Peace!

I open this space for reflections, impressions of the day, etc.

BAGHDAD — The U.S. military said Sunday that the three people killed last month after U.S. soldiers shot at their car in one of the most secured areas of Iraq were civilians, not criminals as the military initially reported.

The correction came more than a month after a bank manager at a branch inside the airport, Hafeth Aboud Mahdi , and two female bank employees were shot at by U.S. soldiers as they sped to work on a road within the secured airport compound. The road is used only by people with high-level security clearance badges. The car veered off the road, hit a concrete blast wall and burst into flames.

The original statement said that Mahdi and the two women were “criminals” and that an American convoy on the side of the secured road came under small-arms fire from the vehicle. Soldiers said they shot back. A weapon was found in the debris and two U.S. military vehicles were struck by bullets from the attack, the statement on June 25 said.

“When we are attacked, we will defend ourselves and will use deadly force if necessary,” said Maj. Joey Sullinger , a spokesman for 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, said at the time. “Such attacks endanger not only U.S. soldiers but also innocent civilians, including women and children, traveling the roadways of Baghdad .”

On Sunday the story changed and the tone was apologetic. A military statement said that neither the civilians who were killed nor the soldiers were at fault for the deaths. An investigation found that “the driver and passengers were law-abiding citizens of Iraq .”

Soldiers had pulled off the road because one of the vehicles in the convoy was having maintenance problems. As they worked on the vehicle they saw Mahdi’s car and thought it was moving too quickly toward them, the statement said. Believing they might be in danger, the soldiers warned the car. When the driver ignored the signals they shot at the vehicle, the statement said.

The alleged attack and the weapon that was said to have been recovered from the burned vehicle were misunderstandings, the statement said.

“This was an extremely unfortunate and tragic incident,” said Col. Allen Batschelet , chief of staff, MND-B and 4th Infantry Division, in a statement. “Our deepest regrets of sympathy and condolences go out to the family. We are taking several corrective measures to amend and eliminate the possibility of such situations happening in the future.”

Mahdi’s son, Mohammed Hafeth, said the statement was insufficient.

He said the image of his father’s burning vehicle haunts him. He’d waited in his father’s office that morning surprised that he wasn’t there yet. They’d left at nearly the same time that morning.

Hafeth drives bank employees to work. That morning his father offered to take one of Hafeth’s passengers and picked up another female bank employee who lived nearby their central Baghdad home.

As he sat in the office a colleague walked in and told Hafeth his father’s car was broken down on the airport road. Hafeth reached for his car keys.

“I’ll drive,” he recalled his colleague saying.

As they approached his father’s car he saw the flames. He jumped from the car and started to run toward the burning vehicle, but U.S. soldiers blocked his way.

“Go,” he recalled them ordering. But he said he couldn’t move. He dropped to the ground and wept as his father burned inside the vehicle.

“Why did they kill him like this?” Mohammed Hafeth said Sunday in a phone interview. “We demand that they send those soldiers to an Iraqi and American court.”

Mahdi was the father of six, including Hafeth. Hafeth said he now shoulders the financial responsibility for his family on his approximately $100 -a-month salary.

“I was shocked that my father was killed by the Americans,” he said. “Supposedly we move in a secured area … we used to wave at them and they waved at us.”

Hafeth said he didn’t accept the compensation offered by the U.S. military. They offered $10,000 , he said, and that wasn’t enough for his father’s car let alone his father’s life.

“My father was a peaceful man,” he said. “He never did anything wrong. Everybody knew his good reputation and everybody liked him.”

McClatchy Special Correspondent Laith Hammoudi contributed to this report.

HAPPY OPEN THREAD FRIDAY!

A few days ago, a brother of an organization I belong to called Brothers United for Change (BUC), sent me and the other brothers of BUC an e-mail. In the e-mail he posed the question: “What do young male youth need the most right now?” Subsequent to his question, he posited the following as his choices: Do male youth need someone to fight for their community, fight for their injustice, or fight for their education?

My response to the brother’s e-mail question was education, and I buttressed my response by citing a quote from Dr. Carter G. Woodson’s perennial book The Mis-Education of the Negro:

[t]he same educational process which inspires and stimulates the oppressor with the thought that he is everything worth while, depresses and [CRUSHES] at the same time the spark of genius in the [Black] by making him feel that his race does not amount to much and never will measure up to the standards of other peoples.

It’s my position that the nihilistic behavior exhibited by some Black male youth, particularly, Black male youth in my city of Baltimore is a direct consequence of an “educational” system that devalues, marginalizes and underestimates Black youth in general, but Black male youth in particular.

Why is it that if you ask most Black youth who discovered America, they will emphatically answer Christopher Columbus? That’s right! In the year 2008, Black youth are still being inculcated with this untruth. The late Dr. John Henrik Clarke, in his book Christopher Columbus and the Afrikan Holocaust states:

[t]oday former Columbus cheerleaders have discarded the word “discovery” and are now using the word “encounter.” They too are aware of the fact that Christopher Columbus discovered absolutely nothing.

Apparently, these Columbus cheerleaders are not employed by the Baltimore City Public School system because this falsehood of “discovery” is still promulgated. Moreover, Dr. Clarke goes on to say that:

Christopher Columbus set in motion: “an act of criminality that influences our very life today. He laid the basis for western racism, misconceptions about people and extensive use of organized religions as a rationale for the enslavement of people.”

Do we need to fight for the injustices that are perpetuated against Black male youth? Absolutely! Do we need to fight to bring back the communal/village aspect that enabled our youth to succeed in spite of gargantuan obstacles predicated on race? Sure! However, until we – the concerned citizens of Baltimore City – are able to implement an educational system that reawakens the African mind, we will continue to witness our Black male youth, to paraphrase Haki R. Madhubuti, being responsible and responsive to somebody else’s needs at the expense and detriment of themselves and their people.

I would like to thank brother Overton of BUC and his wife for inspiring a very spirited e-mail conversation.

Eric Johnson is Computer Scientist and a member of Brothers United for Change (BUC) which is an organization dedicated to the elevation of troubled young Black men. He can be reached at eric.v.johnson@verizon.net

EXTRAVAGANZA! YOUTH FIGHTING FOR JOBS!

The young people in our city have set up an exciting day for Wednesday, April 30 from 9 am to 3 pm at City Hall Plaza. Each of the organizations in the Peer 2 Peer Network will be presenting a workshop showing what peer to peer teaching could look like. (more information about Peer 2 Peer can be found in this Baltimore Sun article

The students are encouraging young people to join them to learn from their peers and older folks to come support them as they urge Mayor Sheila Dixon to fund Peer to Peer Enterprises.

EXTRAVAGANZA! YOUTH FIGHTING FOR JOBS!

Here is a tentative schedule of the day:

9:05AM-9:30AM : Morning Assembly: Community Rap Session on P2P, presentations, discussion

10:00AM-12:00 pm : Session One (2 sets of 45 minute workshops by Peer2Peer groups)

12:00-1:00 pm : Break and Lunch

1:00-1:30: Afternoon Assembly: Community Rap Session on P2P, presentations, discussion

1:30-3:00 pm : Session Two: (2 sets of 45 minute workshops by Peer2Peer groups)

3:00-3:15 pm: Closing and Finale

Sponsored by: Hip Hop Congress Baltimore, Safe and Sound, Baltimore Algebra Project,Y.O.U.R.S., Kids on the Hill, Chesapeake Youth Development, Youth As Resources, Liberty Learning Center , Entrepreneurial Training University, Unchained Talent, Womb Works Productions, Baltimore Urban Debate League, Follow Your Dreams, Student Sharing Coalition

For more information, call Chris Goodman, 443-957-5346, or by e-mail: chris_byc@yahoo.com

However, Rudy isn’t the only young man from our church making great strides in the sport of basketball.

Jack McClinton plays for the Miami Hurricanes and is phenomenally gifted on the hardwood. The brotha got skills and almost on a weekly basis, Jack demonstrates why he’s one of the best collegiate players in the ACC and indeed the country.

This past Sunday, Miami played Clemson and it really came down the to the wire. As I watched the game, I noticed how neither team really had momentum. They were just going back and forth, sometimes scoring, and staying within a few points of each other. Then it happened. As he is prone to do – Jack took over the game.

As the clock was winding down, Jack hit three straight three pointers to seal the deal and catapult his team to victory!

Jack’s effort did not go unnoticed. His 3-straight three pointers is currently in the running to be selected as the ACC Play of the week.

Please go to the ACC website and vote for Jack McClinton (Play number 4). He’s currently in the lead by about 20 votes.

Go Jack!

[Just for the sake of balance, I'll be profiling other young people from my church doing great things in the classroom and community as well. We just don't applaud our athletes at Shiloh Baptist Church. Our youth make us proud in many areas!]

He and his family are an integral part of Shiloh and it is really exciting seeing him continue to flourish and grow as a young man and as an NBA All-Star.

Well – Rudy is preparing for the 2008 Slam Dunk Contest on February 16th at the NBA All-Star game this year so if any of you want to help him find a dunk that will put him over the top…help ya self. He’s asking for people to demonstrate their dunk and upload it to youtube for him to review. He will duplicate the winning video’s dunk during this year’s Slam Dunk Contest. Check it out….

Go Rudy!