The mother of Trayvon Martin spoke out Sunday against the stop-and-frisk police practice in New York City, saying neither police nor civilians have the right to stop someone because of their race. Critics say the stops target blacks and Hispanics who aren’t doing anything wrong. Earlier this week, a judge told New York City that its policy was racial discrimination. The city plans to appeal. “You can’t give people the authority, whether civilian or police officers the right to just stop somebody because of the color of their skin,” Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton said on NBC’s Meet the Press.
Over the past decade, New York police have stopped, questioned and sometimes patted down about 5 million people; 87 percent were black or Hispanic. About 10 percent of the stops spur an arrest or summons. Police find weapons a fraction of the time. New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly defended the use of stop and frisk Sunday and said violent crimes would increase if the practice were abandoned. “The losers in this, if this case is allowed to stand, are people who live in minority communities,” he said on CBS’ Face the Nation.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zGRfLBRQEM&w=420&h=315]Fulton’s attorney, Benjamin Crump, said the stop and frisk policy targeted people by race and noted it was still being used as the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech approached. “It actually takes us away from his poignant words of, ‘I dreamed my children would be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin,’” Crump said. Fulton has said neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman “got away with murder” in the 2012 killing of her son, largely because of Florida’s self-defense law.
Protesters had been occupying part of the Capitol in Tallahassee, calling for an examination of the Florida law since Zimmerman was acquitted last month. Zimmerman claimed self-defense in shooting the 17-year-old Martin during a fight; Martin’s supporters say Zimmerman profiled and followed him because Martin was black.
article by Associated Press via blackamericaweb.com
Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds not only has the distinction of looking much younger than his years, but this multi-platinum award-winning producer, composer (“I’ll Make Love To You”, “Take A Bow”, “Change The World”, “When Will I See You Again”) and musician, like Hendrix, also belongs to the small group of successful and talented left-handed guitarists. Martin, one of the world’s premiere guitar makers, designed a special model named after Babyface in 2000 and in honor of him, made both left and right-handed versions.
Watching proudly nearby with a camera in hand was Nailah’s mother, Dana Lewis, 39, who is determined to see her both young daughters go to college. She found a positive motivating force in a new Cal State Long Beach program. The program, “Engineering Girls — It Takes a Village,” is unusual in its focus on recruiting young girls, ages 9 to 15, from displaced families. Over the last four months, school officials worked with the Century Villages at Cabrillo, a transitional housing community, to recruit girls and bring them to the university in August for one week of engineering workshops.
Officials said that the program, which began Aug. 5 and ended Sunday, was specifically designed for girls because the engineering field is dominated by men. But coordinators also aimed to expose an underrepresented community with limited opportunities in science, math and engineering. It came along with a full taste of college life, with the girls sleeping in the dorms and eating three all-you-can-eat meals a day.
Of the 29 girls who participated, 25 came from homeless families. All were African American, and most lived in single-parent homes. Three were being raised by their grandparents. “A lot of these girls are underprivileged, so an experience like this not only changes and impacts their lives, but re-creates their future,” said Lewis, who was one of several women who accompanied their daughters and participated in the program. Lewis moved into the Villages with her mother and two daughters when it opened five years ago.
Officials said that the program, which began Aug. 5 and ended Sunday, was specifically designed for girls because the engineering field is dominated by men. But coordinators also aimed to expose an underrepresented community with limited opportunities in science, math and engineering. It came along with a full taste of college life, with the girls sleeping in the dorms and eating three all-you-can-eat meals a day.
Of the 29 girls who participated, 25 came from homeless families. All were African American, and most lived in single-parent homes. Three were being raised by their grandparents. “A lot of these girls are underprivileged, so an experience like this not only changes and impacts their lives, but re-creates their future,” said Lewis, who was one of several women who accompanied their daughters and participated in the program. Lewis moved into the Villages with her mother and two daughters when it opened five years ago.
