42 Laws of Maat Under Kemet Law and Goddess Maat

TBR-Reference
Kemet is the name the native African people of the country now known as Egypt called themselves in their surviving writings. Many scholars refer to the people as "kmt" or Kemet. The surviving artifacts of the Kemet viziers and scribes evidence that Kemet rule of law was “Maat,” contained at least in part in observing the 42 Laws of Maat.

The Goddess Maat as the Cosmological Origin of Kemet Rule of Law

Heliopolis-era creation stories from the Kemet people report that in the beginning Atum emerged from the Isfet (chaos) of Nu (primordial waters). Atum created the god Shu (personification of air/cool dryness) and goddess Tefnut (personification of moisture) from Nu. Shu is depicted in the Kemet iconography as an ostrich feather.

Under Kemet cosmology, Maat is designed to avert chaos (Isfet) and maintain truth (Maat). The symbol for truth, justice, balance, and order is the Goddess Maat. The iconography for Maat in the hieroglyphs depict the single ostrich feather (Shu), worn atop Goddess Maat’s head.

During the reign of Pharaoh Menes, around 2925 B.C.E., after the unification of upper and lower Kemet, archaeological finds evidence administration of the 42 Laws of Maat among the Kemet people as deduced from Kemet coffin texts or funerary papyri dating from this period.

The Duat, the Hall of Two Truths, and the Weighing the Ka (Heart)

The duat (underworld as the place for judgment) is where the popular Kemet funerary scene of the Hall of Two Truths is depicted in the various versions of the “Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Papyrus of Ani,” edited by E.A. Wallis Budge. A closer interpretation of the title from the Kemet language is said to be “Book of Coming Forth by Day.” The Budge translation was a funerary text written for the "coming forth" of Kemet scribe Ani.

In Chapter 30B of The Papyrus of Ani entitled “Chapter for Not Letting Ani’s Heart Create Opposition Against Him, in the Gods’ Domain,” we see the deceased scribe standing before his own heart/soul (ka) on the scale of Maat. On the opposite scale is the Goddess Maat’s feather of truth (Shu). The head of the Goddess Maat is depicted atop the scales of justice. Thoth, also known by other names such as Tehuti, stands holding a tablet and a writing tool to record the results from the scales. The ibis-headed Thoth is the patron saint of Maat scribes and priests.

Petitioner Announces the 42 Divine Principles of the Maat

In Chapter 125 of The Papyrus of Ani, we find the petitioner led by Anubis into duat and pronouncing his/her 42 affirmative declarations, listed below from Budge’s public domain translation of the 42 Divine Principles of Maat:



I have not committed sin.

I have not committed robbery with violence.

I have not stolen.

I have not slain men or women.

I have not stolen food.

I have not swindled offerings.

I have not stolen from God/Goddess.

I have not told lies.

I have not carried away food.

I have not cursed.

I have not closed my ears to truth.

I have not committed adultery.

I have not made anyone cry.

I have not felt sorrow without reason.

I have not assaulted anyone.

I am not deceitful.

I have not stolen anyone’s land.

I have not been an eavesdropper.

I have not falsely accused anyone.

I have not been angry without reason.

I have not seduced anyone’s wife.

I have not polluted myself.

I have not terrorized anyone.

I have not disobeyed the Law.

I have not been exclusively angry.

I have not cursed God/Goddess.

I have not behaved with violence.

I have not caused disruption of peace.

I have not acted hastily or without thought.

I have not overstepped my boundaries of concern.

I have not exaggerated my words when speaking.

I have not worked evil.

I have not used evil thoughts, words or deeds.

I have not polluted the water.

I have not spoken angrily or arrogantly.

I have not cursed anyone in thought, word or deeds.

I have not placed myself on a pedestal.

I have not stolen what belongs to God/Goddess.

I have not stolen from or disrespected the deceased.

I have not taken food from a child.

I have not acted with insolence.

I have not destroyed property belonging to God/Goddess.

After the petitioner’s testimony containing the 42 affirmative declarations, the weighing of the ka for truth, and the reading of the scales, it is said that the doer of Maat is administered Maat. If the petitioner is deemed by the Goddess Maat to be in substantial compliance with the 42 Laws of Maat the petitioner passes from duat to the Field of Reeds (Arus) where Osiris sits as the final gatekeeper.



References:



"Maat the Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt," by Maulana Karenga (Sankore Publisher, 2006).

"The Book of the Dead," edited by E.A. Wallis Budge (Gramercy Publisher, 1995).

“Maxims of Good Discourse” writings of the notable Kemet vizier and scribe Ptah-Hotep (accounting of some procedural laws under Maat).

General Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for legal or tax advice.


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Posted on Nov 1, 2009

With Gov. Pat McCrory in the audience, Colin Powell blasts North Carolina's racist voter law

TBR-Special to TBR, Daily KOS

by Meteor Blades Aug 22, 2013 9:32am PDT

A Republican who thinks North Carolina Republicans are making a big mistake.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell was the keynote speaker at the CEO Forum in Raleigh, North Carolina, Wednesday evening. After introductory remarks, Republican Gov. Pat McCrory left the stage to listen to the retired general from the audience. Last month, McCrory signed into law new voter restrictions that will make it harder for the poor, disabled, student and minority voters to cast ballots. He did not address the law in his remarks. Powellsaid:

"I want to see policies that encourage every American to vote, not make it more difficult to vote," said Powell, a Republican, at the CEO Forum in Raleigh.

"It immediately turns off a voting block the Republican Party needs," Powell continued. "These kinds of actions do not build on the base. It just turns people away." [...]

"You can say what you like, but there is no voter fraud," Powell said. "How can it be widespread and undetected?"

Powell, who served under President George W. Bush, also said the new law sends the wrong message to minority voters. "What it really says to the minority voters is ... 'We really are sort-of punishing you,'" he said.

Of course, McCrory, the Republican-dominated state legislature, and similarly minded legislatures elsewhere will blow off Powell's criticisms. Just as they have blown off the same criticisms from others. The goal is still to suppress enough votes to shave a few percentage points from the Democratic tally, enough in some races to throw the victory to Republican candidates. If they can get away with that, and the U.S. Supreme Court has made that effort easier with its Shelby decision, then they will continue to do so no matter what Powell and other highly placed critics have to say.

Please join Daily Kos by urging Congress to save the Voting Rights Act by creating a new preclearance formula.

How to Get Two More Votes Against "Big Brother"

TBR-Rep. Alan Grayson 

Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives came very close to ending the National Security Agency's unconstitutional and illegal surveillance of every American. An amendment to do just that fell a few votes short.

The "intelligence community" pulled out all the stops to defeat this amendment. Members of Congress were told that if we did not allow the military to collect enormous quantities of data on every single American citizen, the next "9/11" would be on our conscience. NSA General Keith Alexander held four hours of secret briefings on the Hill, just before the vote. Republicans Michele Bachmann and Tom Cotton treated the amendment as though it were the End of Days. Bush-era counterterrorism officials who failed to prevent the 9/11 attacks swore that domestic spying is necessary to prevent new 9/11 attacks. (In the world of counterterrorism, apparently, failure makes you an expert.) Even the White House, sadly, weighed in in favor of continued pervasive domestic surveillance.

Despite this, 111 Democrats -- a majority of all the Democrats in the House -- joined 94 Republicans and voted to end domestic spying. That's 205 votes against the secret surveillance state. Among the votes against surveillance was Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, the original author of the Patriot Act, and highly respected among right-wing Republicans on national security issues. Even some of the Members who voted wrong on this amendment clearly were with us in spirit, but they were cowed by the fear of being blamed for some hypothetical future terrorist attack.

This large number of House Members voting against the NSA was a stunning rebuke to the "intelligence community". This was the first vote on this issue, but not the last. To win, we need just 11 more House Members with the courage to stand up for our rights.

And I know how we can get two more: by electing them. One can come from a district in Massachusetts, which was vacated when former Congressman Ed Markey was elected to the U.S. Senate. Another can come from a district in Pennsylvania that is being vacated because the current officeholder is running for Governor.

I know candidates in both districts who have a realistic shot at winning these seats. Both candidates strongly oppose unconstitutional domestic surveillance, and both have said they would have voted with me in favor of ending it. I have mentioned one already -- Daylin Leach, from Pennsylvania. The other candidate is Carl Sciortino in Massachusetts, a state legislator who has opposed the expansion of state wiretapping authority.

Help me get two more votes for privacy and constitutionality. Donate to "Democrats Against Big Brother."

(Fmr.) Rep. Alan Grayson

And here's Leach on domestic spying:

"The NSA policy that the Amash Amendment attempted to rein in is an outrageous shifting of the historic balance between liberty and security. It abandons not only the requirement of individualized suspicion, but of any suspicion at all. It allows the government just to collect,en masse, the phone records of hundreds of millions of Americans. It allows the government to know who we call, when, and for how long we speak, every time we use the phone." 

And here's Sciortino:

"I have opposed pointless wiretapping in Massachusetts, and I will fight against it in Congress. Protecting individual liberties is something progressives must stand up and fight for. Unwarranted spying on law-abiding Americans is a violation of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution. I would have been proud to have voted in favor of reining in the NSA. Putting aside the fact that it is not even clear that this NSA policy is, in fact, making us safer, that broad justification is insufficient. The noble end does not justify ANY means. We as a people must be wary, not only of those who would make us less safe, but also those who would make us less free. We must defend our borders, and our liberties. And we must do so in an open, transparent and thoughtful way."

If we help elect Leach and Sciortino, that's two more votes to stop the NSA from spying on us. But more than that, if we can demonstrate to current Members of Congress that there is real support by voters and donors against this illegal surveillance, then we can win those Members over to our side. Right now, all too many of them get their campaign money from the Spying Industrial Complex ("SIC"). Let's prove that there are both money and votes on our side of this important issue.

Please contribute to the Leach and Sciortino campaigns today. Let's put more people in the People's House who will stand up for our freedoms.

Now, these are True Blue Democrats.

Courage,

Rep. Alan Grayson

P.S. Please share this on Facebook or Twitter.

James Irby, MS Blackman, still missing? Walls, MS police chief (Gary Boisseau) is fired under the intense scrutiny. NAACP introduces heavy allegations!

TBR Leighton Bradford Editor-in-Chief
On Saturday, May 4th, 2013, James Irby disappeared from the face of the earth! It was by chance I contacted the Baltimore, MD, NAACP HQ office, offering my services. I spoke with an old friend, and she referred me to Charles Hampton, Vice-President, legal redress committee, NAACP MS State Conference. Mr. Hampton’s tenacity and professionalism stood out immediately! Mr. Hampton cut right to the chase when spoken to,” James Irby had minor brushes with the law, I want to get his record?” “Walls, MS police department gave conflicting statements of James Irby’s location during the traffic stop,” said Mr. Hampton. Vice-President Hampton suggested an apparent cover up, by the Walls, MS police department. He asked me to help him continue with a fact-finding mission. Mr. Hampton mentioned the FBI’s involvement with the case. Agent Walter Henry, FBI civil rights division, would meet with Mr. Hampton in the near future.

On 6-3-13, I received a call from Mr. Hampton that the James Irby case was closed, and the Irby family was satisfied with FBI agent Henry’s findings.

What?

On 6-10-13, TBR contacted the mayor’s office, speaking with a Kathy Gordon, Town Clerk, City of Walls. “I heard he (Chief Boisseau) was going to give a press conference as well; I will forward your contact information.” “I will be quite honest, that’s all I know.” She never called back, so I contacted the departments Assistant Chief Harris, on 6-11-13, Assistant Chief Harris made the following comments:

TBR asked Assistant Chief Harris, "Is Mr. Irby still missing?“ "James Irby is still missing?" "Where did officer Zack Jenkins pull Mr. Irby over at"? “Highway 61 southbound-south of church road/near Brentwood manufacturing facility.” “Officer Zack Jenkins said he ran across north bound traffic fleeing incident.” “Got cadaver dogs (2), they followed trail towards Highway 61 southbound were the trail ended.” “I think someone probably picked him up?” “I will provide you with police report."

On 6-17-13, I met with Assistant Chief Harris at the Walls, MS police department office. He had a difficult time explaining where his officer pulled Mr. Irby over. I explained the concerns the NAACP had with the excessive number of African-Americans/Memphians being pulled over. After retrieving the police report I left.

The intrigue started to build. Why would an individual admit to driving issues, light up a cigarette, get on the cell phone with a family member, and then run into a southern marsh? A later conversation with Mr. Hampton revealed the continued impounding of the Irby’s family vehicle (1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass, green in color, MS tag). A number of people following the case found it peculiar officer Zack Jenkins was placed on leave, right after the Irby incident. On 6-8-13 I was pulled over by a Desoto county sheriffs deputy Coleman, after we dispensed with the pleasantries, and I was told I drove to close to a routine traffic stop, he asked me about the James Irby matter. He was told it was an ongoing investigation. I realized MS law enforcement new I was on the map. The Officer who pulled me over let me go. Yeah interesting? I went out the next day just to get a reference as to the topography of the presumed location of the traffic stop. Imagine acres of farmland, an adjacent marsh in the near distance, and Brentwood manufacturing plant off to the side. Where did Mr. Irby end up or go? Anyone else would have halted an investigation after the Irby family said they were satisfied. Mr. Hampton was not easily swayed. FBI agent Henry, reviewed videotape of Officer Jenkins stopping James Irby, later surmising no apparent wrongdoing. Several people presented a wide array of unanswered questions. And then a bombshell was revealed to TBR on 7-19-13, Walls, MS police Chief Gary Boisseau, was let go! VP Hampton hinted around or suggest a misappropriation of approximately $5300, from the aforementioned police department!  “I am in contact with a man from Florida who claims Walls, MS police stole $300.00 from him when pulled over.” I know my readers want to know if the department is shaking people down during traffic stops. I will continue to research this very issue.

On 7-24-13 at 1630 I received a returned call from the interim chief.

I asked the following questions: (1) Are you now the chief of police? Yes I am the interim chief. (2) Why was the past chief let go? The mayor called a special session removing Chief Gary Boisseau. He handed me his keys as he left the building.

Desoto County Sheriff’s Office, Officer Lent Rice, informed TBR the department did assist with a department helicopter and hydro-tek (amphibious vehicle) in the search for Mr. James Irby. “Mr. Irby is still missing” said Officer Lent Rice. Sheriff Rasco said his department will help authorities with any of the department’s available resources. The NAACP State Conference president and vice-president are planning a detailed news conference at a later date. There may have been some vandalism to Mr. James Irby vehicle as well? TBR will inform its readers, when the NAACP convenes a news conference.

Uncle Sam = Big Brother?‏ Rep. Alan Grayson's Eloquent Call To Action!

TBR-special to TBR Rep. Alan Grayson

In George Orwell's novel 1984, "Big Brother" is the dictator of Oceania. No one knows whether Big Brother is a real person, or simply the personification of the dictatorship. Big Brother spies on every citizen through "telescreens." Everyone is reminded constantly, "Big Brother is Watching You." Let's compare that to the recent revelations about the Orwellian-named National Security Agency (NSA), an arm of the U.S. Department of Defense. News reports in the Guardian and the Washington Post have uncovered a secret court order dated April 23, 2013, issued to Verizon. Verizon is the largest cell phone company in America. The court order requires Verizon to give to the NSA "all call detail records or ‘telephony metadata' created by Verizon for communications (i) between the United States and abroad; or (ii) wholly within the United States, including local telephone calls. " "Call detail records" are records of who you called, when you called, and how long you spoke.

The court order in the news reports is classified, and it's marked "Declassify on: April 12, 2038."

There is no reason to think that the NSA singled out Verizon. So that implies that the NSA is collecting records of every telephone call that you and I make, even local telephone calls. In fact, Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who worked at the NSA, told reporters that he could get the records for the calls from the President's own personal cell phone.

The NSA has not denied that it is collecting call records on every America. On the contrary, the NSA sees nothing wrong with it.

I see three fundamental problems with this:

This is worse than the proverbial "fishing expedition"; this is like putting the entire ocean through a sieve. It makes a mockery of the Fourth Amendment's requirement that government searches be "particular."

This assumes not only that everyone is guilty until proven innocent, but that everyone is guilty. The Fourth Amendment limits searches to cases of "probable cause," meaning that a prudent and cautious person would reasonably believe that the search will yield evidence of a crime. Obviously, most phone records have absolutely nothing to do with the commission of any crime.

Providing this information to the Department of Defense violates the fundamental principle that our military does not operate on American soil, against American citizens. That principle has been embodied in law since the 1870s. From this perspective, providing this personal call record information to DoD is no different from providing it to the CIA - another agency that is not allowed to operate on US soil.

The news reports also reprinted five pages from an NSA PowerPoint presentation about the NSA's "Prism" program. According to that NSA presentation, the NSA collects information "directly from the servers of these U.S. Service Providers: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, Apple.""What information?", you may wonder. This information, according to the NSA presentation: "E-mail, Chat-video, voice, Videos, Photos, Stored data, VoIP [Voice over Internet Protocol], File transfers, Video Conferencing, Notifications of target activity - logins, etc., Online Social Networking details [and] Special Requests."

The PowerPoint presentation in the news reports is classified, and it's marked "Declassify On: 20360901" (Meaning Sept. 1, 2036.)

The plain meaning of this, in the context of the presentation, is that the NSA is pulling unlimited amounts of e-mails from Microsoft's hosted Hotmail accounts, e-mails from Google's hosted Gmail accounts, search records from Google's search servers, private "friend" communications from Facebook's servers, the content of telephone calls from Skype's VoIP service, etc., etc.

Regarding the Prism program, despite what the presentation specifically states, the NSA contends that it cannot actually collect information directly from the servers of all those internet service providers. The NSA also has put out that it collects such information (e-mails, photos, call content, etc.) only for foreigners not residing in the United States. Honestly, I don't know how the NSA could do that in any reliable manner, because Google, Microsoft, Facebook and all the others have no way of knowing your citizenship or your residence. But that's what the NSA is saying.

The bottom line is that the NSA evidently is getting call information on virtually every phone call by virtually every American, it is definitely getting the e-mails and call content of foreigners, and it may or may not be getting the e-mails and call content of Americans.

So is Uncle Sam actually Big Brother? I won't dwell on the convoluted intimate relations that would be necessary to make your uncle also your brother. Rather, as noted above, the essence of Big Brother was that "Big Brother is Watching You." Uncle Sam isn't physically observing you at all times - that much is true. But if Uncle Sam is receiving information about every phone call that you make (as the NSA concedes), and Uncle Sam has access every other electronic communication of yours, including your e-mails and web browsing and storing it all (which the NSA disputes), then yes, Big Brother is Watching You.

I think that it's wrong, and it has to end. As do the 13,000 people in 24 hours who signed the petition supporting our legislation at www.MindYourOwnBusinessAct.com. Because we can't protect our freedom by destroying it.

I understand that there may be some people who see no problem in the Department of Defense monitoring their communications. I also understand that there are some people who have been so traumatized, so terrorized, by terrorism that they are willing to give up all of their freedom - all of everyone's freedom - for the promise of some safety.

I am not one of those people.

Click here for freedom: http://MindYourOwnBusinessAct.com/

Courage,

Rep. Alan Grayson

"Ain't the pictures enough, why do you go through so much,

To get the story you need, so you can bury me.

You've got the people confused. You tell the stories you choose.

You try to get me to lose the man I really am.

-Michael Jackson, "Privacy" (2001).

P.S. I'll say it again -- Please, please, please forward this to your friends, and urge them to sign the petition. Twitter, Facebook, everywhere.

"King Maker" A Crafted Message Within Politics

Mr. Leighton Bradford, Dr. Bradford, and President Clinton.

TBR Leighton Bradford Editor-in-Chief
I look back on my days with the Clinton/Gore campaign and marvel at the once in a lifetime opportunity. We slept on cots, ate very little, and attempted to matriculate through college. I remember how gracious President Clinton was to his staff and well-wishers. I was still attending classes at ASU in my BDU's, raising hell with my professors, and writing for the AZ Informant newspaper. The chair of the political science department requested my presence. I met with him, and he informed me I would be working with the Clinton/Gore campaign representing the college. I admired President Clinton and was excited about working with the campaign. The opportunity helped me forget the war or "Desert Storm". The people in my family wanted me to be nice and don't piss anyone off.

 I was a brash cat, always about justice and uplifting my race. How would I intertwine the ensuing opportunity with actual change? The thing that irritated me about most blacks in Arizona; had to be their bourgeoisie mentality or wealth or status is more important than equality, freedom, or a chance at an opportunity.  A crafted message within politics is what President Clinton and the AZ coordinated campaign had. It's what is lacking in the mid-south.

What I saw from President Clinton was not an act! While working with the President's advance team, I saw nothing but brothers, veterans & women securing his effects. It was not just about political theory or what I was studying, but the brass tacks of running a political campaign. We were called "King Makers"! A still have fond memories of Sam, Melodee, Beth, etc... I remember when Melodee told me I was the press avail coordinator, and we had to facilitate a visit from the actor Danny Devito! Man! I was like what? I never forgot what Mr. Devito told us, "Now listen, I don't want to be seen in a white limousine" "I'm serious Leighton".  I laughed my ass off but met his brother and he at the Hyatt regency, where Devito helped to raise $35,000 in one night! For the first time since 1948 (Truman) a democratic president won the state of Arizona!

 As Secretary Clinton's campaign ramps up, I am torn between the loyalty I have for the Clinton's, and my disagreement on but a few key issues. My country is reeling from economic woes and reality television. Well, the financial crisis is serious and has destroyed lives. As a heterosexual Christian your faith is truncated and turned against you. The DNC forces you to deal with absolutes. My experience with Mississippi has made me wonder how democrats ever won an election. A crafted message espouses a decent living wage, health care, veteran hiring, made in USA etc...  President Obama must not let extremist actions, destroy our civil liberties.  As a small business owner, I cringe at outsourcing and the claim that the veterans I served with in the USAF and went to college with, can't turn this thing around! Third party politics will be the demise of the aforementioned entity; unless OWS, Votevet.org, African Americans and the poor, are heard and integrated within the crafted message. We must not succumb to the modern industrial war complex, President Eisenhower foretold. The trenches of a campaign are in the mid-south. We must create parity along all lines of human endeavor. My dream of ending hunger and disease will be accomplished. Just hire my fellow American graduates and let us get to work!

Not on my campus‏! One judge called a GEO prison a "cesspool of unconstitutional and inhuman acts and conditions"

The GEO Group makes $1 billion a year running private prisons like these -- and now they want to spend some of that money to put their name on a stadium on my college campus, Florida Atlantic University.

TBR--Gonzalo Vizcardo

The private prison company the GEO Group has been found to run some of the most disgusting prisons in America. One judge called a GEO prison a "cesspool of unconstitutional and inhuman acts and conditions" -- places where children were placed in solitary confinement, guards sexually assaulted inmates, and prisoners regularly attempted suicide.

The GEO Group makes $1 billion a year running private prisons like these -- and now they want to spend some of that money to put their name on a stadium on my college campus, Florida Atlantic University.

This is not okay with me. I'm a student at FAU, and I will not see my university help a notorious prison corporation whitewash its name on the side of the tallest and most prominent building on my campus, which can be seen from the highly-trafficked I-95 highway and from the many office buildings and residential neighborhoods near my university. I started a petition on Change.org calling on FAU's President and Board of Trustees to reverse their deal with the GEO Group to license naming rights for a stadium on campus -- will you click here to sign?

Private prisons are hugely problematic, because they run prisons based on profits, not what's best for prisoners or for society. For example, an NPR investigation in 2011 found that GEO Group prisons have far fewer guards than government-run prisons. Prisoners have even died waiting for medical attention.

In fact, the GEO Group's prisons are so bad that the state of Mississippi kicked them out of the state entirely, as did Australia in 2003. I don't want their name on my university's stadium if an entire state and country kicked them out.

Students and professors on campus are angry -- we've staged protests at the university president's office, and she's even agreed to meet with us this Friday. I know that if enough people sign my petition, she and the Board of Trustees will see that giving the GEO Group good PR isn't worth all the bad PR they'll get for making this deal.

Click here to sign my petition calling on FAU's President and Board of Trustees to reverse their deal with the GEO Group to put their name on the side of a stadium on campus.



Thank you,

Gonzalo Vizcardo

Lake Worth, Florida

Soul Solace excerpt from e-book

TBR Leighton Bradford Editor-in-Chief
It’s funny how an individual’s mortality serves as a self-evaluating vehicle of your overall existence.  Ashes to ashes and dust to dust go us all. As I write, I reflect on the pictures sitting on my neglected desk, indicative of the sovereign winds, blowing in eternal change.  Life held ever so dear, only after it sponsors what makes the soul significant.  Sier rose from his semi-conscious state, as though he was Lazarus emerging from the grave.  Silence is all around the clinical walls, whitewashed, sterile, and indifferent.  The nurse begins to methodically check the brothers’ vitals as if nothing is new or different. 

A faint murmur comes from Sier.  A hushed silence pervades every aspect of the Intensive Care Unit.  Anxiety abounds, as our presumed hero un-asses fate and impending doom.  You can hear a pin drop in the room; a distant whimper is the only apparent thing that drowns out an uneasy stilled silence.  This brother dares to dream of life no doubt.  A life so neat, a life so fragile, all he seems to want is life.  “Sier! Please answer me!” “God almighty, help him, help him!”  “Dear Heavenly Father we are in need of your grace. A grace that will enable us to cope Father, Lord help this man, help him.” 

 Each page of life is turned towards judgement day.  The conceptual meaning warrants most people attention.  Tupac Shakur once said, “Niggas" gon hate you for whatever you do." Mandee remembers hearing Sier refer to Tupac’s quote.  The quote sits idle, as she gazes into the eyes of her bedridden man.  She ponders this phrase or gesture, Sier borrowed so frequently from “Pac.”  Her face resolute, but troubled; tears welled up in her lovely eyes.  Those eyes seem to be a mirror towards the soul, beyond a mere encroachment or physical trait. Will the window reveal her essence?  Shall our couple meet the fate that lies before them?  Please imagine Sier and Mandee sitting all alone in the hospital room, neither of them not knowing what lies ahead.  And the days wane not necessarily revealing its basic intent.

intellectual property of BE

Redefining Marriage Sign of a Lost Society

TBR - Star Parker contributor

One significant development in the recent election was votes in four states approving same sex marriage initiatives. Until now, all previous state referenda to approve same sex marriage – 32 of them - failed.

The Wall Street Journal editorial page – a place where conservatives usually turn for intellectual capital – saw this as cause for celebration.

According to the Journal, marriage definition should come from voters, not from court orders. Americans, they argue, have “shown themselves more than capable of changing their views on gay marriage the democratic way.” In other words, our definition of marriage should follow process, not principle. Let voters decide.  “As views on gay marriage change, and a growing number of Americans support it, politics will follow. This is how it’s supposed to work.”

I’d guess if I asked the Wall Street Journal editors if the American constitution should be viewed as a “living document” – if our understanding of its words and what they mean should be open to change to reflect attitudes of the moment – they would say “no.” Liberals think the constitution should be re-engineered every few years like an iPad. So it is not surprising when liberals, for whom tradition is meaningless, trash once sacred institutions in favor of impulses of the moment.

But it does surprise me when those whose politics are supposedly right-of-center, who view America’s founding documents as sacrosanct and give the highest priority to preserving their integrity, are cavalier regarding the integrity of an institution thousands of years older than our constitution.

But it’s a point of view not uncommon.

In other words, our definition of marriage should follow process, not principle. Let voters decide.
While Parker mocked the Journal’s editorial board for its “let voters decide” message, that is the exact same sentiment her allies in the Religious Right have expressed: Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage clearly stated that “we support letting voters decide this issue,” and Jeremy Dys of the Family Policy Council said “voters know that there is no legitimate reason not to let the people vote on the definition of marriage.” Apparently, anti-gay activists are only okay with voting if their side wins.
Parker went on to compare voting to legalize same-sex marriage to voting to enact slavery, arguing that they are both “evil” and lead to “moral chaos”:

In the 1850s, Stephen Douglas proposed solving the dilemma of whether slavery should be permitted in new states by suggesting that they should just vote. What could be more American than submitting the question of slavery to the democratic process of each state?

To this Abraham Lincoln observed: “God did not place good and evil before man telling him to make his choice. On the contrary, He did tell him there was one tree, of the fruit of which he should not eat, upon pain of certain death. … I should scarcely wish so strong a prohibition against slavery in Nebraska.”

Lincoln’s rejoinder to the idea of “popular sovereignty” – that states should vote to determine if slavery would be legal – was that there are core truths – truths that define right and wrong, good and evil – that precede the democratic process.

To reject this premise is to buy into moral chaos, which is what we are approaching today.

The claim that somehow it is a sign of a healthy, free society that by way of the vote we can rewrite our language, our dictionary, our oldest, time-tested traditions is a sign of how lost we are.

Same-sex marriage advocates argue that their efforts will save the embattled institution of marriage. But this takes a symptom of the disease and calls it a cure.

As American society has become more self-centered and materialistic, family and marriage have been imploding.

…

To deal with the crisis of the collapse of family and marriage by redefining what they are is the sign of a society losing its way.

Fortunately, America is still a free country. Individuals can make their own choices about how they choose to live.

But taking personal choices to deviate from our social standards of right and wrong, true and false, and decide to change those truths and standards, so that nothing is any longer considered deviant, is a bridge to nowhere.

“I am the law!” “You don’t tell me the law, I interpret the law!” Judge John A. Donald should be removed from bench!

TBR-Memphis, TN
As we approached the division 3 court room, the bailiff was sitting in the court reporters station, leaned back in a chair. He got up telling people or began instructing where not to stand and threatening to take cell phones. A diminutive man, barking at the court participants, as though he was at a carnival attraction! I looked at my contingent and was astounded at the lack of respect within the court room. This same individual attempted to intimidate me moments later, while taking the stand to testify. The overbearing bailiff sat on the court room divider, trying to stare down respondents, arms folded, hovering over folk. This same court official would not accept the portfolio containing evidence from a case, telling the judge, most did not report the evidence earlier. I soon began to realize the judge sanctioned his bailiff activities. Once judge John A. Donald entered the court room, that’s when the caustic lecturing and court decorum began to break down! “I am the law!” “You don’t tell me the law, I interpret the law!”

The lessor in judge John A. Donald’s is assured a win in the court. The realtor or business owner filing as a plaintiff, succeeded in every instance? Judge Donald yelled at a 7 month old pregnant African-American young lady suing for $200 dollars from a security deposit. In a condescending tone, he insulted the unfamiliar folk, just trying to seek justice. He quickly denied my attorney’s request for a motion of continuance to prepare for a trial, “I don’t know why you were allowed to continue this far,” said Judge Donald. We went to trial an hour and a half later approximately. An attorney explained he would be late assisting a client in the third circuit court proceeding. The judge said the attorney never gave him this information. The individual was forced to move forward with the case pro se, trying to put up a defense in lieu of his strange and belligerent behavior? He would not allow crucial evidence that would have exonerated the defense. Yelling at the top of his lungs “You aint no lawyer son!” During the trial; a lawyer was allowed to interrupt the trial and was granted a full motion, when certain attorney's were not? The constant belittling and lecturing, about his sole authority, was always at the fore front within the tribunal! The judge basically said that the law is as he deems, and not what society has mandated or ordained. In my opinion he needs to be removed from the bench, and under go an evaluation as to his judicial fitness. Not the mention totally ignoring the constitution?

Within one of the cases,  the judge basically said that three government agencies [Fire Department, City of Memphis Code Enforcement, & MLGW] had no relevance in the case. Mold, an identified gas leak, holes in the wall, faulty wiring, improper permit stance, material breach of a contract, fraud, no heat, half of the light fixtures inoperable, have no place in the aforementioned matter set before the court. A tenant has no rights whatsoever, and if you try to suggest otherwise, you will suffer the consequences.

 The aforementioned court official feels the tenant has no rights under "Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act." 66-28-102. Application. In one case they adamantly tried to discuss the unconscionable nature of the lease, the fact the supposed agent never accepted a payment from the defendants, or was not allowed to give relevant proof of payments made towards this issue. To include a code enforcement document the plaintiffs client had not complied with on the ensuing date of the trial.  Judge Donald would not  allow a defendant to provide an invoice from work performed, because of the identified slum lord would not make safety of life repairs. “Maintenance issues are not admissible in my court, its about the non-payment of rent,” said Judge John A. Donald.


 He adamantly sabotages an attempt for a respondent to engage a matter pro se.

My question is simple. Is judge John A. Donald working for an unspecified business group? His position seems to benefit a select group of business, engaging in deceptive business practices.

My Heavenly Father, Save My People!

TBR Leighton Bradford Editor-in-Chief
Since when does a person being released from prison, garner more respect and admiration than a Persian Gulf/Afghanistan veteran? The youths of today profile consist of sagging britches, tattoos, and an attitude. The stated value becomes a disturbing normative distinction, within the Black community. Malcolm X, Dr. King, Huey Newton/Bobby Seale, Angela Davis, Muhammad Ali, Ivan Van Sertima and Harriet Tubman did not fight for the aforementioned concept! While visiting some of my relatives, a distant kinfolk, described his felonious caper with the same pride a PGA tour pro sinking a hole in one! “Man! When Po Po pulled me over the 3 hundred had 10 keys nigga!” And this man was as sincere as a deacon in church. A 40+ year old man documenting the exploits of his sad existence!

President Obama and his lovely wife Mrs. Obama counter this contrived distinction. Aircraft mechanics, Pilots, Engineers, Hotel managers, entrepreneurs, teachers, trash collectors, dentists, and barbers/beauticians are noble professions, not drug dealing and being a so called “THUG”! Were the sit in’s at the lunch counter or protest’s at Edmund Pettis bridge, so that we may denigrate our culture to the point of biblical condemnation? We need to stop making drug dealers, ghetto super stars.  Work must begin on removing their kind from our communities.

 African-Americans must take control of their own destiny! People of color must refute stereo typical inner city motifs. White supremacist are exploiting inner city anguish, they are cool with our degraded plight! Black women tell your daughters it’s not okay to be promiscuous or have a number of kids out of marriage. The ultimate goal is a stable relationship! Black women tell your daughters not to cloud gender specified roles, it emasculates your sons. Tele-evangelist are afraid to condemn the ultra-feminizing of black men.  The end game is to lock up Black men and covet the womb of there race! Boycott foreign national business, that don’t support the Black community! Denounce jack leg preachers, who fail to properly interpret the bible, or condemn the sickness that surrounds their culture. We must refute vultures hovering over our short comings.

Herod Revisited

TBR Leighton Bradford Editor-in-Chief - originally published Houston/La Vida News

Popular culture is ever so reluctant to let Tupac Shakur go despite the death of the entertainer a short time ago. Is there any correlation between his death and the working towards the demise of other leaders? Are Black male leaders being purged from American society, making way for an ideal or premise that coincides with white supremacy?

 During the time of Jesus, a ruler by the name of Herod engaged in what was described as infanticide of male Hebrews. Ron Brown (Fmr. Secretary of Commerce), Tupac Shakur, Mickey Leland, El Hajj Malik Shabazz, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Marcus Garvey and Huey Newton are a number of Black men silenced for whatever reason.

What will this become, yet another conspiracy theory? Or will society come to grips with this disturbing trend? Another variable within this equation revolves around the high incarceration and death rate of Black men. How can a scholar or African leader live with the destruction of hope? There also remains the short list of Black men hemmed up over trumped-up charges and imprisoned because of it. If only we could see into the past, maybe the future. What would we do? Maybe adjust flaws of character, and bring back Moses? Are any of these acts or actions related? What measures will some take to keep power out of the hands of Africans? Geo-political destabilization of Africa and America may benefit a white supremacist ideal; our old friend divide and conquer rears its ugly head. The aforementioned issues suggest fault--I ask candidly, who is to blame? There is a belief that certain elements within American society are administering policies which seek to destroy or destabilize the American Black male.

Young Black men are not being nurtured to hold power. So similar are the tactics of Herod, attuned with the shadowy enemy of a would-be messiah. Is there a direct correlation between a male leader of African descent, and an effort to work towards his demise? In college, some taught the varying aspects of logic, be it deductive or inductive. Why not borrow from this concept and begin to look further in what has been suggested. Maybe it's a coincidence that so many Black male leaders have been assaulted. W.E. B. Dubois spent his mature years in Accra, Ghana. Dubois may have washed his hands of society's treatment of individuals of African descent. Hopefully life for young Black men can be productive and prosperous so long as King Herod doesn't get a hold of them. Our current leaders have yet to devise a plan which embraces the young Black male, in an apprentice like posture, preparing them for leadership. So many questions, so few answers--our faith shall respond to all.

Governor Rick Scott (FL) Announces New State Attorney and Task Force in Response to Trayvon Martin Incident! - FL Statute 776

The 2011 Florida Statutes

Title XLVI

CRIMES Chapter 776

JUSTIFIABLE USE OF FORCE View Entire Chapter

CHAPTER 776

JUSTIFIABLE USE OF FORCE

776.012Use of force in defense of person.

776.013Home protection; use of deadly force; presumption of fear of death or great bodily harm.

776.031Use of force in defense of others.

776.032Immunity from criminal prosecution and civil action for justifiable use of force.

776.041Use of force by aggressor.

776.05Law enforcement officers; use of force in making an arrest.

776.051Use of force in resisting arrest or making an arrest or in the execution of a legal duty; prohibition.

776.06Deadly force.

776.07Use of force to prevent escape.

776.08Forcible felony.

776.085Defense to civil action for damages; party convicted of forcible or attempted forcible felony.

TBR-Governor Scott, Lt. Governor Carroll (FL)
Warren Davis
Office of Citizen Services
Executive Office of the Governor (FL)

Continuing his commitment to seeing that justice, due process, and the rule of law prevail in response to the tragic death of Trayvon Martin, Governor Rick Scott, along with Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll, announced the members of the Task Force on Citizen Safety and Protection today. Lt. Governor Carroll will chair the task force along with vice chair Reverend R. B. Holmes Jr., the pastor of the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tallahassee.

The purpose of the Task Force on Citizen Safety and Protection is to thoroughly review Florida Statute Chapter 776 and any other laws, rules, regulations or programs that relate to public safety and citizen protection. They will make any necessary recommendations to the Governor and Legislature to improve public safety in Florida.

“We are a nation of laws, and I am committed to letting our legal system work to ensure the people of in our state are safe and protected,” Governor Scott said. “I have the utmost confidence that Lt. Governor Carroll and Reverend Holmes are the best people to lead the review of Florida’s citizen safety laws.”

Governor Scott convened the Task Force on Citizen Safety and Protection immediately after the conclusion of Assigned State Attorney Angela B. Corey’s investigation into the death of Trayvon Martin.

“We look forward to hearing from the citizens of our state about their concerns and recommendations for keeping our state safe,” said Lt. Governor Carroll. “Governor Scott has tapped a diverse and qualified group to carefully review our laws and our policies.”

In addition to Lt. Governor Carroll and Reverend Holmes, the other members of the task force include:

■Sheriff Larry Ashley, of Shalimar, Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.

■State Representative Dennis Baxley, of Ocala, Florida House of Representatives, District 24.

■Former Florida Supreme Court Justice Kenneth B. Bell, of Pensacola, shareholder with Clark Partington Hart Larry Bond and Stackhouse.

■State Representative Jason Brodeur, of Sanford, Florida House of Representatives, District 33.

■Derek E. Bruce, of Orlando, attorney with Edge Public Affairs.

■Joseph A. Caimano Jr., of Tampa, criminal defense attorney with Caimano Law Group.

■Edna Canino, of Miami, president of the Florida Embassy of League of United Latin American Citizens, Council 7220.

■Sheriff Jerry Demings, of Orlando, is the Sheriff for Orange County.

■Gretchen Lorenzo, of Fort Myers, neighborhood watch coordinator for the Fort Myers Police Department.

■Judge Krista Marx, of West Palm Beach, Fifteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida.

■Maria Newman, of Melbourne, neighborhood watch volunteer with the City of Melbourne.

■Chief David L. Perry, of Tallahassee, is the chief of the Florida State University Police Department.

■Katherine Fernandez Rundle, of Miami, state attorney for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit.

■Stacy A. Scott, of Gainesville, public defender with the Eighth Judicial Circuit.

■Mark Seiden, of Miami, self-employed attorney.

■State Senator David Simmons, of Altamonte Springs, Florida Senate, District 22.

■State Senator Gary Siplin, of Orlando, Florida Senate, District 19.

Once Again The Tuskegee Airmen



History

TBR Leighton Bradford Editor-in-Chief
*In spite of adversity and limited opportunities, African Americans have played a significant role in U.S. military history over the past 300 years. They were denied military leadership roles and skilled training because many believed they lacked qualifications for combat duty. Before 1940, African Americans were barred from flying for the U.S. military. Civil rights organizations and the black press exerted pressure that resulted in the formation of an all-African American pursuit squadron based in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1941. They became known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

"Tuskegee Airmen" refers to all who were involved in the so-called "Tuskegee Experiment," the Army Air Corps program to train African Americans to fly and maintain combat aircraft. The Tuskegee Airmen included pilots, navigators, bombardiers, maintenance and support staff, instructors, and all the personnel who kept the planes in the air. The military selected Tuskegee Institute to train pilots because of its commitment to aeronautical training. Tuskegee had the facilities, and engineering and technical instructors, as well as a climate for year round flying. The first Civilian Pilot Training Program students completed their instruction in May 1940. The Tuskegee program was then expanded and became the center for African-American aviation during World War II.

The Tuskegee Airmen overcame segregation and prejudice to become one of the most highly respected fighter groups of World War II. They proved conclusively that African Americans could fly and maintain sophisticated combat aircraft. The Tuskegee Airman's achievements, together with the men and women who supported them, paved the way for full integration of the U.S. military.

On November 6, 1998, President Clinton approved Public Law 105-355, which established the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, to commemorate and interpret the heroic actions of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. The new site contains a museum and interpretive programs at the historic complex at Moton Field as well as a national center based on a public-private partnership. *[*denotes-intellectual property of Tuskegee Airmen]

The P-51D North American Mustang, the work horse of the Tuskegee Amn.

I credit my uncle W.T. Arms, an Air Force mechanic during the Korean Conflict; for my passion for aviation.  The flight line separates the boys from the men! Try to imagine tying your shoe lace when its -20 degrees below zero, let alone working on a multi-million dollar aircraft.  I vividly recall the epic heat in West Texas, melting a sample tube of jet engine oil on my forearm. Once MMS (Munitions Maintenance Squadron) let loose a BDU (Practice Bomb) and sent cats running from the several ton concrete behemoth! We were young, helping our country to triumph during the "Cold War"! 

Rockwell International B-1B. This is probably an early production aircraft since their are no unit markings (possibly S/N 84-0049, which was used for weapons testing). (U.S. Air Force photo)

I must take my hat off to George Lucas and his "Red Tail" movie adaption of the Tuskegee Airmen! An excellent depiction! Lucas refrained from the stereo typical take on World War II, as if brothers had no role within the countering of fascism and the thwarting of the Nazi regime!  The Tuskegee Airmen paved the way for our freedoms and ultimate liberation. Their exploits delivered us from the tyrannies of oppression and an axis of evil.  While I was stationed at Luke AFB, to my amazement, I saw Tuskegee Airmen on a wall, honoring the accomplishments of this august body. Luke, AFB; one of the pivotal training facilities for the Tuskegee Airmen.   I seem to be one of the few person of color in aviation at times, thus, it was refreshing to see the respect given to these great men. I over heard Cubing Gooding Jr. explaining to TV personality Charlie Rose, how he did not even know about the Tuskegee Airmen, until later in life. To often individuals of African descent are unaware of their heroic deeds. Young Black aviators were crucial to the success of "Desert Storm" as well.  In the late eighties a KC-135A had an unknown engine failure, and killed 44 passengers and crew, we had just flown across the pacific. The blast resembled a mushroom cloud from an atomic bomb! This was my introduction to the dangers of aviation "Nothing stirs and shapes public sentiment like physical action," said A. Philip, Randolph. The Ebony Pictorial History of Black America  had the following excerpt and ensuing research material:

"Randolph said at the time, and emphasized that unless black demands were met one hundred thousand blacks would stage a nonviolent March on Washington. President Franklin D. Roosevelt opposed the march, as did most whites and some blacks. Randolph was called to New York City Hall by Mrs. Roosevelt and Fiorello LaGuradia, who tried to dissuade him. Randolph would not budge. President Roosevelt later sent for Randolph and Walter of the NAACP and T. Arnold Hill, acting executive of the National Urban League. Again neither Randolph nor his colleagues would budge and a rather heated discussion ensued. Seven days later President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 which banned discrimination in war industries and apprenticeship programs."



The photographs above depict Elizabeth Coleman and a World War I aviator. Ms. Coleman was the first African-American female pilot. A. Phillip Randolph played a pivotal role in the full integration of the armed services! He deserves a monument dedicated towards his insightful battle against racism and oppression. Most of the aviators were assigned to the 99th and 302nd squadrons.

St. Louis, MO contingent of the Tuskegee Airmen

Jasmine Thar, a 16-year-old African American, was shot and killed by a neighbor with Nazi material



Jasmine Thar shot in the front yard of a N.C. resident


TBR-North Carolina, Treka McMillian
On December 23, 2011, my goddaughter, Jasmine Thar, a 16-year-old African American, was shot and killed while in my mother's front yard in Chadbourn, North Carolina. The 23-year-old Caucasian male who fired the fatal shot from the house across the street claims it was an accident.

He was taken in for questioning, but he has not been charged with a crime of any kind, despite the fact that he admits he fired the shot and police found a Confederate flag and Nazi literature in his home.  The message is that you can shoot and kill someone like Jasmine and get away with it by simply claiming it was an accident. That can't be the world we live in.

That's why we created a petition on SignOn.org to District Attorney Jon David, Attorney General Roy Cooper, and Assistant District Attorney Chris Gentry. The petition says:

We demand justice for Jasmine Thar, who was shot and killed. Three months after the shooting we still have no answers. We urge you to sign this petition to demand a lawful, thorough, and unprejudiced investigation from the FBI and sound judicial decisions from Columbus County District Attorney Jon David and ADA Chris Gentry.


Will you sign the petition? Click here to add your name, and then pass it along to your friends: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=274217&id=39827-17956496-insn2Bx&t=3

Trayvon Case: FL Law Gives More Legal Protection than Troops' Rules of Engagement‏

TBR--Jon Soltz, Chairman, VoteVets.org
The Trayvon Martin case has gripped the nation, and forced the country to again examine its gun laws. But, for me, the whole horrible affair has struck me in another way, because of my two tours in Iraq. One fact stands out in my mind: the “Stand Your Ground” law in Florida, which may let George Zimmerman off the hook for the killing of Martin, gives more leeway to shooters than our own military does, in war.

VoteVets.org has over 105,000 members who take a wide array of views on gun control and the 2nd Amendment, but the Trayvon Martin case is less about the right to bear arms than it is the "use of force." It’s impossible to ignore the legal protection George Zimmerman enjoys in suburban Florida versus the Rules of Engagement that outline when one of our troops can shoot while in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The piece I wrote outlines the comparisons between the Rules of Engagement and the Florida “Stand Your Ground” Law.

This is an important point that has not been included in any of the articles or news pieces that I’ve seen. So, by spreading the word over social media, we can change that. Please take a moment to read the piece, and share it on Facebook and Twitter.


Thanks for your support.

Sincerely,

Jon Soltz
Iraq War Veteran
Chairman, VoteVets.org

Paid for by VoteVets Action Fund

68-year-old veteran killed in his home‏!

Mr. Chamberlain, veteran killed by White Plains, NY police

TBR--White Plains, NY, Kenneth Chamberlain Jr.
On November 19, 2011, my father, 68-year-old Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., was shot and killed in his home in White Plains, New York.


My father was a 20-year veteran of the Westchester County Department of Corrections and proudly served the United States of America as a Marine. He stood about 5 feet, 9 inches tall, and he suffered from a heart condition.

The events that led to his killing began around 5 a.m., when his medical alert device was accidentally set off, sending a call to the City of White Plains Department of Public Safety. Everything that happened after that was recorded by an audio device installed in my father's home as part of his medical alert system.

When the police arrived at my father's home, he and the staff for his medical alert service told them that there was no medical emergency and asked them to leave. And yet they insisted that my father let them into his home, banging loudly on my father's door for over an hour. On the recording, the police can be heard calling my father a "nigger."

Ultimately they broke through his apartment door and first shot him with a Taser. He was wearing nothing but boxer shorts when the police began their assault against him. Shortly after that, he was shot with two 40-caliber rounds and killed.

My family is asking the Westchester County District Attorney to bring a criminal indictment, and we call on the United States Department of Justice or the New York State Attorney General to prosecute this as a hate crime.

The petition says:

This petition is regarding the upcoming grand jury hearing in the case of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., an unarmed elderly black citizen who was shot to death by the White Plains Police Department.

This case not only brings into question the policies and practices of this department; but it is an open question whether it was inevitable, particularly in light of the audio tapes and video tapes witnessed by Mr. Chamberlain's family members and attorneys where racial slurs and expletives were used before ultimately shooting him twice in the chest and killing him.

It is imperative that those tapes be made available to the grand jury, and that all other evidence be presented as well. I am concerned that secrecy so far—for example, the names of officers involved have not been released—bodes badly for transparency in this case as it moves forward. Nor am I aware of any public statements about the case from elected officials calling for openness.

Members of Mr. Chamberlain's family and community—and a much wider circle of people who need to know there is fairness in the criminal justice system—seek reassurance that, no matter what the verdict, the process has been open, honest, and just.

We, the undersigned, implore Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore to no longer allow police misconduct, brutality, or criminality to happen in this community and ask that these officers be indicted and charged with murder and civil rights violations.

Will you sign the petition? Click here to add your name, and then pass it along to your friends:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=273615&id=38418-17956496-ymUeCix&t=4

Thanks!

Kenneth Chamberlain Jr.