Read about it here and here.

Grown man guns down teenage boy in front of his teenage girlfriend and other witnesses. Man flees. Witnesses give statements to police, and at some point the police ascertain a possible location for the suspect. The location is a duplex with top and bottom apartment units. The police get a no-knock warrant for both units, and execute it after midnight after identifying themselves as police officers. The next thing you know, 7-year-old Aiyana Jones is shot and killed, and her grandmother is arrested. If I remember correctly, witnesses said that the police DID identify themselves as police before storming the duplex.

Apparently, when the police entered the bottom unit, the grandmother attacked one of the officers, and during the fight the officer’s weapon discharged and shot the girl, who up until the raid had been asleep on a couch. Some police, including the one whose weapon discharged, immediately rushed her out of the house and accompanied her to the hospital, where she was pronounced DOA. Meanwhile, back at the duplex, the remaining police continue with the raid and apprehend the suspect in the upstairs unit.
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As is usual in police shootings involving blacks and other minorities, there are those who immediately place the blame on the police, and yell bloody murder. If this went down the way The Detroit News said it did (when I read the article over an hour ago; it could be updated with new information or corrections by now), then I believe that had the grandmother acted like she had some sense, the worst that would have happened was that family needing a new window pane and front door.

It’s the grandmother’s and the murder suspect’s fault that child is dead, and nobody else’s. It’s a testament to those police officers, and a sheer wonder, that the grandmother didn’t get everybody in that apartment killed. And, as for the murder suspect, what kind of idiot guns down someone – with witnesses around – and then GOES HOME (or runs to where he’s known to hang out at a lot)? My heart goes out to this family, but blame has to be placed where it rightfully belongs, and in this case, it’s NOT the police.

I’m not crazy about the police, at all. If I’m ever around when something is going down, especially involving blacks or other minorities, I watch them like HAWKS. I wouldn’t ever want to be a police officer, and I wouldn’t ever marry or date a police officer. But, I also know that the majority of police officers are good people with often lousy work environments (like anybody’s ‘hood), and I understand that sometimes they have to make major, life-altering decisions in a matter of split-seconds.

So, I’m not taking it easy on the police. However, in THIS specific case, it doesn’t look to me like they were in the wrong. I honestly think that had the grandmother acted rationally, little Aiyana would still be alive. Blame should be placed squarely where it belongs, and in this case, it’s not on the Detroit Police Department.

Nonetheless, a precious little girl is no longer with us. In all the finger-pointing that is still yet to come, let us not forget little Aiyana, who is now playing with the angels in Heaven.

Lena Mary Calhoun Horne, 30 June 1917 – 9 May 2010. Rest in peace.

It’s been a long, long time coming, but I know… oh, I know a change is gonna come. Yes, it is.

Well folks, that change HAS come, and it’s a done deal. Now, to be sure, the Republicans are going to fight tooth and nail to make sure people like me (permanently disabled with serious chronic diseases) don’t get the affordable health care we need so we can die off. You know, they very much seem to embrace the concept of natural selection (aka survival of the fittest). Well, if they believed in evolution, that is. *side eye*

Anyhoo, this short paragraph from the CNN.com article about the new law caught my attention:

Senior Republicans in Congress warned that voters will judge Democrats harshly in November’s midterm elections, with Sen. John McCain of Arizona saying the Democratic-passed bill killed any chance of bipartisan support on legislation for the rest of the year.

I’m trying to figure out how in tarnation the Republicans figure that American voters will judge the Democrats harshly in the November mid-term elections. You know why? Because this health care reform was a TOP PRIORITY, and cornerstone, of Mr. Obama’s presidential campaign. He was very clear about his position and plan for “universal healthcare”… and American voters OVERWHELMINGLY voted for him.

We didn’t vote for him despite his promise to give us universal healthcare. We voted for him, in part, because of his promise to give us universal healthcare! So, how exactly are the American people going to “harshly judge” the president for doing exactly what he told us he was going to do BEFORE we elected him? Am I the only person this makes no sense to? The Republicans have a serious case of selective amnesia.

Now, to the second issue in the above quoted paragraph. Senator John McCain (who I actually liked, and who was my front runner until he lost his balls and let his campaign get away from him and end in a disgraceful train wreck) said the Dem-only passed bill killed any chance of bipartisan support on legislation for the rest of the year. McCain must have been hiding under a rock for the last year! There has been NO bipartisan support of anything Mr. Obama has tried to do since he took the Oath of Office!

My first thought on McCain’s comment was “No shit, Sherlock!”. I mean, really… who is surprised that the Republicans are now going to switch into sabotage mode and do every evil, dastardly thing they can think of to put – at least – a damper on this reform? Is anyone surprised that the Republicans are not going to cooperate with the Obama Administration on anything? I would say this is not a surprise, because they haven’t been cooperating all this time, so why in the hell would they start now?

Republican non-cooperation is a non issue. Why? Because, again, they’ve never tried to work with the Obama Administration. What the Republicans call bipartisan participation, the rest of America calls strong arming. They always want to take the lead and have the most influence on anything they have worked on in conjunction with the Democrats. They have never been content to let the Dems take the lead on anything. With Republicans, it’s their way or the highway. Right now, they’re pissed as hell because they have, YET AGAIN, been reminded that things can get done without them.

The Republicans better watch it. They cannot resort to their usual bag of nasty tricks and rhetoric to derail this new law, because the majority of Americans WANT this health care reform. They are in the minority, and they can’t afford to piss off the rest of us. They got some shine when Brown was elected in Massachusetts, but that was purely a local thing, in my non-expert and could care less estimation. On the national stage, if they go too far with their retaliation tactics – and believe me there will be retaliation – they will only end up hurting themselves.

But, they probably can’t help themselves. After all, they’ve bred themselves for certain traits for so long that it’s now probably just in their nature.

I’m really late talking about this, but better late than never…

Well y’all, I called it! When I wrote my review of the season four finale of Lincoln Heights back in November 2009, I predicted that ABC Family would be pulling the plug, even though the network swore they were not planning to kill the show. How did I know for sure? As I said then, anyone who is a Lincoln Heights fan knows that there is always a killer cliffhanger at the end of each season’s finale, and the season four finale was wrapped up, and tied in a pretty little bow, as if to make sure the show ended on a good note. This was no doubt done to ward off the same type of firestorm that the network was engulfed in when they abruptly pulled the plug on Kyle XY. The first reliable confirmation I got about LH being canceled was from Rhyon Brown (“Lizzie”), who posted a video on YouTube saying the show was canceled. Other cast members took to Twitter to confirm the cancellation.

Now, does anyone besides me find it suspicious that Lincoln Heights was cancelled right when it was beginning to become recognized and lauded in the black American community? The show won several NAACP Image Awards, and the three “Sutton women” appeared in TV interviews and on black-oriented talk shows like the Mo’Nique Show. So, their buzz was finally building in the black community and suddenly… BAM!, the show is no more. You’re damned skippy I’m suspicious about how this went down. And, I’m further ticked off that ABC Family would have the cast out doing press if they knew they were pulling the plug. There is no way in two hells that ABC Family can convince me that this show’s cancellation was an unexpected, last minute decision.

I hope and pray that another network picks up and continues Lincoln Heights. This was an EXCELLENT show that showed a strong black family, headed by two strong and loving parents who had a great marriage. As much as I loathe what BET has become, if they picked up Lincoln Heights I’d watch. However, I’d much rather that TV One or the forthcoming OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network), or another much less ghetto fabulous network picked up the show. TV One is showing the reruns of season four. Let’s hope they’re planning on buying the show from ABC Family and reviving it. With so few quality black television shows on the air now, we (especially our youth) need this show.

This video clearly states my position, and clears up a few misconceptions and assumptions that have made regarding the first video. Lots of white people were assuming that because I’m black, I must be a Democrat, and therefore I was defending Senator Reid because of party politics. They also didn’t think I’d feel the same if a Republican politician had make the comment. Actually, I would.

I want to make clear that none of this means that I don’t think Harry Reid is a racist. I don’t know anything about the man, so he very well could be, and if so I wouldn’t be surprised in the least. However, I still feel that the COMMENT he made, in and of itself, is not racist and bears truth. Ugly truth, but truth, nonetheless.

I just really wish black people, as a group, would engage in more critical thinking. Every time someone makes an unflattering comment about black American society and culture, they’re either automatically branded a racist or a house nigger. What makes this Reid situation so bad is that the comment wasn’t so much about Mr. Obama, as it was an acknowledgment and indictment of white racism! But, of course, nobody wants to see it from that point of view, because then we couldn’t play the victim.

Whites aren’t allowed to validly criticize us and blacks had better stay in line and shut up, lest they want to lose their “black card”. But, blacks are allowed to criticize any and everybody we want? What kind of bullshit is this? This kind of thinking has to stop or the black community will never improve!

UPDATE 1/13/10 at 10:58 AM: The VIDEO NOW HAS 1,000 VIEWS!!
Update 1/13/10 at 5:09 AM: The video is now up to 958 views.
Update 1/12/10 at 8:20 PM: The video is now up to 862 views.
Update 1/12/10 at 2:41 PM: The video is now up to 823 views.
Update 1/12/10 at 10:03 AM: The video is now up to 746 views.
Update 1/11/10 at 10:00 PM: The video is now up to 645 views.
Update 1/11/10 at 1:22 PM: The video is now up to 559 views.
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was quoted in a forthcoming book (Game Change), by journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, as saying – privately – that then presidential hopeful Barack Obama could be successful as a candidate because of his light skin and ability NOT to speak “Negro dialect” unless he wanted to. The video has been up for just 19 hours, but it has already gotten 298 views and 54 comments.

I posted a video commentary on YouTube giving my take on the growing scandal/debacle. If you don’t have time to watch the video (about 9 minutes long), here’s the nutshell version: What Reid said is true and is not new, because Black Americans have been talking about this for generations. I don’t think he owes anyone an explanation or an apology, because I don’t think he has anything to apologize for. Agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments.

This is my third time living in Atlanta, and I don’t remember it ever snowing. We’ve had flurries, but nothing sticking. Last night’s snow is still on the ground, despite it being very sunny outside. For the last few weeks, Atlanta has not lived up to it’s nickname, Hotlanta!

The women were silly and the statistics were shaky. Where was the breakdown of ineligible black women? You know, the ones who don’t have HS diplomas, the jailbirds, the lesbians, and the ones who were otherwise unfit for marriage? If that kind of breakdown had been done, I’m sure there still would have been more women than men fit for marriage, but I doubt the margin would have been as wide.

I think all the attention being given to the “plight” of the “successful” black woman is a result of what I’m calling the Michelle Obama effect. She is well liked and respected, and suddenly all black women are no longer lumped under the same stereotyped umbrella: hypersexualized, lazy, electric babymakers. Suddenly, “America” (a euphemism for white people) realizes that there are some driven, accomplished black women out here… and OMG, they’re not going to have a Barack of their own. THE HORROR! Sigh.