Since Rick Santorum suspended his campaign, the Republican Party will nominate Mitt Romney for President. To mark the occasion, here are a few of Romney's greatest hits.
1."I am not concerned about the very poor."
2."I like being able to fire people."
3. Joking about his father closing a factory. I guess people losing their jobs is so hilarious to Romney.
4. His wife drives a couple of Cadillacs.
5. Romney's aid describes the candidate as an Etch A Sketch.
6. Flip flops of historic proportions.
7. Mitt Romney's Mormon faith considers black people to be inferior and cursed.
8. Romney wanted to let the Detroit auto industry go bankrupt.
That fact that it took 45 days for George Zimmerman to be arrested and charged speaks volumes about the American criminal justice system's cold and racist disregard for black life. If it wasn't for the people marching, protesting, speaking out, petitioning and blogging, our brother Trayvon Martin would be just another dead, discarded n*****. George Zimmerman would still be on the loose, armed and dangerous. Never forget that. Frankly, it is a national disgrace that we had to protest to bring the killer to justice.
People all over this nation united and said "Hell no! We aren't going to let that man get away with killing an unarmed, innocent, young brother." As a result of the people's collective efforts, Zimmerman is now behind bars and charged with 2nd degree murder. This is why protests matter. This is why civil rights organizations are still relevant and necessary. Unfortunately, this nation will probably never be a post-racial society.
The question is where do we go from here. Should we put down our signs, take off the hoodies, stop marching, stop protesting and stop petitioning? No.
Although we are all pleased to see Zimmerman arrested, we should not celebrate yet. Many prominent individuals have said that they just want to see Zimmerman arrested. That's not enough. An arrest alone is not justice. It is merely the first step on the road to justice. Remember Emmett Till's killers were arrested and charged. Rodney King's torturers were arrested and charged. Sean Bell's killers were arrested and charged. Amadou Diallo's killers were arrested and charged. In each case, the killers and attackers were released. So, don't be pacified by an arrest.
We must remember that this problem is much bigger than Zimmerman. What about the Sanford Police Department that let Zimmerman go free? What about the continuing systemic and nationwide problem of racial profiling? What about racial differences in charging and sentencing? What about those ridiculous "stand your ground" laws in over 20 states?
Instead of jumping from one crisis to the next crisis, we must seize the moment and develop a national campaign to end racial profiling, police brutality and vigilantism. Pontification and indignation are not enough. As Kwame Ture said, we must be organized. Join a progressive organization today. Stay engaged and involved.
Yesterday, shortly after the Special Prosecutor announced that she was not going to bring the case before a grand jury, George Zimmerman's attorneys withdrew from the case. They withdrew for several reasons. His attorneys have lost contact with him. Mr. Zimmerman created a website without consulting his attorneys. Finally, he contacted the Special Prosecutor directly without counsel. He informed the prosecutor that he was not represented by counsel.
During the press conference, his attorneys acknowledged that Mr. Zimmerman never met with them in person. Yet, his attorneys vouched for and vigorous defended him on every major news station. Although they have withdrawn from the case, they continue to demonize and blame the 17 years old, unarmed, African American victim, Trayvon Martin. They continue to assert that this incident has nothing to do with race. Such conduct is despicable.
Today marks the 44th anniversary of the assassination of our dear brother, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The assassins may have killed Dr. King, but they did not kill his ideas. His legacy lives on!
Despite all of the progress that we have made as a society, his call for action remains relevant today. Please take a moment to reflect these excerpts from Dr. King's Letter From the Birmingham Jail.
"You may well ask, "Why direct action, why sit-ins, marches, and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are exactly right in your call for negotiation. Indeed, this is the purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has consistently refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. I just referred to the creation of tension as a part of the work of the nonviolent resister. This may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly worked and preached against violent tension, but there is a type of constructive nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must see the need of having nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men to rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. So, the purpose of direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. We therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in the tragic attempt to live in monologue rather than dialogue....
We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have never yet engaged in a direct-action movement that was "well timed" according to the timetable of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "wait." It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. This "wait" has almost always meant "never." It has been a tranquilizing thalidomide, relieving the emotional stress for a moment, only to give birth to an ill-formed infant of frustration. We must come to see with the distinguished jurist of yesterday that "justice too long delayed is justice denied." We have waited for more than three hundred and forty years for our God-given and constitutional rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward the goal of political independence, and we still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward the gaining of a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. I guess it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say "wait." But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize, and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she cannot go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky, and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son asking in agonizing pathos, "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when you take a cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becomes "nigger" and your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name becomes "John," and when your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never knowing what to expect next, and plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodyness" -- then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runsover and men are no longer willing to be plunged into an abyss of injustice where they experience the bleakness of corroding despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience....
I MUST make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods
of direct action"; who paternalistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time; and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection."
Thousands of people around the country are united as one voice demanding justice for Trayvon Martin. Thousands of people are marching in the streets, signing petitions, and wearing hoodies as a sign of solidarity. Apparently, there is an effort to undermine the movement by distracting it. The sources of distraction are the Sanford Police Department, Rev. C.L. Bryant, and the so-called New Black Panther Party.
Physically killing Trayvon Martin and leaving his body in the morgue for three days was not enough for Zimmerman and the Sanford Police Department. They had to assassinate Trayvon's character as well. Through leaks of school records and by scouring Trayvon's Twitter account, Zimmerman's supporters have attempted to label Trayvon as a gold teeth wearing, marijuana smoking, graffiti spraying, good for nothing thug. Here are a few excerpts from the Miami Herald:
As thousands of people gathered here to demand an arrest in the Trayvon Martin case, a more complicated portrait began to emerge of a teenager whose problems at school ranged from getting spotted defacing lockers to getting caught with a marijuana baggie and women’s jewelry.
The Miami Gardens teen who has become a national symbol of racial injustice was suspended three times, and had a spotty school record that his family’s attorneys say is irrelevant to the facts that led up to his being gunned down on Feb. 26.
The fact remains that none of that information has any bearing on whether Zimmerman committed a crime. None of that information justifies the killing of Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman's supporter's goal is obvious. They want the American people in general and the potential jury pool in particular to view Trayvon Martin as a thug who got what he deserved. They want us to focus on Trayvon's flaws, and not police department's ineptitude and callous disregard for black life.
After demonizing Trayvon, according to the Orlando Sentinel, the police released Zimmerman's account of the incident to the press.
With a single punch, Trayvon Martin decked the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who eventually shot and killed the unarmed 17-year-old, then Trayvon climbed on top of George Zimmerman and slammed his head into the sidewalk, leaving him bloody and battered, law-enforcement authorities told the Orlando Sentinel.
That is the account Zimmerman gave police, and much of it has been corroborated by witnesses, authorities say. There have been no reports that a witness saw the initial punch Zimmerman told police about.
After that information was released, a few gullible people prematurely began to ask if the Trayvon Martin case was the next Duke Lacrosse case. Well, the new police video should silence all of that chatter. Check out the video.
Dear Sanford Police, where is Zimmerman's bloody nose? Where is Zimmerman's bloody head? Where is his wet and grass covered shirt or jacket?
Another diversion tactic is this sudden and phony concern about so-called black-on-black crime. Some are questioning why the Trayvon Martin case is getting so much media attention while black on black crime gets little or no media attention. These critics suggest that black people are only concerned about racial incidents and have no concern about black on black murder.
Nothing could be more untrue. There are plenty of stop the violence groups and community anti-gang initiatives. Stop the violence rallies and marches regularly occur in our communities. Many civil rights organizations have fought to eliminate the root causes of inner violence such as high unemployment, inferior schools, influx of firearms and drugs, etc.
Some critics have even argued that black leaders are exploiting this tragedy to promote racial tensions. As reported in the Daily Caller:
Former NAACP leader C.L. Bryant is accusing Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton of “exploiting” the Trayvon Martin tragedy to “racially divide this country.”
“His family should be outraged at the fact that they’re using this child as the bait to inflame racial passions,” Rev. C.L. Bryant said in a Monday interview with The Daily Caller.
The conservative black pastor who was once the chapter president of the Garland, Texas NAACP called Jackson and Sharpton “race hustlers” and said they are “acting as though they are buzzards circling the carcass of this young boy.”
As Roland Martin pointed out, critics such as Rev. C.L. Bryant don't really care about black-on-black violence. They are merely trying to distract us. If they actually cared, they would be out there marching to stop the violence. If they really cared, they would fund anti-violence and anti-gang groups. Instead, all they are doing is attacking committed freedom fighters such as Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson.
The Trayvon Martin case deserves all of the attention that is receiving for several reasons. You have an unarmed young man who was labeled as suspicious just because he was black in a white neighborhood. The young man was not committing any crime. He was simply walking home from the store after purchasing Skittles and iced tea. A white Hispanic man followed, tracked down, hunted and shot down Trayvon like an animal. The killer weighed approximately 100 pounds more than the victim. The police know who the killer is. They had the killer in their custody. They released the killer solely based on his flimsy claim of self-defense. They had the audacity to let the killer keep his weapon. They know exactly where the killer is. Yet, they do nothing.
Over a month later, the killer remains free and armed. Each day, that Zimmerman remains free is a blatant reminder that black life is worthless in America. Essentially, Trayvon Martin was treated like road kill. That's an outrage!
There would be no DOJ and FBI investigations if thousands of people didn't march in the streets around the nation. There would be no State's Attorney investigation or grand jury investigation. The Sanford Police Chief would still be in charge. Again, this extraordinary case deserves our attention. So, those who keep crying about how much attention this case is getting need to just shut up. Don't let them distract you by their disingenuous emphasis on black on black violence.
Finally, the New Black Panther Party is another media distraction. The media has been pushing the story about those lame, imitation Black Panthers issuing a bounty for the capture of Zimmerman. The right is going to try to use those idiots to undermine the legitimacy of the struggle for justice. We must be cognizant of the fact that the power structure routinely uses agent provocateurs to incite and entrap activists. We should ignore them and make it clear that they do not represent us.
As Bob Marley said, don't let them fool you. Don't let those those punk police fool you. Don't let uncle toms like Rev. Bryant sidetrack you. Don't let those buffoons masquerading as Black Panthers or anyone else trick you into doing something crazy. Keep marching, keep petitioning, keep speaking out, keep blogging until we get justice for Trayvon!
In the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, "a time comes when silence is betrayal." I salute the President for speaking out on this horrific tragedy. His comments were compassionate, yet measured and calculated.
It’s been a month since Trayvon Martin, the black 17-year-old Florida high school student, was shot dead by a neighborhood watchman in an incident that has sparked a national uproar. Now that the issue’s exploded into the national press, African-American bloggers, commentators and their allies are calling on Obama to personally condemn the incident.
That’s created another agonizing headache for a president who’s faced trouble when wading into racial issues before—and who’s seemed reluctant to do so every time.
“I would personally be disappointed if the first black president didn’t speak on an issue that has affected so many people so much,” said Boyce Watkins, a Syracuse University professor and community activist. “Trayvon’s death is quickly becoming a national tragedy. But even in spite of the fact that this case is so clear-cut to so many people, it still draws a line” that Obama is unwilling to cross.
Watkins noted that while Obama personally phoned the Georgetown law student whom Rush Limbaugh called “slut” on the air, he hasn’t offered condolences to Martin’s family, publicly or privately.
“It says a lot to me. I think that in the minds of a lot of people of color it speaks to the traditional double standard – that he’d call a privileged white female,” Watkins said. “Yet in spite of this disappointment, we would still make excuses for the first black president.”
Even with the added attention likely to come from the rally Rev. Al Sharpton led in Sanford Thursday and Vice President Joe Biden’s south Florida campaign event Friday, the White House says not to expect Obama to stand at a lectern and speak about the tragedy anytime soon. Though staffers and Democratic operatives interviewed Wednesday said the shooting has been a hot topic inside the West Wing — and that Obama is monitoring the situation closely — they’re wary of a repeat of the uproar caused by Obama’s 2009 offhand comment that a policeman “acted stupidly” in arresting Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates.
Is Boyce Watkins right or wrong? Should President Obama just remain silent about Trayvon Martin? Why or Why not? Tell me what you think.
