Volume 25 Issue 21

June 14, 2020

GREATER HOUSTON EDITION

Vol. 25, Issue 21

“Our vote and our money are the two most powerful things we have. Be careful who you give them to.”

- Roy Douglas Malonson

LEGEND SAYS FIRST ‘STATUE OF LIBERTY’ WAS BLACK WOMAN HONORING ABOLITION OF SLAVERY What is Juneteenth?

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, is an American holiday celebrated on June 19, commemorating the day the Emancipation Proclamation was read to slaves in Galveston, Texas. On June 19, 1865, the Emancipation Proclamation— which had been issued on January 1, 1863— was read to enslaved African Americans by Gordon Granger, informing Black statue cont’d on page 6

HAS MAYOR TURNER LOST HIS DAMN MIND?

LEGENDARY

TSU DEBATE COACH

DR. THOMAS

FREEMAN DIES AT 100

RACIST STATUES TO BE PLACED IN AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM?

A letter from the publisher:

A press release sent out by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner’s office on Thursday had me stop the printing of our newspaper after learning what the

Black man leading this city has decided to do -- and on Juneteenth, to add insult to injury. While organizations across the nation are REMOVING, and even vandalizing,

racist statues, Mayor Sylvester Turner has decided to remove two - but is relocating one to our beloved African American museum?

I have never said anything publicly against

him, but has Mayor Turner lost his damn mind?

That’s a double insult.

He has renamed the street, but has taken the statue and put it in

HOUSTON - Texas Southern University’s legendary debate coach Dr. Thomas Franklin Freeman died on June 6. He was 100 years old.

“A man full of history and a legacy that has no comparison. Dr. Freeman, a schol-

Turner cont’d on page 3

Freeman cont’d on page 3

2 AFRAMNEWS.COM

June 14, 2020

EDITORIAL

President/Chief Editor

Tristar

Griselda Ramirez: Production

Partin’ the Waters

By Omowale Luthuli-Allen

Office: (713) 692-1178

My Daddy Changed the World!

Gianna had the 6-year-old smile of Ms. America and Ms. Black America.

She was held close to the bosom of her ridiculously beautiful mom. I do not care if her statement was rehearsed or not.

From the mouth of a babe, the statement became a clarion call for resistance to evil, especially when evil is cloaked under a blue suit and a vow to serve and protect.

At 6 years old, she is beginning to understand the toxic fuel of hate and ignorance.

George Floyd’s daughter wants us to change the world for her and future generations.

George Floyd was an unwilling martyr for the cause of a new world order. It is the new world order that Curtis Mayfield, America’s songwriter, spoke about three decades ago.

George is a reincarnation of Crispus Attucks who let his blood be spilled in a protest that gave birth to an opportu-

nity to build a new nation.

President George Washington and Thomas Jefferson could not do it because they were hypocrites and slaveowners.

From “I CAN’T BREATHE” to “WE CAN’T BREATHE,” millions are on the move and “Boss” can’t turn the heat down on a simmering kettle that is on the brink of explosion. Boss thinks that broken windows and stolen flat screens are where we should turn our focus.

for selling cigarettes on the street. Garner was a capitalist, although an illegal capitalist, but it is unfathomable that he would be the victim of deadly force by sworn officers of NYPD. Never did this loving father think that he was going to be the poster child for police reform. The momentum and motion underneath the Floyd protests can be the force that abolished the chokehold and the slave catchers that exercised this need to die tactic.

Jose Campos Torres, 1977, was savagely beaten, h a n d -

GREATER HOUSTON EDITION

cuffed and thrown into Buffalo Bayou by the Houston Police Department.

Have you forgotten Jose?

Marches commenced in Houston and there was a disturbance at Moody Park. These tactical blunders should have been corrected over the past 50 years. I am reminded of an African proverb that says when the fool learns the game, the game is over.

Blue ribbon commissions were formed, and clichés streamed from various quarters about the rights of man, but after the clamor for change died down, the reactionary forces r e s u r-

faced in Houston and nationwide.

Let’s calm down and carry on by doing as Floyd’s brother stated, “Let’s stop the non-selective senseless and random violence and target our protests.”

Progress is incremental. There was progress under Mayor Kathy Whitmire, Mayor Lee Brown and Mayor Annise Parker.

There was progress under Brown when he was police chief, and Chief C.O. Bradford, but it was drip, drip, drip. But this is the way that change happens.

Former NBA star, Stephen Jackson and Gianna Floyd

George Floyd was Eric Garner reincarnated.

Garner’s death at the hands of sworn civil servants is unreal. Unreal because he was tackled and strangled through a chokehold

Change happens from the WEIGHT of NOTHING. Let me explain, a snow dove observes snowflakes falling on a might limb on a might tree. Change is imperceptible. Eventually, one single snowflake falls on Floyd cont’d on page 6

GREATER HOUSTON EDITION

EDITORIAL

A Revival of God

Consciousness Bobby E. Mills, PhD

Facing the hardcore spiritual facts of life!

The brutal execution of George Floyd has shaken the spiritualmoral-foundation (soul) of American society.

There will be a change, and the change begins with each individual.

However, we must remain sober and vigilant, because our adversary institutional racism is still alive, kicking and well. Thus, we have a moral obligation to save ourselves through spiritual obedience to the way of the Lord. No one will save us from ourselves. God through faith and His grace and mercy will provide a way for our salvation from institutionalized racism! The first steps in the process must be taken by us (families): “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22: 6).

Because: “I have been young, and now am old: yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” (Psalm 37: 25).

Black families must become born again living spiritual examples of love, family devotion, and baptized in the spirit of brotherly love, and cease becoming societal prostitutes for ill-gotten-gain: by selling drugs to each other,

stealing from each other, and killing each other. Question: what shall it profit an individual to gain the whole world and lose his immortal soul? We must learn to creatively live by the Two Great Commandments, and this can only become a living spiritual reality through the revitalization of our families, churches, public schools, civic organizations and HBCUs. Black families must become grounded and baptized in godly love and spiritual devotion, not vulgar materialism. Our churches must become living sanctuaries for the broken-hearted-poor, and the spiritually-downtrodden. Our public schools must provide a twenty-first century quality education at every level. Black elected officials must be held voter-accountable for assisting with economic development and community revitalization by ensuring/advocating for Black own businesses: economic justice. No more rapping, let’s start mapping. We are fostering, creating, financing and sustaining a “THUGISM-MENTALITY” in the Black community; especially in Apartment Complexes. Hence, we have systemic problems that affect the quality of life, and life chances of our children that result in generational poverty of the soul as well as economic deprivation.

Black churches must do a more effective Facts cont’d on page 7

June 14, 2020 Turner, cont’d a black museum. The black museum should not accept this statue and the Houston Endowment should not put any money behind this.

This negro is playing politics with White folks against Black folks. This is an insult to me personally, and to all the Black folks, how a Black leader can do this to us. And to do it on Juneteenth? What in the hell is he thinking?

The Spirit of The Confederacy in Sam Houston Park downtown will now be displayed at the Houston Museum of African American Culture in the Museum District.

According to a statement from John Guess, HMACC CEO Emeritus, placing the statues in the museum will help discuss the “difficult conversations” about race and culture.

When will black people learn, you don’t have to “host” the enemy to understand he exists? Another “turn the other cheek” reasoning that keeps others with a “foot on our neck.”

I have read it and read it trying to get logic behind the move. We have cops killing our asses behind the ideologies of what those statues represent.

What Uncle Tom, handkerchief wearing negros were on this committee?

Jesse H. Jones would come out of his grave to know that the Houston Endowment would do something like this.

Who is running this city making these kinds of decisions? The only truly Black mayor that I know of who has empowered Black people was the late Maynard Jackson of Atlanta.

Houston has been checkmating Black folks and ‘keeping us in our place’ ever since the Camp Logan riots.

What if a White mayor did this, wouldn’t we be pissed? Those statues should be destroyed and not preserved. Protest that!

The following press release was proudly sent out by the Mayor’s Office, so tell us, are we missing something here?

Press Release: Mayor Sylvester Turner announced the City of Houston plans to relocate the Dowling and Spirit of Confederacy statues, which are currently both located in two City of Houston parks.

The statues will be removed by Friday, June 19, in commemoration of the Juneteenth holiday, which memorializes the day slaves in Texas learned the Emancipation Proclamation granted their freedom.

In August 2017, Mayor Sylvester Turner appointed a task force of historians, community leaders, and department directors to review the City’s inventory of items related to the confederacy and

AFRAMNEWS.COM 3 recommend appropriate action.

The task force recommended that the statues be removed from Houston public property and not be destroyed.

(Click the links for the final report and final appendix).

After the task force submitted its findings, the City began working on a plan with partner organizations and funders to identify new locations to place the statues permanently.

The two relevant statues in local public parks will be relocated, at no public expense, to separate sites that provide greater historical context for public viewing.

The Houston Endowment has provided a grant to transfer the Spirit of The Confederacy in Sam Houston Park downtown to be displayed at the Houston Museum of African American Culture in the Museum District.

A statue of Richard W. “Dick” Dowling in Hermann Park is expected to be moved to a permanent display at the Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site in Port Arthur, TX. The Executive Committee of the Texas Historical Commission voted to accept the statute and the full Commission will consider the item at its quarterly meeting on June 17.

“While we have been working on a plan for some time, I have decided to move forward now considering the events of the past several weeks,” Mayor Turner said. “Our plan

for relocating confederate statues from public parks to locations more relevant to modern times preserves history and provides an opportunity for our city to heal.”

“Houston Endowment is proud to support the relocation of the Spirit of the Confederacy to the Houston Museum of African American Culture, where it can be interpreted in a way that promotes an inclusive and anti-racist community,” said Ann Stern, President and CEO. “This is a huge step forward in the Museum’s history of hosting difficult conversations, underscoring our multicultural conversation on race geared toward a common future. We have an opportunity to learn from our history, the good and the bad, to truly forge one nation,” said John Guess, HMACC CEO Emeritus.

The City of Houston’s General Services Department (GSD) will begin relocating the statues next week. The City will place them in temporary storage until the partner organizations are ready to receive the delivery.

“I’m grateful for the City of Houston Confederate Items Task Force’s guidance and the generosity of the Houston Endowment for their crucial roles in the plan,” Turner added. “And I’m proud of how this plan formed with input from many sectors of the city and deep consideration of all sensitive factors involved.”

- AANI

GREATER HOUSTON EDITION

June 14, 2020

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6 AFRAMNEWS.COM Black statue, cont’d them of the official end of slavery in the United States. In honor of this day of FREEDOM, we want to share some thoughts about a SYMBOL OF FREEDOM of which America is known for: THE STATUE OF LIBERTY. KNOW YOUR HISTORY: Or what one legend says is true, claiming the first “Statue of Liberty” was modeled after a black woman and had African features. In addition, the point of the statue was not to honor immigrants but rather to commemorate the abolition of slavery in America, in particular the service of black Union soldiers in the Civil War. The statue carried broken chains to symbolize emancipation.

So, as many believe, the sculpture that rises grandly from Liberty Island in New York Harbor is not the original Statue

Floyd, cont’d

the limb and it comes crashing down. Torres, Garner and Floyd are the weight of nothing that can collapse a nation.

Prophet and scholar WEB Dubois was crystal clear when he said that the problem of the 20th century was the color line. It is unbelievable that the 21st century carries the burden of the color line.

While we struggle for significant reform, continue to have the talk with your children, especially black boys.

When they tell you that Mr. Floyd did ev-

June 14, 2020

GREATER HOUSTON EDITION

FACT CHECK: THERE IS CURRENTLY NO PHOTO OF THE “ORIGINAL” STATUE OF LIBERTY... There are, however, many ren-

ditions of what some have mistaken her to be. The photo we’ve printed has been falsely circulated as the original statue. It is actually the “Lady Liberty” of Freedom Point on the Caribbean island of St. Martin, a public sculpture by Theodore Bonev that was installed in 2007. Remember, the Statue of Liberty we have today was unveiled in 1886.

According to the American Historical Association, no evidence can be found to verify this legend, but its mere existence underscores the racialized nature of America’s most famous monument.

Of all the memorials to freedom throughout the world, none is more important or more widely known than the Statue of Liberty. Towering majestically over the entrance to New York Harbor since 1886, the great statue has become, more than any

other physical site, the symbol of both human freedom and American national identity. Originally a gift from France to the United States, it also represents the historical ties between the two great republics and the significance of liberty as a global phenomenon.

Endlessly reproduced as a tourist object, a commercial symbol and a political icon, the Statue of Liberty is one of the great monuments of the modern world.

AHA notes there is a facet of the statue’s history, however, that has yet to be explored in depth: its role as a symbol of whiteness, and more particularly of the whiteness of freedom.

Race and racism are not just central aspects of Western society; they have shaped and permeated the very idea of freedom as we understand it.

Moreover, freedom has been closely entangled with ideas of whiteness

and white racial identity in modern history, so that to be free has often meant to be white, and vice versa. The Statue of Liberty symbolizes this perfectly: Lady Liberty’s European physical features, most obviously, but also the lack (indeed, as we shall see, the suppression) of any markers identifying the sculpture with rebel or freed slaves, give it a strong sense of racial identity. Moreover, the symbolic role played by the monument in allowing European immigrants to the U.S. to claim white status underscores its racial character, as does its complicated but largely exclusionary or at best irrelevant relationship to African Americans and other peoples of color.

The Statue of Liberty embodies both racial difference and an unparalleled representation of human liberation.

The next time you see the towering “Lady Lib-

erty” your history books taught was meant to be a beacon of hope for immigrants, how will you now view it? Think about it. Ellis Island, the inspection station through which millions of immigrants passed, didn’t open until six years after the statue was unveiled in 1886.

The plaque with the famous Emma Lazarus poem — “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” — wasn’t added until 1903.

So, was the Statue of Liberty REALLY meant to welcome those who were coming to America on their own free will as immigrants, or was it to celebrate the freedom of those who were brought here in chains?

After you decide, what will you teach your kids?

erything right and the cops still killed him, tell them to keep practicing the 10 Rules for Successful encounters with the police and you will help become the change that you desire. Become a BLACK FUTURES THINK TANK and a shining light on a hill.

Get Home Safely: 10 rules of survival if stopped by the police

1. Be respectful when stopped by the police.

2. If you feel your rights have been violated, you and your parents have the right to file a formal

complaint.

3. Do not get in an argument with the police.

4. Always remember that anything you say or do can be used against you in court.

5. Keep your hands in plain sight.

6. Avoid physical contact with police officers. Do not make any sudden movements.

7. Do not run—even if you are afraid.

8. Even if you believe you are innocent, do not resist arrest.

9. Do not make any statements about the incident until you are

able to meet with a lawyer or public defender.

10. Stay calm and

remain in control.

Watch your words.

Watch your body language. Watch your

emotions.

Remember, your goal is to get home safely.

of Liberty. Conceived by French scholar and activist Édouard de Laboulaye and wrought by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the Statue of Liberty’s intention was not only to represent the admiration of the people of France for America, but to equally illustrate the changing nature of liberty, including its racial dimensions, in French history.

Some say the current white statue was substituted for the original when American politicians objected to the portrayal of Liberty as a black woman. Some have even argued that the original black statue still exists, either in France or hidden somewhere in the catacombs of New York.

- AANI

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job of spiritually educating families in the Way of the Lord rather than providing an entertainment-escapismministry from the harshness of being Black in America. Escapism is

not the answer. Blacks have systemic problems based upon maximizing the pleasure principle, and we need systemic solutions based upon: (a) spiritual-moral precepts and purposes (b) community-economicdevelopment goals (c) life skills development and, (d) principles of looking back and giving back (looking-glassself-principles).

God has the last word and He is on the side of the oppressed and brokenhearted; therefore: “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8: 31). Nothing can separate us from the Love of God. If you vote stupid or don’t vote, you get stupid! Selah.

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