Jordan Miles: The Face of American Injustice

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that:

The eight-member jury that heard the Jordan Miles civil trial today reached a mixed verdict, finding the three officers liable for the false arrest of Mr. Miles, but it found that they did not use excessive force.

The jury awarded compensatory damages of $101,016.75 plus punitive damages of $6,000 against each officer, for total damages of $119,016.75.

The all-white jury of four men and four women reached the verdict following 10 days of testimony, a solid day of closing arguments and deliberations that started Friday morning.

"It's a victory on my behalf because the jury found the police officers to be guilty," said Mr. Miles. "It's not over, because God didn't say it's over."

Joel Sansone, the attorney for Mr. Miles, said, "The police officers broke the rules, arrested my client and violated his rights under the Fourth Amendment."

He said there were pre-trial decisions made by the judge that kept evidence out of the case that "points to the guilt of these police officers."

Mr. Sansone called for a reopening of the federal criminal investigation of the officers.

"I cannot explain the jury's failure to find excessive force," Mr. Sansone said. Nor could he explain the verdict amount. "You realize a six-figure verdict, while it may not seem a lot to some, is a lot of money."

The case hinged on the details of an arrest on Jan. 12, 2010, on Tioga Street in Homewood, and on the credibility of parties. Mr. Miles' version of events differed radically from those of Pittsburgh police officers Michael Saldutte and David Sisak, and former city officer Richard Ewing, now with McCandless.

The article further states that:

Undisputed is that Mr. Miles, then 18, was walking from his mother's house to his grandmother's, around the block, at around 11 p.m.

Mr. Miles said he was holding a cell phone to his ear, talking with a friend. The officers said his hands were in his pockets, suggesting he was using a Bluetooth hands-free calling device.

Mr. Miles said he walked on the street, because the sidewalks were icy. The officers said he was seen huddled between two houses, then came out to the sidewalk.

The jury had to weigh whether the three plainclothes officers leapt from their unmarked car demanding of the plaintiff money, drugs and a gun, as Mr. Miles claimed, or calmly identified themselves as law enforcement and began asking questions.

Both sides agreed that Mr. Miles tried to run, and slipped on ice. The Homewood man said he never got up and didn't fight, while the officers said he rose and elbowed the pursuing Officer Saldutte in the head.

The defense contended that Officer Sisak tried a Taser and then tackled Mr. Miles through a hedgerow, accounting for the twigs lodged in his mouth and the dreadlocks that tore free from his head. Mr. Miles has professed no recollection of a trip through the bushes.

Mr. Miles said he just curled up in a ball, while Officer Sisak said the young man donkey-kicked him in the knee.

Officer Ewing said he used a leg sweep to take Mr. Miles down.

Then there was the issue of the Mountain Dew bottle. The officers said they saw and then felt a bulge in Mr. Miles' coat pocket, which turned out to be a bottle of the soft drink. Mr. Miles said he wasn't carrying any bottle, and hates Mountain Dew.

Neither side disputes that the officers struck Mr. Miles repeatedly in his sides and finally his head, in an ultimately successful effort to get him handcuffed.

The Homewood man claimed someone choked him and struck him in the head after he was handcuffed, including a final clout with a hard object. The officers strenuously denied using any force after Mr. Miles was handcuffed.

Was Mr. Miles stripped of his coat before being placed in the police wagon? He said yes, the officers said no. There was likewise no agreement on the officers' claim that they asked a neighbor if she knew him.

Associated Press also reports that:

Miles' attorneys previously demanded $2 million to settle the case and rejected the city's offer of $180,000. The city, instead, paid $75,000 to settle Miles' claims against the government itself, with the understanding that money would be deducted from any damages award against the officers.

Because more than $41,000 of the verdict was covered by city insurance, the city's $75,000 could be deducted from the remaining $78,000 — leaving Miles with a net award of $3,000, Wymard and Campbell said. And Miles could still wind up paying some of the officers' attorneys' fees because he didn't win the case outright.

Sansone said he was still researching those claims and couldn't immediately comment, but Wymard said, "Eventually, Miles may well be writing the City of Pittsburgh a check in this case."

In America, the masses are inundated with a constant stream of the news reports about young black male criminal suspects.  The entertainment industry bombards the public with negative music, videos and movies depicting black men selling drugs and killing each other. Such imagery promotes the false notion that most black men are thugs, drug dealers, gangsters, public enemies and menaces.  As a result, society views our black skin as a badge of criminality. 

For those reasons, the police automatically assume that an African American boy walking to his grandmother's house at night must be engaged in some kind of criminal activity.  Due to his race, they wrongly assume that he must possess guns and drugs. Such assumptions give police departments around this country a license to stop, harass, beat and even kill black youth with impunity.  In the words of rapper KRS One, some police officers are like modern day overseers on urban plantations.

In this case, those three white police officers beat Jordan Miles beyond recognition. Those chumps beat Jordan Miles like he was a runaway slave.

To make matters even worst, an all white jury found that the police officers' vicious brutality was justified. The jury's verdict is completely incomprehensible.  On one hand, they found the officers liable for false arrest.  On the other hand, they found that the officers did not use excessive force against Jordan Miles. 

Similar to the Michael Dunn verdict, the only explanation has to be race. The jury was all white.  The officers were white. The plaintiff was a young black man.  That jury obviously identified with those white police officers and found their testimony to be more creditable than a young black man's testimony.  Sadly, even this Age of Obama, a black man's testimony carries little weight in the court system. Jordan Miles' battered and swollen face is a symbol of the judicial system's brutality towards black people. It is the face of American injustice.

They give the brother a few dollars for his false arrest claim and they expect him and the community to be pacified. They expect us to just bow down and surrender.  Never.  As attorney Joel Sansone said, we must demand a federal criminal investigation. 

Every other day, there is another incident of police brutality or white vigilantism. Every other day, there is another campaign for justice.  The names of the victims change, but the systemic problem of police brutality continues to fester.  Like an unabated plague, it moves from host to host, from victim to victim. Each black generation continues to experience this brutal cycle of state sponsored terrorism.  Today, it is Jordan Miles.  Tomorrow, it will be someone else.  When will this madness end?

Black Achievement Series: Avery Coffey

Here is some great news. I am proud of this young brother, Avery Coffey. Fox 5 reports that:

This is the college acceptance season -- frequently a nervous time for high school seniors. But D.C.'s Avery Coffey can relax. He applied to five Ivy League universities and all five accepted him.

Coffey attends Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, a D.C. public school with strict rules. None of the 439 students at Banneker is allowed to bring a cell phone into the building. They are also not allowed to go to their lockers during the school day. (That has spawned the peculiar tradition of piling up textbooks at the base of lockers, so kids can switch books between classes without violating the locker rule.)

The strict rules at Banneker have fostered a rather serious academic environment. Principal Anita Berger says year after year after year, 100 percent of Banneker graduates are accepted into post-secondary institutions.

Among these brainy and motivated public school students is 17-year-old Coffey who, like a lot of kids, enjoys sports. What does he play?

"Baseball, basketball, tennis, soccer," Coffey told us.

He also enjoys academics, and he has a 4.3 high school report card average, adjusted for the demanding International Baccalaureate courses he takes. Coffey scored very high on standardized tests also. He calls himself a "determined" student.

Coffey applied to five Ivy League universities, and, amazingly, has been accepted at all of them: Harvard, Princeton, Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, and Brown.

And four of the five universities have already offered very generous financial aid packages. (Harvard is still formulating its offer.)

Did the Punk Police Kill Another Brother?!!?!

RT reports that:

A Louisiana community is asking questions nearly a month after police said that a young man fatally shot himself in the back in the back of a patrol car. As the state police continue their investigation, though, the man's family is anxious for an answer.

Victor White III, 22, was apprehended by police in Iberia Parish on the night of Sunday March 2 because of their suspicion that he was involved in a fight nearby. Trooper Stephen Hammons told the Baton Rouge Advocate that deputies who searched White claimed to find illegal drugs on his person, at which point they handcuffed him and drove to the police station for processing.

Exactly what happened next is unclear. Harmons told local media outlets that White was uncooperative when it came time to enter the police car, was able to produce a weapon with his hands cuffed behind his back, and fired a single shot into his own back. The young man was then taken by ambulance to a local hospital and pronounced dead.

“We’re investigating how he got the gun,” Harmons said earlier this month. “It’s too early in our investigation to comment further.”

Sheriff Louis Ackal called on state police to launch an investigation into the matter, meaning the authorities are not permitted to comment publicly until the investigation is completed.

Victor White Sr. told Vice’s Wilbert Cooper that, when he drove the two hours from his home to New Iberia, it was difficult to find an officer who would explain what had happened that Sunday night. He said the authorities initially refused to let him see Victor’s body and, when he refused to leave without an answer, they had conditions.

“They told me I couldn’t see his lower body. I could only see his face,” the elder White told Vice. “It wasn’t until I got back and looked on the state police’s Facebook page that I found out what had happened to my son.”

Here we go again. Another brother dies in police custody under suspicious circumstances. Trooper Hammons' account is completely implausible. The police thoroughly searched Mr. White before they put him in the car. It is highly unlikely that they would fail to uncover a gun during that search.  Hammons' story is improbable. I doubt that Mr. White magically conjured up a gun and decided to shoot himself in the back.

Obviously, there is a real probability that the police killed that brother and tried to cover their tracks by fabricating this incredible, fantastical explanation. Too often, police plant guns and drugs on black people in order to justify police brutality and humiliating harassment. I hope that civil rights organizations remain vigilant and continue to demand a full and thorough investigation. The struggle continues.

President Obama is "A Trained Ape"?!?!

"It has been said that the negro is the link between monkey and man, meaning of course the white man." Frantz Fanon

The Root reports that:

Belgian newspaper De Morgen has formally apologized after a harsh backlash over an image the paper published Saturday depicting President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as apes, Al Jazeera reports.

The Flemish newspaper published the ape photo and another of President Obama with language describing him as a marijuana seller in a satire section, "The Obama Herald," jokingly stating that Russian President Vladimir Putin had submitted the photos. The joke did not go over very well, however, especially considering that the president was to be in Belgium on Tuesday as part of his European trip.

The apology, Al Jazeera notes, came in the form of an article, "Is De Morgen Racist?" In it, the paper acknowledged that the joke was "tasteless" and said that "we wrongly assumed that racism is no longer accepted, and that in this way it could be the subject of a joke."

Apparently, a former U.S. government official does not object to the first African American president being compared to an ape. Politico reports:

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is blasting the Obama administration’s handling of Afghanistan, saying a “trained ape” could have done a better job in diplomatic relations with the country.

“We have status of forces agreements probably with 100, 125 countries in the world,” Rumsfeld said Monday night on “On the Record with Greta van Susteren” on Fox News. “This administration, the White House and the State Department, have failed to get a status of forces agreement. A trained ape could get a status of forces agreement. It does not take a genius.”

By the way, Rumsfeld should be the last person to question anyone's competence. Check out this video from the Young Turks.

For centuries, in order to justify the oppression of African people, the white man has depicted the black people as subhuman ape like creatures. The De Morgen photos and Donald Rumsfeld's outrageous statements are modern day manifestations of that despicable and racist tradition.

Those statements and photos are not just a personal insult directed against the President and First Lady. They are a racist insult against all African people. They are another reminder that some people will continue to view black people as subhuman no matter how much we accomplish in life. As far as they are concerned, we are just apes and niggers. We are not apes. We are not niggers. We are founders of human civilization.

The End of the White Man's World

About a week ago, I came across the following article on Right Wing Watch. The article states that:

Pat Buchanan devoted his column last week to adding his own racist spin to the issue of population decline in Europe, which he laments is turning "European Man" into "an endangered species."

Europe's population woes, Buchanan writes, mean that “European Man is an endangered species” as since World War I “all the great European empires—British, French, German, Russian, Italian—have vanished” and “are being invaded and repopulated by African, Asian and Middle Eastern peoples they once ruled.”

He’s also upset about the growing non-white population in America, warning that by 2050, “most Americans will… trace their ancestry to Asia, Africa and Latin America.” In a column last year, he wistfully called this “the demographic winter of white America.”

European Man is an endangered species. European Man is dying out. By 2050, Russia, the fourth most populous nation in 1950, will be 15th, behind Egypt, and far behind Congo and Tanzania. The only Western nation in the top 14 will be the USA. But most Americans will then trace their ancestry to Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Since 1914, all the great European empires—British, French, German, Russian, Italian—have vanished. All the great armies and navies have melted away. All are being invaded and repopulated by African, Asian and Middle Eastern peoples they once ruled. And almost all of the native-born populations of Europe are aging and dying and passing away.

Pat Buchanan is not your stereotypical redneck white supremacist. He is a man of power, a man of influence.  That man was an advisor to U.S. Presidents. He was a key Republican figure, a Presidential candidate and a major news analyst.

Unfortunately, his views are not fringe views. They represent the covert, subliminal driving force behind many right wing policies in this country. Those views represent the unspoken motivation behind the hatred of Obama. They are the force behind the opposition to immigration reform and  affirmative action. Fear is their motivation. They fear the end of the white man's world.

@RepCummings: Speak Brother Speak!

Washington Post reported that:

Darrell Issa, chairman of the House committee leading numerous investigations of the Obama administration, found a new way to silence Democratic critics who question his actions: He shut off the microphones.

The California Republican had said that Lois Lerner, a key figure in the IRS targeting of tea party groups, would testify before his House Oversight and Government Reform panel on Wednesday, but instead she refused to answer questions. After Issa forced Lerner to invoke her Fifth Amendment rights no fewer than 10 times, the committee’s top Democrat, Elijah Cummings (Md.), raised his hand to speak.

Issa looked at Cummings, ignored him, adjourned the hearing and slammed down the gavel.

“Mr. Chairman? Mr. Chairman? Mr. Chairman?” Cummings bellowed.

Issa, who was gathering his papers, turned around. “We’ve adjourned,” he said.

“Mr. Chairman, you cannot run a committee like this,” Cummings fumed. “We’re better than that as a committee. I have asked for a few minutes to ask a procedural — ”

Issa had stood up and now pressed a button in front of him that silenced Cummings’s microphone.

Once upon a time, there were no black people in Congress. Once upon a time, a black man would never raise his voice at a white man. Once upon a time, when a white man told a black man to do something, the black man would say, "Yes sir boss." Those days are gone.

Even nowadays, many black politicians are afraid to be perceived as "the angry black man" or "the angry black woman".  Many lower their voices and moderate their speech patterns, expressions and mannerisms to appease hyper-sensitive white voters. Thank God that Rep. Elijah Cummings is not that kind of black politician.

I commend the brother for continuing to speak out.   I commend the brother for standing up to that no good, witch hunting bully Rep. Darrell Issa.  Rep. Cummings, your constituents and the African Americans are proud of you sir.

12 Years A Slave Should Inspire Us and Hollywood

As reported on the Root, "the brilliant, yet brutal 12 Years A Slave made history Sunday night as the first film directed by a black man, with a predominately black cast, to win an Oscar for Best Picture." The film also won an Oscar for best adapted screenplay.

In addition, Lupita Nyong'o won an Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in the film. Congratulations Ms. Nyong'o. Congratulations to director Steve McQueen, actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, the other actors and the whole crew. Those awards were well deserved.

Clearly, slavery films are difficult to watch. Such films tap into African Americans' genetic memory and force us to briefly relive the traumatic and horrific experiences of our ancestors. However, we cannot negate our history. Like to Jews, we must never forget our holocaust.

If you have not seen 12 Years A Slave, I strongly encourage you to do so. It is a powerful, compelling, brutal, painful, depressing and yet inspiring film. It is a tale about the triumph of the human spirit over despair and hopelessness.

Hopefully, the success of 12 Years A Slave will inspire Hollywood to produce, finance and support more quality films about the African American and African experience. We need films about Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey, Gabriel Prosser and others. In addition to slave narrative films, we need more films about African life before slavery and colonialism. We need to bring more African kings and queens to the big screen. We need to do more films about black inventors, black scientists, black doctors, black civil rights attorneys, black business leaders, black doctors, and black teachers. We need films about Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. DuBois and countless other outstanding black leaders and figures.

When those kind of quality films come to the big screen, we must support them. If we can support the Madeas, we definitely should support the Solomon Northups.