AfroSpear in the News

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 04/05/13 (Kyev Tatum)

2013-04-05T15:11:00.000+01:00

Title Field (above): Publication, Date MM/DD/YY (Blogger Name, Blog Name) A Message From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial Board | April 5, 2013 Arlington school conflict puts civil-rights group in bad light: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/04/05/4753733/arlington-school-conflict-puts.html FORT WORTH, TEXAS - The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is a hallowed name in the annals of American civil-rights history, having been co-founded by a group of dedicated leaders that included its first president, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The very nature of the nonviolent movement the group started, growing out of the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott of 1955-56, dictated that those demanding civil rights had to exhibit an uncanny display of civility even in the midst of humiliating and retaliatory circumstances. They were taught how to resist without taking on the traits of their abusers. That lesson appears not to have been learned -- at least not well enough -- by the leader of the organization's local chapter, the Rev. Kyev Tatum. Or so he demonstrated in a squabble with the Arlington school district. Tatum, a graduate of Fort Worth's Trimble Technical High School and the University of North Texas, shows a passion for education and seems to be concerned about the education and fair treatment of all children. Most recently, he has been advocating "school choice" as an alternative to public schools that he thinks are failing youngsters, particularly those of color. But while institutions need to hear from critics as well as advocates -- even those who agitate and irritate -- Tatum often goes too far. He did so recently with a racially tinged insult to an Arlington school board member and a toothless call for a boycott of the city's merchants. The spat stems from a January incident in which an Arlington junior high special education teacher admitted pouring pencil shavings into the mouth of a sleeping black student. The teacher is white. Arlington school officials reprimanded and suspended the teacher for two weeks initially, and she was later placed on leave when the student's parent made additional claims. Because it's a personnel matter, district officials haven't made many details public. But Tatum has been quick to claim that the district is infected with "institutional racism," though he offers little to substantiate the assertion. According to a Star-Telegram news report, Tatum sent an email to a Hispanic trustee, calling the board member "an arrogant Mexican racist," and at Tuesday night's board meeting Tatum advocated a boycott of Arlington. Surely the minister realizes that he damaged his credibility by resorting to a racist comment that crossed the important line of civility. The Arlington school district might have systemic issues, but Tatum has not provided evidence of specific problems that can be addressed. Nor has he offered a credible reason why the city should be boycotted -- or, more important, how such a drastic economic action would help children. For the sake of the district as a whole, and especially for its more than 64,000 students, the adults in this situation should exhibit exemplary leadership. Open, honest and constructive dialogue are needed, not destructive confrontation or grandstanding. By coincidence, Thursday's school board meeting occurred on the 45th anniversary of King's assassination. Under King's guidance, the SCLC was better than this.

CBS, 02/21/13 (Kyev Tatum)

2013-02-21T13:06:00.000+00:00

The 8th grade student at Boles Jr. High School in Arlington says a teacher poured the pencil shavings in his mouth in January. The teacher was handed down a brief suspension following the incident, but has since returned to work. Local Civil Rights Activist Kyev Tatum is representing the family in the case and says the complaint charges the district didn’t handle the teachers actions appropriately, that the boy involved was discriminated against because of his race and disability, and that the school was trying to coverup the whole thing. Read the media story here.

NPR (KCRW Los Angeles), 02/02/13 (Wayne Bennett, Field Negro)

2013-02-01T13:50:00.000+00:00

Are the Gun Battle Lines Being Redrawn? Guns have been part of American culture since the beginning, but outrage over the latest atrocity has strengthened the chances for gun control. How does the debate in Washington sound in the inner cities—where gun violence is a daily fact of life?

Fort Worth Weekly, 01/16/13 (Eddie Griffin, Rev. Kev Tatum)

2013-01-19T11:48:00.000+00:00

Turning Off the Spigot

Texas has changed its tune on turning kids into criminals, but Fort Worth may be lagging behind.

Read the media story here.

Black Enterprise Media, 5/30/2012 (The Field Negro, Wayne Bennett)

2012-06-06T15:26:00.000+01:00

Black Blogger Month: The Field Negro's Wayne Bennett - As creator of The Field Negro, Wayne Bennett uses his blog to initiate critical thinking and dialogue within the Black community about a wide range of issues relevant to people of color. See the YouTube video here.

NY Times, 05/12/12 (Rev. Kyev Tatum)

2012-05-14T12:45:00.002+01:00

New District in Texas Promises a Scramble for Congress

Read the media story here.

Star Telegram, 05/10/12 (Rev. Kyev Tatum)

2012-05-10T13:22:00.000+01:00

Congressional District 33 candidates JR Molina, Kathleen Hicks, Chrysta Castaneda, Carlos Quintanilla and Rev. Kyev Tatum speak at the Conversation with the Candidates on the Tarrant County College South campus Thursday, May 10, 2012. Candidates Jason Roberts and Steve Salazar are not pictured but were on the sides of the stage.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/05/10/3952396/district-33-candidates.html#storylink=cpy

Read the media story here. Visit Pastor Tatum's blog.

WAFF.com, 03/01/12 (Shawn Williams, Dallas South, Rev. Kev Tatum) by Brad Watson

2012-03-01T10:02:00.000+00:00

Read the media story here.

Star-Telegram, 01/17/2012 (Eddie Griffin, EDDIE G. GRIFFIN (BASG))

2012-01-17T09:46:00.000+00:00

Read the media story here.

AfroSpear blogger Eddie Griffin is pictured with the newly selected FWISD Supt. Walter Dansby in the Star-Telegram.

AfroSpear Police Brutality Blog ranks 8th Among Top 100

2011-09-09T09:16:00.000+01:00

Even after afrosphere blogger Francis L. Holland, Esq. refused to publicize the Political Justice Degrees website in exchange for their linking to this blog, they have nonetheless selected this Police Brutality (and Atrocity) Blog as number eight among 100 "Police and Detective Blogs". This is particularly significant in light of the their criteria for selecting blogs for this list.

The Criminal Justice Degrees Guide says:

Criminal justice is perhaps one of the the most broad reaching fields of study in education today. It incorporates not only the topics that immediately come to mind such as law enforcement, corrections and the courts, but also political history, social issues, psychology and civil liberties among many others. This diversity of issues makes criminal justice dynamic but it also makes it dizzyingly complex for someone trying to educate themselves in justice issues. Consequently, we have compiled this list to help anyone involved in the criminal justice field — including academics, practitioners and students — find information and resources about their niche, as well as any other aspect of criminal justice.

Police and Detective Blogs
Get a feel for what it’s like to police the streets in some of the world’s toughest cities by checking out this list.

Our Police Brutality (and Atrocity Blog) is number eight among the list of 100 blogs.

I say 'our blog' because this blog is a compendium of cases, incidents and atrocities supplied by dozens of primarily but not solely AfroSpear and afrosphere blogs from across the country and overseas. The blogs include African American Pundit; the Tasered While Black blog; the Field Negro blog; Electronic Village; Eddie G. Griffin, BASG; Granny Standing for Truth; the Excited Delirium anti-electrocution blog, the national Color of Change group that brings hundreds of thousands of voices to bear through online petitions and fundraising for brutality victims, as well as hundreds of other blogs and organizations.

When I started the Police Brutality Blog, it was with the goal of doing what the Black Panther Paper did four decades ago: it made local examples of color-aroused injustice into national outrages that stiffened all of our resolve to dismantle what was once called "racism" and is now called "color-aroused injustice." If the Black Panthers had had the electronic resources that we do now, they would have had two million followers on Facebook, including the FBI and the local and state police departments as avid readers.

Ironically, the Police Brutality Blog has become a place where both police and their brutality victims, as well as students of the police/public interface, can encounter opposing views about cases without this resulting in violence and arrests. But, I admit that I feel safer writing this blog about American injustice from Brazil than from Boston or Newark. I would hate to be stopped driving while Black, for the officer to then realize I was the man helping to turn obscure local police brutality into nationally and internationally repulsive police injustice cases.

The blog's site meter "referrals" information suggests that the blog has a heterochromatic national and international audience, since many visitors come from sites that are not primarily accessed by people with beige, brown or black skin.

The most important things we are to support local Black accused support groups, as well as national Black accused support groups like Color of Change, and individuals like Kelly Williams-Bolar:

Kelley Williams-Bolar, the Ohio mother who was convicted of a felony after allegedly misleading authorities and sending her children to a school outside her district. We just learned that Ohio Governor John Kasich granted Williams-Bolar executive clemency, reducing her convictions from felonies to misdemeanors. Gov. Kasich took this action despite the fact that Friday, the Ohio parole board made a unanimous recommendation against any form of clemency.

By bringing local cases to national attention, we bring a new level of scrutiny, embarrassment and public responsibility to local police officers and police forces, who realize that there might well be a digital camera capturing their behavior and spreading it worldwide. More than ever before we who fight color-aroused injustice can say to local police forces that, "The whole world is watching."

The Root, Jack & Jill Politics, Field Negro

2011-04-22T17:55:00.001+01:00

Behind the Keyboard: 30 Black Bloggers You Should Know

Read the media story here.

Fast Company, 3/23/10 (Cheryl Contee, Jack and Jill Politics)

2011-03-23T10:34:00.001+00:00

Oxfam, Greenpeace, the ACLU, MomsRising -- nonprofits and grassroot groups big and small have tapped Cheryl Contee to apply tech solutions to the activist arena.

The Fission Strategy founder also pens the top-ranked African-American politics blog, Jack and Jill Politics, which she launched in 2006.

Read the media story here.

White House Blog, 10/13/10 (Leutisha Stills, Jack and Jill Politics)

2010-10-13T12:42:00.000+01:00

President Barack Obama, accompanied by Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, drops by the African American Online Summit, October 11, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

On Monday, the White House hosted its first African American Online Summit, which brought together a group of programming leaders from the African American online media world for an in-depth briefing and discussion about how the Administration is approaching important issues such as jobs, the economy, health care, education, community investment, civil rights and civil liberties, and the First Lady's Let's Move! initiative.

The AfroSpear's Jack and Jill blog was one of the participants.

Read the media story here.

Fort Worth Weekly, 06/25/10 (Eddie Griffin, Eddie Griffin BASG)

2010-06-25T13:36:00.004+01:00

Tea Parties, Racism and Eddie Griffin

by Gayle Reaves
When Eddie Griffin wrote back in March in the Weekly’s 2nd Thought space about the racism reported on behalf of protesters during the debate over the healthcare reform bill, his column drew a lot of response, including from folks who dared him to prove that the Tea Partiers and others had ever indeed displayed any bigotry. A few days ago, Eddie sent along a message in reply:

“My last article in the Weekly was highly criticized by some of your readers, even several weeks after publication,” he wrote. They ask for proof that there is racism in the Tea Party. Here is a montage of pictures that are proof for those who can bear the truth.”

Read the media story here.

Dallas Morning News, 06/08/10 (Shawn Williams, Dallas South)

2010-06-08T21:15:00.000+01:00

Shawn P. Williams: Budget woes a chance to remake libraries

Read the media story here.

WFAA 8 Inside Texas Politics, 05/27/10 (Shawn Williams, Dallas South)

2010-05-27T21:21:00.000+01:00

Title Field (above): Publication, Date MM/DD/YY (Blogger Name, Blog Name) Author(s) of the article:

Starts at -10:07

Twin Cities Daily Planet, 5/21/2010 (Field Negro)

2010-05-23T14:15:00.000+01:00

Clouds Forming, by Erik Hare. That's why I love the blog "Field Negro" so much. Field, as he's known to his fans, has the sense of reality that it takes to call out the (CowPuckey) of blame beating by those who are in positions of power and their lackeys. Because of his handle and his unabashed way of writing about racial issues, Field is often cited as a "Black blogger." What he is, however, is a first-class detector of blame deflection and an excellent student of history. If you want to write about the past and future of repression there's really no other perspective to take - which is why everyone should read Field.

Read the full Twin Cities Daily Planet editorial here.

Ft. Worth Star Telegram, 05/15/10 (Rev. Kyev Tatum)

2010-05-15T19:36:00.003+01:00

Fort Worth offers $2 million to settle lawsuit over Taser death

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/05/15/2190966/fort-worth-offers-2-million-to.html#ixzz0o7SSsaqS

The Rev. Kyev Tatum, a local organizer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, has referred to Tasers as "torture devices." He said the legal settlement was a "giant step," but the group remains opposed to the use of Tasers.

Read the media story here.

Fort Worth Weekly, 03/31/10 (Eddie Griffin, Eddie Griffin BASG)

2010-03-31T18:50:00.001+01:00

Unhealthy Rhetoric

The healthcare vote was historic, but it was the racism that brought back painful history.

When the healthcare reform bill passed the U.S. House last week by a vote of 220 to 211, it wasn’t hard to find things in it to oppose. This indeed is not a miracle cure. It won’t stop insurance companies from jacking up rates, for instance, but maybe folks like my 85-year-old mother will at least get a break on the cost of her prescription drugs.

Read the media story here.

Dallas Morning News, 3/29/2010 (Michael Davis)

2010-03-29T23:30:00.000+01:00

Vice chairman of Dallas plan commission defends Lowest Greenville. This weekend, Michael Davis posted a long defense of Lowest Greenville, a place he sees getting a bad rap. Davis is Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway's appointee to the city's Plan Commission and now serves as its vice chairman.

Read the Dallas Morning News review here. Read the full Dallas Progress article here.

NOTE: Michael Davis is a long-time member of The AfroSpear.

Chicago Tribune, 6/7/2008 (Wayne Bennett, Eddie Griffin)

2010-03-19T15:45:00.000+00:00

Black Activists Go Blogging in Challenging Status Quo. The first time Eddie Griffin set out to fight for civil rights, back in 1972, he joined the Black Panthers, picked up a gun and robbed a bank in Ft. Worth. The crime landed him in federal prison for 12 years. Today, Griffin's weapon is an Internet blog. And his incisive commentary regularly lands him atop the rankings of the most influential African-American bloggers devoted to issues of racial justice and equality.

"As activists, we can be so much more effective now," Griffin said. "We are not alienating a lot of people like we did back then. And we've learned some things over the years in the art of communication. One thing I learned in prison was to write persuasive arguments."

Read the full Chicago Tribune article here.

SoulBrother v2, 1/7/2010 (Wayne Hicks)

2010-01-07T17:45:00.001+00:00

Why Do We Do What We Do?: A Question for the Black Blogger. ...However, during the winter break I began a special project. Wayne Hicks of The Electronic Village and the AfroSpear blog think tank and network had been keeping the Black Blog Rankings (BBR) which ranked blogs owned and operated by African Americans. However, because of changes in the rating system at Technorati, he decided to discontinue the BBR. I asked could I pick up where he left off, and he graciously gave me permission.

Read the full blog post here.

Jeff Farias Show, 12/09/09 (Eddie Griffin, Eddie Griffin BASG)

2009-12-09T10:54:00.000+00:00

at 5:30 PM MST Eddie Griffin is a child rights advocate, community activist, and bible class teacher in Fort Worth, Texas.

“I am a 63-year old African-American retired corporate executive of a civil engineering firm. I volunteer on the school district’s advisory team, and serve on my congressman’s economic summit, and on the county ex-offendered re-entry initiative. In the 1970s, I was a member of the Black Panther Party, and was named a prisoner of conscious in 1977 by the World Peace Council, Helsinki, Finland, and by the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus.”

We will discuss his international work campaigning against tasering, Taser marketing & ‘less-lethal‘ militarization.

To hear Eddie Go To 90:00-100:00

Ultimate Video Relay, 10/22/2009 (Electronic Village, Wayne Hicks)

2009-11-20T15:15:00.000+00:00

Taser Death.October 2009. In San Bernardino. UPDATE ! Victim Identified. UPDATE: Victim identified as 19-year old FRANK CLEO SUTPHIN. Prayers. Another taser death. Just say 43 shot to death in 43 weeks. That is the truth of it. Shot with ??? Doesn't matter. They were shot by LE. Tasers are deadly. blessings to all. love.

Read the media story here.

Grand Rapids News, 11/17/2009 (Electronic Village, Wayne Hicks)

2009-11-17T16:00:00.001+00:00

Taser-related deaths in 2009 include two Michigan teens; company says devices reduce injuries. Although Tasers were used in the arrest of a 30-year-old man in East Grand Rapids on Monday night, they have not been confirmed as playing a role in his death. The Electronic Village Web site documents 47 taser-related deaths in the U.S. in 2009. Two of them were in Michigan.

Read the full Grand Rapids News article here.