enloe High School in Raleigh was sixth in North Carolina.
WORKERS MARCH REMEMBERS CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENT
Activists marched from the site of a fatal Raleigh construction accident this week to commemorate the three construction workers who died, but the many workers statewide killed on the job in North Carolina. Approximately 109 people were killed on the job in 2013. Marchers say Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry isn’t serving the state’s workers well. Groups sponsoring the march included the AFL-CIO, the NC Council of Churches, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee and the NC Justice Center, among others.
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CASH IN THE APPLE
4-30-15
By Cash Michaels
LET’S CELEBRATE WLLE AGAIN - OK, spread (share) the
word WLLE fans...BACK BY POPULAR
DEMAND...mark your calendars for this Saturday,
May 2nd, 2:30 p.m. at Olivia Rainey Library, 4016 Carya Drive (off Poole Road) in
Southeast Raleigh...once again we celebrate the legacy of 570 WLLE
("WiLLiE") Radio, featuring the now updated documentary "WLLE:
The Voice of the Community" starring radio legends "CD" Chester Davis, Sweet Bob Rogers, J. Willie Moore, Bro.
James Thomas, Mrs. Margaret Rose Murray, Frank Roberts, Jimmy "JJ's House
Party" Johnson and a special tribute to Ray "Dr. Jocko" Henderson. PLUS, we'll hear from loyal
WLLE listeners like YOU! It's FREE and open to the public, So spread the word
and MARK THE DATE...Saturday, May 2nd, 2015...2:30 p.m. at the Olivia Rainey
Library, 4016 Carya Drive (off Poole Road) in Southeast Raleigh! ALL WiLLiE
listeners are welcome to come, remember and celebrate!
TENSION –
Talk about a news-filled week! It actually all started Monday with the both the swearing –in of North
Carolina native Loretta Lynch as the
nation’s newest US Attorney General at exactly the same time that alleged
police abuse victim Freddie Gray was
being funeralized at a Baltimore church.
And then,
later, our television screens showed young people in Baltimore taking to the
streets, throwing rocks at police officers in riot gear, and looting local
businesses. It wasn’t long before we also saw cars and buildings set on fire,
with gangs of young people running the streets, looking for more trouble.
But if you
ignored the predictable media hysteria Monday, you also saw leaders in the West
Baltimore community also take to the streets to stop the violence and
destruction. They stood in front of small businesses, waving marauding young
people away. Ministers marched, and asked young people to put down their rocks
and stones.
Unfortunately,
the fires that claimed a CVS Pharmacy, and tragically, a senior citizen
retirement center still under construction, along with images of armies of
police officers in riot gear and firefighters rushing from one blaze to
another, took over for the rest of the evening.
When
daylight came Tuesday, yes, we saw the destruction in the aftermath, and the
tears of those who worked for years to build their community.
But we also
saw the heart of the Baltimore community – the longtime residents – who came
out with brooms and shovels to clean up and get their neighborhoods back in
shape. These were people who have always loved Baltimore, and were determined
to start the healing process immediately.
GOD bless
them.
And while
those people were slowly but surely
starting the healing process, the president of the United States weighed in,
saying that while he certainly doesn’t condone criminal destruction, he also
doesn’t condone how politicians have ignored the vital needs that the
impoverished have experienced in communities across the nation, needs that have
gone unanswered and have led to despair and lack of opportunities.
But the
news didn’t stop there. At the US Supreme Court, the justices were listening to
arguments on why same-sex marriages should be made legal across the nation.
Historic for sure.
So that was
just Monday and Tuesday of this week. Events that we had to pay attention to because
they shaped our world. What will they ultimately mean?
Only time
will tell.
MOM OF THE
YEAR? – Everyone is applauding that apparent mother in Baltimore seen grabbing
her hooded son whom she saw throwing rocks at police, and repeatedly hitting him
in front of news cameras. They see it as a parent taking control of her wayward
kid, and letting him know who’s boss. And they say it’s about time.
I agree
with them, and I agree with anyone who says more parents should be taking
stronger control of their kids.
Even the
police commissioner commended “super mom” for publicly disciplining her child.
He told reporters that more of Baltimore’s parents should be doing the same
thing.
Here’s the problem. If that woman had been seen hitting her son in public the week before, that same police commissioner would have had her arrested.
Here’s the problem. If that woman had been seen hitting her son in public the week before, that same police commissioner would have had her arrested.
I also find
it funny that he’s telling parents to control their children, and he can’t even
control his grown officers from abusing innocent citizens. So there was a lot
of hypocrisy on tap in Baltimore this week.
A lot of hypocrisy.
A lot of hypocrisy.
THE MEDIA –
I applaud the citizens of Baltimore for making sure that the media got the
correct story the day after the riots, a story of a proud community who wanted
to send a message to the world that they will rebuild their community. Why is
this important? Because the media coverage has certainly contributed to the
violence and destruction in Baltimore. You had news anchor using the terms
“thugs” and “criminals” during their coverage, not once bothering to use their
time to find out what the true source of tension for the violence was. That’s
irresponsible, but of course, these folks are in the business for ratings, not
journalism or clarity.
This week
was not a proud week for the media. One can only hope they’ll do better.
Make sure you tune in every Thursday
afternoon at 4 p.m. for my talk radio show, ''Make It Happen'' on Power 750
WAUG-AM, or online at www.waug-network.com. And read more about my
thoughts and opinions exclusively at my blog, ‘The Cash Roc” (http://thecashroc.blogspot.com/2011/01/cash-roc-begins.html).
Cash in the Apple - honored as the
Best Column Writing of 2006 by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.
Columnist Cash Michaels was also honored by the NNPA for Best Feature Story
Journalist of 2009, and was the recipient of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP’s
President’s Award for Media Excellence in Sept. 2011.
Until
next week, keep a smile on your face, GOD in your heart, and The Carolinian in
your life. Bye, bye.
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