tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61997065470106931782024-03-15T18:12:40.685-07:00Poet With An Opinion.DOROTHY CHARLES BANKS:
Poet With An Opinion is a mixture of take no prisoners editorials and comments written by me. I posted my first comment 3/11/2010. There are also reflections of the past. Poetry is my first love. In writing verse I can create fantasy characters, mixing them with real situations, or I can go fantasy all the way, using common language to create vivid images. For the benefit of relatives who may start their own genealogy search, I've started the process.dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.comBlogger258125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-87944505665615850182024-01-20T12:11:00.000-08:002024-02-09T18:50:55.819-08:00The Pride of Life from 'Girl Frenzs'<span style="font-family: Alata; font-size: large;">Straight Talk</span><div>pages 230-239</div><div>by Bridgette Billingsley<br />
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijDGs95B3Sn57Zd7nC__Z3rGgXM6VmxeeyoYeq1BgSeeF8agogQQiJQAwDUf3trQBH8c4HNO2ZvKMCy1H8AM-4DPfwQWhjCYwxKdhR4xJPbC6jL2ti0SBYZAjExk3Fuys9TkBSlkbdzRz-zj3yBsrB1UzXnnmmdfCZfS2MGHoS2GdTb1mDDE_lq6DXD4E/s693/Scan_20240120.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="693" data-original-width="509" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijDGs95B3Sn57Zd7nC__Z3rGgXM6VmxeeyoYeq1BgSeeF8agogQQiJQAwDUf3trQBH8c4HNO2ZvKMCy1H8AM-4DPfwQWhjCYwxKdhR4xJPbC6jL2ti0SBYZAjExk3Fuys9TkBSlkbdzRz-zj3yBsrB1UzXnnmmdfCZfS2MGHoS2GdTb1mDDE_lq6DXD4E/w235-h320/Scan_20240120.png" width="235" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Girl frenzs,
there is nothing more beautiful than a newborn baby coming into the world,
watching that child take their first breath shortly after the doctor spanks
them on their bottoms. Isn’t amazing how a woman carries a baby in her stomach
for nine months until the baby is fully developed, then the baby will come out
whether the mother is ready to deliver or not.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Childbirth is a
process; it’s a certain order that has to be implemented before the mother can
deliver. Sometimes, circumstances and things happen during the process that
causes the mother to deliver early. During the pregnancy, the mother and
baby(ies) are one flesh. The unborn fetus is dependent upon the mother to
survive. That’s the way it is with us and God.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Just think
about human life for a moment. We are made from liquid (sperm) and eggs (female
reproductive organ). Isn’t that amazing? A human life like you and I made from liquid
and eggs. You know, girl frenzs, God put all of our organs and different body
parts inside us. He brought Adam, the first of his creations, to life from
dirt. Adam didn’t exist until God formed him from the ground, breathed life into
his nostrils the breath of life, then Adam became alive. He created Eve from
one of Adam’s ribs. That’s why we are called wo-man because we were created
from the womb of man.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">God is amazing
to me. I get so excited just thinking how our Father in heaven can just speak
something and it will come to past. Adam and Eve were the first two human
beings that God created, and guess what, they didn’t come about from sperm and
eggs, but their children Cain and Abel did. What I’m trying to get you to
understand, girl frenzs, is that God is magnificent; he can do anything! There
is no other God or human being that can create life from dirt. Do you agree?
Only the true and living God can do that.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Girl frenzs, do
you ever think about how Jesus left heaven and came to earth in the womb of a
woman? Think about it for a minute. Jesus was in heaven with God, sitting on
the right hand side of God. After God created the world, he created Adam and
Eve. They disobeyed God’s commandments in the Garden of Eden. God put them out
of the garden. Their seed multiplied after they became sexually connected. Adam
and Eve through their disobedience to God, sinned, entered the world. Before
they disobeyed God there was no sin in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Throughout the
Old Testament, people offered animal sacrifices for their sins. God accepted
their sacrifices and forgave their them over and over again. Girl frenzs, open
up your Bible and read some of the Old Testament books and see for yourself how
ungodly people were and disobedient. They were to God before Christ came down
to earth. God was then and still is now patient and slow to anger.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">God became so
disappointed with the way people were living on earth and their disobedience he
was going to destroy the world. God refused burnt animal sacrifices any longer
from his people. No one on earth had any other sacrifices to offer up to God on
our behalf. So, God decided he would provide a sacrifice that would return the
world and mankind back to him. Jesus was the answer for the salvation of the
world.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Can you picture
Jesus’s face when God his father asked him to come to earth and live among his
people? Can you picture Jesus’s face when God his father asked him to give his
life as an offering to him? Can you picture Jesus’s face God the father told
him he would have to come to earth as an unborn infant?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Jesus was
obedient, he didn’t refuse his father not one time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Imagine if God
would ask some of us to do what he asked Jesus to do.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Can you imagine
some of the responses he would get. Such as, “No way I’m going to die for those
folks” or “Lord, you got to be kidding me. I don’t know those people, they’re
on their own.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">“You want me to
be a baby in somebody’s stomach! Oh, no way. I can’t do that.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">“Lord, you know
I would if I could, but you caught me at a bad time, check with me later on.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Girl frenzs,
you know how crazy and proud people are today; they might come up with all
kinds of crazy answers.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Jesus, as
humble as he is, took on the form of an unborn fetus and was placed in Mary’s
stomach by God the Father and the Holy spirit, and stayed there until Mary gave
birth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Girl friends, that’s good news to
my soul. Thank you, Lord! Can you imagine Jesus our Lord and Savior, God’s
precious cargo being placed in a virgin’s womb and being born into this world?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Girl frenzs,
there’s nothing more beautiful than a newborn baby coming into the world. Jesus
willingly left his home in heaven to come down to this cruel world and live
among ungodly people. Jesus had everything in heaven. He had riches, he had
powers, he had authority over the angels, he had love everlasting. He had life
everlasting, and he had a loving and powerful father who loved him exclusively.
But he willingly gave up everything to come down here on earth to be hated,
mistreated, and beaten to death by the very people he was asked by his father
God to come and save.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Girl frenzs,
isn’t that something! Can you see Jesus in your mind as a precious little baby.
I know he was the most beautiful baby ever born in the history of mankind. The
Bible says, “God loved us so much that he gave his only son.” God didn’t want
to destroy the world. He lives you and I (Jn 3:16 kjv).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Girl frenzs, if
this chapter doesn’t help you to see how much God loves you, then you will
probably never ever know.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Alata; font-size: large;"><u>Girl
Talk</u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Girl frenzs,
Mary was a virgin, a clean vessel for Jesus to dwell. Remember I told you,
God’s spirit can’t dwell in an unclean temple, meaning our bodies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one. When
sent to earth in the form of an unborn fetus, he could not put baby Jesus in
just any body. The body he chose to carry his precious son was clean and had
never been touched by a man. God wants us to keep our temples clean so his Holy
Spirit can dwell inside us. It’s our comforter; it leads us and guides us in the
world.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">God found favor
in Mary. He sent an angel to tell Mary that she would give birth to the son of
the most high God. Can you imagine how afraid Mary probably was when she got
the news that she was going to have a baby? Mary knew she was virgin!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Read the story
about Mary in Luke 1:26-38. Mary was a servant, a yielding vessel, allowing God
to use her as he so pleased. Girl frenzs, we need to have the same attitude as
Mary and allow God to use us for his glory.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Soon after
Jesus was born, his life was threatened by King Herro of Egypt. God’s angel
appeared to Joseph and told him what God wanted him to do. Joseph didn’t ask
any questions; he did exactly what the angel told him in a dream. Mary, Joseph and
baby Jesus escaped Egypt safely. Jesus grew up just like us in a fleshy body.
He was a child; he grew and became strong and filled with wisdom, and the grace
of God was upon him. At the age of twelve years, Jesus was in the churches,
sitting around older men listening to them and asking questions.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Jesus didn’t do
things other children his age did, such as play. From the time he was old
enough to talk, he was all about doing the work he was sent from heaven to do.
Girl frenzs, you do realize that <i>Jesus was</i> <i>God in the flesh</i>? Can
you grasp that! God took on a fleshy form to come down and save us. God, Jesus
and the Holy Spirit are one. It's called the Trinity. They are the one in the
same body.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Girl frenzs,
God’s powers are so great our small brains won’t ever be able to comprehend his
greatness and the magnitude of who he is. He’s God all by himself. He doesn’t
need us, we need him. He’s the creator. He hung the moon and the stars in the
sky. He’s huge!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Girl frenzs,
when we say yes to God without hesitation, concerning his will for our lives,
God will bless us for being his servants. God wants to use us, but we have to
be yielding, clean vessels ready to be used. Mary the mother of Jesus was
blessed above whatever she dreamed. Mary was proud to give birth to our savior;
she knew God would take care of her. Mary will forever be called <i>blessed</i>
by everyone who knows her or reads about her. Mary received the greatest honor
God can pay.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Girl frenzs,
Jesus understands our every weakness because he was tempered in every way that
we are today. But Jesus did not sin. Whenever we’re going through rough times,
we should go boldly to God and ask for his mercy and grace upon our lives. God
will be kind and help us.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">God sent Jesus
to bring his message to us. God created the universe by his son; Jesus is the
radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. Jesus holds
the world together by his own powerful words. After he did what he had to do on
the cross to wash away our sins, he sat down on the right hand side of God
Almighty in glorious heaven.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The scripture says, “When God brings his firstborn son
into the world he commands all his angels worship him.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">“When God
speaks about the angels, he says, “I change my angels into wind and my servants
into flaming fire.”</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">God never said
to any of his angels “sit at my right side until I make your enemies a
footstool for you!” This footstool is underneath Jesus’ feet, meaning “hell.”
All those who are Christ’s<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">enemies will be
under his precious feet at the end. God’s angels are merely spirits sent to serve
people who are going to be saved. Isn’t that great! God sends angels to help us
along the way, and we have the Holy Spirit leading us, and guiding us into the
truth.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span><u><span style="font-family: Alata; font-size: large;">Spiritual
Talk</span></u><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Girl frenzs, I
hope you remember how much God and Jesus love you! When you understand the
depth of their love, it will help you stay faithful to God and Christ. God made
Jesus lower than the angels when he came on earth to die for the sins of the
world. God crowned Jesus with glory and honor and put everything under his
feet, because he suffered death so that by the grace of God, he might taste
death for everyone. </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">We are merely people of flesh and blood. When Jesus became
like us, when he died, his work and mission was to go down to the pit and
destroy the devil. He also rescued souls that were held in slavery by their
fear of death. Jesus came to help us. He had to become like us to serve God as
our merciful and faithful high priest and living sacrifice for the forgiveness
of sin.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Jesus paid the
ultimate price for us. His death. Without his shedding blood, we would all be
dead and lost in sin forever.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Girl frenzs, we
all must learn to let go of all our foolish pride. We walk around putting
ourselves above others, thinking we’re all that and a bag of chips. We’re
nothing without Christ in our lives. Nothing!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Pride has
deceived many people to think all they need is a good education and a good
paying job, and that’s all that matters in this life. Making a lot of money and
living large isn’t anything without Christ in your life. Nothing!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Girl frenzs,
don’t you know the devil was a beautiful angel; he was the head angel in charge
of praise before he got all puffed up with pride. He was called </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Lucifer</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">.
He wanted to be greater than God and got kicked out of heaven. You have to
realize, girl frenzs, God is the source of where we receive all our blessings.
God owns everything on earth. We have to humble ourselves and allow God to use
us for his will.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Stop saying
what you’re not going to do and start saying yes to God. God gave us his very
best, and you without a shadow of a doubt Jesus is the best gift ever given in
the world. Don’t you want to give your best to God in return? There’s plenty of
work to be done yet in these last days, but the workers are few.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Let’s all of us
<i>stop</i> fooling around and start getting serious about the work of the
Lord. What we do for the Lord is all that’s going to matter when we are before
God in the day of judgement. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">I know when I
face God I would love to hear him say, “Well done, my good and faithful
servant, enter into my rest.” We all have to work for the Lord! Let’s get busy!
Jesus had a purpose when he came to earth and so do we. We’re not here to just
live mediocre lives. We’re fooling ourselves when we think God is going to
accept anything from us that’s not our best. We have to make an effort to give
our best to God!</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Alata; font-size: large;"><u>Mediation
questions for this chapter:</u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Girl frenzs,
are you living a mediocre life, just hanging around taking up space in the
world? What are you doing that contributes to the work of the Lord?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Girl frenzs,
are you willing to be a yielded vessel for the Lord to use for his glory? Why?
Why not?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Girl frenzs,
are you willing to pray and ask God what it is he wants you to do in his
Kingdom? Why? Why not?</span></p><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><b>Girl Frenzs</b></i></span><br />By Bridgette Billingsley<br />Tate Publication, 2014</div><div>book can be purchased on Amazon</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-6005821570043461682023-08-10T21:21:00.016-07:002023-11-09T02:44:45.237-08:00'Women and Their Work' gather to talk about their lives, their communities, history and the world <div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: large;">____________________________________________</span></div><p><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>PASSGES</b>,</span> a series of workshops, readings, performances, and other related art events took place in a context of feminist research, group support, and cooperate activity. It extended the definition of an art event to include consciousness raising and the possibilities of cultural transformation. It was an event in which group process and relationships deriving from it were the central achievements.</i></p><div style="text-align: left;"><i style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">A</span>s one of the requirements for the participation in <span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>PASSAGES</b></span><span style="font-family: Libre Baskerville;">,</span> women were asked to be willing re-examine their own--and society's--attitudes concerning sex and race, especially as portrayed in the arts and the media. The idea behind such investigations was that the women could then transform and share their findings with the community at large in an art/cultural event.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Denna Stevenson<br /></span><span style="text-align: right;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span>C</span>reator of Metis<br /></span><i><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>PASSAGES: Women and Their Work</i> </div><p style="text-align: center;">___________________________________________________________</p><span><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMQ5YokQey9146Vg3msFLeXbKWfm0DFDMd_6TcTvxSH8YaCPccV_6lsy8PUPE1-9jhWdPXMUnqOfZRiL0IddvbBLi-zd2fSrIJQRyrkY0hged2zx8lbvxprQuo9DCTtUQK2uYD0f75gdJIBqaIIr-vkvZJcwPJssW-pQb94MO1KG_TCpfMrrubvQBkhOA/s1995/women%20and%20their%20work.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="722" data-original-width="1995" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMQ5YokQey9146Vg3msFLeXbKWfm0DFDMd_6TcTvxSH8YaCPccV_6lsy8PUPE1-9jhWdPXMUnqOfZRiL0IddvbBLi-zd2fSrIJQRyrkY0hged2zx8lbvxprQuo9DCTtUQK2uYD0f75gdJIBqaIIr-vkvZJcwPJssW-pQb94MO1KG_TCpfMrrubvQBkhOA/w640-h232/women%20and%20their%20work.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Women and Their Work participants: Theresa Macias, Kit Fontaine, Debbie Dew, Deanna Stevenson,<br />Glee Ingram, Delores Carkuff, Helen Cox, Teresa Anderson, Dorothy Charles Banks, Rita Starpattern, Carol Ivey, <br />Peg Runnels, Olive Spitzmiller, Orena Dennis. </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">photo by Millie Wilson<br /></span><br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table></div><span style="font-family: times;">D</span></span>uring the summer of 1980 in Austin, Texas at the Laguna Gloria Art Museum I participated in a three-day event that started July 18, 19, 20. It sponsored by Denna Steveson, creator of <i>Women and Their Work</i>, specific specifically created for women of all ages and diverse backgrounds. It appeared to me that each woman participating in the event were already in full bloom of her womanhood and her own self-acknowledgement. There might have been a few women struggling like hell to reach these points in their lives.<div><br /></div><div>The sisterhood of minds consisted of poets, authors, performers, artists, and women who just wanted to verbally tell their stories. We were encouraged to submit some of our work for a magazine, in which our works would be published. As a poet I submitted a number of poems, five of which were accepted. I smiled as I read the poems I submitted. I remember the sassy language that popped in my head as I wrote the poems, especially "pavlov's dog" and "you . . , who is not hipped at all". "pavlov's dog" was inspired by a discussion in a psychology class.<p></p><p>A couple of days ago I was searching for a particular book in my small library when I pulled out<i><b> PASSAGES</b></i> after all these years. One author wrote about her fascination with laundry. She combined her life experience in poems and a historical essay. Another interesting piece caught my attention was the poem, <i>Virgin Whore</i>, written by Peg Runnels and Susan Shaw in photo below. The poem tells of the journey that all girls go through on their way to womanhood only to end up being called a "Bitch! followed by "Woman!"</p><p><i><span style="font-family: Merriweather; font-size: medium;"><b>VIRGIN WHORE</b></span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">by Peg Runnels and Susan Shaw</span></i></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I am the first<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">and the last</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Iam the honored one<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">and the scorned one</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I am the whore</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">and the Holy One</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I am the wife</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">and the virgin</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I am the barren one</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">and many are her children</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I am the silence</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">that is incomprehensible</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I am the utterance</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">of My NAME</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Text, Cnostic Gospel</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq06vfnseaMZJEPxfgGi5FiWb41_QRb9GbFlTNYEgQClBBnFhBQtcw5WE6lYpgvred3ZKvaagVpzYHtF9bQhaMoL8J4k0CNBxqiMzzc2LxN8TQjU6OpLztOv5BzFFBNVbUikCIFyRPXkUHVlp5cdfS3rkvQcHhsp3Ito6jCQtYPegNVKJz0vjI_i0NiZY/s306/passages.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="306" data-original-width="291" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq06vfnseaMZJEPxfgGi5FiWb41_QRb9GbFlTNYEgQClBBnFhBQtcw5WE6lYpgvred3ZKvaagVpzYHtF9bQhaMoL8J4k0CNBxqiMzzc2LxN8TQjU6OpLztOv5BzFFBNVbUikCIFyRPXkUHVlp5cdfS3rkvQcHhsp3Ito6jCQtYPegNVKJz0vjI_i0NiZY/w380-h400/passages.jpg" width="380" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">photo by Delores Gunter<br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">sitting Peg Runnels and Susan Shaw</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table>Virgin and whore are states of mind. Virgins and whores are incomplete women: women who need men for identity, women afraid to be whole, women who haven't come to terms with their sexuality.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I was raised to make some man a wonderful wife. Of course that meant being a virgin.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"MEN NEVER MARRY THE GIRLS THEY SLEEP WITH."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I was taught to know my place and to keep it clean.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I wanted to be like Mother and Grandma and like Aunt Cora who always wore a girdle, even in the summer.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"DON'T LAUGH SO LOUD. DON'T WIGGLE. DON'T GET DIRTY. AND FOR HEAVEN'S SAKES, KEEP YOUR KNEES TOGETHER."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I lived in terror of getting caught playing doctor with the boy next door. I knew about "bad girls."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"BOYS WILL BE BOYS. IT'S UP TO YOU TO SAY NO."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The worst thing about being about Being a Sweet Thing was the waiting. Always waiting. Waiting to be noticed. Waiting to be asked. I smile a lot. I would think, I'm not pretty enough. So I smiled more.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"YOUNG LADY, THAT SKIRT IS TOO SHORT. MARCH BACK IN THERE AND WIPE OFF THAT MASCARA."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I cleaned my body until I squeaked. I sprayed, I softened, I deodorized. I made my body desirable, so they would notice me. And they did. They always noticed the PARTS.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"LOOK AT THE TITS ON THAT ONE." "I"M A LEG MAN, MYSELF."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tits, thighs, ass, boobs, jugs, jugs, knockers, cunt, bunny, beaver . . . is this the virgin?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"DON'T BE SO UPTIGHT; I'M NOT GOING TO HURT YOU." "IF YOU REALLY LOVED ME, YOU'D PROVE IT. COME ON. TRY IT; YOU'LL LIKE IT."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I married at eighteen. Marriage has its boundaries, too.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"DON'T STAND TO NEAR THE WASHER REPAIRMAN; HE MIGHT GET THE WRONG IDEA. PRETEND YOU DON'T SEE HIM EYEING YOUR BREASTS. IF A MAN STOPS BY WHEN YOUR HUSBAND ISN'T HOME, TALK THROUGH THE SCREEN.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> Don't be too clever.</span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> Don't dance too close.</span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> Don't hold a man's gaze too long.</span><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span><span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> Don't go out late at night alone.</span><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span><span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> Don't challenge.</span><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">That's enough "don'ts." Isn't it about time to stop playing Virgina and Whore?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I want my own life, my own sexuality.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Even though we're not whole yet, I think we're getting closer. Don't you?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I suppose. Last week a man called me an Amazon, and I felt proud.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Really? last week a man called me salty.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span><i><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: medium;"><b>Virgin!<br /></b></span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: medium;"><i><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Whore!</span><br /></b></i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: medium;"><i><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Lady!</span><br /></b></i></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: medium;"><i><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Tramp!</span><br /></b></i></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: medium;"><i><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Snow White!</span><br /></b></i></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: medium;"><i><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Rose Red!</span><br /></b></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: medium;"><i><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Spinster!</span><br /></b></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: medium;"><i><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Madam!</span><br /></b></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: medium;"><i><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Nice!</span><br /></b></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: medium;"><i><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Good!</span><br /></b></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: medium;"><i><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Protected!</span><br /></b></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: medium;"><i><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Experienced!</span><br /></b></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: medium;"><i><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Martyr!</span><br /></b></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: medium;"><i><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Bitch!</span><br /></b></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Basic;"><i><b><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>WOMAN!</b></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">_________________________________________________________________</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;"> poem by dorothy charles banks</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>you . . . who is not hipped at all</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">you try to impress me</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">with your hip</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">bullshit talk </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">while </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">at the same time</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">try to turn </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">me on</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">with your slick</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">tight pants </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">showing</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTb8PnafOy1Z9DRNpTVCDv0X939IHfHaZz_EoYXs15wlB6_OCsQrsPjIeAGY8-8KMDTTj1A0Sfnioa8HZiJSlLpTdzhWzpqVvSYU35OQchnyILKp9SN2zc2A9cqj-BbKa2twmbbHt4BfdFPOUPk_M12uN_4cmO_FgecnHPk2kYRllP9UmqTtIWoQRMgmA/s744/dorothy.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="507" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTb8PnafOy1Z9DRNpTVCDv0X939IHfHaZz_EoYXs15wlB6_OCsQrsPjIeAGY8-8KMDTTj1A0Sfnioa8HZiJSlLpTdzhWzpqVvSYU35OQchnyILKp9SN2zc2A9cqj-BbKa2twmbbHt4BfdFPOUPk_M12uN_4cmO_FgecnHPk2kYRllP9UmqTtIWoQRMgmA/s320/dorothy.jpg" width="218" /></a></div><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: Alata;">a faint impression</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">of your manhood</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">I look at you</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">and smile to myself</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;"> when i go sister</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">and jump loud on you</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">you get embarrassed</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">and pretend </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">to blow</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">your nose</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">i laugh</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">as you stand</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;"> in front of me</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">your pretend </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;"> manhood</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">draining from you</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">African nose</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">your curse at me under</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">your scotch and water breath</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">as you reach for</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">your glass to leave</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">i'm glad you caught</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Alata;">the hint</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">(C)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">_____________________________________________________</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>THE HISTORY OF LAUNDRY PASSAGE</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">by Frieda Werden</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b>I</b></span><span style="font-family: times;"> must admit that I have always been fascinated with laundry. Some of my earliest memories involve laying a sheet in the middle of the living room floor, covering it with dirty clothes, and tying it into a bundle, to be picked up by the laundry service. </span></span><span style="font-family: times;">Or, I remember my mother kneeling beside the bathtub doing the wash by hand at a time when we had no laundry service or washing machine. To me the laundry is intimately connected with poetry. One of my earliest memories of writing a poem is of myself at the dining room table of my parents' home. I was in high school, and literature was a means of transcending fate. The poem I was writing went in part:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">The wild wind hurls into the street</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">Old overalls with patched-up seats;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">But undershirt and pantaloon</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">Hanging docilely from noon to moon</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">Til plucked in haste by weary wives</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">With hair contrived to make it curl.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">No matter how much each one strives, </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">This is the essence of their lives:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">The moon and sun on wash unfurled</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">Upon the clothesline of the world.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;">With the magic of poem making, the control of rhythm, assonance, rhyme and other devices. I hoped to exorcise the demonic vision of an adulthood I would shorty enter.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;">In looking at women's history, I am struck by the fact that women's accomplishments have taken place against the background of the daily tasks that no one did unless it was the women. The laundry is exemplary. Heroic deeds have been formulated around it: the first recorded strike by women laborers in Texas was a laundresses' strike in 1873.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;">It was generally Black women who did the laundry in the early days of what is now Texas--often free women of color who had come to the area because Mexico's anti-slavery constitution made it possible for them to exist here. When the Republic was formed and the new laws of the Republic--founded as much as anything to permit slavery--made free women of color a nonexistent class, each woman had to petition the legislature for special dispensation to remain the state. In the Texas Archives, there are a number of these petitions signed by upstanding male citizens of Galveston, the husbands, perhaps, of their clients. on behalf of well-known laundresses such as Zilpha and Zelia Husk.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;">Around the Mexican border, Mexican and Mexican American women also got into the laundry business. An oral history of an elderly El Paso woman reports that her sister once worked in the El Paso Laundry, a giant commercial laundry on the edge of Chihuahita--the poorest Mexican neighborhood in the city, located on a bend of the Rio Grande. There women slaved in the heat without fans through the hot summers, washing, feeding the sheets into the mangle (known as "el mango" to the workers)--a machine that could mangle hands as well as sheets. After a long day, the women could come home exhausted, wringing with sweat. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;">After the ideas of the Mexican Revolution made their way north of the border, a 1911 laundry workers' strike in El Paso increased the wages of laundresses to $1.50 a day. White women in El Paso complained because maids would no longer do housework for less than the $1.50, they could make at the laundries; the strike had raised the wage floor of women in the city.</span><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;">One of the best documented laundry stories, and the one I told in detail in the performance of my passage, is the story of the Belton Sanctificationists who started taking in washing in order to build a self-supporting women's religious and economic community.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">_______________________________________________________________ </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">poem by dorothy charles banks</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Libre Baskerville; font-size: medium;">Pavlov's Pog</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">like one of Pavlov's </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">experimental dogs </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">your mouth waters</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">as your trembling</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">hands travel to</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">toy with the</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">diamond filled</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">pyramid lying</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">between my</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">right &</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">left thighs</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">I hear your breath</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">rushing from</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">you in short gasps</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">I hear you panting</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">in labored agony</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">when I ask if</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">you are one of </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">Pavlov's dogs</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">you hurriedly say</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">"Yes" and </span><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">ask</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">"Who is he"?</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">I knock your hand &</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">face away</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">turning on my side</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">sliding out of bed</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">leaving you </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">panting</span><span style="font-family: Merriweather;"> alone</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;"><span> </span><span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">I was not raised to</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">make love to</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">Experimental Dogs</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">(C)</span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-6538782814069018842023-03-02T21:01:00.012-08:002023-11-09T03:33:49.208-08:00Alabama's Senator Tuberville says Black folks want to get paid reparations for committing crimes<p><span style="font-family: Basic;">Here we go again! Some
spoilsports will kill a wet dream! It seems that White folks will never learn
to do their homework before opening their mouths. African Americans always
gives them reason for pause and confusion. Ask a White person if Black folks are
discriminated against they will flip the script and say “they” are being
discriminated against by Black folks! “They” are the ones being treated unfairly.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Basic;">Treated “unfairly” is how former football coach Tommy Tuberville feels. A senator who represents Alabama, was cheered by an all White crowd at a Trump rally in rural Minden, Nevada, Oct. 10,
2022. They assured Tuberville that he was on the right track. Like throwing a football, he threw a metaphorical
brick to get approval from the crowd. And then he went into hiding. He did not
want the media asking him about the controversial remarks he made.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Basic;">But! Alas!
Tuberville, a hope-to-die Donald Trump supporter, had to come out of hiding.
The media demanded an explanation regarding his remarks at the rally. He said
he was talking about <i>crime</i> does not <i>race</i>. He also threw <i>Black Lives
Matter</i> and <i>Antifia</i> into his explanation. In earlier years he was a
birther who believed that presidential candidate Barack Obama is not an American, and his birth
certificate would tell who he is, and where he was actually born.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpauTTeyiuniQcXJXQ4vshK9UiCmynuBolP66wmZicNswaIV3v6R2MazgSwJWx6LCWguIt9HtG22_1C4rXcxWVZt79ki3by6kTA8UmqYH-fAyw-86I8WVjGIlYXRP6wQwkD7-9RJZFj3eCMrJVAhIrrSf-TI1zMrtBWr0WSyylJSo_rfz7dDALeWgJ/s660/c7089485-c4e3-42c0-8d55-77adff6decb9-AP_New_Senators.webp" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="660" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpauTTeyiuniQcXJXQ4vshK9UiCmynuBolP66wmZicNswaIV3v6R2MazgSwJWx6LCWguIt9HtG22_1C4rXcxWVZt79ki3by6kTA8UmqYH-fAyw-86I8WVjGIlYXRP6wQwkD7-9RJZFj3eCMrJVAhIrrSf-TI1zMrtBWr0WSyylJSo_rfz7dDALeWgJ/s320/c7089485-c4e3-42c0-8d55-77adff6decb9-AP_New_Senators.webp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Senator Tommy Tuberville (R)</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Basic;">Tuberville was a
coach at Auburn University for 11 years. He personally recruited Blacks to
attend the university because of their potential to play football. In his job
as a coach, he asked Black parents and their sons to follow him down the <i>Yellow
Brick Road</i> that would lead to success, and a future career in sports.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Basic;">To enhance his
performance at the rally Tuberville raised his voice as if he was angry. “The
Democratic Party, they have a majority. They could stop this crime today. They
could say, some people say, well, they are soft on crime; they’re pro-crime
because they want to take over what you got! They want to control what you got! The want reparations because they think people that do crime are owed that.
Bullshit! They’re not owed that!" Tuberville wowed the rural crowd when he
said “Bullshit” to reparations for Black folks.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Basic;">In his speech Tuberville
implied that African Americans commit the most crimes, and they expect to get paid
for committing crimes! He gave the impression that White folks, none of whom
commit crimes, are expected to pay reparations to Black folks.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Basic;">Often overstated
by the media, actual data gets lost or deliberately overlooked. The media
asserts that Black folks commit more crimes than Whites so it must be true. On
the subject of reparations, the same media cannot make up its mind to backoff
or sensationalize it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Basic;">Websters
Dictionary defines “reparations” <i>(a) the act of making amends, offering
expiation, or giving satisfaction for a wrong or injury; (b) something done or
given as amended or satisfaction.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Basic;">White folks swear
they know nothing about this chapter in America’s history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some say Black folks are only looking for a
free hand out, they say. Besides, no Black person today was ever a slave. Black folks
should get on with their lives and stop thinking about the past.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-family: Basic;">To the contrary,
issuance of reparations are not new. On April 16, 1862, President Abraham
Lincoln signed a bill emancipating enslaved Africans in Washington, the end of
a long struggle. But to ease slave owners pain, in the District of Columbia
Emancipation Act paid those loyal to the Union up to $300.00 for every enslaved
African freed. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Basic;">Enslaved Africans
received nothing for their centuries of hard labor. “Lincoln appointed aboard
of commissioners to oversee the process of compensation, headed by the North
Carolina abolitionist and New Times reporter Daniel Reaves Goodloe. The board
reviewed more than 1,000 slaveholders’
petitions to claim more than 3,000 Africans, close to the entirety of the dwindling
population. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Basic;">“Most of the
petitioners received the full amount allowed. The largest individual payout was
$418,000 for 69 slaves. Although the District of Columbia Emancipation Act
marked the only time the federal government would compensate slaveowners, there
is a longer history of slaveowners requesting and receiving indemnification for
the loss of their chattel”. (<span style="font-size: x-small;">Department of African American Studies, Princeton
University.)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Basic;">Jeremy Ellis,
president of Clotilda Descendants Association said, “I think it would suit Sen.
Tuberville to visit Africatown. It’s an area he is extremely familiar with
since he recruited a number of his players there when he was head football
coach”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Basic;">Located in Mobile,
Alabama, Africatown was founded by descendants of Africans smuggled to the
United States aboard a vessel called the Clotilda in 1860. Located three miles
north of downtown Mobile, Africatown was formed by 32 descendants of West
Africans. It was designated a Historic District and listed in the National
Register of Historic Places in 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-family: Basic;"><i>Smithsonian
Magazine</i>: “Even though the U. S. banned the importation of the enslaved from
Africa in 1808, the high demand for slave labor from the booming cotton trade
encouraged Alabama plantation owners like Timothy Meaher to risk illegal slave
runs to Africa. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Basic;">“In 1860, his
schooner sailed from Mobile to what was then the Kingdom of Dahomey under Captain
William Foster. He brought Africans captured by warring tribes back to Alabama,
skulking into Mobile Bay under the cover of night, then up the Mobile River.
Some of the transported enslaved were divided between Foster and Meaher, and
other were sold. Foster then ordered the Clotilda taken upstream, burned and
sunk to conceal the evidence of their illegal activity”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-family: Basic;">Tuberville might
have been faintly familiar with the Africatown but not with its history. Black football
players from Africatown are the reason he earned millions of dollars and
trophies, neither of which he shared with the players. But that is normal in
college sports. Steal the talents and health of athletes and drop them when
they get injured or graduate. Still, Tuberville did not bother to discover the
players’ ancestry. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;">“Many of
the thousands of lynchings were directed at Black </span></b></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;">farmers </span></b><b><span style="line-height: 107%;">in order to terrorize
all Blacks and make them leave”</span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Basic;">At the rally Tuberville
did not mention plantation owners wanting to own Black Africans. Ownership of imported Africans was money in the bank. Tuberville talked about Blacks wanting what
Whites have, but he did not talk about how White terrorists and slanted
legalities stole land from free Blacks, who owned land wrestled from them by
force, the law and violence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Basic;">Tommy Tuberville
continued to skip history during his rally rant, leaving out hundreds of stories
about Whites wanting what Blacks had. Steve Hochstadt wrote an article in the
<i>Black Agenda</i> <i>Report</i>, August 14, 2019, describing facts in that Tubberville was
not aware of. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His research took him to a
history he was not cognizant of about Black farmers and Black landowners.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Basic;">“Despite obstacles, many Black families had acquired
farmland by World War I. There were nearly 1 million Black farms in 1920,
about one-seventh of all American farms, mostly in the South. During the
20th century, nearly all of this land was taken or destroyed by Whites.
Sometimes this happened by violent mob action, as in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1921,
or the lesser known pogrom in Pierce City, Missouri, in 1901, when the entire Black
community of 300 was driven from town. A map shows many of the
hundreds of these incidents of White collective violence, concentrated in the
South. Many of the thousands of lynchings were directed at Black farmers in
order to terrorize all Blacks and make them leave.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Basic;">“Other methods had a more legal appearance. Over 75
years, the Black community of Harris Neck, Georgia, developed a thriving
economy from fishing, hunting and gathering oysters, on land deeded to a former
slave by a plantation owner in 1865. In 1942, the federal government gave
residents two weeks notice to leave. Their houses were destroyed, and
an Air Force base was created. That site was chosen by the local white
politicians. Black families were paid two-thirds of what White families got per
acre. Now the former African American community is the Harris Neck National
Wildlife Refuge”.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Basic;">White terrorists wasted no time taking land from Black
farmers and landowners. They took whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, fully
knowing that the famers had no legal recourse. Tuberville intentionally hurled
a touchy word at the folks attending the rally. He knew he would get a roar of
approval from White folks.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Basic;">Once again Tubberville failed to do his homework. Paying
reparations have been dispensed in the past, long before African Americans
began entertaining the idea. Just to
list a few:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0.5in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">February 19, 1942, World War ll,
an executive order from President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent 125,000 <b>Japanese
citizens</b> to interment camps. They were paid $20,000 each in 1990; 80,000
made claims totally $1.6 billion.</span><span style="font-family: Basic;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">About 881<b> Aleuts</b>,
indigenous people from the Aleutian Islands, were deported to camps in Juneau
Alaska. In 1988 around 450 of those who survived the ordeal received $121,000
each. The U.S. government admitted that the Aleutians were held on the camps
longer than they should have been.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Reparations were paid </span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">to victims
of <b>forced sterilization and eugenic programs</b> to rid American society of
citizens deemed as misfits and degenerates. In 2013 North Carolina agreed to
pay $10 million to victims. The payment was to be divided among the victims.
Virginia in 2015, initiated a compensation program for victims who had the same
government crime committed against them.</span><span style="font-family: Basic;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The noted <b>“Tuskegee Study of
Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male”</b> lasted for 40 years, drawing in
hundreds of Black men used as guinea pigs. Some of the men were not offered a
cure despite a cure for syphilis was discovered. After getting exposed by an
Associated Press reporter, the victims filed a class action lawsuit. Ten
million dollars was paid to the survivors, their widows and offspring. In 1955
the Tuskegee victims were guaranteed a lifetime of medical care for themselves
and their families.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">The year was 1923 when <b>Rosewood</b>,
located in Florida, i</span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">n Rural Levy County, was leveled by a mob angry, racist
males. Rosewood was a small all Black community. The mob burned down home and
churches after a White woman accused a Black man of trying to rape her. The man
was lynched. The rebel rousing mob then killed a number of Rosewood residents
and burned and set fire to structures. In 1994 Florida agreed to pay $2.1
million to residents that survived the Rosewood massacre. </span><span style="font-family: Basic;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">By the hands of White police in <b>Chicago</b>,
Black prisoners were subjected to torture, extracting confession to crimes they
did not commit. Chicago awarded 57 survivors cash payments totaling $5.5
million. Rather than admit the payment was for crimes committed against these
57 prisoners, the payment labeled “Reparations.” Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel
apologized for the torture of the prisoners, and mandated that “torture” be
studied in public schools.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">No one is paying African Americans to commit</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Basic;"> crimes in
an attempt to take what White folks have, as suggested by Alabama’s Senator
Tommy Tuberville, the Republican multi-millionaire. Not one Black person, who
might agree with Tuberville and Republicans, would agree to contribute a dime
to pay wanton criminals, no matter who they are.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Basic;">Reparations are still a giant thumb in the eyes of
White folks. It is their Achilles heel. As matter of fact, everything relating
to Black folks is their Archilles heel. Reparations today would mean admitting to,
and giving truth to America’s dark past; the willful participation in the slave
trade; deliberately buying and owning human beings solely for the purpose of
using them as free labor, and to acquire financial wealth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Basic;">To add on this rejection of reparations to Black
folks, the wanna-be dictator governor of Florida Ron DeSantis, wants to erase the
real history of African American in his state. He said in January that the high
school Advance Placement course on African Americans studies is not factual.
He said, “We believe in teaching kid's facts and how to think, but we don’t
believe they should have an agenda imposed on them”. He said the classes
amounts to “indoctrination.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Basic;">On January 12, Florida’s Department of Education
penned a letter it sent to Florida’s College Board. The letter stated that the
AP class is “inexplicably contrary to Florida’s law and significantly lacks
educational value”. All related European subjects are just fine as is and can
be taught in AP classes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Basic;">Like his counterpart in Texas, Greg Abbott, has copied
DeSantis dissimilation of Black folks and their history because neither wants
White kids to feel guilty and responsible the actions of their forefathers. If slavery
is not discussed, the Emancipation, how Africans ended up in the Americas, then
students cannot ask about reparations and slavery. The “offended” can freely
discuss how first president George Washington never told a lie. In rewriting
history, text book authors can delete the fact that Washington owned slaves.</span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-67747801848872551022022-11-19T22:43:00.010-08:002022-11-21T15:46:25.196-08:00Whitney Latrice Floyd-Kerr: A celebration of life<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">A Celebration of Life</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span>In loving remembrance of</span><b><i><span><o:p> </o:p></span></i></b></span></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Whitney Latrice Floyd-Kerr</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-family: arial;">January 19, 1988 – November 9, 2022 </span></b></i></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwIJvMxhm21C2HJf49-9kHRH31u-lJxVtkz9nZqv_M9gHy8q3Q_i-308Tv7_NRVe-mhjnH0MB6k6Ftq4HTZvB---dZiIwy2ElfreRWlcjwkfOek_xGpSEFlaydJeNx88_jAqSmLIJAig-vTtdnc8T2T2Zs9rkBPIOtM6RCusAk88OrrEh03mEHO1Tt/s539/whitney.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="418" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwIJvMxhm21C2HJf49-9kHRH31u-lJxVtkz9nZqv_M9gHy8q3Q_i-308Tv7_NRVe-mhjnH0MB6k6Ftq4HTZvB---dZiIwy2ElfreRWlcjwkfOek_xGpSEFlaydJeNx88_jAqSmLIJAig-vTtdnc8T2T2Zs9rkBPIOtM6RCusAk88OrrEh03mEHO1Tt/s320/whitney.jpg" width="248" /></a></div></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Service of Love<br /></span></b><span style="font-family: georgia;">Thursday, November 17,
2022 at 11:00 AM</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><div><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><b><br /></b></span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><b>Pastor Paul Jacks</b>, <span style="font-size: x-small;">Officiating</span><br /></span></i><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Lifeline Christian
Fellowship<br /></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Round Rock, Texas</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Obituary</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10pt;">Whitney
Lartice Floyd-Kerr was born January 19, 1988, to Laura Ockletree-Floyd and John
Davis Floyd in Fort Hood, Texas. She received Christ at an early age and was
baptized at Austin Tabernacle.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10pt;">Whitney
was a 2006 graduate of Stoney Point High School. She went on to earn a Pharmacy
Tech Certificate. She was a devoted wife, mother and caregiver. Whitney had
many wonderful attributes, but the greatest was her nurturing and loving
spirit.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10pt;">On
February 26, 2008, she married the love of her life, Clinton W. Kerr of Round
Rock, Texas. To this union they were blessed with two sons, Caleb Wayne (age
12) and Clinton Wayne Kerr, Jr. (age 9) She adored her family and was an
excellent wife and homemaker.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10pt;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaNLOMzeF8T1K-JfwFOy15UAHOmolZ0J7VmB_pkEVdXgodBBkTHYZy2ucKFk4TTHGSNaULdixtb3LGEYnl1kcf57AegCM2XQKdhapWgyCF4-K7WbGxOkxdK0NPcqTrwMjoP84isdvJh0XUQlabOODuFwxvp4ZHIpbzleV9lL16a3Cz-loAXFXy5X2V/s775/laura%20whitney.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="775" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaNLOMzeF8T1K-JfwFOy15UAHOmolZ0J7VmB_pkEVdXgodBBkTHYZy2ucKFk4TTHGSNaULdixtb3LGEYnl1kcf57AegCM2XQKdhapWgyCF4-K7WbGxOkxdK0NPcqTrwMjoP84isdvJh0XUQlabOODuFwxvp4ZHIpbzleV9lL16a3Cz-loAXFXy5X2V/w298-h266/laura%20whitney.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Daughter,Whitney Floyd Kerr, Laura Ockletree </span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Floyd, mother</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />Whitney
is preceded in death by her mother, Laura Ockletree-Floyd; grandparents Rosie
May and John Davis Floyd. Sr.; uncles Joseph Floyd and James Floyd; and nephew
KeyVenuntavious Powell.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Left
to cherish her loving memory are her husband, Clinton and their beautiful
children Caleb Wayne Kerr and Clinton Wayne Kerr; father, John Davis Floyd
(Brenda); mother-in-law, Evelyn Kerr of Pflugerville, Texas; grandmother, Marie
Ockletree of Austin, Texas; grandfather, Dave Ockletree, Jr. (Billie) of
Temple</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Texas; siblings, Johnathan Floyd
of Round Rock, Texas, Christopher Ockletree of Austin, Texas, Quincy Ockletree
of Tulsa., Oklahoma, Sharita Ockletree of Round Rock, Texas And Garriet Howard,
Teixeira Powell and Tiffany Howard all of Tuskegee, Alabama; aunts, Evera Wilkins
of Temple, Texas, Sandra Ockletree of Round Rock, Texas and Mary Vaugh
(Douglas), Brenda Pace (Robert), Yolanda Patterson (Ronald), and Espenolia
Floyd all of Shorter, Alabama; uncles, Dave A. Ockletree (Latoya) of Vidalia,
Georgia, and Lawrence Floyd, Ozell Floyd (Angelia) both of Shorter, Alabama;
and a host of cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">*****************************************************************</span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Just One Day</span></b></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">If I could come back
just for one day<br />I know exactly what I
would say.<br />To my family and
friends, and those who I loved,<br />As a message from God
who speaks from above.<br />I would say it’s okay to
be sad for a while,<br />But what I really want
to most is to see you all smile.<br />And for you to go on and
live once again,<br />Allowing my memory to
comfort your pain.<br />I know you all loved me
with all of your heart,<br />And that none of you
wanted for me to depart.<br />I don’t quite understand
it all myself,<br />But I know you’ll get by
with a little bit of help.<br />Yes, I would say to be a
sad for a day<br />And to do what you need
to do.<br />And then lift up your
eyes<br />To the wonder of the
sky,<br />And I know that I loved
you all too!</span></h2>
<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">You
Never Said Goodbye<br /></span></b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">A
poem for my wife</span><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzPZzFJ7zjLquZNDF2iHGYxI0WUn30-DJGyiz5APmNymyvMjIvG46aiGouAciooU4zSiuUwzmtw31wTNSUHVm9FBErCaWOp59xQ0wf0L6P17BP278wBmfC25vmmfrDV31iedOIQYsyX3m2t51VJ2SgtX17_fx7j4QxMCwNJu5huTae5vQ78GuKJMH8/s361/Scan_20221119%20(3).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="361" data-original-width="240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzPZzFJ7zjLquZNDF2iHGYxI0WUn30-DJGyiz5APmNymyvMjIvG46aiGouAciooU4zSiuUwzmtw31wTNSUHVm9FBErCaWOp59xQ0wf0L6P17BP278wBmfC25vmmfrDV31iedOIQYsyX3m2t51VJ2SgtX17_fx7j4QxMCwNJu5huTae5vQ78GuKJMH8/s320/Scan_20221119%20(3).jpg" width="213" /></a></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">You never said I’m leaving,<br />You never said goodbye,<br />You were gone before I
knew it,<br />And only God knew why.<br />And a million times I
needed you,<br />A million times I cried,<br />If love alone could have
saved you,<br />You would never have
died.<br />In life I loved you
dearly,<br /> In death I loved you
still,<br />In my heart you hold a
place,<br />That no one could ever
fill.<br />It broke my heart to
lose you,<br />But you didn’t go alone,<br />For part of me went with
you,<br /> The day God took you home.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></h2><h2 style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></span>************************************</h2><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Order of Service</b></div></b><div style="text-align: center;">Prelude</div><h2> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><i>Old Testament</i></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Pastor D.W. Townsend</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Winn Memorial Baptist Church,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Elgin, Texas</span></div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div> <span style="font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>New Testament</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Rev. Paul Jacks</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Lifeline Christian Fellowship</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Round Rock, Texas</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Prayer</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Rev. Paul Jacks</span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-weight: normal;"><i>Selections</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">“Precious Lord” "When I see Jesus"</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Paul March</span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Remarks</i></span></span></div></span><span style="font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-weight: normal;"><i>Eulogy: </i></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Rev. Paul Jacks </span><i style="font-family: helvetica; font-weight: normal;">Benediction: </i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Psalm 23:1-6</span></div></span><span style="font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-weight: normal;"><i>Pallbearers</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Tyrone Grant </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Anthony Green </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Willie Warren</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Johnathan Floyd </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Quincy Ockletree </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Chris Floyd</span></div></span></h2>
<p align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Acknowledgements</span></i></b><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;">The
family of Whitney Latrice Floyd-Kerr would like to say a special thank you to
all the friends and family who are here to attend, and to those who are here in
spirit. We are deeply appreciative of all the kindness shown to us during our
time of bereavement. May God richly bless and keep each of you in His perfect
peace</span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Internment</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cook Walden Memorial Hill Cemetery</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pflugerville, Texas 78660</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Funeral Service</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">King-Tears Mortuary, Inc.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Austin, Texas 78702</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-55999685254833578262022-10-06T05:44:00.007-07:002023-09-28T10:17:26.846-07:00CRT: A new boogeyman for Republicans<p><i><b>Either America will destroy ignorance
or ignorance will destroy the United States</b></i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">. W. E. B. Dubois</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;">Pretend slavery and other dark secrets never happened in </span>America so that White children </b><b>can be happy and sightless of the past</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">John Wilkes Booth, an actor, assassinated President Abraham
Lincoln as he watched a play in Washington, DC at Ford’s Theater, April 14,
1865. History noted the Booth was a racist, who did not approve of Lincoln talking
about freeing slaves. He did not believe manumitted slaves should score rights strictly
reserved for White folks. Supposedly, Booth was a patriot, who believed that
the superiority of Whites would be depleted if slavery were abolished.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">One hundred fifty-seven years after the Emancipation
Proclamation was signed, Americans are battling the same stupidity,
foolishness, racism, and so-called patriots, who proclaim publicly: “Give me
liberty or give me death”! So far, they have opted to stay alive when push
comes to dodging bullets and jail time. It appears that White folks have an
irrational fear of losing their “superiority” status, somewhat predicted
by Booth. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">They cannot accept living in an
America in which they have to interact with folks who do not resemble them.
They cannot handle an America that they can no longer control. They refuse to
learn about history as is, exposing all its warts, all its ugliness; an
ugliness that is brutal and dehumanizing. It is no surprise that a campaign has
popped up among folks who want to sugarcoat America’s history, deleting the
history African Americans, who were victims of deliberate brutality and
dehumanization. <span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Books about African American history, civil rights activist Rosa
Parks, civil rights leader Rev Martin Luther King, Jr., former first lady and
author Michelle Obama, author Harper Lee (To Kill A Mockingbird), author/actress
Maya Angelou (I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings) have been banned. Toni Morrison (The
Bluest Eye), Richard Wright, Alice Walker (Color Purple), Nora Neale Hurston,
and other “controversial” authors are also banned from use in school libraries
and classrooms. Over 50 Black writers are on the list of banned books. So far,
the Bible has not been added to the list. Folks cannot claim to be Christians and
ban God’s words.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The motivation to erase African American history is akin to
instances of hate and racism some 108 years ago. The United Daughters of the
Confederate (UDC) so loved the South that the organization lobbied to ban
textbooks that were critical of their beloved South. Laura Martin Rose, historian
and author of a book titled “Origins of the Ku Klux Klan”, was the division
president of the UDC headquarters in Mississippi. The book was used as a fundraiser to erect a
confederate monument at Thomas Jeffersons’s home. <span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Encouraged by the success of the book, Rose hoped it would
inspire Southern males to commit acts violently against Black men. She
proclaimed that Black men were threats to White women. "Origins of the Ku Klux
Klan” was endorsed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy at their 1913
convention in New Orleans, and later by the Sons of Confederate Veterans in
Jacksonville in 1914. The goal was to promote use of the book in schools
throughout the South. (<i>Wikipedia)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">National threats of violence against Blacks and others who are
not White, have always been the first choice of action when change to the
social order is on the table. Once again promises of a “civil war” are getting
strong support from Republican wannabe tough guys, all of whom are determined
to send Donald Trump back to the White House. Trump has refused to publicly
concede his loss to Joe Biden, unlike Hillary Clinton, who conceded when she
lost her presidential bid to him. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Trump supporters are demanding that the two-time impeached
ex-president be <i>reinstalled</i> to his former position. His re-election bid
was supposed to be an automatic victory. Trump’s worshipers swear by the Bible
that he legally won the 2020 contest, the reason they hatched an insurrection scheme
for January 6, 2021, to stop the official Electoral College count to certify that
Joe Biden had beat Trump. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The wannabes intended to kill or kidnap politicians
at the Capitol that January day. If the clash of minds cannot come together, reaching
an amiable agreement, forcing compliance among disagreeing Americans, the wannabe
tough guys had pledged to turn America into a hailstone of death, blood and violence.
The participating White males and females felt it was their patriotic duty to
replace Biden with Trump. Republicans called the insurrectionists "tourists" and then attempted to blame Black Lives Matter for what happened. Apparently, the thousands of White faces were thousands of Black faces in disguise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">During an online panel discussion on <i>Critical Race Theory</i> (CRT)
at the University of Connecticut, Mary Beeman, campaign manager for five Republicans
running for the Guilford Board of Education, was part of a Zoom chat, October
7, 2021. The panel argued the cons of CRT, and the side effects of teaching it
in public schools. No pros were discussed.<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Mary Beeman said, “Helping kids of color to feel that they
belong has a negative effect on White, Christian, or conservative kids”. The
candidate’s number one focus was to stop the so-called indoctrination hidden
somewhere in CRT. Ironically, none of these folks examined their White Privilege
status, bestowed on them at the expense of slaves and emancipated slaves, as told in the history they prefer to deny.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Beeman, in essence, affirmed that African American children
have no right to<i> feel</i> that they <i>belong</i> in a White Christian
America if it makes White children feel guilty about being privileged. If White
Christian children are uncomfortable with the past as it connects to the savagery
of slavery, and the atrocities that Africans endured during those horrible centuries,
then their history should be washed clean, double rinsed in bleach, leaving no
traceable evidence of their past.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Gov. Greg Abbot of Texas directed the Texas State Board of
Education to make a controversial change in history. The proposal, though not communicated
verbally, suggests that Black Africans voluntarily left their homes and families in Africa to come America to work for White farmers from sunup ‘til sundown without pay,
or simple benefits such as adequate housing, decent food, freedom to learn how to read and
write.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“An advisory group of Texas educators has proposed changing
the word “slavery” to “involuntary relocation” after the Texas State Board of
Education directed them to examine how to implement a new law, to be signed by
Gov. Greg Abbott, banning the teaching of topics that would make students ‘feel
uncomfortable’. The group, comprised of nine educators, made the proposal for second-grade
social studies instruction, but ‘board members have asked them to consider the
phrasing, according to the state board’s chair’”. (<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Texas Tribune, June 2022</span>)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Like Beeman, Abbott and
the Texas State Board of Education are concerned about <i>Critical</i> <i>Race Theory</i>,
and how it will negatively influence White children enrolled in elementary
schools. Abbott wants to prohibit teaching the topic because it will make White
students “feel discomfort”. Elementary students do not know what academic “discomfort”
is! Nor can they participate in high level discussions about CRT, culture and
racism. <span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><b>Gov. Abbott does not want CRT taught in elementary schools </b></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ8HaXpn0XX_L37mpz8Pf_IS89z4-EPEttDmd4_Jk7zRHjnEnJiUfB7vbqGULRz0cJ_klOJPQZ3K8QH4TnNCYfrxtoxfMdo_bYyYYiw8b0QZaY7EKduBJfc2mrF2CRnyWvdN_tbncX06l8UdyLcX5NFRdeaHBjCG-FBL4-L-BSP_5KkkKIG0Yt02a0/s178/abbott.jpg" style="font-family: georgia; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="132" data-original-width="178" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ8HaXpn0XX_L37mpz8Pf_IS89z4-EPEttDmd4_Jk7zRHjnEnJiUfB7vbqGULRz0cJ_klOJPQZ3K8QH4TnNCYfrxtoxfMdo_bYyYYiw8b0QZaY7EKduBJfc2mrF2CRnyWvdN_tbncX06l8UdyLcX5NFRdeaHBjCG-FBL4-L-BSP_5KkkKIG0Yt02a0/w200-h149/abbott.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><b>Texas Gov. Greg Abbott</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;">Abbott’s proposition and that of the Board regarding <i>Critical</i> <i>Race
Theory</i> are creating more institutionalized racism. </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">“Institutionalized racism
occurs in organizations. These are race based policies and practices that give
unfair advantages to Whites over people of color. These institutionalized
policies often never mention any racial group, but the intent is to create
advantages”. (<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">National Museum of African American History and Culture)</span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">A couple of months ago Texas Republicans in the House and
Senate passed House Bill 2497. The 15- page pamphlet was created to paint Texas
in a favorable light during this election season. Once again, a nine-member
committee was selected to create the pamphlet, titled the “1836 Project”. Abbott
directed the panel to showcase Texas’s history, which is impossible to do in 15
pages. The pamphlet will not mention Texas’s violent history, or its participation
in the enslavement of Black Africans.</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The committee was instructed to tell how on June 19,
1865, Major General Gordon Granger and a significant number of Confederate
troops galloped into Galveston, Texas to inform slave owners and slaves that
they were free. I think this little tidbit of historical information is supposed
to show that Texas cared about Black slaves and their eventual freedom. Abbott wants everyone to know this is the reason Black folks celebrate Juneteenth.<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Abbott’s “1836 Project” initiated June 2021, is supposed to be
a slap at Nikole Hannah-Jones, whose historical document “The 1619 Project” shines
a light on the slave trade. On Twitter Hannah-Jones noted that she “feared that
the 1836 Project was another attempt to veil this nation’s history of slavery”.
She further posted, “When it comes to slavery, some people have never
wanted open debate and honesty. They seek to bury and prohibit it instead”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Former president Donald Trump was unhappy with Hannah-Jones Pulitzer
Prize winning project. Through an executive order September 2020, Trump created
his own version of “The 1619 Project”, calling it “The 1776 Commission.” He said,
“The 1776 Commission” will promote a “patriotic education”. He wants it taught
in classrooms. He called for the cancellation of <i>Critical Race Theory</i> in
classrooms, and in training sessions among federal employees. He outlawed racial
sensitivity training that discussed White Privilege. “The 1619 Project”, that Trump
called “revisionist history”, is not taught in elementary or high school classrooms.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Another form of racism that gives Whites an advantage is termed
<i>structural racism</i>. It is the “overarching system of racial bias across
institutions and society. These systems give privileges to White people
resulting in disadvantages to people of color. The notion of race is a social
construct designed to divide people into groups ranked as superior and
inferior”. (<span style="font-size: x-small;">National Museum of African American History and Culture)</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Textbook publisher McGraw-Hill was approached by astute
students and parents to reverse and reprint a geography photo and caption that
referred to enslaved Africans as “immigrants” and “workers”. The inaccurate
depiction had gotten the attention of a high school freshman from Texas named Coby
Burren. He phoned his mother, reading
the caption to her. Roni Dean-Burren, an English teacher at a Pearland, Texas
public school, posted the picture to Facebook. The detailed graphic was listed
under McGraw-Hill <i>World Geography</i> in textbooks dispensed throughout
America.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Dean-Burren said in an interview with <i>The Washington Post</i>,
“This is revisionist history-retelling the story however the winners would like
it told”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">According to <i>The Los Angeles Times, 2015,</i> “The picture shows a
graphic about immigration patterns with the text, The Atlantic Slave Trade between
the 1500s and 1800s brought millions of workers from Africa to the southern
United States to work on agricultural plantations”. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">McGraw-Hill apologized in a post on Facebook. “We believe we
can do better. To communicate these facts more clearly, we will update this
caption to describe the arrival of African slaves in the U.S. as a forced
migration and emphasize that their work was done as slave labor”. <span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Newsweek,</i> 9/17/22, wrote: “Slaves were gifted, deeded and
mortgaged the same way we sell houses today. They were itemized and insured the
same way we manager our assets and protect out valuables. Enslaved people were
valued at every stage of their lives, from before birth until after death.
Slaveholders examined women for their fertility and projected the value of
their ‘future increase’. As the slaves grew up, enslavers assessed their value
through a rating system that quantified their work. Their value decreased on a
quarter scale from three-fourths hands to one-fourth hands, to a rate of zero,
which was typically reserved for elderly or differently able bond people”. <span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><b>“Voluntary
relocation” suggests that Africans came to the America on their own free will
in crowded, unsanitary ships</b></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“Guilt is heavy in America, and the only way to throw off this
burden is by changing the conditions that created it. But first there must be
acknowledgement. Since the eighties, acknowledgement has diminished. Black
people are told: ‘We gave you your chance and you failed’. The truth is, we did
not fail. They never lived up to anything they wrote down. America has never
repented for what it’s done to our people. Or shall we talk of the Indians and
broken treaties? Our society has never lived up anything they’ve said to
anybody of color. So it’s not a matter of ‘We gave you’. They haven’t given us
nothin’. You cannot rob me and give me anything. If I rob you on the corner and
then say, ‘Here’s five dollars’”, it’s absurd”.<i> (<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Wisdom of The Elders by
Robert Fleming)</span></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Restless Caucasians have found another bogeyman to feed their
boredom and need for public attention. In 2009 it was newly elected president, Barack
Obama, a Black man, was the bogeyman. Millions of Whites lost their minds! Collectively! How dare
a Black man think he is equal to White people! Today its <i>Critical Race Theory</i>. A few self-lobotomized Blacks have signed onto the absurdity,
unaware of their history in America. Whites have accused Blacks of wanting to stigmatize
White children, making them feel guilty for enjoying the American dream. Whites
say African Americans have always had the same opportunities and freedoms
afforded Whites, but Blacks were just too lazy to take advantage of the
opportunities.<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">When Republican Michele Bachmann was running for president in
2011, she said, “A Black child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be
raised by his mother and father in a two-parents household than was an African
American baby born after the election of USA’s first African American
president”. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">As usual, folks are repeating the myth that Blacks have always
been on equal footing with Whites. They did not own slaves, they say. They are
not responsible for what their fore-parents did. They overlook the fact that President
Abe Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation did not include equal rights for manumitted
slaves. They could not pursue the American Dream. Privileged Whites stole land
that freed Africans scrimped and saved to buy. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Whites burned down small towns that Blacks built, such as Rosewood.
One of the most noted in history is the complete destruction of Black Wall Street
in Oklahoma in 1921. Jealous Whites did not like that Blacks were living better
than they were. They looted businesses and homes and killed hundreds of Blacks,
leaving many homeless and broken. The law was not on their side, and no one
was ever prosecuted for the crimes.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Slaves learned from their captors that land ownership is
power. Centuries later African Americans have begun to reclaim the land that
was taken from their ancestors.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Critical Race Theory </i>is taught at law schools and some
universities, not grade schools. It is much too complicated to quickly skim in
Social Studies or history. For instance: Jackson, Mississippi, a southern state,
rocked and rolled a history of violence and racism against freed slaves. It was
founded 210 years ago and named in honor of a wealthy plantation owner named Andrew
Jackson. He made his fortune using free African labor. As seventh president </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">he was instrumental in the ethnic cleansing of the South’s Indigenous
population, resulting in the <i>Trail of Tears.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“Later Jackson suffered some of the worst racist violence as
Jim Crow laws disenfranchised African Americans across the South and White
supremacist terrorism waged by the KKK and others drove millions of Blacks
North in the Great Migration. Edgar Evers, political activist, and NAACP
secretary was assassinated outside his Jackson, Mississippi home”. (<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Democracy
Now)</span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><b>No Black can escape an angry White mob</b></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Violence against Blacks for the sake of violence was the norm in
the good ol’ days. Not even an unborn baby could escape a horrific death at the
hands of a malicious mob. Mary Turner was eight months pregnant when it
happened to her. Turner’s baby was cut from her stomach as she hung upside down
from a tree. Without mercy, a male took a knife and cut the unborn child from
Turner’s stomach. He stomped the baby to death when it fell to the ground. Turner
was doused with gasoline and set on fire. She was lynched by a mob from Brooks
County, Georgia. The year was 1918.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Turner was a free citizen of the United States. Her husband
had been accused of murdering a White plantation owner. After his murder 13
Blacks were lynched. No Black person was safe from White terrorists armed with
ropes, rifles, guns, ammunition, and trees. Turner, a mother of three, was
rendered guilty because she had the gall to speak out against the mob that lynched
her husband, Hayes Turner, for a murder he did not commit. A book was
eventually written about Mary Turner, but her story will not be required
reading in public school rooms, nor will it be stacked on library shelves.<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">A study conducted by the Equal Justice Initiative found that 4,084
Black men, women and children were lynched in 12 southern states. Of that
number 3,265 were African Americans. No one was prosecuted for the lynchings.
This is what White parents and politicians want to hide. What happened in 1918
and centuries earlier is not their fault. It is easier to whitewash history,
double rinse it in bleach, eliminating all evidence.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In Texas, according to the late Barry Crouch, historian of the
Reconstruction era in Texas, said Whites in the state murdered about one of
every hundred African American men between the ages of 15 and 49 from 1865 to
1868. They murdered newly enfranchised voters, and there a story of one enraged
White man with a sword chopping an African American woman in Huntsville in half
when she dared celebrate her emancipation. (<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Texas Month</span></i><span><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">ly</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">)</span></i><o:p style="font-size: 10pt;"></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><b>Employee told not to drive his new car to work</b></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Years ago, a friend of mine worked at a large high-tech
company in Austin, Texas. He and his wife worked hard to build a middle-class
life for themselves and their children. They had two cars. He drove the old car;
his wife drove the new one. One day he drove the new car to work, parking in
the employee’s space. At some point during the day his supervisor pulled him
aside, asking him if the car was his. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">His supervisor, who was White, read him the riot act, scolding
him about spending his income on fancy cars. He told my friend that he was
buying a home, had a boat and a car! He did not see the boat and car as a waste
of money. My friend was told not to drive the car to work again. The supervisor
likened his car to my friend’s car, saying it looked better than his! He sealed
the conversation with a threat to terminate my friend if he disobeyed his
order. <span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">My friend was not the only Black employee this supervisor had
approached. They said he was jealous and did not want to see Black employees
progress at the company. They knew that he was not above creating problems to get them fired.
The White supervisor had the power to smother the financial lifelines of Black
employees whenever he wanted, without fear of reprisal from the top. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On the TV show “Black-ish” an episode caught my attention. The story line was related to enrolling in college. When it was time for his oldest son to enroll in college, his parents
reluctantly let him go to the college of his choice. He was supposed to live on
campus. Within a week he returned home to their surprise. He wanted a “gap
year” before seriously committing to college. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">One day at work, Andre Dre Johnson, played by actor Anthony
Anderson, a successful advertising executive, told his fellow employees about
his son’s decision to take off a year before enrolling in college. He was
reminded by the two White males sitting around conference table that Black
kids—unlike White kids—could not take off a year before enrolling in college. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The
boss of the company reminded Johnson that each day his son was not attending
college, he was getting farther behind, giving reason for White employers not
to hire him. He said White employers are key to his son’s succeeding. Albeit
comedy imitating real life, the company’s CEO let Johnson know that no matter
how his son succeeds, White employers will decide what financial road he will
travel.<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">When Dre revealed that he had attended Howard University, his
boss, Mr. Stevens, said he thought Dre attended Harvard, not Howard. He said he
would not have hired Dre had he known he attended a “<i>school for Blacks</i>”.
Those words evoked the notion that Johnson could not realize success after
graduating from an all-Black university. Like my friend who was told not drive
his new car to work, or risk getting fired, Mr. Stevens controlled Dre
Johnson’s destiny and his success at his company. This amounted Dre Johnson and
my friend metaphorically, walking around with a White man’s foot on their necks
every day they reported to work.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Critical Race Theory</i> was riding the backs of African Americans
long before it became a recent issue for White folks to politicize. Republicans
are using fear about CRT to get elected. And it’s working.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><b><span style="text-align: center;">CRT: The boogeyman is </span><span style="text-align: center;">coming for your
children</span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a name='more'></a><!--more--><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHcoDorYjSvMgvKKEDMBgXcdWdTrCg8M7Xc8VzfuEI5Kx04nHnhUD7s11pJraLM8S98lN362T1M4CjectzXBXFqdq4g8rOPvUM1pY-tdustLdDdHKNdJWv6SU8asHKiiMB3uTMQtZjls6ZmiuZsbSBEPxa4UMljytKulgwfY-tsN-pAgwjdBUxzBTT/s943/Crenshaw_Thomas_Williams.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="943" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHcoDorYjSvMgvKKEDMBgXcdWdTrCg8M7Xc8VzfuEI5Kx04nHnhUD7s11pJraLM8S98lN362T1M4CjectzXBXFqdq4g8rOPvUM1pY-tdustLdDdHKNdJWv6SU8asHKiiMB3uTMQtZjls6ZmiuZsbSBEPxa4UMljytKulgwfY-tsN-pAgwjdBUxzBTT/w400-h219/Crenshaw_Thomas_Williams.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Creators of Critical Race Theory: Kimberle Crenshaw, <br />Kendall Thomas, Patricia Williams</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><!--more--><span style="font-family: georgia;">Since CRT hit the news about two years ago, 20 Republican run states
have introduced or passed legislation to make sure it is not taught in public
schools. Former VP Mike Pence said that “critical race theory is racism”. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Like
Texas’s governor Greg Abbott, Pence is feigning unawareness of America’s
history and the privileges they enjoy without question.</span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">CRT examines ways in which racism is embedded in American
laws, preserving the dominance of White people. The theory argues that racism
is not a matter of individual bigotry, but a systemic issue that creates an
uneven playing field for people of color.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“Texas teachers and experts say the term is being used
politically as a catchall phrase for any teachings that challenge or complicate
dominant narratives about the role of race in the country’s history and
identity, which used historically, centered on White people’s perspectives”. <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Texas Tribune</span>)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The CRT movement started at Harvard under Professor Derrick
Bell in the 1980s. As the grew it drew the attention of African American scholars
from cross the country. Kimberle Crenshaw was lecturing at UCLA on Critical Race
Theory. She was later appointed a full professorship at Columbia in 1995, along
with Patricia Williams, a former student, research assistant and mentee of
Bell, and professor of law emerita. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“Although the scholarship differs in emphasis and disciplines,
it is united by an interest in understanding and rectifying the ways in which a
regime of White supremacy, and its subordination of people of color in America
has had an impact on the relationship between social structure and professed
ideals such as ‘the rule of law’ and ‘equal protection’”.<i> (<span style="font-size: x-small;">Columbia News, 7/2021)</span></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kendall Thomas, Nash Professor of Law, and member of the
Columbia Law School faculty since 1984, said, “For parents or educators who,
according to GOP lawmakers, say that White children are made to feel guilty and
being taught that White people are oppressors, that this is not true by any
stretch of the imagination, an idea or tenet behind <i>Critical Race Theor</i>y. To
the contrary, <i>Critical Race Theory</i> recognizes that racial inequality and
exclusion hurt <i>all</i> Americans, whatever our race or color. The families
and teachers who oppose the attacks on Critical Race Theory know that we can’t
sensor classroom discussions about the meaning of race if we want to prepare
young Americans for the responsibilities of democratic citizenship in our
increasingly diverse multicultural society”. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kimberle said that “<i>Critical Race Theory</i> forces legal scholars
to ask questions. For instance, why does possession of less expensive drugs
carry higher jail sentences than the more expensive drugs. Could this have
anything to do with the fact that more people of color are in prison? It is a
way of looking at law’s role platforming, facilitating, producing, and even
insulating racial inequality in our country, ranging from health to wealth to
segregating to policing”.<i> (<span style="font-size: x-small;">Columbia News</span>)</i><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><b>Former President Obama called ‘your boy’ by White male</b></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjktPy4ePMW9rn8WZ7ONaXkX3gPW8dJJQsIPiyoWCqGvPscFtHZ9xb783nCefeVTdukAJfSZY7_plO8kKM4C80vU9tgFY5fLk7gYgyGof0TYGE3GcYmpviBHuZC9hFjuYhtljdJEH_biHwJVO40ULhxUyqE_EX5rH6PdHxLHBjlzvSooCEjIhw4GScy/s247/buchannan.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="247" data-original-width="178" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjktPy4ePMW9rn8WZ7ONaXkX3gPW8dJJQsIPiyoWCqGvPscFtHZ9xb783nCefeVTdukAJfSZY7_plO8kKM4C80vU9tgFY5fLk7gYgyGof0TYGE3GcYmpviBHuZC9hFjuYhtljdJEH_biHwJVO40ULhxUyqE_EX5rH6PdHxLHBjlzvSooCEjIhw4GScy/w144-h200/buchannan.jpg" width="144" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span><b>Pat Buchannan</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Pat Buchannan, a presidential candidate in 1992 and 1996, is a
hardcore Republican. He does not hide his racism or perceived superiority. He has
a point of view about the state of Black people. He writes that they should be
grateful to White people for being so gracious to them. He did not make a
connection between inequality and discrimination and how they are enemies of
Black folks.<o:p></o:p></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">During a heated debate between Buchannan and civil rights
activist Rev. Al Sharpton, the Richard Nixon hotshot referred to President
Barack Obama as “your boy”. Sharpton unloaded: ‘He’s no body’s boy. He’s your
president, he’s my president, and that’s what you have to get through your head”.
Buchannan went on the <i>Morning Joe show</i> to clarify that what he said was not
meant as a racial slur. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Calling the president of the United States “boy” was putting Barack Obama in his place, which was not in the White House. The newly minted president, in getting elected the first time he ran and won, knocked Buchanan down from his exaggerated view of himself as a well-known White TV pundit. A Black man that “needed” White Americans to be generous towards him and his family, had won the office that Buchannan longed to win.</span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggK0boGdqOz8YWO-TwZHuKjP4imqu5_OyKGuTq2I4lvoOotS_PWjcgr228S8jZ-O5zQkjtiNnQ-3Of6q98A-6NzsxAE8ulGouVA0-9SmZUgispSW6_U_mMv0AjmqDa-YF9sgQkxNMPLzSM6CQV2rjzGzdJmhk2HBJk0bH3boKXaD3DWjfpNtlqRfuH/s360/sharpton.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="360" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggK0boGdqOz8YWO-TwZHuKjP4imqu5_OyKGuTq2I4lvoOotS_PWjcgr228S8jZ-O5zQkjtiNnQ-3Of6q98A-6NzsxAE8ulGouVA0-9SmZUgispSW6_U_mMv0AjmqDa-YF9sgQkxNMPLzSM6CQV2rjzGzdJmhk2HBJk0bH3boKXaD3DWjfpNtlqRfuH/w200-h133/sharpton.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;"><b>Rev. Al Sharpton</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;">In a March 8, 2008, editorial on his web page titled “A Brief
for Whitey’s” Buchanan wrote: “First, America has been the best country on
earth for Black folks. It was here that 600,000 Black people, brought from
Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to
Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity
Blacks have ever known.</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“Second, no people anywhere have done more to lift up Blacks
than White Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the 60s on
welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 Housing, Pell grants, student
loans, legal services, Medicaid, earned income tax credits and poverty programs
designed to bring the African American community into the mainstream”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Buchanan is saying that giving free stuff to Blacks means freedom.
He did not write about opening doors of opportunity for Black Americans. His
assessment is very much in line with what White folks believe. Boasting about what
“generous” Whites have done for Blacks allows them to retain their whiteness, their
control, and their racial superiority. Today’s <i>Critical Race</i> <i>Theory </i>deniers
would agree with everything Pat Buchannan wrote, except saying that Africans were
transported to this country on slave ships. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott prefers
“voluntary relocation” from their homeland.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">When you break down the bellyaching and bitchfests, it’s all
about whiteness; it’s about making sure no other skin tones rise above their white
skin. It is also about fear of change and power. Author and novelist Tony
Morrison wrote an essay for The New Yorker, in which she pinpointed the fear
that Donald Trump supporters have. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“Unlike any nation in Europe, the United States holds
whiteness as the unifying force. Here, for many people, the definition of ‘Americanness’
is color. But now that way of life is being challenged by a Black president
and, potentially, a more diverse government. In order to limit the possibility
of this untenable change and restore whiteness to its former status as a marker
of national identity, a number of White Americans are sacrificing themselves.
These sacrifices, made by supposedly tough White men, who are prepared to
abandon their humanity out of fear of Black men and women, suggests that the
true horror lost status”. (<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Toni Morrison, The New Yorker, 2016)</span></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“Whiteness and White radicalized identity refer to the way
that White people, their customs, culture and beliefs operate as the standard
by which all other groups are compared. Whiteness is also at the core of
understanding race in America. Whiteness and the normalization of white radical
identity throughout America’s history have created a culture where nonwhite
persons are seen as inferior or abnormal.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“Thinking about race is very different for nonwhite persons
living in America. People of color must always consider their racial identity,
whatever the situation, due to the systemic and interpersonal racism that still
exists”. (<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Smithsonian Natural Museum of African American History and Culture)</span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This article is addressing the power of white skin, as opposed
to the kaleidoscope of skin tones attempting to function and survive in a White America. This is what White parents do not want their children
to learn: The naked truth about the past and why Whites consider themselves the
“chosen ones.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">America is in the middle of an experiment. Her White citizens
are not willing to clear the table of their imperfections and racial attitudes.
White Christian children must never feel guilty for living a White Privilege
lifestyle, which will continue when they become adults, taking on the demeanor
of their parents. However, it is perfectly fine if Black children and Black adults
are made to feel that they do not belong in White America.</span></span></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-18288876845197741332022-06-07T23:16:00.010-07:002023-09-23T19:23:20.495-07:00Condolences, prayers and promises are not the solutions to gun violence and mass shootings (reprint)<p><br /></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j5hADr0L_qU/XW5uvCEreKI/AAAAAAAABpo/ka6FsONdWHUiTJvSV4XBQ4_hCsXLNxhVQCLcBGAs/s1600/obama.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="375" height="358" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j5hADr0L_qU/XW5uvCEreKI/AAAAAAAABpo/ka6FsONdWHUiTJvSV4XBQ4_hCsXLNxhVQCLcBGAs/s640/obama.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>President Obama makes emotional eulogy at Senator Pinckney's funeral. It was the day he sang "Amazing Grace", surprising every one at the funeral.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">“For too long, we've been blind to the unique mayhem that gun violence inflicts upon this nation. (Applause.) Sporadically, our eyes are open: When eight of our brothers and sisters are cut down in a church basement, 12 in a movie theater, 26 in an elementary school. But I hope we also see the 30 precious lives cut short by gun violence in this country every single day; the countless more whose lives are forever changed -- the survivors crippled, the children traumatized and fearful every day as they walk to school, the husband who will never feel his wife's warm touch, the entire communities whose grief overflows every time they have to watch what happened to them happen to some other place.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">“The vast majority of Americans -- the majority of gun owners -- want to do something about this. We see that now. (Applause) And I'm convinced that by acknowledging the pain and loss of others, even as we respect the traditions and ways of life that make up this beloved country -- by making the moral choice to change, we express God's grace”. (Applause.) President Barack Obama speaking at Senator Clementa Pinckney’s funeral.</span></span><br /></span><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-family: Basic;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: large;">Startling gun stats for 2019</span></span></b></span><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-family: Basic; font-size: small;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span><span><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">During George Bush’s presidency there were 16 mass shootings from 2000 to 2008. Such shootings happened under presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. President Barack Obama was greeted four months into his presidency with four mass shootings. Before he left office President Obama had spoken out about 15 different mass shootings. Clinton, Reagan and Bush were somewhat subdued about the shootings on their watch. </span></span></span><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></span></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span><i style="background-color: black; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;">Mother Jones</span></i><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"> magazine (Guide to Mass Shootings in America) has a listing of mass shootings in America from 1982 to 2019 and counting. </span><i style="background-color: black; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gun Violence Archive 2019</i><span style="background-color: black;"> has collected stats relating to gun incidents, deaths and violence. </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;">“In 1994, the Republicans reclaimed the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. The key factor in the major Democratic loss pointed to the federal assault weapons ban that was passed by Congress on September 13, 1994. A part of the <i>Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act</i>, the assault weapons ban banned semiautomatic weapons from having two or more military features, and placed a ten-year ban on the sale of assault weapons and large ammunition magazines. The ’94 election was significant because gun control became a deciding factor in the election and wedged two ideologically distant parties further apart”. (NBC News)</span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"> Congress did not renew the ban upon its expiration September 2004.</span></span></span></span><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;">When President Barack Obama talked about sensible gun reform or stricter regulations—not to be confused with taking a citizen’s gun or arsenal of guns—he was rebuffed by gun loving Americans, Democrats, gun dealers and sellers, the National Rifle Association (NRA) and all Republicans. Republicans, in spreading a pack of lies, postured that President Obama was going to send government agents to citizen’s homes to snatch their guns and ammunition. Some disillusioned Americans with stockpiles of guns and ammunition said they were ready to engage in a gun battle with the government if it attempted to physically confiscate their guns</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Alata; font-size: large;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Obama was the best salesman the gun business ever had</span></span></b></span></span></span></span><br /></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Turns out President Barack Obama was the best salesman that the NRA, gun and ammunition sellers ever had. He did not apply for the job; it was automatically bestowed on him. From 2008 to 2016 gun and ammunition sales shot through the roof (excuse the pun) in Virginia. Around 3,153,000 guns were sold. During Republican George Bush’s presidency, the state sold a mere 1,713,000 guns. There was no apparent fear among Republicans and gun lovers that Bush would confiscate their guns.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;">Newsweek Magazine</span></i><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;">, 2016, wrote, “President Obama became known as America’s gun salesman-in-chief during his final years in office”. An estimated $29.1 billion in firearms and $16.6 in ammunition were sold during his eight years in office. The purchases were panic buying as encouraged by the NRA and Republicans. Around $21.1 billion in gun sales and $22.1 billion in ammunition sales were realized under both Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">In 2016 the gun industry published a report stating that it grew158 percent when Barack Obama was elected. The job market in the gun and ammunition industry also changed. Employment rose from 166,000 employees to 288,000 employees to handle the volume of business. Still the lies remained the same: President Obama was a serious threat the Second Amendment, and he was going to take their guns.</span></span><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">With the election of Donald Trump as president, however, gun and ammunition sales dropped by 17 percent. His election made Republicans and the NRA less fearful of stronger regulations, and tougher gun reform laws. Trump was the first president to address the NRA, an organization he fears. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">In a boastful speech at a NRA conference, Trump told members: “You have a friend and champion in the White House”. Trump’s campaign received more money from the National Rifle Association than any presidential candidate in history. NRA’s Chris Cox, executive director, proclaimed in 2016 that the organization would target any member or members perceived as interfering with their right to own guns.</span></span><br /></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span><span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">The media, concerned Americans and Democrats thought after the August 3, 2019 El Paso, Texas mass shooting (22 dead, 26 injured); and the August 4, 2019 Dayton, Ohio mass shooting (nine dead, 27 injured), Trump would hurriedly present Congress with a proposal to lessen gun violence via gun reform and stricter background checks</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">. </span></span><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;">Newspaper headlines suggested that Trump is still too scared to buck the NRA. “Donald Trump falls back into line with NRA, blaming mass shootings on mental problems rather than access to assault rifles” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Australian</i>); “Donald Trump shifts on gun background checks after mass shootings” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Politifact);</i> “Trump blames mass shootings on mentally ill” (Reuters); “Trump blames mass shootings on mentally ill, call for more mental institutions” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yahoo</i>).</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; font-size: 10pt; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H8kM_9Lkyzs/XW596MBrx-I/AAAAAAAABqA/Xgi27cCbiOs9wBMId0eYcBIHxWq86SEVwCLcBGAs/s1600/trump%2Bmeets%2Bwith%2Bparkland%2Bstudents.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="1024" height="379" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H8kM_9Lkyzs/XW596MBrx-I/AAAAAAAABqA/Xgi27cCbiOs9wBMId0eYcBIHxWq86SEVwCLcBGAs/s640/trump%2Bmeets%2Bwith%2Bparkland%2Bstudents.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>President Donald Trump met with Marjory Stoneman students </b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>and </b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>families </b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>at the </b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>White House. He promised to make </b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>changes in </b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>school shootings and gun violence.</b></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;">Noticeably, Trump does not respond to mass shootings the way Americans expect him to. Observing his actions, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Comforter-in-Chief</i> does not come to mind. Trump preferred not to hold a press conference after the June 12, 2016 Orlando, Florida night club shooting that left 49 dead, 53 with various injuries. Instead, he tweeted: “Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism. I don’t want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart”! He made himself the focus in the tragedy, and being right about “Islamic terrorism.”</span></span></span></span><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: black;">T<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;">he October 1, 2017 Las Vegas, Nevada massacre left 58 dead and an estimated 546 injured. Trump wrote another generic, impersonal tweet. “My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shootings. God bless you”. He attended no vigils. Attended no memorials. Made no public speeches. Made no hospital visits.</span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;">After the February 14, 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Trump said school personnel should be armed. He said had he been a security guard at the school he would have stormed the building to take out the shooter. There were 17 fatalities at Marjory Stoneman. The usual grief messages were sent to the victims and families. Students sent word to politicians in Washington that they did not want any more condolences and prayers. They wanted action on gun control.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Alata; font-size: large;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: white;">President Obama as preacher and comforter</span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span><br /></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><br /><span><span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: x-small;">A</span><span style="font-family: times;">ccording to the FBI a mass shooting occurs when four or more people are killed by one person. On June 17, 2015, 21 years-old Dylann Roof, a White supremacist shot and killed eight church members in Charleston, South Carolina. In his “manifesto” rant he said he was angry at Black people; Black men were raping White women; Blacks were trying to take over America. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span><span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span><span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: times;">During the Bible study class study, a member opened the door for the young killer, not knowing their time on earth was about to end. Roof tried to open the door but couldn't open it. He is seen on video attempting to gain entrance to the church. He chose Emanuel AME because it is the oldest Black church in South Carolina and the most recognized.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;">The shooter was welcomed to study with them. He sat with them for an hour before repaying their kindness by cold bloodily shooting nine of them to death. He left one church member alive, instructing her to record what she had witnessed. The shooter was captured the next morning in Shelby, South Carolina, at a traffic stop, 14 hours after killing the church members, who ranged in ages from 26 to 87. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span><span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span><span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;">The media reported that the arresting cop bought the shooter a hamburger and fries because he was hungry. </span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Despite having a drug charge on his record he was able to purchase a weapon. Roof was charges with 33 federal hate crimes and murder.</span></span><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">The most memorable speeches made by President Obama were delivered after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre; and the eulogy he delivered at the funeral of Clementa Pinckney. That day he was the Comforter-in-Chief, President of the United States and guest pastor at Emanuel AME. He was comfortable in the pulpit as he delivered the eulogy with the cadence and passion of a seasoned preacher. That was the day he sang “Amazing Grace”, surprising pastors and thousands attending the funeral.</span></span></span><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">"Michelle and I know several members of Emanuel AME Church. We knew their pastor, Reverend Clementa Pinckney, who, along with eight others, gathered in prayer and fellowship and was murdered last night. And to say our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families and their community doesn't say enough to convey the heartache and the sadness and the anger that we feel.</span></span></span><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">“Any death of this sort is a tragedy. Any shooting involving multiple victims is a tragedy. There is something particularly heartbreaking about the death happening in a place in which we seek solace and we seek peace, in a place of worship. We don't have all the facts, but we do know that, once again, innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun".</span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-family: Basic; font-size: small;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; line-height: 14.2667px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; line-height: 14.2667px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">By 2013 President Obama had signed 23 executive orders and proposed 12 Congressional actions to regulate gun control. During his Sandy Hook speech President Obama said at the White House, “We can’t tolerate this anymore. The tragedies must end. And to end them we must change. We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true. </span></span></span></span><br /></span></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;">No single law—no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society. But that can’t be an excuse for inaction. Surely, we can do better than this”.</span></span><br /></span><b style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: Alata; font-size: large;">Determination to cripple gun violence</span></span></b><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span><span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: times;">President Obama was up for re-election in 2012. His goal was to plow ahead with his determination to cripple gun violence in America. His plan included focusing on mental health treatment for those perceived as a threat, limit magazine sizes, tighten background checks, initiate or restart gun research. A couple of years later--2014—the President proposed that medical histories be included in background checks.</span></span><span><span style="font-family: times;"><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;">But no matter what President Obama proposed Republicans said no, citing an overused, hackneyed excuse that common sense reforms such as background checks wouldn’t have stopped the Sandy Hook, or any other mass shootings. The best solution was to leave things alone and put a gun in every hand in America. The NRA asserted, religiously, that the only way to beat a bad guy with a gun is to arm a good guy with a gun.</span></span><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;">Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell let President Obama know early on that he would stop, stall or thwart whatever he attempted to negotiate. “We are just gonna oppose whatever the President offer even in the midst of crisis, because if he obtained any bipartisan support that would strengthen him politically”. Retaining power was/is more important than addressing the seriousness of gun violence and reform.</span></span></span><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><br /></span></span></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-family: times;">April 17, 2013, a bipartisan proposal requiring background checks for would be gun owners, and banning sales of some military style semi-automatic weapons was cut off at the knees by Democrats who controlled the Senate. The vote was 54 to 46. Sixty votes were needed. The Joe Manchin (D) and Republican Pat Toomey proposal created after the Newton school massacre failed to get the 60 votes needed to pass. </span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;">Lawmakers introduced more than 100 gun reform proposals in Congress in 2016. Only a few made it to the Senate floor</span><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: x-small;">.</span></span></span></span><br /></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span><br /></span></span></b></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Alata; font-size: large;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><span>Proposal: “New executive actions to reduce gun violence and make our communities safer”</span></span></b></span></span></span><br /></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span><span>President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are committed to using every tool at the Administration’s disposal to reduce gun violence. Some of the gaps in our country’s gun laws can only be fixed through legislation, which is why President Obama continues to call on Congress to pass the kind of commonsense gun safety reforms supported by a majority of the American people. And while Congress has repeatedly failed to take action and pass laws that would expand background checks and reduce gun violence, today, building on the significant steps that have already been taken over the past several years, the Administration is announcing a series of commonsense executive actions designed to:</span></span></span></span></span><br /></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><span><br /></span></span></b></span></span></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1. Keep guns out of the wrong hands through background checks.</span></span></b></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span><span><span>The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is making clear that it doesn’t matter where you conduct your business—from a store, at gun shows, or over the Internet: If you’re in the business of selling firearms, you must get a license and conduct background checks.</span></span></span></span></span></span><span><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span><span><span>ATF is finalizing a rule to require background checks for people trying to buy some of the most dangerous weapons and other items through a trust, corporation, or other legal entity.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br /></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span><span><span><span style="font-family: times;"><br /><span><span>Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch has sent a letter to States highlighting the importance of receiving complete criminal history records and criminal dispositions, information on persons disqualified because of a mental illness, and qualifying crimes of domestic violence.</span></span><br /><span><span><br /></span></span><span><span>The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is overhauling the background check system to make it more effective and efficient. The envisioned improvements include processing background checks 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and improving notification of local authorities when certain prohibited persons unlawfully attempt to buy a gun. The FBI will hire more than 230 additional examiners and other staff to help process these background checks.</span></span><br /></span><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: small;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><span><br /></span></span></b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Basic;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><span>2. Make our communities safer from gun violence.</span></span></b></span><br /></span><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: small;"><span><span><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span><span>The Attorney General convened a call with U.S. Attorneys around the country to direct federal prosecutors to continue to focus on smart and effective enforcement of our gun laws. The President’s FY2017 budget will include funding for 200 new ATF agents and investigators to help enforce our gun laws.</span></span></span><br /><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-family: times;">ATF has established an Internet Investigation Center to track illegal online firearms trafficking and is dedicating $4 million and additional personnel to enhance the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network. ATF is finalizing a rule to ensure that dealers who ship firearms notify law enforcement if their guns are lost or stolen in transit. The Attorney General issued a memo encouraging every U.S. Attorney’s Office to renew domestic violence outreach efforts.</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><span><br /></span></span></b></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><span>3. Increase mental health treatment and reporting to the background check system.</span></span></b></span></span><br /></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span><br /></span></span></span></span><span><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span><span><span>The Administration is proposing a new $500 million investment to increase access to mental health care. The Social Security Administration has indicated that it will begin the rulemaking process to include information in the background check system about beneficiaries who are prohibited from possessing a firearm for mental health reasons. </span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span>The Department of Health and Human Services is finalizing a rule to remove unnecessary legal barriers preventing States from reporting relevant information about people prohibited from possessing a gun for specific mental health reasons.</span></span></span></span></span><br /></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><span><br /></span></span></b></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><span>4. Shape the future of gun safety technology. </span></span></b></span></span></span><br /></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: white;"><span><span><span><span><span style="background-color: black;">The President has directed the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security to conduct or sponsor research into gun safety technology. The President has also directed the departments to review the availability of smart gun technology on a regular basis, and to explore potential ways to further its use and development to more broadly improve gun safety.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span><span><span><span><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span>Congress should support the President’s request for resources for 200 new ATF agents and investigators to help enforce our gun laws, as well as a new $500 million investment to address mental health issues. </span><span style="line-height: 14.2667px;">Because we all must do our part to keep our communities safe, the Administration is also calling on States and local governments to do all they can to keep guns out of the wrong </span><span style="line-height: 14.2667px;"><span>hands and reduce gun violence. </span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span><span><span><span style="line-height: 14.2667px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span style="line-height: 14.2667px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">It is also calling on private-sector leaders to follow the lead of other businesses that have taken voluntary steps to make it harder for dangerous individuals to get their hands on a gun. In the coming weeks, the Administration will engage with manufacturers, retailers, and other private-sector leaders to explore what more they can do. (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">President Barack Obama’s White House website, 2016</i>)</span></span></span></span></span></span><br /></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Alata; font-size: large;"><span><span><span><span style="line-height: 14.2667px;"><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">M</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">ass shootings varied in death and injuries</span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span><br /></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span style="line-height: 14.2667px;"><span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: Basic; font-size: x-small;">P</span><span style="font-family: times;">resident Obama was sure Americans and politicians would jump into action, propose sensible gun reform,quickly sending it to his desk to sign after Sandy Hook. He thought their hearts would be touched like his. Surely the House and Senate, all parents, grandparents and great-grand parents, would not play politics with this tragedy.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4B1aU2sz1kI/XW51j-DM6OI/AAAAAAAABp0/O1bhLZeD568q7HP6MDIXrP1RwxtB_drOQCLcBGAs/s1600/newtown-families.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1258" height="547" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4B1aU2sz1kI/XW51j-DM6OI/AAAAAAAABp0/O1bhLZeD568q7HP6MDIXrP1RwxtB_drOQCLcBGAs/s640/newtown-families.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>President Barack Obama met with Sandy Hook </b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>families and children. He took the time to hear their memories and look at photos in an attempt to ease their pain.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="background-color: transparent; text-align: right;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><div><span style="text-align: right;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="text-align: right;"><br /></span></div><div><br /><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">A White House press release from President Obama stated: “</span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: black; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; color: white; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">This afternoon, I spoke with Governor Malloy and FBI Director Mueller. I offered Governor Malloy my condolences on behalf of the nation, and made it clear he will have every single resource that he needs to investigate this heinous crime, care for the victims, counsel their families.</span></span></div><div><span><span><span><span style="line-height: 14.2667px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">“We’ve endured too many of these tragedies in the past few years. And each time I learn the news I react not as a President, but as anybody else would -- as a parent. And that was especially true today. I know there’s not a parent in America who doesn’t feel the same overwhelming grief that I do.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">“The majority of those who died today were children -- beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them -- birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers -- men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams”. </span></span><br /><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;">Addressing the shortsightedness of the shooter, President Obama said at Pinckney’s funeral,<i> “</i></span><i><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">He didn’t know he was being used by God. Blinded by hatred, the alleged killer could not see the grace surrounding Reverend Pinckney, and that Bible study group -- the light of love that shone as they opened the church doors and invited a stranger to join in their prayer circle. The alleged killer could have never anticipated the way the families of the fallen would respond when they saw him in court -- in the midst of unspeakable grief, with words of forgiveness. He couldn’t imagine that”, </span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;">President Obama said the shooter, who wanted to jumpstart a race war.</span></i></span></span><i><br /><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;">"None of us can or should expect a transformation in race relations overnight. Every time something like this happens, somebody says we have to have a conversation about race. We talk a lot about race. There's no shortcut. And we don't need more talk. (Applause.) None of us should believe that a handful of gun safety measures will prevent every tragedy. It will not. People of goodwill will continue to debate the merits of various policies, as our democracy requires -- this is a big, raucous place, America is. And there are good people on both sides of these debates. Whatever solutions we find will necessarily be incomplete<span>”.</span></span></span></span></i><br /><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;">Five days after the Sandy Hook shooting, Eric Holder, attorney general, announced, “We plotted our strategy and made the determination that the vice president and I would lead the effort, along with Janet Napolitano to try to really come up with common sense gun safety proposals”.</span></span></span></span><br /></span><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;">President Obama said of the project, “This not some Washington commission. It’s not something where folks are going to be studying the issue for six months and publish a report that get read and then pushed aside. This is a team that has a very specific task to pull together real reformers right now”.</span></span></span></span><br /></span><span style="color: white; font-family: Basic; font-size: small;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;">Backing off of his promise to talk gun control and background checks, Trump is now saying that gun violence is due to mental illness. He said that mentally ill folks who kill with guns should be locked away in institutions, which would be costly and laden with bureaucratic paperwork. As usual, Trump jumps before he evaluates the distance of the fall. Details and planning are not his first priorities. </span></span></span></span><br /><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;">After the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, Donald Trump pinpointed mental illness as the culprit for the shootings. He said at a recent campaign rally in New Hampshire that America does not have any more mental institutions, many of which were closed decades ago. Thousands of patients ended up homeless or placed in facilities approved by the state. A federal law prohibits Medicaid making payments for mentally ill individuals living with more than 16 patients in a single facility. Trump said his plan will allow states to seek waivers from restrictions, providing they meet certain requirements. He has not shown or explained his plan.</span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;">On August 31, 2019 in Odessa and Midland, Texas a 36-years old, recently unemployed White male, armed an AR-style rifle, randomly killed 7, wounded or injured 21. He had a misdemeanor on his record; that should have stopped his purchasing a weapon. Authorities are saying they are not sure where he purchased the weapon. Reportedly, a routine traffic stop led to the mass shooting. There was no warrant for his arrest when he was stopped.</span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;">Texas governor Greg Abbott implied that rather than concentrate on stricter gun restrictions he wants to concentrate on fighting hate, racism and terrorism. He says he wants to keep Texas safe, but the laws he signed into law, that went into effect September 1, 2019, screams a different message. Texas legislators passed gun laws making it easier for shooters to fulfill their angry fantasies of mass killings. The 2019 laws:</span></span></span></span></span><br /></span></span><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background: white;"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background: white; font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: black;">1. <b>House Bill 1143</b>--</span><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">P</span><span style="background-color: black;">revents school districts from prohibiting the possession of firearms in private motor vehicles by limiting their authority to regulate the manner in which they are stored in locked vehicles. This includes school employees. School employees with a license to carry can keep their guns locked in their vehicle on the school parking lot.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="color: white; font-family: Basic; font-size: small;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;">2. <b>House Bill 1177</b>--Allows people in an area that has been declared a State or local disaster to carry a handgun without a license to carry for 7 days from the date an evacuation notice is given as long as the person can legally possess a firearm under federal and State law.</span></span><br /><span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><br /></span></span><span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;">3<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i> <b>House Bill 2363</b>--Allows foster parents to store firearms in a safe and secure manner while making them more readily accessible for personal protection purposes. No longer have to be “stored” in separate locations.</span></span><br /><span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><br /></span></span><span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;">4. <b>House Bill 3231</b>--Improves the state’s firearms preemption law, curbs the ability of municipalities to abuse their zoning authority to circumvent state law to restrict the sale or transfer of firearms and ammunition at the local level. The law allows the State Attorney General to sue local municipalities that are in violation.</span></span><br /></span><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;">5. <b>SB 741</b>—Prohibits a property owners association from prohibiting or restricting the possession, transportation, or storage of a firearm r ammunition. Also prohibits restrictions on the lawful discharge of a firearm</span><span style="color: white;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">The first mass shootings in Texas happened in 1966. The shooter, a White male, stood in the University of Texas Tower and plucked off individuals like they were sitting ducks. Twelves more mass shootings occurred from 1999 to 2019. With Texas’s new gun laws mass shooters are more protected than soft target citizens.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Donald Trump has refused to tell the Senate to cut short all vacations and come back to Washington work on, or pass some the gun control reforms Democrats have already sent to the Senate. Mitch McConnell is in control. He won’t let the proposals see the light of day.</span> </span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-71265002355365083502021-09-20T22:51:00.005-07:002023-09-10T15:55:51.789-07:00DD Syndrome, old White males, no abortions for women, no banning of Viagra <div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">They're<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">at it again. Old White </span></span></span>male politicians are making decisions about a woman’s body<span style="font-size: small;">. </span><span style="font-size: small;"> They <span style="font-size: small;">have decided that</span> a wo<span style="font-size: small;">man <span style="font-size: small;">does not have</span></span></span> the right to seek a legal abortion<span style="font-size: small;">.</span> <span style="font-size: small;">These old White males <span style="font-size: small;">concur <span style="font-size: small;">tha<span style="font-size: small;">t aborting a fetus is tantamount </span></span></span></span>killing a defenseless <span style="font-size: small;">child.</span> These politicians, none of whom can bear a child, also agree that women should be denied contraceptives<span style="font-size: small;">. They say women s<span style="font-size: small;">hould <span style="font-size: small;">have t<span style="font-size: small;">he chi<span style="font-size: small;">ld they conceived, </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;">use</span> the rhythm method of cont<span style="font-size: small;">raception </span>as practiced by Catholics, or keep their skirts down and legs closed. Protesting clergy<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>,</b></span></span> also making decisions for women, did not get the memo that stated 98 percent of Catholic women are on some form of birth control.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OhiRbXfqpoM/VB3g0CIE7LI/AAAAAAAABHo/LoAdQHllKvc/s1600/Santorun.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OhiRbXfqpoM/VB3g0CIE7LI/AAAAAAAABHo/LoAdQHllKvc/s1600/Santorun.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">Presidential candidate Rick Santorum, <span style="font-size: small;">a male</span> obsessed with womens' wombs and their right to govern their own bodies, said if a woman is impregnated by a rapist she should accept the consequences as an “indirect gift from God.” In other words, bear your rapist's baby and thank God for the kid. Santorum, a Catholic, is adamantly against women having access to contraceptives.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Republicans have always declared war on women reproductive rights<span style="font-size: small;">.</span> <span style="font-size: small;">I</span>n 2011 with so many of them wining governorships and seats in Congress, they went knee jerk crazy! These White male politicians (a few Democrats included) tend to get silly in the opposite direction when the question is about Viagra. Yet they expect insurers to pay for this “medication” that was created to temporarily relieve flaccid penises of the dreaded <i>Dead Dick Syndrome</i><span style="font-size: small;"> (DDS</span>).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Various states want to assure that any woman seeking an abortion is humiliated<span style="font-size: small;">,</span> discouraged and made to feel guilty before the abortion is performed. A congressman in Georgia proposed legislation that would declare abortions a crime. He wants doctors who perform abortions prosecuted for murder. If a woman has a miscarriage, she, too, would be subject to prosecution if the miscarriage is “suspicious”, <span style="font-size: small;">implying she might hav<span style="font-size: small;">e</span></span> self- aborted. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There is p<span style="font-size: small;">roposed </span>legislation to <span style="font-size: small;">mak<span style="font-size: small;">e</span></span> <span style="font-size: small;">a woman's</span> medical records open to the pubic. </span><span style="font-size: small;">No such legislation is proposed for legis<span style="font-size: small;">lators <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">wanting <span style="font-size: small;">p<span style="font-size: small;">rescriptions</span> for</span></span></span></span> prick enhancers<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">.</span> </span>There are no “suspicions” of internal foul play if a dead dick fails to rise above cold, useless scrotum<span style="font-size: small;">s</span>. No male is humiliated before he is given a prescription for a bottle of blue pills. <span style="font-size: small;">Unlike </span>the woman seeking a legitimate abortion, <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">male politicians</span> are not</span> shamed and humiliated<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> because th<span style="font-size: small;">eir lethargic dicks <span style="font-size: small;">cannot</span> come out <span style="font-size: small;">to</span> play<span style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></span> Their<span style="font-size: small;"> Via<span style="font-size: small;">gra records of purchase will not be exp<span style="font-size: small;">osed <span style="font-size: small;">for <span style="font-size: small;">pub<span style="font-size: small;">l<span style="font-size: small;">ic scrutiny.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Be<span style="font-size: small;">tween me<span style="font-size: small;">, you and the bedpost, </span></span>I think there should be a required test for Viagra <span style="font-size: small;">hunting </span>politicians suffering from <i>Dead Dick Syndrome</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">To compliment the GOP's</span> war on women rights<span style="font-size: small;">, I think</span> male politicians should answer specific questions <span style="font-size: small;">when they <span style="font-size: small;">go for</span></span> a doctor visit. <span style="font-size: small;">The visit should <span style="font-size: small;">include a<span style="font-size: small;">n examin<span style="font-size: small;">ation</span> of the politician's penis.</span></span></span> They should be required to list or verbally state the number of sexual partners they've had, listing a history all STDs they have contracted. As an extra side not<span style="font-size: small;">e to <span style="font-size: small;">their m<span style="font-size: small;">e<span style="font-size: small;">dical h<span style="font-size: small;">istories, <span style="font-size: small;">the physician should as<span style="font-size: small;">k <span style="font-size: small;">the politicians if they've</span> ever <span style="font-size: small;">impregnated</span> a woman, and subsequently demanded<span style="font-size: small;"> that she get a<span style="font-size: small;">n abortion.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Doctors should ask <span style="font-size: small;">poli<span style="font-size: small;">ticians </span></span>when they realized they were walking around with<span style="font-size: small;"> a</span> <span style="font-size: small;">dead dick </span>in their pants. They should be asked what stimulates them the most: nude men, oral sex, naked women, ani<span style="font-size: small;">mals, </span>pornography, children,<span style="font-size: small;"> self-pleasuring, or some other kinky stimulation.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If the <span style="font-size: small;">physicians</span> are not satisfied with the responses<span style="font-size: small;">,</span> and have reason to believe the politicians are lying, they should tell the impotent patients that as a condition for getting a Viagra prescription they has to go to a strip club three or four times, get a <span style="font-size: small;">few</span> lap dance<span style="font-size: small;">s</span>, and <span style="font-size: small;">record</span> their reactions. If this does not work the impotent patients should be required to watch <span style="font-size: small;">two or th<span style="font-size: small;">ree</span></span> porno movie<span style="font-size: small;">s</span>, writ<span style="font-size: small;">ing</span> their reactions.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Doctors should then focus on these questions during the follow-up visits: Were you aroused?, Was it a mental or physical arousal?, What caused the arousal?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">If the impotent politicians says the experiences did not stimulate them, the doctors should inform the politicians that they are suffering from Dead Dick Syndrome, of which there is no cure. Of course <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">physi<span style="font-size: small;">cians </span></span></span>will write prescription<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">s</span> anyway.</span> <span style="font-size: small;">P</span>oliticians have a right to purchase bottles of the penis puffers. It's legal. <span style="font-size: small;">On the other hand, t</span>he<span style="font-size: small;">se</span><span style="font-size: small;"> pill seeking <span style="font-size: small;">politicians do not</span> want women to have the <span style="font-size: small;">right to legally abort an unwanted pregnan<span style="font-size: small;">cy, or to get prescriptions for birth control pills.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">The 1973<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">R</span>oe v W<span style="font-size: small;">ade</span></span> Supreme Court decision <span style="font-size: small;">gave a woman the</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">right to</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"> see<span style="font-size: small;">k </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">a legal abortion without</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">interference</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">from impotent politicians. If politicians want to ban legal abortions and contraceptives, Viagra and other dead dick remedies should also be banned. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"> If a <span style="font-size: small;">penis cannot stand on its own<span style="font-size: small;"> the male <span style="font-size: small;">has no business <span style="font-size: small;">demanding or wanting to have </span>sex with anyone but his hands.</span></span></span></span> </div><p><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>This article was originally published in "Poet With An Opinion" February 14, 2012</i></b></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-21002939382157520192021-09-02T17:08:00.011-07:002022-11-22T22:27:57.890-08:00A celebration of life: Rose Ann Smith-Daniels<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-af4cfJU4PPQ/YTFGEW3mgVI/AAAAAAAABxU/Xkc1H3xO2EIJxpv81rdTMZRdl6rXuBSOQCNcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_8809.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-af4cfJU4PPQ/YTFGEW3mgVI/AAAAAAAABxU/Xkc1H3xO2EIJxpv81rdTMZRdl6rXuBSOQCNcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/IMG_8809.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Family Genealogy</b></span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: Alata;">Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.</span></i></p><p> Matthew 11:28-29</p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rose Ann Smith-Daniels was born May 12, 1954 in Austin,
Texas to Gertrude Elizabeth Fowler-Smith and Ernest Smith, Sr. She was the
middle child, having two older sisters, a brother and the last child. Rose Ann
was a twin; her sister died at birth. Rose, Ernest, Jr. and Kaffey were
Gertrude’s second set of children. Marie and Dorothy are the oldest daughters.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Getting pregnant, starting a second family surprised us all, including Gertrude herself. I was 13 years old, Marie was 9.</span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rose was complex and stubborn, friendly and unfriendly. Her mood dictated her attitude and behavior. She lived life on her own
terms no matter the beginning or ending consequences. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">She was a pretty, chubby baby. She had what
is called in the Black community “good hair.” I loved combing her hair and
dressing her up like a doll.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rose attended elementary and high school, but did not
graduate. She had one daughter, Alicia Smith, her only child, was born November 19, 1971.
Rose married twice, the first being to Walter Smith in 1980, and then George
Daniels in 1995. No children were born to these two unions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">After years of suffering an illness that finally took her life, Rose Ann died Saturday, October 24, 2020. She lived her life as she saw fit. Rose Ann molded the life she
wanted to live. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Her daughter Alicia Smith-Rucker said, “My mother had no
filter”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EIHftTb3S4c/YTFdo24fCuI/AAAAAAAABx0/d1wcIsEMEqk7DYpJ-rVRxoQEJ80w1RG0wCNcBGAsYHQ/s1504/PICT0095.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1504" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EIHftTb3S4c/YTFdo24fCuI/AAAAAAAABx0/d1wcIsEMEqk7DYpJ-rVRxoQEJ80w1RG0wCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h266/PICT0095.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Rose</b><b> Ann a</b><b>t my house</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;">At her memorial a prayer was led by Brion Kimble; scripture readings by Kylel Rucker and Tierra Smith; song selection by Bianca Rucker, remarks were made by family members, closing prayer was led by Brandy Rucker.<br /></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Comments of remembrance were voiced by her grandchildren:
Brittany Rucker said, “My grandmother was fearless. She was a free spirted woman,
and that is what I will forever remember”.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Brion Kimble said: “My grandmother was strong, fierce and
fearless”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Brandy Rucker said: “My grandmother was resilient, and she
beat all the odds in life. She was a gift to have, and a joy to be around. She
loved her family and her love us what she will be remembered by”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Relatives that passed on before Rose Ann are her parents
Gertrude (2/10/1990) and Ernest Smith (2/24/1986), her brother Ernest Smith,
Jr., (5/5/2010), Leora Fowler Sterling (10/4/1982), her grandmother; nephew
Terrance Jermaine Smith (9/30/1976), Imogene Fowler Gray (8/24/1961), an aunt,
Pearl Turner Powell-Brown (4/28/1959) her great-great grandmother, Horace Banks,
Jr. (12/18/2007, a nephew, Raymond Fowler, Sr. (10/31/1977), an uncle, Johnny
Mose Fowler, (9/17/1991), an uncle, Mose Fowler, Sr., (7/15/1966) her
grandfather, Isiah Fowler, (7/18/1983), an uncle.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rose leaves behind her daughter, seven grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren
to remember and celebrate her life: Alicia Rucker, Bianca Rucker, Brion Kimble,
Tierra Smith, <br />Brandy Rucker, Amber Smith, Kylel Ricks, Brittany Rucker. Great-grandchildren:
Jamarion, Jaxin, Jalia, Adrin, Braylon, Jenesis, Brooklyn. Also her sisters:
Dorothy Charles-Banks, Marie Charles-Ockletree, Kaffey Smith-Nunn and a host of
nieces, nephews and cousins.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">To send Rose Ann Smith-Daniels off to her final journey,
balloons were released at 3:30 p.m. at the gravesite of her mother, Gertrude
Fowler-Smith. Her ashes were scatted in the same spot.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-icIiYJum9Wo/YTFhu4-NFNI/AAAAAAAABx8/VvWxnmHmJV0I_-pnLd79LZk1yRcNDR9tACNcBGAsYHQ/s1230/IMG_8810.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="1230" height="314" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-icIiYJum9Wo/YTFhu4-NFNI/AAAAAAAABx8/VvWxnmHmJV0I_-pnLd79LZk1yRcNDR9tACNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h314/IMG_8810.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Rose Ann's immediate family.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oDFWm2vWImE/YTFagi6pgLI/AAAAAAAABxk/8kuwtmJIWTsUCGSARZGFhJNrhojx_FHQACNcBGAsYHQ/s2048/PICT0341.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1358" data-original-width="2048" height="242" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oDFWm2vWImE/YTFagi6pgLI/AAAAAAAABxk/8kuwtmJIWTsUCGSARZGFhJNrhojx_FHQACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h242/PICT0341.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Rose Ann with brother Ernest a few days before he died.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-59567002647541971132021-03-06T00:40:00.004-08:002023-09-24T16:27:41.743-07:00Racial discrimination in medicine leads to inadequate healthcare for African Americans<p> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Plagues,
epidemics, diseases, viruses and pandemics have been around too many
centuries to count or adequately trace. When the “10 Plagues” were listed in the
Bible, and executed by God, we would probably call the plagues an epidemic, instead of a pandemic. The world was not as large as it is today. The plagues
were localized to Egypt.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">In the Bible the plague that appeared to be the most devoid of emotions and caring is #10. None of
the other plagues had gotten Pharaoh’s attention, which was God’s intent. All
God asked of Pharaoh was that he let the Israelites go free. But Pharaoh was
muleheaded. Freedom for the Israelites was not on the table. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">God initiated
another plan. According to<i> Exodus</i>, God told Moses and his brother, Aaron:
“I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonder in the land
of Egypt. But Pharaoh will
not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My
people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Moses and Aaron apparently though that was a good plan, so they fetched
their rods and headed to Pharaoh’s fancy abode (<i>Exodus, Chapter 5</i>). Let the magic show
begin! Aaron threw down his rod. Wallah! A live snake was suddenly in the
house! Pharaoh summoned his crew, as if to ask Aaron: “Is that all you got?” Pharaoh’s
crew threw down their rods. Now the Pharaoh’s castle was crawling with snakes! </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">He
waited for the next rod-throw down. Pharaoh was in for a surprise. Aaron took
his rod to the river, touched the water and up popped frogs, covering all of
Egypt. Pharaoh could not compete with the frog magic. He surrendered, asking
Moses and Aaron to call off the frogs. He promised to let the Israelites go
free. Moses told Pharaoh that he would take him at his word. No more plagues! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">But wouldn’t you
know it! Pharaoh flipped on his promise. He tried to pull a “fooled you fools”
on Moses, Aaron and God. But God was not having any of this. <i>Fool me once, shame on you</i>, <i>fool me</i> <i>twice, shame on me!</i> After that the contest went all the way wrong for
Pharaoh and his magicians. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">God hardened Pharaoh’s heart even more. He still
wouldn’t let the Israelites go. And then God hit Egypt with a really, really fatal
plague. Moses said through God (<i>Exodus 11:5</i>) “And all the firstborn of the land
of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even
to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the
firstborn of the animals”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">If you are
familiar with the story of how the Israelites finally escaped, you know the
ending to the story. Pharaoh did not win. <b>**</b>A <i>handmill</i> is a stone device used to grind grain
into flour, a chore performed by women in the Bible.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Former President Donald
Trump is comparable to Pharaoh. He hardened his attitude when he learned
that a deadly pandemic was about to hit America. Before he was exposed by noted journalist and author Bob Woodward, Trump understood and knew in advance that COVID19 was dangerous
and contagious. The more doctors, researchers and citizens asked him to save
lives by preparing to fight COVID-19, the more Trump decided
he knew what was best for Americans and their health. He elevated himself to “Physician-in-Chief”,
holding daily press conferences, recommending remedies that would lead to death and bodily harm rather than a cure. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">On November 3,
2020, voters threw down their rods in voting booths, denying Republican Donald Trump another
four years in the White House. Voters opened the door for a new president—Democrat Joe
Biden</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">-- to step in and attempt to deliver Americans from the life robbing virus.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">Black health care compared to White healthcare</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Throughout history
Black folks have been denied adequate healthcare compared to White folks, As an African American woman, I have experienced medical
discrimination more than one time. White doctors tended to spend more time with
White patients, advising them about choices of treatments, offering a variety of medical opinions, and medications.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">While sitting in a
thin-walled waiting room, waiting for the doctor to come in, I overheard a
conversation between him and a White patient. When the doctor talked with me,
the time was quick, and lacked information regarding my condition. I was not told
of choices, either in medications, second opinions or treatments. No follow-up
date was scheduled.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Black folks have
always had to <i>make-do</i> with inadequate medical care. In earlier years hospitals were
segregated. White doctors refused treat Blacks in need of medical care, no
matter their age or condition. There were no African American owned hospitals, or hospital sanctioned clinics
they could go to. In the event of a catastrophic illness or outbreak of a
disease in the community, they were treated by whomever knew the most about
healing, relying on homemade remedies. It did not matter if that individual was
a family member or neighbor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">During the
onslaught of the polio epidemic, Black folks did not receive the same medical
care as Whites. Because the face of polio was basically all White, it appeared
that only Whites contracted the disease. There was a concept that “Negroes”
were less susceptible to contracting polio. In photos and news reels shown on theater
screens, you only saw Whites locked in the <i>Iron Lung</i> aka the <i>Tank
Ventilator</i> aka the <i>Drinker Tank</i>. To keep the image pure and separate,
the March of Dimes sponsored a polio unit at the Tuskegee Institute for the
“colored race” in Alabama.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">“The Tuskegee
Institute opened a Polio Center in 1941. The center’s founding was the result
of a new visibility of Black polio survivors, and the growing political
embarrassment around the policy of the "Georgia Warm Springs Polio
Rehabilitation Center", which Franklin Roosevelt founded in the 1920s, before he
became president. It had a Whites only policy of admission. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">“This policy,
reflecting the ubiquitous norm of race-segregated health facilities of the era,
was also sustained by a persuasive scientific argument about polio itself: that
Blacks were not susceptible to the disease. And, therefore, research and
treatment efforts that was focused on Black patients were neither medically
necessary nor justified”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">George Draper, an
expert on polio, believed that eugenics played a key role in polio’s
epidemiology. As proof of his theory, Draper postured that a child’s susceptibility
to getting polio was due the “constitutional makeup” of Blacks and Whites. He
argued that “well-grown, plump White, native-born children with widely spaced
upper front teeth and ‘delicate’ teenagers who filled hospital beds and
doctors’ offices during polio outbreak, was proof that Blacks were less
susceptible to contracting the disease. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">“White physicians
studying Blacks--the <i>syphilis-soaked race</i>-- concluded that Blacks were
more vulnerable to syphilis; less susceptible to contracting polio. Both theories
were touted as evidence that they were “enlisted to establish the pathological
and alien nature of the Black body”. <i>Race and the Politics of Polio: Warm
Springs, Tuskegee, and the March of Dimes, 2007.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">In 2020 White
physicians and medical staffs still look at African Americans as alien bodies, incapable
of experiencing pain, explaining the location of their pain, or voicing what they
suspect is causing the pain. Years ago, I had such an incident. I had eaten some
bacon. Hours later I began to feel dizzy, my tongue felt as if it was getting
thick. My speech was slurred. I was vomiting. I developed a slight </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">fever</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">. I had a headache and stomach pains. Afraid,
not knowing what was happening to me, I went the emergency room. I was taken to
a room, where I began vomiting again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not an actress, so I could not fake my
symptoms. The nurse took my temperature. She asked what I had eaten. I told her
a couple slices of bacon. I told it must have been spoiled when I purchased it.
And then she asked a question that had nothing to do with my reason for being
at the hospital. She wanted to know if I was married! I told her I was happily
divorced. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">The nurse and the
doctor talked among themselves, and concluded that I was lonely, and seeking
attention! They discarded the reason I came to the emergency room. They were
stuck on me wanting attention. They asked if I was depressed. I told them no. I
have friends and family. I was finally given a prescription and sent home. I
had contracted a mild case of salmonella. Had it been more severe I might not
be alive today. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather; font-size: medium;">Blatant disrespect; equal knowledge be damned</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Recently an African American woman, Susan
Moore, a medical doctor from Indiana, fell prey to COVID-19. She was admitted
to the Indiana University North Hospital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Moore said in a Facebook video that she was not getting adequate
treatment. Her symptoms consisted of a “high respiratory rate, high heart rate,
high fever and coughing up blood”. She said the doctor “downplayed her pain”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Dr. Moore told the
attending physician that she was in pain. She told him that she could not catch
her breath. He did not believe her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
said on the video, “I just put forth and maintained, if I was White I wouldn’t
have to go through that. She said, “This how Black people get killed, when you
send them home and they don’t know how to fight for themselves”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Dr. Moore said
initially the doctor refused to give her some pain medication. “All I know is I
was in intense pain”, she said. She begged for the antiviral drug Remdesivir,
which she did not receive. Dr. Moore said the doctor made her “feel like a drug
addict, and he knew I was as physician”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nonetheless, she pleaded with the doctor, trying to convince him that
she was having trouble breathing, and seriously ill. She was finally sent to
the lab to get a CT scan. The scan proved her right. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">She was discharged
and sent home. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Moore was home less
than 12 hours when her temperature spiked, her blood pressure dropped, her
heartbeat slowed. She was rushed to a different hospital, where she received proper
care. Unfortunately, the change of hospitals and medical care came too late.
Dr. Moore’s condition worsened. She died three weeks after her coronavirus diagnosis,
November 29, 2020.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Dr. Susan Moore
said in the video the previous doctor never apologized to her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Another similar
incident occurred in 2016, in a West Chicago suburban hospital. The patient’s
name was Ron Wyatt, 61, an African American. He entered the hospital with a 104
fever. His story was told by Michael O. Schroeder, staff reporter for <i>US
News</i>. He wrote that Wyatt’s ordeal began with “a nurse telling his wife,
who had power of attorney, that Wyatt would have to provide his own information,
despite his wife’s request that she’s able to do so, because he wasn’t feeling
well”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">The nurse said “No”,
telling Wyatt “to sit right here” next to her. She took his temperature. Afterwards
she said, “See! It’s only 99.6. OK? Wyatt had just taken a Tylenol to bring down
his fever. At some point he began to have chills, his temperature rising above
100 degrees “before the visit ended”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">The nurse tagged his information, letting him know that the doctor was ready to see him. “She
walked off, not with me, but in front of me—she never looked back”. Wyatt meets
another nurse in the exam room. She treated him somewhat better than the first
nurse. Another person comes into the room to get his insurance information. She
pulled up the wrong name on her computer. Wyatt told her that was not his name.
She insisted that the name was his. Wyatt laughs and says, “No, that’s not me”.
She asks for his ID, which he showed her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">A doctor comes
into the room. “After a less than thorough exam and never looking” at the
patient’s face, he ordered IV fluids, telling Wyatt that his labs are” mostly
normal”. He had to press the doctor for more information. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Wyatt said what “struck
me most was he held one foot in, one foot out of the door”. By now his
temperature was up again, above 100 degrees, “and the nurse made it clear to
the doctor that more should be done.” Wyatt overheard the doctor say, “Tell him
he can just take some Tylenol when he gets home”. The patient never saw the
doctor again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Dr. Ron Wyatt, the
patient, was a Patient Safety Officer and medical director in the Division of
Healthcare Improvement at the Joint Commission, an organization that accredits
and certifies health care providers throughout the country. Yet, he was treated
with disdain and total disrespect by staff at the hospital, where his skin color determined the kind of care he
would receive, and how he would be treated.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">Times change but taught attitudes remain the same</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">During the slave
era in America, enslaved women were subjected to human experimentations
conducted by Dr. J. Marion Sims, the so-called “father of gynecology. He
performed his butchery on the enslaved women without anesthesia. They could not
refuse his “treatments”, or any atrocity he wanted to perform on them. He assumed
that Black women did not feel pain; therefore, no anesthesia was needed when
operating on them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Vanessa
Northington Gamble, a professor at George Washington University said that
between 1846 and 1849, Sims operated on at least 10 enslaved women without
anesthesia. One woman, Anarcha, endured at least 30 painful surgeries.
Gamble said after Sims practiced his methods on Black women, he moved to New
York City to open a women’s hospital in the 1850s. He started treating White
women, but with anesthesia. (USA Today, 2020).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">There had been no
changes in medical attitudes when the 1918 pandemic hit America. Black folks
were denied adequate care. The usual enemies and reasons manifested themselves:
poverty, segregation, racism, discrimination. Blacks that fell prey to diseases
had to fend for themselves. If they received care in a segregated hospital, they
were “hospitalized” in dark, damp basements. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Soraya Nadia
McDonald, during an interview on<i> </i>NPR’s <i>All Things Considered</i>, talked
about medical treatment for Blacks during 1918 flu pandemic in Chicago. “It
should be understood overall that there wasn’t necessarily great medical care
for the flu, period. . . .the standard of treatment for the flu would be
like lots of fluids and stay away from other people. But even within that
framework, Black people, during the 1918 flu pandemic, are still at a
disadvantage, and most of those reasons have to do with structural racism”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">In an article she
wrote, titled “In 1918 to 2020, Race Colors America’s Response to Epidemics”,
McDonald stated, “[E]ven in death, Black bodies were neglected by White public
infrastructure. In Baltimore that year White sanitation department employees
refused to dig graves for Black flu victims after the city’s only Black
cemetery, Mount Auburn, could not accommodate any more graves.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">“The War
Department sent 324 Black soldiers<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>. .
.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to do the task, which is very much in
keeping with the way Black soldiers were treated by the Army in the war. In
Chicago the 1918 flu was blamed on Black people by Dill Robertson, the city
commissioner of public health”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather; font-size: medium;">Mistrust of White doctors and vaccines still lingers
among </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather; font-size: medium;">African Americans</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Researchers and
doctors experimenting on patients probably goes back centuries. History reveals
that Blacks and Whites have been subjected to secret experiments conducted by
researchers and doctors without their knowledge or consent. They were available,
unpaid guinea pigs from mental institutions, poor and uneducated, prisoners,
prostitutes. Even pregnant women and babies were snagged in the research traps.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">The U.S. military
conducted thousands upon thousands of experiments in and out of America on
military personnel. Thousands upon thousands of them did not know they were human lab rats. Some
the experiments were so horrific that you wonder how the researchers and
doctors (and cooperating nurses) called <i>themselves</i> human. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">When cases of
racism, disease and health care are discussed among Black folks, the most mentioned incident is
the <i>Tuskegee Syphilis Study</i>, conducted between 1932 into 1972. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was labeled: “The Tuskegee Study of
Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male”. It took place in Tuskegee, Alabama; conducted
by the U.S. Public Health Service. Eunice Rivers Laurie, an African American
nurse, coordinated the experiment. She worked for the state of Alabama. None of
the participants were informed about the reason for the study. When a penicillin was
discovered and used as a cure in 1974, the infected men were not treated. Their
suffering continued until their deaths.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Approximately 600
Black men, primarily sharecroppers, were recruited in Macon County, Alabama to
participate. They were enticed with free meals, rides and promises of free medical care. None of the men had ever been cared for or treated by an actual
doctor. They were sorted into two groups: 399 had latent syphilis; 201 were free
of syphilis. They were all treated for “bad blood” an old Southern term used to
describe a number of illnesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">The Public Health
Service (PHS) did not tell the men they had syphilis, leaving them untreated.
Jumping ahead of the long study, some of the men, “by 1972, died of the
disease; 100 died from complications relating the disease; 40 spouses were
diagnosed with the disease, which was passed onto 19 children at birth”. (History Channel)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">In 1973 Congress
held a hearing on the Tuskegee experiment. A decision was made that the
participants and the heirs should receive a $10 million out-of-court
settlement. President Bill Clinton, in 1997, apologized for what happened to
the Black men in the name of a deceptive medial study.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Another syphilis
experiment took place in Guatemala in South America, from 1946 to 1949. The
project was created to discover if penicillin could cure, treat, or prevent
syphilis. U. S. government researchers infected 700 men, prostitutes, prisoners,
soldiers and mental patients with syphilis and other diseases. None the victims
were aware that they were being subjected to a deadly venereal disease.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">In Africa, human
experiments are constant and continuous. The country is poor and Black Africans
do not have access to medications to eradicate diseases that have been wiped
out in America. Because they are impoverished, Africans tend to fall prey to
pharmaceuticals that regularly test experimental drugs on them. If the
experimental drugs are used on White Africans, there is no data testifying to
their participation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Every disease
under the sun finds its way to Africa. Even diseases that have been declared
cured in Africa, seem to pop up time and time again, causing epidemics, serious
health issues and death. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Listwand</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"> explains why pharmaceuticals do their
dirty deeds in African countries. Companies rush to initiate clinical trials
because Africans are a “fast growing, treatment naïve population; largely
illiterate and uneducated public; large pools of diseases within populations;
lower costs for conducting trials; no official national laws on clinical
trials”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Less than two percent
of the drugs used in Africa are produced there. Pfizer’s experimental drug,
Trovan, was used in a clinical trial in Kano, Nigeria, without consent from the
government, or the parents, whose children were targeted. In 1996 there was an
epidemic of meningitis in Africa. As a result of the experimental drug, 11
children died, five after taking Trovan, six after taking an older antibiotic
used for comparisons in the clinical trial. Some of the children suffered
blindness, deafness and brain damage. Except for the children and their family no one paid a price for destruction of human life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Another syphilis
experiment occurred in Guatemala from 1946 to 1948. The syphilis experiment was
backed and led by the United States. It was executed during Harry Truman’s
presidency, with the cooperation of President Juan Jose Arevalo and the
Guatemala health ministries. Like all “human experiments” the selected guinea
pigs were plucked from prisons, mental institutions, poor communities, and
soldiers. Prostitutes were used to infect men. The experiment’s purpose was
to see if penicillin prevented contracting syphilis, or if cured it and other
sexually transmitted diseases.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As usual, none the victims knew that their
lives and health was in danger. None of them consented to be guinea pigs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of the 1,500 victims, 83 died. The experiment
was led by Charles Cutter, who later participated in the Tuskegee Syphilis
Study in its later stage.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">In 2010 President
Barack Obama apologized to Jose Arevalo by telephone for the atrocity committed in
the name of U. S. medical research.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">America’s 1918 pandemic in 2021 America</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">In a book written
by journalist Bob Woodward, then President Donald Trump revealed that he knew
about the coronavirus, aka COVID-19, but did not want to tell Americans about
it. He did not want to “create a panic”, so he chose to “play it down. I still
like playing it down”, he revealed to Woodward. Trump said there were only five
cases of the coronavirus in America in January 2019. He hoped that
“everything’s going to be great”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Trump said at a January
30, press conference, “Hopefully, everything is going to be great”. Everything
did not turn out great. Trump dropped all of his presidential responsibilities
to concentrate “winning” an election that he had already lost to contender Joe
Biden. He stopped pretending to care about COVID-19, and the mounting deaths. He did
not acknowledge the dead. He never appeared on TV, sending condolences to the
families and friends of the deceased. He has never voiced sorry for his inaction.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">For reasons that
have not been explained by physicians and medical researchers, the virus seems
to be a bigger enemy in African American and Latino communities, compared to
White communities, where it is assumed that all White folks are healthier in
comparison. The media postured that African Americans have more “preexisting
conditions” than Whites, making them more susceptible to contacting or dying
from virus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> They did mention that preexisting conditions were the result of inadequate healthcare.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Harriet
Washington, medical scholar and editor, was interviewed in 2007 in by <i>Democracy
Now</i> reporter Amy Goodman about her book “Medical Apartheid: The Dark History
of Medial Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the
Present”. Washington talked about disparity in medical treatment of Black folks. She touched on the differences between two folders that she discovered, one for a
Black patient and one for a White patient. At the time she was a medical
undergraduate at the University of Rochester.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">“The White
gentleman’s file was thick and full of testament of his loving family, his
insurance support, his determination to live, and detailed a really Herculean
attempt on the of the medical personnel to procure a kidney for him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">“The file of the
Black gentleman was very thin. The word ‘Negro’ appeared on every page of it,
and somebody had underlined it on a social profile right above the single line
that indicated the medical staff’s plans to help him prepare
for his imminent demise.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">“The White
gentleman and the Black gentleman were very similar in their profiles, but they
were treated differently, and I wanted to know whether this was a consistent
feature of medical care or just an anomaly”.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather;">COVID-19 vaccines: who is getting shots, who is
not</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">If you have money
or access to people with connections and influence, then you are guaranteed a
fat chance of getting two COVID-19 vaccine shots immediately. An <i>ABC News</i>
headline told the story of who was pushed to the head of the line. “Wealthy
residents got a disproportionate share of vaccines in Texas county”. The county
was in Dallas, Texas.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">“Of the 3,071
doses given out at the Fair Park vaccination site, 461 doses went to people in
three high-end income zip codes. People from zip codes with the highest number
of COVID-19 infections received a total of 59 doses”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">In Miami wealthy
residents were put at head of the line. Neighborhoods that cater to minorities are
being flooded by vaccine hunting Whites. Using their computers and cell phones,
they track areas where vaccines are being administered, the dates and times.
Usually, these same Whites say there are afraid to venture into those “violent”
communities by accident, let alone on purpose.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">The Seattle
Times</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"> reported that “three
medical systems in the region gave special vaccine access to big donors or
foundation members. Two of the hospital organizations acknowledged they made a
mistake in prioritizing influential people”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Philadelphia is 44
percent Black, but only 12 percent of Blacks have been vaccinated; in Miami-Dade
county only seven percent of the 17 percent Black population have been
vaccinated; Whites in New York received nearly half of the vaccine doses. Black
and Latinos were “starkly underrepresented based on their share of the
population”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">There is no reliable
data stating why minorities are getting less of the vaccines, except what the
media reports. Nonetheless, the media are broadcasting daily, hour after hour,
that African Americans and Latinos are skeptical about getting vaccinated due to past experiments, in which Blacks and Latinos were used as guinea pigs.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">President Joe
Biden has vowed to equalize distributions of the vaccines, making sure the
vaccines are getting to the communities hit the hardest by COVID-19. In a year’s
time, well over a half million Americans have died from the virus. Thousands
who survived the virus are experiencing physical and mental issues of all kinds. The vaccine works differently for some people. Black and Whites and other folks have reported similar symptoms.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">It’s true that African
Americans are reluctant to get vaccine shots. However, Blacks are still willing to get the shots to thwart the coronavirus, that has branched off into four other viruses. Accessibility to the vaccine is not as convenient in Black neighborhoods as in White neighborhoods. Even with the convenience, Whites are also leery about the vaccine. They do not
trust the government, or the efficacy of the vaccines. Whites, more than minorities, believe that COVID-19 is a hoax, or just a case of the flu, as Donald Trump told them.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">In none of the
thousands, perhaps millions of medical experiments conducted in America, poor, and third world countries, United States researchers and doctors did not offer available medications to cure the
men, women and children they infected with diseases and infections. They
allowed victims to die in pain and agony, humiliating their humanity.</span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-44498875203214595382020-07-27T22:52:00.005-07:002024-01-03T12:28:17.972-08:00Black Codes, vagrancy, false liberation, convict leasing, and a cop's knee for choking<i style="text-indent: -0.1in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">“One
hundred years of delay have passed since President Lincoln freed the slaves,
yet their heirs, their grandsons are not fully free. They are not yet freed
from the bonds of injustice. They are not yet freed from social and economic
oppression. And the notion, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be
fully free until all its citizens are free”.</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; text-indent: -0.1in;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.1in;">John F. Kennedy, 1963, Civil Rights
Address</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -0.1in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -0.1in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> There
has always been a collective attitude among White folks that they do not have
to respect African Americans because they are not their equals. The day slaves
were freed in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln, there was no official
legislation recognizing the edit. The 13<sup>th</sup> Amendment was passed April
8, 1864, by Congress, by the House on January 31, 1865. Right away White folks commenced
creating ways to sabotage that freedom, further pushing their knees deeper into necks
of emancipated men and women and children. White folks did not care about the
Emancipation Proclamation or Abe Lincoln’s largess, which was not absolutely sincere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Whites believed that no amendment in the Constitution of the United States applied to the free Black Africans.
To concede that certain amendments were applicable to Blacks meant cutting in
half the elephant in the room: White Privilege. The elephant covers a lot of
White Privilege territory: affirmative action, equal pay, judicial fairness,
police protection, quality educations, freedom to be free, employment opportunities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">White males
in power did not want former slaves to breathe a whiff of fresh air without
their permission. Ex-slaves were mobile black bodies without souls and emotions.
Like children, they needed guidance. They had to be closely monitored, corralled
and beat when they were unruly and disobedient. White women and children did
not have full-fledged rights either, but they had a modicum more freedom than former slaves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">After
emancipation the Black Africans had nowhere to go. No new life awaited them. They
were money-broke, and destitute. They had nowhere to live. No food. No clothing. No
job prospects. They were vulnerable and susceptible to the cruelest forms of revictimization administered by White folks. Because
thousands of them had no choice list to check off, they stayed with their
former owners, working as sharecroppers. Plantation owners provided the land
and seed for a share of the profits. However, some ex-slaves decided to try and
make it on their own in a country completely controlled by White males.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">They did
not get the 40 acres and mule as promised by Union General William T. Sherman,
January 16, 1866, that was filed order No.15. The 40 acres consisted of land on the
costal islands and costal region of Georgia. The Union promised to donate mules
it was not using. However, the mules were not packaged with the 40 Acres. The promise
was broken. President Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln’s successor, annulled the deal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">On April 16, 1861, the District of Columbia Emancipation Act made it possible for the
government to pay former slave owners $300,00 for each slave they once owned. Around $1 million was put aside to pay the former slaveholders. An estimated 979 plantation and farm owners had around 2,989 slaves. The payees were
compensated to stay loyal to the Union. Reparations for loss of “property”? Or
reparations for loyalty? Manumitted slave got nothing for their years of hard labor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Black men
and women deciding to make it on their own ran into more brick walls than opportunities. But some were
successful. White folks, poor and rich, did not allow Blacks the privilege of
becoming viable citizens, earning their own way, earning money to buy land and
start a new life. These skilled Blacks were threats to White males,
who feared the competition for jobs and land purchases, which would diminish
their economic status and power. Enslavement was not you<i> scratch my back, I’ll
scratch yours </i>handshake<i> </i>deal between liberated Africans and privileged
Caucasians.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In the
book “I Was Born in Slavery” edited by Andrew Waters, ex-slaves remember their bondage.
Wash Ingram recalled his owner and the treatment they received. He said his mother and
father were sold frequently. Whoever owned them at any given time was the name
they took. Ingram’s father ran away. His mother died. He was left alone. He was sold
to a new owner named Jim Ingram.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">“Master
Ingram had a big plantation down near Carthage and lots of niggers. He also
buyed land, cleared it, and sold it. I plowed with oxen. We had a overseer and
sev’ral taskmasters. They whip niggers for not workin’ right, or for riunnin’
‘way, or <b>*</b>pilferin’ ‘round Master’s house. We woke up at four o’clock and
worked from sunup to sundown. They give us an hour for dinner. Them that work
‘round the house had tables with plates.
Them that work in the field was drove in from work and fed just like hosses at
a big, long wooden trough. They had to eat with wooden spoons. The trough and
food was clean and always plenty of it, and we stood up to eat. <b>*</b>(stealing in
small amounts)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">“I ‘member
the war, and I sees them cannons and hears’em. I toted water for the soldiers
what fought at the Battle of Mansfield. Master Ingram had 350 slaves when the
war was over. But he didn’t turn us loose ‘til a year after Surrender. He
telled us that the gov’ment goin’ to give us forty acres of land, and a pair of
mules. But we didn’t git nothin’”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Ingram eventually
turned his slaves loose. Wash Ingram found his father years later, who had been purchased “a place” in DeBerry, Texas. Ingram lived with him “’til after I was
grown”. He got married and moved to Louisiana, returned to Texas and lived with
friends. His wife died. He said he had a hard time. He had no more living relatives. He
couldn’t find work, so he “managed to git someone to let me work for somethin’
to eat. A few clothes, and a place to sleep”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ck1wub-WkGQ/Xx-5ywsh5YI/AAAAAAAABtQ/dogMWCXaVh0zGOP4Mb-Dyy4U1o0E5Bz8wCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/image_6.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="285" data-original-width="611" height="186" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ck1wub-WkGQ/Xx-5ywsh5YI/AAAAAAAABtQ/dogMWCXaVh0zGOP4Mb-Dyy4U1o0E5Bz8wCNcBGAsYHQ/s400/image_6.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><b>Black boy is tired to pole as punishment</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Freed
Africans moved North, increasing their numbers in various states. White folks were not
happy. “. . . many Whites became resentful. White hostility towards Black
residents grew. Wealthy Whites feared vagrancy and crime, and poor Whites
resented the competition over jobs. . . most White northerners were not
interested in fighting to free slaves, or in giving rights to Black people”.<span style="font-size: x-small;"> <b>PBS
TV</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">White
terrorist groups sprang up to keep the Black Africans in place. Desperate plantation
owners, farmers and businesses needed the continuance and security of free
labor. Without Africans the South’s economy would dwindle. Virginia had the
largest population of freed slaves. A year after Black Africans were
emancipated, Virginia’s General Assembly passed the "Vagrancy Act of 1866",
January 15. Unemployment and homelessness were punishable crimes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The law’s
preamble states: “[t]here hath lately been a great increase of idle and
disorderly persons in some parts of this commonwealth’, which displaced much of
the state’s large population of Africans’”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">If a<i> "</i>vagrant" attempted to escape, and later recaptured, he was sent to prison, or returned to his
previous owner, who could work him an extra month for free. The imprisoned<i> vagrants</i> were forced to wear<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>balls and chains. If no former employers took
them back, they worked on public projects, surviving only on bread and water. Many
of them died from diseases, maltreatment and poor health.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Black
Codes</i> were legislated in southern states (Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia,
Louisiana, Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina). These states were an
economic mess. They lost access to free laborers. The <i>Black Codes</i> allowed
Whites to regain control of the free Blacks and continued free labor. Former slaves could not own land. They could not own themselves, given they had no right their bodies unless a White man gave them permission to be responsible human beings. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Freed Africans had to get permission to travel out of state; they could not own guns. In
other words, they still had no rights that White folks had to acknowledge. In
1904 a new law replaced the Vagrancy Act. Vagrancy became a misdemeanor. The
guilty had to pay a bond and exhibit good behavior for one year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">BETTER
OFF CONFINED TO PRISONS</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In
“Slavery by Another Name” by Douglas H, Blackmon, the author retraced the
imprisonment of a young man named Green Cottenham, who was arrested, charged with
vagrancy March 30, 1908, in Shelby County, Alabama. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">“After
three days behind bars, twenty-two-year-old Cottenham was found guilty in a
swift appearance before the county judge, and immediately sentenced to a
thirty-day term of hard labor. Unable to pay the array of fees accessed on
every prisoner—fees to the sheriff, the deputy, the court judge, the witness—Cottenham’s
sentence was extended to nearly a year of hard labor. The next day, Cottenham,
the youngest of nine children, born to former slaves in an adjoining county,
was sold”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Blackmon
writes that Cottenham was turned over to the U.S. Steel Corporation by the
sheriff. “What the company’s managers did with Cottenham and thousands of other
Black men they purchased from sheriffs across Alabama, was entirely up to
them”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Thousands
of Black men were at the mercy of White men who held their lives and futures in
their <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ut2hLAVUc48/Xx-6wfZ69_I/AAAAAAAABtc/vWuRdUhVXxgSKxDjN67netfbupeekYCpwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/slavery%2Bafter%2Bfeedom.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="285" data-original-width="611" height="298" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ut2hLAVUc48/Xx-6wfZ69_I/AAAAAAAABtc/vWuRdUhVXxgSKxDjN67netfbupeekYCpwCNcBGAsYHQ/s640/slavery%2Bafter%2Bfeedom.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><b>Despite being free Black men and boys were forced to work as convict laborers after getting arrested for homelessness, vagrancy, and being unemployed.</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
hands. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The odds of regaining their
freedom was against Black men and boys. They were locked in another form of
slavery not even President Abe Lincoln could have freed them from. The corporate White males of privilege refused to take their knees off
the necks of these ex-slaves, all solidly trapped by false charges, White
power, open racism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">White
officials summarily concluded that “Black convicts” would be better off if they
were confined to prisons, where they could learn discipline, a trade, and disabuse
themselves of bad habits. It was decided they were better off in servitude
rather than freedom. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the enactment
of Black Codes, a “program” called <i>Convict Leasing</i> came into play. This “program”
was designed to keep Black men in bondage. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Convict leasing was outlawed in 1928, 63 years
after slavery was abolished. Louisiana was the last state to step away from the
money making hussle. Convict leasing was ripe with corruption and lawlessness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Whoever
sought convict labor were responsible for feeding and clothing them; providing
them a place to stay. Black males made up the majority of the rented labor
force. They worked coal mines, picked cotton, worked quarries, lumber yards,
railroads, plantations, farming, construction. Black men built the Capitol of
Texas in Austin, Texas, and the White House in Washington, DC. They have never gotten credit for their contributions in these projects.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">“Instead
of evidence showing Black crime waves, the original records of county jails
indicated thousands arrested for inconsequential charges, or for violations of
laws specifically written to intimidate Blacks, changing employees without
permission, vagrancy, riding freight cars without a ticket, engaging in sexual
activity, or loud talk with a White woman”. <b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Douglas A. Blackmon, Slavery by
Another Name.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KytdClx8UQE/Xx-33prK6yI/AAAAAAAABs4/GZ78y2qMIqgd9l3uS1eZOT1DwJSIIEj6QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/graves%2Bof%2Bexslaves.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="660" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KytdClx8UQE/Xx-33prK6yI/AAAAAAAABs4/GZ78y2qMIqgd9l3uS1eZOT1DwJSIIEj6QCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/graves%2Bof%2Bexslaves.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><b>Evacuation of former slave's graves</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In 2018 in
Sugarland, Texas, 95 African American graves were discovered on a construction
site. Workers uncovered 85 graves of freed slaves. They were estimated to range
in ages from 14 to 70. All were boys and men, except for one woman. The
skeletal remains revealed that they “were malnourished, their bones misshapen
from back-breaking, repetitive labor. They were buried in plain pine boxes,
somewhere between 1878 and 1911”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">BLACK FOLKS
ARE "THINGS", NOT HUMANS</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">“I can’t
breathe”. Repeat until your mind has traveled all the way back to the first day
Africans were enslaved in America. The knee of White slave masters were on
their necks. The lives of slaves and unshackled slave were on lease from day
one, like that of Black women, men and boys today. The end date of the lease was/is
determined by White cops with badges, gun and a pair of working knees for
choking.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">If White citizens decided a Black person is “dangerous and scary”, they
could be shot to death. Whites claimed they were scared, hoping the law and juries
would believe their stories. Before the public killing of George Floyd, cops and White always walked free.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Historian,
author, editor and activist W. E. B. DuBois said: “The slave went free, stood for
a brief moment in the sun, and then moved back again toward slavery”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Convict
leasing was the brutal enforcement of Step Two to the slavery saga. The reimprisonment
of Black men and boys proved to be a bigger enemy than their previous enslavement.
Once again, they lost control of their own lives, which did not matter to White
males who paid other White males to lease them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The New
York Times Magazine</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">:
“Some American slavery matured into perverse regimes that denied the humanity
of Black people, while still criminalizing their actions. As the Supreme Court
of Alabama explained in 1861, enslaved Black people were ‘capable of committing
crimes,’ and in that capacity, were ‘regarded a person’, but in most every
other sense they were ‘incapable of performing civil acts’ and considered
‘things, not persons.’”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The 13<sup>th</sup>
Amendment is credited with legally abolishing slavery. Section 1 states:
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, <i>except as a punishment for crime</i>
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United
States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction”. Therein lies the words
that trapped emancipated bondsmen, leaving them up a creek without a paddle.
Vagrant? Homeless? Unemployed? They could be charged with these crimes that
only applied to Blacks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Neither
the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution mentioned slavery,
despite forefathers owning and violating enslaved men and women. Although
they were full human beings, they were referred to as “three-fifths of all
other persons” in the U.S. Constitution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">When cops employ
their knees to put Black men in death holds, they do not see human beings. A
Black man, boy or woman lying belly-down on grass or pavement have no power to
renew his or her lease on life. Cops that willfully kill them, the
majority unarmed-- are reliving the oppression of 1865 vagrant laws. The cops see <i>three-fifths</i> Black
bodies, likened to animals that are treated more mercifully.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">SANDBAGS
WITH ARMS, HANDS AND FEET <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">“In
Greenville, (LeRoy) Percy helped organize a flood fight and held his front
against the river. But just above Washington Country, <i>The New York Times</i>
reported, an engineer who ran out of sandbags ‘ordered . . . several hundred
negroes . . . to lie down on top of the levee and as close together as
possible. The Black men obeyed, and although spray frequently dashed over them,
they prevented the overflow that might have developed into an ugly crevasse.
For an hour and a half this hatred lasted, until the additional sandbags arrived.
The men were convicts, and the <i>Times</i> called the idea ‘brilliant’. But
Percy did not approve. To him men were economic units competing with other men,
not sandbags’”, writes John M. Barry in<span style="font-size: x-small;"> <b><i>Rising Tide.</i><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Democratic
Governor of Mississippi, James K. Vardaman, a devout racist who “fed on, and
fed the hatred”, did not like the notion of Black citizens getting an education.
He said education “renders him unfit for the work which the White man has
prescribed and which he will be forced to perform”. He recommended repealing
the 14<sup>th</sup> and 15<sup>th</sup> Amendments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Vardaman
declared that Blacks were “lazy, lying, lustful animals which no amount of
training can transform into a tolerable citizen. . . “[I]f it is necessary
every negro in the State will be lynched, it will be done to maintain supremacy”.
<i><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Rising Tide</span><o:p></o:p></b></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">African
Americans have been referred to as “animals” by Whites throughout history,
expressing exactly the same attitude as Vardaman. Former President Barack Obama
and his family were referred to as <i>monkeys, gorillas, orangutans</i>. Cops, whose
Facebook and other social media ramblings have been exposed and caught calling Black folks
all these names and more. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">On
lynching Blacks, Vardaman said he did not care if they were innocent or guilty,
because “[t]he good [negroes] are few, the bad are many, and it is impossible
to tell what ones are . . . dangerous to the honor of the dormant race until
the damage is done”. Vardaman held office 116 years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A DILEMMA: COPS
CANNOT TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN <i>GOOD BLACKS </i></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">AND <i>BAD BLACKS</i></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">After
shooting a Black person, no matter the age or gender, White cops assert they <i>feared</i>
for their lives. They do not have the same fear when confronting a White person
pointing a weapon at them. They suddenly feel the need to be reasonable as they
try negotiating with the White individual. Unfortunately, being Black is a
crime punishable by physical abuse or death. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Louie White
(deceased) became a cop in Austin, Texas in 1959. At the time a Black cop could
arrest a White person, even if they were caught committing a crime. If a Black
cop was assigned a downtown beat, that was limited to a couple of blocks. They
had to call for a White cop to arrest a White person. Black cops could not control,
handcuff or touch any person perceived as White. On the other hand, White cops
could go on the East Side to arrest, beat, kill or harass any Black person they
wanted to. Black cops could only deal with Blacks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In <b>Psychology
Today</b>, Allision Abrams writing about “The Psychology Behind Racism”, says,
“Attitudes of extreme hatred are usually based in fear. They come from
primitive survival mechanisms or instincts to avoid danger—to fear anything
that appears to be different, which leads to fear of the other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">“When one
race of persons unconsciously feels fear in response to a different race
group—fears that their own level of security, important or control of being
threatened—they will develop these defensive thoughts and behaviors. They will
create exaggerated and negative beliefs about the other race to justify their
actions in [an] attempt to secure their own safety and survival”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><b>MSNBC News</b>
“Think” (Opinion, Analysis, Essays), Damien Jones, writes about his fear of the
police, who sees his height as dangerous. “As a 6-foot-3 Black man, I’ve been
trained my whole life to protect my safety by trying to make myself seem less
threatening—dressing in professional clothing, smiling extra hard, not wearing
my do-rag in public. But it shouldn’t be my duty to undo hundreds of years of
stereotyping of Black men. It should be the responsibility of officers to
unlearn their biases, and to be trained to distinguish real threats from
nonthreats”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Rather
than sounding like he is chairman of Urban Justice and Equality, PAC, Jones
sounds like a manumitted slave having to watch his behavior, appearing
nonthreatening around White folks, especially cops. In the year 2020 he is still
scared not smile “extra hard” for fear he won’t appear friendly. This
professional Black man’s life is very much akin to the rules set by the 1866
Vagrancy Act, created to keep a White man’s knee on his Black neck if he is identified
as someone he is not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">“American
culture is imbued with fears that African Americans will someday repay the
violence and oppression that has marred their history in this country”, said Noam
Chomsky, linguist and cultural critic. He emphasized the ongoing impact of
Black enslavement and subjugation in the U.S., saying, ‘fears that the victims
might rise up and take revenge are deeply rooted in American culture, with
reverberations to the present’”. <b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Alternet.org</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Knowing
they could do whatever they wanted with run-away slaves or liberated slaves
without freedom papers signed by their former owners—organized, armed paddy
rollers took advantage of their power over their helpless captives. If they severely
beat, tortured or killed their prisoners, they did not claim they “feared for
their lives.” They did not fear the sizes of their prisoners. Their bloody deeds
were executed without consequences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">During a
traffic stop in Virginia in 2019, one cop on the scene proved the “I feared for
my life” is a lie; a myth. The episode began with the cop letting the young
Black male know that he was in charge. The Black man, stopped for an expired
inspection sticker and suspended driver’s license, immediately began taping the
interaction. He made sure his hands were raised and visible. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">"He said to the cop
standing at the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>window, “Sir my hands
are up. I’m in no threat to officers”. The cop, opening the car door, said:
“You are going to get your ass whupped”. His bodycam was not on. The Black man
was pulled out of his car. His cell camera stopped but not the audio. After
pulling the driver out of his car, throwing him to the ground, the cop said,
“How do you like that, motherfucker? How do you like that”? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The driver
reminded the cop he was not resisting. He asked the cop to get “off my neck”. The
cop did not exhibit fear of the Black man. He retained his supremacy. The young
black man, who sustained several injuries, was the Constitution’s <i>three-fifths</i>
of a human, his dignity pinned to the street like his body.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Norm
Stamper, former police chief of the Seattle Police Department, wrote: “Simply
put, White cops are afraid of Black men. We don’t talk about it, we pretend it
doesn’t exist, we claim ‘color blindness’, we say White officer treat Black men
the same way they treat White men. But that’s a lie. In fact, the bigger, the
darker the Black man the greater the fear. The African American community knows
this. Hell, most Whites know it. Yet, even though it’s central, if not the
defining ingredient in the makeup of police racism, White cops won’t admit it
to themselves or to others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">“I’ve
studied fear for years. I’ve learned how it affects our bodies, out perception,
judgment, and actions. [R]ecently I’ve tried to dig up empirical evidence to
support my particular theory that White cops are afraid of Black men. [T]here
are studies showing that Whites, in general, are likely to view Blacks as more
violent than Whites. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">“So, why
am I so certain that White cops are afraid of Black men? Because I was a White
cop. In a world of White cops. For thirty-four years. From the earlies days of
academy training it was made clear that Black men and White cops don’t mix, that
of all the people we’d encounter on the streets, those most dangerous to our
safety, to our survival, were Black men”. <b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>A Top Cop’s Expose</i> <i>of the
Dark Side of American Policing</i>, by Norm Stamper</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Whereas
Stamper said White cops are afraid of big African American men, during slavery
the bigger, the blacker a slave, the more favor he received from his White
owner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A big, black buck was perceived
as valuable. He was perceived as a good worker and breeder, worthy of living
not killing. For decades White cops have been shooting Black men, women and
children without regard to their </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">size, despite of Stamper’s assessment.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">“In Amite,
Louisiana, fifty miles north of New Orleans, several farmers were indicted on
charges of kidnapping a family of Negroes for a twenty dollar bill; the Negroes
were forced to work without pay for weeks under armed guards<i>”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rising Tide<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lcsNWSm4Ydk/Xx-5EKZ9qCI/AAAAAAAABtE/vhFtwtA7A8wkRNAd41QJjKKHIzSRm1xjQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/BB155tmm.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="624" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lcsNWSm4Ydk/Xx-5EKZ9qCI/AAAAAAAABtE/vhFtwtA7A8wkRNAd41QJjKKHIzSRm1xjQCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/BB155tmm.jpg" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><b>George Floyd</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">May 25,
2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 6 feet, 7 inches, George Floyd, 46, was
murdered on a Minnesota street as people watched in horror and disbelief. His
murder was videoed in real time by a person on the scene. While in police
custody, Floyd was eventually wrestled to the pavement, held down by Thomas Lane,
Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng. He asked not be put in the back of police car because
he was claustrophobic, and had recovered from COVID-19. He was eventually wrestled
to the ground. He had volunteered to lay on the ground rather be locked in the closed
police vehicle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Derek
Chauvin was the nonchalant cops that held his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight
minutes and 46 seconds. Floyd begged and pleaded for Chauvin to get his knee
off his neck. He could not breathe. The cop refused, Floyd died, handcuffed,
held down by three other cops, lying face down on the street, begging to let
him breathe, calling for his deceased mother. He predicted the cops were going
to kill him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">His crime,
other than being Black? The owner of a grocery store called the police, telling
the 911 dispatcher that a customer was trying to pay for a purchase with a
counterfeit $20 bill. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In 1928 a
Black family sold for a $20 bill. The White farmers who snatched the family, taking
them to Mississippi, were indicted for kidnapping. A Black was man murdered by
four cops, because he was accused of trying to pay for a purchase with a phony $20
bill. The four cops will stand trial for George Floyd’s murder. His life and the lives of a Black family was worth less than $25.00</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-52080324883936525602020-01-19T15:32:00.009-08:002023-09-27T20:03:55.363-07:00Prison sentencing: African Americans, other folks and the unfairness of the judicial system <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DsItD7LdPIw/XiTVsCrLlvI/AAAAAAAABrM/hJk_U4QJbFU105OkqhIaRM6ljxlDO-oPQCEwYBhgL/s1600/OIPKP8YDV9D.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="333" height="476" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DsItD7LdPIw/XiTVsCrLlvI/AAAAAAAABrM/hJk_U4QJbFU105OkqhIaRM6ljxlDO-oPQCEwYBhgL/s640/OIPKP8YDV9D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span><span style="font-family: times;"><i><span>Lady Justice wears a blindfold, the scale of justice in one hand, a sword in the other. The blindfold renders her blind to race and skin color. But the justice system operates on a different plane with all eyes open, with mouths willing and ready to sentence and judge defendants based on the color of their skin. They are denied the right to fair justice. They are denied the right to fair trials as dictated by a one-sided judicial system in which the scale of justice is perpetually off balance. The same system uses the sword to slice and dice African American lives until nothing is left but more societal rejection, more crime, and a lifetime of imprisonment</span></i>.</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;">dorothy charles banks, 2020</span></span></div>
<span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: large;"><b>Race and ethnicity of life sentenced individuals</b></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">“It is widely established that racial ethnic minorities are
more likely to enter the criminal justice system, and that racial ethnic
difference became more pronounced at the deeper stages of the system. In 2009
African Americans and Latino comprised over 60% of people in prison, and Black
males were incarcerated in state and federal prison at 6.4 times the rate of
White and non-Hispanic males.</span><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br />“Racial disparities are evident among those serving life as
well. Nationally almost half (47%) of life sentenced inmates are African
Americans, though the Black population of lifers reach was much higher. In
states such as Maryland (77.4%); Georgia (72%), and Mississippi (71.5%). In the
federal system 62.3% of the life sentenced population is often African
Americans. Nonwhites constitute nearly two-thirds of the total pollution
serving life sentences”. (Sentencing Project)</span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Two days after presidential candidate Joe Biden said he would
propose terminating the federal death penalty, Donald Trump, president of the
U.S., has a different idea about the federal death penalty. After Biden stated his
intention, Trump’s Justice Department announced plans to resurrect the death
penalty in federal prisons, where a number of inmates were set to be executed
in December 2019 and January 2020.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">“At the direction of Attorney General William Barr, the federal
Bureau of Prisons has scheduled the executions of inmates being held on death
row at USP Terre Haute, a high security penitentiary in Indiana”. (U.S. News,
July 25, 2019). The crimes committed by these inmates were brutal and sadistic.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">In 2016 President Barack Obama became the first president to
tour and talk with six inmates at the El Reno Federal Penitentiary in El Reno,
Oklahoma. He held a listen and learn roundtable discussion with the inmates,
who confessed that they had committed drug offenses, and were willing to do
their time. But they also wondered what their lives might have been had society
reached out to help them in their younger years, helping them to stay out of trouble. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">President Obama was the first president to oversee a substantial reduction
in prison populations in a half century. He issued clemencies for almost 1,000
inmates since his eight years as president. That number is larger than his
three predecessors: Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George Bush.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">President Obama noted it is not normal for so many young
people to end up in the justice system. “What is normal is teenagers doing
stupid things. What is normal is young people who make mistakes. And we’ve got
to be able to distinguish between dangerous individuals, who need to be
incapacitated and incarcerated, versus young people who are in an environment
in which they are adapting, but if given different opportunities, a different
of life, they could thrive”. (ABC News, 2015)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Through the Department of Justice and executive orders,
President Obama pushed past a reluctant Congress to reduce the use of solitary
confinement, phasing out private prisons, scaling back federal drug sentences.
The White House wrote a list of solutions, “including the use of confinement
and lowering or eliminating mandatory minimums for softer crimes”. </span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">(ABC News)</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"> The President was aware that he would have to use executive orders to
accomplish his goals. Unfortunately, the next president can erase all of his
efforts, which is exactly what Donald Trump and Republicans are doing.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">November 14, 2018 Donald Trump, Obama’s successor, signed
House Bill 5682, the First Step Act, created to lead to prison reform. The new
law retroactively applies changes Congress made to drug sentencing laws in
2010. First Step Act will allow between 4,000 and 6,000 current prisoners to
immediately qualify for supervised release programs.</span></span></span></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">“Qualifying inmates—mostly people who have committed low-level
drug offenses—can earn credits to be released from prison early and serve the
remainder of their sentences in home confinement or halfway houses if they
participate in the plan’s anti-recidivism programs such as job training,
education and faith-based classes”. (Impact 2020, McClatchy News)</span></span></span></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><b>NAACP facts on racial disparities in incarceration</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">A) In 2014 African Americans constituted 2.3% million or 34%
of the total 6.8 million correctional population;</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span><span><span style="font-family: georgia; line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">B) African Americans are incarcerated at more than five times
the rate of Whites;</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">C) The imprisonment of African American women is twice that of
White women;</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">D) Nationwide African American children represent 32% of children
who are arrested; 42% of children who are detained, 52% whose cases are
judicially waived to criminal court;</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">E) Though African Americans and Hispanics make up approximately 32% of the U.S. population they
comprised 56% of all incarcerated people in 2015;</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">F) If African Americans and Hispanics were incarcerated at the
same rates as Whites prisons and jails populations would decline by almost 40%.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Between 1980 and 2015 the number of people incarcerated in
America increased from roughly 500,000 to over 2.2 million. Today the U. S.
makes up five percent of the world’s population, but has 21% of the world’s
prisons.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Below is an editorial written by Julia Coaxum regarding the U.S.
prison and jail systems acting like long-term holding cells for African
Americans and Hispanics. The editorial is followed by an analysis written by
Lonnie Ray Dawes, who appears to be imprisoned. Although these are voices and
observations from 42 years ago, both observations still apply to African
Americans and Latino men, women and children in 2020.</span></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><b>From America’s Gulag</b></span></span></span><br />
<span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">By
Julia L. Coaxum, managing editor</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Black
Forum Magazine, © 1978-79</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia; line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">The high percentage of non-white prisoners in this country warrants
open communication from those who are incarcerated. Youth crime is increasing
and Blacks cannot afford to disassociate themselves from involvement in the in
the upgrading of the penal system. We are at a point in time when juvenile
crime is not punishable by long term state and federal jail sentences. However,
with the upward spiraling of juvenile delinquency, it is a serious mistake to
believe that the controlling populace will not change this law. The reality of
this serious social problem extends itself to the prison, and its
responsibility to those who pass through its doors.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">The penal system has failed in its responsibility to
rehabilitate, and there is an urgent need to “get in touch” with the operations
and maintenance of an institution that so freely opens its door to non-whites.
Millions of dollars have been spent on prison research, and it seems impossible
that these studies have failed to expose the number of returning ex-convicts.
If the spirit for life can decrease in an institution originally conceived to
rehabilitate, then isn’t it time to question the efficiency of that
institution?</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Our prison system has come under attack from all sides of the
fence, and the question is still unanswered and unchanged. How can an
institution rehabilitate when the controlling forces have allowed the same
crimes that take place on the streets to take place, on a lower level, within
these institutions.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Nothing has changed. The idea of capturing as many “niggas” as
possible is still alive. The only thing that’s changed is the name—to include
us all.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">There are funds by they are used to study rather to implement
any idea or program that will bring about a new attitude of self-determination;
and unless we become involved on a functional level, support any program to
rehabilitate, insist on regularly inspected prison facilities, separate
facilities or juveniles . . . we can expect nothing less than a high rate of
suicidal incidents from juvenile offenders.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
</span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><b>The Ex-Convicts</b></span></span></span></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">By
Lonnie Ray Dawes</span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Black
Forum 1978</span></span><br />
</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">In America today the concept of prison and prisoners are many and varied. Behind the walls and fences you will find the rich, middle class, the poor, the intelligent, the ignorant, the physically well and the handicapped. Also, there are a few that should be in a mental hospital, as they are not only dangerous to themselves but harmful to the general population as well. You would be unable to distinguish a convicted felon from a guard, banker, or the sentencing judge. But convicts have one thing in common: they have committed or were judged to have committed a crime, and justice though right or wrong, must be served.</span><br /> <br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"> Who are the men and women that make up these “unwanted communities”? They could very well be the kids next door. Now locked up and tagged criminals, their needs, attitudes and ideas have been forgotten. What about the fear and adjustment to prison life they ow face? Does the punishment really fit the crime? Was there another alternative? These are questions that the public must address itself to—prison life and numbers are not that easy to erase.</span><br /> <br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"> Any man or woman now serving time in any of the many prisons across the land could write book, maybe boos, on prison life, stating nothing but facts on things they’ve seen going on behind locked doors. Of course, these facts will be denied, but nobody from the men on the street, the D.A. to the judges, or the administrating officials can tell me that the rapes, forced paying of protection, or guards doing favors for pay do not exist. This brings us to a point. Maybe, just maybe our prisons reflect the type of community or society from which the convict comes. Is it possible that we are a country of hypocrites.</span><br /> <br /><span style="line-height: 107%;">Mr. and Mrs. America are the first to complain about the steadily rising crime rate that is sweeping our nation. But what are they, with the most to lose, doing about it? I can tell you in one word, NOTHING! Because for years they have mistakenly relied on a system that, after hundreds of years, has now been proven a failure. How often have you picked up a newspaper, or heard on the radio, or TV that a person, young or old, was robbed or beaten on the street in broad daylight, while people just stood there watching, and most likely thinking to themselves, “Thank God it wasn’t me this time”. </span></span><span><span><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">The average person just does not have the time to involve himself with his fellow man, let alone get involved in something that might tie him up in court for a few days. Instead, personal involvement only comes into play when the crime affects us, or our loved ones. Then Mr. and Mrs. America complains louder and longer, demanding stiffer penalties.</span><br /> <br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"> According to Webster (dictionary), I am a criminal. I don’t blame society for my being here. I accept the responsibility for my wrong doing. What I do blame society for is what happens to a person after incarceration, and the attitude of the public toward an “ex-con” after his release. You hear about prison reform, but due to the high rate of crime, the public is against reform. There must be something drastically wrong with our penal system if you stop to look at the number of parolees returning to prison.</span><br /> <br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"> I am the first to agree that you can’t reach all the inmates, but what about the many who can be helped to lead more productive lives? As the system now stands, there are far too many being left standing by the wayside, and for these men and women the eventual return to a cell is all the future holds in store for them. Today’s laws hold stiffer penalties than ever before, and in some states such as Louisiana, they are served without the benefit of pardon or parole.</span><br /> <br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"> What does such a sentence, say of 99 years, hold in the way of hope or incentive for a man? All he can look forward to is the next 50 years behind bars. I don’t say a convicted </span><br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"> felon should be slapped on hand or given a fine. What I do say is let’s take a closer look at the individual before handing out such a sentence. The U.S. government has just spent over a million-and-a-half dollars on a study of our prisons and found that after a man served five years, the imprisonment has taken whatever effect, negative or positive, it is going to take. If prison is the answer, then let’s do something with the man while he is incarcerated.</span><br /> <br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"> A good example of what I mean: John Doe is a 17 year old male who comes from a poor family, can’t read or write, and was sentenced to two years for burglary. While in prison he is assigned to a job as yard orderly. So for the months following he does his job, and is a model prisoner. After release, he spends months on the streets, still without any skills, and his education is no better than before. He finds himself back in court, this time to be sentenced to four-and-a-half years for a similar offense. Once again it’s the same routine. This goes on until he has been in and out of prison three or four times. He’s now 30 years old, yet he is still where he was at the age of 17. </span><br /></span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>
<span style="font-family: georgia; line-height: 107%;"><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: georgia; line-height: 107%;"><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Agreed,
rehabilitation starts with the individual, but some people have to be led in
order to take advantage of the limited courses offered within the prison
institutions. It is as good as any place to start his education. But today’s
prisons are ready to let an inmate slip quietly through his time without doing
a thing to help himself as long as he doesn’t cause any problems.</span></span><br />
<span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">It
costs much more in taxes alone to house such a man. This isn’t counting the
cost or hardship placed on the victim. Then again, there is always the chance
that on the next attempt to rob or steal, someone may be killed. So if the man
had been given, or taken the opportunity of learning a skill, he would have
been better able to face the free world. It’s looking better, but still the
average citizen looks at an ex-convict as a “rock busting, hardcore criminal”
who is planning another crime instead of a man who has made a mistake. Most
would like nothing better to drop the hard, cold shell they’ve been living in,
in order to survive.</span></span></span><br />
<span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Survival
can be a big problem to many of the youngsters who enter a prison for the first
time. This is slowly being recognized in some states. It is possible that this
is the reason why many states are now adopting the new “male-rape” law. In
Florida, such a crime carries up to 30 years. Some prisons offer much more
protection for first offenders, and the weaker inmates than others. Some concern
should be shown for a man who was thrown to the mercy of men who have morals,
pity or regard for human life. </span></span></span><br />
<span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">This
man’s attitude becomes one of ate and revenge. Should some of this
responsibility fall back on the state? After all, he was sent to prison for
“rehabilitation” as well as punishment. In any prison “fear” is a mighty
weapon. Violence is a part of prison life, and the fights, stabbings, and
sometimes, even the murders are over such things as a candy bar or changing the
TV station. You will always have conflicts when men are confined in close
quarters, but the knifings could be held to a minimum with more and better
trained security guards.</span></span></span><br />
<span><span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span><span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Filth
is also a demoralizing factor in prisons. It’s bad enough to have to live next
to a man who refuses to bathe without mentioning the unusual fact of watching
mice run across the floor or roaches crawl around on your bunk. The “bug”
problem is getting better with the newer and more modern buildings; however,
there are many cases where it still exists.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span><span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Prison
life would not be complete without the mention of food. It’s not what you would
place on your own table. In all honesty, I would have to say that the
preparation, and amount you are served is the biggest complaint. Then again,
what can you do with “beans and rice”? Some of the fault must be placed on the
inmate cooks, but they can’t be blamed when there is only enough food to feed
500 instead of the 700 plus as was intended. They can’t be blamed either for
watering down the milk in order to make it go around. Of course the food will vary
from state to state. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span><span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Even
in a prison with more than one mess hall, the food will change, but men eating
good in another part of the prison doesn’t keep me from going to bed hungry! If
you feel I’ve leaned toward the side of all inmates, it’s not so! I have only
written the facts as they exist from day to day. Once again, this will vary.
Some places being better, others worse. The idea is not excuse a man tried and
convicted by our judicial system, but to get someone to open his eyes to what
and possibly why he crime rate is such as it is.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span><span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span><span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span><span><span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">My
father-in-law, who has had a little, it any dealings with criminals or
laws--outside of myself—has a tendency to doubt some of the experiences I have
related to him. I exchange letters with a young lady in another part of the
country. No one seemed to mind that I was in prison or somewhat older. The only
objective that came up was the point of a convict having her address. This
should prove that the public has the wrong idea about a convict, and that they
aren’t informed as to what is happening in our jails and prisons. I don’t have
the answers and don’t think anyone else does. The men and women running the
Department of Corrections in each state are getting better, and showing much
more concern, but due to the lack of money, and bad public opinion, their hands
are tied.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span><span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span><span><span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span><span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span><span><span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Without
trial and error and some sacrifice, we may never find the answer or best
possible solution. How long must this cry for help go unnoticed? The American
people can help bring about the needed changes. How? By getting involved in the
groups that visit our jails and prisons (both federal and state), by attending
civic meetings on crime; and last, but not least, by any means, getting to know
or help a person who has been released.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span><span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span><span><span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span><span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span><span><span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">President
Obama observed that mass incarceration makes “our country worse off and we need
to do something about it”.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-6829285178693283222019-09-03T08:07:00.007-07:002022-11-25T17:53:36.936-08:00Condolences, prayers and promises are not the solutions to gun violence and mass shootings<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j5hADr0L_qU/XW5uvCEreKI/AAAAAAAABpo/ka6FsONdWHUiTJvSV4XBQ4_hCsXLNxhVQCLcBGAs/s1600/obama.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="375" height="358" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j5hADr0L_qU/XW5uvCEreKI/AAAAAAAABpo/ka6FsONdWHUiTJvSV4XBQ4_hCsXLNxhVQCLcBGAs/s640/obama.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>President Obama makes emotional eulogy at Senator Pinckney's funeral. It was the day he sang "Amazing Grace", surprising every one at the funeral.</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">“For too long, we've been blind to the unique
mayhem that gun violence inflicts upon this nation. (Applause.) Sporadically,
our eyes are open: When eight of our brothers and sisters are cut down in a
church basement, 12 in a movie theater, 26 in an elementary school. But I hope
we also see the 30 precious lives cut short by gun violence in this country
every single day; the countless more whose lives are forever changed -- the
survivors crippled, the children traumatized and fearful every day as they walk
to school, the husband who will never feel his wife's warm touch, the entire
communities whose grief overflows every time they have to watch what happened
to them happen to some other place.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">“The vast majority of Americans -- the
majority of gun owners -- want to do something about this. We see that now.
(Applause) And I'm convinced that by acknowledging the pain and loss of others,
even as we respect the traditions and ways of life that make up this beloved
country -- by making the moral choice to change, we express God's grace”.
(Applause.) President Barack Obama speaking at Senator Clementa Pinckney’s
funeral.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Startling
gun stats for 2019</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">During George Bush’s presidency there were 16 mass
shootings from 2000 to 2008. Such shootings happened under former presidents
Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. President Barack Obama was greeted four months
into his presidency with four mass shootings. Before he left office the
President had spoken out about 15 different mass shootings. Clinton, Reagan and
Bush were somewhat subdued about shootings on their watch. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></i></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;">Mother
Jones</span></i><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"> magazine (Guide to Mass Shootings in America) has a
listing of mass shootings in America from 1982 to 2019 and counting. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gun Violence Archive 2019</i> has collected stats
relating to gun incidents, deaths and violence.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;">“In 1994, the Republicans reclaimed the House
of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. The key factor in the major
Democratic loss pointed to the federal assault weapons ban that was passed by
Congress on September 13, 1994. A part of the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act, the assault weapons ban banned semiautomatic weapons from
having two or more military features and placed a ten-year ban on the sale of
assault weapons and large ammunition magazines. The ’94 election was
significant because gun control became a deciding factor in the election and
wedged two ideologically distant parties further apart”. (NBC News)</span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"> Congress
did not renew the ban upon its expiration September 2004.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">When President Barack Obama talked about sensible gun
reform or stricter regulations—not to be confused with taking a citizen’s gun
or arsenal of guns—he was rebuffed by gun loving Americans, Democrats, gun
dealers and sellers, the National Rifle Association (NRA) and all Republicans. Republicans,
in spreading a pack of lies, postured that President Obama was going to send
government agents to citizen’s homes to snatch their guns and ammunition. Some
disillusioned Americans with stockpiles of guns and ammunition said they were
ready to engage in a gun battle with the government if it attempted to
physically confiscate their guns</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Obama was the best salesman the gun business ever had</span></span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Turns out President
Barack Obama was the best salesman that the NRA, gun and ammunition sellers
ever had. He did not apply for the job. It was automatically bestowed on him.
From 2008 to 2016 gun and ammunition sales shot through the roof (excuse the
pun) in Virginia. Around 3,153,000 guns were sold. During Republican George
Bush’s presidency, the state sold a mere 1,713,000 guns. There was no apparent
fear among Republicans and gun lovers that Bush would confiscate their guns.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;">Newsweek
Magazine</span></i><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;">, 2016, wrote, “President Obama became known as America’s
gun salesman-in-chief during his final years in office”. An estimated $29.1
billion in firearms and $16.6 in ammunition were sold during his eight years in
office. The purchases were panic buying as encouraged by the NRA and
Republicans. Around $21.1 billion in gun sales and $22.1 billion in ammunition sales
were realized under both Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;">
<br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">
</span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">In 2016 the gun industry published a report stating that it
grew158 percent when Barack Obama was elected. The job market in the gun and
ammunition industry also changed. Employment rose from 166,000 to 288,000 to
handle the volume of business. Still the lies remained the same: President
Obama was a serious threat the Second Amendment, and he was going to take their guns.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"></span><span style="background-color: black;"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: black;"></span><span style="color: #b00000;"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: black;"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">In 2016 the gun industry published a report stating that it
grew158 percent when Barack Obama was elected. The job market in the gun and
ammunition industry also changed. Employment rose from 166,000 to 288,000 to
handle the volume of business. Still the lies remained the same: President
Obama was a serious threat the Second Amendment, and he was going to take their
guns.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">With the election of Donald Trump as president, however, gun
and ammunition sales dropped by 17 percent. His election made Republicans and
the NRA less fearful of stronger regulations, and tougher gun reform laws.
Trump was the first president to address the NRA, an organization he fears. In
a boastful speech at a NRA conference, Trump told members: “You have a friend
and champion in the White House”. Trump’s campaign received more money from the
National Rifle Association than any presidential candidate in history. NRA’s
Chris Cox, executive director, proclaimed in 2016 that the organization would
target any member or members perceived as interfering with their right to own
guns.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">The media, concerned Americans and Democrats thought after
the August 3, 2019, El Paso, Texas mass shooting (22 dead, 26 injured); and the August
4, 2019, Dayton, Ohio mass shooting (nine dead, 27 injured), Trump would hurriedly
present Congress with a proposal to lessen gun violence via gun reform and
stricter background checks</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">Newspaper headlines suggested that Trump is still too
scared to buck the NRA. “Donald Trump falls back into line with NRA, blaming
mass shootings on mental problems rather than access to assault rifles” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Australian</i>); “Donald Trump shifts on
gun background checks after mass shootings” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Politifact);</i> “Trump blames mass shootings on mentally ill”
(Reuters); “Trump blames mass shootings on mentally ill, call for more mental
institutions” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yahoo</i>).</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H8kM_9Lkyzs/XW596MBrx-I/AAAAAAAABqA/Xgi27cCbiOs9wBMId0eYcBIHxWq86SEVwCLcBGAs/s1600/trump%2Bmeets%2Bwith%2Bparkland%2Bstudents.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="1024" height="379" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H8kM_9Lkyzs/XW596MBrx-I/AAAAAAAABqA/Xgi27cCbiOs9wBMId0eYcBIHxWq86SEVwCLcBGAs/s640/trump%2Bmeets%2Bwith%2Bparkland%2Bstudents.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>President Donald Trump met with Marjory Stoneman students </b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>and </b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>families </b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>at the </b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>White House. He promised to make </b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>changes in </b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>school shootings and gun violence.</b></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">Noticeably, Trump does not respond to mass shootings the
way Americans expect him to. Observing his actions, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Comforter-in-Chief</i> does not come to mind. Trump preferred not to
hold a press conference after the June 12, 2016, Orlando, Florida night club
shooting that left 49 dead, 53 with various injuries. Instead, he tweeted: “Appreciate
the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism. I don’t want
congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart”! He made himself
the focus in the tragedy and being right about “Islamic terrorism.”</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;">T<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;">he October 1, 2017, Las Vegas, Nevada massacre left 58 dead and an estimated 546 injured. Trump wrote another generic, impersonal
tweet. “My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of
the terrible Las Vegas shootings. God bless you”. He attended no vigils.
Attended no memorials. Made no public speeches. Made no hospital visits.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">After the February 14, 2018, mass shooting at Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Trump said school personnel
should be armed. He said had he been a security guard at the school he would
have stormed the building to take out the shooter. There were 17 fatalities at
Marjory Stoneman. The usual grief messages were sent to the victims and
families. Students sent word to politicians in Washington that they did not
want any more condolences and prayers. They wanted action on gun control.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">President Obama as
preacher and comforter</span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">
</span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">According to the FBI a mass shooting occurs when four or
more people are killed by one person. On June 17, 2015, a 21 years-old white
supremacist wannabe shot and killed eight church members in Charleston, South
Carolina. In his “manifesto” rant he said he was angry at Black people; Black
men were raping White women; Blacks were trying to take over America. During
the Bible study class, a church member opened the door for the young killer, not
knowing their time on earth was about to end. He chose Emanuel AME because it
is the oldest Black church in South Carolina and the most recognized.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">The shooter was welcomed to study with them. He sat with
them for an hour before repaying their kindness by shooting them to death. He
left one church member alive, instructing her to record what she had witnessed.
The shooter was captured hours later. He did not attempt to commit suicide. A
cop bought the shooter a hamburger and fries because he was hungry. </span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Despite
having a drug charge on his record, he was able to purchase a weapon.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">The most memorable speeches made by President Obama were
delivered after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre; and the eulogy he
delivered at the funeral of Clementa Pinckney. That day he was the
Comforter-in-Chief, President of the United States and guest pastor at Emanuel
AME. He was comfortable in the pulpit as he delivered the eulogy with the cadence
and passion of a seasoned preacher. That was the day he sang “Amazing Grace”,
surprising pastors and thousands attending the funeral.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">"Michelle and I know several members of Emanuel AME
Church. We knew their pastor, Reverend Clementa Pinckney, who, along with eight
others, gathered in prayer and fellowship and was murdered last night. And to
say our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families and their
community doesn't say enough to convey the heartache and the sadness and the
anger that we feel.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">“Any death of this sort is a tragedy. Any shooting
involving multiple victims is a tragedy. There is something particularly
heartbreaking about the death happening in a place in which we seek solace, and
we seek peace, in a place of worship. We don't have all the facts, but we do
know that, once again, innocent people were killed in part because someone who
wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun".</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">By 2013 President
Obama had signed 23 executive orders and proposed 12 Congressional actions to
regulate gun control. During his Sandy Hook speech President Obama said at the
White House, “We can’t tolerate this anymore. The tragedies must end. And to
end them we must change. We will be told that the causes of such violence are
complex, and that is true. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;">
<br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">No single law—no set of laws can eliminate evil from the
world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society. But that
can’t be an excuse for inaction. Surely, we can do better than this”.</span></span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">Determination
to cripple gun violence</span></span></b><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">President Obama was up for re-election in 2012. His goal
was to plow ahead with his determination to cripple gun violence in America.
His plan included focusing on mental health treatment for those perceived as a
threat, limit magazine sizes, tighten background checks, initiate or restart
gun research. A couple of years later--2014—the President proposed that medical
histories be included in background checks.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">But no matter what President Obama proposed Republicans
said no, citing an overused, hackneyed excuse that common sense reforms such as
background checks wouldn’t have stopped the Sandy Hook, or any other mass
shootings. The best solution was to leave things alone and put a gun in every
hand in America. The NRA asserted, religiously, that the only way to beat a bad
guy with a gun is to arm a good guy with a gun.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell let President Obama know
early on that he would stop, stall or thwart whatever he attempted to negotiate.
“We are just gonna oppose whatever the President offer even in the midst of
crisis, because if he obtained any bipartisan support that would strengthen him
politically”. Retaining power was/is more important than addressing the
seriousness of gun violence and reform.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;">April 17, 2013, a bipartisan proposal requiring background
checks for would be gun owners and banning sales of some military style
semi-automatic weapons was cut off at the knees by Democrats who controlled the
Senate. The vote was 54 to 46. Sixty votes were needed. The Joe Manchin (D) and
Republican Pat Toomey proposal created after the Newton school massacre failed
to get the 60 votes needed to pass. </span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;">Lawmakers introduced more
than 100-gun reform proposals in Congress in 2016. Only a few made it to the Senate
floor.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></b></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">“New executive
actions to reduce gun violence and make our communities safer”</span></span></b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">President
Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are committed to using every tool at
the Administration’s disposal to reduce gun violence. Some of the gaps in our
country’s gun laws can only be fixed through legislation, which is why
President Obama continues to call on Congress to pass the kind of commonsense
gun safety reforms supported by a majority of the American people. And while
Congress has repeatedly failed to take action and pass laws that would expand
background checks and reduce gun violence, today, building on the significant
steps that have already been taken over the past several years, the Administration
is announcing a series of commonsense executive actions designed to:</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></b></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black;">1. Keep guns out of the wrong hands through
background checks.</span></span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">The
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is making clear that
it doesn’t matter where you conduct your business—from a store, at gun shows,
or over the Internet: If you’re in the business of selling firearms, you must
get a license and conduct background checks.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">ATF
is finalizing a rule to require background checks for people trying to buy some
of the most dangerous weapons and other items through a trust, corporation, or
other legal entity.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">Attorney
General Loretta E. Lynch has sent a letter to States highlighting the
importance of receiving complete criminal history records and criminal
dispositions, information on persons disqualified because of a mental illness,
and qualifying crimes of domestic violence.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">The
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is overhauling the background check
system to make it more effective and efficient. The envisioned improvements
include processing background checks 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and
improving notification of local authorities when certain prohibited persons
unlawfully attempt to buy a gun. The FBI will hire more than 230 additional
examiners and other staff to help process these background checks.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></b></span>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black;">2. Make our communities safer from gun violence.</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">The
Attorney General convened a call with U.S. Attorneys around the country to
direct federal prosecutors to continue to focus on smart and effective
enforcement of our gun laws. The President’s FY2017 budget will include funding
for 200 new ATF agents and investigators to help enforce our gun laws.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">ATF
has established an Internet Investigation Center to track illegal online
firearms trafficking and is dedicating $4 million and additional personnel to
enhance the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network. ATF is
finalizing a rule to ensure that dealers who ship firearms notify law
enforcement if their guns are lost or stolen in transit. The Attorney General
issued a memo encouraging every U.S. Attorney’s Office to renew domestic
violence outreach efforts.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></b></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black;">3.
Increase mental health treatment and reporting to the background check system.</span></span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">The
Administration is proposing a new $500 million investment to increase access to
mental health care. The Social Security Administration has indicated that it
will begin the rulemaking process to include information in the background
check system about beneficiaries who are prohibited from possessing a firearm
for mental health reasons. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">The
Department of Health and Human Services is finalizing a rule to remove
unnecessary legal barriers preventing States from reporting relevant
information about people prohibited from possessing a gun for specific mental
health reasons.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></b></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black;">4.
Shape the future of gun safety technology. </span></span></b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">The
President has directed the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland
Security to conduct or sponsor research into gun safety technology. The
President has also directed the departments to review the availability of smart
gun technology on a regular basis, and to explore potential ways to further its
use and development to more broadly improve gun safety.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Congress
should support the President’s request for resources for 200 new ATF agents and
investigators to help enforce our gun laws, as well as a new $500 million
investment to address mental health issues. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">Because we all must do our
part to keep our communities safe, the Administration is also calling on States
and local governments to do all they can to keep guns out of the wrong </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">hands
and reduce gun violence. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: 10pt;">It is also calling on private-sector leaders to follow
the lead of other businesses that have taken voluntary steps to make it harder
for dangerous individuals to get their hands on a gun. In the coming weeks, the
Administration will engage with manufacturers, retailers, and other
private-sector leaders to explore what more they can do. (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">President Barack Obama’s White House website, 2016</i>)</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">M</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">ass
shootings varied in death and injuries</span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">President
Obama was sure Americans and politicians would jump into action, propose
sensible gun reform, quickly sending it to his desk to sign after Sandy Hook.
He thought their hearts would be touched like his. Surely the House and Senate,
all parents, grandparents and great-grand parents, would not play politics with this tragedy.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4B1aU2sz1kI/XW51j-DM6OI/AAAAAAAABp0/O1bhLZeD568q7HP6MDIXrP1RwxtB_drOQCLcBGAs/s1600/newtown-families.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1258" height="547" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4B1aU2sz1kI/XW51j-DM6OI/AAAAAAAABp0/O1bhLZeD568q7HP6MDIXrP1RwxtB_drOQCLcBGAs/s640/newtown-families.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>President Barack Obama met with Sandy Hook </b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>families and children. He took the time to hear their memories and look at photos in an attempt to ease their pain.</b></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: transparent; text-align: right;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="text-align: right;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="text-align: right;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: 10pt;">A
White House Press Release from President Obama: “</span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: black; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; color: white; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">This afternoon, I spoke
with Governor Malloy and FBI Director Mueller. I offered Governor Malloy my
condolences on behalf of the nation, and made it clear he will have every
single resource that he needs to investigate this heinous crime, care for the
victims, counsel their families.</span></div>
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
<br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">“We’ve endured too many of these tragedies in the past few
years. And each time I learn the news I react not as a President, but as
anybody else would -- as a parent. And that was especially true
today. I know there’s not a parent in America who doesn’t feel the same
overwhelming grief that I do.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">“The majority of those who died today were children --
beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had
their entire lives ahead of them -- birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of
their own. Among the fallen were also teachers -- men and women who
devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams”. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;">Addressing the shortsightedness of the shooter, President
Obama said at Pinckney’s funeral, “</span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">He didn’t know he was being used by God. Blinded by
hatred, the alleged killer could not see the grace surrounding Reverend
Pinckney, and that Bible study group -- the light of love that shone as they opened
the church doors and invited a stranger to join in their prayer circle. The
alleged killer could have never anticipated the way the families of the fallen
would respond when they saw him in court -- in the midst of unspeakable grief,
with words of forgiveness. He couldn’t imagine that”, </span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;">President
Obama said the shooter, who wanted to jumpstart a race war.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;">"None of us can or should expect a transformation in race
relations overnight. Every time something like this happens, somebody says we
have to have a conversation about race. We talk a lot about race. There's no
shortcut. And we don't need more talk. (Applause.) None of us should believe
that a handful of gun safety measures will prevent every tragedy. It will not.
People of goodwill will continue to debate the merits of various policies, as
our democracy requires -- this is a big, raucous place, America is. And there
are good people on both sides of these debates. Whatever solutions we find will
necessarily be incomplete<span style="background-color: black;">”.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">Five days after the Sandy Hook shooting, Eric Holder, attorney
general, announced, “We plotted our strategy and made the determination that
the vice president and I would lead the effort, along with Janet Napolitano to
try to really come up with common sense gun safety proposals”.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">President Obama said of the project, “This not some
Washington commission. It’s not something where folks are going to be studying
the issue for six months and publish a report that get read and then pushed
aside. This is a team that has a very specific task to pull together real
reformers right now”.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">Backing off of his promise to talk gun control and background
checks, Trump is now saying that gun violence is due to mental illness. He said
that mentally ill folks who kill with guns should be locked away in institutions,
which would be costly and laden with bureaucratic paperwork. As usual, Trump
jumps before he evaluates the distance of the fall. Details and planning are
not his first priorities. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">After the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio,
Donald Trump pinpointed mental illness as the culprit for the shootings. He
said at a recent campaign rally in New Hampshire that America does not have any
more mental institutions, many of which were closed decades ago. Thousands of
patients ended up homeless or placed in facilities approved by the state. A
federal law prohibits Medicaid making payments for mentally ill individuals living
with more than 16 patients in a single facility. Trump said his plan will allow
states to seek waivers from restrictions, providing they meet certain
requirements. He has not shown or explained his plan.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">On August 31, 2019, in Odessa and Midland, Texas a 36-years
old, recently unemployed White male, armed an AR-style rifle, randomly killed
7, wounded or injured 21. He had a misdemeanor on his record; that should have
stopped his purchasing a weapon. Authorities are saying they are not sure where
he purchased the weapon. Reportedly, a routine traffic stop led to the mass
shooting. There was no warrant for his arrest when he was stopped.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">Texas governor Greg Abbott implied that rather than
concentrate on stricter gun restrictions he wants to concentrate on fighting
hate, racism and terrorism. He says he wants to keep Texas safe, but the laws
he signed into law, that went into effect September 1, 2019, screams a different
message. Texas legislators passed gun laws making it easier for shooters to
fulfill their angry fantasies of mass killings. The 2019 laws:</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">1. <b>House Bill 1143</b>--</span><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">P</span><span style="background-color: black;">revents school
districts from prohibiting the possession of firearms in private motor vehicles
by limiting their authority to regulate the manner in which they are stored in
locked vehicles. This includes school employees. School employees with a license
to carry can keep their guns locked in their vehicle on the school parking lot.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">2. <b>House Bill 1177</b>--Allows people in an area that
has been declared a State or local disaster to carry a handgun without a
license to carry for 7 days from the date an evacuation notice is given as long
as the person can legally possess a firearm under federal and State law.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">3<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i> <b>House Bill 2363</b>--Allows foster parents to
store firearms in a safe and secure manner while making them more readily
accessible for personal protection purposes. No longer have to be “stored” in
separate locations.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">4. <b>House
Bill 3231</b>--Improves the state’s firearms preemption law, curbs the
ability of municipalities to abuse their zoning authority
to circumvent state law to restrict the sale or transfer of
firearms and ammunition at the local level. The law allows the State Attorney
General to sue local municipalities that are in violation.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">5. <b>SB 741</b>—Prohibits a property owners association
from prohibiting or restricting the possession, transportation, or storage of a
firearm r ammunition. Also prohibits restrictions on the lawful discharge of a
firearm</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">The first mass shootings in Texas happened in
1966. The shooter, a White male, stood in the University of Texas Tower and
plucked off individuals like they were sitting ducks. Twelves more mass
shootings occurred from 1999 to 2019. With Texas’s new gun laws mass shooters
are more protected than soft target citizens.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Donald Trump has refused to tell the Senate to
cut short all vacations and come back to Washington work on or pass some the
gun control reforms Democrats have already sent to the Senate. Mitch McConnell
is in control. He won’t let the proposals see the light of day.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-10105032926823008062019-05-20T07:25:00.006-07:002023-09-23T14:13:22.767-07:00A time when minority males and females were deemed "undireables" unfit to procreate with educated, White "desirables" <div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>2019 Update connection</b>: Ever since Roe v Wade decision became law in 1973, abortion and a woman's right to make decisions about her own body have been tools utilized by White male politicians and White pro-life advocates for decades. They expect women and young girls--some of whom are victims of rape and incest--to bear the children of the rapists who violated them. And now Alabama's new abortion law suggests that doctors should be imprisoned for years if they perform abortions. If a 12- or 14-year-old girl is impregnated as a result of incest or rape, she must bear the child, or there will be consequences. The law does not mention consequences for the incestuous relative or rapist.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">During the eugenics or forced sterilization era in America, the government approved this method of permanently "fixing" minority women, girls and men. Those that needed to be "fixed" were African Americans, Native American Indians, Puerto Ricans, and poor White women. Eugenics was a form of abortion without women having to seek abortions. Eugenics was government sanctioned birth control. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">A legal abortion is not about a woman's right to get an abortion, so say anti-abortionists. Politicians and pro-lifers are concerned more about White women having access to abortions. Minority women can abort all the babies they want. White folks would not raise an eyebrow. Politicians in Washington and state governments cannot say out loud that they do not care about minority women getting abortions. They cannot say out loud: "We don't care about Black women getting abortions. We care about White women getting abortions!" On March 12, 2017, Rep. Steve King, an Iowa Republican, said it plain and clear, "We cannot restore our civilization with somebody else's babies".</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i>LifeNews.com,</i> 2014--"Tapes recently released by the Nixon Presidential Library reveal that President Richard M. Nixon, who had been considered generally opposed to abortion, told aides on January 23, 1973 that abortion was justified in certain cases, such as in interracial pregnancies. "There are times when abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a Black and a White", said Nixon. President Nixon's words, chilling as they are, are also a general reflection of the moral logic shared by millions of Americans in that day".</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I was in the process of proofreading an article I had just completed for my blog. I was listening to the radio. The two jocks were complaining about “illegal aliens.” They griped about every American that did not fit into their Whites Only universe. Minorities and Hispanics on welfare and food stamps are deadbeats; “illegal aliens” should not get in-state college tuition; Mexican workers have no right to ask for decent wages. A caller to the show said that Mexican women working as maids should not expect more pay “just to make beds”. In other words, employers should decide what to pay these women for making beds and cleaning toilets. These illegal women are misfits. It’s their fault if they fail to improve their lives in America.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">One of the jocks, an ex-cop and Christian, was extremely unhappy about the influx of “illegal” children coming to America without their parents, all looking for free handouts. He complained about their increasing America's population, and how that swelling number hurts the economy. He said the government should think about eugenics to control "illegal aliens” birth rates. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The jock whined that educated Whites are not having children at the same rate as "illegals." He felt that White folks are gainfully employed, educated and productive, the kind of people a thriving society finds suitable. The Christian jock suggested that America should return to the day of forced sterilizations. Clip and snip undesirable immigrants; threaten them with deportation if they refuse to agree to federally funded sterilization. </span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;"><b style="font-size: 80%;">Whites are the ideal prototypes to procreate. It is assumed that they are "high grade" , and suitably educated. It is assumed certain White </b><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><b>folks are</b></span><b style="font-size: 80%;"> healthy, and will bear healthy children that will benefit society as opposed to poor Blacks and Whites, viewed as dregs incapable of adapting. </b></span></div><div style="font-size: 80%; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br /></div>
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</span></span><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">President Theodore Roosevelt worried that White couples were not repopulating fast enough. He declared that failure of Whites to produce larger families would lead to the collective suicide of White people. At state fairs throughout the country the American Eugenics Society set up exhibits, providing information that encouraged "high grade" White couples to conceive and have more children to benefit society. The fairs also sponsored one sided "Fitter Family" contests. Only ideal families were declared winners, none of whom were minority or poor Whites.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Thirty-two states within the United States, and the U. S. Territory of Puerto Rico, targeted specific women to sterilize; to vaginally euthanize. The purpose of the forced sterilization program was to limit undesirables before they could repopulate the U. S. and Puerto Rico. Thus enters this theory called Eugenics. The term means “the science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics." Developed largely by Francis Galton, it was a method designed to improve the human race. </span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">An estimated 60,000 American men, women and teenagers in the U.S. and Puerto Rico were sterilized between the 1900s and 1974. Puerto Rico was noted for sterilizing the biggest number of men and women. In 1942 the Supreme Court struck down the law that allowed involuntary sterilization of criminals; however, it did not reverse the actual concept of sterilization.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The first state forced sterilization legislation was passed in Indiana in 1907. “At that time, many people believed that certain traits and behavior — criminality, a propensity for poverty, mental illness — were passed from parents to children (eugenics had only a passing relationship with actual genetics.) Eugenicists argued that society would be improved by preventing these people from reproducing. </span></span><br /><div><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">“Doctors in the U. S. first began employing eugenics at mental institutions, where patients would face sterilization as a condition of release. These procedures were eventually stopped because of a lack of due process for the victims — and because Americans became aware of similar procedures done at the hands of Nazi doctors, who were influenced by U.S. practices.” (Vice News, 2014) </span></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The first sterilization victim was a Virginia woman named Carrie Buck, a 19-year-old White female. She was the plaintiff in the case Buck v. Bell. She was targeted to undergo voluntary sterilization because the state deemed her “feebleminded and promiscuous."</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The U. S. Supreme Court’s May 2, 1927, decision in Buck v. Bell, ruled that the Virginia sterilization statue was constitutional. Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. delivered a stinging decision for the Court. The decision stated that “three generations of imbeciles are enough”. Holmes was making a reference to Buck’s mother. Five months after the Court ruled that the law was legal, Carrie Buck was sterilized. </span></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">“Carrie Buck and her mother Emma had been committed to the Virginia Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded in Lynchburg, Virginia. Carrie and Emma were both judged to be ‘feebleminded and promiscuous', primarily because they had both borne children out of wedlock. Carrie’s child, Vivan, was judged to be feebleminded at seven months of age. Hence, three generations of ‘imbeciles’ became the ‘perfect’ family for Virginia officials to use as a test case in favor of the eugenic sterilization law enacted in 1924". (www.eugenicarchive.org) </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">“The impact of the Buck v. Bell decision was felt nationwide. After the 1927 decision affirmed Virginia's Eugenical Sterilization Law, there was a swift rise in the number of involuntary sterilizations in the United States. By the early 1930s, thirty American states had adopted eugenics laws. American eugenicists also pushed for anti-immigration measures and stricter laws to prevent racially mixed marriages. When signing the 1924 Immigration Act, President Calvin Coolidge stated: ‘America must remain American’”. (Eugenic, University of Virginia, Historical Collections) </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">From 1933 to 1977 North Carolina’s Eugenic Board reportedly recommended the sterilization 7,600 people—men and women. Minorities and poor Whites were selected because they worked at minimum wage jobs, were on welfare, homeless, lacked college educations, or locked up in mental institutions. They were the highly visible blights on an otherwise healthy society. An IQ of 70 or lower was sufficient to have an individual sterilized. Their consent was not necessary if sterilization was recommended by the state or a social worker, both of which were cited in 100 percent of the cases. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">North Carolina was the only state that allowed social workers to determine what individuals should be sterilized. An unknown number of men and boys committed to mental institutions nationwide were castrated, unaware of the severity of the operation performed on them. Later when Eugenics was hitting third gear, more categories were added to the list of misfits and undesirables: the deaf and blind, disabled and unmarried </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">women, who were labeled promiscuous. </span></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">“When the Eugenics Record Office opened the door in 1910, the founding scientists were considered progressive, intent on applying classic genetics to breeding better citizens. Funding poured in from the Rockefeller family and the Carnegie Institution. Charles Davenport, a prolific Harvard biologist, and his colleague, Harry H. Laughlin, led the charge”. (New York Times, 2014) </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Within the strict guidelines of forced sterilization there were no exceptions to the rule for those scheduled to have the operation. Elaine Riddick, an African American woman, was raped by a neighbor when she was 13. Her grandmother took her to the hospital when she got sick. She did not receive the kind of help she expected. She was not treated liked a young victim of rape. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">“Elaine Riddick was a confused and frightened 14-year-old. She was poor and Black, the daughter of alcoholic parents in a segregated North Carolina town. And she was pregnant after being raped by a man from her neighborhood. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">“Riddick's miserable circumstances attracted the attention of social workers, who referred her case to the state's eugenics board. In an office building in Raleigh, five men met to consider her fate — among them the state health director and a lawyer from the attorney general's office. Board members concluded that the girl was ‘feebleminded’ and doomed to ‘promiscuity.’ They recommended sterilization. Riddick's illiterate grandmother, Maggie Woodard, known as "Miss Peaches," marked an "X" on a consent form. Hours after Riddick gave birth to a son in Edenton, N.C., on March 5, 1968, a doctor sliced through her fallopian tubes and cauterized them”. (Los Angeles Times, 2012) </span></div>
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<b><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Elaine Riddick and her son Tony Riddick</span></span></b></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">When she went to the hospital to have her son, Riddick said she was put in room and that’s all she remembered until she was awakened. </span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">“When I woke up, I woke up with bandages was on my stomach”. </span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">During an interview with ABC News in 2014, Riddick said she felt that she was raped twice. “Once by the perpetrator and once by the state of North Carolina. They said I was feebleminded. They said I would never be able to do anything for myself. </span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">"I was a little bitty kid and they cut me open like a hog”. Riddick said she did not know that she was sterile until she got married, and they wanted to start a family. She learned about her sterility when the doctor examined her. He told her that her tubes had been tied. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">In a recent expose by The Center for Investigative Reporting titled “Female Inmates Sterilized in California Prisons Without Approval”, it was revealed that female inmates in one of the two California prisons in Corona were sterilized. Involuntary sterilization was supposed to be a violation in the prison. Fulfilling their contractual agreement with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, physicians sterilized almost 148 women without consent of the state. The method of sterilization was tubal ligation; an operation that is not reversible. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">From 1977 to 2010, the state paid doctors $147,460 to perform the procedures. The women were signed up for the surgery while they were pregnant and housed at either the California Institution for Women in Corona or Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla, now a men’s prison. Former inmates and prisoner advocates maintain that the prison’s medical staff coerced the women, targeting those deemed likely to return to prison in the future. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">Between 1909 and 1964, about 20,000 women and men in California were stripped of the ability to reproduce – making the state the nation’s most prolific sterilizer. In 2003, the state Senate held two hearings to expose this history, featuring testimony from researchers, academics and state officials. In response, then-Attorney General Bill Lockyer and Gov. Gray Davis issued formal apologies. “Our hearts are heavy for the pain caused by eugenics. It was a sad and regrettable chapter in the state's history, and it is one that must never be repeated again,” Davis said in a statement. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">The United States invaded Puerto Rico in 1898, taking total control of the island, becoming responsible for its economic development. Women between the ages of 20 and 49 were routinely sterilized according to a 1965 survey. Puerto Rican women were more likely to be sterilized than women and young girls in the U.S. More than a third of the women were sterilized during the 1930s and 1970s. The U.S. partnered with Puerto Rico to reduce its population. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: white;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The economy in Puerto Rico was crawling. Unemployment was high with no relief in sight. To change the bad luck to good luck the U.S. theorized that sterilization of the poor and uneducated would automatically increase the island’s economic status. Doctors who performed operations on the women did not trust that they had the intelligence to use physical contraceptives or take birth control pills as instructed. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">“Before long, Puerto Rico won the distinction of having the world’s highest sterilization rate. So common was the procedure that it was widely known as ‘la operacion’ among islanders. Thousands of men in Puerto Rico also underwent s</span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">terilization as well. U. S. pharmaceutical researchers also experimented on women for human trials of the birth control pill in the 1950s”. (About News) </span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Like in American states that targeted men and women, Puerto Ricans did not know, or understand that the procedure performed on them sealed their hopes of ever becoming parents. Doctors, medical staff or social workers did not bother to explain the operation to them. Native American women and young girls did not escape the clutches of forced sterilization. An article in "Our Bodies Our Selves" tells the story of two 15-year-old Indian girls living in Montana, who went to the hospital at different times. They thought they were getting emergency appendectomies. That is what they were told. The girls were sterilized without the consent of their parents. </span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">During her lectures about forced sterilization, history professor Lisa Emmerich, talks about the plight of a young Indian woman. "In the early 1970s a young American Indian woman visited her physician and made an unusual and troubling request. She wanted to know if her doctor could perform a uterus transplant. Her doctor asked why. The young woman reported that during her teens after the birth of a child, her doctors on the reservation told her that they'd ‘fixed it’ so she could not have children for a while. </span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">“According to the General Accounting Office (GAO) report, 3406 Native American women between the ages of fifteen and forty-four were sterilized between 1973 and 1976. Because the investigators did not find any systematic attempt to single out any one American Indian nation and sterilize its child-bearing women, they concluded that this was not genocide. In Washington, Congressmen called for more investigations. </span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">“On reservations Native American activists conducted their own surveys of women, finding more incidents of sterilization without informed consent. As a direct result of the public reaction, new rules were mandated for federally funded sterilizations, including providing interpreters for non-English speakers, allowing witnesses to accompany a patient during her discussion with a doctor, forbidding sterilization of minors, assuring patients that their benefits will not be denied based on their medical decision, and requiring a thirty-day waiting period”. (Genocide or Family Planning) </span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Lewis Reynolds, a male victim who was sterilized without his knowledge or consent, told the Associate Press, “I think they done me wrong. I couldn’t have a family like everybody else </span></span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">does. They took my rights away.” Reynolds was sterilized by doctors who said he was epileptic. “It was later concluded that he was demonstrating only temporary symptoms because of a head injury”. </span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Virginia and North Carolina are the only two states to come forward with offers to compensate forced sterilization victims. The state of California apologized by has not discussed compensation. Of the </span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">7, 600 victims in North Carolina an estimated 2,000 are still alive. Virginia lawmakers passed legislation in which it agreed that sterilization victims should be awarded $25,000 each. More than 8,000 people in Virginia were sterilized. As of February 2015 only 11 of them have been identified. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><b>Forced sterilization timeline </b></span></span></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">1849--Gordon Lincecum, a famed Texas biologist and physician, proposes a bill mandating the Eugenic sterilization of the mentally handicapped and others whose genes he deems undesirable. Although the legislation was never sponsored or brought up for a vote, it represented the first serious attempt in U.S. history to use forced sterilization for eugenic purposes. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">1897--Michigan's state legislature becomes the first in the country to pass a forced sterilization law, but it is vetoed by the governor. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">1901--Legislators in Pennsylvania attempt to pass a Eugenic forced sterilization law, but it stalls. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">1909-1979-- 20,000 operations performed in California. In a 70-year period, California performs a third of all government funded sterilizations in the United States. The practice largely targets Latinos and Blacks, and lead to a 1975 class-action lawsuit by working class Mexican women who were coerced into the procedure sometimes minutes after giving birth. California's continued and central role in the sterilization programs of the 20th century is highlighted by Dr. Alexandra Stern in "Sterilization in the name of Public Health: Race, Immigration and Reproductive Control in Modern Califonia" (2005). </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">In the article, Dr. Stern writes that Mexican-Americans and African Americans were disproportionally represented in the percentages of sterilization, and that this was rationalized by concerns about bad parenting, population burdens and even as "a punishment for bearing illegitimate children, or as extortion to ensure ongoing receipt of family assistance in the 1950s and 1960s." </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">1922--Harry Hamilton Laughlin, director of the Eugenics Research Office, proposes a federal mandatory sterilization law. Like Lincecum's proposal, it never really goes anywhere. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">1927--In Buck v. Bell, the U.S. Supreme Court rules (8-1) that laws mandating the sterilization of the mentally handicapped do not violate the Constitution. Writing for the majority, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes makes an explicitly eugenic argument: “It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind”. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">1936--Nazi propaganda defends Germany's forced sterilization program by citing the United States as an ally in the Eugenic movement, and its laws as proof of its status as same. World War II, and the atrocities committed by the Nazi government, would rapidly change U.S. attitudes towards eugenics. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">1942--In Skinner v. Oklahoma, the U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously against an Oklahoma law targeting some felons for sterilization (the plaintiff, Jack Skinner, was a chicken thief) while excluding white-collar criminals. The majority opinion written by Justice William O. Douglas, rejects the broad Eugenic mandate previously outlined in Buck v. Bell (1927): “[S]trict scrutiny of the classification which a State makes in a sterilization law is essential, lest unwittingly, or otherwise, invidious discriminations are made against groups or types of individuals in violation of the constitutional guaranty of just and equal laws.” </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">1965--The results of a sterilization campaign in the island of Puerto Rico that began shortly after WWI left 30 percent of the women there unable to have children by 1965. The earliest governor of Puerto Rico is cited as saying that there were too many unskilled laborers, and not enough jobs in the island. This long sterilization campaign resulted in this practice becoming the birth control of choice for Puerto Rican women, a remarkable feat in a mostly Catholic society where birth control was illegal up to 1930. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">1970--The Nixon administration dramatically increases Medicaid-funded sterilization of low-income Americans, primarily Americans of color. While these sterilizations are voluntary as a matter of policy, anecdotal evidence later suggests that they are often involuntary as a matter of practice, as patients are often misinformed, or left uninformed regarding the nature of the procedures that they have agreed to undergo. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">1973-1976--3,406 Native American women sterilized without permission. The U.S government recently admitted to forcing thousands of Native American Indian women to be sterilized. The procedures even included 36 women who were under 21 years old, despite laws prohibiting anyone 21 years and younger from receiving the procedure. Dr. Pinkerton-Uri found that 25 percent of Native American Indian women had been sterilized without their consent. Pinkerton-Uri also found that the Indian Health Service had “singled out full-blooded Indian women for sterilization procedures.” In total, it is estimated that as many as 25-50 percent of Native American women were sterilized between 1970 and 1976. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">1979--A survey conducted by Family Planning Perspectives finds that approximately 70 percent of American hospitals fail to adequately follow U.S. Department of Health and Human Services guidelines regarding informed consent in cases of sterilization. </span></div>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br />1981--Oregon performs the last legal forced sterilization in U.S. history. (data gathered by Tom Head for About News and Policy. Mic) </span><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-57283069451077799122019-05-08T04:12:00.004-07:002023-09-10T04:28:46.609-07:00Democrats can vote to impeach Donald Trump, but adoring Republicans will not prosecute him<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Before Barack Obama was inaugurated as president of the United
States, January 20, 2009, Tea Party patriots and Republicans were ready to
impeach him. They wanted to impeach him for not proving that he was born in
America. They wanted Obama to admit that he is Kenyan, not American, as pushed by birthers and wannabe politician Donald Trump. </span></span><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A Texas Republican
wanted to impeach Obama to stop his agenda that had not been proposed, therefore, impossible to make public. However, they wanted to impeach him
over his immigration policies, and the attack of the American compound in
Benghazi, Libya. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">At a 2014 campaign town hall meeting, Republican candidate
Joni Ernst told the crowd she believed President Obama had become a dictator.
She said he needed to face the consequences for his actions, which she did not
name. Ernst said President Obama should be impeached and removed from office. Again, she cited no reason. But the same Joni Ernst is defending Donald Trump. Maybe her fondness of him runs deep
because Trump wanted her to be his VP. <i>Family</i> <i>issues</i> forced her to turn down
the offer. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Reasons to impeach President Obama were endless. The rise of
the Tea Party quickly took hold, immediately co-opting Republicans, none of
whom wanted the wrath of the Tea Party raining down on them. Despite all the
complaints and threats to oust the President, not one of the wish-he-was-gone
politicians was brave enough to begin the impeachment process. Not even the Tea
Party could back Republicans into <i>that</i> corner.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Wandering into valley of impeachment, Democrats and
Republicans cannot be willy-nilly. They have to weigh the good vs the bad; the
benefits vs alienation of voters who may not agree with their decision. The party
that’s in control of the Senate may not be willing to prosecute. But there is another
choice: Censure. This is a formal statement of disapproval or public
reprimand. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There was no hesitation to impeach President Bill Clinton,
December 19, 1998. Ken Starr, a Republican, was appointed special counselor in
the Clinton sex scandal. He was thorough in his documentation regarding what he learned about the affair.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Fifty Republicans voted to remove Clinton from office on
obstruction of justice; 45 voted to remove him for perjury. No Democrats voted
to remove him from office, but 31 of them supported the proposal to investigate
him. Republicans voted for the resolution to impeach Clinton. The resolution
was presented to Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Harley Hyde of Illinois.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Barely six weeks after the American people had plainly sent
them a message against impeachment, the House passed two of the four articles
of impeachment approved by the Hyde Committee. The first, accusing me of lying
to the grand jury, passed 228-206, with five Republicans voting against it. The
second, alleging that I had obstructed justice by suborning perjury and hiding
gifts, passed 221-212, twelve Republicans voting no. The two charges were
inconsistent. . . . Five Democrats voted
for impeachment. Four of them came from conservative districts. The fifth said
he wanted to vote for censure then brought the argument that he was doing the
next best thing.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Peter King, with whom I had worked on Northern Island,
withstood weeks of enormous pressure, including threats to destroy him
politically if he did not vote for impeachment. In several television
interviews, King made a simple argument to his fellow Republicans: ‘I’m against
impeachment because if President Clinton were a Republican, you’d be against
it, too. The pro-impeachment Republicans who appeared on the programs with him
never had a good response to that’”. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My
Life Bill Clinton.</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Andrew Johnson was selected by Abraham Lincoln to be his VP in
1864. He stepped into the presidency after Lincoln’s assassination in 1865. Johnson
was impeached in 1868 for dismissing Edwin M. Staton, Secretary of War. Johnson
ignored the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tenure of</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Office Act</i>, passed in 1867, which curtailed
his presidential power. He was not authorized to remove Staton on his own. The
House voted to impeach Johnson, making him the first U. S. president to be
impeached. The vote was 35 for, 19 against. Senator Edmund G. Ross’s no vote
kept Johnson in office to complete his term. He dodged a Senate trial.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In 1974 Richard Nixon avoided impeachment by resigning after
the Watergate burglary scandal was exposed. On February 6, 1974 the House of
Representatives approved H. Res. 803, giving the Judiciary Committee authority
to investigate Nixon. Weeks later, July 27, 1974, the House Judiciary Committee
voted 27 to 11 to recommend the first article of impeachment. A couple of days
later two more articles were added: obstruction of justice, abuse of power and
contempt of Congress.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A number of Democrats got angry at Speaker Nancy Pelosi
because she would not agree to impeach President George Bush and VP Dick Cheney for initiating the war with Iraq. Democrats wanted to charge them with war crimes for the bombing innocent
Iraqis. In 2008, Joy Behar of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The View,</i>
scolded Pelosi on national TV. The talk show host wanted her to launch
impeachment against the pair.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Behar said to Pelosi, “You’ve ruled against impeaching George
Bush and Dick Cheney. And now Kucinich is trying to pass that. Why do you . . .
why do you insist on not impeaching these people, so that the world and America
can see the crimes that they’ve committed”?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In 2014 the Tea Party balked at impeaching President Obama
because the 2016 presidential election was too close. They hated Obama with a
purple passion, but they did not want to help candidate Hillary Clinton realize
a victory.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“But while there are a plethora of reasons to impeach Obama,
is the Republican leadership—are the RINOs—really likely to get behind it? Not
in a million years. Why? Because it would hugely increase Hillary Clinton’s
chances of victory in the 2016 presidential election. While impeaching Obama
would undoubtedly be bad for the Republican Party going into 2016, it could be
one of the only actions that will save America from collapse in the long term<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">”. The Tea Party</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The print media and TV talking heads have gone batshit crazy
because Pelosi is refusing to jump headfirst into the impeachment pool before
seeing how deep the water is. With the
release of the Robert Mueller report on Donald Trump and his connection to Russia,
more and more Democrats are now demanding that he be impeached. Pelosi and
committee chairs are not nibbling at the bait. They are conducting their own
investigations, putting together separate cases. Democratic chairmen are
subpoenaing current and former employees of the Trump Administration. Not
surprisingly, he warned Congress that he will not allow anyone in his
administration to cooperate with them or submit requested documents.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Despite sitting in the hot seat, Trump is acting as if the heat is not bothering him. For three years
he has been screaming about a “witch hunt” specifically created to bring down
his presidency. He has been telling the world that he is innocent of “collusion
and obstruction of justice.” He has refused to show his tax returns, saying he
is under audit. He has refused to produce an IRS letter to back his excuse. The
Constitution does not require that presidential candidates or presidents show
their income tax returns. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Trump refused to participate in a live interview with Robert
Mueller, the special prosecutor hired to investigate the firing of James Comey,
former FBI director. Trump had previously declared that he would be glad to talk
to Mueller when asked by the media. His attorneys were way past too scared to
let Trump be questioned by Mueller and his team of investigators. Trump has a
problem telling the truth. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Subsequently, Trump filled out a questionnaire sent to him by
Mueller. Reponses to the questions were sketchy and incomplete. Despite saying
he has the best memory in the world, Trump appeared to have lost all memories. His
attorneys answered the questions for him. Robert Mueller’s report, after a two
years investigation, concluded that Trump had committed 10 acts of obstruction.
Unable to prosecute a sitting president, Mueller left it to Congress to make a
decision about Trump.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Using his usual mode of communication, <i>Twitter,</i> Trump
attempted to intimidate Michael Cohen, his “fixer” and his attorney for 10 years. When
he talked to Mueller, Trump called him a “rat”. He promised a pardon to those
who did not/would not cooperate with Mueller. Cohen not only cooperated, but he also
offered Mueller audio tapes and documents. Despite cooperating with Mueller,
Cohen is going to prison for the three years.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Trump was incensed when Cohen testified in front of Congress,
basically retelling his story to the public. Trump hosted a <i>Twitter</i> bitchfest, in
which he threw all kinds of shade and accusations at Cohen. He tweeted that Mueller
should look into the finances of Cohen’s father. This caused Cohen to fear for
the safety of his family and himself. Congress had to assure him that his family
would not face any danger if he testified publicly.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Donald Trump said if Congress tries to impeach him, he will go
straight to the Supreme Court. Given that he does not believe rules or the
Constitution applies to him, Trump intends to push aside steps that may lead to
his impeachment. He thinks the majority of conservative judges on the court
will save him. He is assuming that the Supreme Court justices will admonish
Congress for daring to impeach him.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Impeachment, in law, is a criminal proceeding instituted against
a public official by a legislative body. In the federal government of the U.S.
the House of Representatives initiates the impeachment proceedings, and the
Senate as judge. The impeachment process has rarely been employed, largely
because it is cumbersome. It can occupy Congress for a lengthy period of time,
fill thousands of pages of testimony, and involve conflicting and troublesome
political pressures. Repeated attempts in the U.S. Congress to amend the
procedure, however, have been unsuccessful, partly because impeachment is
regarded as an integral part of the system of checks and balances”. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Encyclopedia Britannia</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The United States Constitution says that a sitting president
can be impeached with due cause. That being: 1.) Treason, 2.) Bribery, 3.) High
Crimes and Misdemeanors. Impeachment of
a president was initially suggested by Benjamin Franklin in 1787 at the
Constitution Convention. It was a good idea and common sense to suggest
impeachment instead of the alternative, which was assassination. Franklin
reasoned that a president could not
clear his name if he was shot dead.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell unleashed a stern warning
to Democrats after their 2018 blowout mid-term victories. He told them to go
light on thoughts of impeaching Donald Trump. “ . . . the business of
presidential harassment might not work out for you too well”. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">McConnell reminded Democrats that when
Republicans impeached Bill Clinton it did not work out well. Clinton’s approval
ratings went up; Republicans went down. </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Speaker Pelosi is now weighing the best route to take
regarding Donald Trump. </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Impeachment is not an emotional strategy. It is pure
politics spurred by revenge and power. Republicans are better at the game than
Democrats, who endeavor to steer clear of knee jerk reactions.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Some framers of the Constitution opposed the impeachment
clause. They did not want to endow a legislative body with the power to stand
in judgement against the executive branch. They were of the notion that such a
clause might compromise the separation of powers.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Not until Trump was elected president did the three branches of
the U. S. government get fused into one. A crew of old White Congressmen and Senators
have been feigning ignorance for almost three years, blindly allowing Trump to
run over the Constitution. They have allowed him to think that all government employees
are his personal hires; their salaries paid by taxpayers. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Massachusetts’s Elbridge Gerry, who served in the House of
Representatives, and was VP under James Madison, said: “A good magistrate will
not fear [impeachment]. A bad one ought to be kept in fear of them”. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">History.com</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Individual members of the House can
introduce impeachment resolutions like ordinary bills, or the House could
initiate proceedings by passing a resolution authorizing an inquiry. The
committee on the judiciary ordinarily has jurisdiction over impeachments, but
special committees investigated charges before the Judicial Committee was created</span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> in 1813. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">"The committee then chooses whether to pursue
articles of impeachment against the accused official and report them to the
full House. If the articles are adopted (by simple majority vote), the House
appoints members of resolution to manage the ensuing Senate trial on its
behalf. These managers act as prosecutors in the Senate and are usually members
of the Judiciary Committee. The number of managers has varied across
impeachment trials . . . The partisan
composition of managers have also varied depending on the nature of the
impeachment. The managers, by definition, always support the House’s
impeachment action”. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">History, Art and
Archives</i></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">House members act as the managers during the
course of the trial. Just as any case where guilt or innocence must be proven,
the president has the right to have an attorney or attorneys to litigate his defense.
In the event the Senate concurs with impeachment, the Supreme Court Justice
presides over the trial in the Senate chamber. At its conclusion of Senators
deliberates in private. After a decision is render a copy of the judgement is
filed with the Secretary of State. If guilty, the impeached president is
removed from office, and barred from holding office in the future. Bill Clinton
was disbarred.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Fifteen Republicans were designated managers
during Clinton's impeachment. One of them is a Trump spokesman: Lindsey Graham.
He has changed his stance on impeachment now that a Republican president might
get impeached. In a January 23, 1999 video, then Congressman Graham said a
president can be removed “if this body [Congress] determines that your conduct
as a public official is clearly out of bounds in your role . . . because impeachment is not about
punishment. Impeachment is about cleansing the office. </span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Impeachment is about
restoring honor and integrity to the office”.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Speaker of the House designate Bob
Livingston, asked President Clinton to resign. Some of the more vociferous complainers
against Clinton were later run out of Congress for making the same mistake as Clinton:
committing adultery. Livingston, Newt Gingrich, Helen Chenoweth, Henry Hyde.
Gingrich is perhaps the worst of all the adulterers. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Charles Ruff, White House counsel Bill
Clinton during his impeachment trial, said, “Impeachment is not a remedy for
private wrongs. It’s a method of removing someone whose continued presence in
office would cause grave danger to the nation”.</span></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-66507317163457665622019-02-18T16:03:00.004-08:002023-09-30T15:43:17.434-07:00'Cultural appropriation' is tantamount to identity theft of African Americans<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The late Ralph
Ellison, an African American author, wrote an essay on America’s identity in
1958. It has always been common knowledge that African Americans were never a part
of America’s identity, as detailed in the three-fifths compromise, in which
African Americans were not counted as full human beings. They were viewed
through jaundiced eyes and discussed in negative language, </span></span><br />
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></span></span>
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Ellison wrote:
“America is a land of masking jokers. We wear the mask for purposes of aggression
as well as for defense when we are projecting the future, and are preserving
the past … the joke is at the center of the American identity”.</span> </span></span><br />
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></span></span>
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Blackface
in America is the masked jokester. African Americans are targets of the
jokesters seeking temporary identities at the expense of Black folks, some of
whom get angry and are embarrassed by the showboating.</span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4JF09tp0F-g/XGtCbY9PoiI/AAAAAAAABmY/LtsOHEN0__kqrt7C3SU7NvCtmfCApnHLwCLcBGAs/s1600/JimCrow.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="164" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4JF09tp0F-g/XGtCbY9PoiI/AAAAAAAABmY/LtsOHEN0__kqrt7C3SU7NvCtmfCApnHLwCLcBGAs/s320/JimCrow.jpg" width="209" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Jim Crow</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Blackface
is not a new phenomenon that's suddenly attaching itself to Black folk's history. Thomas
Dartmouth Rice, an itinerant performer, was credited with popularizing
blackface. His first performance was at a New York theater around 1830. Dressed
in tattered clothes, Rice copied slaves’ dialect, their dance, their music and songs.
His plagiarized “Jump Jim Crow” routine was such a hit in America, Rice took
the act to England, where it was just as popular. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">There was
also another blackface character called “Zip Coon”, first performed by George
Dixon in <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CxUNKp11Fxs/XGst0RxkYnI/AAAAAAAABmQ/6_byhENEU6MYn5w45iTc4-lFP_0FIYKNwCEwYBhgL/s1600/ZipCoon.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="237" data-original-width="182" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CxUNKp11Fxs/XGst0RxkYnI/AAAAAAAABmQ/6_byhENEU6MYn5w45iTc4-lFP_0FIYKNwCEwYBhgL/s320/ZipCoon.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Zip Coon</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b></b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span>1834. Zip Coon was created to mock free Blacks. </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">“An arrogant,
ostentations figure, he was dressed in high style, and spoke in a series of
malapropos and puns that undermined his attempts to appear dignified. Jim Crow
and Zip Coon eventually merged into a single stereotype called simply ‘coon.’<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">” black-face.com</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Blackface
and buffoonery are not characteristic of African Americans. They do not strut
around like simpletons proudly donning blackface, oversized red or white lips, kinky
Afro wigs, plaits and braids going in all directions, consuming water melon, talking
in broken dialect, mumbling unintelligently. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Webster
Dictionary . . .<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> pickaninny</i>: “a black
child.”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>African American girls are not <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>pickaninnies; boys and men are not oversexed brutes
and rapists; older women and men are not Aunt Janes and Uncle Toms. Blackface,
when worn by White folks, implies that African Americans are quick footed and
ignorant, never not quick-witted and intelligent.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">African
Americans entertainers wanting to perform had to wear blackface to be accepted
by White audiences. They could not perform in their natural state, even if they
were naturally dark skinned. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>They had to
wear kinky wigs, black grease paint or burnt chalk on their faces, and white
gloves to cover their hands. </span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XTTK9jLMt-c/XGtDDPwo4PI/AAAAAAAABmg/V1JWAWHEmWQ9HWmlAv3Q1DsQk_IlYOBkQCLcBGAs/s1600/pickaninny.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="272" data-original-width="183" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XTTK9jLMt-c/XGtDDPwo4PI/AAAAAAAABmg/V1JWAWHEmWQ9HWmlAv3Q1DsQk_IlYOBkQCLcBGAs/s320/pickaninny.jpg" width="215" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Depiction of a pickaninny</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><b></b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><b></b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Looking at
photos of racist memorabilia along the lines of "Little Black Sambo", first
published in the U. S. in 1900; blackface yard jocks; jet black babies eating slices of watermelon; head-rag wearing,
overweight Aunt Jemimas. Jet black skin and large red lips are not inherited by
African Americans. It is not in their DNA, or passed down generation after
generation. None of these assumptive portraitures are “cultural” realities in
Black communities. During the era in which these images were created and
performed by White folks, slaves did not have the power to fight back, or disagree
with how they were portrayed.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Blackface.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>In whose homes do you live?<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Cultural appropriation</i> of blackface was
summarily adopted by White folks and passed down from generation to generation. </span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">In Australia blackface is more common than in America. An Australian writer
summed it up thusly: “At its heart ‘blackface’ is about power. Specifically,
using one’s power to take something important from someone else, and use it for
ridicule or entertainment.” Blackface is widespread in many European countries.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">“Blackface
performers have stolen from us a complexion denied to them by nature to make
money and pander to the corrupt taste of their White fellow citizens”.
Frederick Douglass, abolitionist, politician, writer.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Blackface
is a tool to dehumanize African Americans. But how do White folks dehumanize a
people that were declared three-fifths human in 1787 at the United States
Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia? They were slaves with no power. They
were partial humans. They had no American identity. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">S<span style="margin: 0px;">upreme
Court Chief Roger Taney in the <i>Dred Scott v Sanford </i>case declared that Scott,
suing for freedom for himself and his wife, had no right to sue the United States.
As a Black man of African ancestry, he was never intended to be an American.
Taney said slaves were not included in the Declaration of Independence. They
were not naturalized citizens. Scott was born a slave in 1799, Southampton
County, Virginia.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Centuries
later, Ralph Ellison wrote: “I am an invisible man. I am a man of substance, of
flesh and bone, fiber and liquid—and I might even be said to possess a mind. I
am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me”.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Singer Joni Mitchell
posed as an African American man in blackface for an album cover in 1977. She
said she did the cover in blackface because she had “experienced” being with a
Black man. One would assume that her intimate involvement with this Black man
entitled her to plagiarize his perceived identity.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">In 1993 Ted Danson, star
of the comedy “Cheers” appeared in blackface at a New York Friars Club Roast. He <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9ilMtsDKnjk/XGss_jpdShI/AAAAAAAABmE/q18-JYOEYq8rcnP6AmwU0mdzadRRDhgUwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/ted-danson.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="680" height="192" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9ilMtsDKnjk/XGss_jpdShI/AAAAAAAABmE/q18-JYOEYq8rcnP6AmwU0mdzadRRDhgUwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/ted-danson.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ted Danson in blackface</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b></b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span>performed
a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nigger</i> laced comedy routine.
Comedian and actress Whoopi Goldberg was the guest of honor, and Danson’s
girlfriend at the time. His skit and blackface did not impress African
Americans, but Goldberg said she had no problem with his routine or blackface.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Outlandish TV and radio
personality, Howard Stern, posed in blackface, sporting large white lips, wearing a tux.
A light skinned, kneeling mustached man smiled up at him. On the coffee table
sat a quart bottle of Colt 45, a box of fried chicken, a black yard jockey on a
stand behind him. Stern was holding a framed photograph of Aunt Jemima. He hit
almost every stereotype of an African American he could think of.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Megyn Kelly, former TV host
on Fox and NBC, was terminated by NBC, because of a noted entertainer she
chose to imitate on Halloween. Although she did not paint her face Sambo black,
she did darken her skin somewhat to imitate singer/actress Diana Ross. When she
was at Fox, Kelly was chastised on Twitter for her racially charged posturing.
In a heated dispute with a guest, she insisted that Jesus is not Black, and neither is
Santa Claus. Kelly insisted that she had irrefutable proof to back her
assertions. She merely believed they were White.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">After the Ross flap,
Kelly, on her NBC morning show, had a panel of three Whites to discuss race
relations. She wanted to explain darkening her skin to imitate Ross. She said,
“When I was a kid that was OK so long as you were dressing up as a character”.</span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"> Kelly reduced Diana Ross, a world class singer and actress, to a Halloween “character.” Kelly could have achieved
the look by simply wearing an extravagant evening gown and a long, black wig,
two of Ross’s trademarks. Darkening her face in the slightest was not
necessary.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">In 2002 a Syracuse
University student, and member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity, went
bar-hopping at a college frequented bar one night. He did not go as himself, or a frat
brother. He blacked his face and bar hopped as golfer Tiger Woods. It was not
Halloween; he had not attended a costume party. With all the famous golfers in
America, why a blackface Tiger Woods?</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Is this
identity theft a deep-seated desire of White folks to be African Americans, so
long as they can return to who they are when the fun ends? Is the exaggerated imitation
of African Americans symbolic of something deeper? Is that what tanning their
skin is about? “. . . a complexion denied them by nature . . .” said Frederick Douglass.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">“The stock characters of
blackface minstrelsy have played a significant role in disseminating racist
images, attitudes and perceptions worldwide. Every immigrant group was stereotyped
on the music hall stage during the 19th Century. But the history of prejudice,
hostility, and ignorance towards Black people has insured a unique longevity to
the stereotypes. White America's conceptions of Black entertainers were shaped
by minstrelsy's mocking caricatures. And for over one hundred years the belief
that Blacks were racially and socially inferior was fostered by legions of both
White and Black performers in blackface<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">”.
black-face.com</i></span></span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jlEqN1CxW-Q/XGssZ4qnwbI/AAAAAAAABlw/aQuc-ST1Otk9Rt9hMu9Qm7VckHnUW8v_wCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/griffin%2B2.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="233" data-original-width="351" height="265" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jlEqN1CxW-Q/XGssZ4qnwbI/AAAAAAAABlw/aQuc-ST1Otk9Rt9hMu9Qm7VckHnUW8v_wCPcBGAYYCw/s400/griffin%2B2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b>White women in this photo seem know that John Howard <br />Griffin is a White man pretending to be Black.<br /></b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">In my limited library of
old movies I have “Black Like Me” and “Birth Of A Nation.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In Black Like Me</i>, actor James Whitmore played White journalist John
Howard Griffin, who decided to discover what life was like for a Black man
living in the South. Griffin’s journey began in 1959. An adaption of his book
was made into a movie in 1964. In real life Griffin wore sunshades to hide his the
color of his eyes, but not in the movie. His skin transformation was not as
dark as it was in the movie. There were no dark contact lenses in the 1960s, so James Whitmore eyes were light.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">***Stares <span style="margin: 0px;">of disgust and wondering can be seen on the faces of these White women walking near Griffin. Perhaps the one's looking disgusted do not want Griffin walking on the sidewalk with them. Realizing that he is in danger as a pretend Black man, Griffin knows not to walk too closely to the White women, which could lead to trouble or his death. Keeping his distance from them is the realization of the time. Griffin had a photographer travel with him to capture his journey on film.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OYakNulr5MM/XG1dkGAVbVI/AAAAAAAABnI/dmbQnvkOP5kTJIuAnjZNT9igcQXHMK_hwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/griffin.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="243" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OYakNulr5MM/XG1dkGAVbVI/AAAAAAAABnI/dmbQnvkOP5kTJIuAnjZNT9igcQXHMK_hwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/griffin.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">John Howard Griffin, himself</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><b></b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span>A <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">SparkNotes</i> summary states: “John Howard
Griffin, the author and main character of <i><span style="border-image: none; border: 1pt windowtext; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;">Black Like Me,</span></i> is a
middle-aged White man living in Mansfield, Texas in 1959. Deeply committed to
the cause of racial justice and frustrated by his inability as a White man to
understand the Black experience, Griffin decides to take a radical step: he
decides to undergo medical treatments to change the color of his skin, and
temporarily become a Black man. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">"After securing the support of his wife and of George
Levitan, the editor of a Black-oriented magazine called <i><span style="border-image: none; border: 1pt windowtext; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;">Sepia,</span></i> which will fund Griffin's experience in return
for an article about it, Griffin sets out for New Orleans to begin his life as
a Black man. He finds a contact in the Black community, a soft-spoken,
articulate shoe-shiner named Sterling Williams, and begins a dermatological
regimen of exposure to ultraviolet light, oral medication, and skin dyes.
Eventually, Griffin looks in the mirror and sees a Black man looking back. He
briefly panics, feeling that he has lost his identity, and then he sets out to
explore the Black community”.</span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vbrHeHgWEu0/XGsslle4SpI/AAAAAAAABl4/cq1hILmVzkEAo8DHFIaQh9LhVmia8T08ACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Presence-Color-Line-John-Howard-Griffin-631.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="631" height="304" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vbrHeHgWEu0/XGsslle4SpI/AAAAAAAABl4/cq1hILmVzkEAo8DHFIaQh9LhVmia8T08ACPcBGAYYCw/s640/Presence-Color-Line-John-Howard-Griffin-631.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Griffin makes friend with shoes shine man in New Orleans</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><b></b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span>A Black
man in skin color only, Griffin witnessed, experienced, felt and tasted the
bitterness of being a Black man in the South. He learned that a Black man’s life
simultaneously tittered on the edge of hell and earth, fraught with uncertainty
24 hours a day, seven days a week. Griffin was
lucky and blessed with White Privilege and White skin. He could make choices about his life.
He could embrace White Privilege or reject it. No choices were available to the
Black man Griffin was imitating.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">“Griffin expects to
find prejudice, oppression, and hardship, but he is shocked at the extent of
it: everywhere he goes, he experiences difficulties and insults. The word
‘nigger’ seems to echo from every street corner. It is impossible to find a job,
or even a restroom that Blacks are allowed to use. Clerks refuse to cash his
checks, and a White bully nearly attacks him before he chases the man away.
After several traumatic days in New Orleans, Griffin decides to travel into the
Deep South of Mississippi and Alabama, which are reputed to be even worse for
blacks. In Mississippi, a grand jury has just refused to indict a lynch mob
that murdered a Black man before he could stand trial”. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">SparkNotes</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">After six weeks
Griffin decided that he had enough of the unadulterated hatred for his black
skin, the endless name calling and unprovoked discrimination. His article was
published in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sepia</i> magazine, 1960. TV
and the print media wanted to interview him. The story went world-wide. The old
adage, “You can always go home” did not apply to Griffin. When his hometown
learned what he had written, how he changed his skin to be a Black man, White
folks in his hometown burned him in effigy. Hometown folks made his life so
miserable and drama-filled, Griffin and his family moved to Mexico to escape the
hate. He had betrayed White folks. He had exposed the ugly, racist side of
them.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AyCqub4y_FM/XGtxe0Cr-kI/AAAAAAAABm4/BZMjr5YZE28kLv4GT_P2ALxFipuQH3yWgCLcBGAs/s1600/birth%2Bof%2Ba%2Bnation.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="222" data-original-width="346" height="256" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AyCqub4y_FM/XGtxe0Cr-kI/AAAAAAAABm4/BZMjr5YZE28kLv4GT_P2ALxFipuQH3yWgCLcBGAs/s400/birth%2Bof%2Ba%2Bnation.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">A White actor in blackface captured by the KKK</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><b></b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span>In the 1915 movie “Birth
Of A Nation” African Americans were played by blue-eyed White actors, wearing terrible
kinky wigs and blackface. The few real African Americans in the movie played
minor, demeaning roles. The movie was over three hours long, and debuted in
Boston. African Americans held demonstrations in front of the theater. The
NAACP and Black folks protested in whatever states the film was shown. They
confronted politicians—from mayors to governors--and initiated petition drives.
Some scenes offensive to Black folks were edited out of the film. By today’s
standards it was a blockbuster among White moviegoers.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Actors in the 1903
movie “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” were Whites in blackface. The “Amos and Andy” radio
show were two White actors pretending to be Black, as was a supporting cast
member called “Kingfish.” For years African Americans actually thought they
were Black because of their jokes and dialect. “For its time, it was perfectly
ok to portray Blacks as generally poor and uneducated. But in time, civil
rights groups would object to the way it depicted Blacks in America”. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Classic TV Archive</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Universities, colleges
and graduate students are checking their yearbooks for photos that are totally
inappropriate. Some universities are already offering belated apologies.
Blackface, KKK and Nazi costumes seems to be the most popular. The snapshot of an
Auburn High School student wearing a black face mask wrote a caption that asked:
“Is this what being a nigger feels like”?</span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Enx5XU9cbWg/XGss0AE9I4I/AAAAAAAABmA/cwGOzxe4T5QEWhST_yPVmgvVxBeo72K9QCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/northam.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1140" data-original-width="1140" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Enx5XU9cbWg/XGss0AE9I4I/AAAAAAAABmA/cwGOzxe4T5QEWhST_yPVmgvVxBeo72K9QCPcBGAYYCw/s400/northam.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ralph Northam's yearbook page in med school</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><b></b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span>The blackface scandal that
hit Virginia in February 2019, spread like a wild fire. Because two politicians
wearing blackface are White, the media jumped on the story immediately.
Virginia’s Governor Ralph Northam, 59, got a butt shock when a 1984 photo of
him in blackface leaped off the page of the Eastern Virginia Medical School
yearbook. </span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Northam, then a tall, skinny 25-year-old White male, and a medical
student, was standing next to a shorter male (or woman) dressed in full KKK
regalia. The tall male was smiling. His white teeth were a contrast against his
shiny black face. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">At a news conference Northam
conceded that one of the individuals in the photo was him but would not say
which. The next day he recanted, saying he was not in the photo. He did not
take responsibility for submitting the photo for the yearbook, suggesting that
someone else submitted it. </span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">There were three other photos of him alone in
various poses. At the time his nicknames were “Goose” and “Coonman.” Harlem
Globetrotters Reece Tatum was nicknamed “Goose.” Did Northam steal that
nickname from Reece, wanting to imitate him? “Coonman” has racial overtones any
way you look at it.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Hosting another press
conference the next day, Northam admitted that in 1984—the same year as </span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">above--he
entered a dance contest in San Antonio, Texas. He put black shoe polish on his
cheeks rather than his whole face. No photos have been uncovered so far. Taking
on the persona of Michael Jackson, Northam said he dressed like the famous
singer, and danced the moonwalk. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">In an interview with
NBC’s Gayle King, Northam said he did not understand the power of his white
privilege. As an adult he said, “I’ve learned why the use of blackface is so
offensive. And, yeah, I knew it in the past, but reality has really set in”. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">A few days after
Northam’s confession, Virginia’s Attorney General Mark Herring, 57, admitted
that as a 19-year-old college student he wore blackface to a party in 1980. He
dressed like Kurtis Blow, a popular rapper that he and his friends listened to
at the time. Instead of black polish, Herring said he put brown polish on his
face and wore an Afro wig.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">During a February 8
interview with TMZ, Kurtis Blow let it be known that he was not impressed upon
learning that Herring imitated him wearing brownface. He said Herring’s
characterization of him was “disrespectful, ugly and degrading”.</span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GENogNRwZjM/XGtFD-f11EI/AAAAAAAABms/4LTj1hGR19U6VrLI1oQ4WZ-KtTG8AjxkACLcBGAs/s1600/ertel.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="373" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GENogNRwZjM/XGtFD-f11EI/AAAAAAAABms/4LTj1hGR19U6VrLI1oQ4WZ-KtTG8AjxkACLcBGAs/s320/ertel.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Michael Ertel, <i>hurricane victim</i></span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><b></b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span>Florida’s Secretary of
State Michael Ertel, 49, was asked by the governor to resign in January (2019),
after a 2005 photo of him in blackface was uncovered. He was dressed like a
female victim of Hurricane Katrina. The devastating hurricane killed an
estimated 1,800 New Orleans residents, the majority of whom were Black and
poor. The hurricane left even more victims homeless. Attending a Halloween
party, Ertel wore a colorful bandanna on his head, large colorful earrings and
a T-shirt bearing the words<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">: Katrina Victim.
</i>His insensitivity reduced the hurricane victims to caricatures.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">“Blackface is the joke
that comforts White Americans, who consciously or otherwise, are terrified of
nonwhite people. . . . The critic Elias Canetti argued in “Crowds and Power”, that
laughing allows us to take power over the one we laugh at; perhaps this is why,
even now, blackface still exists, a crude attempt by certain White Americans to
retain a sense of racial superiority. Blackface as a ghost we may never be able
to exorcize. It is too deeply, painfully American”.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Guardian</i>, 2/2019.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">It is not unusual to
read about White fraternity members posting blackface photos of themselves and
friends in their yearbooks and social pages. They exhibit no sense of right, wrong
or shame. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blackface is fun! It doesn’t hurt
Black folks</i>. The most basic excuses they use is: “I was young. I didn’t think I was hurting
anyone.” Some assert African Americans
are “too sensitive” when they complain about the images and stereotypes. Opting
for blackface fun can ruin careers. These bite-you-in-the-ass images usually
pop up when an individual runs for a political office, or some other high
profile occupation. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;">Rev. Al Sharpton, long
time civil rights activist and MSNBC TV host, spoke February 7 at Virginia
Union University, Virginia’s oldest historically Black college. He told the
audience, “If you sin, you must pay for the sin. Blackface represents a deeper
problem where people felt they could dehumanize and humiliate people based on
their inferiority. When we’re reacting to blackface, we’re not reacting to what
the act represents. Forgiveness without a price is not forgiveness—it’s a
pass”.<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;">Richmond Times-Dispatch</span></i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></i></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;">Elvis Presley stole and copied Black folks music and rhythmical styles of singing. That is cultural appropriation. Pat Boone never had a hit song until he stole Little Richard's music and claimed it as his own, making it "acceptable" to White folks. That is cultural appropriation. In the day of tap dancing, Hollywood's Gene Kelly, Fred Astire and Ginger Rogers stole steps from Black tappers like The Nickholas Brothers and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, who did not get credit for the stolen choreography. That is cultural appropriation, not the popularity of blackface so acceptable to White folks.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-42912474399321723202019-01-30T17:36:00.003-08:002023-09-30T17:10:17.850-07:00Billy Graham's prediction of a Jesus sighting came too late for me; I already saw Him at the mall<div style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: black;">Franklin Graham, son of clebrated evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, said Sunday in an interview with Christiana Amanpour on <i style="font-style: normal;">This Week </i>that, “. . . every eye is going to see (the second coming). How is the whole world going to see (Jesus Christ) all at one time? I don't know, unless all of a sudden everybody's taking pictures and it's on the media worldwide. I don't know. Social media could have a big part in that. Everybody's got their phone up and everybody's taking recordings and posting it on YouTube and whatever and sending it to you, and it gets shown around the world".<br />
<br />
This is so true! But Graham’s prediction came too late for me. <span style="font-size: small; font-style: normal;">You see,<b> </b></span>I saw Jesus at a Texas mall last Saturday. He was shopping at a reasonably priced shoe and garments store that specialized in Christian wear. I instantly recognized him. </span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="color: white;"></span><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When I was a kid, on the way home from school one day, I saw Jesus’ face in the clouds. I waved at him and went straight home. I told my mother what I saw. She said I was losing my mind. I could not get her to believe me! I knew my religious grandmother believed me. She talked to Jesus all the time. Sometimes she shouted and talked funny in the middle of the conversations. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="color: white;"></span><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: white;"> I didn’t go outside to play with my buddies that afternoon. Jesus was watching us. I didn’t want him to see us harassing our favorite neighbor, “Mr. Devil.” My grandmother said, "God don't like ugly and he ain't crazy about beauty."</span> She was saying we were being ugly toward Mr. Devil. That wasn't his real name. We made it up.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0vWiKGba1oA/UJHpb8mO_fI/AAAAAAAAAok/Bo0Z8glw-M4/s1600/graham.jpg" style="background-color: black; clear: left; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" height="309" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0vWiKGba1oA/UJHpb8mO_fI/AAAAAAAAAok/Bo0Z8glw-M4/s400/graham.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<tr align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding: 0px;"><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 0px;"><b style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: small; padding-top: 0px;">Billy Graham, son of famed Evangelist Billy Graham</span></b></span></div>
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<div style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">For some unexplainable reason we (neighborhood kids) thought this particular neighbor was the devil. We dared him to send us to hell “in a hand basket." We heard older religious folk say that’s how sinful people were going to hell if they didn’t find God or Jesus. </span></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We later leaned that our neighbor was red-faced and angry because we irritated him with our incessant teasing and silliness. We eventually apologized to him. He didn't accept the apology. A few days later we found a new victim. We called her “The Witch.” <br />
<br />
Anyway, back to the mall and Jesus. I was nervous and humbled by his presence. I spoke to him, my voice wavering. I'm grown now and working as a reporter. The porter in me kicked in lik</span><span style="color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">e humidity on a Texas summer day. I had the good sense to know not to blow this opportunity. This would be my one and only opportunity to have a face-to-face interview with Jesus. </span></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nervous and humbled, I asked Jesus what he was doing on earth. “Your second coming is supposed to come when . . .” He nodded his head and smiled. He knew about all of the prophesied predictions. God didn't say when it would happen. I wasn't about to argue with him about what the Bible said. My religious grandmother would go holy roller on me.<br />
<br />
Jesus said he didn’t want to publicize his re-appearance. He said he had a lot of work to do while he's here, and he needs a new pair of scandals for all the walking he plans to do. He said his mother, Mary, was with him. She was walking around the store, looking at a variety of scandals. Jesus said his mother wants to make sure he picks a good-looking pair of scandals. She wants him to look nice on YouTube and TV when the word spread around the world.<br />
<br />
“Jesus-- as you probably know-- people are pulling you into their politics. Republicans, Democrats, Independents. How do you feel, being used as a political pawn?”<br />
<br />
Jesus said, “I don’t participate in politics. I can’t stop those who use me. I am also called a lot of things. My name is used for many </span><span style="color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">things. I don’t approve but I understand.”<br />
<br />
Shoppers in the mall were beginning to stop and stare. They were not sure who Jesus was. It was hard to believe he was on earth, shopping in a Texas mall. One woman asked doubtfully: “Didn’t you used to be Jesus? I mean I saw pictures of you! I mean you’re supposed to be coming back in a big way! Everybody knows it!” Jesus smiled and nodded yes, he is Jesus. <br />
<br /> The shopper couldn’t believe her eyes. “Get outta here!” she said. “You’re gonna be a movie, right?” Hollywood is always making Jesus movies.” Jesus continued smiling. Another shopper answered the woman’s question. “This guy is not real. He’s straight out of Hollywood casting.” <br />
<br />
“If you’re Jesus, can I get your autograph?” He obliged. The woman walked off, mumbling something about eBay.<br />
<br />
Jesus’ mother had selected about ten pairs of scandals. The salesman followed her, packing boxes of scandals. When he stooped to slip the scandals on Jesus’ feet, he looked up, staring at Jesus, his eyes on his face. He grasped and said, “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!”</span></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> The salesman was trembling so hard he could barely slip the scandals on Jesus’ feet. To ease his nervousness, Mary said with a straight face, “That’s what I said when I was giving birth to him.” The Bible never revealed that Mary has a sense of humor.<br />
<br />
Franklin should have called me. I would have told him that Jesus and his mother, the Virgin Mary, have already returned, shopping for new scandals in Texas. </span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="color: white;"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Later I called Gov. Rick Perry’s office for a comment about Jesus being in Texas. Of course, my call wasn’t taken seriously. The person on the other end of the line said bluntly: “The governor is not interested in your joke. Jesus has no reason to visit Texas.”</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="color: white;"></span><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-37400013543554239992019-01-11T19:10:00.003-08:002022-11-25T18:01:54.967-08:00Senator Barack Obama makes speech about immigration reform on Senate floor in 2006<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">April 3, 2006, Floor Statement of Senator Barack Obama</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bR2uGRncwB8/TaEV2xecGiI/AAAAAAAAAOc/hG5SN6sDjlIdmuNHUTSAS-rHfQmhmE4_ACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/s-OBAMA-large300.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="219" data-original-width="300" height="233" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bR2uGRncwB8/TaEV2xecGiI/AAAAAAAAAOc/hG5SN6sDjlIdmuNHUTSAS-rHfQmhmE4_ACPcBGAYYCw/s320/s-OBAMA-large300.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><b>Senator Barack Obama</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mr. President, I come to
the floor today to enter the debate on comprehensive immigration reform. It is
a debate that will touch on the basic questions of morality, the law, and what
it means to be an American </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I know that this debate
evokes strong passions on all sides. The recent peaceful but passionate
protests that we saw all across the country--500,000 in Los Angeles and 100,000
in my hometown of Chicago--are a testament to this fact, as are the concerns of
millions of Americans about the security of our borders.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But I believe we can
work together to pass immigration reform in a way that unites the people in
this country, not in a way that divides us by playing on our worst instincts
and fears.</span> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Like millions of
Americans, the immigrant story is also my story. My father came here from
Kenya, and I represent a State where vibrant immigrant communities ranging from
Mexican to Polish to Irish enrich our cities and neighborhoods. So I understand
the allure of freedom and opportunity that fuels the dream of a life in the
United States. But I also understand the need to fix a broken system.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When Congress last
addressed this issue comprehensively in 1986, there were approximately 4
million illegal immigrants living in the United States. That number had grown
substantially when Congress again addressed the issue in 1996. Today, it is
estimated that there are more than 11 million undocumented aliens living in our
country.</span> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="margin: 0px;">The American people are
a welcoming and generous people. But those who enter our country illegally, and
those who employ them, disrespect the rule of law. And because we live in an
age where terrorists are challenging our borders, we simply cannot allow people
to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, and unchecked.
Americans are right to demand better border security and better enforcement of
the immigration laws. </span><span style="margin: 0px;">The bill the Judiciary Committee
has passed would clearly strengthen enforcement. I will repeat that, because
those arguing against the Judiciary Committee bill contrast that bill with a
strong enforcement bill. The bill the Judiciary Committee passed clearly
strengthens enforcement.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">To begin with, the agencies charged with
border security would receive new technology, new facilities, and more people
to stop, process, and deport illegal immigrants. But while security might start
at our borders, it doesn't end there. Millions of undocumented immigrants live
and work here without our knowing their identity or their background. We need
to strike a workable bargain with them. They have to acknowledge that breaking
our immigration laws was wrong. They must pay a penalty, and abide by all of
our laws going forward. They must earn the right to stay over a 6-year period,
and then they must wait another 5 years as legal permanent residents before
they become citizens.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But in exchange for accepting those
penalties, we must allow undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows and
step on a path toward full participation in our society. In fact, I will not
support any bill that does not provide this earned path to citizenship for the
undocumented population--not just for humanitarian reasons; not just because
these people, having broken the law, did so for the best of motives, to try and
provide a better life for their children and their grandchildren; but also
because this is the only practical way we can get a handle on the population
that is within our borders right now.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">To keep from having to go through this
difficult process again in the future, we must also replace the flow of
undocumented immigrants coming to work here with a new flow of guestworkers.
Illegal immigration is bad for illegal immigrants and bad for the workers
against whom they compete.</span> </span><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="margin: 0px;">Replacing the flood of illegals with a
regulated stream of legal immigrants who enter the United States after
background checks and who are provided labor rights would enhance our security,
raise wages, and improve working conditions for all Americans. </span><span style="margin: 0px;">But I fully appreciate that we cannot
create a new guestworker program without making it as close to impossible as we
can for illegal workers to find employment. We do not need new guestworkers
plus future undocumented immigrants. We need guestworkers instead of
undocumented immigrants.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Toward that end, American
employers need to take responsibility. Too often illegal immigrants are lured
here with a promise of a job, only to receive unconscionably low wages. In the
interest of cheap labor, unscrupulous employers look the other way when
employees provide fraudulent U.S. citizenship documents. Some actually call and
place orders for undocumented workers because they don't want to pay minimum
wages to American workers in surrounding communities. These acts hurt both
American workers and immigrants whose sole aim is to work hard and get ahead.
That is why we need a simple, foolproof, and mandatory mechanism for all
employers to check the legal status of new hires. Such a mechanism is in the
Judiciary Committee bill.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And before any guestworker is hired, the
job must be made available to Americans at a decent wage with benefits.
Employers then need to show that there are no Americans to take these jobs. I
am not willing to take it on faith that there are jobs that Americans will not
take. There has to be a showing. If this guestworker program is to succeed, it
must be properly calibrated to make certain that these are jobs that cannot be
filled by Americans, or that the guestworkers provide particular skills we
can't find in this country.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I</span> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">know that dealing with the undocumented
population is difficult, for practical and political reasons. But we simply
cannot claim to have dealt with the problems of illegal immigration if we
ignore the illegal resident population or pretend they will leave voluntarily.
Some of the proposed ideas in Congress provide a temporary legal status and
call for deportation, but fail to answer how the government would deport 11
million people. I don't know how it would be done. I don't know how we would
line up all the buses and trains and airplanes and send 11 million people back
to their countries of origin. I don't know why it is that we expect they would
voluntarily leave after having taken the risk of coming to this country without
proper documentation.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I don't know many police officers across
the country who would go along with the bill that came out of the House, a bill
that would, if enacted, charge undocumented immigrants with felonies, and
arrest priests who are providing meals to hungry immigrants, or people who are
running shelters for women who have been subject to domestic abuse. I cannot
imagine that we would be serious about making illegal immigrants into felons,
and going after those who would aid such persons.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="margin: 0px;">That approach is not serious. That is
symbolism that is demagoguery. It is important that if we are going to deal
with this problem, we deal with it in a practical, commonsense way. If
temporary legal status is granted but the policy says these immigrants are
never good enough to become Americans, then the policy that makes little sense. </span><span style="margin: 0px;">I </span><span style="margin: 0px;">believe successful,
comprehensive immigration reform can be achieved by building on the work of the
Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee bill combines some of the
strongest elements of Senator Hagel's border security proposals with the
realistic workplace and earned-citizenship program proposed by Senators McCain
and Kennedy.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mr. President, I will
come to the floor over the next week to offer some amendments of my own, and to
support amendments my colleagues will offer. I will also come to the floor to
argue against amendments that contradict our tradition as a nation of
immigrants and as a nation of laws.</span> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As FDR reminded the
Nation at the 50th anniversary of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty,
those who landed at Ellis Island "were the men and women who had the supreme
courage to strike out for themselves, to abandon language and relatives, to
start at the bottom without influence, without money, and without knowledge of
life in a very young civilization.''</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It behooves us to
remember that not every single immigrant who came into the United States
through Ellis Island had proper documentation. Not every one of our
grandparents or great-grandparents would have necessarily qualified for legal
immigration. But they came here in search of a dream, in search of hope.
Americans understand that, and they are willing to give an opportunity to those
who are already here, as long as we get serious about making sure that our borders
actually mean something.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Today's immigrants seek
to follow in the same tradition of immigration that has built this country. We
do ourselves and them a disservice if we do not recognize the contributions of
these individuals. And we fail to protect our Nation if we do not regain
control over our immigration system immediately.</span></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-88656282078535040282018-11-20T18:30:00.003-08:002021-09-11T21:50:37.443-07:00Laura Jean Ockletree Floyd, 10/6/1960-11/12/2018<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><b>Family
Genealogy</b></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></i></div>
<br />
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Her Hand</span></i></div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt; margin: 0px;">by Maggie Pittman</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Her hands held me gently from the day I took my first breath,</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Her hands help to guide me as I took my first step,</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Her hands held me close when tears would start to fall,</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Her hands were quick to show me that she would take care of all.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px;">-------------------------------------------------------------------</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">A Family Tribute to Laura Jean Ockletree Floyd</span></b></div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0px;"> by Dorothy Charles
Banks</span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gqEDAJgRRwY/W_S9daRhB6I/AAAAAAAABkg/Ka6rOMJ9cPI-ttiJvbohZ9CV73_fqUNqwCLcBGAs/s1600/laura%2Bockletree.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="496" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gqEDAJgRRwY/W_S9daRhB6I/AAAAAAAABkg/Ka6rOMJ9cPI-ttiJvbohZ9CV73_fqUNqwCLcBGAs/s400/laura%2Bockletree.jpg" width="281" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Laura Jean O</span><span style="font-size: small;">ckletree</span> <span style="font-size: small;">Floyd</span></span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">L</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">aura
Jean Ockletree was the first daughter born to Marie Ockletree. The special bond
between mother and child commenced the day Laura came into the world one early
morning October 6, 1960. Marie recalls her joy at becoming a mother. The tiny
baby that she held in her arms was her precious pride and joy. </span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Marie recalls
that her baby girl taught her how to be a mother; how to be responsible at 18.
She had the hands and love filled heart to guide and push her child through her
teenage years, through womanhood; eventually watching her experience marriage
and motherhood. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">When
Laura </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">and J.D. Floyd got married two children were born from that union:
Jonathan and Whitney, her first born daughter.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It
goes without saying that first born sons and daughters are stealers of their
parents’ hearts. No other child in the world is cuter or smarter. Even though Laura
gave birth to a<span style="color: red; margin: 0px;"> </span>daughter, when she adopted her
six months old niece, it was like giving birth to another daughter. That’s how
tightly she </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">embraced the baby girl born to her sister Everea. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Sharita
Ockletree was born with multiple problems, but Laura did not see a baby that
was less than a perfect. Love ruled. Laura’s love was not going to let this
fragile baby girl get entangled in a state system that would have stifled her
life, and her growth. The bond between these two was unbreakable. They were
each other’s world.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
Bible tells us that our days are numbered. They are few and full of trouble. We
enter the world like a flower and then fade away, says the Bible. Those
numbered days begin at conception. Death is the dreaded enemy that stepped
forward when Laura’s number was posted on God’s bulletin board. Death, despite
being a part of life, has the power to snatch all joy and happiness in the
blink of an eye. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Just
like Marie vividly remembers the day Laura was born, she remembers the day Laura
was taken from her, a mere 37 days after her 58<sup>th</sup> birthday. Marie’s
protecting hands could not grab Laura out of death’s jaws. Whether it was
intuition or God preparing for a death in the family, Marie began having dreams
about Laura. Her self-analysis of the dreams were troubling. She prayed and
talked to God, asking him to take her, “not my child.” As a mother she was
ready to exchange her number for Laura’s. Parents tend to reason that their
children should bury them, not the other way around. After Laura’s death Marie’s
dreams stopped.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"></span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">“On
the day I learned of her death, all I could say is, ‘No! No! No, not my baby!’
When I saw her lying on the floor, not moving and cold, I had a feeling of
disbelief.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></i>When the coroner put her on the gurney, they let us
say our last good-bye. I couldn’t accept her death. I still haven’t.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Following
the usual holiday routine, Laura planned on going to Marie’s house for
Thanksgiving. Because Marie is the better cook everyone gathered to her house.
Together, </span></span></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4IoF5dNjiMo/W_S_m7fvzoI/AAAAAAAABk0/jYcrxxjqrRIAJQPUXMIc_pLH8TUsGZtwgCLcBGAs/s1600/PICT0030.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1000" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4IoF5dNjiMo/W_S_m7fvzoI/AAAAAAAABk0/jYcrxxjqrRIAJQPUXMIc_pLH8TUsGZtwgCLcBGAs/s400/PICT0030.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;">Laura</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">
mother and daughter were going to cook a Thanksgiving feast. Laura had
already decided that she was going to make potato salad. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"></span><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">S</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">adly,
Laura had another unforeseen date that she had to keep; a date that was planned
in advance long, long ago. On November 12, 2018 she departed this earth,
sealing her predetermined destiny.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Although Laura has traveled “up yonder” to meet her Lord, memories of her spirit will live on
through family and friends, many of whom spoke glowingly of her at the funeral.
Her sons recalled memories of their mother, paying emotional tributes; acquaintances recalled </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">the friend
who was always ready to help them when they needed it. Laura's former pastor recalled her determination
and drive to increase the church’s membership, which she did.<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Her mother Marie is alrea</span>dy missing the
daily phone calls and conversations. Despite of her physical loss she still have years of memories
to hang onto.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"></span><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MBzpgSgBPXc/XVUKxQan2_I/AAAAAAAABpA/68Gy4m9SQ5IkLt1CUHGobICGKd901gWpACLcBGAs/s1600/laura%252C%2Bquincy%252C%2Bwhitney.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="642" data-original-width="912" height="449" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MBzpgSgBPXc/XVUKxQan2_I/AAAAAAAABpA/68Gy4m9SQ5IkLt1CUHGobICGKd901gWpACLcBGAs/s640/laura%252C%2Bquincy%252C%2Bwhitney.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><b>Laura (right) with son and daughter Whitney and Quincy</b></span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sGWn_WQHHH4/W_Y2t-s9qTI/AAAAAAAABlM/hJF5wNoVbIsFp2bYBTRn5_Bof5k_3TfRwCLcBGAs/s1600/laura%2Bwhitney.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="775" height="529" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sGWn_WQHHH4/W_Y2t-s9qTI/AAAAAAAABlM/hJF5wNoVbIsFp2bYBTRn5_Bof5k_3TfRwCLcBGAs/s640/laura%2Bwhitney.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><b>Oldest daughter Whitney and Laura</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b>Laura's youngest daughter ShaRita</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b>Chris, Laura's son</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b>Jonathan, Laura's son</b></span><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Replica of funeral program</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">___________________________________________________</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Laura Jean Ockletree Floyd</span></span></b></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Sunrise October 6, 1960
Sunset November 12, 2018</span></span></b></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="margin: 0px;">For if we
live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. Sot then,
whether </span></i></span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">we live or die, we are the
Lord's. Romans 14:8</span></span></i></span></div>
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</span><span style="margin: 0px;">Saturday, November
17, 2018</span></span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">12:00 PM</span></span></span></b></span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">King Tears Mortuary Chapel</span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"> </span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">1300 East 12th Street </span></span></span></b></span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Officiant Rev. Robert Paul Jacks</span></span></span></b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Obituray</span></span></span></span></span></b><span style="font-size: 9.5pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><b></b><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Laura Jean
Ockletree Floyd was born October 6, 1960 to Marie Ockletree and Dave
Ockletree, </span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: white;">Austin, Texas. Laura passed away on November 12, 2018.</span> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: white;">Laura had a heart of gold and </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: white;">was </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">loved by everyone. Her grandsons adored their
"Mamaw" immensely. She touched many </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">lives and will be sorely missed.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Laura leaves to cherish her memory three sons, Christopher Ockletree, Quincy Ockletree and Jonathan Floyd; two daughters, Whitney Floyd (Clinton Kerr) and Sharita Ockletree, all of</span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">whom resides in Austin, Texas; mother, Marie Ockletree of Austin, Texas; father Dave Ockletree,</span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"> </span></span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Jr. (Billie) of Temple, Texas; two sisters, Everea Wilkins of Temple, </span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Texas and Sandra Elaine Ockletree of Round Rock, Texas; two brothers Dave A. </span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Ockletree (Latoya) of Vidalia, Georgia</span></span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">and Erick Adams (Khasi) of Temple, Texas; grandsons, Caleb Kerr, Clinton Kerr, Jr., Aniyah Ockletree, Masiah Ockletree; nieces Shanna Castelan and Shametra Ockletree-Horton (Allen) and a host of nieces, nephews and friends.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Processional Clergy, Casket, Bearers and Family</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Scripture
Reading Rev. Robert Paul Jacks</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Prayer Rev. Robert Paul Jacks</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">A Family
Tribute Quincy Ockletree</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Remarks Please limit to 2 minutes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Musical Selection "His Eye is on the
Sparrow"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Eulogy Rev. Robert Paul Jacks</span></div>
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Clinton "C.J." Kerr</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">Eric Moran
Clinton Kerr</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Our
family extends our sincere appreciation for the heartfelt condolences and
prayers extended to us. Our hearts have been warmed by your expressions of love
and concern.</span></span></div>
</span></span></span><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 9.5pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 9.5pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;">Cooks-Walden Capital Parks</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 9.5pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white;"> Pflugerville, Texas</span></span></span></span></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-28134116187261571862018-11-02T07:11:00.003-07:002023-09-19T11:42:27.100-07:00Salute the flag, sing the national anthem, stop complaining, and appreciate our kindness<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0WTY6jCELjQ/W9xRyzTwfNI/AAAAAAAABkI/L2WieRyu8yUfmRhyD5oROzbAuefR_ArVwCLcBGAs/s1600/flag.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="271" data-original-width="340" height="254" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0WTY6jCELjQ/W9xRyzTwfNI/AAAAAAAABkI/L2WieRyu8yUfmRhyD5oROzbAuefR_ArVwCLcBGAs/s320/flag.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>The American flag</b></div>
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<b></b><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">The Star Spangled Banner</span></b></div>
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<b></b><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br /></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Oh, say, can you see by the dawns early light,</i></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?</i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,</i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?</i></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i></i><br /></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>And the star spangled banner in triumph shall wave</i></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!</i></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><i></i><br /></div>
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<i></i><br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A path was chosen for White folks by White males who
controlled all seats of power in the </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">U. S. government. From the start, Africans
did not choose their path in life. It was chosen for them by a White dominated
government, and local KKK terrorists, especially in southern states. Blacks are
expected to follow the rules, and not deviate from their designated path
without permission from White people.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Whenever African Americans depart from their chosen path,
rightfully protesting against injustices and discrimination piled on their
backs like sacks of cotton 24/7, White folks tend to write them off as a
societal nuance. Collectively. <i>They have no reason to complain or be</i> <i>angry</i>, they say. Black
folks cannot conceal who they are. They have to prepare for whatever troubles
that comes their way. They are easy targets. Their skin tones greatly
depreciates their value, their right to respect, and their humanness.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Nat Turner, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Black Lives
Matter, Congressman John Lewis, Medgar Evers, Rosa Parks, Rev. Al Sharpton, and
thousands more civil rights activists carry on their backs cotton sacks filled
with mistreatment of African Americans. The desire for basic human rights goes
all the way back to slavery, a time when helpless Africans in a strange land
could not protest the inhospitable environment they were thrown into.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Black insurrectionists like Nat Turner understood this unnatural
ownership of another human being. Called the “Nat Turner Rebellion” by
historians and writers, Nat Turner was a slave, who in 1831, led a short
insurrection against slave owners in South Hampton County, Virginia. Supposedly
he and a number of slaves killed over 50 Whites in the county. Turner’s
co-conspirators were caught and hanged. Turner managed to escape, but was
caught and hanged. Turner’s deadly rebellion began with him killing his slave
master and his wife. Turner deviated from his assigned path in a society that
did not want him; would not accept him. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now
is not the right time</span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">White folks have always talked with twisted tongues in reference
to African Americans. Politicians said of the civil rights movement, “Now is
not the right time.” Civil right activists were told that Black folks need to
wait. They need to be patient. They would get their freedom at the right time.
Had King listened to this bullshit Black folks would still be patiently waiting
for freedom to wander into their neighborhoods, inviting them to register and
vote. Civil rights would have remained packaged, sealed, and undelivered.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Jesse Jackson was told when he decided to run for president,
“Now is not the right time”. He asked: “If not now, when”? Jackson ran for
president in 1984 and 1988. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>White folks
rejected him because of his skin color and marching for civil rights. They called
him a race baiter and a race hustler. They said even worse things about Al Sharpton
when he ran for president.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Black and White politicians told Senator Barack Obama “now is
not the right time” for a Black man to run for president of the United States.
They felt he did not have a chance to win. It was best that he step aside and
let one of his White opponents claim the prize. On the other hands, the time
was certainly right for African Americans to get shot to death, harassed,
stopped and frisked, and beat by White cops.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Martin Luther King said: “The daily life of the Negro is still
lived in the basement of the Great Society. He is still at the bottom despite
the few who have penetrated to slightly higher levels. Even where the door has
been forced partially open, mobility for the Negro is still sharply restricted.
The</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">re is often no bottom at which to start, and when there is, there is almost
always no room at the top”.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Attempted
banning of freed slaves</span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">With the election of Donald Trump as president of the U.S.,
racism, and white supremacy have been repopularized. Calling cops on Black men,
women and children is also common again, like during the era of “Black Codes”, created
to keep newly emancipated slaves in their place.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Today, African Americans who have greatly veered from their
designated path, can live in any section of town they can afford. But Whites
cannot accept them invading “their” segregated, peaceful suburbs, no matter how
famous or wealthy. Blacks moving into these upscale neighborhoods destroys all
of those perpetrated myths. For instance: Black folks are on welfare, their children
are fatherless, they are drug addicts and thieves, lazy, irresponsible,
uneducated, and unemployed by choice. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>They
have no ambition to achieve.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Noted race baiter Republican Pat Buchanan says Black folks are
not grateful enough to White folks. He wrote in 2008: “First, America has been
the best country on earth for black folks. . . 600,000 black people brought
here from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 10 million, were
introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom
and prosperity blacks have ever known.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks
than white Americans. Untold millions have been spent since the ‘60s on
welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student
loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits, and poverty
programs designed to bring the African American community into the mainstream.
We hear the grievance. Where is the gratitude”?</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Centuries earlier the newly elected governor of California, Peter
Burnett, was more profound that Buchanan. The state’s first governor wanted
California to be an all-White state. He did not want free Blacks coming to
California, messing up his dream, colorizing his state. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">He said, addressing legislators: “It could be no favor and no
kindness, to permit [free blacks] to settle in the state; while it would be a
most serious injury to us. . . . Had they been born here, and had acquired
rights in consequence, I should not recommend any measures to expel them </span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. . .
the object is to keep them out”.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">According to the <i>History Channel</i>, Burnett was not alone in “his
vision of a California that banned Black people. Throughout the 1840s and 1850s,
California citizens and legislators fought to insure that free Black people
would be prohibited from immigrating to or living in California. And though
their efforts eventually failed, they reflected this fear and racism faced by
Black people in the American West”.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Newly emancipated slaves had to carry on their backs the burdens
of rejection and isolation. They had no other point of reference, or no instructional
how-to-books.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Donald Trump wants to ban all immigrants that are not of
European descent. “Others” are deemed life’s scum crawling out of Central
America, the Middle East and African countries for the sole purpose of destroying
America. He called African countries “shitholes”. Trump said he preferred that people
from Norway immigrate to America.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Stand
for the flag and national anthem </span></span></b></div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">and be grateful to White Americans</span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">White folks want all Black folks to stand, look patriotic, salute
the flag, sing or mumble the Star Spangled Banner, because they do not have the
right not to. Blacks should be grateful, catapulting fear and bigotry to a
respected place in society. African Americans should not complain if they do
not get a clear shot at achieving the American Dream. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And when they are shouted down and told by White folks: “America
is ours! We built it! Go back where you belong!” Black folks should not get
angry at these God loving, country loving, flag waving, anthem singing folks. Their
Christianity may be temporary out of order. You know . . . <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>like toilets. They get a little cranky when
God is slow answering their calls. They want Him to tell Black folks to stop
protesting, taking a knee and disrespecting the flag and America. Bless their
patriotic hearts.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Accused by Fox talking heads of not being grateful to America
for allowing him to earn millions of dollars playing football, Colin Kaepernick
explains his reason for taking a knee rather than salute the flag, or stand for
the national anthem. He made the decision in 2016. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>His knees and heart were weighed down by a
cotton sack filled with inequality, police brutality and discrimination. He
dared not follow the long ago designated path for Black folks.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Kaepernick said, “I’m not going to stand up to show pride in a
flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color. To me this
is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way.
There are bodies in the street, and people getting paid leave and getting away
with murder”.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Kaepernick<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> related a story that tells of his a personal run-in with
police. “One of my roommates was moving out of a house in college, and because
we were the only Black people in the neighborhood, the cops got called, and all
of us had guns drawn on us. I mean come in the house without knocking, guns
drawn on one of my roommates. So I have experienced [mistreatment]. People
close to me have experienced this”. (Slate magazine, 2016) </span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The late 1960s civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer is noted
for saying: “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired”. Hamer was burdened
with carrying on her back the enslavement of Black slaves who never realized
human or political power. They dreamed of freedom but had </span>n<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">o way of acquiring
it.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Ninety-nine years after Abe Lincoln’s signing of the
Emancipation Proclamation, Hamer dug her fingernails into the flesh of a Texas
President Lyndon Baines Johnson. He did not want Black folks to be seated as
delegates alongside the segregated delegation at the Democratic National
Convention in 1964. Johnson did not want to buck White southerners who could
hurt him politically.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Hamer and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee were
in no mood for governmental rejection. A White flag saluting, national anthem mumbling
president and a state of southern White folks were telling Black folks now is not
your time to be recognized as citizens of the United States. We will give you
permission when the time is right. Do not deviate from your designated path.</span></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-50842189939201095412018-05-28T21:18:00.004-07:002021-09-11T21:52:24.727-07:00Nightmares Ain't Sweet Dreaming!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EZ_cZDIV-m8/TWxfkchH7DI/AAAAAAAAAM8/VLxWwv-rPHgE3VwiOwyqFDNbkELGbu9mACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Satan%2527s%2BSon.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1001" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EZ_cZDIV-m8/TWxfkchH7DI/AAAAAAAAAM8/VLxWwv-rPHgE3VwiOwyqFDNbkELGbu9mACPcBGAYYCw/s640/Satan%2527s%2BSon.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">"Satan" photo by dorothy charles banks</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>this
is a short story authored by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">dorothy charles
banks,</b> and written with a Southern sense of humor minus the names my
grandparents used when describing White bigots and racists, who romped around in
states and counties lynching, burning, castrating and mutilating Black folks,
who didn’t have a chance against White folks who always managed to find
unoccupied trees, ropes and “kindling” (firewood) to host BBQs, with Black
folks being the cheap meat of choice. Nightmares
Ain’t Sweet Dreaming is not a history class piece of fiction.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">last
week and a month before that i dreamed i departed this Earth and went to Heaven.
nothing unusual about dreaming of dying and going to Heaven you are probably
thinking to yourself. people dream about going to Heaven all time! unfortunately
some of these folks go the other way. you know where I’m talking about. that scary
hell fire and brimstone place where this ornery, Halloween looking dude with
horns and a tail is the boss. nobody knows what the Devil looks like for sure,
or where his resident is really located. all we know it’s called Hell, he's Satan and
nobody wants to end up being his house guest.</span></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">N<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ew
resident: Mr. Devil, can i get a cool glass of water, a cold soda or a bowl of
ice cream?</span></span></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Devil:
do i look like a concession stand, or fast food drive-in? i don’t do cold stuff
and water!</i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Longtime
resident: you’re new here. he’s not gonna make it easy for you. he lives up to
everything you heard. this old asshole is meaner than a toothless bulldog
trying to bite meat off a bone.</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">back to my nightmare , , , when
i got to the Heavenly Gates--there were 2: Before and After--i was stopped at
the Before Gate, and handed a sealed envelope like on the Academy Awards Show.
i was told by a smart aleck angel to stand outside the gate and read the
postcard twice: one time to myself and then out loud to her. this no
personality nitwit was acting like i couldn’t read! </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">you
give some people a little authority, or a half-ass decent position, and they
let it go to their head. in this case a bleached halo. i guess the halo meant she
had some kind of authority. before this dreamish nightmare is over i’m going to
tell her to put some decorations on that halo, some lipstick on her chapped lips,
and get some braces for them buckteeth!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">i
read the note three /3/ times to make sure i got it right the first /2/ times. the
note said very clearly<i>! Skip Heaven, Hell
and Purgatory! Go straight to a designated KKK headquarter in Alabama, or go
directly to the nearest pecan tree, hang yourself, or let the Klan boys do it.
The choice is yours! </i> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">what
the holy bullshit is she talking about!? this don’t even make common sense! i banged
on Gate #2 in protest. the homely angel had disappeared. i know she heard me
but she pretended like she didn’t. “Miss Angel! Miss Angel! Girl you hear me
calling you! don’t make me call Jesus on you! i got a pocket full of quarters
on my purse! i want to go to purgatory first like everybody else! i want to go
to purgatory like everybody else. that’s my right!”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“carrie mae
benjamin where did you get that old wives tale from?” the homely angel asked, calling me by my full name. “there
are only one of two places you’re going. you can come up here, or go keep the
Devil company. we got a long standing contract with him! i’m sure your mama
told you a hard head makes a soft ass! your head is hard.” there it is! i knew this buckteeth cow was
from the South the minute she started popping off. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“you
may be a halo wearing Southern Belle up here in Heaven, hanging out with the
Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, but girlfriend you don’t know who you
messing with! you better wake up ask somebody!” </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“shut
up and shove off!” the smart aleck told me, pointing a finger in my face. before
i could tell her to get her anemic finger out of my face she zapped me to
Alabama against my will and under strong protest.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“i’m
going to have a talk with Jesus and his Daddy about your nasty attitude! i’m
coming back up here and play the Jungle Boogie on your stretch marks!” the
threats didn’t stop the zap. i whirled and twirled through the polluted air
like a drunk crazy acrobat. “i’m going tattoo my sister’s married name on your
flat chest! i’m going melt the fat off your thick ankles! i’m going to slap you
so hard you’ll have to blow your nose from the back of your fat head! i’m going
to . . . ” </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">i
landed in the Alabama KKK headquarter with a thud, knocking over a gray folding
chair and two spit cans.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“what’s
that?” a KKKer wondered out loud. 10 of them were sitting around in the wooden
shack. they looked around to see who, or what had invaded their executive suite,
uninvited. because i was invisible, courtesy of the smart aleck, buckteeth
angel, they couldn’t see me. </span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">besides,
even i knew better than go in there like i was applying for a job! my mama called
me crazy five times a day, but she never called me a fool! i wasn’t going stand
in the middle of this shack pretending i’m James Brown singing <i>I’m Black and I’m Proud!</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">a
black man about 30 years old was standing in the middle of the room telling
jokes. very, very bad jokes! he was carrying on like a minstrel show
entertainer. brotherman was rolling his eyes, tap dancing, and singing for his
life. “Mr Klan y’all! take my wife’s neck, please! she got two necks! i tell
her all the time she can spare one!” brotherman didn’t get one laugh. a grunt.
a groan. a giggle. “on the way over here to this neck tie party i fell down and
broke my neck! ha-ha-ha-ha!” silence with a big fat Shut-the-Fuck-up! “come on
y’all . . . that was funny!”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">brotherman
wasn’t ready to give up his neck that easy! he was determined to make the
Kmales laugh, giggle, grunt or groan from boredom. he wasn’t ready for a neck
tie party in his honor! laughing at his own joke before he told it, brotherman
said, “the other day i saw a horse trying to hang a man! the farmer run
up to the horse, telling the animal to back off. “hold it, Horse’s Ass.” that was
the horse’s farm name. “you can’t go hang ol’ Jim-Jim! he the best employee I got!” </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the
stone faced audience of 10 was unmoved. they were as unforgiving as Clint Eastwood. but brotherman
was on a comedic roll. he told another pitiful joke. “a funny thing happen to
me on the way to this . . . “ </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> plump, muscle-bound KKKer said to brotherman, “i’m gone break your face if you
don’t make us laugh pretty soon, colored boy. i’m gone have your teeth looking
for a new set of gums! you get that?” the KKKers bust out laughing. “we gone
butter yo’ black ass and call you a biscuit, then we gone feed you to our pet dog
Fluffy! he likes buttered biscuits and dark meat!”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">brotherman
looked at the group of half-hooded Klanners. he wished he was at home eating a hot
supper and drinking a tall glass of strawberry Cool Aid. being that he was no slick headed,
eye-rolling buffoon in real life, brotherman jump started an upbeat “I wish I
was in the land of Dixie . . .”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“you
in Dixieland, colored boy!” a Kmale said. “we gone lookaway whilst you take a
look see at this rope we fixing to hang round your neck. if you don’t mind we
fixin’ to stretch your neck inch or two.” the KKKers burst out laughing.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">suddenly
i was visible (courtesy of the halo wearing, smart aleck angel.) i didn’t know i
was visible until a KKKer looked in my direction. i was getting used to being
invisible. it was safer. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“well,
well look-a-here! it must be raining Alabama coons! here’s another one the good
Lord done sent us! let’s hang’em both at the same time! get that extra rope, Jr.!’’
a scrawny, snaggletooth Klanner said to Jr, who was clapping his hands with too
much joy. “get that fancy one we got from New York City the other day!” Jr.
obeyed like a happy puppy fetching a rubber bone. he didn’t seem real bright. in
other words, switching on Jr.’s brain wasn’t going to light up a room. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">sounding
southern educated and properly raised, i asked the KKK gang: “does your moms
and dads know you all are this shack talking about hanging innocent people?
that’s not Christian! it’s not Godly!”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“it’s
whatever we say it is, coon girl. you can bet your best gallon of moonshine our
mama knows what we up to! me and Jr.’s mama is sitting right over there!” he
pointed at a woman sitting in the corner, smoking a pipe, drinking moonshine and
chewing on a wad of tobacco. “she used to be in a circus, along with our daddy.
one day he got run over by a elephant. Kilt him dead.” his mama smiled open
mouthed, showing all four of her teeth: three at the top and one at the bottom.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“does
you yo’ mama know you fixing to get hung?” she asked. Miss Mama had a sinister
smile on her lips. she delighted at the prospect of watching a double
lynching. i didn’t find any humor in her delight or her question.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">not
being of ignorant heritage, i knew i had to do something fast. i fell to my
knees and sang the old southern spiritual “Mammy”. it’s not really a spiritual
but southern white folks love it, just like they love “Suwannee River.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“let’s
get to hanging’em right now!” a KKKer yelled from the back of the shack. i got
to take my family to church for a revival tomorrow. I want to get a good
night’s sleep!”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“wait
. . . let me tell y’all this joke i heard the other day,” i said, smiling at
everybody. brotherman was deathly quiet. he was sweating like a summer-time
cotton picker. “did y’all hear the one about the white dude who . . . “</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“naw.
and you ain’t gone hear it again neither,” said a Kmale, sitting on a red-white
and blue folding chair. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“well
have y’all heard the old saying, “death be not proud?” i couldn’t think of a
joke. and being dead damn sure wasn’t something to be proud of!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">somebody
in the shack said, “naw I ain’t heard it, but we gone be proud when we hang
y’all from them trees in the back woods down yonder.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">just
as they put the ropes around our necks i woke up, holding onto my neck for dear
life, and a breath of fresh air. i jumped straight up, and sat on the side of
my bed, my eyes wide open, searching the room for the KKK. i was alone. so i
thought. sitting on my brand new Goodwill dresser was none other than the halo
wearing, smart aleck angel. she wasn’t looking happy.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“what
do you want now?” i asked. “you need to worry somebody else to bother and leave
me and my dream alone!”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“you
might well go back to sleep, honey. you’re going to hang tonight. i’m tired of
fooling with you and this dream. i’ve got more important things to do.” </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">..</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">i
was more than ready to knock out this halo dipshit. she was walking on my last
nerve. “and i’m sick of you!” I told her. “get your Atlanta House Wives ass off
my dresser before i knock you off!”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“whatever.
i’m not going to follow you in this silly dream tomorrow night! I’ve got a
special assignment, and it’s not you!”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“go
suck on a lemon, or whatever you can wrap your chapped lips around!”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“and
you can get ready to hang by your neck until you see Jesus’s face looking back
at you!” she zapped me back to Alabama; same shack, same crowd. brotherman was
telling very, very bad jokes again. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“i’m
going to haunt your schizophrenic grandmamma, and your crippled daddy if he’s
alive! i hope your liver have a heart attack! i hope your first child is born
with three legs and one eye! Uh-oh! Here comes those KKKers with that fancy
New York rope . . .”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
End</span>!</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></span>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-88589746107561592482018-03-06T06:32:00.002-08:002023-09-12T06:04:36.245-07:00American schools have become combat zones<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“I’ve had to make statements like this too many times”. President Barack Obama made this statement after the merciless murders of nine African American members of the Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina, June 17, 2015. By this time President Obama and Americans had witnessed many mass shootings, resulting in deaths and injuries. President Obama did not let himself or Americans evolve into bitter cynics, becoming immune to catastrophic acts of murder. He looked forward, believing that people will avail themselves to their better nature.</span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NqFvP2VgHc0/Wp6fSYBs-UI/AAAAAAAABi8/qLQPJGkLABIXjDn18UoXkyq2GodxCayvACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/antoinette_tuff.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NqFvP2VgHc0/Wp6fSYBs-UI/AAAAAAAABi8/qLQPJGkLABIXjDn18UoXkyq2GodxCayvACPcBGAYYCw/s320/antoinette_tuff.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Antoinette Tuff, Michael Hill, 22</b></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<![endif]--> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Antoinette
Tuff, a bookkeeper at Atlanta, Georgia’s Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning
Academy, averted a possible massacre August 20, 2013. Michael Hill, a
20-year-old White male, dawning a black outfit, accessorized with an AK-47, broke
into the school ready to perpetuate vast acts of terror, mayhem and murder. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Tuff, mother of a 22-year-old partially blind son, and a woman of faith, has a soft edge. But she was “tuff” August 20 in her determination to saves lives. Her better nature and faith in this troubled would-be killer guided her words and actions. Without realizing it Tuff summoned her motherly instincts. She took a big chance on calling out the better side of Hill. He could have quickly flipped the script, becoming her worst nightmare. </span></span><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Tuff can be heard on the 911 call telling Michael Hill, a deadly weapon still in Hill's hand. “It’s going to all right, sweetie. I just want you to know that I love you . . . Okay”? Tuff tells Hill, who has her life in his hands.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">No one at the Academy died that day thanks to the cool headed African American mother. Tuff calmed the young man, verbally disarming his deadly intent. Hill was arrested without incident. I do not know Antoinette Tuff, but I wager she did not go to work that morning thinking she was going to be a hero. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">On the other hand, Michael Hill woke up knowing that he was going to commit a horrible crime in a matter of minutes when he reached his destiny. The biggest surprise for Tuff was she did not know that President Barack Obama was going to call to compliment her bravery. He applauded her for being brave and calm, cooly appealing to a potential killer's worse instinct.</span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O0F599Bts0I/Wp6UYNBBsoI/AAAAAAAABh8/iGGo3d8tRmMsFUV996zLT0sX-ToXG8yvACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/spencer.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O0F599Bts0I/Wp6UYNBBsoI/AAAAAAAABh8/iGGo3d8tRmMsFUV996zLT0sX-ToXG8yvACPcBGAYYCw/s320/spencer.jpg" width="235" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Brenda Spencer, 16</span></b></span></td></tr>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Historically, young White males have been profiled as school shooters. Out of curiosity I researched the gender of past school shooters. I learned there was a 16-year-old shooter named Brenda Spencer of San Diego, California. Spencer, a high school junior, did like Mondays. She “livened up” one Monday by shooting at students lingering in the parking lot of Grover Cleveland Elementary, January 29, 1979. They were waiting to be let inside the school. Spencer lived across the street from the school. The weapon she used was a semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle with a scope, a Christmas present from her father. That January morning Spencer had 500 rounds of ammunition. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A child of divorced parents, Spencer lived with her father. On the day of the shootings she told him that she was sick, an excuse to skip school. </span></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Standing at her gate, Spencer fired 30 rounds of bullets from her rifle, taking the lives of the school’s principal and custodian; wounding a police officer and eight children. Spencer had bragged to classmates a week earlier that she was going to “do something big to get on TV”. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />During a telephone interview with a <i>San Diego Tribune</i> reporter, Spencer said after the first round of shootings: “I have to go now. I shot a pig, I think, and I want to shoot more”. Her deadly assault lasted 15 minutes. After a police officer and security guard parked a garbage truck in front of her house, blocking her view, it took a SWAT team seven hours to coax the teenager to surrender. Brenda Spencer was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Her first hearing was in 2009. She was denied parole. She will have another hearing in 2019. (Timeline, March 14, 2017)</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>Dylann Roof, 22</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When Dylann Roof, a 22-year-old White male, committed his murderous act he was a follower of the KKK. He admitted that he wanted to start a race war between Blacks and Whites. His targets and location were planned in advance. He prepared to commit mass murder. He purchased ammunition and did some target practice. He chose Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church for its location (downtown) and because it was the oldest Black church in South Carolina. The massacre would attract worldwide attention. That's what he wanted to happen.<br /><br /> On June 17, 2015 several church members were partaking in a Bible and prayer study. When Roof entered the church through an open door, he was welcomed with open arms. After sitting with the members for 40 minutes Roof pulled out a .45 caliber Glock. He fired 75 bullets, shooting the victims repeatedly, reloading the gun seven times. Roof shot down the parishioners like they were dangerous criminals hiding out in a community church. He believed that Black men were raping White women, and Black people were taking over the world. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>President Obama delivers a stirring eulogy and message</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Two women survived. Roof told Polly Sheppard to tell what she had witnessed. He wanted his evilness to be recorded for the world to see. Roof was arrested several days later without incident. He was leaving South Carolina. In fact, the arresting officer bought him a hamburger and fries. He assumed that Rood was hungry. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dylann Roof is sitting on death row, awaiting to die by lethal injection for the lives he took. <br /><br />June 29 President Obama delivered a heart-tugging eulogy for Emanuel’s pastor Clementa Pickney, also a state senator. Although this was not a school shooting, the impact of the massacre was a tear-jerker, racked by more disbelief and drama. President Obama, employing the cadence of a seasoned preacher, brought home the tragedy in an unexpected way. He sang a short version of “Amazing Grace” and called out the names of the victims. <br /> </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>President Obama is overcome with emotions</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">President Obama’s message, after these kinds of tragedies, was never one of hate and division. He made a speech January 5, 2016, remembering the day 20 children and six adults killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. The massacre was still fresh on his mind. That was the first time Americans and the world had seen President Obama react emotionally in public. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Every time I think about those kids, I get mad”, he said. He wiped away tears when he talked the senseless massacre. He reminded everyone that gun violence happened every day on the streets of Chicago. <br /><br /> On the day of confessed love, roses, chocolates and Valentine cards--February 14, 2018—a deadly ambush occurred in America that left lifeless and wounded bodies in the hallways and classrooms of another American school. Nikolas Cruz, 19, erased the lives of 17 students and faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where he was a former student.<br /> </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Mitchell Johnson, 13; Andrew Golden, 11</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Nikolas Cruz, 19</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In addition to the deceased, 14 other students and faculty were injured enough to be hospitalized. It took Nikolas Cruz less than 10 minutes to carry out the murders. His anger demanded that he act; that he commit wholesale slaughter to satisfy its aggression. Cruz was methodical as he fired bullets at fleeing victims, all of whom were caught off guard. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">His carefully plotted plan turned the victims into easy targets. Cruz triggered the school’s fire alarm, and as students scrambled out of classrooms, he used the hallways for his personal shooting gallery.<br /><br /> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In a small community in Jonesboro, Arkansas two boys Mitchell Johnson, 13 and Andrew Golden, 11, both students at Westside Middle School, planned and executed a mass shooting at their school. A March 18, 1998 issue of the <i>Los Angeles Times</i> reported: “The boys lured their classmates to the parking lot with a false fire alarm, then wielded stolen weapons, and for five minutes rained bullets upon the trapped teachers and students". <br /><br />At the funeral of a fallen teacher her pastor sent a message of encouragement to surviving teachers: “Do your job. Be the teacher you are to be. There is going to be pain and there is going to be struggle. But you will honor the memory of Shannon Wright if you enter that classroom Monday, carrying with you a reaffirmation passion to teach”. Wright was shielding children from gun fire when she met her death at the hands of two murderous children. <br /><br />Had Barack Obama been president in 2018 guns and ammunition sales would have immediately swell like in his early presidency. He was good for business. The NRA would have repeated its rallying meme to increase gun sales: "Obama is trying to take away our Second Amendment rights to own guns to protect our families. He wants to take our guns." Throwing this panic bomb to the gullible led to panic buying. <br /><br /> Parents of Sandy Hook victims sued Remington, but they lost the lawsuit. The shooter used a Bushmaster to mow down a combined 26 children and staff. After the lawsuit Remington Outdoors Corp filed a prepackaged reorganization plan with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court pf Delaware under the Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code. Reportedly, gun sales have gone down since Trump was elected president.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Last year marked a record year for gun sales. The surge was driven by fears that then President Obama and candidate Hillary Clinton would implement gun controls amid a series of deadly mass shootings. Sales dropped industry-wide after the unexpected victory of Donald Trump, a Republican endorsed by the National Rifle Association.<br /><br /> "The firearms industry is still suffering from continued malaise in retail sell-through due to the Trump slump," said Rommel Dionisio, a gun industry analyst for Aegis Capital Corp. He said manufacturers and retailers are still dealing with an inventory backlog, because they stocked up prior to the election expecting stronger sales”. (CNN Money 2017) <br /><br />After each public school massacre Republicans and red state Democrats zipped their mouths and sat on their brains; but their hands were open to receive hefty donations from the NRA and special interest groups. Their inaction suggested, and still suggests today that they are not ready to slap the hands that feeds their campaigns. Their political careers are more important than saving the lives of teenagers and children. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Since 1999 American schools have been elevated to combat zones, replete with “just in case of a shooting” drills as revealed February 14 by students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.<br /><br />There are no laws, policies or legislation to stop an individual or individuals bent on effectuating a fatal bloodbath in their homes or in public places. These troubled adults and teenagers will get the weapons they need to wreak havoc and grief. Teenagers have access to guns and ammunition in their parents’ homes. In Florida an 18 year old can legally purchase an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle, but cannot frequent a bar, purchase alcohol or hand guns. The FBI received a number of warning calls about Cruz. Local police had calls to his mother’s home more than30 times; students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas complained about Cruz and the potential danger he presented. <br /> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">President Obama was tireless in his effort to curb gun violence. He was especially angered when the wanton massacres involved children. He and First Lady Michelle Obama are the parents of two daughters still in school. But not enough Washington politicians shared Obama’s heartache, anger and concern. The NRA was, and remains their boss. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza, 20, killed his mother in their home before heading to Sandy </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Adam Lanza in 2005</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hook Elementary. The school’s security system had been
recently upgraded. Doors were locked by 9:30 a.m. after all staff and
students were inside the building. Visitors were required to show a picture ID
that was viewed via a monitor in the principal's office. </span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lanza shot out a glass
panel to grain entrance into the school. He had a Bushmaster XM15-E2S, a
variant of the AR-15, and two handguns. It was 9:35 a.m. </span> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">Lanza massacred 20 children and six educators. After the
bloody slaughter Lanza committed suicide, acting as his own judge, jury
and executioner. All the guns he had with him was purchased by his
mother.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Grieving
parents assumed that children getting slaughtered in classrooms would soften the hearts of the hardest politicians. They went to
Capitol Hill to ask politicians to author sensible gun legislation that included stricter background checks. None of them demanded that gun owners
relinquish their guns, or their right to buy guns. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Washington
politicians played their roles to the hilt. TV cameras rolled, recording
their hypocrisy and pretentiousness. The press savvy
politicians looked grieving parents in their eyes, even held their
hands, and promised they would do whatever they could. The promises were
shelved soon as the parents left the offices.</span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Eric Harris, 18; Dylan Klebol, 17</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There
have been other school shootings this year that did not attract media
attention because they were not on the scale of wholesale slaughter. The
Parkland, Florida shooting has been compared to the Columbine High
School massacre that occurred April 20, 1999. The teenage shooters, Eric
Harris, 18 and Dylan Klebold, 17, were seniors at the school. They
killed 15 students, teachers and administrators, injuring 24, three of
whom injured themselves when they climbed out windows to escape the
carnage. The boys committed suicide amid a shootout with police. It was
not their intention to be taken alive. </span></span> </span></span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Conspirators of the worst kind said the 2012 mas shooting at Sandy Hook was a hoax perpetrated by Democrats. They said the massacre was staged by child actors. Alex Jones, mad dog host of <i>Infowars</i>, spearheaded the rumor. Like a snowball rolling downhill the Republican mouthpiece gathered human moss. Conspiracy-minded folks maliciously attacked Sandy Hook parents online, and offline. They suggested the parents had their own children killed; or sold them to sex traffickers; or they had no children. <br /><br />The same kinds of folks have begun attacking surviving Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students, staff and parents. Outspoken students are demanding that politicians make changes to gun laws. They were labeled “crisis actors.” The articulate, politically astute students say they are not interested in yapping politicians, shade throwing and front row critics. They want action, not bullshit. These grew up in an age of school shootings. They do not want to see more of this wanton carnage. <br /><br />President Obama did not stop trying to work with Republicans and Democrats to create sensible gun control, and tougher background checks. As usual, he was rebuffed by both parties. He vowed to continue his fight for changes, which he did until he left office. The President supported the 2013 Manchin-Toomer bill aimed at expanding background checks for those who purchase guns. The bill did not survive the Senate. <br /><br /> “President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that the White House would submit new gun control proposals to Congress next month and pledged to use all the powers of this office to identify and promote new policies to address the scourge of gun violence. Obama tapped Vice President Joe Biden to head up a task force of cabinet members of Congress and outside organizations, which will comb through existing gun control proposals, devise news ones and submit a specific set of proposals to Congress in January”. (Time, 12/19/2012) <br /><br />According to a January 4, 2016 White House press release President Obama “revealed a plan to address gun violence. The initiative consists of 23 executive orders and three presidential memoranda, most of which will require Congressional approval. Many parts of the plan may have significant effects on states”. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b> </b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Keep guns out of the wrong hands through background checks </b>(excerpt)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is making clear that it doesn’t matter where you conduct your business—from a store, at gun shows, or over the Internet: If you’re in the business of selling firearms, you must get a license and conduct background checks. <br /><br />ATF is finalizing a rule to require background checks for people trying to buy some of the most dangerous weapons and other items through a trust, corporation, or other legal entity. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch has sent a letter to States highlighting the importance of receiving complete criminal history records and criminal dispositions, information on persons disqualified because of a mental illness, and qualifying crimes of domestic violence. <br /><br />The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is overhauling the background check system to make it more effective and efficient. The envisioned improvements include processing background checks 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and improving notification of local authorities when certain prohibited persons unlawfully attempt to buy a gun. The FBI will hire more than 230 additional examiners and other staff to help process these background checks. <br /><br />The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is overhauling the background check system to make it more effective and efficient. The envisioned improvements include processing background checks 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and improving notification of local authorities when certain prohibited persons unlawfully attempt to buy a gun. The FBI will hire more than 230 additional examiners and other staff to help process these background checks. <br /><br />Other proposals included: <b>Make our communities safer from gun violence; Increase mental health treatment and reporting to the background check system; Shape the future of gun safety technology. </b><br /><br /> “The Administration is proposing a new $500 million investment to increase access to mental health care. The Social Security Administration has indicated that it will began the rule making process to include information in the background check system about beneficiaries who are prohibited from processing a firearm for mental health reasons. <br /><br />“The Department of Health and Human Services is finalizing a rule to remove unnecessary legal barriers preventing states from reporting relevant information about people prohibited from processing a gun for specific mental health issues”. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When Donald Trump won the presidency he immediately uprooted executive orders initiated and signed by </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0UAJGr_Gyl4/WWh2nV1c3SI/AAAAAAAABec/QaCBIq5dfHY9NFe0Dcoe4ONPqtHS7mJ1wCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/idt.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0UAJGr_Gyl4/WWh2nV1c3SI/AAAAAAAABec/QaCBIq5dfHY9NFe0Dcoe4ONPqtHS7mJ1wCPcBGAYYCw/s320/idt.jpg" width="320" /></a>President Obama. One of executive order related to Obama’s goal to curb gun violence. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“President Donald Trump quietly signed a bill into law Tuesday rolling back an Obama-era regulation that made it harder for people with mental illnesses to purchase a gun. The rule, which was finalized in December, added people receiving Social Security checks for mental illnesses and people deemed unfit to handle their own financial affairs to the national background check database. Had the rule fully taken effect, the Obama administration predicted it would have added about 75,000 names to that database. <br /><br />“President Barack Obama recommended the now-nullified regulation in a 2013 memo following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which left 20 first graders and six others dead. The measure sought to block some people with severe mental health problems from buying guns”. (NBC News, 2/28/2017) <br /><br />Republicans in both Houses—14 of whom vowed January 20, 2009 they would never deliver President Obama a victory--signed onto negating all proposed legislation. They kept the promise for eight years. The NRA was happy to see that its multi-million dollar investments in Trump, the Senate and Congress paid off. Oddly, Trump did not sign the Obama-era executive order with his usual made for TV flair. He signed it behind closed doors. <br /><br />Despite the massive shootings under his watch Trump has not addressed sensible gun control, tougher background checks, appropriate age to buy guns, or how to curtail gun violence. Hosting a meeting at the White House on February 28, 2018 Trump called together Democrats and Republicans to brainstorm, and to share solutions they have regarding school and other kinds of gun violence. <br /><br />Trump was not on the same page as the bipartisan group 25-30. He declared that anyone deemed mentally ill should have their guns taken from them by police without question. He said due process comes in second. Trump was saying to these politicians--many of whom are attorneys--that police have the right to overlook the Constitution. He talked more about mental illness than sensible gun control and background checks. He implied that no president before him had made an effort to curb gun violence. It is no secret that he was talking about President Obama.<br /><br />Had Trump’s staff prepared him for the meeting he would have been informed about President Obama’s proposals, and red flag laws first implemented in California. Four other states adopted the law: Washington, Oregon, Indiana and Connecticut. Eighteen more states are thinking of jumping aboard. There are lawful rules that states have to follow before confiscating an individual’s weapons due to mental illness. <br /><br />“In 2014, California became the first state to let family members ask a judge to remove firearms from a relative who appears to pose a threat. Its legislature took action after a mentally ill man, Elliot Rodger, killed six students and wounded 13 others near the University of California, Santa Barbara, before killing himself. <br /><br />“California's law also empowers police to petition for the protective orders, which can require authorities to remove firearms for up to one year. Connecticut, Indiana, Oregon and Washington also have some version of a red flag law”. (ABC News, 21/2018) <br /><br />Republicans Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan said there will be no debates about gun control; no up and down voting. Nothing. Nothing. Noting. Promises that Donald Trump made at the meeting were deleted from his mind after he invited a few NRA members to the White House the next day. He walked back some of the things he said in the meeting. In the meeting he said he was going to write an executive order regarding bump stocks.; therefore, they should not concern themselves with that issue. Republicans and Democrats are left empty handed, wondering what happened. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xndx1FqTSkI/WWh1iqPuKBI/AAAAAAAABec/3e0V6NNiAtUgaQ8Ha2Up13HwmAlRT4JSQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/trump%2B3.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xndx1FqTSkI/WWh1iqPuKBI/AAAAAAAABec/3e0V6NNiAtUgaQ8Ha2Up13HwmAlRT4JSQCPcBGAYYCw/s400/trump%2B3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>President Donald Trump</b></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Donald Trump wants teachers to be armed when they enter classrooms. He called it “hardening schools”. No more of those “gun free zones.” He thinks that in addition to teaching, being disciplinarians, counselors, controlling classrooms, and unruly students--teachers should be able to stop shooters before they kill students and faculty. He has not thought of the consequences, or the added danger that can occur. <br /><br />When cops enter a school where there is frantic movement and chaos, and they see individuals with guns, they won’t know who the bad guy is; who the good guy is. Police won’t have time to pick and choose who to take out. A Marjory Stoneman student said on February 14 he was so scared he attempted to run down a flight of stairs to escape danger. He was stopped on the stairs by a SWAT team. He said all five pointed their weapons at him. He was wearing a sweater the same color as Cruz. Police said he fit the description of the shooter. The student said had he made a move they would have shot him. To escape undetected Cruz abandoned his weapons, blended with the students, and walked out of the building. He was caught hours later. <br /><br />Trump said he has no doubt he would have gone into the building to take out the shooter. No weapon verses a semi-automatic weapon? Trump convinced himself that he would come out the winner. <br /><br />“I really believe I’d run in there even if I didn’t have a weapon. And I think most of the people in this room would have done that too”. Trump was holding as meeting at the White House with 39 governors when he made this statement. He chided the deputy sheriffs at the scene for not entering the building to save lives. </span></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-53821469300568778502017-10-16T06:46:00.010-07:002023-10-01T13:20:42.890-07:00'We've seen tragedies like this too many times'<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">July 7, 2016 ---President
Obama addressed the fatal shootings of two African American men:
Alton Sterling, 37, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, shot to death in a Triple S Food Mart
parking lot while selling bootleg CDs. An anonymous 911 call reported that
Sterling had a gun and was threatening someone in the parking lot. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Two White cops arrived on the scene. Sterling was tackled to the ground in a parking lot. One cop kneed Sterling to pin him down. Sterling was lying on his back when he was shot to death by Blaine Salamoni. The cops said Sterling was reaching for a loaded gun in his pants pocket. </span></span><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IUUUx2m6wz-jkXcipMJ2_JmXbgbRNnhq7KAQ-E2YAsBV7kcovflmToPCpYbFLxOVYULX93hjdwgIJ6a8Z1Cw78D-zc9wSEAbUHUokkusgAosVZTndSJJDUArSQ8zLhoNknuYhUsGQ7emu28trNkvUCtjVx1ZaupGZgge1Kd4mBstdjqm8YzOwAWBaSI/s908/Photo-of-Alton-Sterling-Killing-The-Advocate-768x908.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IUUUx2m6wz-jkXcipMJ2_JmXbgbRNnhq7KAQ-E2YAsBV7kcovflmToPCpYbFLxOVYULX93hjdwgIJ6a8Z1Cw78D-zc9wSEAbUHUokkusgAosVZTndSJJDUArSQ8zLhoNknuYhUsGQ7emu28trNkvUCtjVx1ZaupGZgge1Kd4mBstdjqm8YzOwAWBaSI/s320/Photo-of-Alton-Sterling-Killing-The-Advocate-768x908.jpg" width="271" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Alton Sterling being held down by</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">one of the cops called to the scene.</span></b></div></td></tr></tbody></table>This suggests that Sterling reach for his gun as lay on his back with a cop's knee pinning him down. Supposedly, they were struggling to restrain his arms. Police were called when it was reported that Sterling had pulled a gun on a man outside a convenient store. Sterling was known as "the CD Man" who sold bootleg CDs.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After 10 months federal prosecutors and investigators concluded that there was insufficient evidence to charge Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake ll with violating Sterling's civil rights. The case was turned over the Louisiana attorney general. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The investigation revealed that Salamoni pulled his gun, pointed it Sterling's head, and told him "I'll shot you, bitch". The cops said Sterling did not comply with orders to lay on the ground.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Philando Castile, 32, St. Paul,
Minnesota, was shot to death July6, 2016 by Officer Jeronimo Yanez. Castile was licensed to carry a gun. His girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, said Castile told Yanez that he had a gun on him. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Reynolds said Yanez asked Castile for his ID, and shot him to death as he reached for his ID.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Reynolds said they had gone to the grocery store to buy groceries. Castile had gone to the barber shop to get haircut. They were getting ready for his upcoming birthday. They were stopped by Jeronimo Yanez because of a broken taillight.</span></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1hW9Fxw5LD16O4i0gL-1zXdjNtRFl-oeGWGkD9XWsuvIiYqGc3fv-WU1qw8CBMXhftH9b69EEKbfJ9WihR87quQx6j2-SZwVCbe7GEkE4FuypRJtfV4nip4sDXaNDnlnZlWeDqVRRk31ZcADQX33nxbUNYh8oTWVMCuLUyU8jZefmL1QBiyLxMH3h9BI/s850/160707-philando-castille-03.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="560" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1hW9Fxw5LD16O4i0gL-1zXdjNtRFl-oeGWGkD9XWsuvIiYqGc3fv-WU1qw8CBMXhftH9b69EEKbfJ9WihR87quQx6j2-SZwVCbe7GEkE4FuypRJtfV4nip4sDXaNDnlnZlWeDqVRRk31ZcADQX33nxbUNYh8oTWVMCuLUyU8jZefmL1QBiyLxMH3h9BI/s320/160707-philando-castille-03.webp" width="211" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Philando Castile</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The prosecutor
said Yanez was nervous the day of the shooting, and lost control of the traffic
stop. Castile’s girlfriend taped the incident after realizing something untoward was about to happen. Thanks to her quick thinking world saw what happened. Castile calmly told Yanez that he had a gun and was licensed to carry it. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A permit to legally pack a gun does not count when it comes to African Americans. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Yanez said when he stopped Castile he smelled marijuana in the car. At this point he suddenly "feared for his life." He reasoned that if Castile smoked marijuana with his young daughter in the back seat, he wondered what Castile would do to him. Yanez was not prosecuted for the shooting death of Castile, who died sitting in the front seat of his car as his young daughter and girlfriend watched life slide from his body.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is these kinds of wanton
police shootings that pushed San Francisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick to kneel in
protest while the national anthem is being played at the football game.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Starting as a lone protester, Kaepernick delivered
a clear statement as to why he is staging a protest. “I am not going to stand
up to show pride in a flag for a country that opposes Black people and people
of color. To me, this is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zs4RdpTRicw/WeSoHDd4RmI/AAAAAAAABgc/LTrpI00O9FgKn9_Gdm8n3OxAZWyIz-91ACEwYBhgL/s1600/160913103322-colin-kaepernick-la-rams-kneel-exlarge-169.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="780" height="356" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zs4RdpTRicw/WeSoHDd4RmI/AAAAAAAABgc/LTrpI00O9FgKn9_Gdm8n3OxAZWyIz-91ACEwYBhgL/s640/160913103322-colin-kaepernick-la-rams-kneel-exlarge-169.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>A fellow player joins Colin Kaepernick in protest.<br /></b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
</span></span><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting
paid leave, and getting away with murder”. The 49ers coach, Chap Kelly, said
Kaepernick has a right not to stand for the national anthem, but he reserved
the right to tell him to stand.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">For his efforts to bring
attention to the deadly shootings of African American men, the quarterback is
no longer employed. He has become too political for team owners to touch. He has
been thoroughly blackballed by the NFL. For now, he is lecturing at his “Know
Your Rights Camp.” Teens and children are their taught 10 basic rights when they come in contact with police. The camp is
free. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Kaepernick
explained his stance: "I am not going to stand up to show pride in
a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color. To me,
this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the
other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and
getting away with murder.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"This is not
something that I am going to run by anybody. I am not looking for approval. I
have to stand up for people that are oppressed. ... If they take football away,
my endorsements from me, I know that I stood up for what is right”. (<span style="font-size: x-small;">NFL Media
Report, 2016</span>) </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Americans watched President Barack Obama say these words at a press conference when the media asked about a noted professor getting arrested. “I don’t know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played,” the president said at the time. “But I think it’s fair to say, No. 1, any of us would be pretty angry; No. 2, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and No. 3, that there’s a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately”. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Jiminey Cricket! All hell broke
loose! This innocuous statement was made in 2009 after Harvard Professor Henry
Gates, an African American, was accused by police of breaking into his own home! He was cuffed and arrested by Cambridge officer James Crowley. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Returning home
from China July 16, Gates discovered the door to his home was jammed. He asked
his driver to help him open it. A near-by witness called 911 and reported that
two Black men with backpacks were burglarizing the home. Crowley arrived on the
scene thinking a burglary was in progress. The witness repeated to Crowley what
she saw. She later recanted, saying she did not tell Crowley what he reported. Professor Gates was charged with “disorderly conduct.” The charge was dropped July 21.</span></span><br /><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9jdiW9mrPF8/WeTNhaioPEI/AAAAAAAABhA/Aqo10ZB4z08EHNd7wBgmwWagcLEcc79XgCLcBGAs/s1600/186px-Arrest_of_Henry_Louis_Gates.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="123" data-original-width="186" height="264" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9jdiW9mrPF8/WeTNhaioPEI/AAAAAAAABhA/Aqo10ZB4z08EHNd7wBgmwWagcLEcc79XgCLcBGAs/s400/186px-Arrest_of_Henry_Louis_Gates.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Professor Henry Gates cuffed and arrested.</span></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The media and pundits kidnapped
the incident and ran away with it, turning it into national news. Law enforcement accused President Obama of being antipolice. The media and pundits demanded that he apologize to Cowley, which did not happen. They did not demand
that Crowley apologize to Professor Gates for the false arrest. The media created
brouhaha ended with President Obama inviting the cop and the professor to the
White House for a “Beer Summit.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span></span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-INKkhbbjN_Y/WeTOAo6MRTI/AAAAAAAABhE/FnPHLhvwM_8C4W3wgXrXnpgPkKwAqvu4ACLcBGAs/s1600/beer1__1249002544_6971.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="500" height="393" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-INKkhbbjN_Y/WeTOAo6MRTI/AAAAAAAABhE/FnPHLhvwM_8C4W3wgXrXnpgPkKwAqvu4ACLcBGAs/s640/beer1__1249002544_6971.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>President Obama, VP Joe Biden host "Beer Summit" at White for Gates and Crowley.</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">On July 7, 2016 when President Barack
Obama made speech on the shooting deaths of Black men he was branded by the media and White critics. He was labeled a racist who hated White people when he declared that if he had a son he would look like
Travon Martin, 18. Martin was shot to death in Florida, February 26, 2012 by Neighborhood
Watch volunteer George Zimmerman. He was found not guilty. Zimmerman claimed self-defense.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A European newspaper “The
Guardian” began publishing fatal shootings deaths in America after the shooting
death of Michael Brown, 18, by Daren Wilson, a White cop in Ferguson, Missouri.
Brown’s death sparked months of rioting in Ferguson and nationwide. The paper's
stats show that in 2015 from January to December, of the 1146 people killed by
police, 307 were Black men, women and boys. The dead ranged in age from 13 to
72. Stats also showed that 5.49 were Native American; 3.49 Hispanic/Latino;
2.95 White, 1.34 Asia/Pacific Islander. In 2016 of the 1093 killed by police in
the U.S. 266 were Black men, women and boys, ranging ages from 15 to 77. Stats
shows that 10.13 are Native American; 6.16 Black; 3.23 Hispanic/Latino; 2.9
White, 1.17 Asian/Pacific Islander.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Speech made by President Barack
Obama </span></b></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Good evening everybody. I know that we’ve been on a long flight, but given the extraordinary interest in the shootings that took place in Louisiana and Minnesota, I thought it would be important for me to address all of you directly. And I want to begin by expressing my condolences for the families of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. As I said in the statement that I posted on Facebook<span style="background-color: black;"></span> we have seen tragedies like this too many times. The Justice Department has opened a c<span style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></span></span>ivil rights investigation in Baton Rouge, and the governor of Minnesota has called for an investigation there as well.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As is my practice, given my
institutional role, I can’t comment on the specific facts of these cases; and I
have confidence in the Department of Justice. But what I can say is that all of
us as Americans should be troubled by the shootings. These are not isolated
incidents. They’re symptomatic of a broader set of racial disparities that
exist in our criminal justice system. And I just want to give people a few
statistics to try to put in context why emotions are so raw around these
issues. According to various studies, not just one, but a wide range of studies
that have been carried out over a number of years, African Americans are 30
percent more likely than Whites to be pulled over.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5_cTgY9b26I/WeSsNbmbXkI/AAAAAAAABgw/uhFXYVxbDLIFY4l8RyTnhIP3PraLilLkQCEwYBhgL/s1600/obamabarack_051815getty.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5_cTgY9b26I/WeSsNbmbXkI/AAAAAAAABgw/uhFXYVxbDLIFY4l8RyTnhIP3PraLilLkQCEwYBhgL/s400/obamabarack_051815getty.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>President Obama</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 5pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After being pulled over, African
Americans and Hispanics are three times more likely to be searched. Last year
African Americans were shot by police at more than twice the rate of Whites. African
Americans are arrested at twice the rate of whites; African Americans
defendants are 75 percent more likely to be charged with offenses carrying
mandatory minimums. They receive sentences that are almost ten percent longer
than comparable whites arrested for the same crime. So that if you add it all
up, the African American and Hispanic population, who make up only 30 percent
of the general population, make up more than half of the incarcerated
population.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">These are facts. And when incidents
like this occur, there’s a big chunk of our fellow citizenry that feels as if
because of the color of their skin they are not being treated the same. And
that hurts. And that should trouble all of us. This is not just a Black issue.
It’s not just a Hispanic issue. This is an American issue that we should all
care about; all fair minded people should be concerned. Now let me just say
that we have extraordinary appreciation and respect for the vast majority of
police officers who put their line on the lives every day. They have a
dangerous job. It is a tough job. And as I’ve said before, they have a right to
go home to their families, just like anybody else on the job.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And there are gonna be circumstances
where they’re gonna have to make split second decisions. We understand that. But
when we see data that indicates disparities in how African Americans and
Latinos may be treated in various jurisdictions around the country, then it’s
incumbent on all of us to say we are better than this. We are better than this.
And to not have it to degenerate into the usual political scrum, we should be
able to step back, reflect and ask ourselves what can we do better so that
everybody feels as if they’re equal under the law.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now the good news is that there are
practices that we can institute that will make a difference. Last year, we put
together a task force that was comprised of civil rights activists and
community leaders; but also law enforcement officials. Police captains,
sheriffs. And they sat around the table and they looked at the data and looked
at best practices. And they came up with specific recommendations and steps
that could ensure that the trust between trust between communities and police
departments were rebuilt and incidents like this would be less likely to occur.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And there’s some jurisdictions out
there that have adopted these recommendations. But there are a whole bunch that
have not. And if anything good comes out of these tragedies, my hope is that
communities around the country take a look and say, how can we implement these
recommendations? And that the overwhelming majority of police officers, who are
doing a great job every single day and are doing their job without regard to
race, that they encourage their leadership and organizations that represent
them to get behind these recommendations. Because ultimately, if you can
rebuild trust between communities and the police departments that serve them,
that helps us solve crime problems.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">That will make life easier for
police officers. They will have more cooperation. They will be safer. They will
be more likely to come home. So it would be good for crime fighting and it will
avert tragedy. And I’m encouraged by the fact that the majority of leadership
in police departments around the country recognize this, but change has been
too slow, and we have to have a greater sense of urgency about this. I’m also
encouraged, by the way, that we have bipartisan support for criminal justice
reform working its way through Congress. It has stalled, and lost some momentum
over the past couple of months, in part, because Congress is having difficulty,
generally, moving legislation forward and we’re in a political season.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But there are people of goodwill on
the Republican side and the Democratic side who I’ve seen want to get something
done here. That too, would help provide greater assurance across the country
that those in power, those in authority are taking these issues seriously. So,
this should be a spur to action to get that done, to get that across the finish
line. Because I know there are a lot of people who want to get it done. So let
me just make a couple of final comments. I mentioned in my Facebook statement
that I hope we don’t fall into typical patterns that occur after these kinds of
incidents occur; where right away there’s a lot of political rhetoric, and it
starts dividing people instead of bringing folks together.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">To be concerned about these issues
is not to be against law enforcement. There are times when these incidents
occur and you see protests and you see vigils, and I get letters, well-meaning
letters sometimes from law enforcement saying, how come we’re under attack? How
come not as much emphasis is made when police officers are shot? So to all of
law enforcement, I want to be very clear: we know you have a tough job. We
mourn those in uniform who are protecting us who lose their lives. On a regular
basis, I have joined with families in front of Capitol Hill to commemorate the
incredible heroism that they’ve displayed. I’ve hugged family members who’ve
lost loved ones doing the right thing. I know how much it hurts.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">On a regular basis, we bring in
those who’ve done heroic work in law enforcement and have survived. Sometimes
they’ve been injured, sometimes they’ve risked their lives in remarkable ways.
And we applaud them and appreciate them. Because they’re doing a really tough
job really well. There is no contradiction between us supporting law
enforcement, making sure they have the equipment they need, making sure they’re
collective bargaining rights are recognized, making sure they’re adequately
staffed, making sure that they are respected, making sure that their families are
supported. And also saying that there are problems across our criminal justice
system. There are biases, some conscious and unconscious that have to be rooted
out. That’s not an attack on law enforcement. That is reflective of the values
that the vast majority of law enforcement bring to the job</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But I repeat, if communities are
mistrustful of the police, that makes those law enforcement officers who are
doing a great job, and are doing the right thing, it makes their lives harder.
So, when people say ‘black lives matter,’ it doesn’t mean ‘blue lives’ don’t
matter, it just means all lives matter. But right now, the big concern is the
fact that data shows black folks are more vulnerable to these kinds of
incidents. This isn’t a matter of us comparing the value of lives, this is
recognizing that there is a particular burden being placed on a group of our
fellow citizens. And we should care about that. We can’t dismiss it. We can’t
dismiss it.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So let me just end by saying I
actually, genuinely, truly believe that the vast majority of the American
people see this as a problem that we should all care about. And I would just
ask those who question the sincerity or legitimacy of protests and vigils and
expressions of outrage who somehow label those expressions of outrage as quote
unquote political correctness, I just ask folks to step back and think: what if
this happened to someone in your family? How would you feel? To be concerned
about these issues is not political correctness, it’s just being American and
wanting to live up to our best and highest ideals.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And it’s to recognize the reality
that we’ve got some tough history and we haven’t gotten through all of that
history yet. And we don’t expect that in my lifetime maybe not in my children’s
lifetimes that all the vestiges of that past will have been cured, will have
been solved. But we can do better. People of goodwill can do better. And doing
better involves not just addressing potential bias in the criminal justice
system, it’s recognizing that too often we’re asking police to man the
barricades in communities that have been forgotten by all of us for way too
long. In terms of substandard schools, inadequate jobs and a lack of
opportunity. We’ve gotta tackle those things. We can do better. And I believe
we will do better.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thanks very much, everybody.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
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<![endif]--></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-75248853333310049492017-08-17T23:37:00.007-07:002023-09-19T11:11:04.379-07:00The live burning of Jesse Washington is a birthmark on the face of Waco, Texas 100 years later<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NJdEhksU28Y/WZaAiEnZ3QI/AAAAAAAABek/P6yA6J5S-hYx30qRkOiXvGrAioYhdznAACLcBGAs/s1600/washington%2B2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1200" height="385" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NJdEhksU28Y/WZaAiEnZ3QI/AAAAAAAABek/P6yA6J5S-hYx30qRkOiXvGrAioYhdznAACLcBGAs/s640/washington%2B2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="justify"><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The live roasting death of 17-year-old Jesse Washington in Waco, 1916. Vigilante instigators hold two chains around his neck as the bloodthirsty mob look on like they are watching a horror movie. No one stepped in to stop the outdoor execution</span>.</span></span></b></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 107%;">Once upon a time acts of violence
against Black people were so horrendous and characteristically faithful in White
America’s DNA that Black folks were scared 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The fear pushed them into hiding inside their houses, churches, sometimes slipping out of town in the quiet of night. There were no magic
stairs for them to climb in their quest to escape their imprisonment.
Even after President Abraham Lincoln signed the <i>Emancipation Proclamation</i>,
freeing African slaves from bondage, the sun did not shine any brighter for
them. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 107%;">Life for the freed Africans was
akin to psychological robbery of their souls; deliberate vandalism of their
well-being. Fear and death were constant companions. They did not know how or
when they would be selected to die at the hands of bogarting Whites who acted
with impunity, because White privilege allowed them the luxury to kill Black folks at will. Inbred panic
and adopted expectations of serious harm and death never took vacations in the
lives of the newly emancipated slaves regardless of age.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 107%;">John Dollard, a psychologist and
social scientist studied race relations in America. In his 1937 book “<i>Caste and
Class in a Southern Town</i>”, Dollard collected data on Southern states. He
discovered: “Every Negro in the South knows that he is under a kind of sentence
of death; he does not know when his turn will come, it may never come, but it
may also be at any time”.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 107%;">The author of an editorial published
in <i>The Waco Iconoclast</i> did not pretend to be race friendly. William Cowper
Brann parted with this biting proposal on how to eradicate southern states of Black
males suspected of "spoiling" White women. “If the South is ever going to rid
herself of the negro rape fiend, she must take a day off and kill every member
of the accused race that declines to leave the country”. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 107%;">In Texas between 1885 and 1942
there were 468 lynchings, of which 339 were Blacks; 77 Whites; 53 Hispanics, and
one Indian. Texas was the third state in line behind Georgia and Mississippi in
hangings. The heaviest concentration of vigilante hoodlumism occurred along the
Brazos River, from Waco to the Gulf of Mexico. Waco was the county seat of McLennan
County. In 1916 lynching was a violation in Texas, but White lynch mobs did not acknowledge the violation.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">The resurrection of Jesse
Washington</span></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">The resurrection of Jesse
Washington’s lynching suddenly reappeared in the spotlight in 2001; first locally
and then nationally. <i>ABC’s</i> Ted Kopple aired an 85<sup>th</sup> anniversary
special on lynchings in America. One guest was James Allen, author of “<i>Without
Sanctuary: Lynching Photography In</i> <i>America</i>”, a heart wrenching pictorial
history of lynched men and women, the majority being African Americans. Sometimes
four or five victims were lynched simultaneously from bridges, trees, utility
poles, any place the mobs could throw a rope on.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">After researching lynchings in
America, it was difficult to choose a particular incident to write about. All of
the compassionless deaths were ugly, reprehensible and inhumane. While looking
at James Allen’s book I decided on 17-year old Jesse Washington. His death was,
and still is a gigantic birthmark on the face of Waco, Texas. Washington’s short
life was a tale of racism, terror, ambitious politicians, mob schizophrenia,
unbridled, racial hatred and hostility. Waco citizens today are striving to
erase the notorious horror story bearing their state’s name 100 years later.
But the barbarity of Jesse Washington’s death refuses to die or disappear. His fire
roasted ghost hovers Waco like a dark cloud. The historical pictures will never
vanish.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Lynching and burning at the stake
were once absolute entertainment for blood thirsty despots in Texas and nationwide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Black folks did not have to be guilty of a
crime to be executed by lynch ready mobs. They were always subjected to getting labeled “criminal.”
Mere suspicion of committing a crime led to an automatic death sentence. A “crime” was whatever
a White man, woman or mob wanted it to be. When a single hanging or multiple
hangings occurred, Black victims were sadistically taunted, body parts butchered and sold for
souvenirs. They were tortured and tormented for hours before death took mercy on them. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Jesse
Washington lived with his mother, father, several sister and brothers. Born
in 1899, Washington and lived in Robinson, Texas, a rural community. <i>The Crisis</i>
magazine, in a story titled “<i>The Waco Horror</i>”, Washington was described as a “big,
well developed fellow, but ignorant, barely unable to either read or write. He
seemed to have been sullen, and perhaps mental deficient, with a strong, and
even daring temper”.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">A farmhand, Washington’s troubles
commenced when he was arrested for the beating death of Lucy Fryar (or Fryer),
53, wife and mother of two. He worked for George and Lucy Fryar on their farm
in Robinson. Returning from the field one afternoon Fryar’s daughter discovered
her mother’s lifeless body inside the farm’s seed shed. Lucy Fryar had been bludgeoned
to death with a hammer. Suspicion fingers pointed the sheriff and his posse
toward Washington, who was immediately arrested and booked.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">After Washington was tried and
lynched the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) secretary Royal Nash commissioned suffragist Elisabeth
Freeman to investigate the Waco Horror. She was to write a report and obtain photos if
any were available. “Will you not get the facts for us”? Nash asked in a letter
to Freeman. “Your suffrage work will probably give you an excuse for being in
Waco”. Freeman spent a week in Waco interviewing city officials, citizens,
politicians, witnesses to the lynching, read newspapers, interviewed editors,
the Washington and Fryar families, and neighbors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">The ex-mayor of Waco, Allan
Stanford, Sheriff Fleming and Judge Munroe cut a deal before the trail. The
mayor sought reassurances from Robinson officials that Washington would not be
lynched. “They shut the mouths of the better element of Waco by telling them
that the Robinson people had promised not to do it. . . . But they did not get
the pledge from the disreputable bunch of Waco that they would not start the
affair”, writes Elisabeth Freeman, commissioned investigator/reporter for the NAACP.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 107%;"> The Killing of Lucy Fryar (also
Fryer)</span></span></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">
</span></span></b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fdULu3yRMyA/WZaEKykU83I/AAAAAAAABew/K9DIjsG61zsdIRj4T6lN3mwRcyZqisiLwCLcBGAs/s1600/lucy%2Bfryer%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="239" data-original-width="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fdULu3yRMyA/WZaEKykU83I/AAAAAAAABew/K9DIjsG61zsdIRj4T6lN3mwRcyZqisiLwCLcBGAs/s1600/lucy%2Bfryer%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Lucy Fryer (Fryar)</span></b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Elisabeth Freeman wrote: “On
Monday, May 8, while Mr. Fryar, his son of fourteen, and his daughter of
twenty-four were hoeing cotton in one part of their farm; the boy, Jesse, was
plowing with his mules and sowing cotton seed near the house where Mrs. Fryar
was alone. He went to the house for more cotton seed. As Mrs. Fryar was
scooping it up for him into the bag which he held, she scolded him for beating
the mules. He knocked her down with a blacksmith hammer, and as he had confessed,
criminally assaulted her; finally he killed her with the hammer.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 107%;">“The boy then returned to the
field, finished his work, and went home to the cabin, where he lived with his
father and mother and several brothers and sisters. When the murdered woman was
discovered, suspicion pointed to Jesse Washington, who was found sitting in his
yard whittling a stick. He was arrested and immediately taken to jail in Waco.
Tuesday a mob visited the jail. They came in about thirty automobiles, each
holding as many as he could crowd in. There was no noise, no tooting of horns,
the car lights were dimmed, and some had no lights at all.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 107%;">“These were all Robinson people.
They looked for the boy, but could not find him, for he had been taken to a
neighboring county where the sheriff obtained a confession from him. Another
mob went to the county seat to get the boy, but he was again removed to Dallas.
Finally the Robinson people pledged themselves not to lynch the boy if the
authorities acted promptly, and if the boy would waive his legal rights. A
second confession in which the boy waived all his legal rights was attained in
the Dallas jail. The Grand Jury indicted him on Thursday, and the case was set
for trial Monday, May 15”.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 107%;">Jumping ahead of the bloodthirsty
miscreants intent on killing Washington, Sheriff Fleming transferred him from
Dallas to Waco around midnight on a Sunday. He was “secreted to the office of
the judge. There was not the slightest doubt that he would be tried and hanged
the next day, if the law took its course. There was little doubt of his guilt.
The confession was obtained, of course, under duress, and was, perhaps,
suspiciously clear, and not entirely in the boy’s own words. It seems, however,
probably that the boy was guilty of murder, and possibly of the premeditated
rape”.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 107%;">In Freeman’s report she revealed that
Waco politicians demanded a hanging, because there “was a political value to
the county officials who are running for office. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the elected element who took part in the
lynching will vote for the Sheriff. The Judge is of value to his party because
he appoints the three commissioners of the jury, and these commissioners pick
the Grand Jury”.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 107%;">The characters in question are
Judge R. I. Munroe, who presided over Washington’s trial and Sheriff S. Fleming,
who arrested him. Fleming was up for re-election and “has made much political
capital out of the lynching”, wrote Freeman, adding that he had a “beautiful
story to tell”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Fleming told his
story he put all blame for the lynching on the shoulders of Judge Munroe. In a
later interview with the Judge, Freeman asked why he did not seek a change of
venue to avoid trouble. He told her she did not know the South, and that a change
of venue would not stop a mob. “A mob anywhere would have done the same thing”.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Waco courtroom filled to capacity
on judgment day</span></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Before the trial had begun a thrill
seeking mob poured into Waco anticipating a cinematic showdown. They were ready
and prepared to make the verdict happen. A Black man accused of killing and
raping a White woman. Only one verdict and one
sentence was acceptable: Guilty. Death by hanging. Or chained and roasted over
a bonfire. Or both.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">The Waco 54<sup>th</sup> District
Court’s capacity was 500, but Judge Munroe allowed 1,500 spectators to squeeze
into the courtroom. News reports stated that the courtroom was so packed “the
jurors could scarcely get in and out of their seats”. On Monday, May 15, 1916
the kangaroo trial began at 11 a.m. By 11:22 a.m. the foreman, W. B. Brazelton,
read the verdict: Guilty. The decision was made by 12 White male jurors, one of
whom “was a convicted murderer with a suspended sentence over him”. The doctor
who examined Lucy Fryar’s (Fryer’s) head wounds, assessed that she had been
raped, but he did not testify to the rape at the trial. Washington’s court appointed lawyer
did not put on a defense, nor did he challenge the prosecutor. There are no
reports that the state presented exhibits or damning evidence such as a
bloody hammer, bloody clothes worn by Washington. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">It seems that Washington knew a
lynch mob was going to steal him life. “The boy, Jesse Washington, was asked
what he thought about them coming after him. He said, ‘They promised they would
not if I would tell them about it. He seemed not to care, but was thoroughly
indifferent’”, wrote Freeman, repeating a newspaper account.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Some spectators entered the
courtroom armed with guns and other weapons, ready for action. According to
Freeman, “A door which opened by a peculiar device had been fixed so that it
would open”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before the verdict was completely
recorded Washington was grabbed by a herd of homicidal vigilantes, and dragged out
the back door of the courthouse. A large crowd was waiting for Washington’s
delivery to the alley. The Waco Semi-Weekly Tribune noted what happened in the
courtroom. “Then the tall man started over the heads of the crowd. Fred H.
Kingsbury, who was standing alongside of Judge Munroe”.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ngDKTtv_sxM/WZaJXnSmwPI/AAAAAAAABfY/H5jsIsBTqMg-GPsykCgKRsUodPxsB-MzQCLcBGAs/s1600/jesse%2Bwashington%2Bmob.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="208" data-original-width="330" height="250" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ngDKTtv_sxM/WZaJXnSmwPI/AAAAAAAABfY/H5jsIsBTqMg-GPsykCgKRsUodPxsB-MzQCLcBGAs/s400/jesse%2Bwashington%2Bmob.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span>Bloodthirsty mob of Whites from Waco and Robinson <br />County gather for the lynching. </span></span></b></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Freeman reiterated what she read in
a news reports: “A big fellow in the back of the courtroom yelled, ‘Get the
Nigger’! Barney Goldberg, one of the deputy sheriffs, told me that he did not
know that Fleming had dropped orders to let them get the Negro, and pulled his
revolver. Afterwards he got his friends to swear to an affidavit that he was
present”.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">In an interview with the court
stenographer Freeman learned that “there was a full minute” before all hell
broke loose in the courtroom. “The people crowded around him and he knew what
was coming, so he slipped out the back door with his records. Sheriff Fleming
slipped out also”. Goldberg had a reason to lie. If Fleming did not win
re-election he would be unemployed. He said the sheriff’s rival was “unable to
read and write”. However, being illiterate was not a disqualifier. Fleming’s
opponent had “three dead niggers to his credit”, and that appeared to outweigh
reading and writing.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">When Freeman got a chance to
interview Fleming she asked him where he and the fifty deputies was when
Washington was kidnapped from the courtroom. Fleming asked her, “Would you want
to protect a nigger”? He told her that all he was “called upon to do in the way
of protecting the boy was to get him to court”. He told her that Judge Munroe made
no effort to stop the mob, although he had firearms in his desk in the
courtroom.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><i>The Waco Semi-Weekly Tribune</i> wrote when
the chain thrown around Washington broke, one of the instigators stepped
forward. “The big fellow took the chain off the Negro under the cover of the crowd
and wound it around his wrist so that the crowd jerking the chain was jerking
at the man’s wrist and he was holding the boy. The boy shrieked and struggled”.
An estimated 15,000 from Waco and Robinson attended the burning. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Freeman learned that “the mob
ripped off the boy’s clothes, cut them in bits and even cut the boy. Someone
cut his ear off; someone else unsexed him. A little girl working for Goldstein
Mingle Department Store told me that she saw this done”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “little girl” was an adult manicurist. She
witnessed the castration of Washington while looking out the store’s window. Although
Freeman reported that names of the primary instigators were known to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
The organization refused to make the names known to the public unless it
received an “application responsible parties”. After learning who the
ringleaders were Freeman set out to prove they were the mob participants in
Gildersleeve’s photos. The five were identified by people who knew them. Their
faces are prominent in the photos.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">To get a feel for the distance Washington
was dragged before he was lynched, Freeman wrote: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I went over the route the boy had been taken
and saw that they dragged him between a quarter-and-a-half-mile from the court
house to the bridge and then dragged him two blocks and another block over to
the City Hall. After they had gotten up to the bridge, someone said that a fire
was already going up at City Hall, and they turned around and went back.
Several people denied that this fire was going, but the photograph allows that it
was”. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Lynching takes place under
mayor’s window at City Hall</span></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9J88exB24uU/WZaE31ETxFI/AAAAAAAABe4/EGvkjyeaas0WV7nqYhLOo7SWBD2DJDzSQCLcBGAs/s1600/lynch%2Bmod.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1381" data-original-width="809" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9J88exB24uU/WZaE31ETxFI/AAAAAAAABe4/EGvkjyeaas0WV7nqYhLOo7SWBD2DJDzSQCLcBGAs/s400/lynch%2Bmod.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The live roasting of <br />Jesse Washington.</span></span></b></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><i>The Waco Semi-Weekly Tribune</i>
describe the mob’s gathering of materials to start a bonfire, and setting
Washington’s body afire. “A huge dry goods box was then produced and filled to
the top with all kinds of the material that had been secured. The Negro’s body
was swaying in the air, and all of the time a noise of thousands was heard and the
Negro’s body was lowered into the box. No sooner had his body touched the box
than people pressed forward, each eager to be the first to light the fire. And
as the smoke rapidly rose in the air, such a demonstration as of people gone
mad was never heard before. Everybody pressed closer to get souvenirs of the
affair. When they had finished with the Negro his body was mutilated.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">“He tried to get away, but could
not. He reached up to grab the chain and they cut off his fingers. The big man
struck the boy on the back of the neck with a knife just as they were pulling
him up on the tree. Mr. Lester thought this was this was practically the death
blow. He was lowered into the fire several times by means of the chain around
his neck. Someone said they estimate the boy had about twenty-four stab wounds,
none of them death-dealing.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“When the Negro was first hoisted into the air
his tongue protruded from his mouth and his face was smeared with blood. Life
was not extinct within the Negro’s body, although nearly so. <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When another chain
was placed around his neck and thrown over the limb of a tree on the lawn,
everybody was trying to get to the Negro and have some part of his death. . . .
As rapidly as possible the Negro was then jerked into the air at which time shouts
from thousands of throats went upon the morning air”.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">“Mr. Lester” was believed to be the
father of the woman who observed the castration of Washington. Freeman wrote
that Lester had climbed up a tree to watch the lynching. “He had seen the mob
cut off Washington’s fingers and saw the blow to the back of his head by the
big man that probably finished him off”.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">The live roasting of Washington took
place close to City Hall, under the window Mayor Dollins. Standing at the
window watching the tragedy unfold were the mayor, chief of Police Guy McNamara
and local photographer Fred Gildersleeve. He had been told by telephone that
Washington was going to be lynched. Spectators were also watching from windows
in nearby buildings, and from trees. Mayor Dollins was reportedly more
concerned about destruction of the tree than burning the life out of
Jesse Washington.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Whereas he took photos of the mob
and the lynching/burning, Gildersleeve did not take any photos of Washington’s before
his death. There is a mind-staining photo of the teenager’s naked body splayed
in a grotesque pose atop the fire. The chain is around his neck, one leg is
partially on the ground. The majority all-male posse of hooligans calmly watched
Washington’s lowered body, undisturbed by the tragedy they helped perpetuate.</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Observing Jesse Washington hanged and roasted alive, dying an undignified death, the frenzied clan <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9khznjiZOBA/WZdIBPd4udI/AAAAAAAABfs/H5yloQAnPHgx7vGSmGBm0QL6h7kd1al7gCEwYBhgL/s1600/washnington.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="201" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9khznjiZOBA/WZdIBPd4udI/AAAAAAAABfs/H5yloQAnPHgx7vGSmGBm0QL6h7kd1al7gCEwYBhgL/s400/washnington.jpg" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Charred body of Washington raised up <br />for the</span></b><b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> mob to cheer his death.</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
of masochists were not ssatisfied. They heaped more acts of violence upon Washington’s charred body. Someone lassoed his torso, threw the rope over a saddled horse, and dragged the corpse through the streets of Waco. ** I am going to take poetic license and say the body was likely dragged a short distance rather than the streets of Waco. It might have been within the square around the court house.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><i> </i></span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><i>Waco Times Herald</i> reported: “The
body of the Negro was burned to a crisp, and was left for some time in the
smoldering remains of the fire. Women and children were who decided to view the
scene were allowed to do so, the crowds parting to let them look at the scene. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After some time the body of the Negro was
jerked into the air where everybody could view the remains, and mighty shouts
rose in the air. The torso was taken to Robinson, hung on a tree, and shown off
for a while, then they too it back down again and dragged it back to town and
put it back on the fire again at five o’clock”.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Freeman learned that as
Washington’s torso was dragged behind a horse, “limbs dropped off and the head
was put on the stoop of a disresputable woman in the reservation district. Some
little boys pulled out the teeth and sold them for five dollars apiece. The
chain link was sold for five cents a link”. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>**</b> “<i>disresputable</i>” and
“<i>reservation distric</i>t” suggests a house of prostitution in a red light district
or neighborhood.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">The brutal execution of Washington
was memorialized on 5.5x3.5 post cards, made available by Gildersleeve. Countless
post cards displaying the appalling photos were sold in Waco. One postcard
mailed to a father from his son said: “This is the barbecue we had last night.
My picture is on the left with a cross over it. Your son, Joe”. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">When Elisabeth Freeman requested photos
from the Waco photographer he was reluctant to provide copies to her. He wrote
a note to the <i>Waco Times Herald</i>, telling the paper why he would no longer sell
the photos. “We have quit selling the mob photos, this step was taken because our
‘city dads’ objected on the grounds of ‘bad publicity’ as we wanted to be boosters
and not knockers. We agreed to stop all sale’”. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">A<i> Houston Chronicle and Herald</i>
editorial dated May 24, 1916, observed: “The sovereignty of the great State of
Texas, the constituted authority of the United States, have been defied and
outraged in order that an angry mob might make the last few moments of a Negro,
already condemned to death, more horrible than the law decrees; so horrible indeed
that no respectable citizen of this state will lower himself to declare them
unjustified. It is
so bad that silence must be maintained even though that silence amounts to
perjury. It is so bad that thousands must lie. Remember this was
not in the dead of night; not a secretly planned affair; not an assault on an unprepared
jail. It was in the daytime, in the court house, in open and deliberate
defiance of law and order. To burn a human is a horrible thing”.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 107%;">In 2006 an interracial organization
gathered at the Waco court house steps to read a resolution condemning the
lynching of Jesse Washington, and to apologize for the century old tragedy.
Whereas the group agreed that the lynching should be acknowledged, the majority
of Waco citizens, Black and White, did not want to be reminded of 1916. They
preferred that Washington’s ghost stay in its unmarked grave, hidden from Waco,
history and the world.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 107%;">Roland R. Fryer, the 75-year-old grandson
of Lucy Fryer, did not approve of any recognition of the “Waco Horror” or Jesse
Washington. He said it a “stupid idea to put up a monument to a Black man who
killed my grandmother”. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 107%;">Jesse Washington, author and
sportswriter for “<i>The Undefeated</i>”, who was named after the deceased teenager,
said he learned about Washington a decade ago. He set out on a personal journey
to discover what happen to young Jesse Washington. He traveled to Waco, where
he interviewed several people, including politicians. His last interview was
with relatives of the dead teenager.</span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XyBceAoQ8qU/WZaFyJe7BII/AAAAAAAABfE/PPBy1FoW6RM11J2Urh1rGrOVM53FEC1gQCEwYBhgL/s1600/220px-Jesse_Washington_laying_on_ground.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="153" data-original-width="220" height="277" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XyBceAoQ8qU/WZaFyJe7BII/AAAAAAAABfE/PPBy1FoW6RM11J2Urh1rGrOVM53FEC1gQCEwYBhgL/s400/220px-Jesse_Washington_laying_on_ground.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span>Teen's body is left on smoldering fire</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">.</span></span></b></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 107%;"> One relative, Mary Pearson, 67, was
very emotional when she talked to Washington about Jesse Washington; how
his death had affected her, though she did not know him. The horrific photos of Washington’s charred body told the story for her. “It is something I just can’t
shake. I look at the pictures . . .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it
just makes me want to get me a machine gun”, says Pearson. “You lose rest. You
can’t sleep.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 107%;">“What really gets me is how could
you have a heart to do another soul like that? I mean, you can see a chicken, a
hog that have no soul . . . How could you sit up there and go and get pieces of
his body and save it as a souvenir . . .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How they drug him in his flesh, flesh was falling off the bone . . .
Seventeen years old! Seventeen! That takes a whole lot of me. I’ve tried to
keep from getting angry, but I can help it. That’s the reason why I had to go
up under the doctor to get me some medicine . . .”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 107%;">Washington said the family would
like to see a historical marker situated at the spot where Jesse Washington was
lynched, plus an apology. He said both of these requests can be realized but it's
not likely to happen. Politicians and reluctant citizens have repeatedly said no to the idea. </span></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-46002578721060839512017-07-14T01:26:00.001-07:002021-09-11T22:27:13.166-07:00Newly minted president bullied his way into the White House, and now he is a lost adult trying to play Washington-style politics on his terms<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xndx1FqTSkI/WWh1iqPuKBI/AAAAAAAABeM/Br9wv7HPdD0lEI-G5vdyGjafLyC3mrswQCLcBGAs/s1600/trump%2B3.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="223" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xndx1FqTSkI/WWh1iqPuKBI/AAAAAAAABeM/Br9wv7HPdD0lEI-G5vdyGjafLyC3mrswQCLcBGAs/s400/trump%2B3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;">U.S. President Donald Trump</span></span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. </span></span></span></i><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"> -------------------</span></span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"> </span></span></span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Out of 250 million registered voters, 63 million voted for Donald
Trump for president. To this day he cannot reconcile
losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton. Trump devotees were convinced that he could and would save them. At campaign rallies Trump’s exuberant flock cheered his every word. Their enthusiasm suggested that Trump would heal
their broken spirit, making them whole. They wanted to feel like they are a large patch
of America's quilt again after eight years of isolation and abandonment. The main
characters in Trump’s off Broadway show was the famous character actors named
“Fear and Victim.”</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">White folks in interviews said their lives got away from them, but that was not their fault. The
forlorn feeling is because President Barack Obama deserted them. White folks said for
eight years Obama did not care about them; he only cared about Black folks.
The media considered White folks America’s true working class. It says Whites feel "frustrated" and "marginalized." That was the repeated meme in 2016. With the
election of realtor Donald Trump the same voters immediately proclaimed: “We got our
country back!” When Obama was president they wept, whimpered and whinnied that they had “lost”
their country. President Obama destroyed America, civility and their way of life. The speedy recovery and return of “their America” was magic.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">In the New Yorker magazine writer David Remnick wrote an
article titled “Obama Reckons with Trump’s Presidency”. Reading the article my
eyes locked on a paragraph written by author Richard Porty, and quoted in Remnick’s
article. The paragraph rang as true today as it did in 1998.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">To his supporters Trump projected himself as their strong man. His
negotiating prowess was akin to a gun welding gangster making an offer that could not be refused. Trump
affirmed while campaigning: “I am your voice. I can fix it. I will restore law
and order”. Talking to an all-White audience Trump scolded nonpresent African
Americans, telling them they had nothing to lose by voting for him. The rallying White folks enjoyed the thrill of his words. For a minute they forgot they were the <i>true victims.</i></span></span></span><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"> </span></span></span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">I write this last sentence with sarcasm</span></span></span><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">.</span></span></span></i><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">“The nonsuburban electorate will decide that the system has
failed and start looking for a strong man to vote for—someone willing to assure
them that, once he is elected, the snug bureaucrats, tricky lawyers, over paid
bond salesmen, and postmodernist professors will no longer be calling the
shots. One thing is very likely to happen is that the gains made in the past
forty years by Black and Brown Americans and by homosexuals, will be wiped out.
Jocular contempt for women will come back in fashion. … All the resentment
which badly educated Americans feel about having their manners dictated to them
by college graduates will find an outlet”.</span></span></span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Trump put more bait on his hook with the promise: He's going to show voters how to get</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> rich. As president he is going to be such a winner, voters
will get tired of him winning. Supporters believed Trump because he is a successful
businessman, who knows how to make money. These rebel rouser ralliers believed
that Trump was the answer to their prayers. God could take a vacation. Trump was their blessing.</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Had these mainly Red State folks committed to researching
Donald J. Trump’s past they would have discovered some useful information.
Early interviews with magazines, newspapers and on radio disclosed that in 1999 Trump thought about running for president on the Reform Party ticket. Once upon a time Trump was a Democrat, but he flipped to Republican to run for president of the United States, a tasty morsel he has been dining on since the 1980s. That's 18 years of contemplating. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Trump chased after and barked at the car, caught with it, and had no idea how to drive it. Ernest Benn, writer, publisher and publicist said, "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy". No, he did not know Donald Trump, who wanted President Ronald Reagan to appoint him ambassador to the USSR. His ego told him that he could resolve the Cold War in a day. Reagan took care of the dilemma himself. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Trump intended to run
in 2008 against Hillary Clinton, but Barack Obama blocked him. Trump knew that
he could not buck or bully Obama, nor could he beat him. Trump considered a run
in 2010, but again, Obama was his firewall. He was certain that with the
birther brouhaha, media focus, and White folks hating Obama, he could sprint towards a presidential
home run.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">When Trump said that he could teach his followers how to get
rich, I laughed. It did not occur to them<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0UAJGr_Gyl4/WWh2nV1c3SI/AAAAAAAABeU/YymwA4jX7zQe5-ijZx5OnWNCO6qlqe4-gCEwYBhgL/s1600/idt.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="239" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0UAJGr_Gyl4/WWh2nV1c3SI/AAAAAAAABeU/YymwA4jX7zQe5-ijZx5OnWNCO6qlqe4-gCEwYBhgL/s320/idt.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Donald Trump</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
that Donald J. Trump was born to millionaire parents,
and a father that supported his projects by loaning him millions of dollars to
start his own business. Never mind the bankruptcies, and his inability to
acquire loans from banks in America, due to his habit of not repaying loans in
full. When his businesses drowned, Trump renegotiated the loans. Rather than chance
not getting any of their money back, the banks compromised and caved. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Trump’s
cultish followers did not want to know about his failed business record because they would learn that he is not a good businessman. They did not want to learn that he does not own the businesses bearing his name. For a huge fee he licenses his name. None of his Trump labeled merchandise is manufactured in America. The same rule of thumb applies to Ivanka Trump and his wife Melina. He and his adult children are using the presidency to fatten their pocket books.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Trump told his followers that he understood their plight. He
promised to stop jobs from leaving this country. He promised to revive the coal
industry in Red Sates. Every American is going to get “beautiful” health care
insurance that they can afford. Trump is hell bent on building a “big beautiful
wall” to stop illegal Mexican immigrants from crossing the Southern border,
bringing crime with them. “Mexico is going to pay for it!” he announced
confidently. “Believe me!” No American money will help defray the cost. The “big
beautiful” wall will have a “big beautiful door” for immigrants to re-enter
America legally.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Presidential candidate Donald Trump talked Mafia tough all the time. He was
the Godfather of campaigning. He regularly dogged and bad-mouthed his opponents. They did not
retaliate. The media and pundits helped him throw rocks at Hillary Clinton.
The media have been trying to knock down Bill and Hillary Clinton for decades. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">With the help of the media that gave Trump millions of dollars of free advertising, the one note candidate
slimmed his way into the presidency. When he won he did not alter his belligerent
tone. Trump's skin did not thicken, making him immune from criticism. His early morning tweeting
is nonstop. His lying is consistent. He does not have a relationship with facts
or history, and he demands constant flattery, positive press and loyalty.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">All-in-all Donald J. Trump has been in office for six months
but it seems like six years. His term begin with a scandal involving Russia hacking
the DNC’s computers. Wikileaks released the emails to mud smear Hillary Clinton, and to
help Trump get elected. The Russia/Trump scandal is breaking with new
information every day. However, Trump is in deep denial and attack mode. He will not deny his male crush on Russia's President Vladimir Putin, who he refuses to attack.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">A businessman without a company, or board or headquarters or
hundreds of employees, Trump does not answer to anyone but himself. He thinks
that being president allows him the right to break whatever laws he wants to,
and not be punished. He thinks he can run America’s government like it’s his
personal business. A Republican controlled Congress and Senate are standing on the sideline with their arms folded, allowing Trump to be the loose elephant in a fine
china shop.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Donald Trump is filling top positions with novice millionaire
and billionaire bankers, lobbyists, family members and other people who have
vowed loyalty to him. With the exception of his family, Trump campaigned
against these hires and swore that none of them would be a part of his administration.
He said would clean the swamp when he arrived in Washington. He lied. The swamp
is bigger and deeper than ever, and Trump takes a swim in it every day</span></span>. </span><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199706547010693178.post-84977397828913557012017-06-22T11:43:00.001-07:002020-06-21T20:50:37.161-07:00From my literature corner: Women Poems with Heart, Tears, Sadness, Rejection and Abandonment<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 107%;">Not What It Takes</span>
</b></i></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Poem by Patricia </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When I was thirteen</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I noticed myself becoming a woman</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">or what I thought was a woman then.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My first time I was allowed to wear make-up</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I experimented until it was so heavy</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">that it’s a wonder my face</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">didn’t fall,</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It was so thick. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I rode around and around</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the block on my bicycle</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">where my first boyfriend lived.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I was hoping he’d notice</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">That now I was grown.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So I thought.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">On one trip around the block</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">He finally came out of his house</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And hollered: HELLO</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So, I stopped.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">He took one look at my make-up</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Red lips and all,</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">and laughed.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Well, I knew then that’s not what it takes</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">To be a woman.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.1in 0.0001pt 0in;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: x-large;">She</span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.1in 0.0001pt 0in; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Poem by Chrystal</span></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .1in; margin-top: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Il8FgZF4Pc/S6WdK6lRvqI/AAAAAAAAAAM/fdxS153iKeYX2jAsz5YoNs9vSOB4ROKJQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Scanned%2BImage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="240" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Il8FgZF4Pc/S6WdK6lRvqI/AAAAAAAAAAM/fdxS153iKeYX2jAsz5YoNs9vSOB4ROKJQCPcBGAYYCw/s400/Scanned%2BImage.jpg" width="163" /></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">When she is asleep, she dreams</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Of a lot people round her</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">But she can’t communicate with them.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">It is as if she is invisible.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">She wants to scream or move in some way</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">So she will be like them.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">If she could just get her sister or mother</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Or anyone to just touch her, she would be reality</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">As they are.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">There are many people around her talking</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">And laughing.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">They think she is in their presence and they talk</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">To her. They don’t know she can’t reply back.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">They think she is normal</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">But she is not.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">If someone would just touch her</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">She would be in their company</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Mentally and physically.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">She fights desperately and finally wakes up.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">She wakes up frightened.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Why does she dream this so often?</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">What does it mean?</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Where is she at?</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><b>Doorway</b></i></span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">I can’t stand his face</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">because the doorway</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">is always closed.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Myself,</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">can’t let me see inside.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><b>Doing Something Wrong</b></i></span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">As a child I was always</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">doing something wrong.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Not because I was Black</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">but because I was a girl</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">and not a boy.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">I didn’t like it, </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">being a girl. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><b style="background-color: white;">Hark</b></i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Poem by Peggy Sue</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Little Miss Muffet</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Sat on her tuffet</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Smoking her pot that was dusted.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Along came a spider</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">And sat down beside her</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">And hailed:</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Hark! I’m a narc</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">And you’re busted!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">A Sense of Love </span></b></i></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;"> Poem by Sandra</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">The grandchildren haven’t turned out</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">The way we thought they would.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Their parents are hurt and angry,</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Ashamed, and worried about it.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">I’m not.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">I like these kids the way they are, </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Open and honest, disorganized and gentle,</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Scruffy and kind.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">They don’t seem to mind spending time</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">With me. We talked about real things:</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Dreams, peace, the sky.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">They tell me living</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Is more important than accomplishing things.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">I agree.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Their parents are outraged by this.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">So I don’t go into it.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">I say the kids came.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">The parents say, Good. At least</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">They have a sense of duty.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">I think they have a sense of love.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">(C) poems from “So I Swung: An anthology" of work by women in the Travis County Jail, (Austin, Texas) 1978</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It can't Be Love</span></span></span></b></span></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Poem by Zandra Diane Holmes</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">When we talked, I never seemed to listen.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">When we loved I never shared the passion.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">When we walked I never walked beside you.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">When we laughed I faked my smiling gesture.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">But when we argued, I awakened.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><b style="background-color: white;">Marian Anderson</b></i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b style="background-color: white;">Poem by Loretta Campbell</b></i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>Black Forum, 1978</b></i></span> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">She opened her mouth to sing and </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">the DAR called the FBI,</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qbn7oF9qp9c/WUwG54Sf1jI/AAAAAAAABeA/C7oFs6cEXMIENtkP6LUnQjY2mK72V4fzACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/marian%2Banderson.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="158" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qbn7oF9qp9c/WUwG54Sf1jI/AAAAAAAABeA/C7oFs6cEXMIENtkP6LUnQjY2mK72V4fzACPcBGAYYCw/s320/marian%2Banderson.jpeg" width="234" /></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">who called the CIA, who called the KKK,</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">who burned a cross in her honor.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">She opened her mouth to sing and </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">little Black girls went from</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Baptist churches to voice teachers and</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">lined up outside the Met waiting for</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">the doors to open.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">She opened her mouth to sing and</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">the White House turned up its hearing aide</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">while Eleanor pulled her chair up closer</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">to hear a revolution.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">She opened her mouth to sing</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">and the winds of change whistled through</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">the crack in the Liberty Bell.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">America heard a symphony in the first note.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">© poems from Black Forum, Fall/Winter 1978 </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>**</b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><b><span style="font-size: small;">*</span></b><span style="font-size: small;"> Note: On April 9, 1939 opera singer Marian Anderson, who could not sing in all-White opera houses. She was barred from hosting a concert at Constitution Hall because of her race. This what the poem is about. The protest against Anderson was activated by The Daughters of the American Revolution. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the DAR in protest. She helped arrange for Anderson to sing at the Lincoln Memorial.</span></i></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>of her choosing</b></span> </span></i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Poems by dorothy Charles banks</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">From “Black Maria”, 1979</span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">e/z tears flood</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">her eyes nearly drownin</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">her face, washin</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">away Maybelline eye lashes</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">that waved good/bye, so long</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As did her lover</span></span></div>
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iZdKedKUblU/Tf7Bmwy-SBI/AAAAAAAAAS4/aUPKerJpNCALWGLY--OZVdvtNTAhjZkeACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="450" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iZdKedKUblU/Tf7Bmwy-SBI/AAAAAAAAAS4/aUPKerJpNCALWGLY--OZVdvtNTAhjZkeACPcBGAYYCw/s400/image.jpg" width="111" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">and she chose to go insane</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rather than lose him</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rather than be a/lon and</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">lonely, watchin happy teevee </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">commercials </span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rather than suicide herself, seeing</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">him no more </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">she asked me, her best friend:</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ain’t that nothin</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">showin how damn weak I am</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">showin how silly I am</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">choosin to go n/sane </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">cause my cheatin man left me</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">leavin me outdoors</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">but still in love with him</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">leavin me weepin and grovelin</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">at his feet, beggin for a</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">little kindness from him</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">he didn’t give me an explanation</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I deserve to know his</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">reason for leavin me</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">but he did tell me in a hateful voice:</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Bitch, yo’ ass is all the </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">way out of my life! Forever and ever!</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">You too fuckin weak and needy!”</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">his words stabbed hard at my heart and soul</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> but I still love him with </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">my bleedin heart </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">my bleedin soul</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I can’t even weep for myself</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I hurt so much</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ain’t that nothin?</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I mean . . . </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ain’t that really nothin?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">
</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Cold poem unwritten</span></b></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">I’m trying to write</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">A cold poem cause</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Men keep telling me</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">I’m cold.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">I went to Alaska</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">To meditate </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">And wait for a cold poem</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">To freeze itself</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Inside my head.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">3 days later</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">I left Alaska and </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">The cold snow, </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Returning to the states,</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Poemless and colder </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Than ever.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">(C) by dorothy charles banks </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">I Have Decided </span></b></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;"> Poem by Mary McAnally</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">From the book “We Will Make A River” </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U0wJ9Kbe8R8/TlHpFuyAMdI/AAAAAAAAAaA/v9fO3qE1Dp4VPtd1TPMumswmgwfER70yACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/synapse.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U0wJ9Kbe8R8/TlHpFuyAMdI/AAAAAAAAAaA/v9fO3qE1Dp4VPtd1TPMumswmgwfER70yACPcBGAYYCw/s400/synapse.jpg" width="241" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have decided that I own my emptiness</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is mine.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.1in 0.0001pt 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I can tap at the roof of it</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.1in 0.0001pt 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">with the tip of my tongue.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I can thrash around in it</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">when the bowels of the night</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">rumble across my forehead.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I can imprison it between my thighs.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I can lure it out of me</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">for several delicious moments</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">and gaze at it</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">through the windows of my wrists.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I can turn up my collar</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">and let it shrivel me to noting.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I can hurl it across the caverns of the moon</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">and wait for my cycle to bring it back.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I can wear it on the ark of my consciousness</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">or let it simmer out the corners of my mouth.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">No one can fill it but me</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nor spill it across the fine silk web of my days.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This emptiness is mine</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">and I own it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><b style="background-color: white;">Drag Assing</b></i></span></span></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">drag assing</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">ass dragging</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">the hot ground</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">cause she too lazy too</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">prance like she is</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">full of self confidence. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Miss Marymay saw her one day</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">and fussed at her for</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">dragging her feet.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">“Stop a minute, young lady! </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">You looking awfully</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Like a flat-footed hussy</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Who ain’t in a hurry</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">To get nowhere!</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">''Pick your feets up like you</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">supposed to do, girl!</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">I know your</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Mama taught your better!</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">“You supposed to walk</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">On your feets</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Not your ass!</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">“Lift your feets</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Off that sidewalk and </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Strut like you got some pride!”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">(C) by dorothy charles banks </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The Closet</span></b></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Poem by Peggy Scarborough </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">from“Family Violence”, 1982</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Moonlight Publications</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">There in the closet tat whispered</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">I’ll be good, Momma. I’m sorry</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Over and over again</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">A little girl lay fighting demons</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">With tears lapping under her chin</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">I won’t be bad anymore, Momma</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">I won’t be bad anymore</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">I’ll be your good little girl again, Momma</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">But none opened the door</span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburne.com/blogspot/wZInD</div>dorothy charles bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12255651443262122356noreply@blogger.com0