It's the dreads!

I am posting a little earlier than usual tonight because I want to watch the entire republican debate. The national media has all but declared the republican candidate the next president of these divided states, so I want to see how my new leader handles himself (himself, because it won't be Michele Bachmann) under the lights.

It looks like it's going to come down to the secessionist versus the weirdo. May the best man win. You will be inheriting one hell of a country. Mass killings in West Virginia and Nevada, (real sweetheart of a guy that West Virginia shooter, he killed five people [including a pregnant woman] because he was turned down by the Army) shootings and gun violence in urban A-merry-ca on the rise, and a country do deeply divided along ethnic, racial,and economic lines, that the stew in the melting pot is getting more bitter by the day.

Finally,I am so glad that I kept my training up for my racism chasing, because I knew that it was just a matter of time before the Big R went running by me. (h/t to a fellow field hand up in NYC for turning me on to this story.)

 "Labor Day is typically a joyous time for me and the Caribbean community of New York City. This year, it turned chaotic for many, including for myself and a close colleague. As always, I enjoyed marching with family and friends in the West Indian-American Day Carnival Parade down Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. Upon the conclusion of the parade route, members of the group I was marching with, which included Kirsten John Foy, director of community relations for Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, sought to return to the Brooklyn Museum to attend a luncheon reception marking the close of the carnival.

Upon showing our credentials, we were given permission by a supervising officer near the library at Grand Army Plaza to enter a barricaded area, which was meant for elected officials and dignitaries, and make our way back to the museum. After walking several hundred yards and passing through an initial police checkpoint without any issues, we encountered three police officers standing on the sidewalk who informed us that this was a restricted area to civilians. I identified myself as a council member to the officers and explained that we were trying to get to the event.

The officers were immediately resistant. I showed the officers my council badge, and Foy explained that we were given permission by a higher ranking officer to be in the barricaded area. The officers still refused to acknowledge my credentials, as well as those of Foy, who was also trying to show his credentials at this time. They told me to have the officers who had given us permission relay their approval to them.

I attempted to reach two higher ranking officers which were just on the other side of the barricaded area, at which point I was pushed for the first time. I stepped back, asked not to be pushed, and said that I would be calling a local police chief to explain the situation. I was then pushed again. When I got on the phone with the chief, the group, which had swelled to 10-15 officers, formed a human barricade of sorts - and began physically pushing us more. Neither Foy nor I ever pushed them back; we only continued to try to dialogue with them about who we were and why we were there.

It was at this point, as video has now shown, that Foy was kicked in the back of the knee, pushed to the ground and handcuffed by officers. Shortly after, when I turned around briefly, I too was grabbed by the arm and placed in handcuffs. We were then led in separate directions, initially to the 78th Precinct headquarters. Then, after the intervention of several officials, we were taken to the Union Temple of Brooklyn, which is across from the library. After being held there for 40 to 60 minutes, we were released with no charges.

So what comes next? If I were not an elected official, I would have been taken to central booking and charged, no questions asked. That fact makes clear to me how serious the situation is for our young black and Latino men who suffer from this police culture every single day. While the actions of the select number of police officers involved here do not represent the entire NYPD, they do reflect a stop-and-frisk policy that unfairly targets people based on race and appearance.
Not only is this unproductive, it has not been proved to be effective in curbing violence in our communities. The increasing violence in my district alone is proof positive to me of this failure." [Source]

Oh come on now councilman, the NYPD was just doing their job, they would have stopped anybody who was trying to get into that restricted area....

...."According to Williams, [in pic] he and Foy finished marching in the parade and tried to walk to a Brooklyn Museum reception for dignitaries on a route that went through a zone frozen by police.

In past years, Williams said, cops opened the zone for elected officials to pass. They did so Monday for de Blasio, who is white and whose presence was not challenged.

Williams said ranking police allowed him, Foy and a group of about 10 people to enter the zone. When they had walked about 150 yards, they encountered uniformed cops who ordered them to turn back, Williams said..." [Source]

Oh.

Well maybe you should lose those dreads, Negro. We don't need elected officials frightening those hard working police officers.