Don't Be Pacified By the Cleveland PD Settlement Agreement

The Washington Post reports that:

The city of Cleveland has agreed to have its police department overseen by an independent monitor and subject its officers to strict and explicit new rules on the use of force, under a settlement with the Justice Department that was announced Tuesday.

The agreement, which follows the Justice Department’s finding that Cleveland police engaged in unnecessary and excessive use of force, imposes some of the toughest standards in the nation on the department. It lays out an array of prohibitions in an effort to reduce violent encounters between the police and the community — particularly its minorities — and ingrain “bias-free policing principles” throughout the department.

The police department, according to the agreement, is now expected to “deliver police services with the goal of ensuring that they are equitable, respectful, and free of unlawful bias, in a manner that promotes broad community engagement and confidence.”

The city, for instance, must document every time an officer unholsters a gun, which the agreement says is a reportable use of force and should be investigated as such. “Officers will not unholster and display a firearm unless the circumstances create a reasonable belief that lethal force may become necessary,” according to the rules.

Cleveland officers are now explicitly barred from using neck holds. They can use force against people who are handcuffed or restrained only when it is “objectively reasonable and necessary” to prevent an assault or an escape. And they are instructed not to use retaliatory force, such as punishing “an individual for disrespecting officers,” or use force against people “who only verbally confront them.”

Officers are also not allowed to fire a warning shot, and they are prohibited from firing from or at a moving vehicle unless they can justify the use of lethal force by something other than the threat from the moving car.

The settlement further requires that before resorting to force officers use “de-escalation techniques,” such as verbal persuasion and creating distance between the officer and the threat, whenever possible.

The city also will be required to provide medical care to residents who have been the subjects of force. The agreement does not require the use of body cameras by officers.

The agreement also calls for the creation of a community police commission, made up of 10 representatives from across the community, including from civil rights and student organizations, and one representative each from the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, the Fraternal Order of Police and the Black Shield police association.

This settlement agreement follows the acquittal of Officer Michael Brelo on charges of voluntary manslaughter and felonious assault for the killing of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, two unarmed African Americans. As reported on CNN,

Brelo, 31, was accused of firing the bullets that killed Timothy Russell, 43, and Malissa Williams, 30, on November 29, 2012, after a 22-mile police chase ended in a middle school parking lot. Authorities said Brelo stood on the hood of the car Russell was driving and fired 15 shots through the windshield.

Though about a dozen officers fired a total of 137 rounds at the car, no other officers were charged with manslaughter.

In explaining his verdict, Judge O'Donnell said it was reasonable for Brelo to think Russell and Williams still posed a threat to officers. The chase started after the car driven by Russell backfired -- a noise officers mistakenly thought was caused by gunshots. The judge also said he couldn't be sure Brelo fired the fatal rounds.

Additionally, the settlement agreement comes months after the killing of Tamir Rice, a 12 year old African American boy who was killed by police for having a pellet gun. The police killed Tamir a few seconds after they arrived on the scene.

Hopefully, the Justice Department's settlement agreement will bring about systemic and enduring change in the Cleveland Police Department. Perhaps, it will prevent these blatant examples of excessive force from occurring in the future.

Although this announcement is great news, activists should not allow this news to pacify them. Three black people are dead and justice for them is no where in sight. We must continue to demand justice for Tamir Rice, Timothy Russell, Malissa Williams and all other victims of police brutality in Cleveland and around this nation. We cannot forget them like many have forgotten Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin. Our struggle is far from over.

The Disintegration of Integration

Nettie Hunt and daughter Nikie on steps of U.S. Supreme Court in 1954, Library of Congress

Further evidence of the disintegration of integration...

Black students are significantly more likely to attend high-poverty schools than white students, according to the Urban Institute. 

"In some metropolitan areas, the racial concentration of school poverty is so severe that black and white students effectively attend two different school systems: one for middle- and upper-middle-income white students, and the other for poor students and students of color," says an Urban Institute feature on the subject.
--The Huffington Post

Remember that little episode in history called Brown vs. Board of Education?  It was kind of important in a way because it laid the groundwork for the desegregation of public schools all across America thanks to the legal brilliance of one of America's greatest legal minds, Thurgood Marshall, who at the time was a lawyer for the NAACP. But saying that Thurgood Marshall was a lawyer for the NAACP is kind of like saying that Abraham Lincoln had something to do with the Civil War. If you even whispered Thurgood Marshall's name to black folk way back when, before the civil rights era really got under full steam, the reaction would be as if you had mentioned the name of Moses. Because just like Moses, Thurgood Marshall could part the bloody waters of racism just like...well...just like Moses. Just to hear that "Thurgood's coming" was, to so many terrorized black communities in the Deep South, like hearing the voice of hope itself. If Thurgood was coming that meant there was a chance. Which is why I say that, although I do understand why Dr. Martin Luther King is lionized as The One when it comes to civil rights warriors? Truth be told,  Thurgood Marshall is right up there with him. You don't believe me, study up on the man and then come back and tell me I'm wrong.

But here's the thing that's painful; now that we're recognizing 61 years' worth of 'progress' beyond that fateful day of May 17, 1954, when  Marshall won the day with his victorious - and unanimous - 9-0 Brown vs. Board of Education decision before the U.S. Supreme Court (the same Supreme Court where he would later be appointed as the first black Supreme Court Justice by President Lyndon Johnson on June 13, 1967) it almost seems as if Moses was never here. As if the waters, once parted, are now just as turbulent as they ever were, swallowing whole any evidence of racial reconciliation. From The Atlantic:

Brown's core mission of encouraging integration can best be defined as unfinished. Many civil-rights advocates, such as Gary Orfield, codirector of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, argue that after gains through the late 1980s, the public-school system is undergoing a "resegregation" that has left African-American and Latino students "experiencing more isolation … [than] a generation ago." Other analysts question whether segregation is worsening, but no one denies that racial and economic isolation remains daunting: One recent study found that three-fourths of African-Americans and two-thirds of Hispanics attend schools where a majority of the students qualify as low-income.

I live in Detroit so you don't have to roll out any statistics to convince me of what's going on. All I have to do is walk into just about any public school in this city and see the evidence for myself. And I have to wonder not only what would  Marshall feel about the seeming rollback of such a monumental and hard-fought victory but..

What now..?

First Lady Michelle Speaks the Truth About Race

I salute First Lady Michelle Obama for speaking the truth about race and racism in America. America is not a post-racial society. It probably never will be. I know. The truth hurts. Here is what I think about Mrs. Obama's commencement speech.

African American Doctor Saves an African Orphan

Last night, I saw this story on NBC Nightly News. I had to share it. So often, we hear about white celebrities adopting and assisting African children. We rarely hear about African Americans helping their African brothers and sisters on the continent. Finally, here is such a story.

Wealthy African Americans must do more to help their less fortunate brethren in the 'hoods of America and in the war torn, impoverished regions of Africa. We are one people.

Are You Going to Vote for Dr. Ben Carson?

The Detroit Free Press reports that:

Dr. Ben Carson speaks to supporters in Detroit before officially kicking off his presidential campaign. Kathleen Gray/DFP

Before a packed audience at the Detroit Music Hall, Detroit native Ben Carson officially kicked off his presidential campaign Monday morning.

"I'm Ben Carson and I'm a candidate for president of the United States," he said.

He may not have the pedigree or the political experience for the race, Carson said.

"I'm not even asking people to vote for me. I'm just asking people to listen," he said. "the real pedigree we need to heal this country is someone who believes in our constitution."

Carson chose Detroit, the town in which he grew up, for the announcement and began the day with a prayer breakfast, followed by an assembly at the Detroit high school that bears his name before heading to the official launch of his presidential campaign.

Carson told a Florida TV station Sunday night that was joining the race. And from Detroit, he had been scheduled to travel to Iowa, for three days of events in the pivotal state where the first presidential caucus of the 2016 election cycle will be held Feb. 1.

But, he switched up his plans early Monday and said he'll go to Dallas to be with his critically ill mother Sonya Carson.

He sprinkled his remarks throughout the morning with religious references, noting, "If God ordains that we get into White House. We're going to change the government into something more like a well run business.

"People tell you can't do this, you don't have any experience. But I also don't have a lot of experience busting budgets," Carson said at the Music Hall.

Good morning, family. Yesterday, Dr. Ben Carson announced his bid to become the next President of the United States. Are y'all going to Dr. Carson? Why? Why not?

Morning Thread

Good morning from Baltimore. Peace, family.

Criminal Charges Filed Against Baltimore Police Officers for the Killing of Freddie Gray

WBAL TV reports that:

Mosby announced Friday morning that the six officers suspended in the Gray case are being criminally charged. She said Gray's arrest was illegal and there is probable cause to file charges.

Mosby announced the charges as follows:

- Lt. Brian Rice, 41, has been a member of the Baltimore Police Department since 1997, the supervisor on April 12: Charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office, false imprisonment

- Sgt. Alicia White, 30, has been a member of the Baltimore Police Department since 2010: Charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office

- Police Officer William Porter, 25, has been a member of the Baltimore Police Department since 2012: Charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office

- Police Officer Garrett Miller, 26, has been a member of the Baltimore Police Department since 2012: Charged with second-degree assault intentional, second-degree assault negligent, misconduct in office and false imprisonment

- Police Officer Edward Nero, 29, has been a member of the Baltimore Police Department since 2012: Charged with false imprisonment and second-degree assault intentional, second-degree assault negligent, misconduct in office, false imprisonment

- Police Officer Caesar Goodson, 45, has been a member of the Baltimore Police Department since 1999, the driver of the prisoner transport van: Charged with second-degree depraved heart murder; involuntary manslaughter; second-degree negligent assault; manslaughter by vehicle by means of gross negligence; manslaughter by vehicle by means of criminal negligence; misconduct in office for failure to secure a prisoner, failure to render aid.

A warrant has been issued for the arrests of the officers.

Marilyn Mosby, I love you. Thank you for standing up for justice. We stand with you, sista!!! Justice for Freddie Gray!!! This is only the beginning of the road, family.