Chicago Officer Seen Manhandling Black Woman Faces 24 Misconduct Allegations

You have probably seen this story before, from Your Black World.  Chicago Officer Seen Manhandling Black Woman Faces 24 Misconduct Allegations.

This is the take on the same story from the Atlanta Black Star:  Should Not Be Policing the Streets.  

The long and the short of it is this:  A white, male police officer has been filmed manhandling Nikkita Brown, a Black woman,  late at night while she was walking her dog.  

The officer has not been named, but has been put on administrative leave.  As stated in the headline above, this is by no means the first such incident involving this officer. 

This is so disgusting.  And if you ever wanted to know why I hold the annual Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence, this is a clear example.  

We must learn to speak to each other and listen to each other with respect and empathy.  Empathy can prevent this kind of incident from occurring - when we have the skills.  

Plus check this out:  You about to Lose Yo Job.  This always tickles me. 

Go here for more blog posts from the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence 2021.  

Go here for readings from the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence.  

Go here for NVC resources.  

What practical methods can you suggest for preventing violent incidents?  Please comment below and please share this post with your networks.  

 

Girl Knocked Unconscious in Racist Attack after Telling Boy “My Black is Beautiful”

Nevaeh Thomas, an 11-year old girl from Kansas City, says that she was racially harassed and assaulted by a 12-year old boy while playing outside. The boy allegedly began calling her racial slurs and then knocked her unconscious when she told him “my Black is beautiful.” 

Go here to read more about this.  

I see this photograph of her lying wounded in a hospital bed and it just breaks my heart.  

Your Black IS beautiful, baby.   One has to wonder why this boy is so hateful at the age of 12.  Why can't he tolerate a Black child celebrating her own beauty?  So sad.  These stories break my heart.  

This is just one more reason why we need Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and The Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence.  

Young Woman Shot by Cops inside Her Own Home

This 28-year-old Black woman, Atatiana Jefferson, was shot by the police in her own home and died instantly.  A neighbour, James Smith, had reported seeing something, and now the neighbour is blaming himself.  No, it seems to me that the fault lies squarely with the police.  


This is one more reason why we need nonviolence and Nonviolent Communication (NVC).  NVC is changing lives all over the world.  And this is one more reason why I hold the annual Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence.  

CBS News say this is causing "outrage", and of course, it is.  

Jefferson's family are demanding answers.  

Please leave your comments below and please share this with your networks.  Thanks.  

A Little More about NVC and Me

I have already talked a little about my personal journey in A Little about NVC and Me and Why I Am Committed to Nonviolence.  

I started to explore Nonviolent Communication (NVC) around 2003, and it had a profound effect on me.  

Go here for the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence 2019.   And go here for information on how you can submit your blog post. If you have ever given empathy to, or received empathy from, someone, at home or at work, or in any context, please blog about it and share your experiences with the world. 

As I have said before, Violence Begins at Home.  I grew up in a family in which I experienced an enormous amount of verbal violence on a daily basis, as well as some physical violence.  My mother was (and is) severely mentally  ill, and never received any treatment for her condition, which was, and remains, undiagnosed.  

I was subjected to constant, daily bullying and undermining for many years.  Nobody helped me or supported me, apart from my piano teacher, who was very kind.  But other than her, the people around me gave me the message that I did not matter.  I did not count.  My feelings and needs did not count. 

I carried these internal messages for many years.  When we receive the same messages repeatedly - be they positive or negative messages - we internalise them.  That is the way the human mind works.  And, as we live in a racist society, we are subjected to daily negative, racist messages, and we internalise them.  This is why we experience so much self-hatred, and why we find it so difficult to work together and to trust each other.  

I am unravelling my self-hatred and replacing it with self-love, but I still have work to do in this area.  Of all the methods I use, and share with my students, NVC has had the most profound effect on me.  NVC is based on EMPATHY. 

As I said in Why I Am Committed to Nonviolence, our self-talk continues to affect us.  

Children and young people who are exposed to violence in the home are more likely to become involved with violence outside the home.  And, as part of the legacy of slavery, our families often use violence - both physical and verbal violence.  I am sure my mother was profoundly affected by the racism she experienced on a daily basis when she was a young person. 

Of course, violence affects every community.  But my community - the global African community - is my priority.  

In order to address the violence affecting the young people in our communities, we, as adults, first need to address our own patterns of behaviour - including our self-talk. 

The violence affecting our young people has to stop.  This has to stop.  If you agree, comment "Yes!" below.  

Please share this with your networks.  And please submit your blog post to the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence 2019.  

 

Black History Blogs

MLK voting 1964

I have posted many Black history posts on this blog and I think it's useful to list them.  So you can find many of them listed below (in no particular order).

Plus click here for some of my African history blog posts.

Please share these with your networks, and particularly with parents, children and young people, and teachers and schools.  Please leave your comments on the individual blog posts.

Please note, I DO NOT distinguish between African history and Black history. Its all the history of African people on the Continent and in the Diaspora. If you are familiar with my work, such as my More Black Success ebooks, you now that all of my work has a global

Slavery by Another Name

African focus. Whether we are in Africa, in the Caribbean, in Europe, in the United States or the Americas – wherever we are, we are African people.

But since I know that some people make a distinction between Black people and African people, and because I know this distinction is important to some people, I have listed them separately. Remember, we are one people, and it is all the history of African people. And remember, too, EVERY MONTH IS BLACK

Josephine Baker

HISTORY MONTH.

Black History Blogs

Black History Presentation: The Black Image

The Black History of X-Men

Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey on the Importance of History

African Hair before Bondage

Why Black History Matters

Why Black History Matters Part 2

Aimé Césaire Centennial at the Schomburg

What Can We Learn from Our History?

Samuel L. Jackson on 12 Years a Slave

70th Anniversary of D-Day

Break the Silence Congo Week

Remembering The Somme

The Negro Soldier

Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey on the Importance of History

Ida B. Wells – A Passion for Justice

Mary Seacole Strikes Back

Slavery by Another Name

MLK's “Lost” Newcastle Speech

MLK: Black Is Beautiful

Harriet, A Choreopoem

Black in London

Celebrating Black History

Healing Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome

Is Black Really Beautiful?

Soul Survivors Slave Narratives

Civil Rights, Fannie Lou Hamer, Black Women and Hysterectomy

Anarcha, Lucy and Betsey: The Mothers of Modern Gynecology

Gil Scott Heron: Message to the Messengers

You Couldn't Even Try on Shoes 

Black History Film:  Freedom Riders  

Click here for some African history blogs.   

Please share these with your networks and please leave your comments on the individual posts.  Thanks. 

African History Blogs

Nelson Mandela and Family

I have listed some of my African history blog posts below.

See also:  Black History Blogs.    

Please note, I DO NOT distinguish between Black history and African history, but I have listed them separately because I know that this distinction matters to some people.

When we learn about what has happened, what has been done to people, on the African Continent and in the Diaspora, it is clear that it is all the same story. We are one people. 

Benin bronze

Please share these with your networks, and particularly with parents, children and young people, and teachers and schools.  Please leave your comments on the individual posts. 

And remember, EVERY MONTH IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH/AFRICAN HERITAGE MONTH.   

African History: Invasion 1897 - this links to some of my other African history blogs 
including blogs about Kenya, Namibia and the Congo..

Break the Silence Congo Week

Black People in the First World War

Mugabe: Villlain or Hero? 

Remembering Sharpeville and Sophiatown

The Sowetan:  Jumping the Border for Water

Sweet Crude - The Niger Delta

Film Review: Long Walk to Freedom

A Light Has Gone Out

World War One:  The Crucial Battle for Togo 


See also:   Black History Blogs. 

Please share these with your networks and please leave your comments on the individual posts.  Thanks.

Cancer Journals Part 2

Gratitude - Cancer Journals

In case you missed them, here are my most recent Cancer Journals.  And just to be clear, my healing meditation is on its way.  See below for the previous Cancer Journals. 

Cancer Journal 6:  What Are Angels? - I've been doing a lot of work with angels and I am finding this highly beneficial - even though I'm not sure what angels even are. 

Cancer Journal 7:  EFT for Releasing Fear - In addition to anger, I've been experiencing a lot of fear.  Enormous, overwhelming fear.  I am sure this is natural under the circumstances. And I have effective ways of dealing with it.  

Cancer Journal 8:  A Healing Process - I am an Angry Black Woman.  What effect does this have on my health? 

Cancer Journal 9:  Managing the Pain - Or Not - I had a complete hysterectomy at the end of May.  I just could not believe the amount of pain I was in afterwards. 

Cancer Journal 10:  Gratitude, Our Healing - Gratitude can be an incredibly strong experience. 

Click here for more Cancer Journals.  

 

 

 

Cancer Journals

The Cancer Journals

I was recently diagnosed with cancer and I am posting a series of blogs which I am calling "Cancer Journals", named after Audre Lorde's classic The Cancer Journals.  I'm doing this in order to process my experiences and my emotions, and I trust that it will be beneficial for you to read about my journey. 

Please leave your comments on my blog posts.  Thanks.  I have listed the first few blog posts below.  

You may also be interested in this one:  Why Are So Many of Our People Dying?

Cancer Journals

Cancer Journals

Cancer Journal 2: My Diagnosis

Cancer Journal 3:  Shopping for Green Candles.  Green is the colour of compassion, the colour of the heart, and the colour of health, growth and renewal. 

Cancer Journal 4:  Brain Freeze.  What happens when you receive a cancer diagnosis? 

Cancer Journal 5:  An Angry Life.  Black women have plenty to be angry about,  But what are some of the health consequences of carrying a lot of anger? 

How Much Political Influence Do Bloggers Have?

Adrianne George BWIE @ Democratic National Convention

I have seen photos of Adrianne George of Black Women in Europe at the Democratic National Convention, and Jessica Ann Mitchell of Black Bloggers Connect at one of the Inauguration Balls.  

They and many other bloggers have done a lot of excellent work in supporting President Obama's re-election campaign. 

But how much political influence do bloggers have? 

The President has met and consulted with bloggers during both Presidential campaigns.   Did bloggers help President Obama to win re-election?  

Please leave your comments below.  

5 Bloggers Reveal How They Overcame Their Biggest Blogging Challenge

Saw this interesting blog recently:  

5 Bloggers Reveal How They Overcame Their Biggest Blogging Challenge

Black bloggers have particular experiences - and particular responsibilities.  In Secrets of the Black Bloggers, I asked bloggers how they overcame their biggest challenges, and how they achieved their blogging goals.  

Black bloggers are modern griots.  Click here to read more.  

Blogging While Writing

The Schomburg Center presents:  Blogging While Writing

Thursday, July 19, 2012, 7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Are bloggers the new writers? Is there a difference between blogging and writing? 

Writer Jozen Cummings  (pictured left) (UntilIGetMarried.com) talks to Rembert Browne (grantland.com, 500daysasunder.wordpress.com) and Gene Demby (huffingtonpost.com/black-voices and postbourgie.com), to discuss their independent blogs, their work for mainstream media outlets, and how bloggers have become the voice of a generation. FREE! Registration recommended: www.schomburgcenter.eventbrite.com  or call (212) 491-2040. 

Click here for information about my ebook Secrets of the Black Bloggers. 

Click here for more Black history and cultural events. 

Black Blogger: Entree to Black Paris

Monique Y. Well's blog Entree to Black Paris explores the lives and history of people of African heritage in Paris.  

As one of the contributors to Secrets of the Black Bloggers, Monique has recently reviewed the book.  One area she focuses on is the importance of networking with, and learning from, other Black bloggers.  Click here to read her review. 

Black history: The Black Paris Blog

The Black Paris blog, hosted by blogger Monique Y. Wells, profiles contemporary and historical Black people resident in Paris. Monique also explores the history of people of African heritage in Paris.

She is one of the bloggers I have interviewed in Secrets of the Black Bloggers. Download your copy today.

See also: The Black Blogger as Modern Griot.

See also: Black Women in Europe.

Black Blogger: Black Women in Europe

Adrianne George of the Black Women in Europe blog is one of the most helpful and creative bloggers I have met online. I am very pleased to have been able to interview Adrianne about Black Women in Europe in my new ebook Secrets of the Black Bloggers.

It is so important for us as people of African heritage to celebrate one another’s achievements and contributions. We can learn so much from each other.

The Black Women in Europe blog consistently seeks out and acknowledges the achievements of Black women.

Like all the bloggers interviewed in Secrets of the Black Bloggers, Adrianne talks about

- what to blog about
- how often to blog
- how to get traffic to your blog

and much more.

To read my interview with Adrianne, click here to download your copy of Secrets of the Black Bloggers now.

Plus click here for an audio interview with Adrianne about Black Women in Europe.

Click here to read about the Black blogger as modern griot.

Enjoy!

The Publishing Revolution

These days, people often ask me what I think the future will hold for writers and publishers.

For more about this, click here for an interview with Adrianne George of Black Women in Europe.

And click here for more interviews.

Plus click here for more about Secrets of the Black Bloggers.

The Black Blogger as Modern Griot

I am delighted to announce the launch of my new ebook, Secrets of the Black Bloggers.


The griot was part of an ancient oral tradition in areas of West Africa from which many of our ancestors originated.

If you have seen Roots or read the book, you will know a little bit about the griot.

The role of the griot was to remember the history and customs of the community, and to share them orally with others in the village or clan, passing them down to the next generation. So the griot was vital in helping the community to define its identity.

During slavery times, although forbidden to read or write, our ancestors still managed to record their stories – either by memory or through scribbling away in secret.

We are fortunate to have access to many of their words today.

In the 21st century, bloggers fulfil the functions of the griot. We record the lives and experiences of our people digitally. Living in the information age, we can now share our words globally.

We record the doings of our people, our lives and the events which affect us – be they local, national or global.

As February is recognized as Black History Month in the U.S.A., we are particularly called upon to recall our history, comment on it and share it.

There are always forces at work striving to eradicate our history, our memories and, in truth, our lives.

Yet many Black bloggers, by putting the news and views of the community at the forefront of our work, ensure that our history continues to remain alive. The news and opinions we blog about today are a living history, which continues to inform a larger and larger readership.

The 16 bloggers I have interviewed in Secrets of the Black Bloggers are continuing this tradition of the griot. Writing our stories. Sharing our truths.

What may be different is that we comment in ways that are unashamedly biased and opinionated. Every voice has a place, and every blogger has the freedom to express his or her point of view.

I am sure you will enjoy Secrets of the Black Bloggers as much as I have. These bloggers will entertain, inform and inspire you.

Please leave your comments below.

This blog contains hundreds of Black history resources.  Go here to check out some of my Black history blogs. 

Warm and Sexy Blog

Click here to read my interview with Max of the Max-Logic blog.

This blog is for grownups, not for kids.

See also: Being a Black Blogger.

Uh-Oh, Now He's Said It

African American Pundit (formerly AAPP) asks:

I am wondering out loud, if Corporate black blogs like The Root and The Grio are working to control black political thought in America?

That's right, he said it, y'all.

He continues:

It gets under my black skin, that so-called black bloggers at (white controlled) corporate black blogs like The Root, owned by the Washington Post, and the The Grio, owned by NBC, are nothing more than a group of organized Obama loyalist who seem to never report on how blacks will lose $194 billion in wealth through 2012, or how the housing crisis continues to hits blacks the hardest and how President Obama (as Russell Simmons recently pointed out in his Open Letter To President Barack Obama) has all but ignored the plight of black America.

Click here to read the rest of his blog.

My sources tell me that a lot of President Obama's policies have directly benefited the Black community, including, but not limited to, the healthcare reform bill.

What do you think? Please post below.

See also: Being a Black Blogger.

10 Important Things to Do for Your Business before 2011

Check out this great blog post by SmallBizLady: 10 Important Things to Do for Your Business before 2011

Click here for lots more resources for your business.

Here's to your success!

Listening to the President

I saw this excellent blog post today, A Different Type of Double Standard.

Do people even listen to what the President is saying? Or do they just see a Black face and turn off (literally turn off their TVs)?

I mean, first of all, they accused him of having a "political agenda". How do you get to the White House without having a "political agenda"?

I read so much nonsense about President Obama these days. I am at a loss sometimes about what to say - there is so much stupidity about.

People seem to be coming from fear, prejudice (pre-judging) and ignorance, without even listening to what the man says.

Pay attention, people. He is talking about values, things we all care about, things that can help us all to improve our lives and give them meaning. Things like education, taking responsibility, contributing to the common good. Pay attention. But if you are reading this blog, I assume you already do.