by A.man.I

BLOGGING FOR JUSTICE
AfroSpear Bloggers are working to raise awareness about two rape cases today in conjunction with AfricanAmericanPoliticalPundit and the Blogging for Justice campaign.

The incidents are the West Virginia rape case involving Megan Williams, and the gang rape that occurred in Florida where a woman was forced to have sex with her son.

Here are some of the details about each horrible situation, per the AfroSpear.

Megan Williams

Megan Williams thought she was going to a party. For more than a week, authorities say, the 20-year-old black woman was kept captive in a shed, tortured, beaten, forced to eat rat, dog and human feces, and raped by six white men and women who taunted her with racial slurs. “They just kept saying ‘This is what we do to niggers down here,’” Williams told The Associated Press in one of her most extensive interviews since the shocking case made national headlines last month.

A national march is being organized in West Virginia on November 3 to bring attention to case. Many people are wondering why the six suspects haven’t been charged with a hate crime.

Dunbar Village Rape

Hoping to steal money and jewelry, Avion Lawson, 14, said he and someone else wore masks when they entered the 35-year-old woman’s apartment that night, according to the documents. Once inside, Lawson said, he and his accomplice, whose name is blacked out on the report, encountered the woman in bed with three other masked males around her. Lawson told police he sexually assaulted her and stole two video games and a truck.

You can read more about the story here.
To make donations to assist the victims, please contact:
the Dunbar Village Victim Assistance Fund – St. Ann’s.
St. Ann’s Catholic Church
310 N. Olive Avenue
West Palm Beach, FL 33401

THE FREEDOM TECHNOLOGY CHRISTMAS
AfroSpear bloggers are asking that people give the gift of technology to children in the community this Christmas.

“The gift of communication technology like computers and webcams is the best gift that you can give your children and family, because it empowers them to educate and advocate for the Black community and for themselves,” said the African American Political Pundit. “Black blogging encourages writing skills and critical thinking, which are precisely the skills our children need,” said the African American Political Pundit.

HOT TOPIC
Several community groups in Philadelphia are outraged that Municipal Judge Teresa Carr Deni has dropped all rape and assault charges in the case of a woman gang-raped at gunpoint because the woman was a prostitute.

A press conference is scheduled at 1pm today at Philadelphia’s Criminal Justice Center. The folowing is a quote from a press release that was posted on the AfroSpear google group:

*All* women have the right to protection from violence. The idea that any woman is “asking for it” is a lie that we fought for decades to destroy. It is especially offensive to see it revived by a female judge, who reached her position as a result of the women’s movement and is now
using her power to deny justice to the most vulnerable women.

Looks like the judge who is female has landed herself in some hot water over the ruling. A campaign to remove her from her seat is now underway. Read more about it here.

This video was reposted by Afrosphere member TheSuperSpade. Looks like some students at the University of Louisiana at Monroe got a “kick” out of reenacting the fight between the six Jena High students and Justin Barker. Here’s TheSuperSpade’s take on the video:

It isn’t funny to act out someone getting beat up. It also isn’t funny to act out threatening someone with a noose. It also isn’t funny to do it all in a mud-wrestling outfit that looks eerily similar to blackface.

If you listen closely, you can hear one of the students saying, “Niggers put the noose on.” According to TheSmokingGun, the video and pics were posted on freshman nursing student Kristy Smith’s Facebook page. After drawing attention to herself she apparently made her Facebook page private and removed the pics and video. Smith later apologized in other Facebook postings.

“We were just playin n the mud and it got out of hand. I promise i’m not racist. i have just as many black friends as i do white. And i love them to death,” she wrote. She added in a later message that her friends “were drinking” and things “got a lil out of hand.”

Lesson #1: Don’t make fun of a senstive situation involving race.
Lesson #2: Don’t document it, then post it online for the world to see.

Click To Play

The segment features MOS (man on the street) interviews of people in Northern California. The answer, however, isn’t as simple as it sounds. So, what does being American mean to you?

by A.man.I

ANOTHER NOOSE
It happened in Indiana this time. A noose was found hanging in a tree on the Indiana State University campus. It makes you wonder if these are just copy cat crimes, or are folks really that insensitive?

Speaking of nooses, I received my first phone call about a story that a reader saw here. Someone called me on Friday wondering why CNN’s noose special didn’t air last Thursday. Turns out CNN was forced to reschedule the program because of the extensive coverage of the California fires last week. It looks the documentary will air this week. Below is the new schedule per CNN.

CNN: Special Investigations Unit – The Noose: An American Nightmare

Since July, there have been more than a dozen reported incidents of nooses being displayed around the nation apparently intended to intimidate Black people. CNN’s Kyra Phillips investigates whether the upsurge in these acts are associated with the events surrounding “The Jena 6” in Louisiana – or part of a growing, more widespread racial intolerance.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

8:00pm – 9:00pm CNN: Special Investigations Unit – The Noose: An American Nightmare

11:00pm – 12:00am CNN: Special Investigations Unit – The Noose: An American Nightmare

A WINNER AT CONVERGE SOUTH
Two of My Urban Report videos were recently featured at the Converge South Film Festival, and the mini-documentary called “My Boys” was honored with the audience award for best Non-Fiction piece.

Andy Coon, the Film Festival Director informed me that I’ll be receiving a donation from the audience as a prize. I’ll be donating it to the March of Dimes. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the video, and if you feel moved, please make a donation in memory of my twins. Thanks again Converge South!

by A.man.I

FREEDOM FOR GENARLOW WILSON
In A 4-3 ruling, the Georgia Supreme Court has ordered the release of Genarow Wilson. Read more here.

Also, visit CNN for all of the runs, hits, and errors.

NATIONAL BLACK OUT DAY
Black leaders are organizing a day of no spending on Nov. 2 to protest the many instances of wrongdoing that have occurred against African Americans over the past year or two. Examples include the Jena Six, Genarlow Wilson, and Megan Williams (the list goes on).

Warren Ballentine, Reverend Al Sharpton and other civil rights leaders are calling for a national boycott. Black people alone spend 2 billion dollars a day in the United States and we are only approximately 12% of the population. Two billion dollars a day, lining the pockets of companies that have shown no interest in our interests. We ARE living in the new civil rights
movement. We cannot allow the march in Jena to be only an event. It MUST be a movement.

To learn more about the National Blackout Day, visit TheTruthFighters.

DALLAS AUSTIN FOUNDATION DONATES FIRST MUSIC STUDIO TO DEKALB COUNTY SCHOOL
Cedar Grove High School is the first Dekalb County school to benefit from the Dallas Austin Foundation’s music program called “Don’t Stop the Music.” A pep rally is scheduled at 2pm today where Austin, Bigg Gipp, Goodie Mob, and other notables will celebrate the start of the music program at Cedar Grove.

The Dallas Austin Foundation has already established studios at several Atlanta Public Schools including: Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School; Brown Middle School; Southside High School; Washington High School; North Atlanta High School; and Benjamin E. Mayes High School. DAF also provides scholarships and financial assistance to help further develop and maintain the musical arts and entertainment departments in school and bring awareness to students of the vast opportunities that exist within the entertainment industry.

My Urban Report interviewed Austin at the annual fundraiser for his charity.

Click To Play

GEORGIA BLOG CARNIVAL #21
RadicalGeorgiaModerate hosts the latest blog carnival. There’s a lot of bloggin’ going on in Georgia.

B-MORE MURDER EPIDEMIC GETS ATTENTION
On Oct. 28, several Baltimore organizations including Justice Maryland, Associated Black Charities, and the NAACP, are planning an event to put a face on the more than two hundred homicides in the city.

The groups will arrange to have as many volunteers as there have been city homicide victims to date this year (as of press time, that number was 244) lie down in War Memorial Plaza in view of City Hall and Baltimore Police Department headquarters. Each person will hold a number that corresponds to a homicide victim.

People who attend the rally will be asked to sign a pledge card to fight for the end of violence in Baltimore.

TUPAC SHAKUR SITE VANDALIZED
A statue of Tupac Shakur at the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts in Stone Mountain Georgia has been vandalized, but there are different takes on what type of crime occurred. A spokesperson with the center says a noose was placed around the neck of the statue, but Dekalb County police say it wasn’t a noose, but an orange nylon string with a cross attached.

MAGIC JOHNSON HONORED
Former NBA star Earvin “Magic” Johnson has been honored with the Freedom Award from the National Civil Rights Museum.

The museum’s Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to Johnson for his philanthropic and business enterprise in urban communities, the Web site said. Johnson is chairman and CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises, which owns or operates business ventures in 22 states.

Two other individuals, President of Liberia Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and historian Dr. John Hope Franklin were recognized with Johnson.

from GFabToons

Due to breaking news coverage of the California fires, CNN: Special Investigations Unit – The Noose: An American Nightmare, will premiere on Thursday, October 25 at 8pm ET.