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New York City Cops Under pressure to make Arrest Quotas

March 2, 2010 By

Not that we should be suprised, but this is always disturbing when the truth behind what police are about is said outright..peep this story and the accompnying video..

Peep the video to this news story where you can hear the police officer break stuff down..

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/video?id=7305573

Investigation: Officers under pressure to make quotas

by Jim Hoffer

NEW YORK (WABC) — An Eyewitness News investigation talks to a police officer who reveals the pressure they are under to make quotas.

When Officer Adil Polanco dreamed of becoming a cop, it was out of a desire to help people not, he says, to harass them.

“I’m not going to keep arresting innocent people, I’m not going to keep searching people for no reason, I’m not going to keep writing people for no reason, I’m tired of this,” said Adil Polanco, an NYPD Officer.

Officer Polanco says One Police Plaza’s obsession with keeping crime stats down has gotten out of control. He claims Precinct Commanders relentlessly pressure cops on the street to make more arrests, and give out more summonses, all to show headquarters they have a tight grip on their neighborhoods.

“Our primary job is not to help anybody, our primary job is not to assist anybody, our primary job is to get those numbers and come back with them?” said Officer Polanco.

Eyewitness News asked, “Why do it?”

“They have to meet a quota. One arrest and twenty summonses,” said Officer Polanco.

This audio recording exclusively obtained by Eyewitness News seems to back up Officer Polanco’s assertion of a quota. You can listen to one officer as he lectures his rank and file officers during roll call at the 41st precinct.

“Things are not going to get any better. It’s going to get a lot worse,” said a police officer.

He lays out clearly that they need to bring in the numbers.

“If you think 1 and 20 is breaking your balls, guess what you’re going to be doing. You’re gong to be doing a lot more, a lot more than what they’re saying,” said the officer.

In another recording, the 41st Precinct Patrol Supervisor appears to step up the pressure to write more and more summonses:

“Next week, 25 &1, 35 & 1, and until you decide to quit this job to go to work at a Pizza Hut , this is what you’re going to be doing till then. Do you understand?” asked the patrol officer.

“He’s being clear, the only choice that we have is to do it,” said Officer Polanco.

Eyewitness News asked, “Are you telling me they’re stopping people for no reason, is that what you’re saying?”

“We are stopping kids walking upstairs to their house, stopping kids going to the store, young adults. In order to keep the quota,” answered Officer Polanco.

“Yeah, they locked us up for nothing,” said Zebulun Colbourne.

The Colbourne brothers say they and three other friends were the victims of quotas. All were arrested a few months ago after one of them had fallen while racing each other.

Eyewitness News asked, “You fell and that’s how you hurt your eye?”

“Yeah, and they just wanted to arrest us. I told them I fell but that didn’t matter to them,” said Elijah Colbourne.

All five were accused of engaging in tumultuous and violent conduct that caused public alarm, given a summons for unlawful assembly and locked up overnight.

Eyewitness News asked, “So you’re locked up waiting to see the judge, right?”

“Yeah,” answered the Colbourne brothers.

Eyewitness News asked, “Then what do they do?”

“We don’t see the judge, they let us out the back door after they kept us for a day and some change,” said Elijah Colbourne.

The charges were dropped, but Officer Polanco says the patrolman still got 5 summonses toward their monthly quota.

“At the end of the night you have to come back with something. You have to write somebody, you have to arrest somebody, even if the crime is not committed, the number’s there. So our choice is to come up with the number,” said Officer Polanco.

One Police Plaza declined our requests to interview the 41st precinct commander. But, Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said, “Police Officers like others who receive compensation are provided productivity goals and they are expected to work.”

Officer Polanco says if they are just goals, why are officers who fail to make them, re-assigned to different shifts or relocated far from home.

It’s the consequences of not making the numbers or quotas, he says, that forces officers to give out bogus summonses.

“I cannot be more honest than I’ve been. There’s no reason for me to lie, there’s no reason for me to get into the trouble I am, cause I just could’ve kept quiet and made the money,” said Officer Polanco.

 If you have a tip about this or any other issue you’d like investigated, please give our tipline a call at 877-TIP-NEWS. You may also e-mail us at the.investigators@abc.com and follow Jim Hoffer on Twitter at twitter.com/nycinvestigates

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Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles Tagged With: , ,

Ebony Magazine Pens Article Criminalizing Mumia Abu Jamal

March 1, 2010 By

I’m reading about this sad scenario of some writer who sounds like he’s trying to spark things off by being ‘outrageous’..In this case he takes a shot at Mumia..which is not cool on a number of levels..Why add to putting a man’s life at risk? Would this same writer smash on say the neighborhood dope dealer who has a Suge Knight type rep and temper?  Would he pen an article lambasting, dry snitching or etc to a person like that?

 I guess one shouldn’t be shocked.. its all about making the bottom line for folks.. We saw that with Philadelphia’s new Black DA Seth Williams who campaigned on putting Mumia to death and got the endorsements of the policeman’s union. We see that with this writer who may be trying to make name for himself and doesn’t care if his words in a publication like Ebony Magazine carries weight and used to validate a course of action one might wanna take.. Here are some of the letters of objection that were written to Ebony Magazine..

-Davey D-

——————————————————————————————-

Sis Marpessa: EBONY MAGAZINE ARTICLE CRIMINALIZES MUMIA ABU-JAMAL

Sis. Fatirah and myself have raised our voices against Jam Donaldson’s recent column which appeared in Ebony Magazine’s February 2010 issue (viewable at http://www.conversateisnotaword.com/?p=167). Please read our letters and let your voice be heard as well! — Sis. Marpessa.
——————-

Jam Donaldson
jam@jamdonaldson.com
www.jamdonaldson.com
www.hotghettomess.com

Terry Glover, Managing Editor
Ebony Magazine
Johnson Publishing Company, Inc.
820 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60605
312-322-9200
tglover@ebony.com

To whom it may concern,

I’m writing in response to the ‘article’ in Ebony magazine by Hot ghetto mess Jam Donaldson. As I read it, I thought ‘uh oh; here is another self hating young Black person, who thinks they are designated to point out our faults and present our failures to the world (ala hotghettomess.com), all the while appearing just a little bit better than the rest of us. I have seen the messes in various emails and while they bring a shake of the head, I wonder why someone would go to the trouble of exploiting the worst in our community instead of high-lighting the best?

Then I come to the last paragraph where Ms Mess states that “One day I’m like, ‘Free Mumia’ and other days I’m like, ‘That n***** probably did it.’ And I’m not afraid to admit it, and I’m not afraid to write about it.”

Of course you’re ‘not afraid to write about it’, you are aware that there is an audience for just such words: The FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) for one will probably use your words in some of their propaganda and I’m sure that will make you proud.

Self-serving pseudo journalism at it’s worst.

If you ever choose to be a responsible journalist, you will find that there is much information about Mumia Abu-Jamal’s case, done by upstanding reporters who have DONE THEIR HOMEWORK, and are not looking for a pithy little ending.

Mumia’s life is on the line, and for you to be so cavalier about it shows either your naivete, or your deliberate attempt to ingratiate yourself with those who are seeking to murder an innocent man.

If you find yourself looking for some excellent articles from a man whose body has been locked down for years, but whose mind and heart are as free as the wind, you can follow any of the links below for more information.

I doubt you will, there’s nothing ‘sexy’ about the truth.

Fatirah Aziz

http://www.freemumia.com/
http://www.prisonradio.org
http://www.emajonline.com/index.php?action=4&content_id=311

======================

Jam Donaldson
jam@jamdonaldson.com
www.jamdonaldson.com
www.hotghettomess.com

Terry Glover, Managing Editor
Ebony Magazine
Johnson Publishing Company, Inc.
820 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60605
312-322-9200
tglover@ebony.com

The Ebony Magazine February 2010 article entitled: “Sisterspeak – Did I just CALL YOU OUT? YEP. I did. Deal with it. One writer tells the truth,” by Jam Donaldson concludes by proclaiming, “One day I’m like, ‘Free Mumia’ and other days I’m like, ‘That n***** probably did it.’ And I’m not afraid to admit it, and I’m not afraid to write about it.”

You succeeded in ending your article with controversy but was the pay-off worth carelessly toying with a man’s life? This isn’t a Gen-X’er spreading your wings in defiance of the status quo or clowning somebody for having their behind hanging out and rainbow-colored weave as you regularly do on the web, you made a flippant and highly irresponsible condemnation purely for shock value!

“Free Mumia” is not a catchprase to be spouted according to your mood swings and supposings, nor a litmus test by which you should make reckless statements as a way to poke out your chest and feel special. To believe that Mumia should be free is to fight to uncover the truth that has been smothered by the courts for 28+ years. It’s not about a gimmick for your self-promotion by using Mumia’s name for flava, hype or to raise your google-ability — this is a demand for a constitutionally guaranteed fair trial before a jury of ones peers instead of a hate-filled feeding frenzy of racism, coerced testimony, fabricated, distorted and hidden evidence. It’s about trying to get justice in a court where an entire police union (FOP) carries picket signs in protest and packs hearings with t-shirts emblazoned with “Fry Mumia” over their highly visible guns — before a judge who himself is a lifetime FOP member! It’s about an outrageous frame-up of a Black man who the COINTELPRO targeted as early as his teenage years.

This zinger with which you ended your article crosses the line from an attempt at being clever to an outright attack. The slightest bit of research would have shown you that at this very critical juncture in history Mumia is in the midst of extremely intensified court pressures and the campaign to release him is in the midst of a knockdown, drag-out battle to stop his legalized lynching! Unfortunately your witless assertion now carries weight because it has been so incredibly elevated by Ebony magazine, of all places! The appalling way in which you chose to end your piece may have given you a smirk of personal satisfaction but the only people you have impressed are those who are salivating at the prospect of murdering Mumia, or don’t you get that?

As for Ebony magazine, has your more than half-century of publishing come down to this, such a desperate yearning to attract young readership that you showcase an article that debases a Black man fighting for his life on death row as a “NIGGER” (why bother with the asterisks at all?)! Is that really where it’s at with Ebony nowadays? Freedom of expression is one thing, but gross negligence is quite another! As one of the most well-respected Black publications in the US and world, surely you must realize that much of Black America views the case against Mumia with a healthy amount of skepticism, not to mention his being an internationally recognized author, scholar and champion of human rights. Someone with maturity should have pointed out to this “blogger and cultural commentator” that this was an extremely reckless and slanderous statement to make regarding anyone at all, let alone a colleague and fellow practicing journalist!

Right now there is a major campaign to urge Attorney General Eric Holder to open a civil rights investigation into the frame-up of Mumia. Ebony Magazine should agree to maintain at least the appearance of fairness and give space to the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal to provide balance to this smear against Mumia which you printed in your publication. They must, at the very least, be given the opportunity to discuss the current state of the campaign to free Mumia and be able to point your readers toward resources to reach their own opinions regarding his case as soon as possible to refute Ms. Donaldson’s commentary.

Marpessa Kupendua

Mumia Abu-Jamal on-line resources:
International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal: http://www.freemumia.com
Academics for Mumia: http://www.emajonline.com/index.php?action=4&content_id=311
Information and Analysis: http://abu-jamal-news.com/
Some of Mumia’s journalism: http://www.prisonradio.org/mumia.htm

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Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News Tagged With: ,

Fat Joe, Ice Cube, Immortal Technique & Alex Sanchez Talk about Black & Brown Unity

March 1, 2010 By

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In addressing the issue of Black/ Brown unity we caught up with popular rappers Fat Joe & Ice Cube and asked them to address the issue.. Fat Joe spoke at the Hip Hop summit in 2001 and explained the political importance of the two groups coming together…

Ice Cube spoke to the history of unity between Black and Brown peoples in California. He taks about how the Brown man helped the Black man escape slavery..Cube also weighs in on the immigration debate.

We caught up to Immortal Technique at the Malcolm X day parade in Harlem in may of 2006 and talked to him about Black and Brown Unity… He gave us a lot to think about in the areas of colonization and divide and conquer techniques used by those who have enslaved us or colonized us..
Former gang member turned peacemaker Alex Sanchez spoke at Laney College in Oakland during the Critical Resistence conference in 2007 about Black Brown unity and how we should beawre and ideally unify around the issue of immigration. He said we need to understyand the inhumane treatment many are experiencing and focus on this being a human rights issue.. He stressed that both communities need to be more educated about struggles we are going through…
Former gang member turned peacemaker Alex Sanchez talks about solutions for establishing Black/ Brown unity..He talks about the role people in peace and social justice movements must play and the language they must use and not use.. He also talks about regional tactics.. He notes Black-Brown relationships are different in California compared to places like NY and we need to not have a one size fits all strategy.. He also talks about how there are powerful forces within prison that have made unifying difficult because of politics from behind the walls..
We sat down with San Antonio based Professor Mario Salas and talked to him about ways in which Black and Brown communities have worked together. He talks about the Black Panthers and Brown Berets
 
 
Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Goodie Mob, Jacka, Umi of RBG Drop Pearls of wisdom around Violence in the community

March 1, 2010 By

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Last night, a historic gathering took place in san Francisco at the 330 Ritch club. That was the locale for the  Stop the Violence panel and townhall featuring reknowned artists like the Goodie Mob, Tha Jacka, Umi of RBG, Elaine Brown of the Black Panther party  and a host of others..

The  panelist spoke to the issue of violence within and outside of the community. They also spoke about political prisoner Chip Fitzgerald a former Black Panther who has served 40 years..

 T-Mo of the Goodie Mobb addressed the audience with his insight on the role he and his group can play on bettering the community..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXEQ4LKnLWQ

Goodie Mob member Cee-Lo drops pearls of wisdom on the Stop the Violence panel. He talks about his responsibility to the communityalso talks about how and why Goodie Mob has managed to remain  together over the years..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R23g-YHgSc

Goodie Mob members Khujo and Big Gipp address the issue of community violence. They talk about their role as artists, noting that they’ve always put the community first.. The noted that they were activists more than artists..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FOhCiv6bkQ

Umi of RBG/ dead prez  speaks to the audience on the Stop the Violence panel about being revolutionary and having love for the community. He talks about how its important for us to turn that love into action and do things that will benefit the group and not just the individual..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlCePuc0WRU

Oakland rap star Tha Jacka talks about not glamorizing our faults and staying connected to the community as a way to set examples for those who look up to him.. Rudy Corbuz of United Playaz laces the audience with the importance of staying grounded and seeing the best within the people of the community.. Both men give us real food for thought

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLMyB7tLJJs

Former Black Panther chair Elaine Brown addressed the packed house for the Stop the Violence panel to talk about how the state places violence on us and we respond by turning on each other. She also talks about Black-Brown violence and lets us know how this has been orchestrated by the police and other law enforcement outlets that deliberately do things to ratch up tensions.. She offers the solution that the Black Panthers, Young Lords and Brown Berets used to come together…
We continue lacing people with inspiring words and solution at the Stop the Violence panel. Here Julio aka Gold Toes and Khujo of the Goodie Mob talk about empowering the community.. Julio talks about unting La Raza and teaming up with Jim Brown and folks from the NOI among others.. Talks about the gang enhancement laws and how the police are smashing on folks..by accusing people of gang banging

Khujo talks about how each person in the community has to be an inspiration and not to wait on and soley depend upon rap artists..

We conclude this Stop the Violence series with words of wisdom from former lifer Gerald of Not Without Tears talks about the gang situation in LA and how a lot of it is oftwen instigated by the police.  He talks about the influence of the Black Panthers and the Black on Brown conflict inside prison..

Nicco talks about the challenges young women are facing and how we must be aware of the hurt people are dealing with and help them heal..

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Former Black Panther chair Elaine Brown Speaks on Cointel-pro, The Panther’s influence on Gangs & Freeing Chip Fitzgerald

March 1, 2010 By

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We caught up with former Black Panther party chair-Elaine Brown who spoke to us outside of 330 Ritch in San Francisco… She talked to us about political prisoner Chip Fitzgerald a Black Panther who has served 40 years in jail including the last year in solitary confinement. Fitzgerald’s incarceration stems  from an incident in which he defended himself from LA police.

Elaine explains the widespread influence of the Black Panthers and how they impacted the early gangs in both New York and LA which sprung up in the wake of the FBI trying to destroy the Panthers using Cointel-Pro tactics. Brown talks to us about how the counter intelligence program set up by the FBI and J Edger Hoover and how it was used to destroy liberation groups.Its been documented and we’ve heard over the years from the gang members how much they influenced by the revolutionary spirit of the Black Panthers were around during the early days of Hip Hop. She explained that those early gangs had a revolutionary outlet that made them targets bby the police who sought to ‘neutralize’ them. 

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

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Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: , , , , ,

Building an iPod? There’s an app for that-It’s called Apple uses child labor

March 1, 2010 By

At least eleven 15-year-old children were discovered to be working last year in three factories which supply Apple.

The company did not name the offending factories, or say where they were based, but the majority of its goods are assembled in China.

Apple also has factories working for it in Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, the Czech Republic and the United States.

Apple said the child workers are now no longer being used, or are no longer underage. “In each of the three facilities, we required a review of all employment records for the year as well as a complete analysis of the hiring process to clarify how underage people had been able to gain employment,” Apple said, in an annual report on its suppliers.

Apple has been repeatedly criticised for using factories that abuse workers and where conditions are poor. Last week, it emerged that 62 workers at a factory that manufactures products for Apple and Nokia had been poisoned by n-hexane, a toxic chemical that can cause muscular degeneration and blur eyesight. Apple has not commented on the problems at the plant, which is run by Wintek, in the Chinese city of Suzhou.

A spokesman for Wintek said that “almost all” of the affected workers were back at work, but that some remained in hospital. Wintek said n-hexane was commonly used in the technology industry, and that problems had arisen because some areas of the factory were not ventilated properly.

Last year, an employee at Foxconn, the Taiwanese company that is one of Apple’s biggest suppliers, committed suicide after being accused of stealing a prototype for the iPhone.

Sun Danyong, 25, was a university graduate working in the logistics department when the prototype went missing. An investigation revealed that the factory’s security staff had beaten him, and he subsequently jumped to his death from the 12th floor of his apartment building.

Foxconn runs a number of super-factories in the south of China, some of which employ as many as 300,000 workers and form self-contained cities, complete with banks, post offices and basketball courts.

It has been accused, however, of treating its employees extremely harshly. China Labor Watch, a New York-based NGO, accused Foxconn of having an “inhumane and militant” management, which neglects basic human rights. Foxconn’s management were not available for comment.

In its report, Apple revealed the sweatshop conditions inside the factories it uses. Apple admitted that at least 55 of the 102 factories that produce its goods were ignoring Apple’s rule that staff cannot work more than 60 hours a week.

The technology company’s own guidelines are already in breach of China’s widely-ignored labour law, which sets out a maximum 49-hour week for workers.

Apple also said that one of its factories had repeatedly falsified its records in order to conceal the fact that it was using child labour and working its staff endlessly.

“When we investigated, we uncovered records and conducted worker interviews that revealed excessive working hours and seven days of continuous work,” Apple said, adding that it had terminated all contracts with the factory.

Only 65 per cent of the factories were paying their staff the correct wages and benefits, and Apple found 24 factories where workers had not even been paid China’s minimum wage of around 800 yuan (Pounds76) a month.

Meanwhile, only 61 per cent of Apple’s suppliers were following regulations to prevent injuries in the workplace and a mere 57 per cent had the correct environmental permits to operate.

The high environmental cost of Apple’s products was revealed when three factories were discovered to be shipping hazardous waste to unqualified disposal companies.

Apple said it had required the factories to “perform immediate inspections of their wastewater discharge systems” and hire an independent environmental consultant to prevent future violations.

However, Apple has not stopped using the factories.

In 2008, Apple found that a total of 25 child workers had been employed to build iPods, iPhones and its range of computers.

original source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/7330986/Apple-admits-using-child-labour.html

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Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: , , , ,

Update: Surgery Successful for Legendary Rapper Guru Full Recovery is Expected

March 1, 2010 By

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Update: according to all Hip Hop as of this morning March 2 2010.. Guru Surgery Successful; Full Recovery Expected- click here for more info..and remeber prayer works http://bit.ly/bT8VeC 

It’s hard to take in the news about Guru (Keith Elam) suffering from a heart attack and slipping into a coma while still in his 40s and not have in the backdrop all these other people both public and private who have dropped dead to sudden heart attacks, having seizures, strokes etc at a young age.. Before I get to all that, lemme let folks know whats been passed along from Guru’s former partner DJ Premier…  

He noted that yesterday Guru suffered a heart attack and later slipped into a coma and is scheduled to have surgery today. Craig G noted that Guru also had a stroke. In anycase none of this is good.. We wish Guru the best of luck in pulling through. We are keeping him in our prayers. But like I said its hard to simply isolate Guru’s health condition.  

This year I lost two radio colleagues both in their early 50s to sudden heart attacks. Both Andrea Lewis and Gina Hotto were pillars in the activist community here in the Bay Area as well as radio hosts at KPFA.  We lost another comrade Javad Jahi  who did lots of work around the SF8 case who passed after getting the H1N1 flu which compounded the walking pneumonia he had.. Their deaths came within a couple of months of each others and left us shocked. It also made many of us take long hard looks at our lifestyles and lessen the stresses we constantly endure as people seeking social change in our communities.   

This weekend we learned that actor Gary Coleman who is also in his 40s.. suffered a seizure.. Details are still sketchy. But its indicative of what is happening to way too many people. Two years two friends suffered minor strokes and one who completely shut down and was hospitalized over stress.. These were folks who had just hit their 40s.. My point here is that even though folks aren’t eating meat and not obese which I believe was the case with Guru doesn’t mean they are free of these types of health challenges..I have a friend who ran into Guru just two weeks ago and he was commenting on how he was feeling great and was in great health..I guess we can’t take any of this for granted..  

Guru and Super producer Solar

  

Many of the folks I know don’t have health insurance and so they never get a check up and usually wind up going to the hospital when things are dire if they even do that.. And even if they do have health insurance, many of those policies don’t cover things like stress due to financial upheavals.. or stress from being pushed to the limit at your job.. or even just having tremendous insecurities about keeping their jobs.. All this adds up..  

Not sure what else one can say except that we all had best start looking at health as a right and not a privilege.. Lets pray for Guru and lets pray for ourselves so that we can stay healthy..  

Here’s an update from Guru’s partner Solar  

“Guru is struggling with a serious health issue. And We appreciate all your love and well wishes. we continue to hold out hope that Guru will make a full recovery from this. And ask that his privacy on this matter be respected. Again Thank you for all your support through this trying time. (via @solar_7grand)” -Solar is Guru’s production partner  

Here’s an interview I did with Guru a couple of years ago  

http://www.swift.fm/mrdaveyd/song/25904/  pt1  

http://www.swift.fm/mrdaveyd/song/25905/  pt2  

http://www.swift.fm/mrdaveyd/song/25906/ pt3  

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Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Southern Shift Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Noose Found at Racist UCSD where White Frats had Comptom Cookout

February 26, 2010 By

Noose found at Geisel Library, message to Guardian says more are coming

http://forwarducsd.org/?p=187

There is much to be said about the last week at UCSD, but for right now it is imperative to know what exactly is going on.

 A noose has been found hanging off of a light at Geisel Library. This is connected to the racial tensions of the last few weeks, just the most recent manifestation of a long-standing racism that is deep within every breath we take at UCSD. It is our history; we cannot avoid it. We must look it right in the eyes. Here’s a link to Student Regent Jesse Bernal’s page on the topic, with a picture of the noose for documentation purposes. I don’t want to alienate people by showing the offensive picture here, but I want people to have the relevant visual aid for this post, so they know this is some real shit. Some people need to see it. Others may disagree; our comment box is always open.

noose found at ucsd library UCSD is racist. Let’s take a second to note that. UCSD is racist. In the meantime, let us remember the words of a wise man: “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” Spotted exactly one week after the words “Compton Lynching” were seen in the Koala’s office, this message from UCSD’s white-supremacists was accompanied by a separate message to the Guardian that more were coming. Certain elements within our generally sickening student body have decided to taunt students of color with the most potent symbolism of white-on-black violence in America, just for funsies. This is what students who don’t stand for something are being asked to fall for. If I’ve gotten to know this school as well as I thought I have in 12 years connected to it, I think a lot of white people here are going to fall for it.

 Let me state first off that if you think this is funny, you’re probably the kind of person I wouldn’t miss. I can only speak for myself here.

 Secondly, there’s a disturbing trend in white activism, including my own, to depersonalize the real pain and suffering of real people in our moral and political judgments. There are plenty of objective political reasons and shining moral reasons to oppose this disgusting display of white power. But what have moved me most in the last few hours are the personal thoughts of a few students of color I’ve been privileged to read from. I will share these on this forum, so that, if only for a moment, we are thinking about the real-life horror that UCSD students are imposing upon one another.

 As you read these, if you have the privilege of being emotionally removed from the situation, think about how you would feel as a student, worker or teacher of color walking this campus, knowing you are outnumbered up to 18 times over by people who throw so-called Compton cookouts, drop N-bombs on all-campus TV, push you off of committees if you are perceived as a threat, and hang nooses in the library for kicks. Would you feel safe? Would you feel like the campus you’ve put years of hard work and insomnia into belongs to you like it does to other people? Do you? Students of color, how does this event change your perception of the campus you live, work, teach, study, play and dream on?

 We welcome all comments on this matter except that I will try to keep this a safe space for people who are already being ridiculed, dehumanized, and spat upon enough. If you have to ask what that means, chances are you’d be better served by some cheap-thrills message board or morning show.

 Disclaimer: the individuals quoted are not affiliated with Forward and did not specifically approve their thoughts being posted; I will delete the relevant quotes if they ask, though.

 A statement from one antiracist organizer, reminding us of why this kind of imagery is considered such a vicious personal threat for black students here:

“We are in a state of emergency my friends. Latest news is that a NOOSE was found hanging on the 7th floor of Geisel Library. People ask whats the big deal? Why is everyone so upset? I’ll tell you why take note of this excerpt in the autobiography of Angelo Herndon titled “Let Me Live”:

“I know many stories about Negroes who were lynched on no more just provocation than this. Sometimes the lynch mobs need neither provocation nor excuse to carry on their bestial orgies. Often I used to read with horror about the lynching of some Negro worker in the South. The most gruesome, the most disgusting lynching story I ever heard was that which concerned Hayes and Mary turner, Negro sharecroppers in Georgia. They were pauperized and their landlord had tried to rob them of everything they had produced on their land with the toil of their hands and the seat of their brows. The share cropper was man enough to stand up for his rights. He demanded that the farm products be divided equally, as had been agreed upon at the beginning of the year. The landlord grew violently abusive. He threatened him and said he would “fix” him. Terrified out of his wits, for he knew that his landlord would not stop at anything to revenge himself, Hayes Turner tried to make a quite getaway. But his landlord had not allowed grass to grow on his track. He quickly organized a posse of hooligans and the most disreputable elements in the community and gave chase to the runaway. The posse, led by the County Sheriff, caught up with Hayes Turner at the fork of the road near Barney. THEY STRUNG HIM UP ON A TREE AT WAYSIDE WHERE HE HUNG FOR TWO DAYS. Hysterical and grief-stricken, Mrs. Turner was heard to remark that she would have the lynchers arrested. When the lynch mob heard of her determination they decided they were going to teach her a lesson for such a presumption. Although she was in the eighth month of her pregnancy, THEY STRUNG HER TO A TREE AND BROKE HER NECK. THEY HANGED HER BY HER FEET AND POURED GASOLINE OVER HER. As she burned, the mob howled with glee. Then one maniac, wielding a hog-splitting knife, RIPPED HER BELLY OPEN AND THE LITTLE INFANT FELL OUT. ONE OF THE LYNCHERS STAMPED THE INFANT WITH HIS HOBNAILED SHOES INTO THE EARTH. Then the mob, driven with wild bestiality, began to howl like wolves and in their criminal sadism fired hundreds of bullets into her lifeless body.”

This my friends is the BIG DEAL. This my friends is what a noose symbolizes and if the individual that put this up or the individuals that agree with that person putting this noose up for everyone to see agrees then they are perpetuating this very act of violence and genocide of a group of human beings. So now it’s time to mobilize MORE THAN EVER before. It is time to come together in solidarity and struggle. Tomorrow 8am library walk WEAR ALL BLACK AND BE READY TO HAVE OUR VOICES HEARD!!!!!!”

Finally, most personally, a text message from a friend, herself a student of color at UCSD:

“I don’t feel good about this. Reading the noose thing just filled me with such fear and now I’m trying to stop crying.”

How would you feel if your sister wrote this? Your cousin? Your mother? Yourself?

Before last night, I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to a white Southern college from the 1930s. After this morning, we’ll see what UCSD looks like.

In the meantime, those of you who don’t go to UCSD: Burn down the state’s rotten, racist institutions in solidarity. Let your righteous anger be your guide. The issues of campus climate and academic access deserve your full attention.

February 26th, 2010 | Tags: | Category: Uncategorized 

2 comments to Noose found at Geisel Library, message to Guardian says more are coming

  • Montana

    The noose. So, what exactly will the excuses be for this cowardly act that brings up memories of the confederate KKK of the South in their attempts to keep slavery and the non-whites in fear? Is it that are uneducated, is it that they are live in fear because our President in the white house is not 100% white. This is what the republican party of “birthers, baggers and blowhards” have brought you. These kids follow what their dullard leaders say, are you surprise at what they do when you know what they think.

  • Chiggs

    First off, let me say that it is ridiculous that the recent conflict has escalated to the point where death threats have been made. It is upsetting and unacceptable that people feel “free speech” can be displayed through threatening symbols such as a noose. I am completely outraged at this event.
    But with that said, in response to the caption of the noose photo, how can you pin a demeaning and hatful term such as racist on an entire student body. Clearly there are racists people at UCSD, there are racist people at every school. the actions of UCSDs administration have given the white supremacists an excuse to react with hate. But in no way can you slogan UCSD as racist. The majority of the people here are certainly not. If the noose was an isolated issue, i can guarantee there would be thousands of students marching at the protest this morning. But there events are so tied up in a wide array of actions that have taken place over the past few weeks, demeaning all students and faculty at UCSD.
    The people that placed the noose and promised more to come are cowardly, hateful, and yes, racist. Their threatening message should and does call for action. It sickens me that people like this are still around in the 21st century.

 

Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: , ,

No Sellout-The Secret Malcolm X Tape w/ The FBI

February 26, 2010 By

Bay Area journalist Adisa Banjoko aka The Bishop who heads up the Hip Hop Chess Federation came to our SF State class yesterday and laced our students up with the important role Islam has played in Hip Hop culture.  One of the main topics he touched upon was the strong presence of Malcolm X and what he meant to Hip Hop.. We discussed the songs he was sampled in. We talked about the rappers who referenced him.. Adisa definitely went in..

He closed out the discussion by talking about Cointel-pro and Black Pro– the government program that proceeded it. Adisa talked about how the government had gotten over 3000 people throughout the country to spy on Black organizations and report their activities back to the FBI. Many people wavered and sold us out. others stood strong. We talked integrity and never selling out. He brought forth this  ‘secret recording’ that was made by the FBI when they approached Malcolm after he was suspended by Elijah Muhammad for mis-speaking after President Kennedy was assassinated.What we heard was absolutely riveting on a number of levels.

To start it was crazy to hear how bold and upfront our tax payer supported government agencies were in terms of going out and destroying our leaders and undermining the Black Liberation struggle. These guys were over the top bold in asking Malcolm to spy and sell out the Nation of Islam then known as the Black Muslims.

What was impressive was Malcolm’s resolve and his intelligence… he shut these FBI agents down..  This is definitely a MUST listen..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8CSQopxEf8

Here’s another link just in case

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z4giEVP57c

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Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Questlove of the Roots Speaks on the Importance of Fela Kuti

February 26, 2010 By

?uestlove from The Roots, now an associate producer on the hit musical Fela! on Broadway, talks about when he first discovered Fela Kuti’s music, and walks us through Fela’s influence in yesterday and today’s hip-hop — including works by Mos Def, Macy Gray, D’Angelo, X-Clan, and Leader of the New School.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7ccoFct508

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Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: , , ,
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