None Of Us Are Free

Solomon Burke _ "None Of Us Are FrSolomon Burke




Ron's American World

Supreme Court Justice David Souter Will Retire!

By JESS BRAVIN and EVAN PEREZ
WASHINGTON --
Supreme Court Justice David Souter has disclosed plans to retire, two congressional aides briefed on the decision said, a move that would create the first vacancy on the high court for President Barack Obama to fill.
Justice Souter, 69 years old, has been a reliable member of the court's liberal wing. President Obama likely to select a candidate young enough to serve for decades, bolstering the court's aging liberal faction.

Justice Souter was a little-known New Hampshire jurist when Republican President George H.W. Bush elevated him to the Supreme Court in 1990. Influential New Hampshire Republicans vouched for his credentials, but he soon proved a disappointment to conservatives hungry for a reversal of precedents they opposed.

Joining with Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy -- moderates appointed by President Ronald Reagan -- Justice Souter voted to limit, rather than overturn, Roe v. Wade, the 1973 opinion that recognized abortion rights. Justice Souter was no liberal trailblazer, like the jurist he succeeded, William Brennan. But as the court's center shifted to the right after Justice Thurgood Marshall's 1991 retirement, Justice Souter increasingly found himself on the court's left wing.

In 1992, just two years into his term, Justice Souter provided the fifth vote in a key abortion case, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, that served notice the court wasn't ready to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision upholding a woman's right to have an abortion.

Justice Souter was again in the majority in a 5-4 decision in 2003 when the high court endorsed the use of race in choosing students for America's top universities and the concept of racial diversity as a compelling national interest.

In recent years, he has almost invariably aligned with Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer on the defining issues, including the executive powers asserted by former President George W. Bush, the constitutionality of executing criminals for crimes short of murder, and the extent government can consider race when seeking to promote diversity.

A Souter retirement comes as little surprise. While justices Stevens, 89, and Ginsburg, 76, are older, both have said they enjoy the work and have more to contribute to the bench. Justice Ginsburg had an operation earlier this year to remove a cancerous tumor from her pancreas, but the court has said the disease was caught early and the surgery was successful.

Justice Souter has complained about life in Washington and even about aspects of the court's work, such as the numbingly technical cases involving applications of pension or benefits law. Earlier this year, he told friends he planned to retire at the end of the present term if Justices Stevens and Ginsburg decided to remain on the court for at least another term. Unlike his fellow justices, he didn't hire law clerks for the term that begins in October, and some members of his staff were inquiring about finding other jobs.

"I don't think it is a big surprise," said Bill Glahn, who once worked for Justice Souter in the New Hampshire attorney general's office and has remained friends with him since. "He's almost 70 years old. At some point, you make a choice as whether you're going to be there forever or whether you want to retire and do some of the other things you want to do, whether it's taking a walk in the morning or reading some books."
To have a new justice in place by the beginning of the court's term in October would mean conducting a Senate confirmation process. Democrats -- along with two independents -- have 59 votes in the Senate and a 60th possibly on the way. They are in a good position to push through any nomination.

The Obama administration hasn't publicly named any choices to fill a high-court vacancy. But possible candidates could include Kathleen Sullivan, 53, a professor and former dean of Stanford Law School; Georgia Chief Justice Leah

THE FOLLOWING ARE THE ONES MOST LIKELY TO BE CHOSEN..., ACCORDING TO RUMORS! WHO DO THINK BE THE NEXT CANDIDATE FOR U.S. SUPREME COURT? I ONLY HAVE THE TOP THREE FEATURED IN VIDEO:

Who will it be? U.S.Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor?(2nd on bottom row)


Will it be Judge Leah Ward Sears? (4th on bottom row)


Will it be Kathleen Sullivan?(3rd on bottom row)

Hey, You Gotta Check your Reciepts!

Check out this video!

Police Abuse?

Posted by Denver Louis
Filed under: BlackSpin, News

Note: The video stated a teen girl..., but the lady was 42 years old in the write up..., never the less.., it was still abuse!

There's a tender balance between being a law enforcement officer and a thug with a badge. The problem is that too often that balance tends to tip toward the latter. Every day it seems there's a new video out there of police abusing their power. This video from Millville, Pa., was just released and is at the center of a civil lawsuit.

Sheila Stevenson, 42, was pulled over on Feb. 3 for illegally riding her bike on the sidewalk. The arresting officer attempts to mace her and inadvertently hits himself. So what does he do while she's already restrained on the ground? Take a look at this unbelievable video.




Seriously, when are police going to learn? Where in the job description does it say you're at liberty to assault or even murder people? The disturbing trend of an out-of-control national police force seems more endemic of countries where people have less-pronounced civil rights.
This is why we must be vigilant in keeping police honest, because the day we stop being outraged about things like this is the day we stop caring about our civil rights.

Who shot Billey Joe Johnson?

Who shot Billey Joe Johnson?

The George County Sheriff’s Department claims that on that fateful morning, Billey Joe attempted to break into the home of an on-again, off-again girlfriend in the nearby city of Lucedale. According to the sheriff’s department, he left the scene and ran a red light at 5:34 a.m. After a 1½-mile pursuit, Billey Joe got out of his truck, met sheriff’s deputy Joe Sullivan and handed over his license. Then Billey Joe returned to his truck, put a 12-gauge shotgun he used to target deer to his head and committed suicide. It was 5:40 a.m.

Sullivan’s patrol car was not equipped with a camera, and his is the only account of the event. Billey Joe’s friends and family don’t believe the story.

Billey Joe was black. Sullivan is white. The case, as such, is shrouded by race in this small community in the Deep South. Everyone wants answers. No one is getting them. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the local district attorney – the two bodies in charge of the case – have issued neither a ruling nor many pertinent details.

Annette and Billey Joe Johnson Sr. want to know how their son, Billey Joe Johnson Jr., 17, died.

Johnson, a talented running back at George County (Lucedale, Miss.) High School, was remembered during a funeral service at his high school. He died of a gunshot wound Dec. 8 during a traffic stop by a George County deputy in Lucedale after the officer witnessed Johnson run a red light and a four-way stop.

The state and the Johnsons' lawyer are conducting investigations into his death. "The investigation is going to be an exhaustive search for the truth," District Attorney Tony Lawrence said.

Here is what the police say about Billey Joe’s death: During a routine traffic stop, Billey Joe Johnson Jr. shot himself in the head.

He woke at 4:30 a.m. that day, a school day, at his parents’ trailer and took a shower. His dad thought he was going hunting. Instead, he drove 15 miles to Lucedale, the 2,700-person county seat and location of both his high school and a girlfriend.

Billey Joe’s truck had notes from multiple female admirers, and his friends said he enjoyed the attention offered to a star athlete. He’d already run for 4,000 yards in his high school career and helped make George County a state powerhouse. Everyone knew him. Many wanted to be with him.

One girl, whom Yahoo! Sports will not name since she is a minor, had been around the longest. It was a typical high school relationship – “they’d break up every day and then get back together,” said one of his friends, Drew Bradley. The fact that she was white bothered some people.

“It’s George County, it’s a little Southern town,” said Bradley, who is white. “You’ve got a bunch of racist people down here. You have people who hated on them because it was black and white.”

After two months of questions and very few answers, a George County grand jury rendered a unanimous decision ,12-gauge shotgun accidentally discharged as Billey Joe Johnson Jr. was attempting to move the shotgun in the cab portion of this truck,"

The family isn’t buying it.

"I ain't buying that," said his mother, Annette Johnson, after the 16-member grand jury ruled Thursday. "We are going further and we are going higher."

Her pursuit is joined by her attorney, who plans to continue his own investigation, and the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which said it would submit evidence to the U.S. Justice Department and ask for a federal probe.

Who Is Protecting Our Freedoms

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Drop The Rock

Drop the Rock': Repeal Unfair Drug Laws
By Brett Story
March 30, 2009

Hundreds of New Yorkers rallied in front of Gov. David Paterson's office March 25 to urge the repeal of Rockefeller Drug Laws. Instituted in the 1970s, the laws dole out mandatory sentences for minor infractions and disproportionately affect communities of color, 90 percent of those jailed under its auspices are black or Latino.
As a state senator Governor Paterson vocally criticized the laws and The Nation reported early in his term his administration's focus on overturning them.
The New York Times reports that along with the Democratic state assembly and senate, Governor Paterson has reached an agreement to dismantle the drug laws.

TOM JOYNER MORNING SHOW-CALL TO ACTION!

Subject: TheFlyJock's Blog: Act Now or Lose Our Voice That Comes Through Black Radio
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2009 03:15:24 +0000

TheFlyJock's Blog: Act Now or Lose Our Voice That Comes Through Black Radio Tom Joyner, March 25 http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=blog_inner/7993/1573138/The%20Fly%20Jock TheFlyJock's Blog: It's Just Business Yesterday there was an outpouring of love and support for the TJMS through e-mails, texts and phone calls letting us know how much we will be missed on Chicago radio. Many of you were looking for a call to action, and to you, I say this: One, thank you for caring enough to take time out of your busy life to let us know how you feel. Two, the most immediate call to action for people in Chicago and anywhere else where we aren’t heard is to listen on BlackAmericaWeb.com - which, by the way, had a record number of people tuning in to hear our show yesterday. And three, support the advertisers you hear on our stations, and let them know you’re supporting them because you heard them advertising on our show. Without boring you, I’d like to give you a quick lesson in black radio and what we are up against in this ever-changing world. We face a system that has never worked in the favor of black media and other factors, such as a new ratings system, and the country’s horrible economic state stacks even more odds against us. The bottom line is black radio will never be what it once was, and there’s absolutely nothing we can do about that. There are and will continue to be radio stations playing urban music, and of those few, the only way they will survive is if they are making money. They make money from the commercials they sell, and that’s based on them being able to prove that the people listening are good candidates for buying their products. It isn’t personal; it’s business. And as much as I appreciate the emotions expressed in the letters, texts and e-mail I’ve gotten, we can only move forward if we recognize the business we’re dealing with. Like all businesses, the success of black radio is based on supply and demand - not just for the station owners and the advertisers but for the audience too. You know what you want, and you know whether the radio stations you tune in to are providing it. As much as you love to hear R&B music, if that is all you wanted, you could load your iPod with your favorite songs and never tune in to black radio again. But you obviously want more than that, and you have fewer places to get it than ever before. So, the issue is much bigger than which urban D.J. you like better in the morning. The issue is whether the urban format is worth saving. The old saying “Give a man fish; you feed him for a day but teach a man to fish; you feed him for a lifetime” has never rung truer. If it had not been for the urban format, many of us would not have ever known the importance of radio advocacy and how a wrong can be righted with the power of our phone calls, pens, voices and votes. It has helped us to do everything from saving a sitcom from cancellation to electing the first African-American president. It has made us more accountable, more self reliant and more empowered. In the end, whether there are 50 black radio stations or two, you will have been victorious because you stood tall and lifted your voice. We have black radio to thank for that, and that’s something no man, no format, and no conglomerate can take away. So we move forward stronger, wiser and looking for a better way to do - and that’s a lot more than play music.

Police Kill 73 Year Old Man

Police Kill 73 Year Old Man, Family Claims Cover-Up

This 73 year old cancer survivor, Bernard Monroe was enjoying a barbecue and some family time when the police arrived to question his son Shawn Monroe. At the time of this incident Monroe had no standing arrest warrants pending. The media of course make a point of letting the public know that Shawn has a lengthy record. Monroe was shot by Louisiana Police and his family is alleging racism and a police cover-up.




Here is a quote from the town’s police chief
“If I see three or four young black men walking down the street, I have to stop them and check their names,” said [Homer, Louisiana Police Chief Russell] Mills, who is white. “I want them to be afraid every time they see the police that they might get arrested. We’re not out there trying to abuse and harass people—we’re trying to protect the law-abiding citizens locked behind their doors in fear.”

STEALING AMERICA: Vote by Vote

Whatever you think you know about our election systems or Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, this film will make you question further why the news media fails to accurately inform the public. Directed by GNN's Ian Inaba, creator of Eminem's "Mosh" music video, American Blackout critically examines the contemporary tactics used to control our democratic process and silence voices of political dissent.

Many have heard of the alleged voting irregularities that occurred during the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004. Until now, these incidents have gone under- reported and are commonly written-off as insignificant rumors or unintentional mishaps resulting from an overburdened election system.

American Blackout chronicles the recurring patterns of voter disenfranchisement from Florida 2000 to Ohio 2004 while following the story of Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. Mckinney not only took an active role investigating these election debacles, but has found herself in the middle of her own after publicly questioning the Bush Administration about the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Featuring: Congressional members John Conyers, John Lewis, Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, Bernie Sanders and jounalists Greg Palast and Bob Fitrakis.


'True Lies' by Taalam Acey



American Blackout - True Lies Poem
Uploaded by camron46


American Blackout - Black Voter Disenfranchisement



American Blackout - Black Voter Disenfranchisement
Uploaded by camron46

Florida's Disappeared Voters' Disfranchised by the GOP " The Nation"
In Latin America they might have called them votantes
desaparecidos, "disappeared voters." On November 7 tens of
thousands of eligible Florida voters were wrongly prevented from
casting their ballots--some purged from the voter registries and
others blocked from registering in the first instance. Nearly all were
Democrats, nearly half of them African-American. The systematic
program that disfranchised these legal voters, directed by the
offices of Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Secretary of State
Katherine Harris, was so quiet, subtle and intricate that if not for
George W. Bush's 500-vote eyelash margin of victory, certified by
Harris, the chance of the purge's discovery would have been
vanishingly small.

Read the rest of the story here

American Blackout - Cynthia Mckinney confronts Choicepoint



American Blackout - Ohio trailer



Disenfranchised Felons Unfairly Punished Twice
Sonata Lee

The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. More than 2.3 million people are incarcerated in the U.S. -- or roughly one in 100 adults -- according to a report released earlier this year by the Pew Center on the States. Even China, the most populous nation in the world, incarcerates fewer people than we do.

While we laud the historic nature of this election and speculate over how the various voting blocks -- women, Latinos, evangelicals -- will cast their ballots in November, we've forgotten about a group that may have the most at stake in local and national elections: our felons. Overly punitive legislation and a devastating war on drugs have resulted in the disenfranchisement of 5.3 million people who are unable to vote in this country because of a felony conviction.

The most egregious and notorious case may be in Florida during the 2000 election. In an interview with the Christian Science Monitor, Marc Mauer, executive director of the non-profit Sentencing Project, stated that, "On the day of the 2000 [presidential] election, there were an estimated 600,000 former felons who had completed their sentence yet because of Florida's restrictive laws were unable to vote." It's widely believed that the 2000 election would have gone to Al Gore had Florida allowed former felons to cast ballots.

Read the rest of the story here

Rhode Island’s Shrinking Black Electorate


 Rhode Island has the nation’s 13th highest percentage of
African-American disfranchisement, higher than Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, North and South Carolina and 31 other states

 12 percent of African- Americans are barred from voting in Rhode Island

 20 percent of African-American men cannot vote statewide

 1 in 4 African-American men in Providence cannot vote

 40 percent of 18-34 year old African-American men on the Southside of Providence cannot vote
Read the rest of the story here


STEALING AMERICA: Vote by Vote



Selected Scenes from STEALING AMERICA: Vote by Vote



Princeton University Exposes Diebold Flaws



The Official Count vs. Exit Polls - 2004 Election



Stolen Election 2004




The Right to Vote Continues to Elude Millions
By Ryan Paul Haygood
The tragic, history-making events of "Bloody Sunday," on March 7, 1965, in Selma, Alabama, ultimately freed the vote for millions of African Americans. Forty years later, as we reflect on the march that led to passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, we are also reminded that more than two million African Americans continue to be denied the right to vote by felon disfranchisement laws.
Black voter registration in Selma in 1965 was made virtually impossible by Alabama's relentless efforts to block the Black vote, which included requiring Blacks to interpret entire sections of Alabama's constitution, an impossible feat for even the most learned. On one occasion, even a Black man who had earned a Ph.D. was unable to pass Alabama's literacy test.
On Bloody Sunday, John Lewis and Reverend Hosea Williams led almost 600 unarmed men, women and children in a peaceful march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma to Montgomery to dramatize to the nation their desire as Black people to participate in the political process.
As they crossed the highest part of the bridge, Alabama state troopers, who ridiculed, tear-gassed, clubbed, spat on, whipped and trampled them with their horses, viciously attacked the marchers. In the end, Lewis's skull was fractured by a state trooper's nightstick, and 17 other marchers were hospitalized.
In direct response to Bloody Sunday, President Lyndon Johnson, five months later, signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law. Considered by many to be the greatest victory of the civil-rights movement, the Voting Rights Act removed barriers, such as literacy tests, that had long kept Blacks from voting.
Despite the promise of increased political participation by Blacks and other racial minorities created by the Voting Rights Act, its full potential has not been realized by one of the last excluded segments of our society: Americans with felony convictions.
Today, nearly 5 million Americans are literally locked out of the political process by state felon disfranchisement laws that disqualify people with felony convictions from voting.

Read the rest of the story here

The GOP's Black Voter Suppression Strategy

For the past five years, the Bush Administration has used the Justice
Department, Civil Rights Division - the institutional guarantor of the
Voting Rights Act - to legitimize a series of Republican power grabs
in the South. Central to these power grabs has been violations of
the Voting Rights Act - i.e. the suppression or dilution of African
American votes. For instance, in a series of recent preclearance
(Section 5) cases, Bush appointees in the Civil Rights Division have
overruled career lawyers when their decisions stood in the way of
white Republican political objectives. Although a majority of career
lawyers rejected Republican backed redistricting plans in
Mississippi and Texas, political appointees overruled them and
precleared the plans. The Texas and Mississippi redistricting plans
have since been implemented, to the tremendous benefit of the
GOP. (The Supreme Court has recently agreed to hear a series of
cases in which Democrats, blacks, and Latinos argue that the Texas
redistricting plan and the manner in which it was implemented
violate the Voting Rights Act.) Political appointees also overruled
career attorneys when they rejected the 2005 Georgia Voter ID law
- passed by the Republican majority in the state legislature - as
retrogressive. A federal appeals court later struck down the law,
arguing that it would reduce blacks' access to the franchise. African
Americans in Texas, Mississippi, and Georgia vote overwhelmingly
for the Democratic Party.

Read the rest of the story here

An Innocent Man on Death Row

The Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal: An Innocent Man on Death Row

Who is Mumia Abu-Jamal?
Mumia Abu-Jamal is a renowned journalist from Philadelphia who has been in prison since 1981 and on death row since 1983 for allegedly shooting Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. He is known as the “Voice of the Voiceless” for his award- winning reporting on police brutality and other social and racial epidemics that plague communities of color in Philadelphia and throughout the world. Mumia has received international support over the years in his efforts to overturn his unjust conviction.

Mumia Abu-Jamal was serving as the President of the Association of Black Journalists at the time of his arrest. He was a founding member of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Black Panther Party as a teenager. Years later he began reporting professionally on radio stations such as NPR, and was the news director of Philadelphia station WHAT. Much of his journalism called attention to the blatant injustice and brutality he watched happen on a daily basis to MOVE, a revolutionary organization that works to protect all forms of life--human, animal, plant--and the Earth as a whole.

The Scene
In 1981, Mumia worked as a cab driver at night to supplement his income. On December 9th he was driving his cab through the red light district of downtown Philadelphia at around 4 a.m. Mumia testifies that he let off a fare and parked near the corner of 13th and Locust Streets. Upon hearing gunshots, he turned and saw his brother, William Cook, staggering in the street. Mumia exited the cab and ran to the scene, where he was shot by a uniformed police officer and fell to the ground, fading in and out of consciousness. Within minutes, police arrived on the scene to find Officer Faulkner and Mumia shot; Faulkner died. Mumia was arrested, savagely beaten, thrown into a paddy wagon and driven to a hospital a few blocks away (suspiciously, it took over 30 minutes to arrive at the hospital). Mumia somehow survived.

Read more of the story CLICK HERE

A CASE FOR REASONABLE DOUBT

Reasonable Doubt - 1

Reasonable Doubt - 2

Reasonable Doubt - 3

Reasonable Doubt - 4

Reasonable Doubt - 5

Reasonable Doubt - Final

Mumia Abu-Jamal from death row: Fighting for his life



May 17, 2007 Massive Rally in Philadelphia: 'Free Mumia!'



Journalists for Mumia Abu-Jamal: NEW CRIME SCENE PHOTOS!