Thursday, July 25, 2013

NAACP takes donations from people struggling to make ends meet - for what?

Why I Left the NAACP

The NAACP Has Stopped Advancing Colored People and Started Advancing Colored Progressives

After a Florida jury acquitted George Zimmerman for the killing of Trayvon Martin the NAACP pledged that it would not rest until racial profiling in all its forms is outlawed.  The reaction is characteristic of today's NAACP, a group that deals more in political demagoguery than in advancing the cause relevant to African Americans.  The group is a shadow of what it once was.  

There was a time when the national was at the forefront in the fight for civil rights and black empowerment.  As a two term president of the NAACP in Garland, Texas, in the 1980's I led an effort to help the black community rise.  

We believe that every child deserves a quality education that allows him or her to become a leader in the community.  We fought for the society that espoused the same values championed by Martin Luther King Jr., where our children would be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.  

Then I watched as progressives staged a coup to take over the Garland NAACP chapter and many others, including the national organization.  Their agenda is angry, calling for every black man, woman, and child to be dependent on the government from the cradle to the grave - wards of the state, addicted to government handouts, living with a perpetual victim complex.  

For far too long the NAACP has failed to advance anyone.  Too many black youths are functionally illiterate, about 40% of blacks don't graduate from high school.  Black unemployment is almost as high as it was during the great depression.  While the NAACP continues to champion the rhetoric of race baiters, it has nothing to show for the donations taken from those struggling to make ends meet in the black community.  

The end of my lifetime membership of the NAACP began the minute I dared to speak out.  I was ostracized and punished for declaring that my rights come from God, not the government, and that I believe the NAACP stood for the "advancement of colored people" not the "advancement of colored progressives."

Progressives in the NAACP call me a "bad soldier" for the organization.  I refuse to fight for agendas that hold my community down in poverty.  Black Americans are only 13.5% of the total population, but we represent 34% of all welfare recipients.  The culture of dependency has abolitionist forefathers rolling in their graves.

The organization's attempted manipulation of Martin's tragic death for its own gain - the NAACP even held its 2013 annual convention as close to the media covering Zimmerman's trial as it could - its just the latest example of a once great organization gone completely off the rails.  

It's time for black Americans to reject the NAACP messes of entitlement and victimhood.  It's time for members of the black community to educate themselves on the values they won't hear from the NAACP pulpit.

I left the NAACP to travel the country preaching the message of freedom and self-empowerment.  In the DNA of every true American is a thirst for liberty.  Black people can be free.  We have to leave the government plantation.

Rev. C. L. Bryant

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Danny Glover in Benton Harbor

Justice Fund Dinner
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Benton Harbor, Michigan
Sponsored by Black Autonomy Network Community Org. (BANCO)


Special guest speaker will be actor and political activist Danny Glover, the famed "Lethal Weapon" and "Color Purple" star who is also a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.

 
   

Admission $50 - BANCO, 1940 Union St., Benton Harbor, MI 49022
Dinner 7pm, doors open 6pm
Lake Michigan College, 2755 E. Napier Ave., Benton Harbor
Info: Rev. Edward Pinkney, banco9342@sbcglobal.net

 
The dinner is a fundraising event to enable BANCO to continue helping people in Benton Harbor and across the country. 

Director Rev. Edward Pinkney and BANCO members:

  • Led the 2012 “Occupy the PGA” protest against Benton Harbor’s loss of self-autonomy under an appointed emergency financial manager who set aside all duly-elected city council members and began selling public lands
  • Lead a quest to stop gentrification - the attempt to drive out African Americans
  • Helps clear innocent people from serious criminal charges and oppose courthouse corruption that unfairly targets African Americans and indigent Anglos for imprisonment
  • Promotes mutual respect, personal and public accountability by individuals in the community, government, and organizations   
 



Danny Glover

Friday, July 19, 2013

Target Of Racial Slur By Reserve Deputy Speaks Out


The woman who was the target of a racial slur in a facebook conversation over the death of Trayvon Martin and trial of George Zimmerman is speaking out.  Nikki Nelson spoke to WSJM news about being called the "N" word by a man who used to be one of her teachers in Benton Harbor, who is also a Berrien County reserve sheriff deputy.  Nelson says when Scott Morris called her that word last Thursday, she was dumbfounded.  

She says she's known Morris since he was one of her teachers in middle school.  He also taught at Benton Harbor High School.  Berrien County sherrif Paul Bailey says an investigation is underway, and Morris has been placed on leave.  As a volunteer with the department, he is not paid for the 16 hours a month that he serves with the Berrien County sheriff department.  During the lengthy thread on the trial, Morris identified as a deputy and was defending the action taken by Zimmerman when the unarmed 17 year old Martin was killed.

wsjm.com/Target-Of-Racial-Slur-By-Reserve-Deputy-Speaks-Out/16838016



Boycott Florida

We must repeal the stand your ground law!

Boycott ALL FLORIDA PRODUCTS:

All citrus fruit (oranges, grapefruit, lemons, etc.)
All citrus juices
Disney World
Miami Heat Basketball Team
Miami Marlins Baseball Team
Tampa Bay Ray's Baseball Team
Tampa Bay Buc Football Team
Miami Football Team
Orlando Magic Basketball Team
Baseball Spring Training
All Florida entertainment 

BOYCOTT EVERYTHING FROM FLORIDA!

We must organize, organize, and organize among ourselves with one agenda.   

Zimmerman could be tried in state court again

Theoretically,  Zimmerman could be tried in state court again on murder charges if the prosecution successfully appeals the jury instruction that let him get away with a legally uncontested self-defense claim (it was obviously factually contested, but that's different).  There is no statute of limitations on murder charges and there would not be a double jeopardy problem either if the defense lost an appellate ruling on the jury instruction problem that I am about to discuss below.

Here's why and how in my view.

The pre-trial court ruling that allowed the court to truncate its jury instruction by omitting the part of the standard Florida Jury Instruction on self-defense (relating to and nullifying "the initial aggressor's" claim of necessity for a self-help solution when the agressor--Zimmerman--was committing an independent forcible felony) was incorrectly ruled upon a huge set-back for the prosecution, and is a reversible error possibly enabling a re-filing of the original state murder charges in state court with, again, no double jeopardy risks or bar. At least this is the view of some practicing attorneys, which I am not.  I hope that a federal prosecutor will not make this  error. In essence, this criminal trial was lost by the prosecution even before it began in earnest in state court.

Also, the state failed to pursue an "aggravated assault with a deadly weapon," a stalking charge, nor a battery charge as far as I know. Similarly, brandishing a weapon, a simple charge that includes a felonious assault by definition would also have put the focus where it should have been. 

Zimmerman's initial stalking of and confrontation of Martin was an illegal assault (putting the victim in fear of immnent physical harm), followed in short order by a battery (which is obvious).  By charging him this way--in addition to a murder charge--it would have nailed down the importance of the illegality  of Zimmerman's initial accosting of Martin rather  than  let the focus become solely on Martin's reaction to Zimmerman's crimes. Instead it would have put the focus on the impropriety and potential illegality of vigilante like "neighborhood watches," watchers, and murderously arbitrary excesses and held ZImmerman accountable and culpable. And it goes without saying that "stand your ground" laws are constitutionally infirm due to their arbitrariness, vagueness, and over-breadth.

For you and the other list members I am attaching two things.  If the list does not accept attachments, then here are the citations:

(1)  Florida Jury Instructions "3.6(f) Justifiable Use of Deadly Force" (which contains the
stand-your-ground clause, but also clearly states that when the aggressor is committing a separate forcible felony  (like aggravated assault and/or battery), self-help/self defense is not available as a defense option.

(2) Giles v. Florida,   4th Dist, 831 So. 2d 1263 (2002), LEXIS 19033;  28 Fla.L. Weekly D55 which is on point; four square.

In my view, Zimmerman could and should have been vigorously pursued legally on the theory that he (1) stalked Martin twice even after having been warned off,  (2) he assaulted the victim, and the assault was aggravated by his possession of a fire arm, and (3) he arguably committed a battery upon Martin before Martin beat his ass.  Those are the independent forcible felonies that gave riseto Martin's right to self-defense and the use of any instrumentality of deadly force, e.g., the pavement.

Unfortunately, the defense was able to shift the emphasis to the actual fight and shooting
and, thus, put Martin on trial.

The prosecution would have had to make out "the proof of facts" including that one or more of Zimmerman's felonies occurred beyond a reasonable doubt. This may or may not have worked, but it surely would have gotten the issue and additional conviction options in front of the jury.

Politically, the prosecution was very unlikely to want to take on vigilante (private purveyors of
"neighborhood watch" self-help justice) activity in Florida, but that would have been better
than what they did.  And if there were a "conflict of laws problem" 

The absurdity of the law of (this) case is that the pre-trial rulings allowed an assertion of
self-defense in a vacuum; without regard to the defendant/claimant's conduct. And, as the public clearly sees now, this means that anyone can shoot anyone in those states and get away with it so long as they kill the victim.

When Florida passed this law back in 2008 I envisioned exactly this scenario involving a
white man and a black man. It was so apparent that even Stevie Wonder could see it (which is why, today, he has pledged to do no concerts in any state that has a "stand your ground" law.

Best regards,
Michael Oshoosi 
(Michael F. Wright, Ph.D., J.D.)

"PS: Did you know that Mr. Zimmerman is demanding an apology "from black people?"

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Pinkney's Health Team - Join Today

Join the Coalition

The truth about real HEALTH is out there...
Join Rev. Pinkney's Health Team

888.788.4420

PinkneyHealthTeam@gmail.com
Email or call for more information


LIFE IS GOOD!!!
KARL MORGAN
LIVING 120 YEARS HEALTHY

L120Y.COM
"To Condemn an idea before full investigation is the height of FOOLISHNESS"

We do not treat or cure disease. We use science based, clinically verified, wholistic nutrition to support and promote the structure and function of the body. Please see this video for further clarification, thank you.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

The US v. Trayvon Martin


How the System Worked

The US v. Trayvon Martin

by ROBIN D.G. KELLEY
In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, Senator Rand Paul, Florida State Representative Dennis Baxley (also sponsor of his state’s Stand Your Ground law), along with a host of other Republicans, argued that had the teachers and administrators been armed, those twenty little kids whose lives Adam Lanza stole would be alive today.   Of course, they were parroting the National Rifle Association’s talking points.  The NRA and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the conservative lobbying group responsible for drafting and pushing “Stand Your Ground” laws across the country, insist that an armed citizenry is the only effective defense against imminent threats, assailants, and predators.
But when George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin, an unarmed, teenage pedestrian returning home one rainy February evening from a neighborhood convenience store, the NRA went mute.  Neither NRA officials nor the pro-gun wing of the Republican Party argued that had Trayvon Martin been armed, he would be alive today.  The basic facts are indisputable: Martin was on his way home when Zimmerman began to follow him—first in his SUV, and then on foot.  Zimmerman told the police he had been following this “suspicious-looking” young man.  Martin knew he was being followed and told his friend, Rachel Jeantel, that the man might be some kind of sexual predator.  At some point, Martin and Zimmerman confronted each other, a fight ensued, and in the struggle Zimmerman shot and killed Martin.
Zimmerman pursued Martin.  This is a fact.  Martin could have run, I suppose, but every black man knows that unless you’re on a field, a track, or a basketball court, running is suspicious and could get you a bullet in the back.  The other option was to ask this stranger what he was doing, but confrontations can also be dangerous—especially without witnesses and without a weapon besides a cell phone and his fists.  Florida law did not require Martin to retreat, though it is not clear if he had tried to retreat.  He did know he was in imminent danger.
Where was the NRA on Trayvon Martin’s right to stand his ground?  What happened to their principled position?  Let’s be clear: the Trayvon Martin’s of the world never had that right because the “ground” was never considered theirs to stand on.  Unless black people could magically produce some official documentation proving that they are not burglars, rapists, drug dealers, pimps or prostitutes, intruders, they are assumed to be “up to no good.”  (In the antebellum period, such documentation was called “freedom papers.”)  As Wayne LaPierre, NRA’s executive vice president, succinctly explained their position, “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”   Trayvon Martin was a bad guy or at least looked and acted like one.  In our allegedly postracial moment, where simply talking about racism openly is considered an impolitic, if not racist, thing to do, we constantly learn and re-learn racial codes.  The world knows black men are criminal, that they populate our jails and prisons, that they kill each other over trinkets, that even the celebrities among us are up to no good.  Zimmerman’s racial profiling was therefore justified, and the defense consistently employed racial stereotypes and played on racial knowledge to turn the victim into the predator and the predator into the victim.  In short, it was Trayvon Martin, not George Zimmerman, who was put on trial.  He was tried for the crimes he may have committed and the ones he would have committed had he lived past 17.  He was tried for using lethal force against Zimmerman in the form of a sidewalk and his natural athleticism.
The successful transformation of Zimmerman into the victim of black predatory violence was evident not only in the verdict but in the stunning Orwellian language defense lawyers Mark O’Mara and Don West employed in the post-verdict interview.  West was incensed that anyone would have the audacity to even bring the case to trial—suggesting that no one needs to be held accountable for the killing of an unarmed teenager.  When O’Mara was asked if he thought the verdict might have been different if his client had been black, he replied: “Things would have been different for George Zimmerman if he was black for this reason: he would never have been charged with a crime.”  In other words, black men can go around killing indiscriminately with no fear of prosecution because there are no Civil Rights organizations pressing to hold them accountable.   Rest of article:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/07/15/the-us-v-trayvon-martin/

Boycott Disney World and All Florida Products


PLEASE FORWARD - PLEASE POST - THANK YOU

             BANCO                                                      
The Black Autonomy Network Community Organization
CALLING FOR A  BOYCOTT TO REPEAL THE STAND YOUR GROUND LAW FOR TRAYVON MARTIN
                                                         

 BOYCOTT
                  ALL FLORIDA PRODUCTS
                  AND DISNEY WORLD  
              DO NOT BUY ANY FLORIDA PRODUCTS 
UNITED WE CAN WIN! 


THANK YOU AND BLESSINGS,
Rev Edward Pinkney
269-925-0001

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Prosecutor Takes A Dive Because Trayvon Martin Was Black

The defense team and the prosecuting attorney were working together to allow George Zimmerman to get away with murder.

The jury consisted of six racist women who had no intention of seeing justice served. We must hold that jury accountable for their action and inaction.

The facts are clear. George Zimmerman saw an opportunity when Trayvon Martin was walking to his father's house in a gated community with a hoodie on. Zimmerman decided Trayvon was a criminal only because he was black.

This outrageous verdict of not guilty is a declaration of war.  It places targets on the backs and in the hearts of a whole generation of Black youth. The system has failed our community. 

We must force Eric Holder to charge George Zimmerman with a civil rights violation in federal court as soon as possible.

The most important question is what are we going to do?

We must not allow the NAACP, Rev. Jessie Jackson, and Al Sharpton to stop us. They will be paid by corporations to control the organizing and stop the movement.

We must organize, organize, and organize among ourselves with one agenda.  

Rev. Edward Pinkney
blogtalkradio.com/rev-pinkney

Pinkney to Pinkney show
Every Sunday 5pm ET
Burn Baby Burn
Burn all NAACP membership cards

Sunday, July 07, 2013

Timothy Harris: A Truthteller to Admire


See his email to Superintendent Seawood below!

Someone finally called out the Whirlpool supporters and stooges who are in charge of our schools and children:  Leonard Seawood and school board members Barbara Bell, Lue Buchanan, Willie Lark, and Martha Momany.

Kudos to Timothy Harris.  We greatly admire him as one of the few people to call into question the powers that be in Benton Harbor.  We need more truthtellers like him.  
Here's a recent article outlining his recent experience with Whirlpool's school superintendent Seawood.  Whirlpool does NOT want out children to succeed.


New Benton Harbor Principal Gone
July 2, 2013
Louise Wrege
Herald Palladium

Benton Harbor High School new so-called turnaround principal Timothy Harris is out of a job.  But, there's a question whether he resigned or was fired Monday which was supposed to be his first official day as principal.  He received an hourly stipend from the Benton Harbor area school district to work in June to make the transition smoother.

Harris said he was frustrated because the district leadership has kept ineffective teachers and administrators at the high school and didn't allow him to bring on a board turnaround specialist as they had promised him when he was hired. 

He said he sent school administrators, including superintendent Leonard Seawood, an email on June 25 stating he would not start Monday without the transition person on staff who he had asked to be hired, but said he had heard no response.   He sent another email early Monday morning expressing his frustration.  He said he had hoped to hear from Seawood that the district would honor it's promise.  Instead, Harris received an email saying that Seawood was accepting the email as his official letter of resignation.  "I did not resign,"  Harris said in an interview with the Herald Palladium.  "I was expecting them to honor what they said they were going to do."  Seawood said he saw the email as a letter of resignation.  

"His first day was today and he never showed up," Seawood said.  "We started summer school today and he never showed up and sent a letter like that.  What do you call it?  I don't know what else to call it."

Following is Harris email verbatim and unedited:

It is unfortunate that you did not honor the conditions in which you promised me before I took the job as turnaround principal, nor did you respond to the email.  Instead, you have been less than honest, and I question your integrity, character and morals as it pertains to what's best for the students at Benton Harbor High School and the district.  

You have compromised the integrity of the education experience by rehiring ineffective teachers and administrators that you know cannot effectively do their job, but keep their job due to politics.  In my eyes that is criminal, and I wonder how you sleep at night knowing that you sold your soul and sold out our kids for politics.  Well fortunately, my soul is not for sale.  

I will not cave in to politics or take on this task just to get a paycheck.  The young people of this community mean so much more to me than a paycheck and they deserve our best.  When you are truly ready for change and serious about providing the best educational program for our kids give me a call.



Stay tuned for Part II of this Herald Palladium article.

--We will be protesting at 4pm Tuesday, August 6 in front of the Benton Harbor School Administration Bldg. on Pipestone.   Please join us to express your outrage at the superintendent and school board members who support Whirlpool Corp.   The corporation is calling the shots, even in our school system.  They do not want our children to succeed.

Rev. Edward Pinkney
Pinkney to Pinkney show
Every Sunday 5pm eastern time
Burn Baby Burn
Burn all NAACP MEMBERSHIPS CARDS
 


Friday, July 05, 2013

Whirlpool Corporation purchased NAACP, clergy, and black "leaders" at half price



The following is a response to this recent Herald Palladium article:
http://www.heraldpalladium.com/news/local/in-bh-a-step-up-or-an-exit-sign/article_a2d9621b-8383-58a9-bf9e-a62b416c72d4.html?mode=story



Mayor James Hightower, Gregory Vaughn - senior vice-president and chief operating officer of Cornerstone Alliance (Whirlpool's economic development agency for the Twin Cities area), and pastor James Atterberry claim no gentrification exists in the city. Yet, more than twenty thousand residents have left. People have been displaced, many through false arrests and imprisonment.  Most Michigan residents are unaware of this human devastation in their midst.  

Since the death of Rev. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, black consciousness that was fueled by the essence of our historical struggles has been purged by the centuries old psychological need to achieve white acceptance.  Gaining this acceptance is seen as the only means to being accepted as unequivocal equals.

Today, black organizations (NAACP, etc.), leaders (Jackson, Sharpton, etc.), clergy, and many black people sellout for the purpose of being allowed to buy self-preservation tickets for entrance into white social, political, economic, and institutional circles.

Mayor James Hightower, Gregory Vaughn, and the new branch president of the NAACP James Atterberry are all part of the problem. They claim there is no gentrification in Benton Harbor when that's the biggest game in town.


Rev. Edward Pinkney

blogtalkradio.com/rev-pinkney
Pinkney to Pinkney show
Every Sunday 5pm eastern time
Burn Baby Burn
Burn all NAACP MEMBERSHIPS CARDS



Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Tulsa Branch of NAACP leaders sue national organization over controversial election, officer removal



naacp_20130702200119_JPG
Copyright Associated Press


By Tyler Dunn


TULSA - An already testy NAACP power struggle involving Tulsa's chapter and its national offices got even uglier Tuesday.
Five elected officials from the Tulsa Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People filed a lawsuit against the national non-profit, furthering a nearly 9-month battle over the legitimacy of the chapter's president.
The suit came the same day a Tulsa County district court granted a temporary restraining order against the Baltimore-based association to prohibit interference pending a temporary injunction hearing. 
The tension first began in November when the Tulsa Branch held presidential elections, during which time the national organization alleges the chapter failed to place a candidate on the ballot. In a letter to Tulsa Branch president Alvin Muhammad in April, Chief Operating Officer Robert Vann wrote Ali Canada "was listed on the Tulsa Branch roster, and that he was in good-standing at the time of the 2012 branch election."
The letter continued that former branch President Warren Blakney told the national office Canada didn't make the ballot because he didn't attend branch meetings, which isn't a requirement for election. Vann concluded the letter by stating a possible suspension of Tulsa Branch members if "any further action to hinder and/or impede" was taken.
Then in May, Vann ordered the removal of all of Tulsa's elected officers and executive committee members. 
According to the officers' attorney Keith Ward, Canada was never qualified to run for local office under NAACP by-laws, and is one of a series of attempts to influence chapter elections.
"This is really a straightforward lawsuit ... The NAACP apparently didn't like the outcome of the elections and is attempting to hand-pick the officers for the Tulsa Branch which isn't allowed by its own Constitution or By-Laws," Ward said Tuesday. "It's akin to the federal government telling Tulsa who to elect as its next Mayor ... If the NAACP wants to hand-pick the officers of the local branches, it can do so by amending its Constitution and By-Laws."
The branch's temporary injunction hearing is scheduled for July 11. 
Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


Read more: http://www.kjrh.com/dpp/news/local_news/tulsa-branch-of-naacp-leaders-sue-national-organization-over-controversial-election-officer-removal#ixzz2XzbM9qIb