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Zimmerman Escapes Again: Feds Won’t File Charges Against Him for Trayvon Martin’s Death

March 1, 2015

Zimmerman Escapes Again: Feds Won’t File Charges Against Him for Trayvon Martin’s Death

 

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George Zimmerman, left, will not face federal civil rights charges in the killing of Trayvon Martin.

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from NorthStarNewsToday.com

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The U.S. Justice Department has now officially announced  that it would not pursue criminal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman, who shot and killed an unarmed Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26, 2012, in Sanford, Fla.

“The death of Trayvon Martin was a devastating tragedy. It shook an entire community, drew attention of million across the nation, and sparked a painful but necessary dialogue throughout the country,” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. said in a statement Feb. 24. “Through a comprehensive investigation found that the high standard for a federal hate crime prosecution cannot be met under the circumstances here, this young man’s premature death necessitates that we continue the dialogue and be unafraid of confronting the issues and tensions his passing brought to the surface. We, as a nation, must take concrete steps to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future.”

An all-women’s jury acquitted Zimmerman of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges following a three-week trial. The jury of mostly white women rejected the state’s argument that Zimmerman deliberately pursued Martin because Zimmerman assumed that he was a criminal. They also did not believe Zimmerman started a fight Martin before shooting him to death.

Martin was returning home from a store when Zimmerman followed him, started a fight and shot him. Zimmerman also ignored a police dispatcher’s order to leave Martin, 17, alone and to let the police handle it.

After Zimmerman’s acquittal, federal investigators conducted their own investigation in Zimmerman’s shooting death of Martin.

“The federal investigation examined whether Zimmerman violated civil rights statutes at any point during his interaction with Martin, from their initial encounter through the fatal shooting,” Justice Department Officials said. Federal investigators independently conducted 75 witness interviews and reviewed the contents of relevant electronic devices.

Mississippi Judge Delivers Epic Sentencing Speech to 3 White Racist Killers By Zenitha Prince

March 2, 2015

Mississippi Judge Delivers Epic Sentencing Speech to 3 White Racist Killers
By Zenitha Prince 

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U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Afro American Newspaper

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The stirring words of U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves, read during the Feb. 10 sentencing of three men involved in the hate crime murder of James Craig Anderson, a 48-year-old Black man, in a Mississippi parking lot in 2011, is being hailed as a moral and emotionally moving tour de force.

The young men Deryl Paul Dedmon, 22, John Aaron Rice, 21, and Dyland Wade Butler, 23, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and to violating the Matthew Shepard and James Bryd Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act in the killing of Anderson, whom they and other conspirators beat and ran over with a truck while yelling “White power.”

Reeves, who in 2010 became the second African American appointed as federal judge in Mississippi, began his protracted speech—which was posted on NPR’s website—by invoking the phantom of Mississippi’s savage past, including Black enslavement and its “infatuation” with the “carnival-like” public ritual of lynching.

“How could hate, fear or whatever it was transform genteel, God-fearing, God-loving Mississippians into mindless murderers and sadistic torturers? I ask that same question about the events which bring us together on this day,” Reeves said, comparing the state’s past and present.

“A toxic mix of alcohol, foolishness and unadulterated hatred caused these young people to resurrect the nightmarish specter of lynchings and lynch mobs from the Mississippi we long to forget,” he continued. “Like the marauders of ages past, these young folk conspired, planned, and coordinated a plan of attack on certain neighborhoods in the city of Jackson for the sole purpose of harassing, terrorizing, physically assaulting and causing bodily injury to Black folk. They punched and kicked them about their bodies — their heads, their faces. They prowled. They came ready to hurt. They used dangerous weapons; they targeted the weak; they recruited and encouraged others to join in the coordinated chaos; and they boasted about their shameful activity. This was a 2011 version of the nigger hunts.”

And, Reeves added, “What is so disturbing … so shocking … so numbing … is that these nigger hunts were perpetrated by our children.”

The judge re-emphasized the fact that Anderson’s death was a hate crime—motivated by the victim’s race, and shot down claims that one or more of the men were, somehow, not “criminals.”

“In the name of White Power, these young folk went to ‘Jafrica’ (the Black neighbourhood) to ‘f-ck with some niggers!’ — echoes of Mississippi’s past,” Reeves said, later adding, “What these defendants did was ugly … it was painful … it is sad … and it is indeed criminal.”

Reeves ended by pointing to signs of success and recommending actions that would keep Mississippi from going backward into the abyss of its ugly past.

“The sadness of this day also has an element of irony to it: Each defendant was escorted into court by agents of an African-American United States Marshal, having been prosecuted by a team of lawyers which includes an African-American AUSA from an office headed by an African-American U.S. attorney — all under the direction of an African-American attorney general, for sentencing before a judge who is African-American, whose final act will be to turn over the care and custody of these individuals to the BOP (Federal Bureau of Prisons) — an agency headed by an African American,” he said.

“As demonstrated by the work of the officers within these state and federal agencies — Black and White, male and female, in this Mississippi they work together to advance the rule of law,” Reeves added. “Having learned from Mississippi’s inglorious past, these officials know that in advancing the rule of law, the criminal justice system must operate without regard to race, creed or color. This is the strongest way Mississippi can reject those notions — those ideas which brought us here today.”

- See more at: http://www.afro.com/black-mississippi-judge-delivers-epic-sentencing-speech-to-3-white-racist-killers/?utm_source=AFRO+Saturday+News+Wrap-up+E-Blast%2C+February+28%2C+2015&utm_campaign=sat+eblast&utm_medium=email#sthash.7y5CaD8O.dpuf

Holder Attacking Racial Disparities in 'War on Drugs' By Joyce Jones

Feb. 23, 2015

Holder Attacking Racial Disparities in 'War on Drugs'
By Joyce Jones

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(TriceEdneyWire.com) - It is widely believed that African-Americans have been the dominant casualties of the nation's so-called War on Drugs. Even though White and Black people use drugs at the same rate and Whites are more likely to sell drugs, Blacks are far more likely to be arrested for selling or possession and to receive harsher sentences.

In remarks delivered at the National Press Club Feb. 17, Attorney General Eric Holder hailed efforts by the Obama administration and his Justice Department that aim to make arrests and sentencing on drug charges more equitable. He pointed to new data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which promotes reducing federal sentences for nonviolent drug crimes, to show that his Smart on Crime initiative is working.

The bottom line: Federal prosecutors are bringing fewer illegal drug cases to court and seeking mandatory minimum sentences less often for nonviolent crimes.

"For years prior to this administration, federal prosecutors were not only encouraged - but required - to always seek the most severe prison sentence possible for all drug cases, no matter the relative risk they posed to public safety. I have made a break from that philosophy," Holder said. "While old habits are hard to break, these numbers show that a dramatic shift is underway in the mindset of prosecutors handling nonviolent drug offenses. I believe we have taken steps to institutionalize this fairer, more practical approach such that it will endure for years to come."

A review of the period between 2013 and 2014, he added, shows that 1,400 fewer individuals were charged with drug trafficking offenses, a reduction of more than six percent. In addition, while the average minimum sentence has risen from 96 months to 98 months, Holder says that means "the most serious drug crimes are now attracting the highest scrutiny."

The attorney general called on states and Congress to enact laws that are consistent with the Smart on Crime initiative. Indeed, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators, including New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, has introduced the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2015, which would give judges more discretion in sentencing nonviolent drug offenders. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) opposes the bill, however.

The attorney general also expressed hope that he will be able to announce a decision regarding investigations into the conduct of former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown and practices and patterns within the Ferguson Police Department.

"My hope is that we will do this before I leave office, and I'm confident that we will do that – though I guess it's ultimately up to Congress as to when I actually leave office," Holder said. "You would think, in some ways, that [Loretta Lynch's confirmation] would be sped up, given their desire to see me out of office. But be that as it may, logic has never been necessarily a guide up there."

The attorney general also defended his recent call for better tracking of incidents of police use of force. Tragedies like the deaths of Brown and Eric Garner in Staten Island "stir the nation" and give people a "sense that things are amiss," but they are not a true sense of the overall problem, including any violence directed at the police.

"So I think that gathering that information in both ways – how are police using force, what kind of force are police having to deal with, what is being directed against them – that kind of data should be gathered," Holder said. "We can have a much better sense of what the problem looks like in our country and then [create] policy based on the empirical evidence that we're able to gather."

 

Rudy Giuliani and the Race to the Bottom by Dr. Wilmer J. Leon, III

Feb. 24, 2015

Rudy Giuliani and the Race to the Bottom
By Dr. Wilmer J. Leon, III

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NEWS ANALYSIS

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - “I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America…He doesn’t love you. And he doesn’t love me. He wasn’t brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country.” - Rudy Giuliani, February 18, 2015

During a private fundraiser for Republican presidential hopeful Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani openly challenged President Barack Obama’s patriotism by questioning whether or not he  “loves America.”  Later, on Fox Giuliani said that he was “not questioning [Obama’s] patriotism”.  That sounds like a distinction without a difference, or as others might say, “some real BS”.

Mainstream American media created this myth of Giuliani being “America’s Mayor” after the 9-11 attacks. He has  subsequently pimped (others might say parlayed) that into a lucrative security and anti-terrorism persona. Now he’s engaged in a race to the bottom with a number of other Republican crackpots.  Louisiana Governor and Republican presidential hopeful “Bobby” Jindal said about Giuliani’s comments, “If you are looking for someone to condemn the Mayor, look elsewhere.”

Some are saying that these comments really don’t matter, it’s just Giuliani being Giuliani.  Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) tried to defend the indefensible by stating, "The reality is that Rudy has taken our debate — and I think we should thank him for this part of it — back to national security, to the key element that the president should be focusing on…” Let’s be clear, Giuliani was not focused on policy. He was focused on pigment and personality.  He used code language and veiled bigotry to speak to a narrative that resonates quite well within a particular segment of the Republican Party.

Giuliani is engaged in a race to the bottom of political hatred with the likes of Joe Wilson (R-SC) with his now infamous “you lie” comment. Mike Huckabee, the former Republican governor of Arkansas is one of many who incorrectly questioned President Obama’s nationality, “If you think about it, his perspective as growing up in Kenya with a Kenyan father…” Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said, “What if [Obama] is so outside our comprehension, that only if you understand Kenyan, anticolonial behavior, can you begin to piece together [his actions]? That is the most accurate, predictive model for his behavior.”

Even though the “birther” movement is all but dead in Republican circles, some Republican members of Congress continue to play the “birth card” as a means of asserting that the President is something other than Christian and American. Recently, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) was asked why President Obama prefers not to use the term “radical Islam.”  He replied, “It’s probably an unfortunate byproduct of the days when he was in a Muslim school being taught that Islam is a religion of peace…” Former President George W. Bush and Vice President Cheney must have attended the same Muslim school as President Obama since they also refused to use the term “radical Islam”.

As Robert Draper reports in his book "Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives", the obstructionist agenda that was developed by Newt Gingrich, Frank Luntz, former Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) and others is a clear indication that these individuals would much rather vote their hatred than consider what is in America’s long-term best interest. Some Democrats also participated in this obstructionist behavior.

Traditionally, the respect for the office of the president has outweighed other US government officials’ dislike for the man holding the office.  The president is America’s chief diplomat and the nation’s preeminent spokesman of American foreign policy. To undermine the man holding the office of the president is to undermine America on the world stage.

All of these efforts to portray President Obama as “other” and outside the American norm are a part of the traditional narrative of associating America and The American Dream with whiteness and virtue.  In the minds of too many Americans, whiteness has been used as the line of demarcation between “us” and “them”.   That’s why Giuliani felt comfortable saying, “He doesn’t love you. And he doesn’t love me. He wasn’t brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country” during a private fundraiser for conservative candidates.  That’s also how Gingrich’s reference to President Obama as being “so outside our comprehension” can go unchallenged.

According to Time.com, DNC Chairperson Debbie Wasserman Schultz called on Republican presidential candidates to repudiate Giuliani’s remarks on Thursday, challenging “Jeb Bush. Scott Walker. Marco Rubio. Now it’s your turn… In fact, I would challenge my Republican colleagues and anyone in the Republican Party to say enough. They need to start leading.” Wasserman-Schultz is correct and the same members of  (the) mainstream media who dubbed Giuliani “America’s mayor” need to stand up as well and hold him and his defenders accountable.

What does it do to the morale of the American troops when “America’s Mayor” says that their Commander-In-Chief does not love his country?  Will Giuliani’s ridiculous statement become another part of the terrorist recruiting narrative?

To listen to Giuliani, Gingrich, Jindal and others and to see how far they have gone to undermine the president through the politics of racism and obstructionism, one has to question where their loyalties lie. As they drag the country down in a race to the bottom…do they really love America?

Dr. Wilmer Leon is the Producer/ Host of the Sirius/XM Satellite radio channel 126 call-in talk radio program “Inside the Issues with Wilmer Leon” Go to www.wilmerleon.com or email:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. www.twitter.com/drwleon and Dr. Leon’s Prescription at Facebook.com  © 2015 InfoWave Communications, LLC

 

 

 

 

 

Honoring the Women of the Civil Rights Movement, Both Past and Present by David Hudson

First Lady Michelle Obama Honor Women in Civil Rights
By David Hudson


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First Lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks at "Celebrating Women of the Movement," an event honoring Black History Month, in the East Room of the White House, Feb. 20, 2015. Here, the First Lady introduces moderator Vanessa De Luca, Editor-in-Chief of Essence magazine and the panel of intergenerational women who have played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement – both past and present. PHOTO: Amanda Lucidon/The White House

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the White House

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - In 1957, Carlotta Walls, a 14-year-old African-American girl living in Little Rock, Arkansas, elected to attend Little Rock Central High School. One of the nine students who desegregated the school, Carlotta was subjected to constant bullying, physical abuse, and violent attacks - her parents' home was bombed in February of 1960. Shortly after, she earned her high school diploma.

In 1961, Charlayne Hunter became the first African-American woman to attend the University of Georgia. Enduring everyday bigotry and racial slurs, and bottles and bricks thrown at her windows, Charlayne went on to get her degree - which has since propelled her to a successful career as a journalist with NPR, PBS, CNN, and the New York Times.

These are just two of the influential women who took part in a special panel discussion at the White House in celebration of Black History Month Feb. 20. Moderated by Essence Editor-in-Chief Vanessa De Luca, the panel brought together five women who have played critical roles in America's progress on civil rights.

They are: Carlotta Walls LaNier, youngest member of the Little Rock Nine; Charlayne Hunter-Gault, activist and journalist; Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; Janaye Ingram, national executive director, National Action Network; and Chanelle Hardy, senior vice president for policy, National Urban League.

First Lady Michelle Obama said in her introductory remarks, what connects each of these panelists' stories is a "hunger for and belief in the power of education.

"At some point in their journeys, these women understood that if they were going to reach their potential - if they were going to make a difference not just for themselves but for this country - They would have to get a good education. Every woman on this stage graduated from college. And some of them did it at tremendous risk to themselves and to their families."

She continued, "Thanks to their sacrifice, there are no angry mobs gathering outside our schools. Nobody needs a military escort to get to class."

But the First Lady also explained that too many of our children still face struggles related to education, and detailed the work that remains:Too many of our young people attend crumbling schools that don’t have the technology, or the college prep classes, or the college counseling they need to complete their education past high school. And too many of our young people can’t even envision a better future for themselves - or if they do, they aren’t connecting their dreams to the education they’ll need. 

So today, too many of the opportunities that these women fought for are going unrealized."In the end," she said, "if we really want to solve issues like mass incarceration, poverty, racial profiling, voting rights, and the kinds of challenges that shocked so many of us over the past year, then we simply cannot afford to lose out on the potential of even one young person. We cannot allow even one more young person to fall through the cracks."

David Hudson is associate director of content for the White House Office of Digital Strategy

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