Faith in Action

“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. 

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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:

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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.

Want proof? Here’s just one story of the thousands that are rarely held up for examination.

A few days ago two female officers were shot in East Baltimore while responding to a situation where young men were playing dice.

Of course, members of the Baltimore City Police Department swarmed on the area and immediately everyone in the neighborhood was a criminal.  According to an article in “Who Got Shot Last Night” - also known as the Baltimore Sun; many innocent civilians were mistreated by officers who were hellbent on finding the perpetrator.

This from a sun article entitled “Outsiders blamed in neighborhood trying to rebound” (7/31/07) by Nicole Fuller: (emphasis mine)

…Johnson, however, was not pleased with the Police Department’s treatment of some residents in the hours after the shootings. He and several of his neighbors said they were handcuffed, thrown in a police wagon and interrogated by several city police detectives for hours without being charged with a crime.

They said the officers swore, shouted and threatened them. Johnson, who said he has complained to the department’s Internal Affairs Division, said they were released about 2:30 a.m.

“They really made us feel like we were suspects,” said Latonya Geathers, 24, a cashier at Burger King, who recounted being handcuffed on the street in full view of television and newspaper cameras. “They humiliated us in front of the whole neighborhood, like we were the culprits. It was terrible. We’re working people. We felt bad about the situation, too.”

Antony Clayton, 43, was shown in a photograph published in yesterday’s Sun leaving his house with his hands in the air as officers pointed their guns.

“They were ready to retaliate,” Clayton said, relieved he was finally released, but unable to work yesterday as a laborer because he couldn’t get any sleep after the incident. “You know how cops get when somebody shoots a cop.”

I understand the zeal of the officers who were trying to locate the shooter and I even recognize that the department is operating under duress; however, that gives them no right to handcuff, threaten, detain for hours, humiliate, and swear at innocent civilians.  They operate as if every person with brown skin is a suspect.  This type of behavior will never result in a healthy relationship between the community and the police department.

I hope that residents in that neighborhood contact the Civilian Review Board and lodge a formal complaint.  The African American community in Baltimore does not deserve such treatment.  We don’t have to take it.  We don’t have to continue to bow, wink, and swallow the unjust practices of the Baltimore City Police Department.  Contact the Baltimore branch NAACP, Darren Muhmmad (WOLB 1010AM), and/or Solvivaz Nation (Reality Speaks). They will help to provide a wide platform for this issue in an effort to galvanize the masses. 

WE DON’T HAVE TO TAKE THIS! WHY DO WE CONTINUE TO?

ATLANTA (AP) - Yolanda King, an actress and producer as well as the eldest child of U.S. civil rights legends Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, has died after apparently suffering heart failure. She was 51.King, who pursued her father’s dream of racial harmony through drama and motivational speaking, died late Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif., said a spokesman for the King Center.