Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed legislation to end the death penalty in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia is the first southern state to end the death penalty and holds the dubious distinction of being the second highest state of executions with 1400 lives taken since the Colonies. The death penalty has its roots in slavery, slave patrols, lynching and Jim Crow. The good news is that Virginia becomes the 23rd state to end the death penalty. The bad news is that 27 other states still have the death penalty. Ironically, lynching was the precursor to the death penalty. Lynching events decreased as capital punishment took its place in the South. Eight in ten executions since 1976 have occurred in the South. And eight in ten lynching incidents from 1889 to 1918 were carried out in the South. Executions in Virigna were carried out by hanging for the first 300 years until 1908. The earliest form of the death penalty was the slave patrols. The earliest form of … [Read more...] about Virginia Ends Death Penalty After 400 Years
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Atatiana Jefferson Deserves Justice
The murder of Atatiana Jefferson, cut me through the core. It was the most recent killing of an African American by a white police officer while relaxing in her Forth Worth, Texas home playing video games with her 8 year- old nephew. I had hardly recovered from the trial of Amber Guyger murdering Botham Jean in his Dallas home when this incident occurred. In the early morning hours on October 5, a police officer, now fired, went to Jefferson’s home to do a wellness check at the bequest of her neighbor. Instead of checking on her well-being, the officer shot her to death. If the officer had been a drug dealer or a burglar peering through her window and firing at her, it would be considered an assassination. I consider the cowardly act of this police officer to be an assassination of an innocent young woman, not yet 30 years old. We can’t continue to have black lives taken at the hands of trigger- happy police who fear African Americans. There must be accountability both before an … [Read more...] about Atatiana Jefferson Deserves Justice
Lynching Statement by GOP Senator is no Laughing Matter
Everyday bold racist statements emerge in the media. A recent appalling racist statement was made by Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. She praised support for someone by saying: “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.” As an African American who is a descendant of slaves, I can never get used to the bigoted statements and bigotry in the U.S. In response, Hyde-Smith says “any attempt to turn this into a negative connotation is ridiculous.” She’s running in a run-off election against Mike Epsy, an African American and former Congressman. I don’t know what Hyde-Smith thinks about a public lynching. But I can tell her that it’s no joking matter—now or never. It is a negative part of U.S. history. Billy Holliday sang Strange Fruit in which the lyrics describe lynching of Blacks in the south. Those words in part were: “Southern trees bear strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging … [Read more...] about Lynching Statement by GOP Senator is no Laughing Matter
Sorry Camille Cosby but Bill Cosby was not Lynched
Camille Cosby broke her silence today following her husband’s conviction when she wrote a scathing attack on the justice system comparing Bill Cosby’s, conviction to a “lynching”, “mob justice” or to Emmett Till. Cosby who was tried and convicted on three counts of sexual assaults on Andrea Constand, after a first jury failed to reach a verdict. Mrs. Cosby’s misunderstanding of the words “lynching” and “mob justice” deserves a teaching moment for her and perhaps many others who might be confused. The National Memorial for Peace and Justice opened on April 26, 2018 in downtown Montgomery, Alabama and is dedicated to the legacy of enslaved Blacks who lost their lives through lynching. It depicted the over 4000 known lynchings that were held in this country of mostly African Americans from post slavery to 1950. And when it opened, some questioned why a memorial on lynching was necessary. Comments like Camille Cosby’s show there is a need for the public to be aware of the … [Read more...] about Sorry Camille Cosby but Bill Cosby was not Lynched
Martin Luther King, Jr. 50 Years Later: What’s Changed?
On April 4, 1968 civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated while standing on the Lorraine hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee. In the wake of 50 years since his assassination, with the Trump era, white supremacy uprisings, police shootings of unarmed African Americans, disenfranchisement of Black convicted felons and mass incarceration, many are left wondering if anything has changed in 50 years or changed for the worse. In order to reflect on the 50 years, one must begin with a look back at the years before Martin Luther King’s rise in civil rights era. Martin Luther King, Jr. led the civil rights movement from approximately 1955 until his death in 1968—a short 13 years. In those 13 short years, King’s leadership with others accomplished more than had been accomplished in the 350 years since Blacks first arrived in the U.S. Throughout the U.S. African Americans were treated as less than 2nd class citizens. Separate but equal was the law. In the year before … [Read more...] about Martin Luther King, Jr. 50 Years Later: What’s Changed?
Stephon Clark’s Killing and a Demand for Justice
On March 18, 2018 Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old Black man, father of two children from Sacramento, California was one of the more than 230 persons shot and killed by police in 2018. Mr. Clark was unarmed when he was shot and killed in his grandmother’s back yard. Mr. Clark’s family attorney, Benjamin Crump, arranged for an independent autopsy. The autopsy conducted revealed that Clark was shot 8 times in the back. A total of 20 rounds were fired at Mr. Clark. These autopsy results contrast with the statements of the officers who claim they feared for their lives. Mr. Clark was not armed but only possessed a cell phone. Every year on average, there are 1000 persons killed by police in the U.S. Clark’s shooting death has once again caused outrage over the killings of unarmed Black men to be shot and killed by police in the U.S. Blacks are shot and killed by police at a rate of almost 3 times that of whites. Since 2005, there have only been roughly 80 arrests or charges of … [Read more...] about Stephon Clark’s Killing and a Demand for Justice