It’s all good… we’ll always be friends.
- Nicole Murphy on her split with fiancé of five years Michael Strahan. The model, reality star – who is also the face of Destiny Moscato – had no comment on whether she has already moved on with retired NBA player Jim Jackson. According to rumors, Murphy and Jackson had a secret fling in July while on vacation.
Photo: Instagram/Nicole Murphy
This week in celebrity quotes: Beyonce confirms one factor that contributed to the elevator fight, NeNe Leakes claims to be the biggest ‘queen of all time,’ and Pacman Jones plans to drop them ‘bows’ on Ludacris’ neck. Plus, Lil Kim jumps on the “Flawless” remix to diss Nicki Minaj! AND I QUOTE…
“I thought that everything that I had worked hard for, that I worked hard to build…was threatened. I felt like having a child out of wedlock would ruin my career…I’m really sorry for that. You just don’t lie to Oprah.”
Brandy explains her reason for lying about being married and having a baby out-of-wedlock, on Oprah’s “Where Are They Now.”
Continue reading more at UPTOWN.
“If Dante wasn’t your son, he would be a candidate for a chokehold.”
Rev. Al Sharpton addresses New York’s mayor at a recent City Hall meeting, in reference to Eric Garner, who died at the hands of the NYPD.
“I just had a baby about a week ago.
These b-tches got me on my bully yo
Look at this sh-t
.Still got my d-ck stuck on her lips
I ain’t even stunting the bitch.
Damn it’s a shame.
I gave you the rope, b-tch I want you to hang.”
Lil’ Kim comes for Nicki Minaj, who refers to herself as the ‘Queen of Rap,’ in a new remix of Beyonce’s smash hit “Flawless.”
“@ludacris nice post , now when I see you I’m beat your a–. Now post that #p—y.”
Pacman Jones threatening the rapper who made fun of the NFL star’s recent neck injury, via Instagram.
“And as far an Andy is concerned, he’s used the word many times. They have a show called “Fashion Queens” where they’re sitting up there with lipstick, heels and weave in their hair. So what you want me to do chile? You sending so many mixed messages….. I don’t know what you want me to do? Call you a king?”
NeNe Leakes addresses the alleged controversy surrounding her usage of the word ‘queen.’
“Of course sometimes sh*t go down when there’s a billion dollar in the elevator.”
Beyonce addresses the Jay-Z/Solange elevator fight and how money changes a situation, in the “Flawless” Remix featuring Nicki Minaj.
Continue reading more at UPTOWN.
An Indianapolis mother tells investigators she “was confused” when she abandoned her newborn baby in a trash can shortly after giving birth.
According to WTHR, 22-year-old Briana Holland gave birth to a boy earlier this month in the bathroom of her workplace, United Technology Carrier Corp. Later that night, a co-worker found the child in the trash can, still alive.
Police reports state the baby had toilet paper wrapped tightly around his neck, a plastic tampon applicator in his mouth and a paper bag over his head. The coworker told authorities it was difficult to get the tampon applicator out of the boy’s mouth and his face was purple while his body was cold.
Holland’s co-worker said the baby was gasping for air and stopped breathing, prompting the employee to begin thumping the child on the chest. When the newborn began breathing and crying, the employee wrapped the baby inside his shirt and pinched the umbilical cord to stop the bleeding until it could be cut.
The newborn is said to be in good condition at Riley Hospital for Children and is in the custody of workers from the Department of Child Services.
When questioned why she abandoned the baby, Holland said, “I mean, I was confused. I didn’t know what I wanted to happen.”
Investigators then asked her if she knew the baby would die, in which she replied, “Mmm Hmm.” She said she “wasn’t expecting it to live” because she threw it in a trash can.
Photo courtesy of IMPD
Holland now faces charges of attempted murder, several counts of neglect of a dependent and battery resulting in serious injury on a child under 14 years old. A judge entered a preliminary not guilty plea on Holland’s behalf during a court hearing on Wednesday.
Rumor has it “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” could be getting two new peaches.
Model/TV personality Claudia Jordan and “House of Payne” actress Demetria McKinney have reportedly been seen around ATL shooting scenes for the Bravo reality series. Peter Thomas also seemed to give truth to the reports in a recent interview with Charlotte’s WCCB.
While speaking about the opening of his new bar Sports One, the husband of Cynthia Bailey made mention of “two new girls.”
“Bravo crew came out, Kenya, new girl Claudia, my wife, Kordell. We shot at the bar last night until two in the morning,” he said. “[...] The two new girls are extremely beautiful, so there was a lot of chemistry in the house.”
It remains to be seen if Jordan and McKinney will make the cut or just be given a few guest appearances. Rumors also suggest singer Angie Stone could be thrown into the mix.
Photo courtesy of Earl Gibson III/Getty Images North America
As it stands, all six ladies– Nene Leakes, Kenya Moore, Phaedra Parks, Kandi Burrus, Porsha Williams and Bailey– will return for season seven of the show.
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar says the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown occurred after an altercation with police.
At a news conference Sunday morning, Belmar said a Ferguson Police officer had an exchange with two people, when one person allegedly pushed the officer back into the patrol car and assaulted him.
There was allegedly a struggle over the officer’s weapon and one shot was fired in the car. The officer then got out of the vehicle and shot at “a subject.” Belmar said the man suffered more than a couple gunshots, but “not many more than that.”
Belmar said Brown was unarmed.
The unnamed officer has been placed on paid leave and will be given a psychological evaluation before returning to work. Belmar said the officer had been with the department for six years.
The police chief said the FBI is likely to get involved as the investigation continues. A St. Louis County chapter of the NAACP urged the involvement of the bureau as “to protect the integrity of the investigation.”
“With the recent events of a young man killed by the police in New York City and with Trayvon Martin and with all the other African-American young men that have been killed by police officers … this is a dire concern to the NAACP, especially our local organization,” said John Gaskin, a member of the NAACP.
Following the shooting, protests ran through the night as community members yelled out “We are Michael Brown” and “No justice! No peace!” Dozens of police officers patrolled the area as residents expressed their anger and mourners gathered for a prayer circle.
On Sunday, approximately 200 members of the community rallied outside of the Ferguson Police Department in protest of Brown’s death.
Photo courtesy of AP/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Huy Mach
Ferguson is a predominantly Black suburb a few miles north of downtown St. Louis.
Lifetime’s Aaliyah biopic is moving forward with full force as its found actors to portray Missy Elliott and Timbaland.
A network representative confirmed with TheWrap that newcomers Chattrisse Dolabaille and Izaak Smith have been cast in the film starring Alexandra Shipp. They will play the producers-rappers in the Wendy Williams-produced film.
Missy Elliott and Timbaland assisted in creating the singer’s second album, One In A Million, which sold 3.7 million copies domestically and more that eight million copies worldwide. Aaliyah’s musical mentors have no involvement in the Lifetime project or the upcoming feature film.
Dolabaille is a newbie from Cananda who sings, acts and dances while Smith is a bit more seasoned, appearing on “So You Think You Can Dance Canada,” Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Mirror Mirror.
Additionally, Rachael Crawford and Sterling Jarvis have been cast as Aaliyah’s parents Diane and Michael Haughton; Lyriq Bent will play her uncle and former manager Barry Hankerson; Anthony Grant will portray Dame Dash; and A.J. Saudin and Jesse Sukunda will play the older and younger version of Aaliyah’s brother Rashad, respectively.
Lifetime’s made-for-TV movie will take from writer Christopher Farley‘s 2001 book “Aaliyah: More Than a Woman.”
Photo courtesy of Chattrisse Dolabaille/YouTube, Isaak Smith/ IMDB/TheWrap
The film is slated for a fall premiere.
Govind Armstrong, Brad Armstrong
By Malcolm Johnson
Named and built in homage to the housing style common throughout the area, Post & Beam, from veteran restaurateur Brad Johnson and acclaimed chef Govind Armstrong, stands worlds apart from where Golden Bird Fried Chicken once did.
“This neighborhood is just so rich, culturally,” says Johnson, who opened the upscale casual eatery with the backing of Magic Johnson’s former business partner Ken Lombard’s Capri Capital Partners. Attracting the attention the venture deserved, however, posed another challenge but Johnson easily found the solution.
“I knew that I needed someone with real chef credentials and Govind was that guy,” says Johnson, perhaps best known for opening Georgia on fabled Melrose Avenue in the 1990s.
Armstrong, Johnson’s chef/partner here and at Willie Jane, their other restaurant in Venice Beach, famously got his start under the tutelage of Wolfgang Puck at the original Spago. Before joining forces with Johnson, he already had several successful restaurants, including the popular Table 8 and 8oz Burger Bar, under his hat, along with television appearances on shows such as Iron Chef America. Born in Inglewood, Armstrong, the offspring of a Costa Rican mother, who sparked his early interest in food, and an African American father, is especially at home at Post & Beam.
“I love cooking here. I just love seeing the room full of people. It’s such a great feeling,” admits Armstrong. Putting a finger on what Post & Beam is misses the point. Its well-purposed menu and inviting atmosphere makes it perfect for both a date or family outing, watching the game with friends or for a post-church brunch.
“I don’t just want to do soul food. That’ll be too easy,” says Armstrong. “The menu is always evolving. We were running octopus for a while and that was quite successful… It’s just a good mix [of] food that’s very approachable, but still interesting.”
At Post & Beam, guests can order greens by themselves or with ham hocks, the popular spicy turkey meatballs as well as wood-fired pizzas served with many sides and herbs grown on-site. Of course, there are diehard favorites. “Short ribs stay on the menu. I will get stabbed if I take that off,” laughs Armstrong. “The cast iron chicken has been on since day one.”
There was a time when no one could have envisioned a place like Post & Beam in this neighborhood. But it happened; and the partners are optimistic about the future. “I think people still come in here with high expectations,” says Armstrong. “They want good solid food, great service and that’s what we’re here for.”
No one is immune to horrifying incidents, not even celebrities and their families. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s mother and cousin are recovering after they were struck head-on by a drunk driver last week.
The Rock’s mom Ata Maivia-Johnson and his cousin Lina Fanene were driving home from the annual fundraiser the family runs, the USO’s Foundation Banquet, when the collision occurred.
Both women were taken to the hospital and are recovering.
The Hercules star posted a pic of the crash scene and Maivia-Johnson’s white Cadillac Escalade; both cars were totaled. Johnson added the caption: “My mom & cousin @linafanene were struck head on by a drunk driver this week – they lived. First reaction is to find the person who did this and do unrelenting harm to them. But then you realize the most important thing is my family lived thru this and we can hug each other that much tighter these days.”
WWE NXT Diva Fanene posted a picture of herself and her aunt on the way to the fundraiser, clearly putting safety first with the use of their seat belts.
A few days later Fanene posted a photo of her famous cousin and his rippling muscles visiting her in the hospital. Glad to hear both mom and cousin are on the road to recovery. There’s no word on the drunk driver.
[Images: Instagram]
A candlelight vigil for 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was shot multiple times by a St. Louis police officer, was held Sunday night.
The fallout continues after the police shooting death of an unarmed Black man in Ferguson, Missouri. Tensions in the city escalated after a candlelight vigil for victim 18-year-old Michael Brown Sunday. Police say they shot Brown multiple times Saturday after he was allegedly involved in a scuffle with a Ferguson police officer.
After the vigil, a frustrated, angry, and unruly crowd began looting and setting fire to stores, vandalizing vehicles, and taunting police officers, who tried blocking access to areas around the city. St. Louis police say 32 people were arrested during the incident. Some were charged with assault, burglary, and theft. Two officers were injured, but no one else was hurt.
Looters disguised themselves before ransacking and vandalizing a store.
Thousands of angry protestors take to the streets Sunday after a police officer killed 18-year-old Michael Brown.
Police used tear gas to get the crowd under control after several businesses were looted, including a check cashing store, boutique, and small grocery store. Looters took items from a sporting goods store and cellphone retailers, and wheeled rims away from a tire store. Others expressed their frustrations by climbing on top of police cars.
The Associated Press reports Mayor James Knowles says a violent protest is not helping the situation. “The small group of people are creating a huge mess,” Mayor Knowles said. “Contributing to the unrest that is going on is not going to help … We’re only hurting ourselves, only hurting our community, hurting our neighbors.”
Protestors block a Ferguson street and hold their hands up as a police officer approaches.
Saturday, police say an officer encountered Brown and another man outside of an apartment complex in Ferguson. One of the men pushed the officer and they struggled, and one shot was fired from the officer’s gun. It’s still unclear if Brown was the one scuffling with the officer. However, police say the incident spilled out into the street where an unarmed Brown was shot multiple times. The second person at the scene has not been arrested or charged.
The race of the officer involved in shooting Brown has not been disclosed. He has been placed on paid administrative leave.
Barneys New York is trying to make amends after the upscale store faced discrimination charges last year. The luxury retailer has agreed to pay $525,000 in fines and legal fees to put the whole thing behind them.
Last year, Barneys made headlines as multiple people complained about racial profiling in and around their Madison Ave, NYC flagship store. During a nine-month review of the brand, State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, found that from October 2012 to October 2013, the store’s private data showed that Blacks and Hispanics were detained at higher rates than other racial groups. Officials determined that a change in security procedures after the hiring of new security executive in March 2013 prompted the racial profiling.
Facing higher levels of shoplifting, store security determined that this was a way to get the numbers back down. In addition to paying the hefty fine, Barneys has hired an anti-profiling consultant and plans to retrain all employees (especially security) to keep the racist practices from occurring in the future.
In April 2013, Trayon Christian, a 19-year-old black man was stopped, frisked, and accused of credit card fraud by plainclothes NYPD after purchasing a $349 black Ferragano belt.
A similar situation occurred for Kayla Phillips, a 21-year-old black nursing student, who had just purchased an expensive $2500 orange Celine bag.
Are you Black enough to keep your job? This was the apparent question asked of Rachel Brothers in 2006, as she held a position at the Black Educators Association (BEA) in Nova Scotia. Her colleagues and supervisor determined the answer was no and fired Brothers because of her skin color.
Brothers is biracial and fair-skinned. This prompted other employees of the BEA to take dramatic action and fire her, as they claimed she could not relate nor be of service to “real” or visibly Black educators.
One employee in particular, Catherine Collier, led the decision. It seems like there was just some girl-on-girl office drama as Collier felt that Brothers was too young and “not Black enough” to hold the position of regional educator at the BEA’s Annapolis Valley regional office. Brothers filed a discrimination case against Collier and the BEA, but Collier changed her story. They tried to attribute Brothers’ firing to financial irregularities, but no evidence was found. It was, however, determined that Brothers faced racial discrimination, with evidence that another employee even told her she “should go work for whitey.” Who says that?
Eight years later, Brothers has won her case. She was awarded $10,200 in compensation for her job loss. It is unclear what, if any, charges Collier will face.
[Image: Facebook]
18 year old Michael Brown was shot and killed Saturday by a Ferguson, Missouri police officer.
The shooting death of 18 year old Michael Brown at the hands of a Ferguson, Missouri police officer has not only shocked a community, but also social media. The most widely used photo of Michael Brown shows the teen throwing up a peace sign. It has been suggested by some news outlets as being gang related.
Sunday night, Twitter went in with the hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown. The hashtag included pictures of African American men in their graduation caps and gowns, military uniforms, holding their children, combined with photos of the same men in more aggressive poses.
The tweets all ask, “What picture would be used to identify me in the media, if I were shot and killed?”
Here are some side by side comparisons of this latest example of what’s been called hashtag activism – the use of social media hashtags to bring awareness to a specific issue:
#IfTheyGunnedMeDown which photo would they use? pic.twitter.com/y3y8tFHtPN
#IfTheyGunnedMeDown which pic would they use pic.twitter.com/0GGR2Ec7bS
— Free Nah (@1Amir__) August 11, 2014
— Aug. 25th #AVO (@WhoISdeante) August 11, 2014
This is a rhetorical question. And that makes me sad. #iftheygunnedmedown which picture would they use? pic.twitter.com/86UCAa4QHE — Steve Marmel (@Marmel) August 10, 2014
#IfTheyGunnedMeDown what picture would they use pic.twitter.com/lJ3k3tT63n
— I Am Who I Am (@King_Ghidorah5) August 11, 2014
#IfTheyGunnedMeDown which image would the Media Use??? pic.twitter.com/kmgwITFdky — #INDISSTREE (@BuddhaLeeRaye) August 10, 2014
#IfTheyGunnedMeDown which would they use? pic.twitter.com/sWjkr1Qk2Z — W.E.B. DuGirls (@III_V_VII) August 11, 2014
Some years ago during a phone riff on the root causes and consequences of police brutality with a corrections officer turned activist, the conversation took an unusual turn when the advocate spit passionately about the education level of cops.
“You want to know one big reason why cops beat Black folks up?” they asked. “They aren’t the most educated bunch.”
Meaning most – especially on beats or making rounds along prison corridors – don’t have college degrees. It may have seemed trivial at the time, but there’s a point in it. The act of police brutality against people of color might seem like senseless violence triggered by irreparable racist insanity, but that’s letting the cops who commit the acts, the police departments who train them and the governments who fund them get off light.
Hence, are we really being all that smart and thoughtful about how we respond to grisly, nonsensical acts of brutality by police organizations? It’s not a trick question: what happened overnight in Ferguson, Missouri offers some quick answers. While the beatings, chokings and killings of unarmed Black men and women continue stacking up, it’s not like we’ve seen any noticeable drop in the incidents. In protesting the brutality, we see the typical wide range of reactions based on who’s reacting: if it’s the traditional civil rights community, everyone’s pissed but telling those affected to stay calm; if it’s you at your screen, you’re more than likely fuming at tweets and hashtagging with everyone else; and, in some cases, if you’re Black, poor and powerless in the vicinity of some random tragedy, some of you occasionally pursue creative or destructive means by which you shake shit up, as is the case with Ferguson.
While these reactions might, in some way, help soothe the soul with the chicken soup of immediate emotional gratification, it’s not like it truly resolves the issue for the long term. We instinctively know it will happen again. The usual set of suspects racing to the scene of the crime – whether it’s a battalion of Black preachers or a legion of talk show hosts looking to hit a trend – might make some immediate dent in the crisis, but that often amounts to nothing more than crowd control. Some tweaks are made in departmental procedures, some officers are suspended or disappear into anonymity (if not rarely jailed) and commissions are formed.
The typical move is to prosecute the officers and call for more cooperation strategies between police agencies and local communities. But, maybe we’re not seeing any progress on this issue because we’re going down the wrong rabbit holes or not considering some crucial questions.
A Department of Justice analysis found that 82 percent of local police departments only require a high school diploma for employment, 16% require a college degree, including 9 percent of the second sample requiring merely 2-year associate degrees. In addressing the growing problem of police violence and brutality, shouldn’t we be asking that question: does the education level of a cop influence a tendency towards violence?
A 2010 Michigan State University study attempted to answer that question and came to an interesting conclusion: “College education does, however, significantly reduce the likelihood of force occurring. Results may be due to the amount of discretion officer’s exercise in pursuing these behaviors.” Here’s a table illustrating the point:
And so should we raise the level of discourse on this subject and demand mandatory higher education requirements for police officers? It’s common sense. Law enforcement officers, particularly those in densely populated urban and suburban areas, patrol tense pockets of poverty that should require, at the very least, a level of intellectual awareness or cognizance. You would think cops should be the first thoroughly versed in the various social, political and economic issues they’re faced with each day.
Hence, for example: if NYPD officers had some basic understanding of how post-recession pressures, inflation, systemic Black male unemployment and increases in cigarette taxes forced the late Eric Garner to hawk illegal cancer sticks, maybe it could have been a different conversation between the parties that ended up with Garner still alive. He would be sitting in a jail or before a judge, sure. But, there’s some statistical evidence suggesting he’d be around.
No one’s saying to let cops off the hook. But there’s need for a deeper examination of a systemic problem that hasn’t subsided. Of course, racial profiling is always at work when law enforcement officers patrol through diverse communities. Still, we also know through research that low educational attainment and low IQ is linked to racist behavior and politically ultra-conservative views on race – for example, the less college education you have is linked to your preference in cable networks like Fox News and talk shows like Rush Limbaugh. Here’s Pew:
Of course, that doesn’t explain brutality carried out by African American cops, but you see where I’m going.
Maybe the response to police brutality is getting to the root of it beyond just the typical “oh, that guy is racist.” That becomes contrived after a while. Well, what specifically is making him racist? Maybe we need to start asking if these officers have a true, empirical-based or solid intellectual understanding of the socio-economic conditions they’re faced with every day. A lot of it is prejudice, we get it. But a lot of it is also high-energy, fast-paced, “alpha-male” model and aggressive policing that’s more focused on the tactical than the strategic.
It’s interesting because society accepts that military commanders in the field must possess a high level of education before they lead soldiers into battle. With the advent of the “specialist” in the modern military, it gradually becomes a bit more commonplace to expect some level of sophisticated training to operate advanced weapons systems. In order to achieve effective leadership in highly stressful situations, military brass want their officers, down to the platoon level, to understand terrain, geography, geopolitics and the enemy their fighting. This is one critical factor making the U.S. armed forces the most powerful and the smartest in the world – the top two military academies on the planet are West Point and Annapolis. In fact, U.S. military personnel are better “educated” than civilians – and you’d want them to be, right, considering they operate everything from killer drones to nuclear weapons?
There’s kind of a hidden double-standard here when we talk about police behavior and the behavior of, say, Black men gunning down each other in, say, Chicago. We’re quick to examine – and for good reason – the socio-economic and deep historic roots behind the conditions in certain communities. We poke and prod at the underserved to explain why they act and react in certain ways.
So, why not, in every case of police brutality, start probing into the psycho-social and educational reasons (or lack thereof) that leads to cops acting a certain way – and not just White cops either?
Obviously, the usual response isn’t doing a whole lot to keep it from happening (and, in addition to police brutality, we’re now dealing with police that’s become much more para-militaristic [see skyrocketing increase in use of SWAT teams]). Frankly, the current mainstream conversation on police brutality is that stale and predictable. Thus, these things happen, people get upset … and then it passes till the next tragedy. I also think the conversation on educational attainment levels puts an onus on lawmakers for needed leadership where it’s currently absent. It also puts the responsibility on police departments to radically alter the value they put on education and intellectual pursuits, to stop viewing advanced educational attainment as a ticket to promotion and to start appreciating it as a process towards officer empathy for the human beings they are sworn to protect. Funding will become an issue as taxpayers will be flipping the bill for enhanced law enforcement training through higher education. But, it shouldn’t be when police departments seem all the more happy to lavishly spend on para-militarized SWAT teams and automatic rifles in the name of “homeland security.” Time to shift priorities – better spending money on the important stuff rather than wasting billions in insurance dollars and taxpayer loot on damages and law suits.
CHARLES D. ELLISON is a veteran strategist and Chief Political Correspondent for UPTOWN Magazine. He’s also Washington Correspondent for the Philadelphia Tribune and a frequent contributor to The Root. He can be reached via Twitter @charlesdellison
Tracee Ellis Ross brought her classic version of sex appeal to the 2014 Ford Neighborhood Awards, which were held at Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center on Aug. 10. Now, most women can’t go wrong with a button-down blouse and pencil skirt. However, for events away from the office, Ross demonstrates that details like sequins and Swiss dots add something special to a pencil skirt/blouse combo. She stays fly and so can you with our interpretation of Tracee Ellis Ross’ Neighborhood Awards look. Keep clicking for the shopping details …
[Image: Instagram]
Free People Sparrow Bell Sleeve Top, $36.99
Vince Camuto Westin Pointy Toe Pump, $109.95
BCBGMAXAZRIA Lulu Square Stone Clutch, $95.99
Lola Skye Gunmetal Sequin Skirt, $59
Selfies have taken over in recent years, but now the popular trend has a new title – killer.
A vacationing Polish family enjoyed the beautiful, breathtaking views of Cabo de Roca in Portugal over the weekend. The busy tourist attraction is not far from the capital, Lisbon, and is well known for its amazing cliff and ocean views. As any one would, in a world where smartphones and digital cameras are always on hand, the family decided to capture the moment with a selfie. It seemed very appropriate for the occasion.
The mother and father did not make it through the photo, though. Instead, they fell off the cliff to and plummeted to their unfortunate death. To make matters worse, their children witnessed the entire thing. The kids were taken by Polish diplomats for therapy and other care.
Officials have attributed the death directly to the dangerous selfie.
The FBI and Justice Department are opening parallel investigations into the shooting death of Michael Brown by a Ferguson, MO police officer on August 9.
Justice officials are “aggressively pursuing” their separate inquiry into the shooting, which U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says is “critical for preserving trust between law enforcement and communities they serve.” Holder has asked that federal attorneys look into whether Brown’s civil rights were violated in the matter.
This announcement came during a protest that involved hundreds of people gathering outside the Ferguson Police Department on Monday. The demonstrators chanted, “Hands up! Don’t shoot!” which is an allusion to reports that unarmed Brown was surrendering to police when he was killed.
“After last night, we can’t let our guard down,” Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson told the Los Angeles Times. Jackson said he planned to identify the suspended officer involved in Brown’s shooting after he contacts him, in the event that the officer wanted to go elsewhere for his own safety.
But in the wake of Brown’s killing, more life-threatening situations have plagued the city. Jackson said that Sunday night he was in protective gear in the parking lot outside Walmart with Jon Belmar, the chief of St. Louis County police, when a passing vehicle pointed a light at Jackson. He said he then heard three gunshots.
Looting has occurred in St. Louis, as well, with the unrest resulting in the first day of school being canceled Monday, with school officials saying they were concerned for student safety.
In a news release, the Jennings school district said, “Safety is our uppermost concern…At this time we do not feel it’s safe for our students to walk to school.”
On Monday morning, the NAACP released a statement encouraging state and local branches to seek answers about Brown’s shooting.
Ferguson Mayor James Knowles pledged in a televised interview that “justice will be served,” saying that he wants the people of Ferguson to “have faith in the process.”
Piaget Crenshaw, who claims to have witnessed the incident said: “I witnessed the police chase after the guy , full force. He ran for his life. They shot him and he fell. He put his arms up to let them know that he was compliant and he was unarmed, and they shot him twice more and he fell to the ground and died.
Brown’s mother said she didn’t understand why police didn’t subdue him with a club or Taser. Witnesses say they didn’t see Brown do anything to warrant the shooting.
Patti LaBelle is taking her talents back to television. The Grammy Hall of Fame winner and star of “Out All Night” is scheduled to appear in four episodes of “American Horror Story.” The hit FX anthology is preparing its fourth installment.
Each season, there is a new theme on AHS, and this time its “Freak Show.” The series will be set in 1950s Jupiter, Fl where the last American freak show took place. LaBelle will play a local that starts stirring trouble as she uncovers the past of Twisty the clown killer. She will star alongside other major talents of the series, including Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, and Gabourey Sidibe. LaBelle will not belt out any tunes in the series, however.
This won’t be LaBelle’s first time acting in front the camera. From 1990 to 1993 she played Adele Wayne, Dwayne Wayne’s mother, on “A Different World.” LaBelle also starred alongside Morris Chestnut, Duane Martin, and Vivica Fox in “Out All Night” from ’92 to ’93. Since then, LaBelle has made cameo appearances and acted in a few films and television shows.
Stay tuned … “American Horror Story: Freak Show” is set to premiere on October 8. Will you watch?
Sometimes in life, if you are truly lucky, you will meet a friend who will become so close and important to you that they would better be described as a brother/sister. This past Saturday night, the friend I consider kin shared with me some news that made me incredibly proud: He finally got hired to be a police officer. While I may be biased as hell, he is a good man and definitely the type of brother anyone would want on a police force. He is deeply centered through his faith, he’s laid back and hilarious, he is not quick to anger or flex his authority and he’s all about reciprocal respect. Many of us realize that there are good cops in this world, and I have no doubt that he will be one.
But before I could call my parents and friends abroad to brag about what he achieved, Mike Brown was shot by the police the very next day in St. Louis. There are a lot of different accounts being told, and a formal investigation still needs to be completed, but it appears Brown was gunned down by an officer while both of his hands were pointing straight into the air. People will attempt to use every synonym of killed that they can think up to describe this situation, but this appears to be a straight-up execution of another unarmed Black teen. This is exactly the shit that will make many in our community scream, “eff the police!” but after this particular murder, it’s officially time for Black people to retire that phrase because the police are NOT our enemy.
If you’ve ever read any of my past articles on police executions (like Eric Garner or Jonathan Ferrell) that last sentence might throw you off. If you’ve ever been brutalized by the police, an assertion that the police are not our enemy might piss you off. And if you’ve ever lost a loved one due to heavy-handed police brutality, that comment might be exactly what you don’t want to hear.
But if you are a Black person who is interested in ending the cycle of police-inflicted savagery, racial profiling and disparate law enforcing, then you need to accept a hard truth about what the police force truly is: It is a commodity that is controlled by those with economic and political power. Saying ‘kill the police’ is not the answer, because they aren’t going anywhere, which means we need to look for an answer. And whether we like it or not, the problem is less about the police, and more about our inability to build our own communities to the point where we can actually have sway over the product that is the police.
If you’ve read Ta-Nehisi Coates’ essay on reparations, then you should be fully aware of America’s long and expansive history of using the police to deny, pillage and destroy everything owned by Blacks, from land to lives. What made Coates’ piece so brilliant was that it examined the police’s actions in the Black communities not just in a vacuum, but as part of a calculate systemic effort to undermine us all. That’s important to note because it’s critical for our community to understand that the police are not just a group of racist thugs acting on their own volition, they are a gang with marching orders that come from the pay grade above them. Hell, if you’ve ever watched an episode of The Wire, you can see how the police hierarchy works and how decisions made at the top influence the officers at the bottom, which directly affects the communities they are policing.
African Americans have $1.1 trillion in buying power, yet a dollar earned in the Black community circulates within our community for only 6 hours before it leaves. Comparatively, when you realize that a dollar circulates within the Jewish community for 20 days and the white community for 17, you start to see the true nature of the problem. We don’t empower ourselves, but we’re quick to march or cuss the system. If Black people really want to change things as much as we like to say we do, then at some point we need to realize that the only way to beat the game, is to play it.
When boys like Mike Brown are gunned down by police, we have a reflexive natural reaction to say eff the police, but we truly need to stop that garbage. I’ve been doing it myself for over 20 years and I’m tired of it, and I see it’s literally getting us no where. All it does is exacerbate tensions between Blacks and the police. And we continually lose that fight because we have no social, economic or political power. We are not vertically integrated enough to stop the abuse, and we definitely are not financially supportive enough of our own communities to even instill substantive fear in those who decide which communities will be profiled, targeted and assaulted. Are the police really “picking” on us, or are they carrying out the orders of a group with actual power? The prison-industrial complex has more Black males currently in prison today than there were slaves in 1850. That’s not because cops are mean to us, it’s because prisons are big businesses and, like most businesses, NOT Black owned. Now I’m not a supporter of throwing innocent folks in jail, but this is just one example of what happens when you don’t have any real social strength.
There once was a time where Black and Hispanic communities were united in our distaste for the police, even when we had rocky interactions with one another. Hell, Cypress Hill released Pigs around the same time Ice-T recorded Cop Killer. But if you take a look at our current trajectory, you will see and hear the “eff the police” rhetoric far less in their communities now then you will hear it on ours because they realized something very important: Real social influence will change more than hatred towards the cops ever will. Leaders in the Hispanic community have Obama’s ears, and constitute major voting blocks around the country. They will soon become the majority in the U.S. and they are using their numbers and increased power to strengthen their positions on topics like immigration. Soon they won’t have to cuss out the police, because they will be able to buy their services to further their cause. That’s how real change is achieved, not by screaming the same shit for decades that has us no further ahead today.
Photo credits: Shutterstock, Shutterstock
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Lincoln Anthony Blades blogs daily on his site ThisIsYourConscience.com, he’s an author of the book “You’re Not A Victim, You’re A Volunteer” and a weekly contributor for UPTOWN Magazine. He can be reached via Twitter @lincolnablades and on Facebook at This Is Your Conscience.
A Florida Keys man has been arrested for assaulting his girlfriend after he dreamed she was cheating on him. The woman, whose name has not been released, claims Carlos Gascon beat her all day on Aug. 8 over the nightmare. She managed to call for help around 6:45 p.m. when Gascon fell asleep.
The woman accused Gascon of choking her, pouring hot coffee on her, cutting the back of her leg with a knife, and threatening to kill her while holding a knife to her throat. Gascon also allegedly picked her up and slammed her down on a glass table, breaking it.
The assault didn’t stop there. Gascon allegedly took his anger out on his own dog. The victim says he picked up the dog, slamming it, and putting his foot on its neck.
[Image: Monroe County Sheriff's Office]
The victim was unable to find her house keys or phone, which she believes Gascon threw in a canal in front of her home.
Gascon faces charges of aggravated battery, aggravated assault, domestic battery by strangulation, battery, false imprisonment, and animal cruelty. He is currently held on $265,000 bail at the Monroe City Jail in Key West.
[Homepage image: Shutterstock]
A Florida prisoner is back in jail after admitting to authorities she stole her cellmate’s debit card information in order to bail herself out of jail.
Crystal Stephens took a piece of paper from another prisoner that had her cellmate’s debit card number and expiration date. Stephens, 25, called a bail bondsman and posted bail. Stephens also used the account information to buy a plane ticket for a friend and items from the jail’s commissary. In total, she charged more than $1,700 to the card.
[Image: Shutterstock]
Stephens’ cellmate later noticed the charges after she was released from jail. She immediately suspected Stephens and called Liberty Bail Bonds to confirm.
Meanwhile, Stephens was already back in jail on shoplifting charges. Stephens has been charged with grand theft, fraud, and illegal use of credit cards. She now faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in state prison for fraud and five years on each of the other charges.
