Black History Month: Happy Birthday Huey Newton

Huey Newton was one of the founders of the Black Panther Party, alongside Bobby Seale, in 1966. The purpose of starting the organization was in response to police brutality against black people. The Black Panther Party wanted to demonstrate the need for black self-reliance. Read more about it here –> Black Panther Party Facts

Huey did live a life of crime but his accomplishments within the Black Panther Party overshadowed his wrongdoings, such providing social services to the community like health clinics and free meals for children.

 

Huey P. Newton | Zinn Education Project
zinnedproject.org

 

Huey even went back to school to obtain his Ph.D in social philosophy. His life was cut short when in 1989 he was killed in Oakland, California. His teachings will be remembered and the Black Panther Party is forever part of history.

 

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Black History Fact: Eartha Kitt

Todays Black History Fact is about Eartha Kitt. She was the original singer of the Christmas hit “Santa Baby” and was the first Black Catwoman in the Batman and Robin series in the 1960s.

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Eartha also played in Boomerang as Lady Eloise, Madame Zeroni in Holes and the voice of Yzma in The Emperor’s New Groove which won her an Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Feature Production. She’s been on television and in movies since the late 1940s (uncredited).

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Credit: Blavity.com

Eartha acted in films up until a year before she passed in 2008 from colon cancer.

May her recognition live on and may she Rest In Peace.

Harriet Tubman: New Face on the $20 Bill

BIG history was announced today. According to CNN, U.S Treasurer Jack Lew confirmed that Harriet Tubman will be the new face on the FRONT of the 20 dollar bill.  She is the first African American to be on any currency, and to add to that, she’s a woman as well.

Former President Andrew Jackson will still be on the 20 dollar bill but he’s going on the back. How ironic is it that Jackson was a slave owner and he’s sharing a dollar bill with a former slave?  According to officials, they didn’t want to completely remove Jackson from the bill because of his contributions to American History. He opened up the White House to the American people back then, but clearly black people weren’t invited so I guess it wasn’t open to ALL American people.

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credit: glee wikia

Other changes to the dollars bills are:  Alexander Hamilton staying on the front of the 10 dollar bill but on the back will be a montage of women such as Lucretia Mott, women’s rights activist; Sojourner Truth, Civil Rights and Women Rights Activist; Susan B Anthony, feminist and social reformer; Elizabeth Cady Stanton, social activist; and Alice Paul, American suffragist. The new bill is expected to start circulating in 2020. As far as the five dollar bill goes, President Abraham Lincoln is going to continue to stay on the front, and on the back will feature the Lincoln Memorial because of its historic events held there. To add to that, Martin Luther King Jr will be alongside with the Memorial.

 

Here’s some memes that folks put on social showing their humor and excitement of the announcement:

 

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Danii Gold out!!!

Featured image photo credit: bbc.com
Sources: cnn.money.com

 

 

What really happened to Sandra Bland??

January 9, 2016

I know it’s been a while since I’ve wrote on this story but there has been some new information about this case.

On Wednesday January 6, 2016, The Texas Trooper who arrested Sandra Bland, Trooper Encinia, was indicted on a perjury charge. Perjury meaning, telling something that isn’t truth, in a court under oath. So pretty much, he lied and he is suppose to be a with a Class A Misdemeanor. With that charge, he may only be subject to spend one year in jail and have a $4,000 fine. With that small of a penalty, I don’t think he will spend that time in jail. With everything that is going on in the world, justice will never fully be served for black people.

But anyhow, just giving y’all an update. Feel free to leave ya comments below!

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UPDATE AS OF JULY 28, 2015

The Waller County Police Department has released video footage of Sandra Bland at police station. They released the video to clear up a few rumors and set some things straight.

The video showed Sandra coming in to get book, then eventually changing into the jail uniform. It also shows her taking her mug shot photo, as well as going into the cell.

 

Even though some of the rumors are some what cleared, social media still has their doubts. ME, I say the proof is in the pudding. YES it shows she was alive in her photo and YES it shows she wasn’t on the ground. But it does not show her actually in the cell, from the different camera angles. I think a few more things need to be cleared up like:

  • Why was she arrested for a traffic ticket?
  • Why was the officer acting aggressive with her? Did he consider her a threat, and if so..why?
  • Was she targeted for the reason being, she spoke out about police brutality?

I feel that a few rumors are cleared up but there are still some things that need to be discussed

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July 26, 2015

So by now everyone knows about the Sandra Bland case but if you don’t, here’s an intro about it.

Sandra Bland was a 28 year old activist who talked about police brutality against black people. She was driving in Waller County, Texas heading to her first day at work when she was pulled over for failing to use her signal. The police officer gave her a ticket, then told her to put out her cigarette, when she didn’t the officer told her to get out the car then he used excessive force to get her out  He told her to get on the ground, she did so and he again acted aggressive while she was on the ground, that portion of the incident was recorded by a bystander. She was arrested and taken to jail. Three days later on July 13 she was found dead in her jail from an alleged suicide.

 

So there are questions circulating: WHY was she arrested? WHY was her mug shot photo taken with her in the jail jump suit instead of her original clothing? WHY would she kill herself if she was starting a new job? WHY was there a plastic bag in her cell, when there isn’t suppose to be any items in the inmates cell? So many questions and not enough answers.

 

photo credit: theatlantic.com

 

WHAT THE NEWS IS REPORTING:

So allegedly Sandra hung herself from with a trash bag in her jail cell. The news is also reporting that she was suicidal according to the jail intake screening that all inmates have to do. They are saying she admitted to attempting suicide last year but there was an inconsistency on the report so we aren’t sure how true that is.

Also at the Waller County Jail, there was a phone in each cell, and they give you a pin number and someone has to put money on that pin number in order to talk to the inmates. She was having trouble reaching family and friends from her phone in the cell. The officers let her use the front desk phone, and that is when Sandra was able to contact a friend by voicemail leaving a message saying she saw a judge, her bond was set to $5000 and for her friend to call her back.

photo credit: chicagotribune.com

Officials are also reporting that Sandra had “high levels of marijuana in her system and as many as 30 cut marks on her wrist.” They are also saying her autopsy report didn’t show any signs of a violent struggle” meaning it doesn’t show she was trying to fight back if she was being attacked or assaulted.

WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED:

Bland’s family is saying she wasn’t suicidal at all and she would never kill herself. So there are assumptions that the police killed her while she was in their custody and made it look like a suicide. Here’s what’s sketchy about it all and why this could be possible:

  • WHY would she get arrested just for a traffic ticket?
  • She was smoking a cigarette while she got pulled over, the officer told her to put it out and she didn’t and that’s what started the whole situation, but it ISN’T a law that says you have to put your cigarette out, but it does show a sign of disrespect.
  • Police officers are required to do routine checks on their inmates, why weren’t they watching her?
  •  Why was there a garbage bag found in her cell? How did she get it in her cell without an officer noticing?
  • How is it that she was an activist on black crime and police brutality and she somehow ends up dead in police custody?
  • How is it that in her mug shot, she is in the jail jump suit, when photos show that you are typical suppose to be in your regular street clothes?
  • Also, her mug shot photo looks like she laying down on the ground because of photos showing the color of the ground in her cell, her hair is pushed back and not toward the front like it would normally look if she was standing up.
  • Also the background of the mug shot looks like the floor of her cell, meaning she would have been laying down on the ground when her photo was taken.
  • Why would she be on the ground in her photo, with her hair sitting back, and her face slouched back (gravity)?? Because she was probably dead when the photo was taken.

So many question not enough answers. So a theory on what could have happened is it: She goes to jail, tries to call family and friends; she’s getting no answer, she’s getting frustrated and asking to keep using the phone. After she reached one friend, she probably wanted to reach a family member, after a while they probably told her no. Then she probably gets upset, and starts speaking her mind and they plot to kill her. HOW? Going in her cell while she was sleeping, and covering up her mouth, then suffocating her with the trash bag.

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photo ticket: cnn.com

 

Another black life gone too soon.

The police are ruling her death as a suicide but there is an ongoing investigation of the case going on.