Justice for Trayvon

"What do you call a black man with a Ph.D.? Nigger." - Malcolm X

What do you call a black boy with Skittles & tea? "Suspicious."

If you don't know the story of Trayvon Martin, here is the quick and dirty: Trayvon was a 17-year-old boy who was walking back to his dad's house on Feb. 26 after going to the store. He was followed by George Zimmerman, self-appointed neighborhood watch leader for the Sanford, FL community, because he "looked suspicious." Although he was warned by the 911 dispatcher on the phone not to follow the boy, he did. He accosted him. George Zimmerman shot and killed an unarmed boy who was almost half his size and trying to get away from him. (more facts on the case along with sources here)

George Zimmerman has not been arrested.



 Zimmerman has claimed self-defense, and police have cited Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law as an excuse for their inaction. The Stand Your Ground or Shoot First law is an extension of the Castle Doctrine, which states that the home is a person's castle & they have the right to defend it using deadly force if necessary. Twenty-eight states have this law. In addition to that, 18 states have "Stand Your Ground" which extends outside of the home and eliminates a person's responsibility to try to walk away from a potentially threatening situation. If you have "a reasonable belief" that your life and safety is in danger, you can use force to defend yourself, even deadly force.

However, in this case, that is bull. Trayvon carried nothing but snacks, no weapons. He was walking away from the man. According to ABC News, a friend was on the phone with Trayvon minutes before the shooting. She recounted the boy trying to get away from a man who was following him. Does that sound like a threatening situation to you? Only if you see Zimmerman as the threat. To pursue and harass a young man--still legally a child-- accost him and then shoot him when he yelled for help & tried to defend himself, and then claim self-defense is sickening and a slap in the face to common sense. Even sicker is that this man is being taken at his word, with barely a peep from the local police department. Fortunately, public outcry has prompted the Department of Justice, US Attorney's Office and the FBI to investigate.

Although I heard this story last week, I figured surely the police would do the right thing and arrest George Zimmerman. Yet here we are, nearly a month later, and no arrest has been made. The thing that put me over the edge was hearing the 911 calls from neighbors. Three neighbors called about the brewing confrontation, and you can clearly hear this boy calling for help seconds before the gunshot. Hearing that last desperate cry moments before his life was snuffed out broke my heart. It made me think of my cousins, nephews, frat brothers. Men who, whether they have on a hoodie & jeans like Trayvon or a suit and tie, have that unmistakably "suspicious" brown skin. So even if they are somewhere that they have every right to be, they still have to be on guard against others who feel as if they don't belong there. And yes, the same is true for black women as well, we catch hell too. But not as violently as our brothers, it appears.

This case has the potential to set a dangerous precedent, especially in the states that have this Shoot First law. If we turn a blind eye to the violence against this one black child and let it go under the ruse of self-defense it could open Pandora's Box. While some may say "This was just an isolated incident. Zimmerman was crazy, most people aren't like that" I would like you to ponder this. Despite the claims of America being "post racial" after 2008, instances of racially motivated violence, hate speech, discriminatory legislation and racially insensitive behavior in schools and places of employment have increased. Make no mistake, the monster that is racism never died, but the "fear" (of what? hmm) and hatred felt by many now outweighs the political correctness to keep their prejudice under wraps (at least in public). For some, the hatred is so potent that they would attempt to follow in Zimmerman's footsteps if they felt they could get away with it.

None of us want to believe that we live in a country that claims "freedom and justice for all" but lets a huge injustice like this occur. But how can we deny it when we've seen it before? And we see it now, staring us in the face, daring us to do something about it. So help do something about it. Along with signing the petition for Zimmerman's arrest, here are three other ways we can help bring justice for Trayvon Martin.

Haley Barbour Pardons Murderers & Rapists... And I'm Not Surprised

Yesterday, most of the country read in absolute shock that former Mississippi governor Haley Barbour pardoned over 200 convicted felons as his last act of office. Yes, Haley of "let's merge all MS HBCUs" infamy. The Haley who publicly stated that the White Citizen's Council (a hate group) was for integration (wrong) and that he doesn't remember the Civil Rights Era as "being that bad." (source) The Haley Barbour who only released (not pardoned) the Scott Sisters due to health conditions and on condition. This man, who was an early favorite for the Republican presidential nomination, decided to show how many damns he didn't give by not only letting these criminals--many of whom were convicted of murder, manslaughter, and rape--go free, but by not even speaking with the victims/victims' families.

[caption id="attachment_2040" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="former (hallelujah) governor Haley Barbour"][/caption]

It is unclear why he chose to give the pardons to the people he did, and he has not released any statement concerning the pardons. It was announced that ten of those who received pardons lived and worked at the governor's mansion as trustees as privilege for good behavior.  Pardons were also granted for Karen Irby, a wealthy white woman who killed two doctors while DUI in 2008 and Ernest Scott Farve (Brett's brother) who killed his friend while drunk driving.

My speculation? Payoffs. Do I have any kind of proof to back that up? Nope, that's why it's speculation. Others have said he did it to say that crime increased after he left office, while still others assume it was a series of favors done for his network of good ol boys. Whatever the reason, I can't even say that I'm surprised. As the end of his term drew near, Haley started showing more and more how much he just DGAF. What does surprise me is that other major Republicans have stayed rather silent on the issue. In today's crazy "up is down" political climate, I was so sure someone would speak out in defense of his actions. So far, "mum" is the word. Has he tarnished his reputation with his own party? One can only hope, to avoid a Barbour presidential ticket in 2016. But if he has not done irreparable damage and does get the nod for candidacy in the next presidential election (or any election for that matter) I hope that our collective memory is not so short that we forget this act of cowardice.

(You can view the eight pages worth of names here.)

What is the Takeaway From the Troy Davis Case

As most of you know, Troy Davis was executed at 11:08 PM eastern time on September 21, 2011 in Jackson, GA. I won't rehash the details, as the whole thing has made me physically sick. If you're unfamiliar, a Google search will bring you up to speed. The question now is what do we do, what have we learned from this? Since this type of incident is nothing new, I don't feel that there are any new lessons, but we are reminded of some important facts:

1. We must be vigilant about doing our civic duties. We cannot rightfully complain about how unfair our justice & political systems are if we skip out on jury duty, fail to vote (for someone who actually represents what we believe, not just a party vote), and don't actively get involved with groups/organizations that are trying to make a difference in our government and communities. And it is important that we hold elected officials accountable. Remember the stance they take on important issues, then let it be known whether you support that stance by voting to keep them or boot them out of office.


2. Sometimes, the call for action needs to come sooner. Troy Davis was convicted in 1989. I only heard about the case in the last two weeks. While I'm sure something was being done on the local level from the very beginning (I was only 4 years old at the time so I have no idea), what kind of strides could have been made if more people knew about it sooner? What if more churches, community groups, etc. had been able to spread the word and garner support for him sooner? We can't advocate for things we do not know about (which is why I wanted to knock some sense into those who berated folks on Twitter about "bandwagoning" because they learned about it at the last minute). Given that we have such a widespread and immediate forum via social networking, we shouldn't hesitate to use them.


3. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people could be a death sentence. This is especially true if you're Black in America; doubly true for Black men. We already know the odds are stacked against us and sometimes the only thing you have to be guilty of is being black. Knowing that, we should be conscious of our actions and associations. This doesn't mean that we live in fear; rather, it means being smart enough to survive.

In the end, it boils down to something that I retweeted the night Troy Davis was murdered: They won't give a sh*t about us until we give a sh*t about ourselves.

MS Woman faces life in prison over stillbirth

Rennie Gibbs is accused of murder, but the crime she is alleged to have committed does not sound like an ordinary killing. Yet she faces life in prison in Mississippi over the death of her unborn child.

Gibbs became pregnant aged 15, but lost the baby in December 2006 in a stillbirth when she was 36 weeks into the pregnancy. When prosecutors discovered that she had a cocaine habit – though there is no evidence that drug abuse had anything to do with the baby's death – they charged her with the "depraved-heart murder" of her child, which carries a mandatory life sentence.

Gibbs is the first woman in Mississippi to be charged with murder relating to the loss of her unborn baby. But her case is by no means isolated. Across the US more and more prosecutions are being brought that seek to turn pregnant women into criminals.

"Women are being stripped of their constitutional personhood and subjected to truly cruel laws," said Lynn Paltrow of the campaign National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW). "It's turning pregnant women into a different class of person and removing them of their rights."

Bei Bei Shuai, 34, has spent the past three months in a prison cell in Indianapolis charged with murdering her baby. On 23 December she tried to commit suicide by taking rat poison after her boyfriend abandoned her.

Shuai was rushed to hospital and survived, but she was 33 weeks pregnant and her baby, to whom she gave birth a week after the suicide attempt and whom she called Angel, died after four days. In March Shuai was charged with murder and attempted feticide and she has been in custody since without the offer of bail.

In Alabama at least 40 cases have been brought under the state's "chemical endangerment" law. Introduced in 2006, the statute was designed to protect children whose parents were cooking methamphetamine in the home and thus putting their children at risk from inhaling the fumes.

Amanda Kimbrough is one of the women who have been ensnared as a result of the law being applied in a wholly different way. During her pregnancy her foetus was diagnosed with possible Down's syndrome and doctors suggested she consider a termination, which Kimbrough declined as she is not in favour of abortion.

The baby was delivered by caesarean section prematurely in April 2008 and died 19 minutes after birth.

Six months later Kimbrough was arrested at home and charged with "chemical endangerment" of her unborn child on the grounds that she had taken drugs during the pregnancy – a claim she has denied.

"That shocked me, it really did," Kimbrough said. "I had lost a child, that was enough."

She now awaits an appeal ruling from the higher courts in Alabama, which if she loses will see her begin a 10-year sentence behind bars. "I'm just living one day at a time, looking after my three other kids," she said. "They say I'm a criminal, how do I answer that? I'm a good mother."

Women's rights campaigners see the creeping criminalization of pregnant women as a new front in the culture wars over abortion, in which conservative prosecutors are chipping away at hard-won freedoms by stretching protection laws to include fetuses, in some cases from the day of conception. In Gibbs' case defense lawyers have argued before Mississippi's highest court that her prosecution makes no sense. Under Mississippi law it is a crime for any person except the mother to try to cause an abortion.

"If it's not a crime for a mother to intentionally end her pregnancy, how can it be a crime for her to do it unintentionally, whether by taking drugs or smoking or whatever it is," Robert McDuff, a civil rights lawyer asked the state supreme court.

McDuff told the Guardian that he hoped the Gibbs prosecution was an isolated example. "I hope it's not a trend that's going to catch on. To charge a woman with murder because of something she did during pregnancy is really unprecedented and quite extreme."

He pointed out that anti-abortion groups were trying to amend the Mississippi constitution by setting up a state referendum, or ballot initiative, that would widen the definition of a person under the state's bill of rights to include a fetus from the day of conception.

Some 70 organizations across America have come together to file testimonies, known as amicus briefs, in support of Gibbs that protest against her treatment on several levels. One says that to treat "as a murderer a girl who has experienced a stillbirth serves only to increase her suffering".

Another, from a group of psychologists, laments the misunderstanding of addiction that lies behind the indictment. Gibbs did not take cocaine because she had a "depraved heart" or to "harm the fetus but to satisfy an acute psychological and physical need for that particular substance", says the brief.

Perhaps the most persuasive argument put forward in the amicus briefs is that if such prosecutions were designed to protect the unborn child, then they would be utterly counter-productive: "Prosecuting women and girls for continuing [a pregnancy] to term despite a drug addiction encourages them to terminate wanted pregnancies to avoid criminal penalties. The state could not have intended this result when it adopted the homicide statute."

Paltrow sees what is happening to Gibbs as a small taste of what would be unleashed were the constitutional right to an abortion ever overturned. "In Mississippi the use of the murder statute is creating a whole new legal standard that makes women accountable for the outcome of their pregnancies and threatens them with life imprisonment for murder."

(read the full article here)

This is absolutely disgusting to me. If there is no evidence that Ms. Gibbs' drug use caused the death of her baby, why is she being prosecuted? This case sets a dangerous precedent for future mothers everywhere. What if, instead of illegal drugs, she had been taken doctor-prescribed medication with known potential side effects and the outcome was the same? What if the child had died because she was unable to get proper prenatal care? (After all many Planned Parenthood offices offer affordable prenatal care, but pro-lifers are trying to shut them down.)

This is not an isolated incident either. This is happening, rather quietly, all over the country. Women's rights are surreptitiously being usurped by Conservatives, and will continue to be unless there is an outcry to say "Enough is enough." How much bullying will we allow? How far will it go before we see that some things are getting out of hand? Regardless of where you stand in the pro-life vs. pro-choice debate, it's clear that one side is starting to play dirty.

Do you feel that this punishment is justified? Will this type of legislation do more harm or more good? Speak on it.

Rally for the Scott Sisters

On this past Wednesday, hundreds of people marched onto Mississippi's state capital demanding the pardon and release of Gladys and Jamie Scott. They have served 16 years for a robbery netting $11. A robbery for which they maintain their innocence.

 

I was at work when they marched by my office building downtown. I didn't know the details of the march before hand, but quickly grabbed my phone and caught up with the crowd. It was inspiring--electrifying, even--to see that so many people were gathered together in a call for justice. Young and old, black and white, HBCU students, Greeks, professionals, politicians, folks from across all classes and economic statuses... All united for a good cause. Anyone who says Civil Rights is dead simply has not seen it in action. The spirit of peaceful protest and demand for justice and equality did not die in the 70s.

 

 

 

 

 

There were many speakers, making many points about how this is an injustice and it's impact not just here, but country- and world-wide. Someone noted that we go around fighting wars to bring democracy, but we have such injustice here. Someone made mention of judges not only following the letter of the law, but the spirit of it, and how this case does not follow the spirit of the law. A priest compared Jesus' unfair trial and execution. A city councilman expressed that Governor Barber would get a chance to show that MS is not the ass-backwards place so many believe it is (which would behoove him considering he is expected to run for the Republican candidate for president or vice-president in 2012).

Unfortunately I was not able to stay for the entire rally.... I am still looking for an account from someone who participated from start to finish.

It will be interesting to see what comes about from this rally. As of today, there has been no response from the Governor.

The Incongruency of the American Justice System

A White cop kills an unarmed Black man by shooting him in the back of the head as he lay on the ground. Numerous witnesses and video evidence. What does he get? Two to four years, involuntary manslaughter.

Meanwhile, two Black women sit in prison facing life sentences. The crime they are accused of? A robbery of $11.  The Scott Sisters have spent 15 years in prison for a crime that others involved in the crime have affirmed they had nothing to do with.

http://freethescottsisters.blogspot.com/

The say "justice is blind," but there are definitely three things "justice" takes note of: money, race, and the badge. Then it protects you or screws you, accordingly.

Will There Be Justice???

According to the article an article on theroot.com, Rail Cop Admits Oakland Man Posed No Threat Before He Was Shot, Officer Anthony Pirone has testified that Oscar Grant posed no threat to anyone when he was executed by officer Johannes Mehserle. This is definitely a no ish moment for anyone who saw the video. I'm not really going to say anything about this right now, I'm just ready to see what will happen now that one of his fellow officers has basically said that the shooting was completely unnecessary. Will justice be served, or will another white man with a badge get away with murdering an innocent young black man?