Mental Issues Afflict Thousands of Children Displaced by Katrina

Years after the nation watched in horror as thousands of people of all races struggled to deal with the after-effects of the coastal flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina, the New York Times reported in Friday's paper that thousands of children who's families were uprooted and forced to move, are experiencing a range of mental and physical symptoms linked to the traumatic post-hurricane experiences.

From depression, behavioral changes, rashes and poor performance in school to suicide, the US Government's failure typified by FEMA's response in the day's immediately following the flooding is still claiming victims to this day.

A-Train Attack Camera Hound Identified

As the A-Train Attack gains momentum today's New York Post reports that the now notorious and shocking videotape was shot by 17-year old Kadejra Holmes of Harlem between the Rockaway Boulevard and Broadway Junction A-Train stops.

The young auteur learned her craft in TRUCE, (The Renaissance University for Community Education) which appears to be a city youth program that teaches filmmaking to Harlem kids.

The Post reports that efforts to confirm the authenticity of the film are currently underway.

A lot remains to be seen in this case, Holmes is due in court on December 11th after she was arrested on September 3rd along with another unidentified juvenile for an assault of a 24 year old woman on a J-Train.

Did she just happen to be there with her camera? Or was she involved? Was this staged?

Detective's MP3 Blunder Catches NYPD Red-Handed

I think the culturegeist is served by justice and fair enforcement of the laws. One of the most difficult issues about race in America relates to the glaring inequities in a legal system that disproportionately treats defendants of color differently.

Charges of excessive use of force or illegal tactics used by some members of the NYPD against black or Hispanic defendants in the arrest or interrogation phase are frequently dismissed as concocted accusations of racism. But tonight on the 11pm Channel 7 Eyewitness News broadcast an "Exclusive Report" aired about a bombshell revelation in a Bronx court.

An NYPD officer identified as Detective Christopher Perino has perjured himself in a court case after the defendant, Erik Crespo who was 17 at the time, revealed in court that he had an MP3 recording of the interrogation in which the detective clearly threatens to prevent the defendant from seeing a judge in an effort to coerce a confession about a gun apparently used in a shooting in an elevator on Christmas Day, 2005.

The recording was revealed by the defense only after Detective Perino testified falsely under oath that he had neither questioned the then-17 year-old alone repeatedly about the gun in question. Once the tape was revealed, the prosecution immediately tried to cut a deal with the defense according to defense attorney Mark DeMarco.

Details are hard to find online as I write this as the story doesn't appear to be on their 7 Online Website at the moment but I'm curious why Channel 7 presented it as an "Exclusive" as the story appeared in this morning's New York Post?

Maybe because the story is buried in an article on the bottom left-hand side of page 29 - an article about the plight of recently deceased hotel "Queen of Mean" Leona Helmsley's dog Trouble takes up 3/4 of page 19.

White Subway Passenger Beaten By Gang of Black Teenagers

I just finished watching a tape of a nasty blight on the country's culturegeist, I've blogged about people using video to capture racism on tape before, but for the first time since the truck driver Reginald Denney was pulled from the cab of his truck at an intersection in South Central during the LA riots and nearly beaten to death by a hysterical mob, the media is captivated with an image of an innocent white person being attacked by black people who appear to be out of control.

Once again, technology helps to lift up the proverbial rock and this time we are reminded that ignorant racist acts don't just happen to people of color.

By now the infamous video clip of an emotionally-charged group of, what appear to be, black teenagers on a New York City subway verbally accosting and then physically beating a lone white passenger is being seen on computer screens across the globe.

Among other Websites, TheSmokingGun.com has posted the video and generated an array of viscious, hate-filled commentary penned by intellectuals with charming screen names like "IH8Mexicans" (really...) who've unleashed a slew of racist commentary as a means to vent internalized prejudices and stereotypical generalizations.

But there are also some like me who are simply fed up. Someone on the SmokinGun.com observed correctly that if there was no videotape of the incident, and the guy had pulled out a gun and shot one or more of them - there would be a deafening outcry by some African-Americans and an obligatory press conference on the 6pm news by an indignant Al Sharpton.

Why don't I see more outrage from African-Americans like myself and others who are disgusted by what I see on the tape?

When someone like Bill Cosby or Jesse Jackson and other prominent African-American figures attempt to raise issues related to the public behavior of some young black girls and boys who are disproportionately products of economically disadvantaged urban areas, they're often attacked by members of the black community who accuse him of taking aim at an already maligned minority.

Chiding him (and others) for siding with the same people who see them as stereotypes; even less than human sometimes.

Too often African-Americans as a people shy away from the uncomfortable realities the extensive social problems produced by the institutionalized racism and prejudiced woven into the thread of this nation.

Some members of the black press ripped into Jesse Jackson some years ago when he confessed that he felt nervous walking the streets of Washington, DC alone at night when he saw large groups of young African-American males walking towards him.

Take a look at the video, when I watched it all I could think was; "What the hell is the matter with these kids?". Marginalized economically, products of a public education system that has failed them and apparently completely disconnected from the repercussions of their actions.

The only positive in this mess is that it was captured on tape and the footage is clear enough that the faces of some of them can be identified by the NYPD and MTA authorities; and the kids, as well as their parents will be identified. Until all Americans can have a constructive dialogue about incidents like this, it will continue to infect our collective culturegeist like a virus.

Turkey, Michael Jackson & Black Media

Given that challenges related to division and separation are frequently the subject of this blog, it's nice to think about Thanksgiving. While US presidents from Washington to Lincoln declared 'Days of Thanksgiving' it was actually Franklin Delano Roosevelt who set the 4th Thursday of each November as the official day of recognition for the holiday in the US - it was approved by Congress in 1941.

I've enjoyed my Thanksgiving holiday, family, food, friends and football. But one of my favorite parts is reading all the magazines my mother receives at home that I normally do not take time to read unless I am here.

I was raised in a household with a lot of reading material around, books, magazines, newspapers etc., so I've been reading Ebony magazine on and off for more than two decades. Ebony is something of a staple for many African-American households. Rare is the black barbershop that doesn't have old issues of Ebony and Jet laying around.

Ebony was created in the same style as Life Magazine; just take a look at the lettering and logo in the upper left corner of the cover.

Langston Hughes penned an interesting take on the history of the magazine in 1965.

The cover of the December, 2007 issue featured Michael Jackson and I read through the cover story to see what the oft-maligned "King of Pop" was up to these days. Seems our fleet-footed friend has been living on an estate outside of Dublin where he's been writing material for a rumored album slated for 2008 or 2009 release.

He also reflects upon his career, the creation of Thriller and the state of contemporary music. If you're expecting to get an explanation on how one of the children who've accused him of child molestation could identify distinctive birth marks on the elusive star's penis you'll be disappointed.

Ebony, much like Life is given more to "puff" pieces in it's coverage of celebrities, the story, while it does feature an interview with Jackson, comes off as pretty 'safe' and right in synch with the Jackson camp.

Given the treatment and coverage of people of color by the mainstream media, (replete, by the way with 'puff' magazines...) saturated with negative images of blacks over the years, I think it's still important to have a magazine that portrays African-Americans in a positive light.

Regardless of whether or not the stories go into Vanity Fair-like detail, it continues to serve an important purpose and an audience that recognizes the brand as familiar and even comforting.

Kudos to John H. Johnson and the editorial staff over the years.

While headquartered in Chicago, the New York offices seem like they could use a little brushing up on the importance of the brand. My sister went over to the offices of Ebony & Jet for an interview recently and noted the curious absence of any magazine covers, logos or even photos adorning the walls of it's Big Apple offices.

As she observed, you be hard-pressed to even realize that the magazine was even associated with the office at all.

Support for 'Sippenhaft' by Some Swiss Signals Growing Racial Divide

In recent years there have been steady reports in the media concerning an unsettling rise in the number of groups that embrace right-wing neo Nazi ideology in Europe.

An October 4th New York Times story highlighted the attempts of the Swiss People's Party, or SVP, a right-wing Swiss political organization, the largest in the Swiss federal parliment, headed by Christoph Blocher, a billionaire who also serves as the nation's justice minister.

The SVP garnered headlines when they created a flag (pictured above left) with images of a group of white sheep kicking out a black sheep. The SVP also mass-mailed the image on postcards to homes throughout Switzerland and even plastered the image on billboards.

SVP members argue that government statistics indicate that approximately 70% of the Swiss prison population are non-Swiss. Lawmakers are attempting to pass legislation that would make it mandatory to deport the entire family of any foreign-born juvenile found guilty of a crime. Tactics the Nazi's used to deport thousands of people from Germany, a process known as Sippenhaft, or kin liability.

The flag seemed to have an affect, on October 22, 2007 the BBC website reported that the SVP won 29% of the vote and gained seven seats on the national council.

It's important to note that many Swiss citizens, including the president of the country were outraged and offended by the SVP 'Sheep Flag'. And marches and rallies by SVP supporters have been disrupted by violent clashes by anti-SVP protesters.

Anti-immigrant feelings are not unique to Switzerland or Belgium, England, France, Germany and Italy are all dealing with internal unrest over the presence of large foreign populations - particularly those of Muslim descent.

It is the trend of these anti-immigrant feelings turning to violence that is most concerning.

On Thursday October 11, 2007 I blogged about the horrifying case of 19-year old Hans Van Themsche (the son of the founder a right-wing anti-immigrant Belgian political front) who shot and killed Oulematou Niangadou, an African nanny from Mali and Luna Drowart the two-year old in her care while the two were in a public park in broad daylight.

Von Themsche later confessed to police that he had planned to kill at least five foreigners; he was subdued after he wounded a woman of Turkish descent and was shot in the stomach by police.

It will be interesting to watch how the SVP Swiss election results of fall '07 affect other countries in Europe. With populations worried about their national identity and a growing multicultural makeup becoming more of a European reality, time will certainly tell.

FBI Report on Race Reveals Disturbing Trends for US Racial Relations

An FBI report released on Monday, November 19th presents some disturbing data from police departments across America that show some 7,722 reported criminal incidents of behavior based on racial bias.

The figure represents a sharp 7.8% increase from the 7,163 incidents reported in 2005.


With the slew of black Americans who've been recipients of copycat 'noose displays' in the wake of the Jena 6 incident, various degrees of hysteria surrounding anti-immigrant backlash across the nation and growing signs of rising cultural intolerance in communities across America there are some serious wrinkles in the fabric of our Culturegeist.

Are racial relations in the US taking a turn for the worse?

The data comes from 12,000 of the 17,000 communities and break down to 5,449 against individuals, and 3,593 against property or "society at large" which might include churches, synagogues, cemeteries, and schools.

58.6% of the 7,330 offenders were identified as white, 20.6% as black and 12.9% of other backrounds/nationalities etc.

These stats seem to point to noticeable rise in the level of fear and insecurity of many people in communities of various socioeconomic, and racial makeups. Is it a result of an overall rise in tensions that relate to 911 and terrorism and the subsequent invasion and occupation of Iraq?

How is it that in 2007 Americans seem to be reverting back to manifestations of prejudice, fear and intolerance that seem more at home with the 1950's and 1960's?

Kudos to the FBI and Justice Department for releasing the stats but our government needs to be assuming a larger and more active role in examining the root of these trends.

Is mainstream media doing enough to report this turn in the state of race relations?

The Culturegeist is shifting and people of all ethnicities and racial backgrounds should be aware of it.

Jarrel Gray, 20, Becomes Latest Young African-American Man to Die at the Hands of Police

Another young man of color fell victim to aggressive police tactics in an autumn that has seen an unsettling series of escalating physical confrontations with fatal results.

Jarrel Gray was allegedly confronted by Frederick County Deputies after he was involved in a fight after a party early on the morning of Sunday, November 18th.

According to a report on the WBAL Website the victim's mother claims her son was deaf in one ear and might possibly have not heard the officer's commands. After an altercation with police, Gray was tasered and later died.

One of the most detailed accounts of the incident seems to come from The Register, a Canadian Website which carried the story.

Will New Justice Dept. Chief Address Gonzales' Bungling?

One of the most glaring examples/remnants of the Alberto Gonzales-led Justice Department with more allegiance to the Bush White House than to actual justice, is US Attorney Rachel K. Paulose of Minnesota. (pictured left)

Paulose was one of many attorneys who replaced more seasoned prosecutors and DOJ managers with more experience at the behest of the White House because of her unwavering loyalty to the President.

Now new DOJ head Michael B. Mukasey is faced with an opportunity to step in and set the tone for his tenure. What can the American people expect?

Paulose, the daughter of Indian immigrants, a Yale Law School grad and a member of the conservative lawyer's group the Federalist Society, is accused of an abrasive management style that led three of her top staff members to step down from their administrative functions in April according to an article in today's New York Times.

Accusations that the Federalist Society serves as a mechanism for consistently advancing a right-wing agenda have made over the years by many groups.

Will Mukasey fire this inexperienced right-wing yes-man and replace her with someone actually qualified to manage the Minnesota office? Or will we see the first concrete evidence that Mukasey is merely another Gonzales in another guise?

Is Prejudice Seeping Into Science?

A well-written piece by Amy Harmon in Sunday's New York Times raises old questions of race, genetics and our perceptions of ourselves. New questions hovering around supposed scientific proofs reinforcing the supposed superiority or inferiority of people with different physical characteristics are once again grabbing media attention.

Once again we are witnessing attempts to cloak the irrationality and fear-based insecurity of thinking warped by prejudice in the folds of science.

Aside from attracting media attention it raises the question - at what point does objective scientific analysis begin to become subject to the ingrained prejudices of those whom laymen look to, or qualify as scientific experts?

There have been numerous attempts over the course of history to use questionable scientific conclusions or flat out bogus theories to prove racial superiority.

It brings to mind the infamous 'Piltdown Man', an alleged early human ancestor found near Uckfield, East Sussex, UK. For years members of the scientific community attempted to use Piltdown man to undermine the existence of fossils proving that mankind originated in Africa.

NPR's News & Notes, On Point Radio

Thursday night's 10pm "News and Notes" program on WNYC had a really in-depth and spot-on conversation of substance about the current state of the black family in America.

Oft-mention were Bill Cosby's now infamous and brutally frank comments on the issue. I think both he and Dr. Alvin Poussaint have an important message that merit's the ear of a much larger audience.

Here you've got two highly-regarded media savvy African-Americans with the guts to talk about dirty-laundry issues like the behavior of some African-American children in public and the need for blacks as a community to confront and take a greater responsibility for the bringing together the highly diverse elements within the black community.

Huge need for more dialogue here regardless of one's take on the issue.

There was also agreement amongst the guests on the program that these are broader social indicators that are by no means limited to the African-American community. These issues cut across the expanse of our culturegeist.

Harvard University Step Show Turns Into Melee

This is an interesting story. At an after-party for the Harvard Society of Black Scientists and Engineers a brawl broke out on the dance floor while the DJ was spinning a cut with the lyrics:

"Yeah we knuckin’ and buckin’ and ready to fight...See me, I ain’t nothin’ nice.”

Harvard? You can't say it's the song.

What's going on in the culturegeist of that crowd?

Stan O'Neal Set to Depart Merrill Lynch as CEO

The only thing more surprising than seeing a black Wall Street executive on the cover of today's Wall Street Journal was the staggering $8.4 billion third-quarter write down that will close the curtain on Stan O'Neal's tenure at US financial behemoth Merrill Lynch.

While O'Neal (pictured left)is widely credited with returning the company to profitability after coming on board as president in 2001 - he later became CEO and chairman of the board, the supposedly aloof O'Neal irked many members of "Mother Merrill's" ranks of entrenched, loyal, and some say most experienced, executives and trimmed the members of management who didn't fall in line with his more expansive vision for the company's direction.

The mortgage crisis has and will claim a lot of casualties from the ranks of Wall Street but O'Neal is the highest ranking so far. A former GM executive and unquestionably the highest-ranking African-American Wall Street executive in history, O'Neal will likely leave with a package worth well over $100 million.

Irrespective of how much blame he shoulders for a global credit crunch, O'Neal's personal story is an amazing story of transformation. His ascension through the executive ranks of one of Wall Streets largest firms has had an immeasurable effect on the nation's perception of Wall Street and the scope of his professional achievements in an industry that is notoriously lacking in diversity has forever altered the culturegeist.

Props to Stan for rocking the culturegeist.

Who the !@#$ Would Murder Flamingo's?

Animals are part of our the collective culturegeist too and we don't like it when they're senselessly killed. Some sicko broke into a Frankfurt, Germany zoo and beheaded three Flamingos and strangled another.

Sounds like some cement-head is about to graduate from Serial Killer U....

More Racist Noose Mail for Brooklyn HS Principal

The horrifying wildfires going on out in California understandably grabbed the front page headlines of the New York Post on Tuesday October 23rd but near the fold on page nine was an article about the principal of a predominantly African-American high school in Brooklyn, NY who was the latest reported recipient of a noose.

Accompanying the shockingly offensive symbol of vicious hatred was an equally degrading letter addressed to principal Tyona Washington.

While personally I think this was better than page nine at least the Post ran the story.

Oh, also tucked away on page nine to the right of the latest noose incident, a 3/4 page photo of "embattled" rapper Foxy Brown (aka Ingrid Marchand)and an unflattering account of her getting tossed in solitary confinement for 76 days out on Rikers Island for allegedly getting into a brawl with another female inmate.

Damn, could the day be rougher on a sister?

Enough

The culturegeist has spoken. In the wake of DOJ section head John Tanner's comments, appalling inaction by the Justice Department to take action and enforce hate crimes laws in the midst of a nation-wide epidemic of displays of nooses and other forms of hate messages, civil rights leaders today called for a November 16th march on the Justice Department.

The culturegeist of America is restless and stirring. People of all nationalities, religions and backgrounds, people around the world are outraged at the void of government action to confront this issue and send a message.

This isn't the America we signed on for.

Tanner First Dept. of Justice Section Head to Publicly Demonstrate Cultural Stupidity

It comes as no surprise that the chief of the Justice department's Civil Rights Division's voter's rights section John Tanner was recently quoted in front of a group from the National Latino Congreso in Los Angeles as saying: "...our society is such that minorities don't become elderly the way white people do. They die first."

TPM Muckraker offers some startling details.

This is where you can look inside the wounds of our collective culturegeist. This is look at one part of the core of reasons racism and prejudice persists as major social problems in the US today.

Back in *May I blogged about the lack of diversity amongst DOJ staff when Alberto Gonzales was under fire. Roberta Baskin of WJLA TV in Washington, DC brought attention to the fact that only two of the 250 attorneys in the Justice Department's civil rights division were black - there were two back in 1968.

(*click on May, 2007 and scroll down to the entry)

So now we hear that John Tanner is the man running the department responsible for enforcing the laws that protect the rights of Americans; and he's basically an ignorant bigot devoid of the sense God bestowed upon an ass. He approved a Georgia law requiring voters to show photo ID before voting at polls.

It's beyond appalling and as of Sunday, October 21st, Barack Obama was the only presidential candidate saying anything about it. Sunday's New York Times reported Obama had called on members of both political parties to demand Tanner's removal.

Louisiana Elects First Indian-American Governor

His parents were from India. He grew up in the burbs. He's got a conservative track record that earned him the support of regions of the Louisiana that supported former Klansman David Duke's run for the US Senate. Now Bobby Jindal is the Katrina-wracked state's first non-white governor since Reconstruction.

(Not that Dave would've been lonely DC, Sen. Robert Byrd is a former member of the Ku Klux Klan as well...)

But props to Bobby, this election will certainly have ripples across the American political landscape and it's already sending ripples across the cultural spectrum as well. It will be interesting to see how this impacts a growing Indian-American political voice and how it will alter our collective culturegeist.

Winter of Discontent?

Halloween? Thanksgiving? Egads, Christmas?

When I look honestly at my thoughts about the approaching fall, winter and the slew of holiday-related activities, many of the things that come to mind are related to things. Stuff. Material objects.

Prosperity is the byproduct of many things. Patience, charity, hard work, diligence, belief, dedication, education, preparation, good fortune and yes, sometimes just plain old luck. Those can work together in many different combinations or alone.

The concept of prosperity is entwined in the threads that, woven together comprise the fabric of this nation. The America I envision balances prosperity for all into the equation. But on the heels of the sub-prime mess, a weak US dollar, high fuel prices and spikes in layoffs coupled with headline-grabbing cut backs at companies from AOL to Motorola economic indicators aren't looking good at the moment.

To mark the anniversary of Black Monday, the Dow took a huge loss on Friday.

So it hurts when I read this and I'm concerned.

It's going to be a long, hard winter for many people in this country; is this the kind of country we want to be? We just kind of tolerate the idea that the nature of our economy will include millions of people who manage to stay just above the poverty line?

Remember many of these people are working full time and more.

The gap that divides along economic lines widens. Again. Is that promoting the general welfare of our nation?

Gary, Indiana Police Officer Jeffrey Westerfield Goes Beyond Call of Duty to Assist Black Teens After Car Accident

Officer Westerfield was the first to arrive on the scene of a horrific vehicle accident on September 15, 2007. Despite one of the blood-soaked survivors desperately insisting his two friends were down in a ravine in need of help, the apparently unconvinced Westerfield didn't bother looking.

Westerfield apparently couldn't be bothered with something as tiresome as searching for two accident victims; one of the victim's fathers arrived on the scene 6 hours later and located the bodies 15 - 20 feet away from the accident.

Funeral home representatives assert bruising on the bodies make it clear both victims were alive for some time after the accident.


In unrelated news the Gary, Police department are being investigated by the FBI for unspecified reasons.