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Across Black America

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Across Black America week of Nov. 19

Alabama

An 8-year-old boy has been charged in the beating death of a 1-year-old girl, and the mother of the little girl is being charged with manslaughter as well. According to police, the mother and her girlfriend went to a nightclub and left their six children alone with the 8-year-old as the oldest. The boy allegedly beat the little girl because she wouldn’t stop crying. One of the other children, a 6-year-old, told the police what happened, and what he said happened, police said, is consistent with the baby’s injuries, which included head trauma and damage to major organs.

California

Susan Burton, founder and executive director of A New Way of Life Re-Entry Project in Los Angeles, joined Nneka Jones Tapia, executive director of Cook County Department of Corrections, at the Race and Justice in America Summit to discuss criminal justice reform last week in Washington, D.C. During the “Former Inmate and A Warden on Rehabilitation” session, moderated by NPR’s Michele Norris, Burton called for “a deep involvement, a reinvestment [in] communities impacted by mass incarceration.” On the heels of President Barack Obama’s historic visit to a correctional facility and pledge for a national “banning of the box,” effort Burton sentimentally recalled the moment she was in the hills of Oakland some years ago with reformers when the ban-the-box term became as an instrumental element in the fight to rebuilding lives for the formerly incarcerated. The “box” refers to an employment application feature that often poses a formidable obstacle to employment, housing and other necessary services for the millions of Americans living with a criminal record—the question have you even been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony? Calling for a commitment to the long-view of change and transformation, Burton referred to banning the box as a positive step on a longer road. The summit was led by Ta-Nehisi Coates whose Atlantic Journal essay “The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration” inspired the event. Coates led several discussions at the summit, providing analysis of the complicated history of the nation’s justice system and the future of prison reform.


Writer/performer Derrick Gilbert, Ph.D., also known as poet D-Knowledge, lost his battle with liver disease on Nov. 1. He was 45. Straddling the worlds of entertainment and academia, Gilbert wrote for the NAACP Image Awards from 1993 to 2001 while earning his doctorate in sociology and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. He taught at UCLA and UC Berkeley. He originally suggested and helped launch the Image Awards’ Literature categories, which are still an important part of the annual awards competition. His music and poetry CD, “All That and a Bag of Words,” was released by Quincy Jones’ Qwest Records/Warner Bros Records in 1995. D-Knowledge appeared in such films as John Singleton’s “Higher Learning” and Mario Van Peebles’ “Panther,” as well as on television shows “Arsenio Hall Show” and the “Apollo Comedy Hour.”

Florida

The plainclothes police officer who fatally shot a Palm Beach area musician stranded on the highway has been fired by the Palm Beach Gardens Police Dept. Nouman Raja is accused of killing Corey Jones, a drummer who was returning from a gig with his band, when his vehicle became disabled. Jones was reportedly waiting for a tow truck when Raja pulled up in an unmarked car because he allegedly believed the car was abandoned. Raja claims that Jones pulled out a gun, when he approached the car. Raja shot Jones six times. Although Jones was legally in possession of a gun, it was never fired. Jones’ family says he would never pull a gun on a police officer.


Bethune Cookman College recognized 40 alumni under the age of 40 at a ceremony last week in Orlando who are making great strides within their professions and communities during this year’s Florida Blue Classic Weekend. The inaugural class of “40 Under 40” recipients are a group of the university’s top graduates younger than 40 who exemplify B-CU’s core values—faith, integrity, respect, service and a thirst for knowledge (F.I.R.S.T). These alumni have achieved distinction in their respective fields, and have demonstrated outstanding service and loyalty to B-CU and their communities. Among this first class of B-CU’s 40 Under 40 includes: Kari Cobham, social media analyst for Cox TV; Darnell Walker, Emmy-winning author/filmmaker; Alton Bolden, principal of Piney Grove Boys Academy; Xavian Taymond, business manager at NASA; Deric Feacher, city manager of the City of Winter Haven; Brian Barker, professor at DePaul University; and Shantel Braynen, senior auditor at Microsoft. A complete list is available at www.BCU40under40.com.

Georgia

Last week, Wells Fargo and UNCF (United Negro College Fund) rallied students from three of the nation’s leading Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)—Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College and Spelman College—for an interactive town hall to promote positive images of African American youth. HBCU alumni Terrence “J” Jenkins, actor and philanthropist; and Natasha Eubanks, founder and CEO of TheYBF.com, joined Wells Fargo and UNCF leaders to inspire students to use social media to share personal experiences that proactively address cultural mischaracterizations. Seeking to broaden the current social narrative involving the African American community, Wells Fargo launched the #MyUntoldSM campaign to offer a more comprehensive perspective on the African American experience. The social media campaign honors the community tradition of storytelling by creating a platform to share personal stories, history and defining moments, while fostering cultural awareness outside of the community. To further encourage community engagement, the Haitian Club of Spelman College and the Minority Association for Pre-Medical Students of Clark Atlanta University were presented with a $1,000 check to develop programs to support local community organizations.

Illinois

Kaylyn Pryor, 20, who had just been named the winner of Mario Tricoci’s “Mario, Make Me a Model” competition, was shot to death on Nov. 3 while standing outside her grandparents’ home with a young man. According to police, she was talking with the 15-year-0ld when a car pulled up and opened fire on them both. They were rushed to an area hospital where Pryor died. The young man was listed in critical condition. “We are saddened and broken-hearted to learn of the tragic passing of Kaylyn Pryor. Our hearts and prayers go out to her family,” Tricoci said in a statement. “This touches every one of us who knew and worked with her. Kaylyn will be remembered for her kind and generous spirit. She truly was beautiful inside and out.” In addition to working on a modeling career, Pryor was studying dance and was a student at Robert Morris University. Local activists urged area citizens to come forward with information and were offering a $16,000 reward. “Whatever this is related to, those of us that are covering up what these thugs are doing in our community, why don’t you look at your neighbor and tell them, ‘We got to break the silence,’” said Rev. Stephen Thurston, pastor of New Covenant Church. “She did everything right. And to have somebody from our community step in and take her life; we got to break the silence.”

Louisiana

Two Louisiana police officers were jailed last week, while their colleagues tried to sort out the details that led to the death of a 6-year-old and the severe wounding of his father in a hail of gunfire.

Officers Derrick Stafford, 32, of Mansura, and Norris Greenhouse Jr., 23, of Marksville, each faced charges of second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder. They were being held in the Avoyelles Parish jail near New Orleans. The dead child was 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis, who was in a car being driven by his father, Chris Few. State police said Stafford is a full-time lieutenant with the Marksville Police Department; Greenhouse is a full-time city marshal. Both were working part-time as deputy marshals in Marksville’s Ward 2, when Tuesday’s shooting broke out, state police said. Any alleged motive for the shooting has not been made public. State police, who are investigating the shooting, said so far there has been no evidence found that Few had a gun. There were initial reports that Stafford and Greenhouse were among a group of marshals serving a warrant on Few. However, Col. Mike Edmonson, superintendent of Louisiana State Police, said at a news conference that there was no evidence that a warrant had been issued. Edmonson gave few details about the investigation or what led to the arrests. He did say the probe included reviews of body cameras and 911 recordings. “Six years old,” Edmonson said of the child. “He didn’t deserve to die like that.”

The superintendent also called the video he reviewed “the most disturbing thing I’ve seen, and I will leave it at that.”

Missouri

After its students peacefully protested, which included its football team refusing to practice, the University of Missouri’s president resigned, and the school’s first Black president was appointed. Michael Middleton, an alumni and the state’s first Black law school graduate, has taken on the role of interim president. The 68-year-old has a 30-year history at the school, starting as a student and moving through the system as faculty and now its top administrator. “I have seen the system grow and excel over the years, and I look with great optimism to the future,” Middleton said, adding that the university “has faced its share of troubling incidents and we recognize that we must move forward as a community. We must embrace these issues as they come, and they will come to define us in the future.” MU Policy Now, a student group made up of graduate and professional students, had been pushing for the president’s role to go to Middleton, who retired as deputy chancellor of the Columbia campus in August and had been made a deputy chancellor emeritus. In related news, police arrested at lest three White men for making threats to attack college campuses and in particular, harm African American students. One of the three was Tyler Bradenburg of St. Louis, who was charged with a felony count of making a terrorist threat. He faces up to seven years in prison.

Ohio

The death of Ralkina Jones while inside a Cleveland jail has been ruled as an accident by the Cuyahoga County medical examiner, according to the Huffington Post. Specifically, the autopsy says that a heart problem caused her death. She was arrested in July for allegedly attempting to run over her ex-husband and another man. While she was in police custody, she was treated for two incidents during her three days of incarceration. On the third day, she was found unresponsive, and paramedics were reportedly unable to revive her. The Huffington Post said that the cause of death was “sudden cardiac arrest in association with postural tachycardia syndrome and obesity with amphetamine therapy.”

Pennsylvania

Jazz trumpet legend Wynton Marsalis has been honored with the prestigious Marian Anderson Award, given in Philadelphia each year to a critically acclaimed artist who has impacted society in a positive way. Anderson was the first African American singer to sing at the Metropolitan Opera. Marsalis, who has received nine Grammys and a Pulitzer for Music, does humanitarian work with numerous organizations such as the Children’s Defense Fund. In addition, he is director of the prestigious Jazz at the Lincoln Center program.

Compiled by Carol Ozemhoya

South Carolina

A 13-year-old Ladson boy used his mom’s gun to defend his family’s home against two would-be robbers, killing one of them. The teen saw a car pull up near his back yard and saw two men, who he did not recognize attempt to break into his family’s home. He went and grabbed his mother’s gun and went to the back door and fired on one of the men alleging trying to break in. The men—identified as Lamar Anthwan Brown, 31, and Ira Bennett, 28—fired back as they fled. Bennett dropped Brown off at a hospital but he died from his gunshot wounds. Based on the boy’s description of the car, a neighbor’s eyewitness account and information from the hospital, police caught up with and arrested Bennett, who has been charged with first degree burglary and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. The young boy’s mother was not home at the time.

Virginia

Last week, MSNBC aired an exclusive investigation of the repeated tasing and in-custody death of a Virginia man who was initially taken to a hospital for medical care by police; however, he never received it. The investigation revealed new information about the circumstances of Linwood Lambert Jr.’s death and possible violations of local and federal rules by Virginia police. According to the MSNBC story, police found Lambert speaking incoherently at a motel in the middle of the night in May of 2013. The incident began with an attempt to get Lambert medical care at the emergency room, but turned into an altercation that included a series of tasings and then Lambert’s death within about an hour. His autopsy listed cocaine intoxication as the cause of death, while his family alleges police brutality caused his wrongful death. The report was based on an MSNBC investigation, which analyzed 80 minutes of video shot from police and hospital cameras obtained by MSNBC, along with hundreds of pages of hospital records, police documents and other materials not in the public domain. Also interviewed were Lambert’s surviving family members, their lawyer, law enforcement experts, former police officers, an official from Taser International as well as the local prosecutor in the case, which remains an open criminal investigation. Video clips show at least three officers tasing Lambert repeatedly, even after he is on the ground and incapacitated. He was also shackled. Lambert and the officers only made it to the hospital door. After repeatedly tasing him as he lay on the ground, he can be heard begging them to stop, he is loaded into one of the officers’ squad cars and taken to the police station, where he died in police custody. A very detailed account of the incident and everything that has happened since—including civil and criminal filings—can be found at http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/driven-hospital-virginia-man-tased-shackled-and-dies-police-custody.

Wisconsin

In response to a Department of Justice’s decision not to bring criminal civil rights charges against Milwaukee police officer Christopher Manney, who shot and killed Dontre Hamilton, Rep. Gwen Moore (WI-04) released a statement saying that she is “saddened by the Department of Justice’s decision” and plans not to give up on seeking change in the manner of which law enforcement treat people such as Hamilton—an unarmed Black man struggling with mental illness. “Although this decision is certainly a setback, it is by no means the end of our collective efforts to pursue justice … she said, adding “As we saw in the case of Mr. Hamilton, men and women battling mental illness are all too often confronted by our criminal justice system with disastrous results. As we move forward, we must work to prevent further tragedies by providing law enforcement officials with the tools they need to safely interact with mentally ill individuals and hold officers accountable for their actions.”

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