You are here: Home / Archives for New Orleans

We Remember Hurricane Katrina, Kanye Bashing George Bush & White Vigilantes

August 29, 2013 By

Click HERE to Listen to DJ Chela's Hurricane Katrina Mix

We should never forget what took place 8 years ago in the city of New Orleans. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina the levees broke and massive flooding engulfed the city. What took place in the aftermath was something that should never be erased from our collective memories.

What we’re talking about is the mass displacement of tens of thousands of people who still have not been able to return to New Orleans. Many saw the lack of response and oversights as deliberate with an end goal of removing a population of people deemed undesirable.

In the aftermath of Katrina we saw vigilantes running around shooting and killing Black folks. Some of it was deep hatred they already held. A lot of it was from exaggerated reports of violence, looting and mayhem in the Superdome where many sought refuge.
We now know that former New Orleans police chief Eddie Compass was the person behind the heightened reports. He did so to get more help, but it resulted in anger and resentment and later physical harm being directed at Black people trying to escape the flood waters. This includes unprovoked attacks in the Algiers section of New Orleans as well as on the Gretna Bridge and the later the Danziger Bridge.

In the aftermath of Katrina we saw a rash of police shootings amounting to over 10 deaths. This led to federal investigations with a number of officers eventually convicted.. Below is a small sampling of audio highlighting what went down in New Orleans.

Kanye West apologized to former President George Bush. Many ask was that the right thing to do?

Kanye West

First we have the Kanye West vs George Bush audio mix which captures the mood of the day and lays out the challenges people were facing.. It features everyone from Juvenile to Master P to former Mayor Ray Nagin to Geraldo Rivera. speaking to what was blowing up all around them. It also features Kanye West and his famous outburst to then President George Bush. Years later Bush would say it was the low point of his presidency and Kanye sadly apologized.

We also included heart wrenching testimony from the Hurricane Katrina Tribunals which took place the following year..Here you hear former Black Panther Malik Raheim and others talk about the terror of white vigilantes hunting Black people to keep them out of their neighborhoods as they sought dry ground. What took place in New Orleans was a type of neighborhood watch where everyone Black is suspicious and should be shot before questioned. This may have been the model followed by George Zimmerman years later.

logo-kanye vs bush

Kanye West vs George Bush

malik-rahimPart One of testimony given on behalf of Katrina victims by an eyewitness who worked to save lives in New Orleans, former Black Panther Malik Raheim. Includes a mix of music by Kanye West, Gil Scott-Heron, and reporting from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Hard Knock Radio_Katrina Tribunal pt1

Part Two of Malik Raheim‘s searing testimony about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, white vigilantes, and the lack of emergency response to the victims.

Hard Knock Radio_Katrina Tribunal pt2

We continue with testimony from the Hurricane Katrina Tribunals, and updates on local events.

Hard Knock Radio Katrina Tribunal pt3

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: , , , ,

Rapper Rick Ross Explains His Song Was just a Big Misunderstanding-He Loves Women

March 28, 2013 By

Rick RossRapper Rick Ross appeared on a radio show on q93.3 in New Orleans and attempted to do some damage control by explaining the lyrics to his song..U.O.E.N.O. (you ain’t even know it)..In the song he describes what many call a ‘recipe for rape’ , where he brags about slipping a molly into a woman’s drink, taking her home and having sex, all while she is under the influence and doesn’t know..

The firestorm it set off has been widespread, including a big article in today’s Washington Post that includes a petition demanding key record executives be held accountable.. You can peep that article HERE..

In the article Industryears co-founder Paul Porter tells the Washington Post

Porter goes on to argue that artists should not be solely responsible for their lyrical content. According to him, the bar is being set increasingly lower and many are relying on shock value for mass appeal. This might explain why it seems the lyrical content gets progressively worse in its promotion of violence and drugs. And with media outlets not doing the best job in self-policing the airwaves, references to “Molly” and other drugs continuously get heard on the radio and in music videos.

“Somebody is responsible at every record label for what gets approved,” says Porter. “These are the people that we never talk about. The guys that profit the most never get talked about. Until the pressure is at the top – the bottom is never going to change. Rick Ross is just a pawn.”

There are times when I question the power of our voices against these massive corporate machines. What could we write/say that hasn’t already been written/said? What could we do that would actually hurt their bottom line? And if we reach one artist, aren’t there hundreds of others who are just the same?

Rick Ross in his interview says that he has love for women and they are sacred. He refers to them as Queens and says he condemns rape..He claims his lyrics were a big misunderstanding and that its important for artists to clarify.. He starts talking about the song 4;26 into the 8 minute intv..

It remains to be seen how Ross’s explanation will sit with folks.. Many are upset at the stations who promote such songs and are still pushing for them to pull that and other songs that celebrate rape culture..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzR-yTSWZgI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lI7VOqLYLiY

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , , ,

HBO’s Treme Actor Ameer Baraka Joins Oprah’s Blackboard Wars

March 15, 2013 By

HBO’s Treme Actor Ameer Baraka Joins Oprah’s Blackboard Wars Ameer Baraka is many things: a model for Master P‘s No Limit Apparel brand, an actor in the acclaimed HBO drama series Treme and FOX‘s “The Unit”, a producer, a director, a fitness enthusiast…and a man with a criminal history. Now, the 36-year old is taking on the role of a lifetime―himself. It sounds like the easiest part to play in front of a camera, but the reality is completely different. The story he’s telling isn’t just his own, but those stories of hundreds of children in New Orleans who are on the fast-track to a life in prison, without redemption, without hope. Having experienced first-hand the worst society has to offer, Baraka has risen above his past and more importantly, wants his rising tide to lift the spirits, hopes and dreams of every young man and woman who thinks they have no alternatives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJV90CvhQes

His web series “N.O.L.A. Life,” co-produced by Danny Garcia (What She Wants For Christmas, Who Did I Marry?) and Baraka himself, dares to show it all. The documentary series, described as “the truest, grittiest, most realistic depiction of New Orleans life ever filmed,” explains not only how life is for the young men and women on the streets, but more importantly how that life can be different. As a young man, Baraka experienced the hardship of growing up without a father. A mother and grandmother can provide love, but as he notes, “A woman cannot raise a man.” Without the strength, without the discipline afforded by a positive male role model, living in the Calliope housing development, he fell into a life of drugs, crime, and violence by age fourteen. It wasn’t until he landed in prison and met older, reformed convicts who saw something special in him that he learned the secret to breaking this vicious cycle. Preaching at children does not work―mentoring them does.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp96InGbanE

Two years’ experience running a mentoring program at Booker T. Washington School in New Orleans backs him up. Considered some of the highest-risk youth in the state, Baraka’s engagement brings real results to a setting long thought beyond repair. Reaching out to the intelligent young minds he sees before him, Baraka challenges them to channel their energies and impulses in positive directions and faith-based initiatives, and the results speak for themselves: drug use, fights, suspensions and expulsions at Booker T. Washington are down across the board. To further these ends, he created the Ameer Baraka Give A Hand Fund, which provides financial assistance to children so they can attend school in better areas of New Orleans. Visit his website at http://kingbaraka.com to learn more about his life and work.

On Saturday, March 16th at 9pm, you will see and hear Ameer Baraka’s powerful story on Oprah Winfrey‘s OWN Network show, “Blackboard Wars”. You will get to know Ameer and the young men and women he mentors and engages every day. And you will come to believe, just as he does, that one man really can change the world.

see more HERE

http://www.dirtysouthhiphop.com/news.php?id=6323

 

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Reporting from Tampa at RNC Day 2: Condi & Ryan..Rise of the Crazies

August 30, 2012 By

 

Ann Wright being removed from the Convention after disrupting Paul Ryan‘speech

Last night during GOP Vice presidential Paul Ryan‘s speech where he told blatant lie after lie, a former army colonel and US diplomat who served under George Bush named Ann Wright along w/ a woman named Laura Mills, of Code Pink unfolded a banner that read ‘Fund Healthcare Not Warfare-My Body My Health’..They were quickly surrounded by security and rushed off the floor as the crowd chanted USA! USA! USA!

The two women came in and sat among the delegates and then positioned themselves so they would be near the press risers where all of your mainstream outlets were filming, thus they would be seen quite clearly as they unfolded their banners.. Sadly most of the outlets turned their camera’s away and did not show the disruption, on live TV.. Not too many commented on the banner unfolding even though  the women who were removed , but not arrested held a press conference that was well attended after the speech where they fielded questions.. We had them on our Pacifica national broadcast shortly after Paul Ryan spoke……

Paul Ryan

As for Ryan’s speech, to say the least it was pretty bad and chock full of lies. The most blatant was him telling the crowd how Obama didn’t bail out auto plant in his Wisconsin district which he noted was forced to close.. The problem was that autoplant closed under George Bush..You can read about that HERE.

His other lies centered on manipulating money figures like saying Obama caused the credit to be downgraded when it was Ryan and his croonies who held the debt ceiling hostage. He then talked about how we did all this wasteful spending when he sat up in congress and voted to fund endless wars, Give Bush a blank check to fight terrorism, the whole nine.. If you want you can peep some of Ryan’s lies from last night HERE

Also just in case y’all forget, because good ole Paul Ryan didn’t mention it, Y’all do know that Ryan co-sponsored a bill with congressman Todd ‘legitimate rape’ Akins that would prevent women from getting abortions in the case of rape? .

Condi Rice

The person who was downright scary and we all need to pay attention to was Condoleezza Rice.. She came on and pretty much laid down the hawkish foreign policy stances that the RNC wishes to carry out…

Condi also had the nerve to conflate the Civil Rights struggle and the fight against Jim Crow with current privatization policies like school vouchers.. She sat up there and basically said if you can come from the south like me where you couldn’t sit at lunch counters to speak before the RNC, then you can see how great America is..In the words of Kanye West, ‘That woman is Cray’..

Condoleeza Rice pulled out her Alabama card said with a straight face the Civil Rights struggle of today is school vouchers..I’m sure Condi’s friends who were the 4 little girls horrifically killed at the 16t street Church bombing are turning in their graves.. The Civil Rights struggle went from ending segregation to school vouchers??

True to form, Condi also never mentioned the massive flooding, power outages and evacuations taking place as she spoke in New Orleans due to Hurricane Isaac.. Remember 7 years to the date during Katrina, Condi was out and about shopping for shoes on 5th avenue while people were drowning..

We also heard no mention of the devastation caused by Isaac from Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor, Mike Huckabee and everyone else except the Governor Martinez from New Mexico who sent out a prayer.. The good Governor got a huge raucus applause when she immediately followed up her prayer request for New orleans when she talked about her 357 magnum..

A house underwater owned by a friend of the homie Silky Slim

Basically what we had last night was, as President Obama was declaring New Orleans a disaster zone, the RNC folks were literally dancing in the aisles to a funky jazz band.. They did at one pt show a Red Cross sign telling folks to donate for victims of Isaac..The RNC folks also got pissed when the Washington news director for Yahoo News called the RNC out for ‘partying while Black people were drowning in New Orleans’, Yahoo found themselves under pressure and homeboy was fired..You can here the actual remark HERE It was something he said under his breath that got caught on tape.PBS anchor Gwen Ifle is also under fire for defending the Yahoo news director statement..

To put this new Orleans situation into perspective.. check out the twitter time line of @Dee1music. he’s been looking for his parents who last he spoke we’re stuck in the house with 5 feet of water. He’s been on twitter all night asking for folks to see if they can get to the flooded house and make sure they been rescued..

Here’s some snippets of folks I interviewed around Hurricane relief including; Former mayor Rudy Giuliani, Congressman Joe Wilson ofSouth Carolina

Today sheriff Joe from Arizona comes to town.. He’s doing a big event at the local Zoo where he’s expected to tell the RNC how and why they need to apply more oppression to Brown folks..

Here’s what some GOP folks had to say about Republicans closing the women’s gap… This includes Rudy Giuliani,  former RNC chair Michael Steele, Senator Orin Hatch, Congresswoman Joe Wilson

 

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , ,

2 White Officers Get Stiff Sentences for Killing & Burning Un armed Black Man

April 1, 2011 By

The crimes committed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 are too numerous to count. Among them were 10 questionable police shootings including the infamous killing of an unarmed handicapped man on the Danzinger bridge.

Also we had a slew of vigilante killings by white residents in the Algiers section of new Orleans. We also have former police superintendent Eddie Campos as detailed in the book ‘Floodlines’ who admitted to exaggerating about looting and mayhem during Katrina in an attempt to secure more state and federal aid.

Seeing these two cops being convicted being handed down long harsh sentences is a good first step to vindicating those falsely accuse and getting justice for a beleaguered community.

-Davey D-


WASHINGTON—Former New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) Officer David Warren was sentenced today in connection with the post-Katrina shooting death of Henry Glover, and current NOPD Officer Greg McRae was sentenced for the subsequent burning of Glover’s remains and obstruction of justice.

Former NOPD Officer Warren was sentenced to 25 years and nine months in prison for his involvement in the Sept. 2, 2005, shooting death of civilian Henry Glover. As part of the restitution order, Warren will also pay $7,642.32 to Glover’s family for funeral expenses. Warren was found guilty by a federal jury of a civil rights violation resulting in death for shooting Glover, and for using a firearm to commit manslaughter.

Current NOPD Officer McRae was sentenced to 17 years and three months in prison, three years of supervised release, and restitution in the amount of $6,000 for his involvement in the burning of Mr. Glover’s body. McRae was convicted of two civil rights violations, one count of obstructing justice, and one count of using fire during the commission of a felony. One of the civil rights counts charged that McRae willfully used fire to destroy a civilian’s property by burning and destroying a car, and the other civil rights count charged that he willfully deprived Glover’s family members of their right to seek redress in the courts for his death.

Evidence presented at trial established that Warren, while stationed on a second floor lookout, shot Glover, who was a floor below him and running away. Glover’s brother and a friend flagged down a passing motorist, “Good Samaritan” William Tanner, who put the wounded Glover in his car to try to get medical attention for him. However, when the group of men drove up to a makeshift police station seeking help for Glover, police officers surrounded the men at gunpoint, handcuffed them and let Glover die in the back seat of the car. McRae then drove off with Tanner’s car, with Glover’s body inside, and burned both the body and the car with a traffic flare.

“Instead of upholding their oath to protect and serve the people of New Orleans in the days after Hurricane Katrina, these officers abused their power, and violated the law and the public trust,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “Today’s sentence brings a measure of justice to the Glover family and to the entire city.”

“Today’s sentences send a powerful message that no one is above the law, and that those who are sworn to protect our citizens are never, under any circumstances, relieved of their sacred responsibilities under our Constitution. We will continue to do everything in our power—and use every law and weapon in our arsenal of justice to make certain that our police never abuse power they wield. Today is an important step forward for the courageous Glover family and the people of New Orleans, and an important move toward the city’s healing and rebuilding,” said Jim Letten, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

David Welker, FBI Special Agent in Charge for Louisiana, said, “Today’s sentences are a result of the continued diligence and commitment of the FBI to aggressively and fairly pursue civil rights violations, with the goal of bringing to justice those who abuse the very citizens they are entrusted to protect and serve.”

This case was investigated by the New Orleans Field Office of the FBI and was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jared Fishman, of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tracey Knight and Michael Magner for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

source..US Dept of Justice

Filed Under: 2011 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , , ,