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Tonya
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 4185
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 25, 2007 - 03:36 pm: | 
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Commentary: Where are Our Esteemed Black Leaders When Blacks Folks Die at the Hands of ‘People of Color?’
Date: Thursday, January 25, 2007
By: Gregory Kane, BlackAmericaWeb.com
Stanley “Tookie” Williams. Sean Bell. Cheryl Greene.
I can guarantee that you’ve probably heard of the first two people and that you’ve never heard of the third, unless you live in Los Angeles.
Williams’ name is probably the most well known. He’s the founder of the Crips gang who was executed in 2005 for murdering four people. Some of our esteemed black leaders made Tookie a cause celebre. One, NAACP president and chief operating officer Bruce Gordon, went gallivanting up and down the state of California pleading that Tookie be shown some mercy.
Bell is the New York man who died in a hail of cop bullets after he left a strip club in December. Bell died on the day he was supposed to be married. His death sparked justifiable outrage and prompted protests by our esteemed black leaders, the reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.
On Dec. 23, about 100 black people in Los Angeles marched to protest Greene’s death. Rev. Jesse and Rev. Al were conspicuous in their absence.
Williams, Bell and Greene were all black. Why the difference in the reaction of our esteemed leaders to their deaths?
The state of California executed Williams. In other words, white folks. So his death is perfect fodder for those black leaders who sell the “black folks are victims of white racism” line. At least one of the cops who fatally shot Bell was white. They worked for the city of New York.
In other words, white folks.
On Dec. 15, Greene was standing on a Los Angeles street corner with at least three other black people when two men from a Latino gang walked up to them and started firing. A story in the Los Angeles Times gives further details.
“Two young Latino men approached the group, and one pulled a gun and fired several times before the pair fled,” the story said. “Two women and a man were wounded in the attack. Los Angeles police have said graffiti in the area bearing the letters ‘NK’ suggested that a local Latino gang with a reputation for racism had targeted blacks. Because of this, police have classified the case as a hate crime.”
So Greene had the misfortune of being killed by two “people of color.” And, as we all know, our esteemed leaders have been telling us for years that people of color are cool with black folks because they are people of color. In other words, our esteemed leaders have no use for Greene. Now if the people who shot her had been white, well, that would have been a different story.
Speaking of different stories, here’s one with the same theme of the clash between blacks and Latinos in Los Angeles. This one is from the Feb. 21, 2006 edition of the Washington Post.
“Schools that for more than a decade had been predominantly black are now predominantly Latino, and that shift has led to racial strife," the paper reported. "In 2005, widespread fighting between Latinos and African Americans, sometimes necessitating lockdowns and the deployment of police officers, rocked 12 schools in Los Angeles County."
The Post story gets worse.
“Channa Cook, a teacher at the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies, said that…black students each year skip school on May 5 — Cinco de Mayo ... Mexican gangs have warned in graffiti that they will shoot African-Americans attending school that day.”
Cook elaborated further in the Post story: “My first year here, I didn’t believe it, but the students told me, ‘No, Miss Cook, if you come to school you’re going to get shot.’ When I arrived at class, all the black kids had stayed home.”
Our esteemed leaders have uttered not word one about the rising tide of anti-black racism among Latinos in Los Angeles, but perhaps it’s because they have more important issues on their plates.
Let’s see, there’s restoring voting rights to black felons, Hurricane Katrina, keeping racial preferences intact at the University of Michigan, Katrina, perceived racial disparity in the death penalty, Katrina, bashing President Bush, Katrina and perceived racial disparity in sentencing for crack cocaine possession vs. powdered cocaine possession. Oh, did I mention Katrina?
When civil rights workers Mickey Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman were killed in Mississippi in 1964, the Revs. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy made it a point to visit the county where they were killed. That shows the kind of leaders they were.
The absence of “leaders” like Jackson, Sharpton, Gordon and NAACP board chairman Julian Bond from the march protesting Greene’s death -- as well as their disgusting silence -- shows what kind of leaders they are.
http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/sayitloud/kane125 |
Tonya
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 4187
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 25, 2007 - 03:50 pm: |
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My bad. This PIECE OF SHIT was written by a Black conservative! - too excited by the headline and first few paragraphs, sorry!
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Enchanted
Veteran Poster
Username: Enchanted
Post Number: 676
Registered: 11-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 25, 2007 - 04:06 pm: |
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LOL not surprised its you. |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 3223
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 25, 2007 - 04:23 pm: |
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The Los Angeles area has its own body of Black community activists. Perhaps Jackson and Sharpton weren't invited to participate or maybe they didn't want to step on anyone's toes. Why does everyone seem to expect them to be all things to all people, and everywhere at once?
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Chrishayden
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 3473
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 26, 2007 - 12:00 pm: |
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Mzuri:
That was a logical, fair and rational comment.
Are you allright, lover? |
Tonya
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 4201
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 26, 2007 - 01:55 pm: |
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Stanley “Tookie” Williams' controversy took place in LOS ANGELES. And not only were Sharpton and Jackson THERE they were there OVERTIME. Neither one of those guys are known for backing down due to territory.. or much else for that matter. What they're known for is being "everywhere at once" when race is involved...IN FACT...they're not known for annnn-neeee-thinnngg else. |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 3230
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 26, 2007 - 02:29 pm: |
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The Tookie mess took place at San Quentin Prison, which is about a six hour drive from Los Angeles, and Tookie probably requested assistance from Jackson and Sharpton. But that's neither here nor there. Write a letter to whomever it is that you think should be johnny-on-the-got-damn-spot. And send a contribution while you're at it because you sound like some magical mystical entity pays for all of these people's travel expenses and accommodations while they run around all over the place trying to save the world.
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Tonya
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 4205
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 26, 2007 - 04:04 pm: |
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"The Tookie mess took place at San Quentin Prison, which is about a six hour drive from Los Angeles…”
I said the "Stanley “Tookie” Williams' controversy took place in LOS ANGELES," and it did. Who said anything about San Quentin?
"But that's neither here nor there."
No, dear, it was the heart of your entire post.
"Write a letter to whomever it is that you think should be johnny-on-the-got-damn-spot."
The point that the author TRIED to make--one that I agree with--is that they ARE "johnny-on-the-got-damn-spot" when it comes to race & white ppl. It was NEVER that they SHOULD BE; it’s that they ARE. Which article are you reading?
"And send a contribution while you're at it because you sound like some magical mystical entity pays for all of these people's travel expenses and accommodations..."
Oh, so, Jackson and Sharpton are choosing not to get involved this political storm between their two main constituents because they don't have the money for a bus ticket. …Cuz that's what you sound like & frankly more power to you. |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 3234
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 26, 2007 - 04:07 pm: |
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Tonya - Why don't you stop deleting and re-writing your posts so that conversations can be in context. It's not as if this is a sometimey thing, you do this all the time.
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Tonya
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 4206
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 26, 2007 - 04:12 pm: |
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"I don't know what Jackson and Sharpton are thinking about which is why YOU should send them a letter. All these folks hollering about who's not doing what seem to forget that someone has to pay the freight.
Mzuri, really, you could make that argument about darn near everybody that we bytch about on these boards. I hear you though. And sorry for the re-post! |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 3235
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 26, 2007 - 04:23 pm: |
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We complain about people but we don't demand anyone's presence more than Jesse Jackson's. Everyone expects him to be everywhere. Maybe he just wants to chill.
As to the original post, I was watching KTLA news last night and the mayor and police dept are really starting to crack down on the gangs now. They are going into the neighborhoods, putting the thugs out and boarding up their houses. And the impetus of this is the Greene shooting.
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Tonya
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 4207
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 26, 2007 - 04:30 pm: |
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"Tonya - Why don't you stop deleting and re-writing your posts so that conversations can be in context. It's not as if this is a sometimey thing, you do this all the time."
Because it's rarely my intention to converse when I'm posting.… I usually post my opinions and move on, not expected a response until later. Plus I'm doing a dozen things at once when I'm at my desk; I'm never focused on one thing. K? |
Tonya
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 4208
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 26, 2007 - 04:42 pm: |
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Mzuri,
that's great what the authorities are doing in L.A., but I think some national attention ought to be paid to this tragedy and nobody's better at shinning the national spotlight on situations like this than Jackson and Sharpton. And I think it's natural that ppl expect such of them because it is what people are used to.
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