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Michael Brown’s Parents in Atlanta To Push For Police Body Cameras

By goodblacknews on September 23, 2014
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The family of slain teen Michael Brown, who senselessly died early last month at the hands of Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson, are now in Atlanta to kick off a nationwide effort to arm police with body cameras, according to WSB-TV.
Brown’s parents, Lesley McSpadden (pictured right) and Michael Brown Sr. (pictured), are trying to get legislation, the Michael Brown law, passed that will require officers to sport body cameras while on duty.
According to the couple, if Wilson would have been wearing the body camera, there would be no questions as to the tragic turn of events that led to their son’s murder. Wearing cameras have been associated with dramatic reductions in use of force and complaints against officers.
The couple attended a rally on Sunday that was held at a Baptist church in Atlanta. The pair reportedly felt Atlanta was a great place to start with their body camera quest, because the city’s chief of police is already on board with the body-worn camera project. At the rally, McSpadden and Brown met Jacqueline Johnson, the Mother of slain teen Kendrick, whose unusual death still has investigators baffled.
Kendrick, a 17-year-old Georgia high school student, was found dead with his body placed in a rolled-up wrestling mat at his school gymnasium. At first an investigation and autopsy deemed Johnson’s death accidental, but then his family hired a private pathologist who concluded he passed away from blunt force trauma. Johnson’s family members are reportedly convinced the teen’s death was racially motivated as he had been attacked and victimized previously by a white student.
The stop in the southern city is just the first, as McSpadden and Brown are on a tour of gratitude that began in Atlanta and will end on Thursday in Washington, D.C.
In the nation’s capital, both McSpadden and Brown plan on campaigning for the Michael Brown legislation they are hoping will get placed on the books.  The parents also want the federal government to take over the investigation of their son’s murder.
According to Benjamin Crump, the attorney who is representing both the Brown and Johnson families, Atlanta is a great place to begin their mission on getting laws passed for officers to wear body cameras, “We’re trying to make sure that this doesn’t happen to nobody else’s child, so we’re pushing for the Michael Brown laws to have body cameras on all these police officers,” he said.
article by Ruth Manuel-Logan via newsone.com

Kerry Washington Stars in "Purple Purse" PSA to Help Victims of Domestic and Financial Abuse (VIDEO)

By goodblacknews on September 21, 2014

Women In Film 2014 Crystal + Lucy Awards Presented By MaxMara, BMW, Perrier-Jouet And South Coast Plaza - Show
Olivia Pope may strike fear in the hearts of corrupt politicians in D.C., but it’s Kerry Washington who is the gladiator in real life. This week, she’s bringing attention to the important issue of financial abuse.
What’s financial abuse, you ask? As Love is Respect explains, it is a form of dating abuse and domestic violence that can often be very subtle. This, however, is what you really need to know: “At no point does someone you are dating have the right to use money or [dictate] how you spend it to control you.”
In her PSA for the initiative, Washington notes how “one in four women will be a victim of domestic violence.” She goes on to explain how finances are often “a weapon of choice.” This can include taking away access to cash or destroying someone’s credit.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yy7d3uf7qw&w=560&h=315]
As an Allstate Foundation Purple Purse Ambassador, Washington designed a bag for the “Purple Purse” initiative. Why purple? It’s the color often associated with domestic violence awareness. And why design a purse? Washington said the purse is symbolic because that’s where you keep everything that is important to you.
According to the Purple Purse website, Washington says she is “extremely proud to wear it (her purse) and to know that it will increase awareness and create conversations around this important issue.”
So how can you help Kerry and her cause? When you donate at least $10 to any organization in the Purple Purse Challenge, you’ll have a chance at winning one of the purses Washington designed.
article by Claire Biggs via act.mtv.com

Tracey Lewis 1st Black Woman Promoted to FDNY Lieutenant in 12 Years

By goodblacknews on September 20, 2014

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The New York City Fire Department promoted a black woman to the rank of lieutenant for the first time in 12 years.  Tracey Lewis was promoted Wednesday. She’s the second-ever black female firefighter to be promoted to lieutenant in the department’s history.

Lewis has been a firefighter for 17 years, starting off as a cadet. She was an emergency medical technician and later worked on Engine 222 in Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn.

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There are only nine black women firefighters at the FDNY. There are about 40 women total at the department of nearly 10,400 people. The department said it has promoted three women to lieutenant and one to captain this year.

Ella McNair was the first black woman promoted to rank of lieutenant in 2002.

article via nbcnewyork.com

President Obama Unveils Push via "It's On Us" Public Service Campaign for Young People to Do More Against Campus Assaults

By goodblacknews on September 20, 2014

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WASHINGTON — President Obama has tried to use the power of his office to combat sexual assaults on college campuses. On Friday, he got some help.
In a speech from the East Room, the president announced “It’s on Us,” a nationwide public service campaign aimed at urging young people to do more to prevent campus sexual assaults. Mr. Obama called for a “fundamental shift in our culture” in the way women are treated and in the response to victims of sexual assault.
“From sports leagues to pop culture to politics, our society does not sufficiently value women,” Mr. Obama said. “We still don’t condemn sexual assault as loudly as we should.”
At the event, the administration debuted a 30-second video, which features celebrities including the actors Kerry Washington and Jon Hamm, the musician Questlove, and NBA star Kevin Love.
Officials said the celebrities involved would know how to get through to the millennial generation.
Mr. Love, who plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Olivia Munn, an actress in the HBO series “The Newsroom,” attended the announcement.  Mr. Obama also put a heavy emphasis on engaging men in the conversation.
“It is not just on parents of young women to caution them, it is on the parents of young men to teach them respect for women,” Mr. Obama said. “It is on grown men to set an example and be clear about what it means to be a man.”

After Nearly 23 Years of Legal Struggle, Wrongful Convictions are Reversed for Everton Wagstaffe and Reginald Connor

By goodblacknews on September 19, 2014
A court said Brooklyn prosecutors buried documents in the kidnapping case of Everton Wagstaffe. (Credit: Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times)

Everton Wagstaffe, who refused to leave prison on probation because he viewed it as a surrender of his claim of innocence in the death of a teenage girl, learned on Wednesday that he had prevailed in a struggle that he began from behind bars nearly 23 years ago.

A panel of state appeals court judges unanimously reversed the kidnapping convictions of Mr. Wagstaffe and his co-defendant, Reginald Connor, finding that Brooklyn prosecutors in 1992 and 1993 were responsible for “burying” documents that might have shown that detectives and the prime witness had lied. The panel also dismissed the indictments of the two men.
A spokeswoman for Kenneth P. Thompson, the Brooklyn district attorney, who has pledged to aggressively hunt down injustice, said the decision was being reviewed.

Reginald Connor’s conviction was also reversed. (Credit: Piotr Redlinski for The New York Times)

Mr. Connor, 46, served 15 years, and now works for a film-production company. For the moment, Mr. Wagstaffe, 45, remains in state prison. He has been in custody since his arrest at age 23 in January 1992.
Over the years, he has refused to accept release on any terms — such as parole or probation — that would imply he had something to do with the kidnapping and death of Jennifer Negron, a 16-year-old girl whose body was found on a street in the East New York section of Brooklyn on Jan. 1, 1992.
“Finally,” Mr. Connor said on Wednesday afternoon, sounding dazed. “Finally.”
He learned of the decision just after leaving a meeting with lawyers from Davis Polk & Wardwell, who had been representing him pro bono for the last several years.
Mr. Wagstaffe first heard of the ruling in a call with a family member, who asked not to be identified, but said Mr. Wagstaffe had insisted that the entire ruling be read to him. “ ‘You cry for both of us,’ ” the family member quoted Mr. Wagstaffe as saying. “ ‘I want to research part of it.’ ”

If the case comes to an end now, it would be the final chapter of an epic guerrilla legal battle waged by Mr. Wagstaffe. He entered prison with minimal literacy and taught himself to read. He then wrote hundreds of letters pleading for help in finding the physical evidence from the case so DNA testing could be done, and in finding missing witnesses. For much of that time, he had no legal counsel. He drafted his own legal papers and succeeded in being granted hearings, though not in getting any relief.

Beauty Supply Store Owners Judian and Kadeian Brown on Forefront of Growing Business Opportunity for Black Women: Hair Care

By goodblacknews on September 14, 2014
Kadeian Brown, left, and Judian Brown own Black Girls Divine Beauty Supply and Salon, off Church Avenue in Flatbush, Brooklyn. (Kirsten Luce for The New York Times)

Not much seems unusual about Judian Brown and Kadeian Brown’s storefront in a tidy plaza off Church Avenue in Flatbush, Brooklyn, a neighborhood where every block seems to have its own African hair-braiding salon.

Posters of African-American women with long, sleek hair fill the window. Round jars of shea butter belly up to slender boxes of hair dye on the shelves. Wigs perch on mannequin heads.

What makes Black Girls Divine Beauty Supply and Salon’s visitors do a double-take is the skin color of the proprietors. “I go, ‘Look at all the faces on the boxes,’ ” said Judian Brown, recalling other shopkeepers’ and customers’ surprise when they realize she is not an employee, but the owner. “Who should be owning these stores?”

The Brown sisters’ is one small shop in a multibillion-dollar industry, centered on something that is both a point of pride and a political flash point for black women: their hair. But the Browns are among only a few hundred black owners of the roughly 10,000 stores that sell hair products like relaxers, curl creams, wigs and hair weaves to black women, not just in New York but across the country. The vast majority have Korean-American owners, a phenomenon dating back to the 1970s that has stoked tensions between black consumers and Korean businesspeople over what some black people see as one ethnic group profiting from, yet shutting out, another.

A growing awareness of this imbalance has spurred more black people to hang out their own shingles. The people producing the products have changed, too: As “going natural” — abandoning artificially smoothed hair in favor of naturally textured curls and braids — has become more popular and the Internet has expanded, black entrepreneurs, most of them women, are claiming a bigger share of the shelves in women’s medicine cabinets.

“We’re aware of where our dollars are going, we’re aware of the power of our dollars, we’re aware of the cultural significance of the way that we choose to wear our hair,” said Patrice Grell Yursik, the founder of Afrobella, a popular natural-hair blog. “There’s been a lot of taking back the power, and a lot of that is from the Internet.”

After 30 Years in Prison, Brothers Henry Lee McCollum and Leon Brown are Exonerated after Fresh DNA Evidence Emerges

By goodblacknews on September 3, 2014
New DNA evidence exonerated death row inmate Henry Lee McCollum, 50, and his half-brother Leon Brown, 46, of a 1983 murder

Two half-brothers wrongly incarcerated for 30 years have been released and have had their convictions overturned after fresh DNA evidence vindicated them.  Henry Lee McCollum, 50, who was on death row, and Leon Brown, 46, serving life, were arrested as teenagers in 1983 for the rape and murder of 11-year-old girl Sabrina Buie.

The innocent North Caroliners, who are diagnosed with mental disabilities, were released after new evidence linked the killing to another man who lived just feet from the soybean field that the girl’s body was found in and who was around the same time imprisoned himself for raping and killing an 18-year-old woman.
As the decision was announced by Superior Court Judge Douglas B Sasser yesterday, the men’s family erupted into applause and tears.
According to the New York Times, the brothers, who were 19 [McCollum] and 15 [Brown] at the time, had no physical evidence linking them to the crime.
Geraldine Brown, sister of Leon Brown, celebrates outside a Robeson County courtroom yesterdayGeraldine Brown, sister of Leon Brown, celebrates outside a Robeson County courtroom yesterday.  However, Mr McCollum was considered suspicious by some in the town after recently moving there from New Jersey, and after five hours of questioning without a lawyer present he gave a story of how he and three others had killed the girl.
“I had never been under this much pressure, with a person hollering at me and threatening me,” Mr McCollum told The News & Observer in an interview.
“I just made up a story and gave it to them so they would let me go home.”
He wasn’t allowed home, however, and was allegedly coerced into signing a confession – there is no recording of the interrogation.
During his incarceration, Mr. McCollum was held up as an example of someone who ‘deserved to die’.
In 1994, a Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was arguing for the death penalty in an unrelated case when he referred to that of Mr McCollum’s, and said that a quiet lethal injection would be “enviable” than that inflicted on the murdered young girl, reports Huffington Post.
“Today, truth has prevailed, but it comes 30 years too late for Sabrina Buie and her family, and for Leon, Henry, and their families.
“Their sadness, grief, and loss will remain with them forever.”
Mr McCollum was North Carolina’s longest-serving death row inmate and in later years, changes were made to the justice system to prevent minors and those with mental disabilities from being given the death sentence.
According to the Guardian, the police force in Red Springs is also accused of hiding crucial bits of crime scene evidence from 1984 until last month, that had not even been revealed to the defence teams or prosecutors.
article by Natasha Culzac via independent.co.uk

Arizona Mom Shanesha Taylor Regains Custody of Her Children

By goodblacknews on September 3, 2014

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Shanesha Taylor, the Phoenix mother who left her two young children alone in her car when she attended a job interview in Scottsdale, was granted custody of her children following a hearing Thursday morning in a Maricopa County courtroom.  “We had an excellent hearing,” said Benjamin Taylor, Shanesha Taylor’s attorney. “The judge will return the children to Ms. Taylor.”
Child Protective Services asked Judge Bradley Astrowski that the hearing be closed to the public because juveniles were involved.  Taylor said Astrowski’s ruling was an enormous relief.
“I finally breathed,” Taylor said after the 20-minute hearing. “I don’t think I breathed for three days before that.”
Taylor was barred from seeing her children after her her March 20 arrest in Scottsdale and was later granted supervised contact with her children.
Benjamin Taylor said the chances improved for Shanesha Taylor to regain custody of her children after the criminal case was resolved.  “She’s been doing everything right,” Benjamin Taylor said. “She’s been doing everything the judge told her to do and she’s a veteran of the United States Air Force.”
Prosecutors last month agreed to dismiss the abuse charges against Taylor if she successfully completes a diversion program.
“I think my progress led to me getting them back,” Taylor said.
Taylor said she was allowed to pick up her children Thursday, and that she planned on seeing them as soon as possible.  “I’m sure there will be ice cream involved,” Taylor said.
Police say Taylor, 35, left her children in her Dodge Durango for 45 minutes while in a Farmers Insurance office in Scottsdale. Taylor told police she was jobless, without child care that day and had occasionally been homeless.

Taylor said she is still looking for a job and hopes to work in the service industry. “I like working with people and helping them get what they need,” Taylor said.
Taylor was released from jail March 31 on $9,000 bond. Her children were examined at a hospital the day of her arrest and released as uninjured. They were later placed with family, and under the supervision of the Division of Child and Family Services.
article by Andrew Romanov via azcentral.com

Renisha McBride's Killer To Serve At Least 17 Years In Prison

By goodblacknews on September 3, 2014

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Theodore Wafer, the White suburban Detroit man who shot and killed Renisha McBride last fall, was sentenced on Wednesday to serve at least 17 years in prison. Wafer apologized to the family of McBride in attendance just before his sentence was delivered and the family agreed that the decision was fair.
Wafer, 55, shot the 19-year-old McBride on November 2, 2013, through his screen door, after she knocked in the middle of the night for help with an accident. Wafer said he shot McBride out of fear and has admitted he was drinking the night before; however, his claims of self-defense was not enough to convince the jury of his innocence.
“I apologize from the bottom of my heart. I am truly sorry for your loss,” Wafer said to the family. “From my fear, I caused a loss of life who was too young to leave this world. And for that, I carry that guilt and sorrow forever.”
Third Circuit Court Judge Dana Margaret Hathaway heard an impassioned plea from Wafer’s defense attorney, who sought a lower charge of manslaughter versus the second-degree murder charge that ultimately led to his sentence. Judge Hathaway was clear to acknowledge that she didn’t find Wafer to be a murderer but his actions were far too hasty and reckless.
Wafer was also charged and found guilty of manslaughter and a weapons felony charge in August. State prosecutors suggested that Wafer serve 17 years at a minimum, including two years for the unlawful use of a firearm.
The family feels that overall, the decision was just.
“I’m very happy. I believe justice was served and I believe my sister can rest peacefully now,” said McBride’s sister to NBC News.
Hathaway sentenced Wafer to 15 to 30 years on the second-degree murder charge, seven to 15 years on his manslaughter charge conviction, and two years for his felony firearms conviction.
article by D.L. Chandler via newsone.com

Teen Siblings Ima, Caleb, Asha and Joshua Christian Create App to Document Police Interactions

By goodblacknews on August 31, 2014
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Five-O App Inventors Caleb, Ima, Joshua, and Asha Christian (Pine Tart)

Like everyone else in America, Ima Christian has been nervously watching the news unfold in Ferguson, Missouri. The 16-year-old resident of Stone Mountain, Georgia, says that she and her siblings have been in constant conversation with their parents about the recent deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner (who died last month in Staten Island) at the hands of police.
“Our parents try to put everything in context for us,” Christian says. “They try to tell us to focus on solutions.”
So they decided to build their own answer to police abuse. On Monday, Ima Christian (pictured, second from left) and her siblings—principally Caleb, 14, and Asha, 15, with the support of Joshua, 10—are launching a beta version of Five-O, an app that will enable users to rate their interactions with police and view aggregate scores for how law-enforcement agencies fare.
“As soon as we decided that we wanted to make an app, we threw the idea on the white board,” she says.

Ima Christian and her siblings decided to build their own answer to police abuse.

Here’s how Five-O works: Users log in to a dashboard, where they have several options. A Five-O user can create a detailed incident report and rate the professionalism and courtesy of the officer, using an A-F scale. Or they can view police stations by county or state to see how various departments rate. (Those A-F officer interaction scores are averaged out on a 4.0 scale—like a GPA for the fuzz.)
The app also allows people to post messages to a community board. There’s another function called “Know Your Rights,” a Q&A-formatted feature, “so you have your rights at your fingertips at any moment,” Christian says. The family drew the information from the American Civil Liberties Union.
Christian, a senior at Parkview High School, credits her brother Caleb for the idea to create an app for rating police interactions. They decided early on in the project planning stages that Five-O would focus on the good as well as the bad.
“I haven’t really heard of issues happening in Stone Mountain of the scale of what’s in the news,” she says. “I do have relatives who have had negative interactions with police.” She says that friends of the family include police officers, who offer a friendlier model for police interactions. “This is an app to offer up positive experiences. They can be an example.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH-Veei0jQM&w=560&h=315]
This is the Christian family’s first app release, but it’s unlikely to be their last. Ima and her siblings are aggressive students of programming, especially for a mobile environment. She and her siblings Asha and Caleb have participated in programs such as MIT’s +K12, Scratch, and App Inventor programs. Ima and Asha Christian are both executive team members in the ProjectCSGirls computer science competition. And they were both 2014 #Include Fellows in the She++ program. Ima is a Codecademy alum as well, and has done coding programs through Stanford.Stanford, incidentally, is Ima’s reach school—she’s also got her sights set onWashington University in St. Louis, Brown, and Columbia—and the graduating senior has also done work at her top in-state choice, the Georgia Institute of Technology. (Ima’s siblings could not be reached for comment, as they were not yet home from school.)
Following Monday’s beta launch for Five-O, the Christian siblings are continuing work on two more projects: Coily, a review app for hair-care products for black girls and women, and Froshly, an app to facilitate meetings for in-bound college pre-freshmen, “so they can greet each other before they meet each other in school.” The Christian siblings started a company, Pine Tart, Inc., to advance their work.
“We don’t have any institutional support right now,” Ima Christian says. “It’s just us. We’re our own team.”
article by Kriston Capps via citylab.com