Raymond Kelly Ups the Ante on Stop & Frisk, Black Officers Reject His Logic

Raymond Kelly

Raymond Kelly

Over the weekend NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly upped the ante with assertions that Stop and Frisk is needed now more than ever..He along with Mayor Bloomberg are appealing last week’s historic ruling which demanded the practice be modified and monitored.

Kelly  also maintained his claim that Stop and Frisk was saving lives in Black and Brown communities. This is in spite of overwhelming evidence showing that people in those communities don’t want it.

Raymond Kelly also rejected the idea of police wearing cameras claiming that they would raise more questions than answer. He cited examples like domestic disputes and getting confidential information from informants as to whether or not officers should use cameras.

Kelly’s assertions were disputed by Noel Leader who is the co-founder of 100 Black Officers Who Care.. He appeared on the NY based TV Show Here and Now and talked about the outrage many are feeling around what he described as ‘illegal’ stop and frisk. He also rejected the notion that police wearing body cameras would be a hinderance as suggested by Kelly.

It was pointed out by former police Captain Reginald Lyles who is also African-American here in Oakland, California, that the logic being used Kelly and Bloomberg is similar to the logic used to lock up American citizens of Japanese descent during World War II.. He called it Apartheid logic..I definitely have to agree with perspective..

Check out the segment below featuring Leader and longtime activist Erica Ford..

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/video?id=9208430

Although Leader didn’t get into this aspect too much other members of his organization have spoken out about how they themselves as Black and Brown police officers are frequently stopped and harassed by fellow officers.. This was highlighted last year in the Village Voice in an article called Cops By Day, Targets by Night.

LAPD Chief William H Parker

LAPD Chief William H Parker

It doesn’t take much to understand what Commissioner Kelly and Bloomberg are ultimately trying to do with this policy. It’s to make sure that people from targeted communities, no matter who they are frightened by the police. It’s a throwback to the bad ole days of policing in Los Angeles under Chief William Parker who militarized the police force and had a policy of making sure officers made contact with Black teens so they would know early on, who was in charge of the city.  His policies were adopted by police departments all over the country. They were enhanced by his successor Chief Darryl Gates. Below is a brief documentary on Parker so folks can better understand some of this invasive policing action under the heading Stop and Frisk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2yFsx5vCLU

In closing we wanna give a shout out to another Hip Hop artists who has stepped up to use his talent to bring attention to Stop and Frisk…Most of us know about 10 Frisk Commandments from Jasiri X and Elon James..   Below is an incredible song and video from NY based artist Awkword who gives us an up close and personal view of what Stop and Frisk is like..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RtncRj4yUc&hd=1

We also have a joint from Bronx based Rebel Diaz called Stop Stop and Frisk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-duTrV9hSg

 

 

 

President Obama’s Surprise Press Conference Addresses the issue of Race & Trayvon Martin

President ObamaThis morning at a press conference, President Obama addressed the issues surrounding Trayvon Martin… Many seemed to be happy that he went more into depth about his feelings around this and he acknowledged that this case was about racial profiling.. He also noted that work must be done so trust in the system can be regained… He raised the question as to how the outcome would’ve been different if Trayvon Martin was white..Obama noted that he would’ve been Trayvon 35 years ago..

He wants to figure out ways young African-American men can made to feel as if they a part of society. He wants us all to do some soul searching.. He doesn’t think its productive when politicians try to lead conversations on race..He feels it leads to stilted conversations..He also thinks race relations are getting better

Your thoughts on Obama’s remarks? How do those remarks square away with the fact that he is praising NYPD commissioner Raymond Kelly for his work in New York.. Kelly who is main proponent for Stop and Frisk is now being considered to lead Homeland Security. One has to wonder if Obama spoke to this issue because this Saturday there are protests scheduled in over 100 cities..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdPX2z_dDjY

Below is the full text of Obama’s remarks

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I wanted to come out here, first of all, to tell you that Jay is prepared for all your questions, and is very much looking forward to the session.

Second thing is, I want to let you know that over the next couple of weeks, there are going to obviously be a whole range of issues – immigration, economics, et cetera. We’ll try to arrange a fuller press conference to address your questions.

The reason I actually wanted to come out today is not to take questions, but to speak to an issue that’s obviously gotten a lot of attention over the course of the last week, the issue of the Trayvon Martin ruling.

I gave a preliminary statement right after the ruling on Sunday, but watching the debate over the course of the last week, I thought it might be useful for me to expand on my thoughts a little bit.

First of all, I want to make sure that once again I send my thought and prayers, as well as Michelle’s, to the family of Trayvon Martin, and to remark on the incredible grace and dignity with which they’ve dealt with the entire situation. I can only imagine what they’re going through and it’s remarkable how they’ve handled it.

The second thing I want to say is to reiterate what I said on Sunday, which is there are going to be a lot of arguments about the legal – the legal issues in the case. I’ll let all the legal analysts and talking heads address those issues.

The judge conducted the trial in a professional manner. The prosecution and the defense made their arguments. The juries (sic) were properly instructed that in a – in a case such as this, reasonable doubt was relevant. And they rendered a verdict.

And once the jury’s spoken, that’s how our system works.

But I did want to just talk a little bit about context and how people have responded to it and how people are feeling.

You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot, I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me, 35 years ago.

And when you think about why, in the African-American community at least, there’s a lot of pain around what happened here, I think it’s important to recognize that the African-American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a – and a history that – that doesn’t go away.

There are very few African-American men in this country who haven’t had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That includes me.

There are probably very few African-American men who haven’t had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me – at least before I was a senator.

There are very few African-Americans who haven’t had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off.
That happens often.

And, you know, I – I don’t want to exaggerate this, but those sets of experiences inform how the African-American community interprets what happened one night in Florida.

And it’s inescapable for people to bring those experiences to bear.

The African-American community is also knowledgeable that there is a history racial disparities in the application of our criminal laws, everything from the death penalty to enforcement of our drug laws. And that ends up having an impact in terms of how people interpret the case.

Now, this isn’t to say that the African-American community is naive about the fact that African-American young men are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system, that they’re disproportionately both victims and perpetrators of violence. It’s not to make excuses for that fact.

Although, black folks do interpret the reasons for that in a historical context. They understand that, some of the violence that takes place in poor black neighborhoods around the country is born out of a very violent past in this country. And that the poverty and dysfunction that we see in those communities can be traced to a very difficult history.

And so, the fact that sometimes that’s unacknowledged adds to the frustration. And the fact that a lot of Africa-American boys are painted with a broad brush and the excuses given, “Well, there are these statistics out there that show that African-American boys are more violent,” using that as an excuse to then see sons treated differently causes pain.

I think the African-American community is also not naive in understanding that, statistically, somebody like Trayvon Martin was probably, statistically, more likely to be shot by a peer than he was
by somebody else.

So – so folks understand the challenges that exist for African-American boys. But they get frustrated, I think, if they feel that there’s no context for it, or – and that context is being denied. And – and that all contributes, I think, to a sense that if a white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario that, from top to bottom, both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different.

Now, the question, for me, at least, and – and I think for a lot of folks is, “Where do we take this? How – how do we learn some lessons from this and move in a positive direction?”

You know, I think it’s understandable that there have been demonstrations and vigils and protests and some of that is just going to have to work its way through as long as it remains nonviolent. If I see any violence, then I will remind folks that that dishonors what happened to Trayvon Martin and his family.

But beyond protests or vigils, the question is: Are there some concrete things that we might be able to do? I know that Eric Holder is reviewing what happened down there, but I think it’s important for people to have some clear expectations here. Traditionally, these are issues of state and local government. The criminal code and law enforcement is traditionally done at the state and local levels, not at the federal levels.

That doesn’t mean, though, that as a nation, we can’t do some things that I think would be productive. So let me just give a couple of specifics that I’m still bouncing around with my staff, you know, so we’re not rolling out some five-point plan, but some areas where I think all of us could potentially focus.

Number one, precisely because law enforcement is often determined at the state and local level, I think it would be productive for the Justice Department, governors, mayors to work with law enforcement about training at the state and local levels in order to reduce the kind of mistrust in the system that sometimes currently exists.

You know, when I was in Illinois, I passed racial profiling legislation, and it actually did just two simple things. One, it collected data on traffic stops and the race of the person who was stopped, but the other things was it resourced us training police departments across the state on how to think about potential racial bias, and ways to further professionalize what they were doing.

And, initially, the police departments across the state were resistant, but actually they came to recognize that if it was done in a fair, straightforward way that, it would allow them to do their jobs better and communities would have more confidence in them, and in turn be more helpful in – in applying the law. And, obviously, law enforcement’s got a very tough job.

So that’s one area where I think there are a lot of resources and best practices that could be brought to bear, if state and local governments are receptive, and I think a lot of them would be. And let’s figure out, are there ways for us to push out that kind of training.

Along the same lines, I think it would be useful for us to examine some state and – and local laws to see if it – if they are designed in such a way that they may encourage the kinds of altercations and confrontations and tragedies that we saw in the Florida case, rather than diffuse potential altercations.

I know that there’s been commentary about the fact that the “Stand Your Ground” laws in Florida were not used as a defense in the case.

On the other hand, if we’re sending a message as a society in our communities that someone who is armed potentially has the right to use those firearms, even if there’s a way for them to exit from a situation, is that really going to be contributing to the kind of peace and security and order that we’d like to see?

And for those who – who resist that idea, that we should think about something like these Stand Your Ground laws, I just ask people to consider, if Trayvon Martin was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk? And do we actually think that he would have been justified in shooting Mr. Zimmerman, who had followed him in a car, because he felt threatened? And if the answer to that question is at least ambiguous, then it seems to me that we might want to examine those kinds of laws.

Number three – and this is a long-term project – we need to spend some time in thinking about how do we bolster and reinforce our African-American boys? And this is something that Michelle and I talk a lot about. There are a lot of kids out there who need help, who are getting a lot of negative reinforcement. And is there more that we can do to give them the sense that their country cares about them, and values them, and is willing to invest in them?

You know, I’m not naive about the prospects of some grand new federal program. I’m not sure that that’s what we’re talking about here. But I – I do recognize that, as president, I’ve got some convening power. And there are a lot of good programs that are being done across the country on this front. And for us to be able to gather together business leaders and local elected officials and clergy and celebrities and athletes and figure out, how are we doing a better job helping young African-American men feel that they’re a full part of this society and that – and that they’ve got pathways and avenues to succeed? You know, I think that would be a pretty good outcome from what was, obviously, a tragic situation. And we’re going to spend some time working on that and thinking about that.

And then, finally, I think it’s going to be important for all of us to do some soul-searching. You know, there’s been talk about, should we convene a conversation on race? I haven’t seen that be particularly productive when, you know, politicians try to organize conversations. They end up being stilted and politicized, and folks are locked into the positions they already have.

On the other hand, in families and churches and workplaces, there’s a possibility that people are a little bit more honest and at least you ask yourself your own questions about, am I wringing as much bias out of myself as I can? Am I judging people as much as I can based on not the color of their skin, but the content of their character? That would, I think, be an appropriate exercise in the wake of this tragedy.

And let me just leave you with – with the final thought that, as difficult and challenging as this whole episode has been for a lot of people, I don’t want us to lose sight that things are getting better. Each successive generation seems to be making progress in changing attitudes when it comes to race. It doesn’t mean we’re in a post-racial society. It doesn’t mean that racism is eliminated.

But, you know, when I talk to Malia and Sasha and I listen to their friends and I see them interact, they’re better than we are. They’re better than we were on these issues. And that’s true in every community that I’ve visited all across the country. And so, you know, we have to be vigilant. And we have to work on these issues. And those of us in authority should be doing everything we can to encourage the better angels of our – nature as opposed to using these episodes to heighten divisions.

But we should also have confidence that kids these days, I think, have more sense than we did back then and certainly more than our parents did or our grandparents did, and that along this long and difficult journey, you know, we’re becoming a more perfect union, not a perfect union, but a more perfect union.

All right?

Thank you, guys

A Nationwide Response to Stop and Frisk.. Remix of 10 Frisk Commandments

Elon James White

Elon James White

Last year during the Netroots convention in Providence, Rhode Island, activist, comedian radio host Elon James White had grown weary of the Stop and Frisk practice that was being disproportionately being applied by NYPD to Black and Brown folks in New York City. He was acutely aware of it in his Brooklyn neighborhood which has been undergoing a lot of gentrification and noted that his Bed-Stuy neighborhood was suddenly playing host to swarms of police who were never present when he was growing up, but suddenly seemed to be there to ‘protect and serve’ the new more affluent residents who were moving in..

Elon decided to put his activism to work by doing more than speaking out and raising awareness via his radio show. He teamed up with Pittsburgh rapper/ activist Jasiri X who was growing weary of similar practices in his Pittsburgh neighborhood which had resulted in some high-profile cases of innocent people being severely beaten by police. One such case was that of Jordan Miles, an honor student and master violinist who performed for the First Lady Michele Obama. 

Jordan Miles is a 18 year old violinist who played for First Lady Michele Obama

Jordan Miles is a 18 year old violinist who played for First Lady Michele Obama

The 3 undercover cops dubbed the Jump Out Boys spotted Miles en route to his grandmother’s house. They saw Miles jumped out and demanded to know where his drugs and money was at. Fearing he was about to be robbed, because the cops never identified themselves, he ran.. The cops all martial arts experts, tackled him and beat him so bad that his mother didn’t recognize him. His flowing dreadlocks were pulled out on the left side of his head and Miles was left traumatized. In spite large protests and rallies, the cops were let off the hook with the police chief telling Jordan he should never run from police. The family is suing the department.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONPo-wslB40

Jasiri X Know thyself

Jasiri X

Incidents like these helped inform Jasiri X who was tapped by Elon to do a remake of a popular song done by the late Notorious BIG called 10 Crack Commandments. Elon wanted to see a song called the 10 Frisk Commandments. The purpose was to both raise awareness as well as give solid instructions to folks as to what to do if they encountered police during Stop-N-Frisk. The end result was this masterpiece of a song shown with a compelling video that Elon shot which is featured below..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhHYN7uw3AM

Kimani Grey

Kimani Grey

In recent weeks Stop and Frisk has been in the headlines with the recent shooting death of Brooklyn resident Kamani Gray which touched off 3 days of unrest. Gray was accused of running when plain clothes approached him to stop and Frisk.  Police say Gray had a gun. Witnesses say he did not.. The shooting brought Stop and Frisk to the forefront of conversation.. Not too long after New York City acknowledged it had stopped over 5 million people with over 90% of them being Black or Brown with less than 10% found to be in violation of any law..

Raymond Kelly NYPD

Raymond Kelly NYPD

Stop and Frisk also wound up being put on trial where it was discovered through a number of police officers testifying that they had been ordered to meet quotas and to target particular types of people. This outraged Black and Brown New Yorkers.. Instead of trying to reduce tensions and make corrections.. NYPD Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly doubled down and said that Black people commit 70% of crimes and thus they need to be stopped and frisked even more. The judge presiding over the trial expressed grave concerns about the practice and the fact that so many innocent people have been stopped some with fatal consequence.

The case of Ramarley Graham of the Bronx is one glaring example. The cops responsible for killing an unarmed Graham who did not run and was shot and killed in front of mother and his 6 year old brother were just let off..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJQ6n9ry-Jg

With all this swirling around Elon decided to involves scores of people from around the country to do a remix of the 10 Frisk Commandments. We sat down with Elon and he explained that this is not just a New York problem. It takes on different names in other parts of the country including ‘Driving While Black‘, ‘Walking while Black‘ etc.. he felt it was important to connect the dots and look at some of the underlying causes behind this practice.. During our Hard Knock Radio interview, Elon talked at length about gentrification and what that has meant for Black and Brown Brooklyn residents like himself. He also gives a full break down of what went into the remix of 10 Frisk Commandments

You can listen to the full interview here

Hard Knock Radio logo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvadcGfYnz0&feature=youtu.be

10 People Who Should Be on the Most Wanted Terrorist List vs Assata Shakur

Here’s some people who need to be on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist List as Opposed to Assata Shakur

Raymond Kelly NYPD

Raymond Kelly NYPD

1-Raymond Kelly…NY Police Commissioner . His Stop and Frisk program has been sheer terror for the over one million people detained..Over 90% are Black and Brown… Less than 10% have been found in violation of any crime..NY just recently did its 5 millionth Stop and Frisk. It was also just recently revealed that Kelly says African-Americans have not been stopped enough

2-Mike Duke…CEO of Wal-Mart.. More than 800 believed dead in the recent factory collapse in Bangladesh.. Another 200 in the horrific fire in that same company.. Such atrocities happened because CEOs like Duke wanted to spend pennies a day vs doing recommended improvements… We won’t even talk about the terror Wal-Mart has meant for small businesses they displaced with their big box stores.

3-Christine Largarde, Dominique Strauss-Khan and the Board of Governors for the IMF Bank.. Global Austerity, Economic Hardship, Third World Countries Upended.. Those who run the IMF are true terrorist of the highest order..

Hugh Grant Monsanto4- Hugh Grant... CEO of Monsanto… Can you say GMOs? Can you say patented seeds? Can you say Monsanto Protection Act which shields these guys from liability? Can you say contaminated farms thanks to their patented seeds going airborne? You pay them if your contaminated field yields a Monsanto plant..

5-Anders Fogh Rasmussen… Secretary General of NATO.. If you aren’t going along with this global plan to corporatize the world.. expect NATO to be the attack dog and moth piece for imperialistic powers..These guys run around calling other people terrorists when in fact they’ve proven to be what they accuse others of being.. As for Rasmussen, this is a guy who holds a philosophy that says the ‘Welfare State is Evil’ and needs to be done away with..

Obama Newsweek cover6-President Barack Obama… No I’m not picking on the man who heads of the current expansions of Africom.. I’m not picking on the man who has said and has now done pre-emptive strikes and gone into other countries looking for ‘terrorists’.. No I’m not picking on the man who holds weekly meetings (Terror Tuesdays) where he decides who around the world gets to live or die via his drone policy. No I’m not picking on a man who has enacted new laws and has aggressively gone after government whistle-blowers..I’m not picking on a guy who signed into law NDAA which says the entire world is a battlefield and thus subject to whatever steps are necessary to shut shyt down and take you out.. Lupe was right

7-Benjamin Netanyahu Prime Minister of Israel we give this guy billions of our hard-earned tax dollars every year and what does he do with it? He reigns terror over his Palestinian neighbors and has maintained a system that makes Apartheid look like a walk in the park

8- Rupert Murdoch.. Media Mogul… Fox News need I say More??

Koch Brothers

Koch Brothers

9-David H. Koch and Charles G. Koch  (The Koch Brothers) Can you say ALEC? Can you say dismantle public sector unions? Can you say Corporate Tyranny? Can you say soon to be media moguls after they finish buying up newspapers like the LA Times..They are the worst of the worst..

10-Penny Pritzke-Hotel Mogul and Subprime Lending Queen.. She will soon head up the Commerce Department.. You never heard of her? Many haven’t, but she’s Obama’s financier. She’s also the one who help usher in the subprime scheme that lifted over 90 billion dollars from the Black community alone..And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.. Obama speaks for her, not the other way around..

Dishonoroable Mentions

Joe Arpio...Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona-Hater of Immigrants

Russ Girling-CEO of TransCanada -owner of Keystone XL Pipeline

Damon T. Hininger– CEO of CCA Corrections Corporation of America.. Largest Private Prison Outfit

Lloyd C Blankfein CEO of Goldman Sachs Epitomizes Wall Street’s insidious Banking Culture Oligarchy 2.0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41s1oWM9vOQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN_HKUlAxJ4