Some of what public figures in the US have tweeted about Michael Brown and Ferguson (from August 9th to 22nd 2014), here listed in order of Twitter fame:
Justin Bieber @justinbieber
NOTHING
Barack Obama @BarackObama 12 Aug 2014
“The death of Michael Brown is heartbreaking.” —President Obama. Read the full statement: http://ofa.bo/s0cW
Taylor Swift @taylorswift13
NOTHING
Justin Timberlake @jtimberlake
1 RETWEET
Oprah Winfrey @Oprah
NOTHING
Eminem @Eminem
NOTHING
Miley Cyrus @MileyCyrus
NOTHING
Drake @Drake
NOTHING
Beyoncé Knowles @Beyonce
NOTHING
Snoop Dogg @SnoopDogg 12 Aug 2014
mike brown rip !! God help us http://instagram.com/p/rmxWv-P9EH/
Kanye West @kanyewest
1 RETWEET
John Legend @johnlegend 12 Aug 2014
The fact that the small town Ferguson police dept has all this equipment should disturb us all. Priorities.
Pharrell Williams @Pharrell
NOTHING
Bill Cosby @BillCosby
NOTHING
Tyler Perry @tylerperry
NOTHING
Questlove @questlove 11 Aug 2014
jesus. 48 hours w/o watching news. just recapping the #Ferguson events god bless #MikeBrown’s family & may St Louis find peace & justice.
Macklemore @macklemore
NOTHING
Iggy Azalea @IGGYAZALEA
NOTHING
Hillary Clinton @HillaryClinton
NOTHING
Kerry Washington @kerrywashington 12 Aug 2014
“@JamilSmith: Go through @WesleyLowery’s timeline tonight describing the Michael Brown protests in Ferguson. America, 2014. Nothing to add.”
Keke Palmer @KekePalmer 10 Aug 2014
Oh my Lord, bless Mike Brown & his family. This is terrible. Why y’all? Why do we do this to each other.
Erykah Badu @fatbellybella 16 Aug 2014
I want peace. Sad for his mama. “@b_steez: @fatbellybella how you feel about this mike brown incident ?”
Michelle Malkin @michellemalkin 11 Aug 2014
Cuz nuthin sez “social justice” better than hurling a trash can into a bus stop shelter to protest a shooting ==> https://twitter.com/AntonioFrench/status/498678682056392705 …
Iyanla Vanzant @IyanlaVanzant 21 Aug 2014
A long day in Ferguson. My heart is heavy but my Spirit is renewed. As
an elder I AM WITH YOU & FOR YOU! @handsupseeme too!
Paul Ryan @PRyan
NOTHING
Spike Lee @SpikeLee 14 Aug 2014
This Memorial To Our Slain Young Brother Mike Brown Went Up Today At The HQ Of 40 Acres In Da Republic… http://instagram.com/p/rsFicwyqkO/
Cornel West @CornelWest 19 Aug 2014
Here are my comments on #Ferguson. #BBCNewsNight http://bit.ly/1tej0cY
Raven-Symone @MissRavenSymone
NOTHING
Ann Coulter @AnnCoulter 21 Aug 2014
“no national Democratic politician… has risen to give voice to the anger we’re seeing in Ferguson.” – http://nyti.ms/1kZcwxg
Senator Rand Paul @SenRandPaul 14 Aug 2014
We Must Demilitarize the Police. #Ferguson #PoliceState READ my Op-Ed: http://time.com/3111474/rand-paul-ferguson-police/ … @TIME
Madonna @Madonna
NOTHING
Ted Cruz @tedcruz
NOTHING
Terry McMillan @MsTerryMcMillan 14 Aug 2014
And the police who shot and killed Michael Brown is on administrative paid leave? For doing a good deed or what? Sick.
Ms Lauryn Hill @MsLaurynHill 21 Aug 2014
An old sketch of Black Rage, done in my living room. Strange, the course of things. Peace for MO. – MLH https://soundcloud.com/mslaurynhill/black-rage-sketch …
Jeb Bush @JebBush
NOTHING
Juan Williams @TheJuanWilliams 19 Aug 2014
The growing anger in Ferguson, Missouri http://video.foxnews.com/v/3736926115001/the-growing-anger-in-ferguson-missouri/ … @FoxNews
Bob Herbert @BobHerbert 22 Aug 2014
My recent post on #Ferguson is now at @BIllMoyersHQ. http://billmoyers.com/2014/08/22/ferguson-the-fire-this-time/ …
Patrick J. Buchanan @PatrickBuchanan 19 Aug 2014
Buchanan: Is Ferguson Our Future? http://goo.gl/fb/AX1byx #columns
Walter E. Williams @WE_Williams
NOTHING
Lee Daniels @leedanielsent
NOTHING
John McWhorter @JohnHMcWhorter 13 Aug 2014
The larger meaning of Michael Brown’s murder. This one’ll get hate from both sides, but it’s what I think. http://shar.es/1nc6V2
See also:
- Michael Brown
- Ferguson
- The future of racial stratification in the US
- The Sarah Palin Kool-Aid Drinking Society
- Posts concerning the above tweeters
- Barack Obama: “Trayvon Martin could have been me”
- Oprah Winfrey – executive producer of Precious
- Beyonce, Lauryn Hill: Why I love Lauryn and do not care for Beyonce
- Kanye West: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
- John Legend: Another Agai
- Bill Cosby pushes respectability politics
- Tyler Perry – executive producer of Precious
- Hillary Clinton – why I hate her
- Erykah Badu: The Healer
- Michelle Malkin
- Paul Ryan
- Spike Lee: directed Crooklyn. In “Do the Right Thing” (1989) he showed police brutality, rioting and even the hurling of a trash can. That film is 25 years old but is more relevant than ever.
- Cornel West: read by Joshua Solomon but not believed till he tried to become Black himself
- Madonna: The blackness of Madonna
- Terry McMillan
- Juan Williams is a good example of a Rented Negro
- Pat Buchanan on the kindness of white people
- Lee Daniels: directed Precious
- John McWhorter: Racism In America Is Over – in 2008
As a fellow Filipina, Michelle Malkin’s tweet leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I really despise her.
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This post is an excellent idea!
Did you catch Jesse Williams’ tweets? He went off on a White female fan who said she was turned off about him discussing Michael Brown.
It’s interesting to see who puts their money where their mouth is when it comes to it.
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Powerful blog post!
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I’m disappointed of Kevin Sorbo. I should get use to it. No big shock in Divide States
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I think McWhorter mimic what brothawolf said in his post and what I fully agree with.
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Reblogged this on La Virino Kiu Skribas and commented:
THIS.
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Who is this “Michelle Malkins”?
What’s up with the mock ebonics? I bet her husband is white, she won’t talk to her family because of their ethnicity. Sadly, I am not surprised by her behavior.
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^ Abagond made a post on this woman. Everything coming out of her mouth is utter garbage. I just want to b*tchslap her.
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I find it ironic that a man who intentionally took his life received more tweets compared to someone who ‘s life was taken by force. Just about every person who tweeted noting gave some type of tweet condoling Robin Williams. A man who abandon his family, friends and fans without even a note explaining his actions.
Justin Bieber “#RIPRobinWilliams”
Taylor Swift “Heartbroken for Robin Williams and his family.”
Oprah Winfrey ” Just watched BIRDCAGE and #LOL’d a lot. Thank you Robin for all the great interviews. We had some doozies. #R.I.P.”
Pharrell Williams “I’ve looked up to you since Mork & Mindy, and still do. You will be missed.” [With old picture of them together]
Bill Cosby “I’m stunned!” [With old picture of them together]
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I guess they are all waiting for the final report re:Mike Brown, who knows? Either way I’m not surprised by the celebrities muteness. They are mostly entertainers and don’t want to hurt the dollar when it comes to speaking out on injustices. *smh* Oprah will definitely speak, I think she just waiting on the right time. (yep I’m biased :D)
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paul mooney was right everybody wants to be a ni@r but nobody wants to be a n@r. Notice the culture appropriators are silent, they love to steal and indulge in our culture yet are nowhere to be seen when lives are being taken. They use black bodies in their vids, and usually don’t show black faces just black arses in their vids. They don’t have to deal with the consequences of indulging in our culture, they don’t have to worry about being shot for looking suspicious or listening to rap music. They get to use what others have created and water it down to the point that the original purpose is lost and the originators are silenced.
The celebs that didn’t say anything i’m not surprised by, don’t worry they may say something later but it will more than likely be to blame the victim and to criticize the protest. The celebs that have tweeted or better yet went there are jesse Williams, talib kweli, j cole, keke palmer. j cole made a vid about aiyana jones to his song crooked smile, jesse Williams has been going on the news pointing out the double standards, racism/white supremacy,and speaking out about it on twitter. talib kweli has visited ferguson and tweets about it as well as did an interview with don lemon and pointed out how the media was twisting the story.
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^ I meant to put j cole also went to ferguson
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lol, I really was not surprised tyler perry, lee daniels, bill cosby, nor pharrell tweeted anything about this. tyler perry has made money dressing as a black woman and playing to stereotypes, we will probably have to wait for him to transform into madea for him to say anything.. lee daniels brought Madonna racist arse to his movie about slavery smh., bill cosby.. wonder what morgan freeman has to say oh yeah probably too busy breathing helium. pharrell is probably happy that he is a new black and doesn’t have to deal with stuff like this.
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LoL “celebrities”!!!
These people all work for the Synagogue of Satan.
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Lifelearner admits her bias in Oprah’s favor. But I had the same thought myself, that Oprah will speak on this shooting later on. Although Oprah is a celebrity, she isn’t one in the same showbiz way, as “pure” showbiz types. That is to say she got her start as a local newswoman. Her professionalism may be holding her back from saying anything at the moment.
Ferguson is perhaps a real firestorm, it may end up being a significant turning point in political awareness and other matters from this point forward. But also it may not.
Morally, I think Winfrey is beholden to say something about it at some point. For one reason: the fuss and to-do about her shopping misadventure at that Hèrmes store. If she says nothing about it that will be quite a thing indeed.
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Abagond, you forgot to mention what Wil Smith tweeted!
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Not…….surprised.
But at least we got the guy who killed Natalie holloway.
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Black people are marked for death.
I’m for fighting and resistance but it has to be done in the right way.
Imagine for a moment in the city of Houston that black people just burst the tyres of non black people woke up the next day needing millions of tyres ?
Imagine if every non-black person in the city of New York, when they woke up, their doors could not open because it’s glued shut ?
So you had MILLIONS white people needing new doors and late for work
Imagine if every supermarket in every major city electric was cut off night ? And all the supermarket owners came to the store the next day and saw that all of their poultry, beef, milk and fish destroyed ?
Imagine if black people poured sugar and salt down every public transport vehicle in LA, Chicago, Detroit ?
Do you know what would happen if public transportation did not work in those cities ?
Do you know what would happen if all the black men of New York would occupy the Golden Gate bridge ?
Go to the bridge at the lowest point in traffic, no cars can make it on there, not even a police van, same thing with Brooklyn bridge ?
Black people HAVE TO sabotage the QUALITY of white America and that THEY KNOW that is black people doing it.
We can win this war with bombs and guns
Are these minor inconveniences ? Sure.
But trust me, 30 intense days of this type of sabotage (And many other I could mention) the American way of life will make them sit up and take notice
Does this mean that some blacks will go to Jail ? Of course
Does that mean blacks will be beat to the point of death ? Of course
Some of blacks will DIE
You can’t have the rain without the thunder
It’s because of this sabotage is why the Mayor of Ferguson had a more soft tone (Not because he wanted to) he had more soft tone, because he was told by the businesses “Look, we have lost a lot money and we don’t like these blacks as much as you do, but stop beaten on them otherwise that’ll rile them up”
What they did was sabotage the economic order in Ferguson to. Gas station can’t open up. Supermarket can’t open.
They can get people out of office with this momentum, and I hope they don’t stop just because they named this officer, or if this goes to trial or even if he is found guilty,
It needs to be demands
“We will stop if we get X, Y, Z”
Otherwise go back to sabotage again, and again and again and again and again
The revolt is not just about one black person, 100’s more wil be lost, it’s not just about the loss of life, look at the quality of black lives ?
It’s BIGGER THAN THAT
Black people have to start travelling in groups. Whites have just reverted to an overt war
MORE examples of black defiance is needed to rally everyone else
Courage has an addictive quality.
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^ This is just my opinion, but I am not sure that will work to *change* things unless the civil disobedience is directed right at the things that need to be changed.
In the 50s-60s we had the bus boycotts, the drugstore counter sit-ins, the freedom riders, the voter registration, etc. as that was in direct response
They shut down the Montgomery bus system not by blocking it, but by not using it.
Now we have to identify what exactly we want change and focus attention on that.
If we want to demilitarize the police, eliminate police brutality (and punish those who engage in it), make racial profiling a disciplinary offense, reduce the mass incarceration of black men and voter disenfranchisement, then our actions have to hit right at the heart of that.
We have social media in the 2010s, something we did not have 50-55 years ago. We need to record and expose every instance of abuse of authority and spread it around the country and around the world. We can embarrass the USA in front of Russia and China and the Middle East by flooding their social media with what is going on in the USA.
Han Chinese harrass, threaten, kill and imprison Uighurs and Tibetans on a scale not commensurate with their offenses. They vilify their leaders and representatives. That does occasionally make the USA news. Now flood the world with images and information about the atrocities that go on in the USA.
Twitter, Facebook, WordPress, etc. is blocked in China.99.9% of them will never see those messages or images. Need to use their social media platforms.
I think we could consider the nonviolent options first.
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Jim
I find it ironic that a man who intentionally took his life received more tweets compared to someone who ‘s life was taken by force. Just about every person who tweeted noting gave some type of tweet condoling Robin Williams. A man who abandon his family, friends and fans without even a note explaining his actions.
I read that the guy from different strokes Todd said something negative about Robin Williams – that he was selfish but he then apologised explaining that a friend of his had taken his own life and that this influenced what he had first written.
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Wow, so no comments from any of the “down” white artists? And they wonder why most of us consider them culture vultures.
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[…] "Some of what public figures in the US have tweeted about Michael Brown and Ferguson (from August 9th to 22nd 2014), here listed in order of Twitter fame:" […]
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[…] Source: abagond.wordpress.com […]
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Let me summarize how many (if not most) whites viewed the situation:
Initially, we heard the testimony of the friend who was with Brown at the time. He sounded like a pretty convincing witness. We believed there was likely police misconduct, and possibly murder, though we wondered why law abiding young men would refuse a request by police officers to not walk in the middle of the road. However, it was only one side of the story, so we waited to hear more through investigation.
Later, we learned that (i) the nice young 18 year old had just stolen cigars and looked like he threatened to beat the cr@p out of the much smaller shop owner who tried to intervene (ii) he had weed in his system (iii) the shots in his body were consistent with him having his head down trying to rush the cop when he died (iv) multiple witnesses, one source saying over a dozen, corroborating the cop’s testimony that he was being bum-rushed when he shot (v) the key witness is revealed to have a criminal record and to have previously lied in connection with investigations (vi) the cop has a clean record and was recently honored by the department and (vii) the cop sustained serious injury around his eye during the attack.
For many, if not most, whites, this is enough to turn their sympathy away from the Mr. Brown to the cop.
However, in this political climate, it’s very difficult to support the cop openly. I believe this is why most of the above twitterers were silent. A black president and attorney general are trying to force criminal charges where none seem applicable. This is why the grand jury is necessary. Let them decide.
Should the threat of mob violence be enough to pervert the justice system? Oh and, what if the races were reversed? I think most white people would have no sympathy for a white dude who fit the exact profile of Mr. Brown. Seriously.
Did you hear about the unarmed white guy who was shot by the black cop? Oh, why not? http://www.thefederalistpapers.org/us/unarmed-white-man-killed-by-black-cop-heres-how-the-media-reacted Because no one even thought is was worth mentioning.. let alone rioting and destroying Salt Lake City over.
The remaining white residents, including the cops, need to get out of Ferguson post-haste. That will be the reward for these brave social justice warriors “demonstrating” in the streets and in the stores of Ferguson.
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Not surprised by the tweets, and lack thereof.
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Biff
I will respond to one thing you said and the rest later.
Brown having Marjan a in his system is a claim by a source close to Washington post. No official autopsy report says that as Baden mad in clear it may be weeks before it is revealed. So the way I see it is whites take any bit of speculation or information and run with it and then try to accuse blacks of it. Hypocrisy at its finest.
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@ biff
Isn’t it a good thing you don’t know “many (if not most) whites” for your idea of them to be right? In fact many did not wait for the whole story to be released as most if not all of the message boards, forums, and youtube comment sections on the matter are riddled with white comments saying some of the most ignorant and down right racist things they can think of. And this was prior to all the information you believe they took into account. Now to address some half truths in your post.
(iii) According to reports “It can be because he’s giving up, or because he’s charging forward at the officer.” http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/18/us/michael-brown-autopsy-shows-he-was-shot-at-least-6-times.html?_r=0
(iv) Actually it is just the police claim that there are multiple witnesses supporting Wilsons story. I quote “More than a dozen witnesses have backed up the account of Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the controversial shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, police sources reportedly told St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Christine Byers.” Of one of the witnesses it is a friend of Wilson who was not even there to testify to what happened. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/08/18/report-more-than-a-dozen-witnesses-have-corroborated-officer-darren-wilsons-version-of-ferguson-shooting/
(v) Did he lie in regards to this investigation or did people assume one thing and run with it and when it was wrong they called him a liar to cover their lack of comprehention. He said on the video interview “Brown was running away, he felt a shot and turned around.” I have seen several people conclude that to mean he was shot in the back. On top of that it is the police pushing him as a liar and using the media quite well to do this. As for his criminal history, no one said he was a saint either. Another something white assumed I guess.
(vi) If I am not mistaken that department does not keep records of reports so it is not clear if the cop did have a clean record or not, but let’s say he did. Does that automatically mean that his department is not corrupt and that he is not learning from corrupt cops?
(vii) Where is the medical report supporting that? I have heard reports from a friend and possibly other officers saying this but no medical report. Who do you think I am more likely to believe?
What you managed to provide is evidence that many (if not most) whites give into what they want to believe at a drop of a dime. Notice much of what you said has an either/or theme to it, yet you (like many or most whites as you claim) support and believe the bad.
“However, in this political climate, it’s very difficult to support the cop openly”—Actually people are protesting for Wilson so what are you even talking about?
“Should the threat of mob violence be enough to pervert the justice system?”—Nope and I don’t remember there being a threat of mob violence. Unless you want to count the 7 looters. 7 out of how many protestors again?
“Oh and, what if the races were reversed? “—I said this to someone else and I will say it to you. The roles being reversed i a side issue to the fact that cops are and have been corrupt for years. People bring up the roles being reversed to deflect from the bigger issues and it only makes them look petty, childish, and dumb. Though I have to wonder why I am even acting surprised when it comes to discussions of you. This stuff has happened with white cops shooting whites, Hispanic cops shooting whites, white cops shooting blacks, and black cops shooting whites. Though we all know one happens more than the other. The bottom line is we have a cop cultures that uses excessive force and have a corrupt and racist mindset. Reading some of the cop blogs make you wonder how anyone could have missed or ignored that type of behavior, but it has become very obvious as to why.
As to the link you posted on the white guy killed by black cop, it is an obvious answer. The media will show what they feel will get them the most attention. White racist get a virtual hard on each time a black person is killed by a white person and they flood the media sites with posts and comments and opinions. They are one of the biggest supporters of those situations. I went to a site the other day and the comment section had about 50 comments from whites. The about 10 from blacks and a guy actually had the nerve to say “look how all you blacks come on here being racist and flooding this site without even knowing the facts.” I was stunned because the most down right racist comments were from white people and two people blacks which I suspect were actually black sock puppets.
“That will be the reward for these brave social justice warriors “demonstrating” in the streets and in the stores of Ferguson”—Yeah. It will so reward those “demonstrators” from out of town. Makes so much sense.
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biff
Did you hear about the unarmed white guy who was shot by the black cop? Oh, why not? http://www.thefederalistpapers.org/us/unarmed-white-man-killed-by-black-cop-heres-how-the-media-reacted Because no one even thought is was worth mentioning.. let alone rioting and destroying Salt Lake City over
this is bad, no doubt. I am fed up of human life being taken needlessly. I got to say though that the way you present it sounds whiney which depending on my mindset would make me think less about the crime you are telling about and more about your motivation for doing it. Emotinal response is what I mean, something that if not you but other bloggers have accused some commenters of!! I think you are missing the fact that it is individuals that are getting killed by people who are supposed to be upholders of the law, protectors of people, that is what is getting people seriously pi$$ed off. Also, as someone has said previously, the people who were rioting have tenuous links at best to the real issue. Often it is just troublemakers who cling on to a ’cause’ to make any excuse to cause a ruck.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/24/darren-wilson-jennings-police-department_n_5704133.html
The cop is not innocent
I dont trust people diverting attention from police racist mentality , by focusing on militarism of police forces..it dilutes the real problem the residents of Ferguson are talking about…its not the weapons the police have, its the mentality towards the black community . None of the black men killed by police in the recent past , were shot with military grade weapons
Does it matter if its a pistol , attack dogs or a broom handle that demonstrates when racism raises its ugly head in treatment of black American citizens?
Criminals have high grade military weapons , I want police to have high grade arms in their arsenal , I dont want police to be the tip of the spear of how white racism treats black communities because if cultural ignorance and cultural arrogance , because this truly demonstrates the white cultural racism against black Americans…
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Wilson’s clean disciplinary does not mean much in this case. Remember, this is the police department that did not discipline the officers who gave Henry Davis a concussion and committed perjury. Also, they did not even keep a record of citizen complaints against Wilson for at least his first two years.
That he received the commendation for “Outstanding Police Work” from such a department, what does that even mean?
And, if you follow B.R.’s link, you will find that he was a rookie cop on a police force so racist that it was broken up. That is what brought Wilson to Ferguson.
None of this proves that Wilson did anything wrong before he shot Michael Brown, but neither does it prove that he was a good police officer.
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You know, the racial / ethnic composition of the Ferguson police force is getting more and more suspect.
they said that the town was about 70% white (26% black) in 1991 but about 67% (24% white) Black in 2011. Yet the police force was 5-6% black in 2014. Wilson was hired in only the past few years. Even if many police are career officers for decades, we would have expected the police to change gradually. 5-6% black is probably what Ferguson was back in 1980. It should be at least 25-30% Black by 2014.
Wilson was hired as a rookie cop in Jennings, MO, a town that is 89% black and 8% white. They disbanded the police force there for corruption and racism.
Which leads me to a conclusion:
* There are certain types of whites that are drawn to police work and then apply to work in majority black districts, many of which are lower income. Why do they specifically want to work in such places?
* white rookie cops should not be allowed to start out their careers in majority black districts — not until they have been properly trained with appropriate experience (or have some other evidence of sensitivity).
* They haven’t really tried to hire black cops in those neighborhoods, esp. after learning that they hired white rookie cops in Jennings, and town that is almost hyper black.
Where I grew up (which Ferguson reminds me a lot of, but about 15 years ahead of Ferguson in its white flight phenomenon), there were groups of white kids that loved to go around the surrounding neighborhoods to harass blacks for fun. Now imagine if they could find a way to get paid for doing it, with a gun to boot.
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i follow ms. vanzant on fb, she seems truly interested in helping out there in ferguson
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@Jefe, maybe they don’t want to play cop in a black hood, but is no self-respecting respectable neighbourhood willing to employ them? I mean the suspect is the son of a felon, and all…
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biff,
“Later, we learned that (i) the nice young 18 year old had just stolen cigars and looked like he threatened to beat the cr@p out of the much smaller shop owner who tried to intervene (ii) he had weed in his system (iii) the shots in his body were consistent with him having his head down trying to rush the cop when he died (iv) multiple witnesses, one source saying over a dozen, corroborating the cop’s testimony that he was being bum-rushed when he shot (v) the key witness is revealed to have a criminal record and to have previously lied in connection with investigations (vi) the cop has a clean record and was recently honored by the department and (vii) the cop sustained serious injury around his eye during the attack.”
(i) That was such a bad attempt at a smear job, the police Chief admitted that the officer didn’t know about the theft before he harrased Brown and Johnson for jaywalking.
(ii) So?
(iii) That doesn’t make sense. The bad spin you’re trying to repeat is that the shots in his HEAD…. In any event, it’s too bad neither version is true as there are several eyewitness who saw Brown being shot and none of them saw Brown “bum-rush” Wilson. At most, one or two saw Brown stumble forward two steps as he was going down. Of course this ignores the point that the whole bum-rush scenario is absurd. So, Brown breaks away from the cop and runs away while the cop is firing at him, he stops and turns around puts his hands in the air and…..bum-rushes the cop? Nonsense.
(iv) Wrong. The St. Louis Dispatch reporter who put out the “dozen” comment tweet was admonished by her newspaper and it was retracted almost immediately as being unfounded. The only person who offered a version in favor of the cop was an anonymous fsupposed friend of the the cop’s girfriend who called into a rightwing talk radio show.
(v) So? Another attempted smear. He talked to the FBI for over four hours and has given many media interviews and his story has held up.
(vi) You don’t really know that and, as was pointed out, he was in Ferguson because his previous department was so corrupt and racist that it was disbanded which is really saying something.
(vii) False. The “broken eye socket” nonsense started with the odious Gateway Pundit but was quickly revealed to be an obvious fraud by Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs but, it made it’s way from the bowels of the rightwing into the mainstream until CNN found out it was false. Also, there was another bogus claim that the cop was “beaten almost into unciousness” which fell apart pretty quickly as well. Especially since there’s video of the cop walking around the scenc without any distress and not receiving any treatment at the scene.
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biff,
Also more about (iv), the story “Joise”, the anon friend of the cop’s girlfriend, told on rightwing radio appears to have been lifted from a fake Facebook page. Sorry….
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@KS
Notice a pattern? Weak old weed in the system.
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@Abagond
Have you seen some of Crystal Wright’s tweets? They’re horrifically sad
https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/crystal-wright
And my personal favorite
https://twitter.com/GOPBlackChick/status/502165101664010240
She also wrote an opinion piece on CNN reeking with anti blackness. If you value your blood pressure, you won’t read the comments. If CNN is “liberal” with those comments, I’m glad Fox News disabled their comments.
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Interesting post, i am not surprised at the ones who didn’t comment. Crystal Wright and Michelle Malkin are awful. SMH.
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Kanye didn’t have anything to say or Jay-Z and Beyonce? *crickets*
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I love Iyanla Van Zandt I hope she can help Mike Brown’s family through the grieving process.
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Biff,
you Already know that everything you said was a bunch of bullsh’t, so I won’t even go into that with you.
White Americans support policeman Darren Wilson because he is “white” —
point blank, that’s IT, no need to give any other reason than that — white Americans support ANYTHING that is opposite of what black people want or say.
As usual, racist white people like yourself miss the POINT — it’s not about “black people”
It’s about the American INSTITUTIONS and their built in racism that affects how black and other POC are treated, all based on the colour of their skin.
The law enforcement institution called “the Police” harass black men on a continuous basis in the USA– regardless of social class– so it’s not about poverty, that’s a bunch of bull or even about crime
Eric Garner selling loose cigarettes sure as h’ll doesn’t bother me. I’m sure a REAL crime was being committed the same time the police were bothering Eric Garner
I’m more bothered that the white people of Colorado voted to legalize Marijuana and now they will making millions of dollars, getting funds from a habit, that has black people still going to jail for 10 years, outside of Colorado.
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Here’s another recent story about the police just “doing their job” based on the fact that a black man “fit the description”
(at least this time they actually were Aware that a crime happened prior to bothering this man; UNLIKE Darren Wilson in Ferguson):
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/08/walking-while-black-beverly-hills-arrests
“There isn’t much more I can say about this than Charles Belk didn’t already say in his Facebook post. Here it is for everyone to see. He spent 6 hours at the station before they got a clue about who he was — and who he wasn’t.
Belk is involved with the NAACP, filmmaking and is a businessman in the Los Angeles area who was in Beverly Hills for pre-Emmy awards activities when a couple of Beverly Hills cops decided he was the guy who robbed a bank nearby. Here is his story.
On Friday afternoon, August 22nd around 5:20pm, while innocently walking by myself from a restaurant on Wilshire Blvd, to my car up La Cienega Blvd my freedom was taken from me by the Beverly Hills Police Department.
Within seconds, I was detained and told to sit on the curb of the very busy street, during rush hour traffic.
Within minutes, I was surrounded by 6 police cars, handcuffed very tightly, fully searched for weapons, and placed back on the curb.
Within an hour, I was transported to the Beverly Hills Police Headquarters, photographed, finger printed and put under a $100,000 bail and accused of armed bank robbery and accessory to robbery of a Citibank.
Within an evening, I was wrongly arrested, locked up, denied a phone call, denied explanation of charges against me, denied ever being read my rights, denied being able to speak to my lawyer for a lengthy time, and denied being told that my car had been impounded…..All because I was mis-indentified as the wrong “tall, bald head, black male,” … “fitting the description.”
The sad thing is, prior to my freedom being taken from me for an easily proven crime I did not commit, I was walking back to my car, by myself, because I needed to check my parking meter, so that I wouldn’t get a ticket and break the law.
I get that the Beverly Hills Police Department didn’t know that just hours earlier, I was at one of the finest hotels in their city, handling celebrity talent at a Emmy Awards Gifting Suite, as part of business as usual, and, invited to attend a VIP Emmy pre-party that very night in their city. The guy doing that, just DON”T fit the description.
What I don’t get………WHAT I DON”T GET, is, why, during the 45 minutes that they had me on the curb, handcuffed in the sun, before they locked me up and took away my civil rights, that they could not simply review the ATM and bank’s HD video footage to clearly see that the “tall, bald headed, black male”… did not fit MY description.
Time has come for a change in the way OUR law enforcement officers “serve and protect” us.
We all do not, FIT THE DESCRIPTION.
And (some) white people wonder why there’s so much anger and frustration?”
The UK was able to identify the terrorist who beheaded the American journalist by using just his Voice– American intelligence must really be behind the times since it took them 6 hours to figure they had the wrong man.
while the real criminal was probably able to go home and watch an episode of “Law and Order”, while eating take-out with the money he just stole
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and Biff, since it’s so OK for a cop to shoot an unarmed black man with multiple bullets because he so called “resisted” something (and allegedly gave the policeman an “orbital fracture”)
then please explain why this white man is still breathing and he was arrested “alive” after resisting arrest and breaking a policeman’s hand.
http://www.kmov.com/news/crime/Police-Suspect-hides-in-womans-basement-assaults-officers-271009211.html#
“Authorities said two police officers were assaulted in their attempt to catch a wanted man in the Carondelet neighborhood of south St. Louis.
Police said they conducted a search for more than one hour Monday, an effort to find Kevin Miner, 25. Miner was wanted for burglary. Officers said he tried hide one resident’s home.
“I saw the basement door was open, the cellar door was open, and I said ‘did you look down there?,” said resident Christina Freed
Officers went down the cellar steps of Freed’s home and tried to open the basement door, but Miner allegedly slammed it back shut, breaking an officer’s hand in the process.
Officers said they forced the door open, causing Miner to fight back. Miner then allegedly kicked an officer.
Miner was arrested and is facing charges of felony assault and trespassing.”
I guess what’s good for the white goose, is somehow not good enough for the black gander
If Miner had been black, after they opened the door, he would have gotten the sh’t beat out of him or shot for “resisting” arrest.
This happened just 2 days after Mike Brown, so it wasn’t even about the Police trying to do things differently because of public outcry –this was business as usual.
The police seem to kill white people when they are crazy but other than that, most white “suspects” seem to make it into the police car alive, even after “resisting” arrest.
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According to the best reporter the Dutch have at the spot, a new resident of Ferguson, the situation at large reminds of South Africa, (and no “apartheid” is not a Dutch word, though knowledge of Dutch grammar and vocabulary makes clear that it means peculiarity or, in context maybe better: peculiar institution), racism is so much part of white local community that it is hard to snap out of it, even as a new immigrant from far away, but that the actual war zone is a merely as large as two and a half football fields. (Football variety not given, so either association or deliberately vague) and very friendly as war zones go.
Of course, white guy arriving on bicycle, who is both a local resident and a foreign reporter, may get a more friendly welcome than many others, but the current troubles seem to be very localized.
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sharinalr,
“@KS
Notice a pattern? Weak old weed in the system.”
Hi, I’m not sure I get your meaning. Are you saying that as part of that particular smear on MB, they are used the presence of old weed in his system to try and pretend that he was “on drugs” when the cop confronted him a week later? If so, i agree.
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It may be that there is strong evidence indicating that the cop in this case acted wrongly, which hasn’t all be made public. It may be that the exonerating evidence will be shown to all be made up and exaggerated. We will see. The U.S. justice system takes time to work, and the alternative is lynchings.
However, I’m looking at MSN and it is saying how Mr. Brown is remembered as a “gentle giant”. No way. Anyone who could do that to a store clerk in order to commit a robbery is a thug, no matter what color his skin is. That is what causes the revulsion when you see the footage of Mr. Brown manhandling that guy. If you can’t feel it then something is wrong with you.
I’m telling you how many whites perceive the situation and there is this rush here to show that it is illegitimate. Linda is accusing me of not even believing what I’ve written. As if what blacks are perceiving is automatically legitimate.
Of course whites react because the cop was white, but mainly because a racial incident was created by blacks. Would blacks care if the victim was white or Hispanic? NO. As discussed, with the races reversed this doesn’t even make news.
Bottom line: it was a scenario where it would be very easy to make a mistake, and the idea that it was a premeditated execution just seems pretty ridiculous. Now that the “execution” story line seems unlikely, blacks need to redirect their anger, so they are looking at the Ferguson police force. I’ll just say I wouldn’t want that cop’s job. You guys seems to think the whole police force was totally corrupt and evil. Do you really think a 95% black police force would do a better job in Ferguson than a 95% white police force? If so, white flight should be celebrated and encouraged.
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Biff,
Now that the “execution” story line seems unlikely, blacks need to redirect their anger, so they are looking at the Ferguson police force.
Linda says,
Biff, for an officer of the Law, there is No such things as “mistakes” when it comes to shooting and killing someone because Policemen are held to a higher set of standards than the general public… so Yes,
Darren Wilson is Accountable for every bullet that he fired from his gun and it resulted in a death… the same way people in the Medical profession are held accountable and must answer for every unexpected death or Sentinel event that occurs in the hospital or medical setting.
Just like the Medical profession, Law Enforcement has RULES and POLICIES — Standards that govern their behavior towards the general public, standards that need to be Adhered to because they have to ability to take a human life.
If one of your children went to the hospital to have a foot boil lanced but the doctor/medical staff made a “mistake” and cut off his/her whole foot — are you going to just shrug your shoulders and say “oops, it was an honest mistake— I understand”
No you are not… you will hold the doctor, medical staff and hospital LIABLE because they are supposed to adhere to higher standards because what they do affects Human life.
this is what most black people in the USA are upset about.. the most police force in America have and seem to apply different sets of “standards” when dealing with black and POC in the USA.
The people in Ferguson, from day 1, were looking at Ferguson Police Force as being the culpable player in this tragedy and others because BEHAVIOR and standards come from the Top-down.
for years, they have been having Problems with Ferguson police force…Mike Browns death was just the last straw.
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Michelle Malkin and Crystal Wright are just two pieces of work. SMH.
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@ PJ
Wow. She’s a trip.
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@ Biff
To equate it to a White person getting killed or to call it a “mistake” is to miss the point.
The police kill Black people WITH IMPUNITY. They get away with murder. Regularly. WAY too often to call it a “mistake”. Add to that that Michael Brown was gunned down with his hands up in broad daylight. And that his body was left to lie there for four hours as hundreds gathered – burned into the brain of everyone who saw it.
Given that (and there is way more, but this is enough), how would you expect anyone NOT to be angry? Please explain that to me.
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It’s no surprise to see the whites likes Eminem, Bieber, and Madonna be silent.
They are white after-all
Nor is it a suprise to see Drake, Oprah and Beyonce be quiet either.
The black entertainers rely on whites money and fans and endorsements. Yeah Oprah tackled racism on her show, and she don’t run from her heritage but she’s careful about not seeming to overdo it.
The day of black famous figures like Muhammad Ali speaking on behalf of black people are over really. You ain’t gonna see his like for a long time.
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In my book the worst are:
1. Oprah, Tyler Perry and Lee Daniels: They found time to give us “Precious” but cannot find time to say anything about Ferguson. Both Oprah and Lee Daniels tweeted about Robin Williams but not Michael Brown.
2. Beyonce, because her public image is meticulously contrived. Meaning her silence is probably well thought out.
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@KS
Yes. That is what I meant. I also meant to come back and correct it but I got side tracked. Trying to get use to the new Doctor Who.
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The police kill Black people WITH IMPUNITY. They get away with murder. Regularly. WAY too often to call it a “mistake”. Add to that that Michael Brown was gunned down with his hands up in broad daylight. And that his body was left to lie there for four hours as hundreds gathered – burned into the brain of everyone who saw it.
Given that (and there is way more, but this is enough), how would you expect anyone NOT to be angry? Please explain that to me.
—
In light of violent crime rates alone, it is not surprising that blacks would make up a disproportionate amount of people shot by the poiice. Overall, there are still many more white victims of black violence than vice versa.
I believe there are witnesses who strongly dispute that Mr. Brown was gunned down with his hands up, and the circumstantial evidence is strongly against it. Hard to imagine someone who just held up a store, was high on weed and ignored a cop’s request just putting his hands up like that.
As to his body, of course they would need to leave it out until investigations were done. If they immediately carted him off they would get blamed for destroying evidence.
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@ Biff
I did not ask you to make excuses for the police or take their side. I asked:
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” Overall, there are still many more white victims of black violence than vice versa.”
Oh really now?
To wit when did you start compiling this rate of violence data of Blacks versus Whites? Since circa 1968, or from circa 1619?
An educated guess suggests that Blacks are exceedingly far from visiting the amount of violence against whites than whites have thus far committed against Blacks since Blacks were brought here in chains and forced to work for nothing.
Whites love to talk a lot about the black violence rate, but they never seem to want to talk about ‘their overall rate’ of current and historical violence (lynching, rapes, riots, bombings, fires, raids, murders, maiming, evictions, stealing, robbing, shootings, mutilations, removing body parts and so on) against Black people. Why is that?
If Whites were to reap all the reactions they have coming for all the malevolent actions they tallied against Black people, you would see a super whirlwind coming at White people from all corners of the world.
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@biff
Given the fact that most violent crime is committed by whites, shouldn’t most people killed by police be white too?
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Kiwi:
This exactly. biff has been the victim of violence by blacks but instead of individualizing it he attributed it to their race, as one would expect of a racist. It has left him cold, hard, and bitter, which manifests in his naked disregard for the lives of black people. White life is more valuable than black life in his eyes, unsurprisingly. He says he has a black best friend, but I am starting to think that is imaginary, as is the fake information he has put out to justify killing blacks.
I cant believe that fear that some whites have towards blacks are just about what they may have encountered personally or witnessed or heard about in their lifetimes alone. I think it goes way way back. This is why some of the non blacks that comment on this blog get flippant and ignorant when past atrocities and wrong doings by whites are discussed. It could be likened to the British people of a certain generation who STILL after WWII ended nearly 70 years ago will speak negatively, even with hatred about Germans and it still gets their hackles up when they compete in anything against Germany. It appears that some have long memories when it suits them and they continue to look for the chance to get revenge.
I do wonder if the non blacks that come to this blog are scared that because of this legacy of misdeeds that all non whites will bide their time for revenge. Perhaps this is what makes them fearful and quick to dismiss slavery and all that came as a result of it as being ‘in the past’ while making sure they label non whites as dangerous, ‘just in case’.
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biff,
Uh huh. You got busted bsing and trying to spread rightwing spin as “fact” so now you’re trying to play up an exaggeration (e.g. “execution”). Fail.
Anyway, back in reality, the latest is that there’s an audio of the shots fired by the cop and guess what? It backs up eyewitness accounts that there were several shots fired at Brown, a pause and then several more. Also, it’s been reported that the reason why the Ferguson PD waited to release the cop’s name was to give him time to scrub his social media presence which is clearly obstruction of justice or tampering with evidence, at least.
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biff
“I believe there are witnesses who strongly dispute that Mr. Brown was gunned down with his hands up, and the circumstantial evidence is strongly against it.”—Well instead of saying what you believe it might help if you actually did research.
As to your weed comment. The “Washington post source” said the weed was a week old. So I doubt he was high at the time. Then again a source is not a Medical examiner now is it?
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Just wondering.
Has Obama been muted due to the flack he received after the initial statement following the Trayvon Martin shooting and the damage control he had to do after the Henry Louis Gates, Jr arrest?
It looks like we will never have a good poster boy to deal with this police issue. Even a Harvard professor does not qualify.
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Miley Cyrus in porn now or what?
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@tbchubs nikki minaj has a pic circulating just like you see miley cyrus there due to a calculated media campaign for her new anaconda song, or video really, i assume miley is trying to emulate that and of course with her twerking etc
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Hillary Clinton refused to talk about Ferguson or Michael Brown when questioned about it the other day during a book signing. Her book is called “Hard Choices”.
On the other hand, in 2000 when she ran for senator from New York state against Mayor Giuliani, she did speak out against police brutality, particularly the cases of Amadou Diallo, Abner Louima and Patrick Dorismond, which then were fresh in the minds of at least Black voters.
She is expected to run for president in two years. It is extremely unlikely she would be able to win without the Black vote.
So far as I know, of the 2016 presidential hopefuls only Rand Paul has said anything. His tweet links to the piece he did on Ferguson for Time magazine.
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@ TeddyBearChubs
Compare:
Miley Cyrus:
(https://abagond.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/mileycyrus.jpeg)
Nicki Minaj:
(http://www.vibe.com/sites/vibe.com/files/styles/main_image/public/article_images/nicki-minaj-anaconda.png)
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@ abagond
That is what Miley imagines she looks like.
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^^^ Right: Miley Cyrus’s Twitter avatar is her head photoshopped onto Nicki Minaj’s (whitened) body.
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@The Hip Hop Records: Yes to all of what you said, because as Pharrell Williams said it’s the “New Black”
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Right: Miley Cyrus’s Twitter avatar is her head photoshopped onto Nicki Minaj’s (whitened) body.
That is creepily weird. Jesus!
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The non-tweets of these celeb individuals (black and non-black) do NOT surprise me AT ALL! Unfortunately, for some people death doesn’t hit hard when it’s not in their “home”. But when it does….the different attitude definitely manifests itself. That’s people for you! RIP Michael Brown.
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@Abagond:
Did the one girl at the top of that picture get arse implants?
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Because I have no expectations of any of these people to stand for anything that usually doesn’t serve them, I’m never disappointed when they do nothing.
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@Vincent
Exactly. That is why I don’t line their pockets.
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@”Hillary Clinton refused to talk about Ferguson or Michael Brown when questioned about it the other day during a book signing. Her book is called “Hard Choices”.”
LOL…you couldn’t make that up! And I stopped liking her when she said to a black congregation that the House was being “run like a plantation…and you know what I’m talking about.”
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Hillary Clinton is a joke!!
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Big Boi was keeping up with it and retweeting.
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@Zena: I am not surprised about Big Boi he is very outspoken, i wonder were Andre 3000 was? He is a father and something like this should concern him.
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I watched Iyanla Fix My Life she was in Ferguson and talking with a group of young black men who were protesters in the Ferguson crisis she was trying to come up with solutions to quell the unrest in the town, rapper Benzino from the reality show “Love and Hip Hop” she ask Benzino to get the word out to the Hip Hop artist and try to get them to come to Ferguson to come have dialouge with the young brothers in that town who are just frustrated and angry. This gave me some pause, in my opinion the music that comes from that genre is very misogynist, and most of it encourages violence. They(rappers) need to clean up what they messed up. I saw a post about top rappers joining forces for #Mike Brown Don’t Shoot.
I wonder how this will work. Will this be a positive change? I can only hope that this will be something positive. The hip-hop community could influence the younger members of the Ferguson community but my hope and wish is that they would do this in a positive way, not encourage violence. It is not my desire to paint all hiphop artist with the same dirty paint brush i know there are some conscious rappers that promote positive messages. But they don’t really have much influence. I am curious have this will all turn out.
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^^^I am curious how this will work out^^
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Another thing that annoyed me is the way so many of these black entertainers all came out [b]IN FORCE[/b] to do this ALS ice bucket challenge thing, a disease which affects around 93% white folk, as disease we will rarely get.
And there is nothing wrong with that, but that help does not go bother ways.
I don’t want whites to get diseases, but why are these black celebs rushing to put out the fire in another persons house, when our house is burning down ?
They did this at the HEIGHT of the riots in Fergsuon, You name em, Oprah, Will Smith,Micheal Jordan,LeBron, Dre, Jamie Foxx, Denzel, Rihanna, Charles Barkley, Drake.
When cops get off black peoples ass, and get black people out of living in the mud, and when they want us to live, work, eat, play, study anywhere we want. Hell, I’ll pour a bucket of ice of my head.
And I think the timing is very peculiar, at the time of a racial uprising in ferguson, all of suddent black people are pouring ice on their heads, what ? To make it seem like black people ain’t tripping about the riots and the racial issues are not that serious.
Godamit. They are sending people from the UN (Quiet as it’s kept) human rights ppl, checking to see the situation with blk people in the US, yet they put ice on their head ?
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@ TheHipHopRecords
I was thinking the same thing. I was going to put it in this post, but it was hard enough cutting it down to 500 words as it was.
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I wondered if the ALS ice bucket challenge was something to divert the attention from the Ferguson crisis.
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I’m sorry, I don’t necessarily think a celebrity should have to say anything. Now a politician is a different story…
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Clutch Magazine looked at how celebrities tweeted on the Charleston Massacre:
http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2015/06/todays-top-black-artists-mostly-silent-on-charleston-shooting/
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^OMG… Chris Brown’s Tweets on the day of
#TeamBREEZY I’m back in Vegas for EDC weekend, @draislv this Saturday 6/20. #draislive Buy your tix at http://goo.gl/igG2Xc
9:25 PM – 17 Jun 2015
637 637 Retweets 1,230 1,230 favorites
Second Tweet
new video FOAF bitches and marijuana!!!! @Tyga
1:50 AM – 18 Jun 2015
Thanks for for putting the victims before your self promotion. SMH
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not exactly a tweet but that’s not the point. the point is the public declaration about where you stand. i don’t know a thing about Janelle Monae but she seems like quality,just going by this:
http://pitchfork.com/news/60808-janelle-monae-cut-off-during-the-today-show-performance/
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Rereading this post, against the backdrop of the All-White Oscars and the presidential campaigns. So, so, so sad.
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