Feb 04 2010
The latest that I know of regarding the #Jordan Miles case:
The officers involved in the incident were suspended with pay Monday, pending the outcome of the city's investigation of the matter.
On Tuesday, Councilman Ricky V. Burgess proposed legislation that would require the city to install video and audio recorders on all police vehicles.
"We would have a live feed, a recording of what was going on," Mr.
Burgess said. While boosting public confidence in law enforcement,
video and audio recording of incidents also would give officers
"protection against unwarranted accusations."
Last night, the Community Empowerment Association released a statement regarding the Jordan Miles matter, which includes the announcement of a community forum to be held on Saturday, February 13, from 2-4 p.m. at the CEA Cultural Center, 7148 Fleury Way (the lower level of the old Rite-Aid building).
Rather than try to condense the press release, I'll let you read it for yourself, here.
So, CEA joins the NAACP and the Black Political Empowerment Project on the list of groups that have taken a position. Still to be heard from are the Urban League, Homewood-Brushton Community Ministries, any Black professional organizations, fraternities, sororities, Homewood non-profits, Homewood business owners...
Your thoughts?
To comment on this post, please log in
or register here.
Feb 02 2010
I asked this on Twitter and Facebook yesterday, but didn't make it here. So it's late, but I'll toss it out there anyway: Did you attend a church in Homewood Sunday? If so, what, if anything, was said about the Jordan Miles matter?
*******************************
When a story like the Jordan Miles story first breaks, the primary
question is simply, "What?" As in, "what happened?" Investigations now
under way will continue to explore that question in detail.
Once
the initial news is out, the next big question is "So what?" What does
the event mean? Or perhaps better, what meanings does it carry? Because
events often have different meanings for different populations.
Then there's "Now what?" As in, "How do we respond?" Again, different populations, different communities, may have different answers.
(I
learned "what, so what, now what," in an entirely different context, from Oliver Byrd, chair of the August
Wilson Center, in a conversation we had in front of the Afro-American
Music Institute during one of AAMI's celebrations.)
We are now well into the "How do we respond?" phase.
********************************
I saw the strangest thing in my mind this morning.
I was wide awake, so it wasn't a dream; I will not presume to call it a vision. But this is what I saw:
A church congregation at their Sunday morning worship. Someone mentions Jordan Miles, and they decide to pray, or more precisely to listen for the voice of God together. To see how God would have them respond to the matter.
The next thing I saw was these people leaving their building, and walking up the street. They arrive at the Miles home, and someone - their pastor, I guess - knocks/ring the bell, and Mrs. Miles answers, and he says, "We just wanted to let you know that God cares, and we do, too."
And he presents her with an offering from the congregation to help with upcoming legal expenses.
No fanfare. Just an expression of concern, and practical help.
*********************************
I hope to hear from someone that someone at some church said something about Jordan Miles. Or that someone at some church is doing something about the Jordan Miles matter. Not only because doing so would be consistent with the church's historical role in the community, but because otherwise, one might conclude that our churches' God doesn't give a rat's patootie.
*********************************
Silence implies consent.
To comment on this post, please log in
or register here.
Feb 01 2010
I stopped by Mama's #1 Kitchen yesterday afternoon to meet with a friend. We were waited on by a young man who looked to be of high school age, and whom I learned from conversation is the owner's nephew. When I placed my order, I asked him to pass to his uncle the message that I'm glad to have Mama's #1 Kitchen there. As opposed to, say, a vacant shell.
He responded that a lot of people aren't.
They have had people coming in, he said, saying things like, "Why are you here?" and "You don't belong here."
Sigh.
I would like to understand the thinking behind such comments. Would these people rather have a vacant shell, to add to our collection?
To comment on this post, please log in
or register here.
Jan 28 2010
The Pittsburgh branch of the NAACP has come forward on behalf of Jordan MIles, callling for the firing of the police officers who beat him. Councilman Ricky V. Burgess has not gone that far, but has demanded that the officers be placed on paid leave.
Not heard from yet: the Urban League, Homewood's nonprofits, Homewood-Brushton Community Ministries, Homewood's business community...
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh narcotics detectives arrested two men, one of them from Brookline, in the 7400 block of Monticello yesterday, on a string of drug charges.
********************************
This is for my Twitter followers - we're experimenting with notifying my tweeps when I post an entry here. If you're here as a result of such a notification, please tweet me. Thanks!
To comment on this post, please log in
or register here.
Jan 26 2010
I have spent a good part of last night and today trying to work through my response to the Jordan Miles case. Part of the challenge in doing that is that the accounts I have read so far leave so many questions unanswered or unclear.
For those who don't know yet, Jordan Miles is a 18-year-old who lives in Homewood and attends the Creative and Performing Arts High School, Downtown. He plays the viola. Or did.
On the night of January 11, Jordan Miles was Tasered and beaten by three undercover police officers who said that they suspected him of being armed. As it turns out, he wasn't armed - on that, there is no disagreement (an unarmed viola player with college ambitions on the streets on Homewood. Imagine that.). There is some disagreement as to whether or not he was carrying a bottle of Mountain Dew in his pocket. Which is important, because according to the police, the bulge is what made them think he was armed.
The story has gained widespread media attention, with accounts by CNN, and the Associated Press, among others (the AP version has appeared lots of places, including at BET and NPR).
But as I say, the accounts so far leave some questions unanswered, or at least not answered clearly. Questions like, "Which came first, the Tasering or the blows to the head?" Or, "When did the officers realize that Mr. Miles was probably unarmed? Was it when they first approached him lying on the ground and noticed that he wasn't firing on them? Or did they make that realization only after they had ripped his hair out and noticed that he still wasn't firing on them?" Or, "Exactly what have these officers been taught about subduing a suspect?"
Based on what I have read so far, however, the case of Jordan Miles sounds like a pure and simple case of fools with Tasers. If three of our city's officers cannot subdue a 150-lb kid without doing the damage they did, then the entire force needs retraining.
I do not say "the entire force" lightly; we have no way of knowing what other fools may be on the force, so retrain them all (I feel kind of sorry for good cops when this nonsense shows up in their ranks. It must make them gag).
Meanwhile, these three need to be off the street (accounts say that
they were reassigned to uniformed duty pending investigation, but does
that mean that they are off the street?)
There's a meeting of the Citizens Police Review Board this evening, at which the board will decide whether or not to launch a full investigation.
With the spotlight on the case already growing larger, and a lawsuit waiting to happen, it's hard to imagine that they would not.
Meanwhile, what do we, the citizens of Homewood, do? I think the first thing is simply to make sure that every household in Homewood knows about the case. And that they also know about Shawn Hicks. And about Andre Thomas. And then to work out a unified community response from there. The Black Political Empowerment Project was at the rally mounted by CAPA students today. Don't know yet if the NAACP has stepped up, or the Urban League. Or the Homewood-Brushton Community Ministries. Evans Moore, of Operation Better Block, attended the rally, and I expect OBB to put together some sort of organization response.
I won't be at the Review Board meeting. I'm taking my godsons to the "Tribute" concert by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra this evening; this is our third year of doing this event together. Mosi and Kamau Tibbs' parents have worked hard to shape them into articulate, curious, well-mannered and imaginative knowledge-seekers. But at 16 and 13, respectively, Mosi and Kamau are also growing into strapping young men.
For their sakes, the Jordan Miles case not only angers me, it scares me.
My next door neighbors also have three teenaged sons and they, too, are good kids. For their sakes, the Jordan Miles case scares me. If something happened to one of them, or to one of the Tibbs boys, because some fools with Tasers got carried away....
To comment on this post, please log in
or register here.
Jan 21 2010
Jibril Abdulhafith, the chair of the Homewood Brushton Community Coalition Organization's Arts Committee, posted a response on Facebook to the news about Family Dollar not occupying the building built for them in 2007. With his permission, I am re-posting it here:
I was raised in the school of hard knocks teaching's that the best help
is self help. Why should we offer financial incentives, tax write offs,
give em the property and a myriad of sweetheart deals to the rich kids
on the other side of the railroad tracks to come in our neighborhoods
and do something for us and refuse to offer those same incentives for the neighborhood citizens to do something for self? Illogical,
makes no sense at all to pay the rich to offer crumbs to the poor and
offer the poor nothing but the same ole poverty that we have been
enduring for 50 years. It's called the ' i aint stud'in u blues.'
My first response is as a writer: "I ain't stud'in u" is one of phrases that I grew up with, that I never knew how to write down. Love it.
Beyond that, I'm not clear about something. Jibril, are you saying that neighborhood citizens with development plans have been denied the incentives that RSSI-Homewood LLC received? If so, I'd like to hear the details of that story.
What do other folks think?
To comment on this post, please log in
or register here.
Jan 19 2010
RSSI-Homewood LLC, the developer who built the "Family Dollar building," sued Family Dollar last spring for not having put a store in the building when it was completed in the summer of 2007.
That suit has been settled. The terms were not disclosed, but Family Dollar is still not putting a store there.
What are your thoughts and feelings about this?
To comment on this post, please log in
or register here.
Jan 15 2010
A various and sundry mishmash:
1. If you know of any organized effort in Homewood to help Haiti, please share the info here. Thanks!
2. Need a job? Know anyone who does? The Census Bureau is hiring people people to collect information for the 2010 Census ("enumerators"). It's part-time work with flexible hours, and according to the Bureau website, Pittsburgh enumerators start at $15.75 an hour. For more info, call (412) 770-3380 or 1-866-861-2010.
3. Hey, the Community Empowerment Association has a blog. Swing over to www.ceapittsburgh.blogspot.com and take a look.
3a. I'd bet all the cash in my wallet that students at Westinghouse have more expertise in online communication than the heads of any businesses, nonprofits, or churches/mosques in Homewood.
3b. Wonder what it would take for the students at Westinghouse to bring those other folks up to speed?
4. I caught a preview screening of Denzel Washington's latest, "The Book of Eli," last night. Note to youth ministers and other church leaders who aren't afraid of movies (even movies with intense violence): this one could make for a great discussion group about the meaning and power of faith.
5. April's on the Ave., the establishment that followed the 7201 Lounge after Too Sweet closed, has been replaced by Chocolate City. Meanwhile, Ms. Sheba's place on Hamilton has closed. Homewood has entrepreneurs, but too many of us seem to lack staying power.
6. The former KFC is now home to Mama's #1 Kitchen. Their slogan? "Tastes lke your Momma's Cooking!" Check it out and judge for yourself.
7. Who is doing what in Homewood for MLK Day?
To comment on this post, please log in
or register here.
Jan 13 2010
I am writing a story about Homewood Plaza, the retail complex that was supposed to have a Family Dollar store when it was built a couple of years ago. What have you heard? What are your thoughts? Are you willing to be quoted for the story?
To comment on this post, please log in
or register here.
Jan 07 2010
I was away for the holidays and am still catching up on what happened during my absence. Quite a bit, it seems.
City Council awarded Thomas Doswell $3.77 million to settle a lawsuit against the city. Mr. Doswell, of Homewood, was imprisoned for 19 years on rape charges before being exonerated by DNA evidence.
On Christmas night, there was a shooting on Brushton Avenue, with no injuries reported.
On New Year's Day, someone burglarized the A-K Valley Federal Credit Union branch in the 7200 block of Frankstown Avenue. Then, around 3 a.m. Monday, someone apparently torched Hook's Fish and Chicken, the eatery at the corner of Frankstown and Fifth Avenues.
The knuckleheads have begun 2010 by spitting in the faces of everyone who cares about Homewood. These acts do not just hurt the business owners, they hurt the entire community. And if the perpetrators are members of the community, they are hurting themselves by making it harder to shop, eat, start a business or get a job in Homewood.
A lot of people are working hard to uncover Homewood's potential. Here's hoping the knuckleheads get caught before they do further damage.
More Posts
Next page »