Whatever happens in the life of an African-American is fair-game here. But you are human first, so anything that makes you happy, frustrates you, angers you, worries you, or excites you serves as the fertile ground on which we can have this discussion.
In case you haven’t heard, there is a young woman in Kennett, Missouri who has gone through one of our worst nightmares. Three years ago, Heather Ellis was in a local Walmart shopping with her cousin. The two cousins decided to go in separate directions to find the shortest line. After seeing that her cousin’s line was shorter, Heather went to join him. That’s when things got strange.
Heather was accused of cutting line and the security guard was notified. According to Heather, she and her cousin repeatedly informed the guard that they were together, but that didn’t seem to matter. The police affidavit claims that Ellis was loud, belligerent and cursing when she was told to leave the store.
After police arrived, Ellis was taken to jail in front of her family. Her aunt, Lily Blackmon, arrived on the scene after receiving a call from her son about the incident. According to Blackmon, her niece’s head was being slammed against the police car and the officer only said “she cursed,” when asked why she was being treated so harshly.
Ellis was charged with disturbing the peace, trespassing, resisting arrest and two counts of assaulting a police officer. The young college student was then offered a plea bargain from Dunklin County Prosecutor, Stephen Sokoloff. The felony counts were reduced to one misdemeanor of disturbing the peace. However, Heather’s aunt believes that the offer was made so the family would not sue the police department.
Heather refused to take the plea deal, since she says she’d be lying if she admitted to committing a crime that day. Eleven months after the incident, the misdemeanor was surprisingly dropped. While this might seem to be good news, it wasn’t. The misdemeanors have been replaced by felony assault charges, carrying a maximum sentence of 15-years in prison.
Heather believes that the pending felonies have cost her two jobs and the chance to get into medical school. She still refuses to sign the plea deal. Either way, she has a reason to fight, and I want to fight with her. Heather’s case speaks to all of us: most of us have jumped the line at Walmart to be with a relative, and most of us know what it’s like to experience police abuse of authority. No matter how much cursing Heather might have done that day, she doesn’t deserve to go to prison. Also, if the prosecutor can reduce major felonies to one tiny misdemeanor, he could have dropped all the charges and let this woman go on with her education.
After dancing her way through school, former Miami Heat cheerleader has Fabienne Achille traded in her pom-poms for a stethoscope.
The pretty 28-year-old paid her way through pre-med school at University of Miami by cheering on the likes of Alonzo Mourning, then turned her attention to the grueling medical curriculum at University of South Florida. The ballgame glamor made her undergrad days memorable, but it wasn't exactly easy, she says.
“It was a lot of hard work especially being pre-med," Achille, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, says of her dancing days. "But it was definitely a very very enjoyable memorable time in my life.”
The obstetrician is now finishing her residency, delivering babies at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami -- the facility where she was born.
“It’s a hospital that deals with many many minorities, and of course people from my own culture,” she said.
This 25 year old Louisville, Kentucky native has been singing since age 4 and is excited about the upcoming release of her first album, Asa: Loves Experience, A Steve Wallis Project.
Where do you currently live?
I’m in East Orange, but I claim Louisville. I’m a native of Louisville, Kentucky. I love New Jersey but my sound– a lot of people you will see talking about me will tell you that it’s a Louisville sound.
Did you go to school, what was your major?
My major was Theatre Arts with a concentration in music. Rather than just having a God given talent, I have studied music. I’m definitely an actor as well.
College was much harder for me at one point. But I made it through!
Who influences you?
Anywhere from Billie Holiday to Tina Marie, Dinah Washington…
I could name a lot of folks, and that will definitely reflect on my album. The greatest of the influences that I’ve had when it comes to my music has been those greats of the 1930s.
If I took your iPod, what music would I find?
Tina Marie, she is one of the ultimate artists to me; Stevie Wonder, a lot of older cats. (Laughs). One of the newer cats: John Legend.
Ne-Yo, I think he’s a genius. Billie Holiday. And Jill Scott of course, Jill is all over the place in my iPod.
I tell you what; if I ever got the chance to work with Prince I’d be done. He’s probably one of the only artists I admire no matter what he does.
Does your album have a release date? What was some of your motivation for the album?
It doesn’t have a release date at this time, either at the end of December or early January. Steve Wallis is the producer of this project; we wanted it to be very exclusive. He really brought out what I wanted to do with the album.
I wrote all of the lyrics on the album except for two, and two of those were collaborations with Steve. I’m very proud of this album.
In February I lost a really good friend of mine and a good friend of a lot of people in the industry, Static Major. I started thinking to myself, “What is my purpose here? What did I come to the east coast to do and why am I not doing it? “ I feel there was some kind of force leading me there, whether it has been the spirit of my father or static’s spirit or even reminiscing on my father.
What do you do for fun?
A lot of times I just hang out with my friends, we might go see a theatre show, I might take in a film or support fellow artists. I make jewelry. That might be the next thing on the list to bring to the forefront.
Any advice for aspiring artists?
Have a plan. Educate yourself about the industry and don’t give up. It’s a lot of work but in the end, as long as you’re true to the art and as long as you stay true to the message that you’re trying to send to others, you will succeed.
FOX News’s Greta Van Susteren, who last week compared Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright to reputed Klansman David Duke, took a curious look, last night, at the folly-induced controversy brewing over legendary journalist/moderator Gwen Ifill's status as the moderator for tonight's V.P. debate. In a segment titled, "Fair and Balanced?" the FOX News tabloid queen went to unbelievable lengths in attacking the character, integrity and dignity of Ms. Ifill -- all the while claiming to be doing otherwise. As most YBW readers are aware, FOX News is neither fair nor balanced to begin with, and when journalistic ethics are mentioned, FOX is nowhere to be found. This intentional chauvinistic and racist assault upon Gwen Ifill's character confirms two things. First, that Black women are still subjugated to the consideration, analysis, preference and dictate of White men -- a la Michelle Obama. Secondly, that the GOP is so fretful over the expectable disastrous performance by their V.P. selection tonight - Gov. Palin - and a preemptive strike against the moderator was strategically formulated to make an excuse for why Palin might not be able to answer questions in a coherent and decipherable format. Gwen Ifill, being the brilliant and elegant journalist that she is, responded in an AP interview yesterday, questioning her detractors if "they made the same assumptions about Lou Cannon (who is white) when he wrote his book about Reagan?" As one might suspect, the silence was deafening. So I say more power to Gwen Ifill, for she is the embodiment of the great legacies of fierce Black Women such as Fannie Lou Hamer, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and Callie House. As for FOX News and Greta Van Susteren, they only furthermore proved to be the goose which lays a thousand retarded eggs:
Interview with Green Party Presidential Nominee, Cynthia McKinney, by Tolu Olorunda.
For many, the name "Cynthia McKinney" is synonymous with loaded-descriptions such as "progressive," "activist," "relentless," "fighter," "frank," and "courageous."Cynthia McKinney has been described by political-prisoner and internationally-renowned journalist, Mumia Abu Jamal, as "bold," "outspoken," and a "woman of substance." Earlier this year, Black Agenda Report Executive Editor, Glen Ford, remarked on how Cynthia McKinney is - as perceived by him - "the only vehicle through which progressives can... begin the process of rebuilding a mass, Black-led movement for real social change." The once 6-term Georgian Congresswoman has since become a leading voice in the anti-war movement, anti-death penalty movement and human-rights movement. She is, without a doubt, a monumental structure in the landscape of Black activism. While in Congress, she fought aggressively for the rights of the financially-disempowered. In 2007, she decided to leave the Democratic Party, and become a member of The Green Party. It was also in 2007, when she decided to attempt a run at the presidency. On July 12 this year, Cynthia McKinney, alongside Rosa Clemente, was nominated as the Green Party's choice for President and Vice-President respectively. She has ever since, embarked on a journey to enlighten, inform and educate everyday citizens around the country, on what their alternatives - in this electoral cycle - are, and the essentiality of election-integrity. I had the distinguished opportunity to speak with Cynthia McKinney on her political-background, the role of Third Parties, and her "Power to the People" platform which has recently caught the attention of disgruntled electorates:
For those who don't know, when did your political journey effectively take-off, and what prompted it?
I started out at the Georgia House of Representatives in 1989, and was sworn in after the 1988 campaign -- but nobody thought I would win (the political pundits and the corporate press especially). And we were able to prove them wrong. From there, I participated in the efforts of the State of Georgia to make sure that every Georgian was counted in the census, because that meant more money would come to Georgia from the federal government. It also meant that we could expand the abilities to elect candidates of our choice -- for those of us who are underrepresented in the political process. So I participated in making sure that everybody in the state of Georgia was counted -- particularly in the Black communities, where the participation rate is lower. Through that, we could then seek the full application of the voting rights act, in making sure that the districts drawn on every level of government was one that included opportunities for Black voters to elect their candidate of choice. We then went, deliberately and methodically, through the process for City Council, County Commission, the State Legislature, and then the United States Congress. And of course, there was a lot of turmoil that was created at my insistence that we have what was put forward as the "Black Max Plan." That plan actually ended up helping more blacks get elected to office in the State of Georgia. From there, the issue was the war. I went to the floor of the House and spoke out against George H.W. Bush's War - with the bombing of Baghdad - and all of my colleagues got out and walked out on me. And they compared me to Julian Bond, who a generation earlier, had been punished because of his views against the Vietnam War. So I decided to run for Congress, because I saw the 'good ol' boys' of Georgia, trying to pick who the next Congressional member would be. So the governor and speaker of the House both had 'their candidates,' and I figured that the people should have their candidate and I decided to run. When I ran - because of my advocacy of the Black Max plan - I was likened to Angela Davis, and so the Julian Bond and Angela Davis characterizations (done by the corporate press) were supposed to be insulting to me, but they didn't know that Julian Bond and Angela Davis were heroes of mine. And that began my political career.
How did you make the transition from the Georgia House of Representatives to the United States Congress?
Well, it was an easy transition, because I learned the legislative process and parliamentary procedure in the Georgia Legislature. I also learned that inauthentic leadership can be easily co-opted, and that the elected leadership we had in the State of Georgia was ineffective in terms of changing the policy-outcomes and quality of life for the people of Georgia. At one time, we (Georgia) had the largest legislative Black Caucus in the country, but increasingly, the personalities that got elected were more interested in the positions, rather than wielding the powers on behalf of the community. So, we went from authentic to inauthentic leadership, and the challenge of our community is to ensure that our leadership is always authentic, and speaking to our hopes, dreams and aspirations; and pushing a policy-line that should increase our quality of life. If you don't see that in the campaign of a candidate, you won't see it in the administration of a candidate. And therefore, that candidate represents somebody else's interest; not our own. But we have not been easily capable of identifying authentic vs. inauthentic leadership.
Throughout your career, you've been an outspoken and vehement defender of human-rights. What is the state of human-rights in the world today?
It's abysmal. The states of human rights is abysmal in the world today, and a large measure of it is because of interference on the part of the United States, in the arsenal of economic and military power that it wields over people. The unwillingness of the American voter to change the leadership in Washington must come to an end.
As a member of Congress, you introduced legislations to unseal the records of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Tupac Shakur. Why was that important to you?
I think the public deserves the truth, and we know from the December 1999 trials, that a jury came back with the findings that the United States government was involved in the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And in just the same way, the interested public hasn't been told the truth about Tupac Shakur, whose mother was a member of the Black Panther Party, and whose father-figure was - I believe - a member of the Black liberation army.
In 2007, you decided to take a public stance against the Democratic Party. What was the last straw for you?
Basically, on my birthday, March 17 of last year, I spoke in front of the pentagon, and my position continues to be vindicated, because now, the Democrats are complicit in the FISA Bill, the continual funding of the war, and the removal of impeachment bills from the table; and all the basic needs of the American people (single payer health-care system, subsidies for education -- so no child graduates with a student loan). Under the rulership of the Democrats and the Republicans, people don't have what they need.
Why did you feel the Green Party was best suited for the brand of activism you're involved in?
The Green Party has put support for reparations in its 2004 platform. They put recognition of the genocide against the indigenous people in this country on their platform. They put a statement against racial-profiling and police brutality on their platform. And this was all before I was ever associated with The Green Party. So I found a party that reflects my values.
You clinched the Green Party Presidential Nomination in July. How is the campaign so far; and how much has the "Power to the People" message resonated?
The campaign could always use more resources; so we ask people to please go to our website, runcynthiarun.org and donate, because we're up against a very powerful and mighty machine. And even the Gladiators, who were put into the arena against each other and certain animals, were giving swords to fight with. So if we are to defend the interests of the people, we at least have to have a mechanism to defend ourselves -- because we are going against the most powerful entities on the planet. So we have a lot of people agreeing with us, but we need them to go the extra step; and one is to vote for us and the other to donate to us -- so we can spread the good news about our plans even more. We want to kick-start a movement to inspire young people to get involved outside the two-party paradigm that boxes us into solutions that don't answer the problems that people confront in their lives.
What is the fundamental bedrock of the "Power to the People" platform?
It's the reconstruction manifesto, and we explain that we are in favor of the elimination of the drug-war, the elimination of prisons for profit, the elimination of U.S. militarism, a repeal of NAFTA and all other so-called free-trade agreements. We want a livable wage; we want a single-payer health-care system, and we want election integrity.
I want to pose two questions to you, which have been formerly directed at Sen. Obama. "In the first 100 days of your presidency, what would you do to close the gaps between Blacks and Whites in America"?
First of all, I would submit to Congress a budget that does exactly that. The disparities that exist in our country are longstanding, and they exist because there is a legacy of slavery that has not yet been addressed. And after slavery - which denied the right to read, education, life, liberty and identity to Africans who had been transported - there was a denial of the right to economic freedom. Then it moved from that to a denial of the right to physical freedom (incarceration). And with that came the convict slave labor program -- which was rampant throughout the country, particularly in the South. All of this came in the aftermath of slavery; and then of course you had the Jim Crow laws that were practiced across the country -- with the statute of Plessy v. Ferguson. So, basically, you have a story of disenfranchisement, down to a denial of identity and culture; and somehow, we survived. What the country now needs to do is to implement a massive program on education, economic enfranchisement and jobs. Instead of focusing the money on those who have, we should focus it on those in need.
Secondly, Cynthia McKinney, "What about the Black Community"?
That is the entire focus of the reconstruction platform, which includes the release of all political-prisoners. We know that we have to change the legal landscape in order for justice to prevail in this country, because the criminal justice system is criminal in its injustice at the moment. We know that the economic structure of this country has to be completely changed, because it is based on rewarding those who don't work, and taxing those who do. The cultural environment of this country has to change, because of the corporate domination and usurpation of Hip-Hop culture and the culture of young people.
What is your assessment of the overwhelming support Sen. Obama is receiving within the Black Community, and how do you plan on winning some of those votes?
Well, we're going to continue to stand on the values that we espouse, and if people are attracted to those values, they would support them, and if they are not, they will support the other side.
Finally, Senator Obama seems so be experiencing some obstacles in reaching Latinos. Do you plan on courting the Brown vote?
Well, my running mate is an Afro-Latina; a Puerto Rican from the Bronx. The circles that she has traveled in are young Black and Brown. So we would like to get as much of that vote as we can; alongside the white-progressives who are willing to support our ticket.
Watch Cynthia McKinney's Green Party Acceptance Speech:
This interview was conducted by Tolu Olorunda, Staff Writer for YourBlackWorld.com
