There are two problems with such assertions. First of all, Black Lives Matter does not advocate violence against police. The opposition cannot point to any statements made by Black Lives leaders explicitly encouraging violence against law enforcement. If they had such proof, they would have repeatedly broad casted such statements on Fox News and other news stations.

The protest chants that Fox News did broadcast are ambiguous at best. By the way, the term “pig” is not a reference to all police officers. Pigs are police officers who abuse their authority and abuse the people. Pigs are those who unjustifiably harass, intimidate, humiliate, racially profile, beat and kill black people. Such criminals masquerading as police officers have earned our condemnation. Such condemnation is not the same as advocating indiscriminate violence against police.

Second, there is absolutely no connection between the movement and the killer. In fact, Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman acknowledged that he has no “details of a motive.” There is no proof that alleged killer, Shannon J. Miles, was affiliated with the Black Lives Matters movement. There is no proof that he was inspired by the movement. Instead of blaming and condemning Black Lives Matter, the critics should blame and condemn the alleged killer,Shannon J. Miles.

In addition, people have attacked the slogan “Black Lives Matter.” During his press conference, Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman said we should “drop the qualifiers” and say “lives matter.” Obviously, the Movement is not saying that non-black lives do not matter. They are emphasizing black lives because American society devalues black lives. For example, police disproportionately target and kill black people. As reported on the Huffington Post,

Young black males in recent years were at a far greater risk of being shot dead by police than their white counterparts – 21 times greater, according to a ProPublica analysis of federally collected data on fatal police shootings.

The 1,217 deadly police shootings from 2010 to 2012 captured in the federal data show that blacks, age 15 to 19, were killed at a rate of 31.17 per million, while just 1.47 per million white males in that age range died at the hands of police…

ProPublica’s risk analysis on young males killed by police certainly seems to support what has been an article of faith in the African American community for decades: Blacks are being killed at disturbing rates when set against the rest of the American population.

Often, when the police kill black people, the police are not prosecuted. On the rare occasions when they are prosecuted, they are not convicted. For that reason, the emphasis on black lives is appropriate. Washington Post reports:

“To charge an officer in a fatal shooting, it takes something so egregious, so over the top that it cannot be explained in any rational way,” said Philip M. Stinson, a criminologist at Bowling Green who studies arrests of police. “It also has to be a case that prosecutors are willing to hang their reputation on.”

But even in these most extreme instances, the majority of the officers whose cases have been resolved have not been convicted, The Post analysis found.

And when they are convicted or plead guilty, they’ve tended to get little time behind bars, on average four years and sometimes only weeks. Jurors are very reluctant to punish police officers, tending to view them as guardians of order, according to prosecutors and defense lawyers…

Among the officers charged since 2005 for fatal shootings, more than three-quarters were white. Two-thirds of their victims were minorities, all but two of them black.

Nearly all other cases­ involved black officers who killed black victims. In one other instance, a Latino officer fatally shot a white person and in another an Asian officer killed a black person. There were a total of 49 victims.

Such alarming statistics regarding low prosecution rates and low conviction rates generate righteous black outrage. In light of the statistical disparities, it is simply ridiculous for Kelvin Jackson to dismiss the movement as “nonsense.”

We have to understand that this is nothing new. The opposition often deploys Negro proxies to discredit the movement. Those black surrogates buffer claims of racism and add legitimacy to the racist opposition. They use official mouthpieces like Kevin Jackson and Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke to justify racial profiling and police brutality. Sheriff Clarke actually claimed that Black Lives Matter has weakened policing.

Police accountability does not weaken policing. Police do not have to resort to unjustified brutality in order to be effective.  Furthermore, racial profiling wastes resources by unnecessarily targeting innocent black and Latino people based solely on the color of their skin. Such resources should be devoted to targeting actual criminals. Racial profiling and police brutality undermine policing by breeding animosity and distrust in the black community. Without trust, the people are less likely to report crime, and they are less likely to cooperate with the police.

Not only does the opposition use official Negro spokespeople, they exploit gullible, uninformed African Americans on social media. When African Americans get on camera and attack the Black Lives Matter Movement and other prominent civil rights groups, the opposition and corporate media share, promote and make those videos go viral.  Such videos deflect away from police brutality and over emphasize so-called black-on-black violence. They focus on elements of so-called black dysfunction and virtually ignore the police brutality.  Police brutality and inner city violence are two completely separate issues. Those issues must be addressed separately. The suggestion that urban violence must end before we can address police brutality is absurd.

We must defend the Black Lives Matter movement. We should not allow anyone to label the movement as a hate group. In the words of Malcolm X, “a label can kill you.” Remember the government labeled the original Black Panther Party (“BPP”) as a hate group. While the larger black community just sat back and watched, BPP leaders and members were jailed and killed. We cannot allow that to happen Black Lives Matter. We must defend, protect and strengthen them.

[Originally posted at New Possibilities]

The post #BlackLivesMatter: In Defense of Black Lives Matter appeared first on Madness & Reality.

Instead of investigating the homicide of an unarmed black man at the hands of a white cop, Currie, decides to raid the offices of Rentboy.com. Rentboy is exactly what it sounds like…a site where men rent other men. The raid was not done by just some local NYC cops or detectives but I.C.E. and the Department of Homeland Security!

I.C.E stands for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They are the ones who investigate someone who is here illegally if a complaint is made. They are also the people at the borders. The Department of Homeland Security was created because of 9/11 by the Bush/Cheney administration. They of course deal with domestic and international terrorist cells.

So what does all this have to do with an escort website you ask? Good question. Rentboy actually is NOT an escort agency, which by the way there are thousands of around the country. They simply provide advertising space for people who wish to promote their escort/massage business or even personal training. I wouldn’t have enough time to list all of the hundreds of websites that do the exact same thing Rentboy.com does. Most of course are “straight” sites where women advertise for men. Rentboy is for men who are seeking men.

Rentboy has been around since 1997, so for 18 years. So with having been around for nearly two decades, and being quite open about what it provides and with the hundreds of other sites (mostly straight) that do exactly the same thing the question that has been burning in my head is..why Rentboy and why now? Now the most obvious non conspiratorial answer is that they were too big and too popular. But the law doesn’t say that if a website gets “too big and too popular” they shall be raided and the site seized by I.C.E and the Dept. of Homeland Security.Of course the conspiratorial part of me says there might be some names the government wants, maybe politicians that have used the website. And actually @BarackObama, the Twitter account that is used by his staffers and that he often tweets on, was listed as a follower of Rentboy.com on Twitter.

The raid of Rentboy.com is sort of a double punch to the gut to those of us who believe the militarization of the police force in this country has gone out of control. On one hand, the excessive force used against Eric Garner is not investigated by Mr. Currie while he uses extreme excess and precious resources in the raid of the Rentboy.com offices. The offices are on 14th st in NYC, the same city, and just a few subway stops away from where the attacks of 9/11 occurred. The only thing that could have made this ridiculous raid any worse would have been if an actual terrorist attack happened in the city while these DHS agents were carrying out those dangerous files and computers which contained the current listings on the site and I’m sure names and phone numbers off all of those dangerous men who were companions to some lonely and or horny people around the world. Yes those optics would have been wonderful.

I’m sure New Yorkers and most Americans are sleeping much easier now knowing these dangerous people can no longer meet. I’m sure we are all sleeping better knowing that the resources of DHS and I.C.E are being used for the purpose of not allowing men to have sex with other men. Because when an actual real terrorist cell develops and the resources are being used for this fucking stupidity and people are actually killed because of it, I would expect Mr. Currie and Ms. Lynch to take full responsibility.

This is what this country has become. But I would have expected this kind of a raid under the Bush administration not the Obama administration, yet Rentboy was thriving during the Bush years (until he ruined the economy) and nothing happened. No witch hunt by that administration. I wonder if President Obama is proud of this. In fact the raid could not have come at a worse time as the website had just begun their campaign to send sex workers to college. That’s right..give people a college education so when they hit that certain age where they can’t do that type of work anymore, or if they choose to do something else, they can. Such a terrible thing…call Homeland Security!

Now you might not have any sympathy for the owners of the site as they were indeed making good money. Of course we don’t seem to care about CEO’s who rake in billions after they rape us, but that’s for another post. However you should have sympathy for the guys who relied on this site to advertise their business and now they can no longer do that. So they can’t pay their rent or in some cases feed their families. Wonderful thing to have happen in an already struggling economy. This time “Thanks Obama” is not so humorous.

Are we living in 1815 or 2015? This raid brings to light another issue. Remember the complaint DOES NOT say anything about the owners of the site not paying taxes. The ENTIRE complaint is strung around sex workers and that act being illegal therefore Rentboy was operating illegally. So that’s it. There you have it. In 2015 the U.S. government is actually prosecuting sex workers and masseurs. That is what they are spending their money on. I swear I feel as though I’m living in an alternate universe. But I’m not, I’m living in the United States in 2015.

There is yet another problem. Why hasn’t the U.S. Government raided the thousands of actual escort agencies and the hundreds of straight escort websites? Why have they gone after a gay site? It’s troubling. If they really want this uniquely American war on sex work they have to raid every single agency and website otherwise I can only see this as cherry picking and blatant discrimination. So that is the gauntlet I’m throwing down. Raid all of them or drop the charges against Rentboy. Discrimination lawsuits need to be brought against Mr. Currie and Ms. Lynch if they do not choose the former.

Of course those of us who are enlightened enough (and I truly believe that is most people, even in the more conservative areas) to know that sex work should be legalized and taxed even BEFORE drugs are, as there is no victim here, we don’t want to see any more of these raids. Has terrorism been wiped out that we can use these divisions that are meant for that SOLE purpose to spend their time and money on websites like Rentboy? Seriously??

With regards to Mr. Currie I see a very troubling pattern. He will not investigate the murder of a black man but he will go after a gay owned and operated website. Seems like he belongs in a southern state not NYC. He needs to be removed from his position immediately. Bigotry should not be tolerated from someone in such a high office. We need fair prosecutors with the guts to go after the real injustices.

Another culprit in this case is NYC top cop Bill Bratton. Here is his inane comment about the raid…“As alleged, Rentboy.com profited from the promotion of prostitution despite their claim that their advertisements were not for sexual services.  Thanks to the detectives, agents, and prosecutors of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District involved in this investigation, these individuals will be held accountable for running this racket,” A “racket”? Seriously Bill? I guess there aren’t enough actual gangsters to prosecute anymore. And while we are at inane comments, here is one from Mr. Currie….“As alleged, Rentboy.com attempted to present a veneer of legality, when in fact this internet brothel made millions of dollars from the promotion of illegal prostitution.” “Internet brothel”? How about the actual brothels, like the ones in Nevada? Talk about cherry picking! I’m sure Mr. Currie or his friends have been to one of those at some point. In fact I’m sure some people in these departments I have mentioned had accounts on Rentboy or some other “Internet brothel”!

But wait there’s more. Mr. Currie went on to thank the DEA! for their help as well. I mean why did they leave out the Navy Seals? Here however is the comment of comments, by some guy who played with too many G.I. Joe dolls when he was a child…HSI Acting Special Agent in Charge Glenn Sorge stated, “The facilitation and promotion of prostitution offenses across state lines and international borders is a federal crime made even more egregious when it’s blatantly advertised by a global criminal enterprise,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Sorge of HSI New York.  “HSI will use its unique authorities to disrupt and dismantle such organizations and seize the millions of dollars in illegal proceeds they generate.” 

“Global criminal enterprise” ? Who the fuck is this guy kidding? I mean this stuff could be coming out of a bad super hero movie. Is this what New Yorkers want their money being spent on? It is what Americans want their tax dollars going towards? Especially when there is real terrorism and real bad guys out there?

But I’m sure we are all at peace now knowing that what goes on between two consenting adults behind closed doors is being “disrupted and dismantled” by people like Mr. Currie, Ms. Lynch, Mr Bratton and Mr. Sorge.

Ultimately though, President Obama has responsibility in this matter. He needs to make a call, a call that makes this national disgrace and nightmare go away.

He needs to do that now! What kind of a country are we living in for Christ’s sake?

Mike.Caccioppoli@yahoo.com

The post In the U.S. Rentboy.com is Equal to a Terrorist Cell appeared first on Madness & Reality.

Missouri lawmakers filed more than sixty bills inspired by last year’s protests, but only court reform passed into law, according to an Associated Press analysis. One of the bills that failed to move through the statehouse sought to make Missouri’s use-of-force laws compliant with a 1985 US Supreme Court decision. Other bills would have made body cameras mandatory and require special prosecutors to investigate officer-involved shootings. Last year, activists accused county prosecutor Bob McCulloch of being too close to law enforcement to objectively handle Wilson’s case.

Furthermore, the Washington Post reports that:

So far this year, 24 unarmed black men have been shot and killed by police – one every nine days, according to a Washington Post database of fatal police shootings. During a single two-week period in April, three unarmed black men were shot and killed. All three shootings were either captured on video or, in one case, broadcast live on local TV.

Those 24 cases constitute a surprisingly small fraction of the 585 people shot and killed by police through Friday evening, according to The Post database. Most of those killed were white or Hispanic, and the vast majority of victims of all races were armed.

However, black men accounted for 40 percent of the 60 unarmed deaths, even though they make up just 6 percent of the U.S. population. The Post’s analysis shows that black men were seven times more likely than white men to die by police gunfire while unarmed.

The latest such shooting occurred Friday, claiming Christian Taylor, 19, a promising defensive back on the Angelo State University football team. Police said Taylor crashed an SUV through the front window of a car dealership in Arlington, Tex., and was shot in an altercation with responding officers. The case is under investigation.

The disproportionate number of unarmed black men in the body count helps explain why outrage continues to simmer a year after Ferguson — and why shootings that might have been ignored in the past are now coming under fresh public and legal scrutiny. (Emphasis added)

One year after the death of Michael Brown, the Black Lives Matter Movement has failed, for the most part. People are still marching, protesting and engaging in civil disobedience in Ferguson and around the country. That proves that the movement has not achieved its objectives. The End Racial Profiling Act has not been passed. In fact, a bill to protect lions and other wild animals is a greater priority in Congress than the End Racial Profiling Act. That is an obvious sign of failure. While unarmed movement members are arrested for engaging in civil disobedience, killers like Darren Wilson and George Zimmerman continue to walk free and armed white militia patrol the streets of Ferguson looking for trouble from the black natives. That is not success. That is failure. As previously stated, the brutal police continue to harass and kill unarmed black people. Recent examples include the killing of Walter Scott, Freddie Gray and Sam DuBose. Our lives still don’t matter.  Again, the movement has failed miserably.

Parents of Michael Brown, Michael Brown Sr. and Lesley McSpadden listen to a speaker during a rally, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014, for their son who was killed by police last Saturday in Ferguson, Mo. Brown’s shooting in the middle of a street, following a suspected robbery of a box of cigars from a nearby market, has sparked a week of protests, riots and looting in the St. Louis suburb. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Certainly, the movement’s catch phrase “Black Lives Matter” has become a popular slogan. That slogan has generated a much needed national discussion. Even that discussion has detoured into discussion about how “all lives matter.” More importantly, slogans alone are a poor substitute for actual substantive reforms. Discussions are just that, discussions. Discussions are not actions. Clearly, the movement has gained publicity. Nonetheless, publicity without a focused purpose, other than 15 minutes of fame, is meaningless. Publicity for the stake of publicity accomplishes nothing.

For example, this past weekend, purported Black Lives Matter activists Marissa Janae Johnson (a former Sarah Palin supporter) and Mara Jacqeline Willaford interrupted Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders’ speech. Ms. Johnson’s “I don’t give a f***” attitude is childish and unsophisticated. Unfortunately, that is not the first time that Black Lives Matter activists have interrupted a program. They also interrupted Al Sharpton’s Justice for All march.

It is just plain stupid to attack, alienate and discard allies, especially when your movement is funded by the same white progressives that you criticize. By the way, black organizations should be funded primarily by black people. Anyway, the Black Lives Matter Movement should collaborate with Al Sharpton and other prominent civil rights leaders and organizations. Potential allies like Sanders have the power to pass laws to address the problems of police brutality and racial profiling. Instead of interrupting fellow progressives, the movement should be interrupting the police who harass and kill black people. Instead of interrupting organizations that have the same goals and objectives, the movement should be interrupting a Congress that is more concerned about slain lions than slain black people.

Marissa Janae Johnson’s and Mara Jacqeline Willaford’s actions expose another fundamental flaw of the movement, its leaderless and decentralized nature. Such a structure breeds chaos and rogue action. If it is to be successful, the movement needs more structure and more discipline. Otherwise, it will be another short-lived moment just like the Occupy Wall Street movement. It will be here today and gone tomorrow. Rather than having an arrogant “know-it-all” approach and attitude, the movement should learn effective strategies from civil rights veterans and black power veterans.

Instead of engaging in such juvenile publicity stunts, the movement must present a clear set of demands to elected officials and candidates. The movement must demand that all politicians pass legislation that is in accord with those demands. Instead of just tweeting and marching, the activists should be conducting effective and massive voter registration and education drives. If we do not vote, we cannot complain about politicians not implementing reforms. If we do not vote, we cannot complain about juries and grand juries letting killers like Darren Wilson and George Zimmerman go free. Through the vote, we are able to serve on juries and render justice.

[Originally posted at New Possibilities]

The post One year later, the #BlackLivesMatter Movement is a Failure appeared first on Madness & Reality.

Yes, he lied.

It could be argued that Sandra Bland would still be alive if she was never arrested. Which, may be a natural stance for one to take. But again, for now, the focus should be on the violation of her rights; and, it should be used as a teachable moment. Why? Because if we continue to walk away from these stories without learning anything – other than that some cops lie – then I’d say that we’ll forever be in trouble.

Look, it’s important to know your rights. Equally as important is knowing how to articulate and exercise your rights in any encounter or exchange with law enforcement. That should be the only thing that comes out of your mouth in situations when you encounter the police. How or the manner by which you choose to do so is totally up to you. However, I would advise anyone reading this to do so in a calm and respectful manner. Not that to do so will determine whether you’re arrested or not. But, nonetheless, let’s just say that doing so helps to make what for many exists as a very tense situation with much suspicion and implicit biases on both sides of the fence.

This may sound like victim-blaming, but it isn’t. That is unless you’re content to walk away not learning tools that could be the difference between life and death. And, I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of seeing this stuff in the media without the proper discussion of the rights of citizens involved in police encounters. Which is sad, because you shouldn’t have to be a card-carrying member of the ACLU to understand.

And, if this bothers you like it does me, just imagine how many times similar situations play out across the country without ever making the news. Sandra Bland being dead of an apparent suicide should not be yet another one of those squandered moments.

We can march and protest all we like until our feet fall off. But, until we start teaching people that they have a constitutional right to never talk to the police – yes, it’s called the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution – or, answer questions from police officers without an attorney present. Then and only then can we have conversations about police accountability without having silly debates about the behavior of citizens like Sandra Bland, over whether it contributed to her demise when the issue happens to be overzealous lying ass cops with a penchant for abusing their authority.

To be honest, Sandra Bland’s “attitude” didn’t lead to her demise. Instead, it was her failure to follow a lawful command per the 1977 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Pennsylvania v. Mimms to exit her car that as probable cause for her arrest. Yes, Sandra Bland had every right to voice her displeasure with the officer in whatever manner prior to being ordered to exit her car. But make no mistake, though it may be hard to say amid all the noise, that’s the reason Sandra Bland was arrested.

Her arrest had nothing to do with her refusal to put out her cigarette when she was asked by the officer. And yes, she was asked and not commanded to put out her cigarette. The officer made a request, and she was within her right, at that point, to refuse to acquiesce. To some this may have seemed like a big no, but it isn’t.

Having said hat, as a person of color, I’d be remiss if I didn’t emphasize the importance of not talking to the police, or answering any of their questions. It’s important to allow them to do their jobs while keeping your mouth shut during a traffic stop except to ask, “Am I being detained, or am I free to go?” If you feel the need to challenge the conduct and actions of an officer, you’re better off doing it by filing a complaint with his superiors – or even filing a lawsuit – rather than having an argument about it in the street. Nine times out of ten, should you choose to do the later, you will lose.

Because there will not always be someone with a camera-phone or even a working police body cam around it’s important to keep the following tips in mind:

• Always keep your hands where they can be seen – make no sudden moves
• Never completely roll your window down
• If asked to exit your car, be sure to lock your doors after doing so
• Do not consent to a search – they have to ask you
• Most importantly, keep your mouth shut

Moving along…

By now I’m sure you’ve seen the video of Sam DuBose being killed by a University of Cincinnati police officer, Ray Tersing. As was the case in the murder of Walter Scott in South Carolina, thanks to video evidence, we now know that like the officer, in that case, this officer has also lied about the incident. What we also know is that at least two other officers on the scene have also lied under oath to a grand jury.

Thankfully, as I mentioned, because of video evidence, the truth of this incident is out. Without it, it would have been easy to sweep the death of Sam DuBose under the rug. Without video evidence, Sam DuBose would have been just another thug who had to be killed because he posed an imminent threat to the life of a police officer.

Because of video, we now know that the officer lied.

Additionally, we can see clearly – thanks to the video – that Sam DuBose didn’t have an “attitude”, nor was he belligerent when he communicated with the officer. So yes, because of this, it can be argued that whether or not one gives a cop “attitude” like Sandra Bland, for people of color the outcome always seems to b the same. That would be, that we’ll always end up dead or in jail. It’s a rather cynical position, to be sure.

However, it is for this very reason why a change in policy beyond the use of body cams is necessary. Without the appointment of citizen review boards with full subpoena powers, there’d be no oversight and accountability.

And, of course, we cannot afford to have situations like the ongoing extra-judicial execution of citizens of any color, by the police, to continue. At some point, the change we seek has to go beyond angry social media outbursts, and disruptions by protestors in public spaces. It’s one thing to get the attention of the world if only for a moment.

However, it’s another thing to propose specific policy positions, for which we can hold the feet of politicians on the state and local level to the fire.Without it, there’ll be more stories like these for the media to pimp for profit; and for bloggers like myself to write about. Frankly speaking, I’m sick of it all. The silly conspiracy theories about dead people in mugshots. The debates about personal responsibility. The fight over whether the killing of an African lion is more important than that of cops killing black people.

Yes, I’m fucking sick of it all.

Now watch the following video and learn something:

The post Sandra Bland and Sam DuBose: Two Different Outcomes appeared first on Madness & Reality.

Yet, her death was ruled a suicide. And by suicide, I mean right after the police manhandled her for a minor traffic offense and put her in jail. And I’m not saying she didn’t commit suicide. What I’m saying is that situations like this is all too common.

Meanwhile, the man that took the video of the incident was told to leave. And then there is this info to ponder:

A statement released by law firm representing Bland’s family reads, “The family of Sandra Bland is confident that she was killed and did not commit suicide. The family has retained counsel to investigate Sandy’s death.” A relative has asked Twitter users to use the hashtag #JusticeForSandra “so that our family cam get justice for her.”

Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis has acknowledged the concerns of those who say she would not have committed suicide and suspect that her death involved foul play by law enforcement authorities.

“I will admit it is strange someone who had everything going for her would have taken her own life,” he told NBC station KPRC in Houston. “That’s why it’s very important a thorough investigation is done and that we get a good picture of what Ms. Bland was going through the last four or five days of her life. [1]

From the video and the accounts from her friends and family, there is something terribly wrong. Still, this isn’t some random event. Black female demonization is becoming the norm.

Sandra Bland and Other Black Female Victims

The bigger problem isn’t that Sandra Bland dies mysteriously from a suicide that made no sense for her commit. Nor is the bigger problem of some type of mental health issues going undiagnosed. The bigger problem, from my standpoint, is Sandra Bland isn’t alone. The bigger problem is that Sandra Bland is another name to add to the long list of Black females that have died in confrontations with the police.

Let me rattle off some names:

Gabriella Navarez, Aura Rosser, Michelle Cusseaux, Tanisha Anderson, Alexia Christian, Meagan Hockaday, Miriam Carey, Janisha Fonville, Natasha McKenna, Sheneque Proctor, and Kindra Chapman.

All of them died from some sort of confrontation with the police. A few of them actually died in police custody while in jail (for whatever reason deserving or not). All of these situations have one thing in common: police incompetence.

Sandra Bland Should Be At Work Today

All of this brings about one simple conclusion: Sandra Bland should be alive today. Whether she did commit suicide is something I cannot answer. However, a lot of this situation could have been alleviated if the police handled their business a lot better. Then again, this is just another added life to the laundry list of Black females that die within police custody. It remains to be seen how all of this plays out within the history of Black female demonization.

[Originally posted at Chocolate Covered Lies]

The post Sandra Bland and Black Female Demonization appeared first on Madness & Reality.

Yet, when famous people disagree, it seems that much worse. Maybe it’s the fact that millions are going to see it. Or, it could have to do with the fact that many expect a lot of them to be much smarter. In any case, there are times where people in the spotlight show just how damning their words can be.

Don’t believe me? Let me show you two case examples.

Exhibit A: #BlackLivesMatter confused by Raven Symone

This isn’t surprising to see coming from Raven Symone. She is the epitome of “black woman disagreeing for the sake of playing devil’s advocate”. Oh, and I was putting that nicely. There are times where I think she is completely clueless or trying too hard to be profound. Other times, I just think that her paychecks play a part in the fallacies she play into. Whatever works for her ego or pocket book, I suppose.

Let me get into where she disagreed with #blacklivesmatter:

“I understand what the ‘Black Lives Matter’ hashtag means. It came in conjunction with everything that was going on with the police in Ferguson. You have to be sensitive in that statement, but he is right, all lives matter… I think you have to open yourself up. It should be all lives matter.” [1]

This comment was in response to her defending the Democratic presidential candidateMartin O’Malley. He stated that “All Lives Matter” during the discussion of police brutalityagainst Black people at a rally. He was met with boos. And rightfully so: would you announce “all rapes matter!” at a forum for healing female rape victims? Exactly.

Exhibit B: Stephen A. Smith vs. #Blacklivesmatter

Now, Stephen A. Smith is another situation altogether. He just doesn’t care what people feel about his opinion. As stubborn and bullheaded as he is, Smith still has some common sense about him. Yet, when it comes to #blacklivesmatter, it doesn’t seem that common sense stayed the common denominator for his words.

Okay, Stephen A. Smith. I understand where YOU are coming from as well.

No More #Blacklivesmatter Exhibits

Alright, I’m going to break this down for those that have very little understanding of what #Blacklivesmatter means and why Raven Symone and Stephen A Smith are full of shit. So, let’s get to it.

#Blacklivesmatter = in life, black lives should matter to everyone. This is not to excuse other races. However, Black people tend to go through a lot of things that make it seem like our lives are meaningless. Especially in situations where we are at the prey of powers that are over us, black people are people just like everyone else. So please, just treat us like soul vessels that you would want to be treated as. Sounds fair, right?

#Alllivesmatter = everyone should be treated fairly no matter what their race, creed, sexual preference, gender, age, or whatever it is that would separate them from the greater majority may be. People have rights. People should actually be able to exercise those rights like politicians exercise their jaw muscles. No one should be greater than the other.

All explanations aside, Raven Symone doesn’t understand that Black people are having too many issues with reminding the world that WE ARE PEOPLE. Of course #alllivesmatter. However, people say #blacklivesmatter because it seems that so many of us forget that fact. And this is truly a problem when those that are here “to protect us” typically want to regard us as less than human.

So, yeah: Raven Symone can have a seat. I will be her personal usher.

Stephen A. Smith is off because he is playing the respectability politics game. You see, he wants to make “being black” synonymous with “people killing each other”. What he, and many others tend to miss, is that crime is about proximity. Thus, most crime is going to be intraracial. So, people tend to commit crimes against people they deal with. Since Americais pretty segregated, that should explain the high percentage of “race on race crime”.

To be serious, if people want “black on black crime” to decrease then there have to be certain measures taken to mitigate the crime. Or, Black people can start committing crimes against other races. Pick which one you want.

#Blacklivesmatter like #Alllivesmatter

If he can’t see between the lines with that one, then I can’t help Smith. Nor can I help anybody else that feels the need to mention “black on black crime”. Everyone should have an issue with people to mistreat Blacks. Personally, I would hope that people would understand this. However, they don’t. Sadly, I bet someone will read all of this and give some type of rebuttal.

Oh, well. #Blacklivesmatter just like #Alllivesmatter.

[Originally posted at Chocolate Covered Lies]

The post #BlackLivesMatter as Much as #AllLivesMatter appeared first on Madness & Reality.

I thought I had said or written all that I had to say or write about Bill Cosby and his foolishness, but just when I thought I was out of the conversation, they pull me back in.

A portion of Bill Cosby’s deposition in a 2005 civil suit brought by a woman who claimed the comedian gave her Quaaludes in order to sexually assault her suddenly surfaced a week or so ago, reopening and reigniting arguments as to his guilt or innocence. I didn’t even bother to read it or any of the heated commentary surrounding it because I had already made up my mind about Cosby during the first round of this argument.

Many considered this Cosby deposition to be the proverbial smoking gun, the most damning piece of evidence to be presented thus far and conclusive proof of his guilt. However, expectedly, #randomhotepnegroes, conspiracy theorists, and Bill Cosby defenders, not entirely mutually exclusive groups, took an exact opposite stance.  And enough of them guilted me into going back and reading the document myself using that whole, “If you are really interested in the truth…” thing.

These #randomhotepnegroes, conspiracy theorists, and Bill Cosby defenders apprised me of the fact that in this deposition Cosby did not admit to drugging women and then having sex with them against their will; rather, he only copped to procuring Quaaludes for the purpose of seducing them. Evidently, Quaaludes were a big part of his seduction game.

And much to my chagrin, after reading through the portion of the deposition released online, I could but only admit that they were indeed correct. This deposition alone can in no way be read as an admission of guilt.

Actor Bill Cosby speaks at the National Action Network’s 20th annual Keepers of the Dream Awards gala in New York April 6, 2011. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (UNITED STATES – Tags: POLITICS HEADSHOT) – RTR2KWH7

In fact, as it was pointed out to me, if we were to use this confession by Cosby as a measure of his guilt, we would then have to go back and arrest most of the male population because who has not shown up at some woman’s house with a fifth of cognac and a dream?

To be completely honest, most decisions men make between the ages of about fourteen to twenty-six, depending on an individual’s rate of maturity, are predicated almost entirely on the possibility of the decision resulting in sex. So if this is the smoking gun people claim it to be, practically all men are guilty to some degree.

But that in no way changes my opinion of Cosby.

A good friend who is a lawyer brought to my attention the fact that in most criminal cases in which the defendant is found guilty that go to trial, no such smoking gun even exists. In fact, most of these cases are decided simply on the basis of the evidence presented. And based on the evidence presented thus far, the accusations of a now almost innumerable number of women—they just seem to keep coming out of the woodwork—Cosby, in my reasoned but humble opinion, is dead guilty. Admittedly, some of these women may have ulterior motives; however, every one of them cannot be telling the same lie.

Not only that, and most importantly, just how high is our threshold of the acceptable burden of proof? What would these #randomhotepnegroes, conspiracy theorists, and Bill Cosby defenders actually accept as the proverbial smoking gun because as evinced by history, no amount of evidence, whatever the quality or form, is ever enough.

Remember the case of one R & B artist, R. Kelly? Remember that even amid repeated allegations and reports of him preying on young, black girls, a videotape surfaced of him peeing on somebody’s child. In other words, there was video evidence of his malfeasance, his pedophilia. His foolishness was caught on tape and in living color; nevertheless, for many even this videotape, this visual evidence, still was not enough of a smoking gun.

#randomhotepnegroes, conspiracy theorists, and Bill Cosby defenders insisted that we had no way of knowing if that was actually R. Kelly on that video or not, and furthermore that video and the allegations and investigations dogging R. Kelly were just more attempts to bring a good brother down, and now that renegade negro R. Kelly is still running around wearing a mask, dressed like somebody’s uncle who just touched down after going to jail during the 1980’s, talking about he is the pied piper of R & B.

And I have no way of proving it, so it is more or less completely conjecture on my part, but more than likely, part 2 of his pedophilic rampage jumped off as soon as he was acquitted of the charges and progresses even at this very moment. If you are so sure of R. Kelly’s innocence, why not send your underage daughters or nieces to spend a week or so with him at his estate?

And who could forget the O.J. Simpson case, The Trial of the Century? Remember that one? Even in the face of overwhelming evidence of his guilt, some folks still claim that he did not stab up those white folk, curiously despite the fact that at the time he stabbed up those white folk, he had all but cut his ties to and disavowed the black community many years previous to that incident. Yet, many black folk defended him, and continue to do so, nonetheless.

It is amazing what a bit of police incompetence, a stack of money, and the power that stack of money accords can do. It can get you off even in the face of the most overwhelming evidence, and in some cases, it may even frighten and intimidate the victims of crimes, no matter how heinous, from even coming forward.

Meanwhile, between there and here, many of the pre-hotep #randomhotepnegroes stepped to some random white women’s house with a fifth of cognac and a dream, and when the liquor ran out but their dream was deferred and they left without having accomplished anything, in their embarrassment they read almost the whole first chapter and/or the back cover blurb of a hand full of books, at least enough to consider themselves experts, and immediately went on Twitter and got to hotep-ing.

Please forgive those last few lines. They were non-sequitur and completely inappropriate. But sometimes I say or write stuff just to amuse myself. I will endeavor to delete them from the final draft. Again, forgive me.

Nevertheless, we must get past this whole false black good-white bad dichotomy. Evil is not exclusively the trait of any one race or group but is sprinkled indiscriminately throughout the whole of humanity. If you array yourself in the armor of truth and claim the complete eradication of even the slightest hint of unequal treatment as your cause, if you claim truth to be the means and justice to be the end, you must necessarily be truthful and insist on justice no matter who it is for or against, lest you become merely a chocolate version of the vanilla you find so distasteful.

Truth and justice cannot be the purview of just us, for as Martin Luther the King so eloquently reminded us in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” the very existence of injustice anywhere threatens the presence of justice everywhere; justice must necessarily be for all or for none.

Hotep.

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THE NAMES ARE FAMILIAR

MIKE BROWN

I mean Mike Brown was jaywalking and possibly involved in a strong arm robbery in a convenience store (which was never proven by the way).  The denizens of what is respectable deemed him as an undesirable thug so in their collective borg mind anything that happened to him was somehow his own fault.

JOHN CRAWFORD

Just like John Crawford, he had to know that a black man walking around with anything resembling a firearm real or not would invoke images of Nat Turner and the Black Panther Movement. His death at the hands of law enforcement was merely an unfortunate occurrence according to the spin.

TAMIR RICE

Of course Tamir Rice should have known or better yet his mother should have taught him never to play with a toy gun outside in a playground because of course that would be misconstrued as opposed to teens that go onto school premises with guns in an attempt to massacre students, clearly playing with a toy gun on a play ground is much more of a serious emergency and way more threatening.

MIRIAM CAREY

And of course a woman with a baby in her car who makes a wrong turn and winds up at a White House Checkpoint is the equivalent of a suicide bomber or could be – so of course law enforcement has no other options with regards to defusing that situation than to shoot the car with the baby in it full of holes. Heck for all they knew she could have been carrying rocket launchers in the trunk. Can’t take chances.

DARRIEN HUNT

It absolutely was way beyond acceptability for a black man to have an imagination that took him to carrying a play sword outside without bothering anyone or menacing anyone because my goodness the very idea of a black person with anything in their hands other than a broom or a dustpan is very scary stuff.

JONATHAN FERRELL

Hey let’s not forget that Scary black men who have just been involved in a car accident are even scarier and more deadly so we definitely don’t want to leave it to chance that he might use his laser eye beams to somehow stun or God forbid injure an officer called to the scene by an upstanding resident in fear of her life from said black man.

VICTOR WHITE

Of course one also cannot forget that black people are magical. So much so that we have the ability to conceal weapons even after two pat downs and that we can even when in handcuffs, seated in the backseat of a police car, pull out a gun and shoot ourselves in the CHEST – like Victor White III did. He was just one of those magical Negroes we keep hearing about.

The majority however are just society throwaways – those that the powers that be have decided are not of any value, like Walter Scott, or Eric Garner, or any number of blacks who have had any dealings with the justice system. Which of course automatically makes your life invalid and worth less than a plug nickel.

Those same powers that be that will define a productive member of society and will refuse to accept or realize that the current definition is not reflective of the entirety of the population and never has been. That a life is valuable and that people can make mistakes and still turn their lives around. Society especially in its current incarnation has no place determining whose life is worth more or worth less.

The same society and system that caused Kalief Browder to be incarcerated for a crime that he did not commit. Which included the guards that beat and tortured him while he sat, incarcerated for three years. During  which time, he was subjected to beatings by the guards, the inmates and was placed in solitary confinement – mind you he was 16 years old at the time. However clearly according to that upstanding upright mindset demographic if he was in jail he clearly needed to be there because he obviously did something wrong.

Actually not.  He did not a damn thing wrong. He suffered more than most of our minds can begin to comprehend. His suffering was documented and his battle with mental illness that can and will be argued onset by the cruelty and conditions he was forced to endure for THREE YEARS.

But what’s the big deal I mean it was just a mistake….indeed one that cost this young man his life. One that cost all these people their lives. Mistakes that are causing loss of life all across this country every day and not all are fortunate enough to make the national headlines. That does not mean its not happening.

Those of us in these cities and neighborhoods know this because we have seen it personally first hand in one form or another. We who have witnessed the continued injustice visited upon us by a broken system are beyond tired and beyond fed up.

The fuss – is that you cannot continue to uphold a system that seeks to give unfair advantage to one group of people over another. You cannot ostensibly continue to blindly support a system that inherently makes it  almost impossible for there to be equal footing.

A system that is built on standards exemplified by a certain demographic of people which does not allow for the myriad differences in people’s heritage, background lifestyle and choices is a system that cannot and will not last.

Those who continue to fight and seek justice for all will see all those ignorant and bigoted minds stripped bare of their racism and intolerance.

By the time they figure out what has folks mad and fed up change will already have taken place in spite of them.

Because change real change cannot be denied only delayed.

And the people are really and truly fed up.

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Due to the shooting, Waco, Texas is getting its fair share of attention at the moment. There was a recent melee of murder between two rival motorcycle gangs in Waco, Texas. The crazy part is that all of this happened today (May 17^th, 2015). Yet, it seems so insane that there were 9 people dead because of it. Easily, things can go from 0-100 in Waco, Texas when it comes to murder and mayhem.

If anyone out there is short on memory, they have to go back to the last mass shooting that happened in Waco, Texas. We should all be aware of the madness between the Feds versus the Branch Davidians. And you are welcome for the reference.

And by the way: the name of the restaurant the fight started at is Twin Peaks. I’m sorry, but this madness is so poetic that reality will always be stranger than fiction.

Waco Texas Biker Gang Shooting Part 1

As details emerge, there are some things to consider. For one, the statement “0-100” is exactly what happened:

According to police spokesperson Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton, authorities were already at the scene when a gang fight broke out inside the Twin Peaks Restaurant at around 12:15 p.m. As the brawl spilled into the parking lot, the bikers reportedly escalated from “fists and feet to chains, clubs and knives, then to gunfire,” shooting at both rivals and police. [1]

Another thing that a lot of people keep mentioning is that it was between two motorcycle gangs. No, it wasn’t a crazed shooter that demonstrated our nation’s failing mental health approach. Nor was it the murder of a Black person for no apparent reason. This time around, it was a biker gang vs. a biker gang vs. the police.

When will the curfew be established in #Waco? Oh, that’s right…

— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) May 17, 2015

Oh, and did I mention that these were white culprits? Again, the poetic inclinations are endless. Luckily (depending on your feelings for police), none of the officers were harmed.

Waco Texas Biker Gang Shooting Part 2

Its Jim Beam and Marlboro’s fault! If white ppl smoked and drank less harsh stuff they wouldnt be so violent! #StopWhiteOnWhiteCrime

— The Blakk Samurai (@BlakkSamurai) May 17, 2015

You are a clever duckie, but nonetheless, a racist one #StopWhiteOnWhiteCrime#BlackLivesMatter https://t.co/ppx9OFE6ef

— Connie Collins (@khanknee) May 17, 2015

What is causing such an uproar on Twitter, Facebook, and within Black America has a whole is the fact that IF these were Black gangs members, there would be some “call to arms” for us to have a “come to Jesus moment” over black-on-black crime. Yet, it had to be two white biker gangs causing such a murderous hullabaloo that the comedy had commenced for the sake of enlightening entertainment. Also, many of us await that moment where people are actually going to have these media filled conversations about violent biker gangs. You know: the same way they want to exacerbate the issues of Black people.

I demand @msnbc @cnn & others air detailed analysis of White biker gangs & their violent lifestyle. Just like you do Blacks. Equal coverage.

— Connie Collins (@khanknee) May 18, 2015

Waco Texas Biker Gang Shooting Part 3

Fuck it: let us have a round table discussion on how to prevent this situation from happening from this moment forward. However, we KNOW that this won’t happen. Waco, Texas had a biker gang shooting that left NINE people dead and I bet my top Ben Franklinthat there won’t be much more than a peep coming from these news stations. Compared to the 25/366 coverage of situations involving everything plaguing Black America, I would be worried.

WACO, TX MASS SHOOTING: • 9 dead • 18 injured • 5 bike gangs • 150-200 bikers • 50+ guns recovered LIVE: http://t.co/y0tVvPuth1

— Breaking News Feed (@PzFeed) May 18, 2015

@khanknee It is Texas-these gangs may well have more arms than the national guard…

— M McV (@McVickerMaria) May 18, 2015

Has city been closed down to prevent further deaths & protect citizenry. Has national guard been called? 9 already dead #TwinPeaksShooting

— Connie Collins (@khanknee) May 18, 2015

It’d be sad if Dr. Ben Carson has to leave his church because of this White Biker Gang stuff.#Waco #WhiteLiesMatter

— RiPPa (@RippDemUp) May 18, 2015

Why are white people so violent and angry? #StopWhiteOnWhiteCrime

— TheArdentNegress (@miss_v3) May 17, 2015

Now do we see how white privilege works? Now do we see why these people weren’t labeled “thugs”, “delinquents”, and “cracker white trash” yet? Of course we all do. In fact, I await the rebuttal about how Blacks do these type of things more than whites. So, white privilege is always best when it comes to those that don’t take responsibility and ownership of their bullshit.

Waco Texas Biker Gang Shooting – Undone

I could write a paragraph about my feelings on all this, but I won’t. In fact, I will leave you all with a tweet that summarizes my feelings:

If this Waco shit (9 dead. 100 guns) happened in Baltimore, they’d be occupying Maryland w/the Nat Guard, the Canadian Mounties & the IDF.

— Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) May 18, 2015

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Sometimes it is almost serendipitous when a passage from a book or a line of verse you have read a thousand times over is given especially trenchant meaning by the events of the moment.

Just this afternoon, as I made my way from one place to the next in my car, the Baltimore rebellion, along with the continued deaths of black women and black men at the hands of police and vigilantes, as well as the toxically noxious miasma of negativity engulfing our young sisters and brothers, dominated my every thought.

So, I turned the volume up on my car radio in an attempt to drown out the vexing dialogue with my selves taking place in my head just in time to catch the last of Al Letson’s most recent episode of his State of the Re:Union podcast, “The Poems, the Poets, the Power.” For some reason, though, Letson elected to forego his usual podcast closing and let Sekou Sundiata’s recitation of his poem “Black Boys to Men” play out in its entirety. (Serendipity?)

Anyway, the continued relevance of the poem immediately grabbed me in its opening words—“When we talk about the murder of young black men…”.  But as I listened, silently echoing the familiar lines in my head, Sundiata recited the lines ending with a familiar phrase I had not heard in so long that suddenly made it all real to me:

Between working in the boiler room and living in the projects,

You would have been knocked out too by the end of the six o’clock news.

And what was that news, anyway, in his day?

Negroes acting their color.

“Don’t act your color!” I remember hearing this phrase again and again as an elementary school student. See, I started school at my local neighborhood, inner city school, Cummings Street Elementary School in Memphis, along with the other little black neighborhood children my age. However, when I began school, I already read and wrote well enough that school administration suggested I take some test. Then, after taking that test, I was transferred to another school on the other side of town.

The population of my new school was overwhelmingly white. And of the hand full of black children there, most were the scions of black families with a name who had made it out of the inner city to suburban enclaves of affluent black people, and some could even brag of being the first to integrate this white suburban neighborhood or that white suburban neighborhood.

For instance, the daughter of Otis Higgs, local civil rights icon, lawyer, judge, and the first African American to come close to winning a mayoral contest in Memphis attended the school. The children of W. W. Herenton, long time Memphis Public School superintendent and the first elected African American mayor of Memphis, attended the school. Not to belabor a point, but it seems that the children of every prominent African American family attended the school at some time or another.

And then there was an even smaller minority of little black children like me whose families had no name and still lived smack dab in the middle of the inner city—the ghetto.

So, the few black teachers there—I can remember only four or five—made our “domestication,” for want of a better word, their mission. They constantly remind us just how lucky we were to be there. The constantly reminded us of the great opportunity to lift our families out of poverty and out of the ghetto we had been. They told us that if we played our cards right, we might even one day prove to be a credit to our race, just like the mothers and fathers of the other black children who came from prominent black families.

A demonstrator holds a sign in front of the Baltimore Police Department Western District station during a protest against the death in police custody of Freddie Gray in Baltimore
A demonstrator holds a sign in front of the Baltimore Police Department Western District station during a protest against the death in police custody of Freddie Gray inBaltimore April 23, 2015. The U.S. Southern Christian Leadership Conference will independently investigate the death of a black Baltimore man in police custody, with the local head of the civil rights group saying it lacked confidence in a police probe into the death. REUTERS/Sait Serkan Gurbuz

But there was this one black teacher, in particular, who took to her mission with a certain missionary zeal. When she perceived that we were being too rambunctious, or too loud, or too rough, even if all the other children around us were being just as rambunctious or loud or rough, she would appear suddenly behind us, seemingly out of nowhere, then grabbing the fleshy part of the back of our arms, pinch so hard that we would winch in pain as tears came to our eyes.

“Don’t be over here at this school acting your color!” she admonished us.

And in the spring, every Thursday we swam in the pool during P.E., and on Wednesday afternoon, she made her rounds to remind us to bathe on Thursday morning as opposed to Wednesday night so that we would not run the risk of the bath “souring” during the night, and by all means, wear clean underwear since we would have to change in the locker room with the rest of the children.

“You don’t want to be caught acting your color!” she scolded us.

And when we arrived for school in the morning, she would be there to inspect us with a jar of Vaseline and a can of Right Guard in hand. If we had just the hint of ash on us, she would pull us aside, hold out the jar of Vaseline so that we could properly deal with the offending body part. If our odor somehow offended her, in full view of the other students, she would embarrass us by demanding that we turn around as we held our arms straight up while she sprayed us with right guard.

“You don’t want to start the day by reminding everyone of your color” she reminded us.

And we pushed back. We protested the best we could, and our parents protested the best they could, but they, too, were always reminded just how lucky we were to even be there, and just what opportunities would open up for us just by being there, so our parents, as anxious and concerned about our future as they were, simply acquiesced.

As a result, by the time I left that school, we left that school, every ounce of fire, of any spirit of rebellion, of unctuous audacity, of righteous indignation, had been pinched and shamed right out of us, all for the sake of teaching us the lesson of “not to acting our color.” And then we were deemed acceptable to meekly go out into the world because we knew how to conduct ourselves, how to act, and now we could lift our families out of poverty and out of the ghetto and be credits to our race.

But to what end?

The education I got at that school did open a number of doors for me. It did create a number of opportunities for me. And for so long I assumed that the doors opened for me and these opportunities accrued for me because I had mastered the tactic of not acting my color. In fact, I took the initiative to develop several selves, several faces, and learned to masterfully deploy these selves and faces as needed as a means to an end.

However, since that time, experience has taught me that often, too often, my color, my black body, seems to act on its own long before the self or face I deem necessary to deploy to meet the exigencies of the moment, but through it all, through the hurt and embarrassment, I am expected to eventually acquiesce because I would not want to spoil a good thing by acting my color, would I?

I mean, I would not want to be like those Negroes acting their color right now in the streets of Baltimore, would I? But, when I really think about, so-called acting our color seems to be the only means of us being heard. Regardless of our behavior, we become suspect of just waiting for an opportunity to show our true colors. We are summarily adjudicated guilty, and the sentence of death is swiftly carried out, often by those charged with protecting us.

And we are shot down in the street returning home from the store with snacks. We are shot in the backseat of cars for playing our music too loudly. We are choked to death on the street. We are “accidently” shot to death pay-to-play cops. Our spines are mysteriously severed during a ride in the back of a police van.

Only when we so-called act our color, when we push back, when out of frustration and anger we take to the streets, we rebel, does the nation take notice, even pretend to show any measure of pseudo concern and feign taking action, and even then the nation still claims not to understand just what is happening and why, even though it has been explained time and time again, and as the angry, fed-up masses gather in the streets, and their voices become louder and more strident, and the flames grow higher and hotter, a cacophony of disingenuous voices wonders aloud, “Just why are you people acting like that?”

But it seems that it is only when the news on that day is Negroes acting their color in the street that anyone even seems remotely concerned.

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