Tony Brown, Judge Mablean push NAACP to keep fighting

By Candace Siemen, Jozef Media

Tony Brown,  a journalist and host of “Eyes Open With Tony Brown” came clean in his opening keynote address delivered Thursday, Sept.  24 at annual state conference of the  Louisiana NAACP.

“The State of Louisiana is simple,” Brown told the group during the opening luncheon, “We are at the bottom of the list when it comes to the good stuff and the top of the list when it comes to the bad.

He offered a laundry list of problematic situations and injustices that the citizens in the state have faced. He began with education.

“In the nearly 10 years our children have had (the exit exam) mandate forced on them, more than half a million of our children have failed to pass the grade…what adds to this problem is a large number of them both Black and White simply get discouraged and drop out. This is part of the reason why we should hold our head in shame…Louisiana, we have a problem.”

He explained how the penal system pulls statistics on male students’ school performance to determine where to build prisons: “From the school house to the jail house…the cradle to prison pipeline is alive and well in Louisiana” he said. “That’s just wrong and enough is enough.”

Brown also shared the stories of Black murder victims who had been killed at the hands of young, white police officers in Central and North Louisiana. They are Baron “Scooter” Pikes, 21, Richard Goss, 36, Bernard Monroe Sr., 73, and Harold Phillips, 54.

“What is just as shocking is that all of these homicides took place in less than a year and a half,” he said. “So when you ask me ‘what is the state of Louisiana?’ I say, ‘(Louisiana) in a sad state.’ Four unarmed Black men, all of them died violently at the hands of those we pay to protect and serve. So far, there has been not one convention and no one has even been to court.”

Brown also shared incidents of “Black Exceptionalism” where situations surround blacks not the rule, but the exception. He used the recent experiences of Harvard Professor Louis Gates following his at-home arrest, Pineville Junior High students wearing President Obama jackets, the and the firing of two black truckers in Tallulah to drive home the point that racism is active in the state. He ended each tale with “that is just wrong. I say enough is enough.”

Brown’s Alexandria-based radio show “Eyes open with Tony Brown” on 88.1FM often serves as an open forum for such community issues and concerns that are particularly not included in mainstream media.

During the three-day conference, other speakers including Judge Mablean Ephriam, former Sen. Donald Cravins Jr., and SBA Region VI Administrator Yolanda Olivarez echoed Brown’s sentiment that Louisiana citizens can continue to press the judicial system, business, industry and education leaders to do the right thing.

“We have to stand up for what’s right and not fear anyone,” said Ephraim during the Freedom Fund Dinner that was held Friday, Sept. 25. “Our generation, the Baby Boomers, are keepers of the dream. The torch has been passed to us…It’s up to us to make sure the legacy continues.”

Ephriam is best known for her television show, “Divorce Court” with Judge Mablean, but she is a retired judge in California who could still take a case to the Supreme Court, “if I need to.”

“We can’t be afraid. We need people of courage to eradicate drugs in our neighborhood. The lawful outnumber the lawless!” she said.

In agreement with Brown’s message about the local murders, the judge offered, “We have to make sure justice is fair. The disparity in sentencing has to discontinue. These are battles we continue to fight.”

Because of the disparities in health care, she urged the audience of 500 to lend their “voices, time, talent and energy to President Obama’s health care reform.”

The state NAACP conference celebrated the 100th year anniversary of the NAACP and its centennial theme: “Bold Dreams – Big Victories.” To that Ephriam said, “we had a hope and faith that said ‘I can do that.’ We did not give up; we pushed for a better world.”

She closed her speech quoting poet Robert Frost: “We’ve got miles to go before we sleep.”

Obama can’t get no respect

Comedian Roger Dangerfield’s favorite phrase is – “I can’t get no respect.”

If you take that phrase and change the word “I” to Obama, it would perfectly describe the way that President Barack Obama is being treated by some people in this country. “He don’t get no respect” is exactly what is happening, and has been happening to him since January 20, 2009, when he was sworn in as U.S. President.

What I discovered was a lack of respect for President Obama when I visited the post office in the U. S. Federal Building on Murray Street in downtown Alexandria. I saw the disrespect in the form of an 8 by 10 framed picture of our 44^th U.S. president. As I walked away from the service counter of the post office, I remember that I had to ask the clerk a question. When I turned around to go back to the counter, my eyes looked up high to the back wall and caught a glimpse of this very small picture of President Obama. If I hadn’t turned around, I wouldn’t have seen it. I had to stretch my neck to see Obama’s facial features.

I was astounded as to why a very large portrait of him was not hanging up high on the wall where every other U.S. president before him had hung. You didn’t have to look for President Bush’s portrait when he was in office because it was so large that you couldn’t help but see it. Right next to Bush’s portrait was the same size portrait of Vice President Dick Cheney. Both hung in the same spot on the same wall where Obama’s picture is now hanging. If you want to talk about getting no respect, having a large portrait of a vice president who answers to the president compared to having an 8 by 10 framed photo of the president who is the vice president’s boss is taking getting no respect to the lowest point that it can go.

Those of you who visited the Murray Street post office before Obama was elected know exactly what I’m talking about. But to find President Obama’s picture, you will need to bring a pair of binoculars. If you don’t have a pair, I suggest your bring a magnifying glass and a tall stepladder so that you can climb up it to see that it is him. Of course, I’m exaggerating, but you get my point. Go see for yourself when you have time.

And for those of you “anti-Obama-get-no-respect haters” (there are definitely hundreds of thousands out there) who might/will say that I’m bringing this up because President Obama is black, you couldn’t be more wrong. I’m bringing it up because a picture so small, of the man, who holds the highest, most powerful office in the United States and in the world, does disservice and shows disrespect to the Office of the President of the United States of America. It’s an issue of respect for whoever holds the office of president, and race has nothing to do with it.

Please go check out President Obama’s picture, and if it bothers you as it did me, please contact a representative of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), and make it known that you are dissatisfied with the small picture of President Obama that is currently on display in our Federal Building here in Alexandria, LA. Please ask that a large portrait of him be immediately hung up and displayed.

For now, I guess having that small picture of President Obama hanging on the wall is better than not having one at all.

(Black) Sisters on a Mission to save lives, The Light, Oct. 1-14, 2009

Read The Light here: Pages 1-6, Pages 7-12

Alexandria’s recreation programs lack what?

Does Alexandria’s recreation programs fit your needs? or anybody’s needs? See Pages 6 and 7 in The Light. Click here: Sept. 15, 2009

Mighty Clouds of Joy in concert at St. Matthew Baptist Church, Boyce, LA

The legendary gospel quartet, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, was in concert Saturday, Aug. 29, at St. Matthew Baptist Church.

Enjoy these photographs from that event.

Taking care of the boys to yield healthy men

The news of the recent homicide on Levin Street in Alexandria, La.,  has generated a lot of talk about what needs to be done to prevent such happenings in communities that seem to be plagued with everything from low employment to a lack of education to drugs.

As I’ve listened to the powers that be, many thoughts have crossed my mind about what could and should be done. Try as I might to prevent me from generating an egotistical stance, I could not.

Here’s why it’s personal.

After reading a recent Essence magazine article regarding whether or not black women have a pool of black men from which to date, mate and marry, I began to take offense.

In the article, “Where is the love?,” Essence interviewed author Hill Harper about his book “The Conversation.” Harper said he wrote the book because “black women and black men have spent the last 40 years just surviving. If we want to thrive, we have to build healthy relationships.”

Harper’s statistics indicate that 64 percent of African-American women have never been married, while 57 percent of white women have wed at least once in their lifetime.”

What in the world does this have to do with Levin Street in Alexandria’s District 1? It has everything to do with Levin Street and all of the other streets in neighborhoods where blacks live.

Harper suggests that black women should take a page from Michelle Obama’s book and consider a man’s potential rather than their current status. Harper said, “(Michelle) dated potential. Most women are unwilling to do that.”

Here’s what I think of Harper Hill’s assessment: It’s a lie. Black women have always dated “potential.” If we’re going to use Michelle Obama as the standard then we must say that Barrack Obama gave her something for which she could work.

Whether we want to believe it or not, black women have always been the driving force in their relationships whether the man had potential or not.
We can talk about the problems in our neighborhoods until kingdom come, but until we get back to the basics of families taking care of each other and the neighborhood being one big family looking after every member, our boys will not grow to be men who have enough potential for women to nurture.

Yes, it’s true that Barrack Obama’s father, like many of our black fathers, did not contribute to his son’s life in any meaningful way. But, it’s also true that Barrack Obama had a mother and extended family to fill in the gaps. He didn’t meet his future wife with nothing to contribute. He had an education. He had a job. He had no baby-mama drama. He had no police record. He had no drug problem. Of course, this is as we know it.

Black women, I believe, understand that no man is perfect. However, I also believe that until we deal with the systemic problems in our communities, we will have no boys to grow up to be men filled with potential, promise and possibilities.

Central Louisiana travelers sees The Color Purple in Houston, Texas

On Aug. 22, two chartered buses led by Janet Dixon went to Houston, Texas to see the musical play, The Color Purple.

Please enjoy these photos

Black people are not always right; stop defending them at all costs

Black people can be guilty as sin

When President Obama, in my opinion, spoke out of line by saying that theCambridge, Mass. Police Department acted “stupidly” in its arrest of Harvard University professor, Henry Louis Gates, I asked myself: “Why is it that some black people, without knowing all of the facts of a particular incident involving another black person come to their defense regardless of what they are accused?

The evidence against could be rock-solid, and proves without doubt, that they are “guilty as sin,” but yet, there are those “coming to the defense of my brother and sister blacks” who immediately sides with the guilty party(s) mainly because they are black like them.

Here are two examples to prove my point.

When the news came out that Michael Vick was arrested and charged for allegedly  arranging and participating in dog fighting, a majority of black people around this country became quite upset and angry because they perceived that “The Man” (whites) was trying to take a well-liked, highly successful black man down. Michael vehemently denied that he had participated in dog fighting, and his denial had blacks believing in his innocence.

All the evidence was there to show that he was guilty, but despite the evidence pointing to his guilt, some blacks defended him mainly because he was black. But as we know now, Michael came clean and confessed his guilt to knowing all the facts about his dog fighting ring. Boy, was that a shocker to those “always-believe-the-black-person” blacks.

And how can I not mention the infamous “Jena Six” case where blacks around this state and around this nation rallied, and rallied big time, for the cause of six black boys who were charged with attempted murder for their part in a simple school fight. Blacks were outraged that something like this could happen, and just by hearing the news of the charges, they jumped into action to defend these boys without knowing all the facts and circumstances behind their case. They saw black skin color and nothing else.

Every one of these boys proclaimed their innocence, and that’s all it took for some blacks to stand behind them and defend them for almost two years. But when some of these boys began getting into more trouble and began appearing as they were celebrities, some blacks who were there for them in the beginning gradually shifted away from their cause of defending them. Many of them regretted that they had taken off work and traveled long distances to rally for them because they soon discovered that these boys had always being involved in some form of criminal behavior. And as we now know, they were absolutely right to do so because every one of these boys confessed to having a part in the beating of their white classmate.

What I’m saying is just because a person’s skin color is black, and they have proclaimed their innocence, that’s no reason to run to their defense when they have been accused and charged with a crime or anything else.

Having the same black skin color does not obligate us to be our brother or sister’s keeper.

The Light, Sept. 1: What’s up with this healthcare reform?

Click here to read this issue: The Light, Sept. 1, 2009

The Light, Aug. 15, 2009

Click here to read this issue: The Light, Aug. 15, 2009