Chittlin' Talk

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Seeking a victory over intimidators

"Although the witness survived and, from his hospital bed, identified Myron Gladney as his attacker, the shooting is one of a string of such incidents plaguing Baltimore's criminal justice system, according to city prosecutors. Intimidation routinely ranges from threatening gestures in the courtroom or attacks that leave witnesses injured or dead, as young men walk the streets wearing 'Stop Snitchin' T-shirts and a video warning witnesses not to snitch proves to be a best-seller."

Go to http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bal-md.witness05jul05,0,1763714.story?coll=bal-specials-headlines

Terrorism At Your Front Door

"The rise of a 'stop snitching' movement by gangbangers has led to the harassment, terrorizing, and murder of innocent civilians across the country. Edna McAbier, a neighborhood activist from Baltimore, was almost killed when her house was firebombed after snitching on drug dealers in her neighborhood. She now lives under a false name working from home "in a distant town she doesn't dare to name full of people she doesn't dare to know." A 14-year-old Washington girl was killed when police showed up at her house asking about a murder. A 35-year-old man ordered his daughter to testify in front of a judge that she did NOT know anything about a murder case and now faces persecution."
http://www.bsalert.com/artsearch.php?fn=1&as=129&dt=2&pm=20

THE CRIME AROUND US: OVERCOMING INTIMIDATION

Helping police led to a bullet hole in one man's home. How is the city encouraging people in high-crime areas to cooperate in investigations?

"But another group of men were doing everything they could to keep him from talking. They tried to stuff him in a car trunk. He was shot. They sprayed his house with bullets in a drive-by. Men smashed up his car with a brick and threatened to "wet" his mother, slang for shooting her."

Is this not terrorism at your front door?

Go to http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/102106/met_5634994.shtml

Sudan: Secretary-General Says Sudan's Reply On Darfur 'Not Satisfactory,' Frustration Grows

"Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said he had told Sudan's President that his reply to UN calls for speedy deployment of a United Nations-African Union (AU) hybrid force for Darfur was 'not satisfactory,' while dissatisfaction is growing among member states and intensive diplomacy continues in a bid to end the conflict in the strife-torn region."

Go to http://allafrica.com/stories/200703160008.html

Somalia: Country Tops List of Places Where Minorities Most Under Threat

"Somalia is the world's most dangerous country for minority communities and has overtaken Iraq to top a global ranking of countries where minorities are most under threat, Minority Rights Group International (MRG) says in a new global survey."

Go to http://allafrica.com/stories/200703200965.html

Eyewitness: Harare's brutal clash

John (not his real name) is 32 years old. Speaking from a secret house in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, he tells the BBC News website of the brutal fracas that ensued when police stopped a rally in Highfield suburb from taking place on Sunday.

Go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6443109.stm

Zimbabwe reaching 'turning point'

The US envoy to Zimbabwe has said he believes opposition to President Robert Mugabe has reached a turning point.

Go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6473579.stm

Booker T. Washington said:

"There is another class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs -- partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs....There is a certain class of race-problem solvers who do not want the patient to get well, because as long as the disease holds out they have not only an easy means of making a living, but also an easy medium through which to make themselves prominent before the public."