Faith in Action

Last week which began on Wednesday for me started with a visit to a local transitional organization I support called Caring Through The Spiritual Eye, Inc.  The organization was started by Shirell Tyner who by the grace of God overcame drug use and incarceration to start this organization - while in prison - to support women in recovery. 

From there I was supposed to go to Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) to hear Dr. Michael Eric Dyson speak about his book on the Hurricane Katrina tragedy called Come Hell or High Water, but I think that he - and Bill Cosby - may have lost their minds.  Dyson because he published one of the weakest arguments that I’ve read to date opposing Dr. Delman Coates and the Enough is Enough Campaign.  His position wreaks of personal allegiance to Debra Lee (you have noticed an increase of his appearances on BET haven’t you?) and attempts to distract readers from the central issue at stake - corporate responsibility in American media.  Cosby because his latest book Come on People bares his behind and exposes him for the well meaning, yet disconnected elitist that he has become - Come on Bill! - if you gotta problem with poor Blacks, challenge institutional racism, help to finance the creation of institutions in the ‘hood AND lovingly teach the least among us to do their share to resist their own oppressive conditions.  Don’t just beat people over the head with the negative stats, facts, and figures, that we’ve heard over and over again.  Well, as you may have guessed by now - I passed on the opportunity to hear the rhetorical revolutionary whoo the crowd with his loquacious oratorical presentation and verbose verbage devoid of any sincere and/or strategic solutions for systemic change. (Didn’t know I could speak Dyson did you?)

So that night - Wednesday night that is - I spoke at the NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet after marching for 3 1/2 hours in the March for Jobs and Education organized by the Baltimore Algebra Project, as previously mentioned.  I didn’t have a chance to change so I walked into the banquet damp with the wet of hard-earned “justice sweat.”  I kept my stickers and pins on my jacket and put a “No Education No Life” t-shirt on over my clergy collar. I thought the ”banqueteers” would enjoy visual encouragement to do less meeting, greeting, and eating and do more bleeding, sweating, and serving.  I was right. 

While at the march I ran into so many people who I have come to know as comrades in the struggle. 

Freedom Writer was there in support of the students.  FW, pictured above with his son, is 1/2 of the dynamic duo, Precise Science, who spit conscious Hip Hop designed to educate Afrikan people.  It’s been a year since I blogged about them.  I’m glad to see they’re still doing their thing.

Another comrade that went hard for the full 3 1/2 hours was Rip The Ruler (left).  Rip chanted at the top of his lungs the whole time, urging passing motorists to honk in support of the students.

“WE DON’T WANT NO PITY, WE WANT FUNDING FOR OUR CITY!”

And that was just Wednesday my friends.

This past Wednesday was a fantastic day for social justice in Baltimore City.  I was privileged to participate as a speaker for the NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet - an impressive fundraiser for the local branch which included such notables as Sen. Larry Young (MC), Pastor Harold Carter, Sr., Fred Mason, and civil rights author, Taylor Branch.

However, the highlight of my day was participating in the march for jobs and education organized by the Baltimore Algebra Project.  A diverse crowd of about 300 activists gathered at City Hall ready to raise their voices and move their feet for a noble cause.  The bottom line is that students in the Baltimore City Public School System have been short-changed for years in the areas of funding, mis-management of acquired funds, and the lack of the same types of resources in the classroom that their peers enjoy in the suburbs.  We also marched to express our disdain for a city that does not provide gainful employment for its youth.  In a city that has construction cranes everywhere, one would think that there would be enough jobs to go around, however, that is not the case.  Young people in strained financial situations often have to make tough decisions regarding how they are going to help make ends meet in their homes. 

Read More

Today I will join members of the Baltimore Algebra Project and their many allies as we march for jobs and quality education for Baltimore City’s youth.  These committed students are extremely frustrated with a government that seems to be more concerned with criminalizing them and/or locking them up than it is providing a quality education for them and securing avenues to gainful employment.  While “gang enforcement” is the buzz word in Baltimore and other cities in the nation, fewer people are talking about the root causes that help to cultivate the growth and expansion of these street organizations.  What many will find is that at the root is social injustice - concentrated poverty, substandard educational systems, aggressive policing, blight, and divestment by the business sector coupled with fragmented families and shotty social support (i.e. unconcerned Faith institutions, dirth of recreational opportunities, etc.) create the perfect storm that propels the disconnected and marginalized to fashion their own “community.”

I join the Baltimore Algebra Project (BAP) in calling on Governor Martin O’Malley, Mayor Sheila Dixon, and all other elected officials (especially the Baltimore delegation) to provide Baltimore City youth with a quality education as mandated by the Maryland State Constitution (and as requested in this 2006 Baltimore City Council Resolution) and to create job opportunities so that the city’s younger population can become members of the city’s workforce.

Today the march will begin at Baltimore’s City Hall, 3:30PM.  For those in Baltimore, I pray to see you there.

Enjoy this rap video by a couple of members of BAP as they offer lyrical expression to their desires. (This video features some of my pictures - Chris! X! Can a brotha get some credit?!)

Hello People,

I am writing this to convey to all of you something that I have been thinking about recently.  Freedom Ain’t free.  As I spent the day pissed off about being ripped off by AT&T, it occurred to me that my problem was minor.

 

Eddie Conway (pictured above) has been ripped off by this very criminal justice system for over 37 years.  That is a lifetime.  A lifetime absent of many of the things that we take for granted like cell phones, a cup of coffee at some corporate chain, the ability to watch the Sopranos, a hot bath, and just being able to close a door and be alone.  And while all of those things suggest privilege - well freedom ain’t really free.  We spend money on those things and more and sometimes we even see them as needs, but on a daily basis Eddie struggles to keep enough money on his phone card to keep up with the world outside the walls.  His is a hand to mouth existence and despite this Eddie has more freedom in his spirit than many of us, but it ain’t really enough freedom.

Read More

“You can kill a revolutionary, but you can’t kill a revolution!”

Those are the words of Fred Hampton, Deputy Chairman of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party, who was assassinated by an axis of evil - the Chicago Police Department, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, and the FBI on December 4, 1969.

Last night, I watched The Murder of Fred Hampton, a 1971 documentary which provides rarely seen footage of Black Panther meetings, rallies, and community outreach - of course focusing on Hampton.  The film was shown at MICA’s Brown’s Center (Falvey Hall) as a part of the Fall Film Series.  The series, which takes place every Tuesday night of this month, will feature various personalities from the Black Panther Party as a part of the Black Panther Rank & File Exhibition that is taking place here in Baltimore. 

Read More

A Jena 6 followup organizing meeting for the Baltimore area will take place this Thursday, September 27, 2007 6PM at Empowerment Temple’s Family Life Center. (1505 Eutaw Place, Baltimore, MD 21217) As we know, the work is not over yet.

Here is the agenda for Thursday’s meeting:

Read More

As many of you know, thousands of people are gearing up for this Thursday’s (Sept. 20th) lineup of rallies/protests in Jena, Louisiana and elsewhere.  The Jena 6 movement has grown strong legs thanks to radio personality, Michael Baisdon, Rev. Al Sharpton, and thousands of grassroots activists.  Good news was realized this past Friday in the case of Mychal Bell - the first of the Jena 6 who was scheduled to be sentenced.  Bell’s last conviction was overturned citing the fact that he should never have been tried as an adult.  Be that as it may, the public should keep the pressure on until justice is served for all of the boys. 

For those of you in Baltimore who can’t make it to Jena for the rally on Thursday, there are two events that I know of which are taking place here.  See below:

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2007

12Noon - 1:30PM at Coppin State University, 2500 W. North Avenue, Baltimore (in front of Parlett L. Moore Library)

7PM - 9PM at New Shiloh Baptist Church, 2100 N. Monroe Street, Baltimore

For more information about either of these events, please contact:

 Doc Cheatham at (410) 669-8683

Please consider lending your voice and support to the Jena 6. To learn how you can help please visit Color of Change.