In Honor Of Sandra Bland's Funeral Today

I read that her mother requested an image with a candle and hashtags on social media today, in honor of her daughter, Sandra Bland.

Sandra Bland was a black woman, an activist, and seemed to be a profoundly empathetic human being. She was only 28 years old. She is dead due police brutality, a man in uniform abusing his authority under colors on the streets of Waller, Texas.

We cannot let her death be in vain. 

2014 UNARMED & KILLED BY POLICE ALL IN 60 SECONDS

VIDEO FROM NOW THIS




Not sure of the demographics or all ethnicities, but


VICTIM COUNT


1 WHITE WOMAN

3 BLACK WOMEN (Mariam Carey Missing)

4 LATINO MEN

7 WHITE MEN

17 BLACK MEN





POLICE

5 INDICTED


8 NOT CHARGED OR INDICTED

 

17 UNDER INVESTIGATION

WHITE COP MURDER OF REKIA BOYD: CASE EFFECTIVELY DISMISSED

Before Judge Dennis Porter gave a direct verdict, that essentially dismissed the case, he said the prosecution had evidence for a first degree murder charge but they couldn't prove the recklessness associated with the manslaughter charge.

Defense Attorney's always ask to dismiss a case. It is part of the courtroom dance. But judges rarely ever grant this. But this judge did. He basically kick the case out.

Have you ever heard such garbage? How can there NOT be enough recklessness when somebody shoots into a crowd of people with an unregistered weapon, when he's not on duty, after seeing a cell phone -- whether the charge is manslaughter or murder. 






THIS STARTED  OFF AS A NOISE COMPLAINT


DANTE SERVIN HAD AN UNREGISTERED WEAPON

DANTE SERVIN WAS OFF DUTY

DANTE SERVIN SAID HE THOUGHT HE SAW A GUN (THAT TURNED OUT TO BE A CELL PHONE)


Keep in mind that Dante Servin did not walk up to Rekia Boyd with the intent to kill her. Maybe I've seen too many "Law and Order" episodes, but isn't some kind of intent required for a first degree murder charge? So if the prosecution had gone for the murder charge without enough intent, would Judge Dennis Porter have thrown out the murder charge too?
The Huffington Post reports that Officer Dante Servin was the first police officer in Chicago to face a trial in 17 years. With judges like Dennis Porter it'll be 34 years before one actually faces a jury of peers.




LISTEN TO A REPORT FROM INSIDE COURT & JUDGES VERDICT

NATASHA McKENNA:BLACK, FEMALE, UNARMED, SICK & DEAD BY COP

"Natasha McKenna initially cooperated with deputies, placed her hands through her cell door food slot and agreed to be handcuffed, the reports show. But McKenna, whose deteriorating mental state had caused Fairfax to seek help for her, then began trying to fight her way out of the cuffs, repeatedly screaming, “You promised you wouldn’t hurt me!” the reports show.

Then, six members of the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team, dressed in white full-body biohazard suits and gas masks, arrived and placed a wildly struggling 130-pound McKenna into full
restraints, their reports state. But when McKenna wouldn’t bend her knees so she could be placed into a wheeled restraint chair, a lieutenant delivered four 50,000-volt shocks from the Taser, enabling the other deputies to strap her into the chair, the reports show."

The instructions with the taser say don't use it more than 3 times


The instructions with the taser say don't use it on the mentally ill because it won't work.

File This Under Callous Disregard for Black Life





CLICK HERE TO READ MORE AT WASHINGTON POST

THE RACISM THAT COUNTS

Marian Anderson, the first African American to perform with the New York Metropolitan Opera in 1955

The shootings, the white cop murders of black people like Walter Scott are dramatic. But the most problematic racism is the racism that is not obvious to outsiders, the racism that we, as black people, talk about inside our own same-race circles after we get home from work or school. This is the hair that we all keep brushing at.

The racist rhetoric and the pieces of racism that most white people refuse to believe matter,  acted out daily on black and brown, is the field from which the extremists like white police officer, Michael Slager, are rising.

When the racist rhetoric and unacknowledged racism increases so does the frequency race based murder.

The first,
rhetoric,
fuels the second,
murder.

And white racist rhetoric in the U.S. increased with the election of our first black president. There are people, mostly white, that are still reeling at the thought of President Obama's existence.

It could be that black murder by white police officers is simply being reported more often these days. Maybe. But it really does seem like there has been a real uptick in the numbers of black and unarmed murdered by police.

And if there has been a significant uptick in the numbers of black and unarmed murdered by the police nationwide, then the worst of the police are going to start "feeling themselves" any minute now. They are going to start feeling omnipotent, powerful enough to move beyond the socially and politically weaker groups made up of blacks and browns to start shooting unarmed white people.

The move to include white people as target practice has probably already begun. Increasing numbers of white, mentally ill are being beaten to death or going down in a hail of gunfire. 

Are the worst of  white police officers going to move on up the social ladder to targeting the white middle class next? I don't know. But all of this reminds me of how only black neighborhoods were perceived as having problems with drugs...until little, white Johnnie died of an overdose in Wisconsin. Only then did the main stream media admit that "America has a drug problem"

"Just Say No" Nancy Reagan told us.


I don't know of things are changing at all, Black President or not Black President. I wasn't foolish enough to think President Obama's election meant this country was stepping into a post-racial era. And I knew thing would be risky for President Obama standing in so much limelight and so many circles of power simultaneously. I count myself surprised, in this moment, that there haven't been more frequent attempts on his life. But for some reason I did not foresee the uptick in racist rhetoric as being dangerous for all of us -- actually life threatening.

But I should have.  It's obvious now.  Hindsight is indeed 20/20. 
So, the mysterious, misreported death of Miriam Carey and gunning down of Walter Scott has me thinking I should change my cell phone camera settings so that it will start filming on a moments notice without having to put in my password. But my main focus is going to remain on reducing day to day racism and sexism, both. I'm going to do so by being as direct as I can possibly be when writing or when talking to people face to face.

Ideas have to change before behavior can.



Peace Out - Listen to Ave Maria

WALTER SCOTT'S RUN FROM THE TRAFFIC STOP

Have you seen the dash cam video from the police car? When Slager, the man who would eventually kill him walked back to the police car, Walter stayed in his own car for a while, then got out and took off running.

That's why, despite this encounter starting off as a traffic stop, the shooting appears to take place in a grassy area with no car in sight.

Apparently, during that minute or so in the car Walter was trying to call his mother. The family thinks he was trying to call and ask her what to do. They think when she didn't answer, he tried to run because he was afraid that he was about to be arrested for being behind in his child support payments.

Again.

I'm really not one to feel that sorry for men who have to pay x, y, and z in child support. If 3/4 of the family goes to live in place A while you go live in place B, then place A is where 3/4 of the  money goes. Hopefully him and the woman were both working when they split so that a smaller portion of his check goes to the household.

Yes, black people suffer more from poverty, but that's all the more reason for a man to make sure he's in a until-death-do-us-part scenario before he decides to have any children. It's also a reason for men to push scientists to come up with birth control for men that isn't simply a capped tube of latex after all these years.

After all, keeping up two domiciles is expensive. And it's expensive even when you're upper middle class. And to let the TV show "Dateline" tell it, a white man would rather kill his wife than pay her alimony and child support 8 times out of 10...especially if he's rich. How long has that show been on? Twenty years or more maybe? I can't believe there are any white women left.

But I digress.

The difference between white men and black men when it comes to child support is two fold. Yes, black men are poorer. But it's more important that they are blacker and many are living in ex-slave states.

And when you are more likely to be poor, you are more likely to be unable to afford a good lawyer. That means a lot of black men can go to jail at the drop of hat for getting behind in child support payments.

Funny I've heard white female friends complain about lack of child support payments. But I've never heard even a whisper about a real ability to put the white ex in jail. I know there are laws on paper. But according to the white whispers? There's very little ability to get it done.Debtors prison must be a down south thing  Those later-day, ex-slave states.

I can't imagine what the conversation between Walter and his murderer, Officer Slager could have been.  Walter's worried about child support. Walter has stopped running momentarily. What could have prompted Slager to taser him?  Darren Wilson syndrome? Black skin. Demon. Scary. And when Walter ran again -in pain from the taser this time- Slager just brought his weapon up, fired it 8 times, and sauntered on over to the body, then back to the taser to pick it up and drop it near Walter Scott's dying or dead body.

Such a casual murder. Wasn't it? How could that have been Slager's first time? How does one perform a cavalier murder, the first time you murder someone?

And in the videos I've seen? It looks to me like Clarence Habersham, saw that last bit -- the moving of the taser near the body. Can't be sure. But I'm not going to forget about that. This inquiry mind wants to know just how many accessories to this murder there are.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON POVERTY, BLACK MEN, AND CHILD SUPPORT

BLACK, DEAD, AND UNARMED WHITE OFFICER SHOOTS WALTER SCOTT IN THE BACK

WARNING GRAPHIC VIDEO

Michael Slager Shooting Walter Scott Dead

I always think of young black people as presumed dangerous by white people, even when running away.  Walter Scott was 50 years old when he was killed. And since they were the only two people that were there during the discussion that preceded the murder, we'll never know what really happened. Looks like they were struggling over something. Maybe the officer was trying to cuff him.



What does seem apparent is that Scott wasn't armed.



We don't know if Walter Scott was a good husband, proud father, and upstanding member of his church or embezzler, arsonist, and coke head.  All we know is that he was running away when he was killed. And we can see the officer wasn't the one in danger.



I think I heard 8 shots fired in the video.



I don't know if I need to know what happened just before the camera started filming.  I didn't really need to know what happened just before filming when Pantaleo choked Garner to death. I didn't need to know what happened just before filming when Rice knocked out Palmer.



Nothing can really change the fact that person A is left standing over person B's body on the ground.  Still, I won't say I know all I need to know. I'm curious.



Maybe the white officer was provoked. That would be entirely possible....if it weren't for the fact that the police report doesn't match this video of what really happened.




You don't get a pass just because you can't control yourself when somebody makes you angry, challenges  you, or even hits you. And that's true for anyone, much less those assigned to "protect and serve." You don't get shoot somebody 8 times in the back even if they punched you in the face. You still have to exercise self-control. I know America hasn't looked like this lately, especially if the victim is black, but it's still true.



I hear the white officer has been charged. This is not Flori-duh. Let's see if we can get him convicted.


**************

"On Tuesday, South Carolina police officer Michael Thomas Slager was charged with first-degree murder for the shooting death of