Black Police Are Just as Likely as White Officers to Kill Black Men

by Kenray Sunyaru 

New research shows that Black police are just as likely as white police to kill Black suspects concludes research led by Charles Menifield, dean of the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University–Newark titled "The killing of Black suspects is a police problem, not a white police problem."

Black Police Contribute to Black-on-Black Male Deaths

The research reports that while some officers may by driven by personal prejudice, the bias that can serve as a catalyst for killings is more institutional than individual. Menifield and his colleagues constructed a database of all confirmed incidents in which deadly force was used by police in the United States during 2014 and 2015. 

The research includes detailed information on both the officer and victim. They found a huge racial disparity when it comes to who gets killed by officers. While only about 13 percent of the American population is Black, 28 percent of people killed by police are Black.

The victims were overwhelmingly male (95.5 percent), the majority of officers in these situations were white. They report this reflects the fact that America's police forces are disproportionately made up of whites, who account for approximately three-quarters of all officers.

Crunching the numbers, the researchers report white police officers actually kill Black and other minority suspects at lower rates than we would expect if killings were randomly distributed among officers of all races. 

They found that nonwhite officers kill both Black and Latino suspects at significantly higher rates than white officers. This is likely due to the fact that minority police officers tend to be assigned to minority neighborhoods, and therefore have more contact with minority suspects."

Researchers believes that the disproportionate killing of Black suspects is a downstream effect of institutionalized racism within many police departments. Disproportionate killing is a function of disproportionate police contact among members of the Black community.

According to them if a certain percentage of such encounters between the police and public end in tragedy, and police are more likely to come into contact with Black citizens (for instance, ordering Black drivers to pull over at higher rates than whites), it stands to reason that Black civilians are at greater risk of ending up dead.

From this writer’s angel - perspective it’s not surprising that Black police officers kill Black men more often than white officers; No, it’s not shocking that many Black police officers kill Black men no different than Black overseers killed Black male slaves on the plantation; no different than Black gang-bangers killing each other. Black male victims of racism internalize racial oppression and become Black victimizers. 

Many Black police officers harbor both conscious and unconscious disdain for Black men; Black officers shooting Black men shows white officers they are loyal to ‘Blue over Black’. 

Many Black police officers knows it’s acceptable to kill Black men - it’s an intregal aspect of policing culture in America. Black police officers know Black men’s lives are less valuable because they too face racism on the job; some of them have been killed by their fellow white police officers. 

Black men are a soft target for Black police officers power-tripping superiority (badge and gun), frustration, and stress. These Black officers rarely kill white men because know that’s not acceptable and if they did kill a white man in the line of duty they will be scrutinize more. 

Many Black police officers like many Blacks in general under white supremacy have been programmed as H. Rap Brown said to have an anti-Black attitude of 'Die Nigger Die' toward Black men. 

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“When you are filled with self-hate your mind is reversed. Meaning you will love the things that destroy you, and you will hate the things that advance your growth." – Dr. Amos Wilson

The Miseducation of a Black American Boy

by Justin Patton

Question Everything!!

I never questioned the information because I didn’t know that I had to. The fact that I could be taught something that was wrong was not even a thought in my mind. 

I figured if it was in a history book it must be true. As a kid, never was I given the impression that everything needed to be questioned.

History

As a black boy, I knew my history started with slavery. Then after Abraham Lincoln set us free, it was civil rights. I took pride in my history because I always felt that my people were fighters. We were always the underdogs and had to fight for everything we wanted and deserved.

On the other hand, was my school force feeding me slavery like that was all black people are known for? Whether slavery or civil rights, do we always have to be looked down upon?

Let’s talk slavery in the context of how discrimination based on race laid the foundation for many under-served black and brown communities today. The Civil Rights Act was just signed 54 years ago. Our Society is not so far removed from that type of prejudice.

From my history, Africa was a big, poor country. It’s where most other black people resided and where I came from, but it’s full of poverty and corruption. That’s why it’s so important for you to call the 1–800 number and sponsor an impoverished African child for 10¢/day.

The story was never that Africa was the largest continent with the most natural resources of any land. The story was never about how exploitation of ‘the Motherland’ for those same resources has led to even more corruption and war. The same thing continues to this day.

“Taught no self-worth just the blood of slave.”

American history in school always left me feeling 3/5 human. Thankfully, my family instilled a history in me that made me proud of the lineage in which I came. 

Having parents who lived through the height of the civil rights era in the south gave me a firsthand account of how life was, and an appreciation for the people before me who fought for my freedom.

It was not until I was older that I realized Columbus didn’t discover America, and that the Pilgrims didn’t necessarily make friends with the Natives. 

It was not until I was older that I realized how history from a European point of view had shaped not only how I viewed my ancestors, but how I viewed myself.

Religion

Growing up Catholic, religion was given to me at an early age. Before I could comprehend what I was talking about, I could recite a ‘Hail Mary’ at any time. In school, we would attend mass every Friday, and we went as a family on Sundays.

While I understood the values that my religion was teaching, I didn’t understand why no one in the depictions looked like me? Not Jesus, not Mary and Joseph, nor the disciples or even the modern day popes had skin like mine. 

In religion class, the workbooks contained people with mostly fair skin. Depictions of Jesus in the church was a man with European features including white skin.

Not seeing myself in my place of worship made me feel like I wasn’t good enough at times, because it seemed like we weren’t good enough to be represented. 

Seeing images of white people (and white people only) as the most righteous people in my church and Catholic school played a part in me not appreciating my own features. 

I wanted hair like white boys because their hair moved when we played soccer. I thought having blue or green eyes was so much cooler than just plain old brown.

While the faith gave me a moral compass as a child, the miseducation came through the images which seem to reinforce the old saying that “white is right”, and since I wasn’t white, was I wrong?

Survival Tactics

If it was not for the love and belief that my family instilled in me, I’m not sure that I would be able to say today that I love the skin that I’m in. 

As a black boy in America, it is made clear that you’re at a disadvantage due to the color of your skin by the survival tactics that you’re taught early.

I was taught an early age that if I was going to succeed in life, then I had to be twice as good as other people simply because I was black. This may be the reality of our country, but it reinforced a notion that this outlook was okay. 

Like I should just accept this because that’s just the way it is. As if because of my color, I’m not good enough, therefore I must work harder.

I was taught at an early age that if I was going to survive an encounter with the police, then I need to act in the most respectable manner possible, regardless of how the cop is acting. 

Even if the cop is the aggressor, I am to obey by any mean necessary. While this is probably the best course of action, what message does that send to a young black boy when he is told to respect the cops because there’s a good chance that you could get killed for NOTHING!

“What one does realize is that when you try to stand up and look the world in the face like you had a right to be here, without knowing that this is the result of it, you have attacked the entire power structure of the Western world.” -James Baldwin

The most important survival tactic that America taught me was to know my place. My American heroes were the ones who had the audacity to speak out against injustices regarding black people, a crime obviously punishable by death as it related to Martin and Malcolm. 

I learned from Ali that no matter how hard my right hook was, standing up for a cause being black could get me thrown in jail. How could America treat these people so bad while alive, but idolize them upon their death?

The Miseducation Continues

If it was not for having a family who took pride in their skin color, and the struggles of being black in America, I’m sure that my sense of self would lack what it is today. 

Juggling a dual life of being myself around family, but tucking in my culture to fit white America’s mold created an internal conflict within me. However, it was through seeking true knowledge and self-awareness that I was able to counter (and still countering) this conflict within.

Having gone through America’s educational system up to the point of receiving advanced degrees, I have spent much of my adult life unlearning much of the information, and seeking different perspectives rather than just American perspectives on events throughout history. 

I’ve tried my best to erase images in mind that make black Americans feel less than, and replace them with knowing the impact black people have had on American culture. I combat the negative notions of black people by creating content that uplifts not only the black race, but the human race.

What’s most disappointing about my miseducation, is that I can still see how the cycle continue. Politicians make slavery references, and speak in code as if we do not hear them. The media shows images of black men being gunned down by police over and over again, and cops getting away with it. 

We are still taught Columbus discovered America, like he didn’t kill off many natives. We celebrate Thanksgiving like it’s a time of joy, when it was a actually a time of suffering for black and brown people.

Imagine how these images and stories shape the psyche of a black American boy?

While there are a lot more positive images of black people in America in the media, as executives, and as leaders in public policy, we still have a ways to go. 

Until we can address deep rooted race issues in America that keep black and brown people at a disadvantage economically, financially, educationally, and even mentally, race relations will continue being an issue. 

Until black American boys like myself can understand their power and get a sense of self-worth through American institutions, the miseducation of who they truly are will continue.

Black Men Continue to be Murdered by Racist Police Simply for Living While Black

by Kenny Anderson

"No Black person in America should be shocked at the ongoing racist police murders of Black men. From slavery to the present Black men have been routine victims of racist murders simply for Living While Black" - Kwado Akoma Akofena

Jemel Roberson 

The trend of racist police killings of Black men has shown no signs of letting up, with the latest being a Black male security guard ‘Jemel Roberson’ killed by police (Nov 11th ) at a bar in suburban Chicago (Robbins, Illinois) as he detained a suspected gunman according to officials and witnesses.

Jemel Roberson, 26, who was armed with a legally owned firearm chased down and caught one of the gunman pinning him down waiting on the police to arrive.

Moments after police came on the scene, a white officer immediately believing Roberson was a suspect opened fire killing him. Indeed Roberson was murdered for ‘doing his job while Black’.

According to some of Roberson’s friends he was a spiritual man, besides his security guard job they say he worked as a gospel musician at several nearby churches and had dreams of joining the police force. The pastor of Purposed Hill Church in Chicago Patricia Hill stated: "The very people that he wanted to be family with took his life.”

Botham Shem Jean

Two months before Roberson’s murder an off-duty Dallas, Texas white female police officer Amber Guyger shot and killed another 26 year-old Black male ‘Botham Shem Jean’ on Sept. 6 after she wrongfully entered his apartment; Botham was murdered for being in his own apartment while Black!

Antwon Rose

An over two months before Botham’s murder (June 19) a 17-year-old Black male ‘Antwon Rose’ was shot and killed in Pittsburgh, PA by a white police officer Michael H. Rosfeld during a traffic stop. Rose was murdered for riding in a car while Black!

As Black Men We Need a Serious Shift From The Dominant White Male Viewpoint

by Kenray Sunyaru

Growing up in a society from its inception based on White supremacy from presidents George Washington to Donald Trumpism, I have realized that the overwhelming majority of Whites in this country become extremely uncomfortable when Blacks, especially Black men frankly discuss and expose racial oppression.

Nowadays, too often many Blacks also feel uncomfortable when racism is addressed in an up-front 'tell it like it is' manner because it exposes Black apathy and irresponsibility. What Whites are comfortable with is a cosmetic - 'perfuming the scorpion' Black superficial view of racism, such as acceptable non-power slogans of ‘We Shall Overcome One Day’, ‘Can We All Just Get Along’, and let us just ‘Forgive and Forget’.

I realized very early in my life as a child that I could not and would not accept the dominant White male viewpoint of the world. As a child, I would ask Black adults why Blacks were treated so badly and why Whites lived so much better; I was told "this was the White man's world." In other words white supremacy and Black subordination was ordained by God.

When I went to church as a child I had a problem accepting a picture of a white Jesus hanging on the wall in an all-Black church as the Son of God. Even in my young mind as a child, logically, if Jesus the son was white, then God the father had to be white. This religious imagery was based on whiteness being Godliness.

Though I support liberation theology, I am not a Christian today because of racist theological imagery, along with how the Bible was used as justification to enslave 'so-called' heathen Africans. One of the first slave ships to bring my Ancestors to these shores was the Spanish slave vessel, ‘Jesus Christos’, the good ship ‘Jesus Christ’.

I am reminded of Tupac's song, “Still I Rise”, Pac states: "Got me asking a White Jesus will a brother live or die”. From the Pope to Billy Graham, to the King James version of the Bible, the White male's viewpoint of Christianity dominates.

The White male viewpoint of the world totally dominates every facet of American life! White male news anchors like Chris Matthews, Brian Williams, Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and others interpret national and world news from their perspectives. Moreover the White male viewpoint dominates daily newspapers across this country - seldom is the White male viewpoint of the world seriously challenged.

Malcolm X stated: “The white media's is the most powerful entity on earth; they have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power because they control the minds of the masses.” Indeed the white male viewpoint dominates because they control through their monopoly of institutional and corporate power. According to sociology professor Joe Feagin:

“Today, white men make up about 39 percent of the adult population. Yet, after several decades of affirmative action, the overwhelming majority of those who run most major political, economic, educational, and legal - justice organizations are still white men. Recent research shows that there is a concrete ceiling that blocks Black Americans, other Americans of color, and white women from the higher level positions in the society. White men control almost every major U.S. institution – from most Fortune 1000 companies and elite universities, to the presidency, the military, and federal and state legislatures. In most of these sectors, they make up 95 to 100 percent of those in the top positions. One 1980’s analysis of the 7,314 most powerful positions in major economic, political, and educational organizations found only 20 Black men and women, and 318 (mostly white women); altogether less than five percent of the total."

"Most recent studies have shown a similar dominance of major institutions by the white male minority. According to one mid-1990’s Newsweek report, white men were then dominant in the political sphere, holding 77 percent of House and Senate seats and 92 percent of the state governorships. In the corporate world even positions below the very top were held mostly by white men. White men were dominant in the mass media, holding 90 percent of newspaper editor positions and 77 percent of TV news director positions. Most high level executives in other business sectors are also white men. According to a recent report of the federal Glass Ceiling Commission, about 95 percent of the holders of corporate positions at the level of vice president and above are white men. Perhaps the clearest evidence of the corporate world’s failure to promote meritorious Black employees is the fact that in 1998 not a single one of the Fortune 1000 companies had a Black executive as its head. As we move into the twenty-first century, these patterns of white male dominance persist.”

With only one national Black television network, BET, which is dominated by music videos and comedy, and underwritten by White corporate sponsors; this format and dependency dilutes a progressive Black news viewpoint. The Black viewpoint is not based on serious analysis that represents our true issues and interests.

The Black viewpoint has been shaped by sports, laughter, entertainment, and religion. Shaped by athletes Lebron James, Steph Curry, and Tiger Woods; shaped by comedians Dave Chappell, Steve Harvey, Cederick the Entertainer, Martin Lawrence, Jamie Fox, Chris Tucker, Chris Rock, and the Wayan Brothers. Shaped by singer John Legend and rapper Jay Z; shaped by Black ministers like Al Sharpton, T.D. Jakes, and Creflo Dollar preaching pseudo-progressivism, moneyism, and emotionalism.

What must be clear is that a Black male viewpoint shaped by sports, jokes, singers/rappers, and religious hustlers will never lead to real progress or power; nor can it ever challenge a serious White male viewpoint. Black people like all human beings experience our own view points. Our experience has been shaped and dominated by White male supremacy, which has resulted in a repeating pattern of Black behavior that accepts racial oppression - a culture of resignation.

To break this pattern, the dominant White male viewpoint must be challenged through exposure and self-determination. We must be the advocates and selectors of our own viewpoints that represent our own interests.

Audio on Black Men From Lynching to Police Murders

Comrad George Jackson and Celebrating Black August

by Kenray Ogun

“I'll never, never trade my self-determination for a car, cheap mass-produced clothes, clapboard house, or a couple of nights a week at the go-go. Control over the circumstances that surround my existence is of the first importance to me. Without this control, or with control in someone else's hands, I am forever insecure, subject at all times to the whim and caprice of the man in control, and you and I know how whimiscal some men can be.” – George Jackson

The month of August has been righteously self-redefined as ‘Black August’, it is a significant month of Black History; it is significant to me – it is the month of my own birth.

In the Afrikan ‘Yoruba’ cultural tradition August is the month of ‘Ogun’ - the Orisha archetype of trailblazing 'overcoming obstacles'; a powerful, fierce warrior who defends his people and fights against injustice; Ogun has the intelligence and creativity to invent tools, weapons, and technology.

Black August developed out of the racist repressive California prison system in honor of George Jackson, Jonathan Jackson, William Christmas, Hugo ‘Yogi’ Pinell, James McClain and Khatari Gaulden known as the San Quentin Six.

George Jackson became identified by prison authorities as the key leadership figure of a prison organization known as the Black Guerilla Family (BGF); Jackson was viewed as a major threat and became a target of constant prison repression including being welded shut in his cell.

Jackson struggled to eradicate racism and provide safety and dignity to Black prison inmates. Jackson was a voracious reader like Malcolm X studying political economy and radical theory. Jackson wrote many of his friends and supporters from prison; these writings were later made into the well-known books, 'Soledad Brother' and 'Blood in My Eye'.

George’s brother Jonathan Jackson was gunned down outside the Marin County California courthouse on August 7, 1970 as he attempted to free McClain, Christmas, and Magee the only survivor.

George Jackson was murdered by prison guards during a Black prison rebellion at San Quentin on August 21, 1971, along with three prison guards. On August 1, 1978 Black Guerilla Family leader Khatari Gaulden was murdered; August 1979 marked the official beginning of Black August.

During the month of August we are encouraged to individually and collectively educate ourselves ‘learn lessons’ about historical Black resistance movements that occurred in August such as Nat Turner’s Slave Rebellion, the Haitian Revolution, the March on Washington, the Watts Rebellion and the Philadelphia MOVE Bombing. It is a time to honor the lives of some of our greatest Freedom Fighters who were born in the month of August, like Marcus Garvey, the Jackson brothers, and others.

Black August is a time for Black folks to join together and honor the lives of our freedom-fighting Ancestors and fallen soldiers; to advocate for political self-determination, to promote economic self-reliance, to increase our cultural competency, and to practice self-care.

To observe Black August individuals are encouraged to fast, eat wholesome food, exercise, support Black-owned businesses, abstain from alcohol and drug usage (unless medically required) the whole month as inspiration and practice extending it to an ongoing basis.

“I understand why many of us react as we do, and I said react. Our responses to the social stimuli (and in our case in this country, they assert themselves as a challenge) must necessarily be negative when we consider that Blacks in the U.S. have been subjected to the most thorough brainwashing of any people in history. Isolated as we were, or are, from our land, our roots and our institutions, no group of men have been so thoroughly terrorized, dehumanized, and divested of those things that from birth make men strong. Regarding this domestic issue, I must be the first to admit that I see that the black family unit is in ruins. It is our first and basic weakness. This fact may contribute much to our difficulty in uniting as a people. But for every effect there is a cause. If we are to understand and heal these effects we must understand the causes. To say that the Black family unit is slowly eroding because of pressures from without (poverty and social injustice), and from within (negative response to crisis situation) is to completely mistake the depth of the issue. There are three historical factors that have produced the present state of chaos on the family level of our Black society. First, the family unit was destroyed during chattel slavery. Men had the sense of family responsibility trained out of them. Second, our culture institutions, and customs, upon which unity depends and without which cohesiveness can never exist, were destroyed and never replaced. The best we could do was ape the ofay, and cling to a kind of subculture that manifests itself today in the hideous notion that if we educate ourselves properly, think the right thoughts, read the right books, say the right things, and do exactly that which is expected of us — we can then be as good as white people. Third, our change in status from an article of movable property to untrained misfits on the labor market was not as most think a change to freedom from slavery but merely to a different kind of slavery.” - George Jackson

Black August Movie:

My Father's 96 years of Being a Black Man in Racist America

by Kenny Anderson

On July 13, 2018 my father celebrated his 96th birthday, sitting with other family members, relatives, and friends I looked at my dad as he was sitting and thought about his 96 year experience of being a Black man in racist America. 

I thought about my dad who had constant nightmares all the while I was growing up, what I didn’t know at the time was his nightmares were symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from being shot multiples times in World War II. My father didn't receive treatment for his PTSD until he was 90 years old.

My father didn’t really talk about his WWII experience until he was over 80 years old. I remember my father shared with me that when he was brought back stateside after being wounded in Europe, he had to ride in the back of a segregated train while German POW’s rode on the front of the train; Nazi prisoners of war enjoyed more rights than Black American servicemen. My father fought against Nazis for so-called democracy abroad while domestically he was an oppressed 'second-class citizen' being denied his freedom (Civil Rights & Voting Rights) by the racist hypocritical American government. 

Black inductees like my father found discrimination and segregation rampant in the armed forces. Military and government officials rejected desegregation, some asserting the belief that Blacks were inferior. Segregation policies reflected the notion that Blacks didn't make adequate leaders and worked best under white supervision. The United States Army enlisted Black soldiers into separate regiments. The Navy confined Blacks to service roles as cooks, janitors, and waiters. The Marine Corps, for much of the war excluded Blacks altogether.

Army base chapels, mess halls, and entertainment centers also excluded or segregated Black soldiers. Black servicemen were sent to segregated training camps, often on military bases in the South where Black GIs were harassed for defying Jim Crow laws or, simply for wearing a military uniform. 

According to the Book ‘The Slaughter’ that alleges 1200 Black soldiers were massacred by fellow white soldiers at Camp Van Dorn in Centerville, Mississippi. A report “Lynching in America: Targeting Black Veterans,” concludes that during the period of mass lynchings “no one was more at risk of experiencing violence and targeted racial terror than Black veterans.”

Continuing to reflect on my father at his birthday gathering I thought about a conversation I had with my father when he stated that growing up in Mississippi a rabbit’s life was more valuable than a Black man’s life. He said if you shot and killed a rabbit outside of hunting season you would be put in jail, but a white man could shoot and kill a Black man anytime and would not do a day in jail! 

My father mentioned to me Black men in Mississippi were routinely lynched. Long before my father’s war bullet wounds caused his PTSD, Black men in Mississippi were already traumatized by racist lynchings. Below is a partial listing of Blacks lynched in Mississippi:

*Sloan Allen, West, December 23, 1893
*Samuel Adams, Pass Christian, November 5, 1903
*Washington Adams, Columbus, June 10, 1938
*Thomas Allen, McGee, March 11, 1899
*Wood Ambrose, Prentiss, June 11, 1906
*Alex Anderson, Grenada, March 20, 1898
*Moses Anderson, Brookfield, April 6, 1899
*Askew, Mississippi City, June 10, 1900
*Gloster Barnes, Vicksburg, October 23, 1900
*Rufus Beagley, Jackson, November 15, 1893
*Henry Bell, Greenwood, January 23, 1907
*Terry Bell, Terry, March 20, 1901
*Robert Betat, Bluff Creek, March 20, 1895
*Jack Betts, Corinth, August 13, 1900
*Thomas Bowen, Brook Haven, June 29, 1895
*Willia Boyd, Silver City, March 23, 1899
*William Bradford, Chunky, June 16, 1911
*Simon Brooks, Sardis, June 11, 1899
*Frank Brown, Tunica, September 14, 1900
*Jeff Brown, West Point, March 20, 1916
*William Brown, Tunica, September 14, 1900
*Walter Brownlee, Hinchcliff, October 15, 1913
*Robert Bryant, Vicksburg, May 3, 1903
*Thomas Burns, Hernando, November 3, 1914
*John Burr, Wesson, April 5, 1908
*Charles Burwell, Meridian, July 28, 1895
*Robby Buskin, Houston, February 9, 1909
*Louisa Carter, Jackson, November 15, 1893
*William Carter, Winston County, December 26, 1894
*William Chandler, Abbeyville, June 19, 1895
*Clark, Trail Lake, June 3, 1904
*Andrew Clark, Shubuta, December 21, 1918
*Major Clark, Shubuta, December 21, 1918
*Thomas Clark, Corinth, September 28, 1902
*Thomas Clayton, Hernando, March 10, 1900
*Sam Cole, Pea Ridge, January 7, 1898
*Alex Coleman, Starkesville, April 3, 1912
*Mimms Collier, Steenston, November 18, 1896
*James Cooper, Hemlock, May 27, 1897
*Spencer Costello, Flora, January 7, 1895
*Thomas Crompton, Centerville, October 25, 1906
*Harry Crosby, Louisville, September 21, 1913
*James Crosby, Tutwiler, March 4, 1900
*Henry Crower, Hernando, October 6, 1897
*Elmer Curl, Mastadon, June 12, 1910
*Joseph Dailey, Comorant, July 14, 1914
*Frank Davis, Lula, October 11, 1908
*Joseph Davis, Lula, October 11, 1908
*Dee Dawson, Hickory, October 10,1908
*R. W. Dawson, Natchez, June 17, 1895
*Robert Dennis, Greenville, June 4, 1903
*Bill Dukes, Natchez, August 15, 1918
*Sterling Dunham, Europa, June 26, 1904
*William Edward, Deep Creek Bridge, March 27, 1900
*G. W. Edd, Macon, May 7, 1912
*Jesse Evans, Edwards, April 16, 1897
*Zed Floyd, Tunica, September 12, 1900
*Lee Fox, Yazoo City, June 9, 1907
*William Fuller, Hickory, October 10, 1908
*Rid George, Hattiesburg, August 4, 1905
*Charles German, Belen, October 29, 1907
*Neeley Giles, Sucarnoochee, January 15, 1912
*Pary Gilliam, Aberdeen, June 28, 1897
*George Gordon, Albin, May 1, 1900
*Joseph Gordon, Greenwood, March 12, 1909
*Wesley Gould, Leland, July 12, 1898
*Ernest Green, Quitman, October 12, 1942
*James Green, Boyle, December 11, 1905
*Tom Green, Rolling Fork, July 6, 1938
*Alfred Grizzard, Tiptonville, June 21, 1889
*Haines, Belen, April 3, 1897
*Mann Hamilton, Starkesville, February 14, 1912
*Lewis Harkhead, Amite County, July 6, 1894
*Burke Harris, Cleveland, March 19, 1904
*David Harris, Rosedale, April 23, 1930
*Henry Harris, Glendora, July 19, 1905
*William Harris, Glendora, July 25, 1905
*Mose Hart, Corinth, May 20, 1903
*Stanley Hayes, Brandon, July 26, 1899
*Van Haynes, Columbia, June 2, 1917
*W. A. Healey, Jackson, November 15, 1893
*Pratt Hempton, Columbia, June 2, 1917
*Peter Henderson, Itta Bena, January 20, 1897
*A. Hicks, Rocky Springs, May 7, 1894
*Alexander Hill, Brookville, February 10, 1915
*Richard Hill, Philadelphia, September 1, 1901
*Eli Hilson, Brookhaven, December 24, 1903
*"Jet" Hinks, Lee County, November 8, 1906
*Samuel Hinson, Cushtusha, May 16, 1900
*William Hodges, Union, November 2, 1908
*Luther Holbert and his wife, Doddsville, February 7, 1904
*John Hollins, Drew, January 10, 1903
*T. W. Hollinshead, March 28, 1897
*Hood, Amite County, July 6, 1894
*James Hopkins, Glendora, December 27, 1897
*Alma House, Shubuta, December, 21, 1918
*Maggie House, Shubuta, December 21, 1918
*Pat Husband, McHenry, December 16, 1907
*Fred Isham, Macon, February 18, 1901
*Henry Isham, Macon, February 18, 1901
*Benjamin Jackson, Jackson, November 15, 1893
*Benjamin Jackson, Quincy, November 8, 1893
*Mahala Jackson, Jackson, November 15, 1893
*W. J. Jackson, Hernando, October 15, 1908
*William Jackson, Tunica, October 11, 1907
*John James, Woodville, October 10, 1905
*William James, Tallahatchie County, September 14, 1905
*Forest Jameson, Brookfield, April 6, 1899
*Cato Jarrett, Stouts Crossing, July 7, 1903
*Abe Johnson, Yazoo City, June 8, 1907
*Charles Johnson, Walnut Grove, August 17, 1902
*Edward Johnson, Vicksburg, January 20, 1915
*Elijah Johnson, Vicksburg, March 29, 1931
*Frank Johnson, Hickory, October 10, 1908
*Harry Johnson, Yazoo City, June 8, 1907
*Thomas Johnson, Hattiesburg, July 25, 1895
*Jones, Braxton, June 28, 1910
*Charles Jones, Yazoo City, September 20, 1908
*Charles Jones, Weason, December 10, 1897
*George Jones, Mayersville, September 1903
*James Jones, Macon, January 1, 1898
*Walter Jones, Harriston, September 28, 1913
*William Jones, Harriston, September 28, 1913
*William Jones, Lake Cormorant, March 6, 1898
*George Kincaid, Cleveland, June 12, 1903
*Charles Lang, Quitman, October 12, 1942
*Henry Leidy, Biloxi, November 10, 1908
*Lewis, Gulfport, December 20, 1900
*Edward Lewis, Hattiesburg, August 4, 1905
*George Linton, Brookhaven, June 28, 1894
*Pigg Lockett, Scooba, September 10, 1930
*Joseph Luflore, St. Anne, October 21, 1899
*James Martin, Bolton, December 23, 1899
*Warner Matthews, Ocean Springs, February 1, 1901
*Harvey Mayberry, Teysela, April 3, 1896
*Mayfield, Trail Lake, June 4, 1904
*Henry McAfee, Brownsville, April 19, 1900
*William McAlpin, Smith County, October 27, 1903
*Belfield McCray, Carrolton, August 1, 1901
*Betsy McCray, Carrolton, August 1, 1901
*Ida McCray, Carrolton, August 1, 1901
*John McDaniel, Smithdale, August 4, 1902
*"Bootjack" McDaniels, Winona, April 13, 1937
*John McDowell, Rankin County, September 19, 1905
*Wilder McGowan, Wiggins, November 21, 1938
*Johnson McQuirk, Love Station, February 16, 1914
*Leon McTatie, Lexington, July 22, 1946
*Meyer, Carrollton, October 27, 1907
*Mayshe Miller, Aberdeen, October 25, 1914
*Otto Mitchell, Durant, June 15, 1910
*William Mitchell, Sardis, July 16, 1915
*Pierce Moberly, Meridian, June 25, 1905
*Horace Montgomery, specific location unknown, April 11, 1909
*David Moore, Tunica, September 14, 1900
*"Judge" Moseley, Lockhart, November 7, 1911
*John M. Moses, Crystal Springs, June 25, 1897
*Horace Muller, Cookamie County, May 13, 1902
*Ready Murdock, Yazoo City, June 4, 1894
*Allen Myers, Rankin County, July 20, 1894
*Allen Nance, Greenwood, October 6, 1916
*Henry Noark, Hattiesburg, July 25, 1899
*William Ody, Clayton, July 15, 1902
*Thomas O'Neill, Meridian, April 19, 1910
*William Otis, Rawles Springs, September 20, 1899
*Mack Charles Parker, Poplarville, April 24, 1959
*Daniel Patrick, Scranton, June 20, 1899
*William Patterson, Westville, July 19, 1898
*Lawson Patton, Oxford, September 8, 1908
*Dago Pete, Tutwiler, June 3, 1900
*Sam Petty, Leland, February 24, 1914
*Theodore Picket, Jackson, July 6, 1895
*Eli Pigatt, Brookhaven, February 10, 1908
*David Poe, Van Cleave, March 10, 1908
*Augustus Pond, Tupelo, July 7, 1894
*Goerge Pond, Fulton, July 6, 1894
*William Price Carrolton, August 4, 1901
*Thomas Ranston, Van Cleave, March 10, 1908
*Henry Ratcliff, Gloster, May 1, 1900
*C. C. Reed, Silver City, March 23, 1899
*Alt Rees, Rosetta, September 1, 1905
*Bush Riley, Tallula, January 14, 1904
*George Robinson, Raymond, August 15, 1930
*George Robinson, Tunica, October 11, 1907
*William Robinson, Greenville, August 17, 1909
*William Robinson, Lambert, June 27, 1913
*Joe Rodgers, Canton, May 8, 1939
*Fayette Sawyer, Cleveland, March 19, 1904
*Saybrick, Fishers Ferry, March 30, 1894
*James Sellers, Pittsboro, July 28, 1897
*Rev. Isaac Simmons, Liberty, March 26, 1944
*David Simms, Coahoma, November 22, 1905
*Sam Simms, Jackson, May 8, 1906
*James Shoots, Tunica, October 11, 1907
*Claud Singleton, Poplarville, April 20, 1918
*Frank Smith, Newton, November 11, 1893
*Henry Smith, Clinton, May 29, 1894
*William Stern, Rosemeath, September 6, 1899
*Frederick Sullivan, Byhalia, November 24, 1914
*Mrs. Frederick Sullivan, Byhalia, November 25, 1914
*Henry Sykes, Van Vleet, October 23, 1907
*John Taylor, Aberdeen, November 12, 1915
*Andrew Thomas, Scranton, July 18, 1895
*Henry Thomas, Bolar, January 21, 1889
*Luke Thomas, Biloxi, June 15, 1894
*Nicholas Thompson, Armory, September 1, 1910
*Emmett Till, Monez, August 28, 1955
*Samuel Towner, Alligator, July 15, 1913
*Roosevelt Townes, Winona, April 13, 1937
*Andrew Trice, Olive Branch, July 20, 1907
*Jesse Tucker, Houston, July 10, 1904
*Van Horne, Trail Lake, June 3, 1904
*Mulloch Walker, Corinth, August 11, 1898
*Thomas Waller, Brookhaven, December 16, 1897
*Howard Wash, Laurel, October 17, 1942
*Sam Washington, Vicksburg, July 29, 1907
*James Watts, Pea Ridge, January 7, 1898
*Willie Webb, Drew, February 23, 1913
*Frank West, Bolton, December 23, 1899
*White, Tallahatchie County, December 6, 1898
*Holly White, Scooba, September 10, 1930
*Steve Wiley, Inverness, March 22, 1931
*Andrew Williams, Houston, February 7, 1913
*John Williams, Ittababa, August 28, 1908
*Lewis Williams, Hewitt Springs, June 9, 1894
*Will Williams, Centerville, September, 1903
*William Williams, Hamburg, October 16, 1897
*"Pink" Willis, Poplarville, Janaury 16, 1909
*Minor Wilson, Silver City, March 23, 1899
*William Wilson, Port Gibson, August 11, 1899
*Malachi Wright, Houston, July 9, 1949
*Moses York, Tunica, April 16, 1900
*Henry Young, Lake Cormorant, August 4, 1905
*Perry Young, Winona, June 27, 1896
*Wes Young, Valley Park, December 5, 1906
*John Youngblood, Summit, November 20, 1902
*George Younger, Columbus, May 23, 1906

James Cone A Remarkable Black Man Dedicating His Life to Black Liberation Theology

By Kenny Anderson

James Cone August 5, 1936 - April 28, 2018

Back in the early 1980’s as a young Black community activists I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with the great Black theologian James Cone who had given a lecture at Eastern Michigan University. I didn't realize it at the time that me and Brother Cone were born on the same day August 5th. 

Since Brother Cone’s recent death (4-28-18) I’ve been in a deep reflective mode rereading and reanalyzing this now honorable Ancestor’s great works. Many refer to Brother Cone as the father of Black Liberation Theology, from my perspective James Cone did not open the door to Black Liberation Theology he was a dedicated proponent of it; he continued in the vein of his freedom-fighting liberation theology forefathers the likes of David Walker who wrote ‘The Appeal’ (1829) and Henry Highland Garnett who gave one of the greatest speeches ‘An Address To The Slaves Of The United States’ (1843). 

The two greatest Black Christian theologians in my life time has been Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and James Cone, both articulated that the message of liberation was at the core of the gospel. Brother James Cone vigorously articulated throughout his life of God’s radical identification with the liberation of Black people in the United States. Brother Cone’s first book was ‘Black Theology & Black Power’ (1969), continuing with ‘A Black Theology of Liberation’ (1970), and ‘God of the Oppressed’ (1975). 

Cone’s most recently published book 'The Cross and the Lynching Tree' (2011) won the 2018 Grawemeyer Award in Religion, the following is a quote from the book:

“While white mob violence against African Americans was an obsession in the South, it was not limited to that region. White supremacy was and is an American reality. Whites lynched Blacks in nearly every state, including New York, Minnesota, and California. Wherever blacks were present in significant numbers, the threat of being lynched was always real. Blacks had to “watch their step,” no matter where they were in America. A Black man could be walking down the road, minding his business, and his life could suddenly change by meeting a white man or a group of white men or boys who on a whim decided to have some fun with a Negro; and this could happen in Mississippi or New York, Arkansas, or Illinois. By the 1890s, lynching fever gripped the South, spreading like cholera, as white communities made Blacks their primary target, and torture their focus. Burning the Black victim slowly for hours was the chief method of torture. Lynching became a white media spectacle, in which prominent newspapers, like the Atlanta Constitution, announced to the public the place, date, and time of the expected hanging and burning of Black victims. Often as many as ten to twenty thousand men, women, and children attended the event. It was a family affair, a ritual celebration of white supremacy, where women and children were often given the first opportunity to torture black victims burning Black flesh and cutting off genitals, fingers, toes, and ears as souvenirs. Postcards were made from the photographs taken of Black victims with white lynchers and onlookers smiling as they struck a pose for the camera. They were sold for ten to twenty-five cents to members of the crowd, who then mailed them to relatives and friends, often with a note saying something like this: “This is the barbeque we had last night.”

“The lynching tree so strikingly similar to the cross on Golgotha should have a prominent place in American images of Jesus’ death. But it does not. In fact, the lynching tree has no place in American theological reflections bout Jesus’ cross or in the proclamation of Christian churches about his Passion. The conspicuous absence of the lynching tree in American theological discourse and preaching is profoundly revealing, especially since the crucifixion was clearly a first-century lynching. In the “lynching era,” between 1880 to 1940, white Christians lynched nearly five thousand black men and women in a manner with obvious echoes of the Roman crucifixion of Jesus. Yet these “Christians” did not see the irony or contradiction in their actions.”  - James Cone

The Only Way Black Men Get Recognized as Being Victimized is When You're Dead

By Andrea Park

Just one day after news broke that Fox is canceling "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," Terry Crews is staying positive, pointing out to CBS News that the show lasted for more than 100 episodes. The actor, who plays Sgt. Terry Jeffords, said, "I'm super proud of all we've done and if by some incarnation we can come back in some kind of way another network or something I'm jumping at the chance, but as it stands right now, we are gone, and I'm not mad."

Crews says he's grateful for the run the show's had and says it's been "a privilege" to play a feminist, self-aware cop who loves his family. Crews tells CBS News he has a lot in common with his character, including their approach toward masculinity.

"As a man, you have to be invincible, which is impossible, and that's the thing that really, really resonates with a lot of people - Terry Jeffords is not ashamed to say what he's scared of, and he doesn't even have to hide it through bravado," Crews says. "Terry's just like, 'I'm very, very scared right now and that's OK. We can talk about it and deal with it.' I see a lot of me in that, especially since I came out and went through all my therapy. I've been so transparent and able to do the same thing and just say what could hurt me and how I've been hurt."

Crews, who wrote a book called "Manhood" in 2014, was one of the few men in Hollywood to tell his story as part of the #MeToo movement. He and Tarana Burke, the founder of #MeToo, are being honored on Tuesday by Safe Horizon, an organization that works with victims of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault and human trafficking.

He says he got "choked up" meeting Burke at the Oscars. "Fear begets fear, but courage begets courage," says Crews. "Her courage spread like a wildfire. Her stand against this activity, this kind of violence, this kind of manipulation was so strong that it's still reverberating right now. It's this fearlessness the changes the world and to be honored at the same event with her it's one of the greatest honors of my life." He says Burke is like a sister to him and adds, "Those who've been victimized we're kind of our own little family. We're not going to be quiet. We're not going to be silent."

Last year, Crews made headlines when he said that in February 2016, Adam Venit, the former longtime head of William Morris Endeavor's motion picture group, groped his genitals at a Hollywood event. Though he didn't make his accusations public at first, Crews says he felt like he had to come forward when people started maligning women who spoke up in the #MeToo movement.

"People were calling the women opportunists, gold-diggers, 'They just want a payday' or 'Why are they coming forward now?'" he explains. "And I'm going, 'Anybody who's behind enemy lines needs to get to a safe spot.' I couldn't stand it. I had to lend my voice, because it happened to me, and people were saying, 'These women are crazy,' and I said I gotta lend my voice to this." Crews says that when the incident happened, he felt he was in a particularly vulnerable position as a black man up against one of Hollywood's most powerful players.

"Look at who I am," he told CBS News. "I am 240 pounds, about 3 to 4 percent body fat. If I would have hit him, imagine, in the mouth or the eye and he had any sort of injury I told the president of William Morris Endeavor, 'If I had hurt him, would you give me any mercy?' And you know what he said? 'Nope. No.' 

"When you look at black men in society, the only way you get recognized as being victimized is when you're dead. Anything before death is, 'You should walk it off.' Or if a guy shot you, 'What were you doing that you got shot? Why were you there, that someone shot you in the back?" 

Crews says people often ask him why he did not hit Venit. "This guy said, 'Terry Crews' career isn't even all that, for him to get felt on and not fight back,'" recalls Crews. "But I thought, 'But my family is all that. My wife and kids are all that. I don't want my daughters seeing me in jail.' I'm a 48-year-old big, giant, grown man and he's [a partner] at William Morris Endeavor and [if] I knock him out, am I getting mercy? I know how this story goes. 'This is America,' as Donald Glover says." 

Crews says when he complained to WME, Venit called him with a brief apology and nothing came of the complaint until after he aired his grievances in public. Terry Crews sues talent agency WME for groping incident. "You're an agent," Crews says of WME. "Your whole purpose is to protect us. If you abuse us, who do we go to now?"

Since Crews went public with his accusations, WME suspended Venit for a month last year and stripped him of his department head title. In March, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office announced that they were not pursuing charges against Venit, saying,"Given that the suspect did not make contact with the victim's skin when he grabbed the victim's genitals and there is no restraint involved, a felony filing is declined." Afterward, the Los Angeles City Attorney declined to pursue misdemeanor charges because the case exceeded the statute of limitations, reports Variety.

Crews responds, "You can just grab people through their clothing in front of everyone? And the thing is, what he did is considered a misdemeanor and the statute of limitations had run out, but if I had reacted violently that would be a felony. It's a trap, and all I could think about was all the young black men in jail right now who were probably reacting to things that were done to them." Crews is pursuing a civil case against Venit.

Crews says that ironically, Russell Simmons, who has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault and rape, was one of the people who asked him to drop his case against Venit and WME. He also says people at WME told him that what happened was no big deal and to "let it go." "I was like, this is what women go through all the time," he says. "This is the gaslight."

The actor says Safe Horizon provides services to victims who may not have the same strong support network he had. Crews says the key to healing is to overcome the feeling of shame. "I tell people all the time, get rid of the shame," he says. "Don't hold it, because it's not yours. It's never yours."

The actor says he also wants people in the black community to change their attitudes about masculinity. "Black men, you are seen as invincible. There's this thing that doesn't exist somehow bullets are supposed to ricochet off your chest," says Crews. "As a black man, I look in my own culture and we're telling each other stories that why do we believe them? The fact that getting therapy is seen as weak."

Crews is concerned that this mindset stops victims from sharing their stories about assault or molestation, and points to R. Kelly's long career as proof that there was a "complicit system" surrounding the singer, who has been accused of sexual abuse by several women.

But Crews is hopeful for the future where male victims will feel empowered to speak out. "They're coming. But they're scared, you know, and I understand."

He also has a message for perpetrators of sexual abuse and those who've protected them. "Healing can't happen until there's concession," he says. "Until somebody says, 'We messed up. We're sorry and we ought to make up for it,' and then everything can move forward."

Another Unarmed Young Adult Black Man Murdered By Police

by Kenray Ogun Sunyaru

Another unarmed young adult Black man Stephon Clark was gunned-down like a 'buck deer' by police hunters on Sunday March 18th, 2018. 

Clark was shot and killed by Sacramento, California police in his backyard after officers said he advanced toward them holding an object 'gun', he had no weapon only a cellphone. Clark's grandmother heard the 21 fatal shots.  

The police who murdered Clark along with police around the country who constantly murder unarmed Black men show very-very little restraint. In contrast police show tremendous restraint when it comes to armed young adult white males.

For example on February 14th 2018 Nikolas Cruz a 19-year-old white male used a semiautomatic assault rifle and killed 17 students at a High School in Parkland, Florida; Cruze after committing mass murder was apprehended alive. 

Indeed, White police are unrestrained in killing unarmed Black men, Montclair State University scientist John Paul Wilson says Black men are more likely to be shot fatally by police:

“Unarmed Black men are disproportionately more likely to be shot and killed by police, and often these killings are accompanied by explanations that cite the physical size of the person shot. Our research suggests that these descriptions may reflect stereotypes of Black males that do not seem to comport with reality.” 

In a 2017 study by Mapping Police Violence shows that Black people accounted for 27 percent of the people killed by law enforcement officers. Of the unarmed victims of police violence, Blacks made up 37 percent, almost three times their percentage of the U.S. population (13 percent). 

Of the people who were unarmed and not attacking and were still killed by cops 35 percent were Black. White males were the least likely to have been unarmed when killed by police at just under 20 percent.

A 2015 meta-analysis study that was published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, showed that people are more likely to shoot at a Black target than at a white target.

In that study, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign analyzed 42 studies and found that, compared to white targets, people are quicker to shoot armed Black targets, slower to not shoot unarmed Black targets, and more likely to have a liberal shooting threshold for Black targets overall. 

The police who shot Clark have been placed on paid leave and more than likely won't be charged for murder. Data from the Washington Post, Fatal Encounters, The Guardian and, and the National Police Misconduct Reporting Project from 2007 to 2017 found only three cases of a white police officer serving time for killing an African American.

The police murder of Stephon Clark is a constant reminder that every day Black men in America especially young adults lives 'hang in the balance'. Moreover the murder of Clark shows that as Black folks our voices and protests to end harassment, brutality, and murders are not getting through to the police. Will they ever?