Stop NAACP Funding

Image via Ultraviolet Underground. Please circulate widely.

See also:

What about Our Daughters
Electronic Village
Ultraviolet Underground
Black Women Vote
Stop NAACP Support of Rapists

Al Sharpton, NAACP, and Dunbar Village

Rev. Sharpton has backed down from his demand that the Dunbar Village rapists receive bail. From on open letter at WAOD:

On March 27,2008, activist Al Sharpton went on the air to clarify his position on the treatment of the Dunbar Village Suspects. He invited writer Tonyaa Weathersbee and blogger Arlene Fenton to his show, to discuss the matter. Rev. Sharpton claimed that he never said that the Dunbar Village suspects were being treated unfairly, and that he did not want bail for the suspects in question.

Ms Weathersbee and Ms Fenton said that their research indicated otherwise, as indicated by video footage, eyewitness accounts, and the reporting from the Florida Sun Sentinel and the Palm Beach Post.

At the end of the radio show, Al Sharpton strongly condemned any activity that would promote bail consideration for the suspects in question. Rev. Sharpton admitted that “if the suspects were white, he would have been there sooner.” He stated that this is a problem with many black civil rights organizations. He apologized and vowed to uphold his prior promise to advocate for the residents of Dunbar Village. He also challenged all activists, bloggers, and writers to be accountable to each other.

To date, the NAACP has not made an official statement denouncing the Dunbar Village Atrocity, nor have they officially expressed regret to the victim. The NAACP also has not officially retracted their statement requesting bail consideration for the alleged rapists/torturers. To our understanding, neither agency has contributed to the Victim’s Assistance Fund or created a reward program geared toward the apprehension of the remaining rapists/torturers.

Conclusion

WE ARE SATISFIED with Al Sharpton’s qualifying statements that he made on his radio show on 3/27/2008. We will watch to see if he fulfills his promise to advocate for the residents of Dunbar Village, and we are willing to assist any effort that promotes safer black neighborhoods in West Palm Beach, FL.

WE ARE NOT CONTENT with the reckless, irresponsible actions of the NAACP (West Palm Beach chapter). We continue to urge all black people, women especially, to refrain from volunteering or giving financially to this organization until they take our safety seriously.

Read the entire letter.

Wrong

Update: Stop NAACP Support of Rapists

A woman is brutally raped and tortured for hours in Dunbar Village by 10 teenagers. Her son is also tortured, and to make it worse, the woman is forced to perform oral sex on her own son. Four of the assailants have been arrested, but there are still six running free. Civil Rights leaders remain curiously quiet about this horrific crime. Now, however, the Reverend Al Sharpton and the West Palm Beach branch of the NAACP have decided to take action.

Rev. Sharpton and the branch of the NAACP are demanding that the police put more effort into apprehending the six other rapists.

Oh wait. That’s not right.

Rev. Sharpton and the branch of the NAACP are demanding that the four apprehended criminals be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

Oh damn. I got it wrong again.

No, Rev. Sharpton and the West Palm Beach branch of the NAACP have decided to defend the four rapists, claiming that it is wrong to not offer them bail. Why? Because some white rapists in Boca Raton were offered bail and so the black kids should be offered bail too. Um, NO! This is wrong on so many levels I can’t even begin to fathom the height of wrongness and stupidity and bullshit that this is, but here’s a few thoughts:

A) The white rapists didn’t deserve bail either. That’s the true injustice here.

B) The Dunbar Village rapists are NOT victims. I didn’t want to go there, but I think all those chemicals in Rev. Sharpton’s hair have seeped into his brain and done serious damage. How can you claim to stand up for black folks and then turn your back on black women victims?

C) Villager has the right idea:

I encourage all like-minded villagers to join in collective action against the NAACP and Al Sharpton’s NAN as a result of their misguided criminal advocacy in the Dunbar Village case. Perhaps it is time for right-thinking villagers to stop fueling the NAACP and NAN with our money and our volunteer activism until they stop trying to hinder the successful prosecution of this heinous crime down in Dunbar Village.

Perhaps it is time to ensure that the safety of Black women and children are non-negotiable. Here are some specific steps you can take:

1. Share this post with others so they might have their conscience and concern raised as yours as been today.
2. Demand an explanation from your local NAACP and NAN chapter about the Dunbar Village case.
3. Cancel your membership to these organizations
4. Write a letter explaining that you will return when they prioritize the public safety needs of Black women and children.
5. Stop donating your time or money to these organizations; instead invest in other organizations that take the lives of Black women and children seriously.

Even if you do not belong to these organizations, call or write them to express your displeasure:

NAACP National Headquarters
4805 Mt. Hope Drive
Baltimore MD 21215
(410) 580-5777

National Action Network
Rev. Al Sharpton
106 W. 145th Street
Harlem, New York 10039
(212) 690-3070

You can obtain more information about the direct action against NAACP and NAN from the Dunbar Village blog (BBR #494).

Dunbar Rape Defendant Pleads Guilty

I just picked this up from Gina and Yobachi.

From the Sun Sentinel:

One of the four teenagers charged with the gang rape of a mother and the assault on her young son at the Dunbar Village public housing complex agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors Monday morning.

In exchange for pleading guilty to two counts of sexual battery by multiple perpetrators with a firearm while wearing a mask and burglary with assault or battery with a firearm, Jakaris Taylor will serve 20 years in prison with credit for the 130 days he’s been in jail.

I don’t know much else, and a Google News search predictably turns up four, count ‘em, four whole stories on this turn of events. It really is sad how little the major media cares to cover this.

Internalized sexism at least a hundred times more prevalent in women of color than internalized racism

[Originally posted at Leftist Looney Lunchbox. Any comments should be left there.]

Ann went to town on sexist men of color at Rachel’s after I did of course and I wanted her to have (her) last (magnificent) word.

But I want to finish a thought.

Since I was a teenager, I noticed APIA women did not speak out against sexism of APIA men. They were in denial or made excuses. I noticed this in college, too, among women of color.

Women of color are a hundred times more likely to condone or enable the sexism of men of color than they are to condone or enable the racism of whites.

In other words, women of color are a hundred times more likely to speak out against racism than they are to speak out against the sexism of men of color.

Even though most rape and domestic violence occurs within the community. You see this pattern in real life and online.

Today is the perfect example:

How many women of color do you think turned up for the huge Jena Six/Hate Crimes march on DC today compared to the protest for crimes against women of color? (Details and commentary on both protests below.)

You can bet your life there were at least a hundred times more women of color at the first protest than at the second.

You can also bet your life there were at least a hundred times more women of color at the Jena Six protest in Jena, Louisiana than at the Megan Williams protest in Charleston, West Virginia.

Woman of color feminism (this can be NA/APIA/black/Latina feminism) is generally about two things:

1. ending the racism of whites
2. ending the sexism of men of color

bell hooks said people of color must repeatedly speak out against sexism in communities of color and

Until this silence is repeatedly broken, NAs/Asians/blacks/Latinos will never be able to constructively address issues of positive gender identity formation, domestic violence, rape, incest, or NA/Asian/black/Latino male-on-male violence.

The next time a woman or man of color says the words “internalized racism,” think about how neither the woman nor man of color in the same conversation has ever spoken out against the sexism of men of color. Perhaps even about the sexism of the man in the conversation.

Then speak out about sexism in your community.

Visible women of color feminisms are the only way we can end sexism, rape, domestic violence and sexual harrassment in our communities because white feminists do not speak out for us.

Crooks and Liars:

Jena 6/Hate Crime protests in DC

There’s a huge turnout in DC today as thousands of African Americans marched on the Justice Department to demand racial equality from the justice system spurred on by the Jena 6 case. CNN does a nice job with its coverage today. The new AG, Mukasey was forced to respond and you can hear what he had to say in the video.

Jena Six’ case sparks march on DC

Marchers surrounded the Justice Department headquarters on Friday to demand federal intervention in the “Jena Six” case and enforcement of hate crimes against those who hang nooses in public. On a chilly but clear day, busloads of people packed a downtown plaza seeking a big government response to small town injustices…

What About Our Daughters?:

DUNBAR VILLAGE COUNTER PROTEST MAKES USAToday! – Picture of BlkSeaGoat Included – YOU GO BOY!

What About Our Daughters?:

In case you have not heard, there is a protest scheduled today in front of the Department of Justice in Washington, DC about hate crimes. A WAOD reader, Shane, has organized a “counter protest” of the protest. But “counter protest” is an inartful way to describe what is going to take place today because “counter” implies that Shane is against the stated goals of the original protest. That is not true he probably agrees with the folk getting on charter buses to march in DC. So instead of “counter protest” a better way to describe what Shane has organized is “a very public CONVERSATION.” Folks are coming to DC for a monologue well Shane just made it a dialog and some people are in a uproar that he would dare have such a dialog on the streets of DC during their carefully crafted protest. You see, with the same fervor that some folks hundreds of years ago believe that the earth was flat, they believe that Black folks can’t have a VERY PUBLIC CONVERSATION without the whole of Black America imploding on the spot, instantaneously. We survived the Middle Passage, Slavery, Jim Crow and flavor of Love, but what we cannot survive, to some folks, is a VERY PUBLIC CONVERSATION!

There is a lot I do not know right now, but one thing I DO KNOW is that Black American can survive a CONVERSATION. In fact, we’ll be better for it. What we cannot survive is continued SILENCE. This craving for SILENCE for the sake of UNITY is killing us literally.

So everybody chill out. Today is a great day for Black America. Today we will have concrete proof that we can have a public CONVERSATION and a public “engagement” and Black America will survive and thrive.

bell hooks said there’s a difference between unity that sweeps differences under the rug and community which celebrates differences.

USAToday:

When demonstrators rally on the steps of the U.S. Justice Department Friday to protest the government’s handling of hate crimes, blogger-turned-activist Shane Johnson will be waiting for them with a protest of his own.

Johnson and a modest band of supporters are pushing back against the outpouring of black support for black male offenders, such as the Jena 6, saying it comes at the expense of female victims of black-on-black crime.

The group is leading a Jena 6-like grass-roots movement through e-mails, blogs and rallies. It wants to call national attention to the beating and rape of a 35-year-old Haitian woman and the beating and sexual assault of her 12-year-old son by up to 10 assailants in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Johnson organized the rally after he read about the assault on the blog, “What About Our Daughters?” He questions why national black leaders and black media who supported the Jena 6 and the alleged victim in the Duke lacrosse case have ignored the Dunbar Village attack, in which the mother, son and alleged attackers are black.

Gina McCauley, an Austin attorney who runs the blog “What About Our Daughters?,” a site devoted to fighting stereotypes of black women in popular culture, says the Florida case has garnered little national attention because “we don’t value the lives of black women.”

Actually, the Jersey Four case is more like Jena Six because they’re about unequal justice. The Jersey Four are IN PRISON AS WE SPEAK for defending themselves. Sexism in communities of color is one thing, homophobia another. Dwayne Buckle made sexist and homophobic remarks not because of racism but lack of feminist education which is why woman of color feminism is critical to liberation.

What About Dunbar Village?

From What About Our Daughters:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, D.C.-November 13, 2007- When Rev. Al Sharpton descends on the Department of Justice headquarters on Friday, November 16, 2007, he’ll be greeted by counter protesters asking why he and other African American leaders have refused to publicly comment on a horrific crime against humanity committed against a Black woman and her child in a housing project called Dunbar Village located in West Palm Beach, FL.

The Dunbar Village tragedy is the horrific story of the brutal gang rape, sodomy, and torture of a 35 year old black Haitian immigrant and her 12 year old son. 10 black teens forced their way into the victim’s home at a public housing complex in West Palm Beach, Florida. The mother was forced to perform fellatio on her own son at gunpoint. The teens then cut and stabbed the mother and her son, poured cleaning
solvent on their skin and in their eyes, and would have set them both on fire, but as one teen suspect reported, no one in the gang had matches. Currently, only four suspects are in custody. During the 3 hour rape and torture, not a single neighbor called 911.

The counter protest was organized by Shane Johnson after he read about the crime on the blog, What About Our Daughters? “How is it that practically every social justice organization from the ACLU to the NAACP to the SCLC knows something about Dunbar Village but refuses to speak out about it?”, asks, Shane Johnson who is a blogger and the author of Black Sapience…My .02 (http://blacksapience.blogspot.com). Johnson adds, “This protest is not to request that Sharpton and his allies march in West Palm Beach, but simply an inquiry regarding Rev. Sharpton’s peculiar silence on this issue.”

For over three months, Gina McCauley, who created the blog, What About Our Daughters? (whataboutourdaughters.blogspot.com) has been asking why prominent African Americans have failed to make any public comment about the Dunbar Village crime. She posted the names and contact information of prominent African Americans and organizations on her
blog and despite numerous calls, emails and letters from readers, not a single person on the list has issued a public comment on the crime. She describes their refusal to publicly comment “Immoral Indifference.”

“It is the height of hypocrisy that Black leaders have remained silent for so long about the Dunbar Village Rape tragedy. Black leaders remain silent about victims of Black on Black crime.” McCauley noted on her blog that several prominent African American issued statements on the humane treatment of animals during the controversy surrounding Michael Vick. “We can get a statement about dogs, but not about two
human beings.”

Tanisha Mathis, who operates the website Essential Presence (http://essentialpresence.blogspot.com) adds, “African Americans are falsely led to believe the mainstream is not sensitive to their issues but its proven repeatedly that it is, in fact, Black leaders and Black news entities that are the most silent in regards to crimes against Blacks like the Dunbar Village gang rape.”

McCauley and Mathis have both blogged tirelessly about the Dunbar village case and have produced online videos in an effort to increase awareness of the crime. To date, their videos have been viewed almost 100,000 times. Mathis’ video was featured on the local news in West Palm Beach, and Mathis has toured Dunbar village at the behest of local leaders.

The counter protesters will meet Rev. Al Sharpton and his supporters in Washington, DC at the Justice Department on Friday, November 16, 2007.

“This type of crime happened on our watch and our “leaders” are still silent. They are silent because they are indifferent. Their indifference is immoral.” McCauley says.

This protest is a call to arms for anyone who cares about black women. For more information, contact Shane at sbjatlanta@yahoo.com , http://blacksapience.blogspot.com.