Stop everything you’re doing and watch PBS FRONTLINE’s Death by Fire, airing on PBS right now. You can also watch it online here (from Oct. 2010). It’s a fantastic piece on Cameron Todd Willingham, the Texas man executed in 2004 for the death of his three children.
If you’re not familiar with Willingham’s story, there’s a chance you’ve heard his name associated with Rick Perry. Here’s why:
April 2011 -- Yemeni women bravely protest in the streets with their fathers and brothers and sons, despite the attempts of President Saleh to misuse the principles of Islam as a prohibition against Muslim women "mixing" with men in public. Muslim women are among the BRAVE HEROES of Yemen like Tawakul Karman, Nobel Prize Winner of 2011.
Yemeni women burnt their veils on Wednesday in a highly symbolic act of defiance against the regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and its brutal crackdown on protests. Thousands of women marched in the capital, Sana’a, and burned their veils in protest at the government’s violent repression of demonstrators. Over 200 people have been killed and thousands injured since protests began here in February.
Yemeni women burnt their veils on Wednesday in a highly symbolic act of defiance against the regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and its brutal crackdown on protests. Thousands of women marched in the capital, Sana’a, and burned their veils in protest at the government’s violent repression of demonstrators. Over 200 people have been killed and thousands injured since protests began here in February.
Footage from the Occupy Oakland protest, October 25th, 2011. After protesters ran to the aid of a badly-injured person, Oakland Police deliberately lobbed a flash grenade into the crowd. Whatever you think of the Occupy movement, police behavior of this kind is criminal and should be prosecuted.
OAKLAND -- A 24-year old Marine Corps corporal and Iraqi war veteran remained in critical condition at Highland Hospital on Wednesday night after friends said he was hit in the head with a police projectile in Tuesday's Occupy Oakland confrontation.
Scott Thomas Olsen, 24, of Onalaska, Wis., was admitted to Highland after he was hit on the head above his right eye during clashes with police, said hospital spokesman Curt Olsen, who is not related to the veteran.
Scott Olsen appears to be the first serious injury nationwide of the Occupy Wall Street movement that has spread to virtually every major American city -- and several smaller ones -- as millions of people continue to express their anger and disappointment
with the country's banking, regulatory and health care systems.
"It's absolutely unconscionable that our citizens are going overseas to protect other citizens just to come back and have our own police hurt them," said Joshua Shepherd, a six-year Navy veteran and friend of Olsen's, who attended a vigil late Wednesday afternoon for the injured man.
Fellow protesters brought him in after he failed to respond to basic questions. Doctors at the hospital said that Olsen had brain swelling and placed him under immediate supervision.
"He survived two tours in Iraq," said Adele Carpenter, a friend of Olsen's and a member of the Civilian Soldier Alliance. "This struggle has high stakes; I really respect the fact that Scott was standing up for what he believes in. He's really passionate about social justice causes."
Acting Chief Howard Jordan said the incident is under investigation by Internal Affairs, the Office of Investigator General, the Alameda County District Attorney's Office and the federal monitor that oversees Oakland police as a part of the settlement of a police corruption lawsuit. Oakland police will also review training, policies and procedures.
Jordan called the incident "unfortunate," adding that he wished it did not happen.
"The goal is not to cause injury," he said.
He said Oakland police used bean bags and gas but do not use rubber bullets or wooden dowels. It is possible that other agencies did, he said. More than a dozen agencies from across Northern California assisted Oakland police under what is called a mutual aid agreement. They are, however, required to comply with Oakland policies.
The Oakland Police Department has requested use-of-force reports from the outside agencies.
Olsen, a systems analyst at a San Francisco IT firm called OPSWAT, had camped out for several nights at San Francisco's occupation before moving to Oakland a few days ago.
Olsen was one of several hundred protesters who swarmed through Oakland's downtown well into the morning hours on Wednesday, repeatedly clashing with riot police. In some cases, protesters threw bottles and tipped over garbage containers. Oakland police said two of its officers were injured when a protester doused them with cans of blue and pink paint.
Protesters lambasted the police response as "heavy handed" and criticized the use of projectiles such as the one that struck Olsen.
"He was shot by the people who were supposed to protect him," said Keith Shannon, 24, Olsen's Daly City roommate and former Marine Corps colleague. "It shows what lengths the government will go to to suppress opposing points of view."
Olsen served two tours of duty in Iraq, once to the Iraqi-Syrian border city of Al Qaim from August 2006 to May 2007, and once to Haditha, in 2008. Both cities were hotbeds of al-Qaida and insurgent activity.
In 2010, the Marines issued Olsen an "administrative discharge." Maj. Shawn Haney, a Marines spokesman based in Quantico, Va., declined to discuss Olsen's discharge, but said his departure could have been for anything from a medical condition to a punitive measure.
Another young man, a 30-year-old Irish national named Seamus, lay writhing on the ground sobbing Wednesday afternoon clutching a grapefruit-sized bruise above his left hip. He said he and Olsen had been together when Olsen was shot. Seamus said his bruise was the result of a police projectile. Other protesters gathered around Seamus and showed off small rubber buckshot pellets they said police had fired at them.
Olsen's parents planned to fly to Oakland on Thursday to see their son. Highland Hospital administrators said Olsen remained in critical condition, with no change in his status since his admission Tuesday night. But friends and acquaintances said hospital officials told them Olsen had suffered a skull fracture and was at risk of brain damage.
Staff writer Angela Woodall contributed to this report.
I spent most of yesterday in Oakland bearing witness to a hectic day of protests that featured a good deal of violence. Here are some observations.
Again and Again
I heard this spiel blasted over loud speakers so many times last night that I have it memorized:
This is Sgt. Whatever with the Oakland police department. I hereby declare this to be an unlawful assembly. You must leave the area of such-and-such (mostly 14th Street and Broadway) immediately. You can disperse via X street, heading in X direction (mostly 14th Street heading East). If you do not disperse immediately, you will be subject to arrest, regardless of your purpose. If you do not disperse immediately, chemical agents will be used. If you do not disperse immediately, you will be subject to forcible removal, which may result in serious injury.
The problem is that we're taught from an early age that we have a right to peaceably assemble and protest, and that this right is guaranteed by the Constitution and can't be over-ridden by the city of Oakland. It's not an accurate view of the law, which is more nuanced, but it is pervasive. So protesters did not acknowledge that they were assembling unlawfully, remained, and then the tear gas came flying. And this happened again and again for much of the night.
Missing the point
That's not to say that a few idiots in the crowd didn't throw some objects at police.
In the age of camera phones and Youtube, finger-pointing inevitably follows clashes between police and protesters. Who instigated what? Who provoked whom? Which came first -- that protester throwing a water-bottle at cops, or the cops deploying teargas at protesters. And these debates not only miss the central point, they obscure it entirely.
Long before any act of violence occurs on the streets, a series of command decisions are made, and it is those decisions which ultimately determines whether a protest will be largely peaceful or descend into chaos. Smart crowd control requires letting protesters protest – giving them an outlet. Yesterday evening in Oakland, long before anything bad happened, police decided to deny Occupy Oakland that outlet. A peaceful, if rowdy march was headed from the main library towards Frank Ogawa Plaza – the location from which they'd been forcefully evicted the night before. They were headed off by a hastily assembled line of police clad in riot gear. The protesters decided to change course and head towards the jail where, according to a National Lawyers' Guild legal observer on the scene, 105 protesters were being detained.
Again, the police blocked their route. They made another turn – I don't know what the objective was at that point – and were again blocked. The police did not have the manpower to actually block the many cross-streets that we crossed, but somewhere a commander decided to put 5 or 6 cops on every side street. This was a stupid move, as 5 officers cannot keep 500 protesters, now angrier than they had been at the onset, at bay.
It was only then that I witnessed the first violence. Protesters swarmed around these 5 officers, they started swinging battons, made two arrests and then found themselves completely surrounded. I am certain it was a scary moment for those officers. There was another line of riot police a block away – a thicker line. And at some point they realized their comrades were in a jam, and maybe two dozen came running and responded with extreme force (it was at this point that a flash-bang grenade came flying towards me, gong off about 3 feet away and leaving me shaking for about an hour). One officer, at the front, was firing less-than-lethal projectiles wildly at the crowd – which, at that point, was in full retreat -- until he was physically restrained by another (maybe a supervisor). There were injuries and arrests, and I think none of it would have happened had they decided to let the protesters chant, 'let them go!' for a while in front of the jail instead of forcing them – seemingly arbitrarily-- to walk around in circles facing off against line after line of police blocking their way.
As I mentioned several times on Twitter last night (follow me!), the police response last night was not the most brutal I'd seen, but it was the most inept. By hyper-aggressively boxing in protesters again and again, they just ratcheted up the pressure for no readily apparent purpose.
The Costs of Eviction
You could of course take this a step further: the entire exercise was unnecessary. One can only guess how much resources the cash-strapped city devoted to evicting Occupy Oakland in the first place. And not just Oakland. Various reports have suggested that 10 or 15 different law enforcement agencies were involved – I saw officers from at least 5 agencies myself. I have no idea how much this is costing in overtime, but it must be a fortune. An then there's the opportunity cost – police clad in riot gear standing a line against protesters aren't out catching bad guys, writing speeding tickets, etc.
These protests aren't ending anytime soon, and Oakland finds itself having to guard a small chunk of public property with dozens of riot cops. Protesters appear resolute about reclaiming that space as soon as they can. So this vast drainage of resources may go on indefinitely. I'm not sure City Hall considered what the end game might be, but if they thought the Occupy Movement was going to go away, they made a stunning miscalculation.
Oakland's Justification Rings Hollow
On that point, there have been two justifications given for the eviction: health and safety violations – I've heard a lot about rats – and at least one reported incident of violence at the camp.
Here's irrefutable evidence that these justifications are complete nonsense: Snow Park. Snow Park, on a grassy slope on the side of Lake Merritt, had a small satellite occupation. Whereas the main camp was densely packed with humanity, had a kitchen and was no doubt messy – as campsites tend to be after 3 weeks -- Snow Park was just a few scattered tents on a hill. When I visited it on Saturday, it was clean and neat, and there had certainly been no reports of violence.
The courts have long held that the right to assemble isn't without limits. Communities can determine the time, place and manner of protests. But – and this is a crucial “but” – any limits must be narrowly tailored o achieve a legitimate government purpose. If an act of violence occurred in the camp, they should have dealt with it like an act of violence at a private club – you don't destroy the club, you arrest the perpetrator. If they wanted to clean up the park, they could have done it in shifts, or worked with the occupiers to address sanitation issues or taken any number of less restrictive approaches.
Oakland has effectively banned overnight protests within the city. As I wrote last week, this is, on its face, unconstitutional in the context of a movement whose defining act of political expression is occupying public space over an extended period of time.
Self-policing
Last night in Oakland I saw both law enforcement and protesters policing themselves. It is all but guaranteed that in any crowd – be it a group of protesters of a PTA meeting – there will be a few hot-heads. I saw a number of self-appointed 'marshals' among the protesters intervening – physically-- to prevent damage to property or acts that would provoke police violence. These folks, I imagine, are sophisticated enough to understand that the media are never on the side of protesters, and can only get a semblance of a fair shake by remaining peaceful expression of outrage.
Where Does This End?
“You see all these people here?” asked a protester as we rinsed the residue of tear gas out of our eyes a few blocks from Frank Ogawa Plaza. “They're all going home more radicalized than when they arrived.” I think that's right – this kind of crowd control doesn't deter protesters, it steels them. I only heard more resolve as the evening progressed. It may, however, intimidate the MoveOn types, leaving a harder core to continue challenging the police.
These Occupiers aren't going away. I'll be out in Oakland tonight to see what unfolds.
I had the privilege of joining Robert X. Fogarty of Dear New Orleans and Dear World on this project. Rafael Delgadillo is a community activist and leader in New Orleans. He is looked up to by all that know him. After a horrific incident one night in Mid-City, he was left blind with a bullet in his brain. As his road to recovery begins, he has become the biggest inspiration to so many people. It was an honor for me to meet him and I look forward to great things from Rafael. He may have lost his sight…but he's never lost his vision. -KellySong: Ben Harper- "I Shall Not Walk Alone" Download on iTunes or Amazon.
Last month, a random act of violence nearly took Rafael Delgadillo’s life. The 29-year old was at a stop sign in the Mid-City neighborhood of New Orleans when two young men approached his vehicle in an attempted carjacking. As he drove off, they opened fire, shooting him in the head. Miraculously, he survived, although the bullet lodged in his brain still threatened to leave him without his eyesight.
Delgadillo, whose family is from the Dominican Republic, is an active community leader and youth mentor. He received both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree in History from the University of New Orleans. His work with Puentes, a non-profit community development organization for Latinos in the Greater New Orleans area, has garnered him support, respect and many friends—which was evident when over 150 people came together at the vigil held for him days after the shooting. The crowd was relieved to hear from Delgadillo’s father that their beloved Rafa had regained his sight, though not entirely. It continues to improve, slowly but surely.
For the dedicated activist, this experience has fueled his passion to continue the important work of mentoring young men of color, fighting the systemic issues of youth violence. While it would be easy for a victim of such a violent crime to succumb to anger or to the pursuit of punishment for the teenagers who did this to him, Delgadillo is of a greater vision. “If I had them face to face, I mean, I’d…I’d embrace them, you know. I’d forgive them,” he said.
The wisdom in his compassion is not hard to understand when the loving network of friends and family is revealed. That his father sees the assailants, two black teenagers, as victims themselves is telling. That a close friend’s words implore others not to not seek retaliation is significant. And when Rafael insists that he is lucky to have had his father in his life, his African American college professor as a mentor, and the director of Puentes take him under his wing in his professional growth, he notes his blessing that the most influential people in his life have been people of color.
As Rafael wells up with emotion thinking about all the people that live him, he reflects: “I was raised to treat people right, and not look for nothing in return. And that’s what I’ve done. And I’ve been doing the right things, apparently.”
It is no wonder that the outpouring of love and support he received mirrors his own.
We’re ending the day as often as possible by celebrating love. We welcome your ideas for posts. Send suggestions to submissions@colorlines.com, and be sure to put Celebrate Love in the subject line. You can send links to videos, graphics, photos, quotes, whatever. Or just chime in to the comments below and we’ll find you. Be sure to let us know you’ve got the rights to share any media you send.
I celebrate being sexy, I celebrate being independent, being feminine, being street, being rebellious, being very intelligent and being conscious and I think the modern-day woman - and I do consider myself that - are all these things, so Cherine and Dancehall Soul is the same, where street meets sweet, where all these different genres meld. —Cherine Anderson
Street sweet is how she be id-ed on Jamrock, succinctly capturing the essence of this young Jamaican songstress who came to prominence in two dissimilar films about contemporary island life. One was One Love(2003). For that tropical star-crossed lovers story she played the part of the innocent sixteen-year-old ingénue, church girl attracting and attracted to rude boy Kymani Marley whose celluloid character and real life reputation as a Marley bad boy merge to produce a classic good girl/bad boy romance story. In Dancehall Queen (1997) she played the role of a teenage daughter struggling to fend off the unwanted and sinister attentions of a much, much older uncle. She clearly has a second career in cinema awaiting her, but meanwhile it’s her music that is the top draw.
Q. Did you land a role in both films Dancehall Queen and One Love by an audition or direct connections with the movie producers? A. I actually auditioned for both roles. I knew there were a few young ladies that were considered for the part of “Serena” in the movie One Love. My manager Patrick Lindsay was contacted about the project, and after a few meetings in the UK with producers of the film and an evaluation of the script, I auditioned for the part. I must say that my work in Dancehall Queen was what brought me to the attention of the film’s producers. In addition, we also decided that we should pursue the musical aspect of the movie. After reading the script, I really loved the character of “Serena”, so I wrote and recorded the song “This Angel” which we submitted to the producers for consideration. This was a great opportunity to satisfy both my passion for acting and singing in one project.
Q. In the film One Love, your character was “Serena”. Tell us; are there any similarities between this character and you as a person in real life? A. Both “Serena” and Cherine love music. We are both from a very strong church upbringing. That being said, I am a lot more outgoing and exposed to the realities of life than my character “Serena”. I think I have a greater sense of style (smile). I love clothes that celebrate my femininity, I love colors. Also my parents are very supportive of my decision to become an artist in the entertainment industry. —Cherine Anderson interview
A month shy of two years ago on BoL, with both admiration and much respect, I wrote at some length about Cherine’s budding career. Her reggae groundation and stated musical objectives are all there. If you didn’t catch it first go round, you might want to pick up on it now as you enjoy this latest Mixtape. We open her second BoL Mixtape with “One By One,” a Kymani Marley duet from the One Love soundtrack, and continue with “Soon Forward,” Cherine’s contribution to a recent Gregory Isaacs tribute album. We follow with “Turn It Up,” a ruff and rugged dancehall single that understandably created quite a stir. And then from her debutStreet Anthems Mixtape there is DJ mix of her classic “Kingston State Of Mind.” All the other selections are from her 2010 JA 9.25 Mixtape.By the way, keeping up with the latest trends in music promotion, this new Mixtape is available as a free download on Cherine’s website.
photo by Rico Kinnard
Listening to and loving her sound, I always wondered about how the street forward sensibility was mated to personal awareness and social consciousness. Her love songs are more than fantasies and wishful dreaming. Her message songs are as sensual as they are serious. I wondered how this wise reasoning came to manifest in one so young. The answer was environment and education. She was born so far across the tracks the trains don’t pass that way. She know tough not in the abstract but as a daily empty bowl experience; she know tough as in murder seen not just on TV but right outside the window; she ah really know as a fly young girl the tough of negotiating around all the male predators of multiple persuasions and expertise who were not just mama-say boogie men talked about to warn daughters in hopes of saving them from ruination but rather Cherine has faced the street corner and board room romeoes who constantly accosted her as she walked to school and as she sang in church the choir. With Cherine, street smart is not an act; her knowledge is the result of environmental education.
She decided to create her own musical branding and labels her music Dancehall Soul.
But that’s only the half of it. I knew she had gone to college but I didn’t realize the extent of her education until I ran into an interview in which she broke it down.
Peppa Pot: How did u get involved in acting? Cherine: I was a part of Ashe Ensemble so I was always doing everything. I was a singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. I did the whole package it was theatre that is my training.
Peppa Pot: Were you schooled in Jamaica? Cherine: I was schooled in Jamaica; I was also schooled in the U.S and Japan.
Peppa Pot: Tell us about the Jamaican schooling. Cherine: I went to Excelsior Primary, Wolmers, I did a year at Edna Manley, a year of 6th form at Queens, then I went to Middlebury College in Vermont and then I spent a year at Keio University in Tokyo.
Peppa Pot: Tell us about the achievements. I know you have a lot of achievements. Cherine: (Laughs) I hold a Bachelors of Arts in Film and Music, concentration Japanese language and literature.
Peppa Pot: Do you speak Japanese fluently? Cherine: I wouldn’t say fluent, I would say proficient; I have lost a lot of it since I haven t been there for the last two years. —Cherine Anderson interview
Like literally millions of her global fans, I want to know when is she going to drop a debut album. She has given us goo-gobs of singles that have stuck to the top spots on charts regionally and featured with Michael Franti and Spearhead, they had a top ten single in the USA. Plus, she writes her own music, i.e. much more than three chords and a clever hook. Cherine finds ways to articulate specific situations emblematic of her generation. Once again, the answer displays a maturity rarely found among aspiring entertainers newly breaking into the big time.
Q. Before anybody makes it to the top in this entertainment business, they go through so many different transitions. One is working with different producers. How many record labels have you signed with since you started your singing career? A. I am not currently signed to a label. I am working independently. We are in the foundational building stages of my career. My management believes it is very important to address our core Jamaican and Caribbean audiences. When time comes to take it to that ‘next level’ then we will shop for a distribution deal, but for now we believe it’s more important to create good music and gain credibility through performing for my core audiences. I’ve had the opportunity to perform at some of the biggest reggae festivals in the world. I’ve played at the prestigious Hollywood Bowl to more than 17,000 people. I’ve also been blessed to be a featured vocalist on my first North American Tour with Sly & Robbie. I’ve recorded on songs with multi-platinum and award winning artists like Paul McCartney, Sting, Bootsy Collins and Wyclef Jean to name a few, and this year I had my first number one song and video “Coming Over Tonight” with Chuck Fender. Chuck has been very supportive of me as an up and coming artist, and I really appreciate that. Nuff respect goes to Chuck Fender!! I am truly just having the time of my life and feel blessed for every opportunity. Q. Is “Princess of Dancehall Soul” a self-proclaimed name? A. Dancehall Soul is the type of music I make; it’s a mixture of reggae, dancehall, soul & R&B. It incorporates the grittiness of my past and the sweetness of the things I’ve been exposed to. My management came up with the “princess” title. —Cherine Anderson interview
Clearly this princess is destined to be a queen.
—Kalamu ya SalaamCherine Anderson Mixtape #2 Playlist 01 “One By One”– One Love Soundtrack -Cherine Anderson & Kymani Marley 02 “Soon Forward” – We Remember Gregory Isaacs 03 “Turn It Up”– Ressurrect Rhythm 04 “Kingston State of Mind DJ Mix”– Street Anthems Mixtape Mixtape JA 9.25 05 “9.25 Intro” 06 “Make Up Sex” 07 “The Breakup Song” 08 “Honorebel” 09 “Cabbin Stabbin” 10 “Fade 2 Black” 11 “Eagles & Doves” 12 “We Don’t Stop” 13 “Lyrical Murder”
The A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize is awarded to honor a poet's first book, while also honoring the late founder of BOA Editions, Ltd., a not-for-profit publishing house of poetry and poetry in translation. [Get the entry form]
A $1,500 Honorarium, paid in March 2012, and book publication by BOA Editions, Ltd. in March, 2013, in The A. Poulin, Jr. New Poets of America Series.
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The Seventeenth Annual White Pine Press Poetry Prize competition will open for submissions on July 1. The award consists of a $1,000 cash award and publication by White Pine Press.
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The annual Cider Press Review Book Award offers a $1,500 prize, publication, and 25 author’s copies of a book length collection of poetry. Author receives a standard publishing contract. Initial print run is not less than 1,000 copies.
Judge for the 2011 CPR Book Award is Jeanne Marie Beaumont.
Submit 48-80 pages of original poetry in English not previously published in book form (individual poems may have been previously published in journals, anthologies, and chapbooks). BY SUBMITTING A MANUSCRIPT TO THE CIDER PRESS REVIEW BOOK AWARD AND REMITTING ENTRY FEE, THE AUTHOR AGREES TO BE BOUND BY OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS.
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From writer/director Leila Djansi, whose other project Ties That Bind just released an official trailer which we just posted, comes another Ghanaian drama Sinking Sands. We profiled the film back in April when it was screening at Cannes. Sands was the winner of several awards at this year’s African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) including best actress and screenplay.
The film stars Jimmy Jean Louis (Heroes) and British-Ghanaian actress and former TV presenter, Ama K Abebrese. They play couple Pabi and Jimah, who are “happily married and living a peaceful life when disaster strikes in the form of a domestic accident which leaves Jimah with a scar. Unable to live with his new features, his anger and hurt turn him into a monster. The once peaceful relationship turns into abuse.”