Ferguson not so "grand" jury renders it's expected racist decision - reaps the expected reaction

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Hello All:

Well, this has been an eventful four days - Marion Barry, friend and former Mayor of DC passes; Lincoln University finally kicks ersatz president Robert Jennings to the curb, and is in the throes of regrouping and recouping from his despotic two years; and the people of Ferguson hear the expected bad news: the not-so-grand jury renders the racist verdict in favor of ersatz police officer Darren Wilson, who because of a license to kill, thought he could shoot an unarmed teenager, Michael Brown, in the back and get a way with it scott-free - and he pretty much did.

VICTIM MICHAEL BROWN

After much "deliberation," more bordering on procrastination, the jury viewed stacked and altered evidence that had probably been tampered with in so many ways by the time it got to them that it looked as if Darren Wilson was some sort of "angel" and Mike Brown and evil spirit.  

MURDERER DARREN WILSON

Distortion after distortion, lie after lie, paid expert after paid expert testified in front of the predominantly white grand jury, selected from a predominantly Black community, and the inevitable decision was handed down.  With the make up of the jury stacked 9 to 3 in the favor of whiteness, there was no other way it was going to come down.  With the fact that Ferguson is 67% Black, it is obviously deliberate that they kept the jury predominantly white in order to make sure that the decision turned out exactly the way they wanted it to - Wilson's acquittal. 

Now, did anyone expect it to be otherwise?  At what point?  How long has Ferguson been predominantly Black with a white superstructure?  How many times have they elected the same people over and over again to positions of authority over the Black community?  

But my bigger question is this:  just who thought that the reaction of the people of Ferguson, MO, was going to be peaceful?  Who thought people were just going to have a cumbaya moment and go home and shake their heads and say, "the rule of law has spoken?"  

Though he said it, I don't think even President Obama though it either.  I am sure, given the reaction that took place in August, he, the National Action Network, NAACP, and other organizations knew in their heart of hearts that the people of Ferguson weren't going to peacefully abide by this travesty.

As Malcolm X used to say, "suffer peacefully."  No! the Novacaine of TV shows, and all the efforts to assuage the people differently went totally by the wayside the moment the foot dragging, disrespectful, racist and racially stacked grand (grunge) jury handed down its decision.  The governor of the state of Missouri (a state which fought on the side of the Confederacy) had already warned that he was going to bring out the National Guard - and that was because he knew a week in advance that they were going to make the racist decision they made.

It was also why President Obama, who called for calm, appeared to be somewhat subdued - one person said he gave the most boring speech ever - really?  He could see the handwriting on the wall - the grand jury in their racist composition had spoken.  (That did not indicate that he was powerless, but that there are some other things coming down the pike which he can't reveal at the present time). 

Frankly, I don't approve of looting or pillaging unless you're doing it in the enemy's territory - since they're the cause of the problem to begin with.  So unless they're on Darren Wilson's front lawn, I see no reason to burn down businesses in the community.  But that's obvious just my little old opinion - one which does not have currency in Ferguson.

In point of fact, other opinions and orders to maintain peaceful demonstrations likewise had no currency in Ferguson - people who gathered for peaceful demonstration, were clearly in the minority; and the not so silent majority eventually showed up and expressed their extreme displeasure in the outcome.  It was clear that they were not listening.  They would have been perfectly content to come out and demonstrate peacefully, had the racist jurors returned an indictment verdict. It would mean that Ferguson was making progress, and making an effort to correct an egregious wrong.  But when they showed total disregard for the life of Michael Brown and the residents of Ferguson - a suburb of St. Louis - then all bets were off - the people who really do carry the day for Ferguson came out in droves and made it clear that it wasn't going to swallow that line of guff.

And, in case you didn't notice - the protesters from throughout the US came out en masse to express their displeasure at the verdict: California, Philadelphia, New York, DC, Maryland, Connecticut, and throughout the US, people showed up on the steps of their courthouses and city halls to stand in solidarity with the people of Ferguson.  

A NATIONAL BOYCOTT OF ALL MERCHANTS ACROSS THE US IS BEING CALLED FOR GOOD FRIDAY,  and to ensue throughout the Christmas Holidays.

As Black people of consciounsess, I urge you to stand together on this effort and make sure that the white powerstructures that routinely, and silently, finance these racist communities don't get a dime of your hard earned money - whether it's on Black Friday, or beyond - in fact it should be renamed BUY BLACK FRIDAY - so that you spend money with Black owned businesses - or not at all.

Having been involved in civil rights since the age of 10, I can say that I've seen some mean spirited behaviors and communities in my life time; but Ferguson makes them look like paradise.  If we don't start walking our talk, standing together, and turning to each other for the interaction, empowerment and support we need, we will be no further than when we started out 50 years ago.  We will continue to be target practice for bored police officers trying to get notches on their gun barrel; we will become the lifelong tenants of the prison military complex; we will make funeral directors rich; and we will still have the highest numbers of families with absentee fathers - due to death, drugs, and incarceration.

It must stop here and now - and Ferguson is a signal that we have a lot to do if we want to make it happen in our own lifetimes.

My prayers are with the family of Michael Brown, the people of Ferguson; Black people everywhere as we begin to do a long overdue reality check and deal with what it is that we really must do to end this long history of violence perpetrated upon us.  

VICTIM'S PARENTS: LESLEY McSPADDEN & MICHAEL BROWN, SR

 
Since we didn't do it in the election booth, which is where we should have been, it appears that we need to come up with some alternative measures that reside in us and in or own communities.  

It is apparent that those who did not go to the election booths, are now the same ones rioting in the streets.  It could have been a much simpler solution had we taken the time and the responsibility to vote when we should have.  These actions, reactionary to the core, are the aftermaths of our not pulling together in the first place to ensure that we had the political muscle to go along with our rights.  

So here we are, reverting to actions that took place in the bad old days of the sixties in the 21st century.  With all the technology and social media we have at our disposal, this is where we are.  We've got to do better, immediately, if not sooner.  

We now have to find ways despite of and because of the incumbent racist superstructure we allowed to remain in place (that has actually expanded because we didn't do our part) and the new ones who will be ushered into congress in January, that will use all their nefarious ways to nullify President Obama, further oppress Black people, and destroy any progress we may have made over the past 50 years.

And don't think that they're not getting their "jollies" off of this - they can't wait until they have the reigns tightly in their hands and around our necks.  We've given them the impetus to start martial law everywhere, and increase the jail and prison cell populations with even more Black men and women - a piece of real estate that they are heavily vested in.  

Ferguson was just the beginning.  And since we can't protest every day - we could, but it's not feasible - we had better come up with some bold, long term, comprehensive strategies that we can impart to Black people, have them buy into it, and inculcate it in a way that we are bullet proof, both physically and collectively.  It's going to take more than politics, elected officials, ministers, to make this happen - we need our educators, community leaders, and rank and file members of the community, along with our artists, celebrities to begin now developing our own personal, comprehensive paradigm shift - Black empowerment and autonomy writ large.  


NOW THAT YOU KNOW - WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
I'm praying for all of us. 
Stay Blessed & 
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
www.gloriadulanwilson.blogspot.com/ECLECTICALLY BLACK NEWS


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Video: Police lied. Mike Brown was killed 148 feet away from Darren Wilson's SUV - YOU DO THE MATH!!! NAN to Rally

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Hello All!




The following needs absolutely no conversation or introduction - it speaks for itself - I just wanted to go on record and say what we have all known from the beginning: DARREN WILSON AND THE FERGUSON POLICE DEPARTMENT LIED ABOUT THE GUNNING DOWN OF MIKE BROWN!!!

As an aside, I met his parents in Washington, DC during the Congressional Black Caucus, at the New Washington DC Marriott Marquis Hotel, where they were honored by Omega Psi Phi Fraternity for their bravery.  His parents, both wonderful and gracious under the circumstances, have wisely taken this to the International Arena of the United Nations for crimes against humanity.  I applaud and respect them for taking this stance.  It's what Malcolm X had tried to do in "We Charge Genocide" when he was gunned down by agent provacateurs who then tried to blame it on Elijah Muhammad and Min. Farrakhan.

As it has been made patently clear, it is still happening in egregiously increasing numbers at the hands of so called law enforcement officers who have declared open season on Black people, and then try to use any bogus excuse for their actions, under the misconception that it is their word as whites against ours as Black people.  And as Malcolm said: AIN'T NO MORE DAYS LIKE THAT!

THIS, THEN, IS FROM THE DAILY KOS:

Thu Nov 20, 2014 at 08:31 PM PST

Video: Police lied. Mike Brown was killed 148 feet away from Darren Wilson's SUV

by Shaun KingFollow for shaunking

For 104 days, the police have lied and said Mike Brown was killed 35 feet away from Darren Wilson's SUV. It was actually 148 feet.
This distance is essential to the defense and how Darren Wilson must demonstrate that he "reasonably feared for his safety." At the point in which Mike Brown ran half a football field away, how reasonable is it for an armed officer to fear anyone?
On the afternoon of August 9, 2014, Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Mike Brown, an unarmed teenager, in Ferguson, Missouri. Below is the first video filmed from Canfield Drive, where the shooting occurred, showing the exact measurement between where Darren Wilson's SUV was parked and Mike Brown died. After that, we methodically debunk the lie that Mike Brown was killed in close proximity to Darren Wilson's SUV.
Our starting point, which is 17 feet behind the driver's side window of Darren Wilson's SUV, is this yellow fire hydrant next to the storm drain.

Our end point is 2943 Canfield. Notice the building number in the back of this photo below where Mike Brown's father and family members are standing over the exact location where Mike Brown was killed.

Watch us measure the distance below.
So: 131 feet, 1 inch (distance between the fire hydrant and where Mike Brown died), + 17 feet (distance between the fire hydrant and the driver's side door of Darren Wilson's SUV) = 148 feet. The St. Louis-area police have continued to advance this lie for over 104 days since Mike Brown was killed on Canfield Drive on the afternoon of August 9 in Ferguson, Missouri. Here we will methodically expose this lie and examine just why it's so important.

On this past Monday, Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency in Missouri in anticipation of some level of unrest regarding a decision from the grand jury in the Darren Wilson case. Covering this decision, and the case in general, CNN authoritatively states that Mike Brown was found 35 feet away from Darren Wilson's SUV. Watch just the first 20 seconds of this video to see how Erin Burnett frames the case,
Where the Lie Began On August 10, 2014, St. Louis County Police Chief John Belmar held his first press conference on the shooting of Mike Brown by Officer Darren Wilson of the nearby Ferguson Police Department. His force had been called in to take over the investigation for the much smaller local department. The shooting had occurred less than 24 hours earlier, and the tensions on the ground in Ferguson were already red hot and boiling over.
Six different witnesses on the scene claimed that Mike Brown was shot at repeatedly from behind before he turned around, faced Darren Wilson, verbally surrendered, and put his hands in the air. Wilson, having already shot at Mike Brown at least six times while he fled, then fired off a barrage of four quick shots at the surrendered Brown he was looking at face to face, killing him on the spot. With his lifeless body face down on the road, Mike Brown’s blood literally flowed down Canfield Drive for more than four hours. The shooting and the aftermath that evening, which included bringing police dogs to the scene, infuriated residents as never before, and the anger was spreading rapidly across St. Louis and into the nation.
When Chief Belmar sat down the next day to brief the press on his summary of the facts, he stated at 1:13 (and then even more emphatically at 6:01) in the video below, "The entire scene, from approximately the car door (of Officer Wilson) to the shooting, is, uh, about 35 feet."
See his video below and pay attention to the statements at 1:13 & 6:01.
At that time, when the chief said the "entire scene" was just 35 feet in distance from the "car door to the shooting," every observer accepted it as a negligible fact and thought little about it, instead zeroing in on why Darren Wilson stopped Mike Brown in the first place and why a police officer would shoot a young man who was surrendering with his hands up. It turns, out, though, that the distance Mike Brown fled was not 35 feet, as was stated in the press conference and cited in hundreds of articles since. Nor was it 45 feet, or 75 feet, or even 95 feet, but approximately 148 feet away from Darren Wilson’s SUV. Below, you will find photos from the day of the murder, maps, infographics, and more to confirm for you that the distance was more 500 percent farther away than originally claimed by Chief Belmar and subsequently quoted as fact in almost every narrative of the case.
While the initial reporting of this distance from the chief could have been an error, albeit an egregious one, it seems clear now, after over 100 days of requests for the police to clarify this discrepancy have only produced silence, that it wasn’t an oversight, but a deliberate misrepresentation of the facts.
What reason would the chief have for so seriously understating the distance by more than 110 feet? Well, how far Mike Brown fled matters greatly, and the St. Louis County Police Department could have many reasons for purposely understating it. One doubts, though, that they expected to be caught telling this lie. When it was first told, while matters were tense in St. Louis and spreading on social media, nobody had any idea that this case would grip the nation and the world.
Without even using this space to dive into the actual shooting of Mike Brown, it appears that some base level misconduct can be suspected when the St. Louis County Police Department has repeatedly refused to address the discrepancy in distance.
When the police came out the morning after Mike Brown was killed and deliberately included the distance between the SUV and the shooting, it successfully created a very particular narrative. The arc of their initial story, magnified in importance by the absence of even one official report, is that Darren Wilson shot and killed a young man who, in a short distance from the SUV, posed him grave harm. How far Mike Brown actually fled, how far Darren Wilson chased him, and where each of them were in relation to each other and to the SUV, are facts of paramount importance. If Mike Brown fled over 148 feet away from Darren Wilson, it clearly suggests that Brown—unarmed, shot, missing a shoe, in lounge clothes—feared for his life and not the other way around.
Furthermore, police, in many cases, use the distance in which a suspect flees and the distance between them in an encounter as evidence to prove they were reasonably afraid for their safety—which is required by law.
What follows is evidence to the contrary. Mike Brown fled at least 148 feet away from Darren Wilson's SUV. If the police will lie about this fact, what else have they openly lied about? Did they present this false distance to the grand jury? Why does the media continue to advance this lie? Here are the facts.

Here is a rarely seen panorama of Canfield Drive moments after Mike Brown was killed. Few images better display that the distance was not a very short 35 feet than this one.

This is Darren Wilson's SUV. Where you see it here is exactly where he parked it to confront Mike Brown and Dorian Johnson for jaywalking. Out of sight in this image, to the left of the driver's side door, is Mike Brown's hat (shown in a later image below). Approximately 16 feet behind the SUV is Mike Brown's black sandal, which came off while he was running. Please notice the fire hydrant to the right of the SUV.

On the center left is Darren Wilson's SUV from the opposite angle. Notice the two orange cones next to the driver's side door. That's Mike Brown's red St. Louis Cardinals hat next to it.

Using this image, let's create starting line A. As effective landmarks, please notice the fire hydrant on the right and the sloping entrance into the apartments.

From the back of Darren Wilson's SUV, Brown fled over 131 feet down Canfield Drive. The exact location where Brown died is today marked by a memorial in the middle of the street.

This is ending line B. Mike Brown is the blurred figure on the ground. That is Darren Wilson, visibly uninjured in every image of him from that day, standing to the right. According to eyewitnesses Dorian Johnson, Tiffany Mitchell, and Piaget Crenshaw, Mike Brown turned around, faced Darren Wilson and his SUV, and put his hands in the air.

Mike Brown's family at 2943 on Canfield at the exact spot of Mike Brown's death

This map shows the exact location of 2943, the exact spot where Mike Brown was killed.

Using Google Maps, the approximate distance from the front of Darren Wilson's SUV to where Mike Brown was shot before falling down is actually 148 feet.

(Thank you to Argus News for measuring and filming the measurement of the distance.)

Originally posted to shaunking on Thu Nov 20, 2014 at 08:31 PM PST.

Also republished by Support the Dream Defenders, Black Kos community, and Daily Kos.

Tags Darren Wilson, Ferguson, Mike Brown, Recommended

Now that you know, what are you going to do about it?  The National Action Network (NAN) has released a list of national protest sites - which is growing even as I write this: 

Sharpton’s National Action Network Releases List of National #MikeBrown Protest Sites

Posted by Jim Hoft on Wednesday, November 19, 2014, 6:22 PM

 

 

Rev. Al Sharpton spoke at Mike Brown’s funeral.

Al Sharpton’s National Action Network released its list of national protest sites across the US following the St. Louis County grand jury decision on the Mike Brown case is announced.
The New York Times reported that Obama met with Ferguson protesters on November 5th and urged them to “stay the course.”

NATIONAL ACTION NETWOK(sp) (NAN) CHAPTERS TO MEET AT FEDERAL COURTHOUSES ACROSS THE COUNTRY WHEN THE FERGUSON GRAND JURY DECISION IS ANNOUNCED
November 19, 2014 (New York, NY) — In anticipation of the impending grand jury decision in Ferguson, MO, National Action Network (NAN) Chapters are encouraging community members to join them when it is announced. Regardless of what the decision is, NAN chapters in over 20 cities around the country will gather. If the decision is to indict Officer Darren Wilson, they will focus on what would be a teaching moment on how to deal with national legislation for policing. Moving forward they would also focus on how they can prepare for the trial. If the Ferguson grand jury decision clears him of criminal charges then NAN will call for protests to remain peaceful and for the federal government to come in with a federal grand jury to move for civil rights charges on excessive force. NAN will continue to also call for federal intervention in cases such as Eric Garner in Staten Island, NY.
PARTICIPATING CITIES:

ATLANTA, GA: 75 Spring St, SW, 2211 U.S. Courthouse
BIRMINGHAM, AL: 1729 5th Avenue North #140
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ: 2715 Atlantic Ave
BROOKLYN, NY: 225 Cadman Plaza E. Brooklyn, NY
CHARLESTON, NC: 200 East Bay Street City of Charleston Police Department, 180 Lockwood Blvd
CHARLOTTE, NC: 401 West Trade Street
CHICAGO, IL: 219 S Dearborn St #74
CINCINNATI, OH: 550 Main Street
PHILADELPHIA, PA: 601 Market Street
CLEVELAND, OH: 801 West Superior Avenue
DETROIT, MI: 231 W Lafayette Blvd
FERGUSON, MO: (Police Department), 222 S. Florissant Road
LOS ANGELES, CA COURT HOUSE: 255 East Temple
NATCHEZ, MS: 109 North Pearl Street
NEWARK, NJ: 970 Broad St. (Broad/Walnut Sts.)
OAKLAND, CA: 1225 Fallon Street
ORLANDO, FL: 401 West Central Boulevard
PATERSON, NJ: 401 Grand Street
PHOENIX, AZ: 400 West Washington
SANFORD, FL: 1300 Park Avenue
TALLAHASSEE, FL: 111 South Adams Street

As more cities are added they will be updated on: www.nationalactionnetwork.net

Sharpton penned an opinion piece this week condemning the grand jury process in America.
The No Indictment.org Ferguson protest group released its list of potential local targets following the decision by the St. Louis County Courthouse on the Mike Brown case.

Stay Blessed & 

ECLECTICALLY BLACK

Gloria 

www.gloriadulanwilson.blogspot.com/ECLECTICALLY BLACK NEWS