[BLACKER THE BERRY NEWS, ISSUE #2 ]
June 1, 2015
BLACKER THE BERRY NEWS nd 2 EDITION 6-1-15
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[BLACKER THE BERRY NEWS, ISSUE #2 ]
June 1, 2015
THE HISTORY OF EXTREME POLICE BRUTALITY IN HOUSTON, TX AND ITS DEVASTING EFFECTS UPON MINORITES CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE AND EFFECTIVE ACTION!!!!! Police brutality is a serious problem that affects the Black Community. In our last issue we targeted police brutality and its devastating effects upon Black Americans but now the stakes have risen. Police Brutality continues to dehumanize Black people in Houston. The Houston Police Department has always negatively affected Black people in Houston since its inception and has gotten drastically worse. Policing goes deeper than the surface. The Allen Brothers, who were two upscale real estate and slave owners, founded the city of Houston in 1836 and a year later they founded the Houston police department in 1837. Since slavery was still in existence at the time, Black people were under the control of their white oppressors and the police were synonymous to slave patrols. Slave patrols were created by White Southerners to suppress slave rebellions and to also keep the slaves from running away. Since the beginning of time, excessive force, unfair laws and discrimination against people of color have existed in the Houston Police Department. On 1860, in Houston, Texas, 49% of the population was enslaved. That means that almost half of the people in Texas were slaves. The first rebellion against the Houston Police Department was in 1917, “In 1917 however, Houston experienced one of the darkest events in the history of the department. Members of an army infantry battalion on temporary duty in Houston marched on the city, killing five police officers. The soldiers, who were black, had been chaffing under the segregation and inequality they experienced in the south under Jim Crow laws.� Black people in the early ii
[BLACKER THE BERRY NEWS, ISSUE #2 ]
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1900’s were subjected to racist laws and unfair treatment which led to a bloody rebellion. As the city of Houston grew, so did the police department. In 1977, the Houston Police department was reported on several charges of police brutality. This was the first official record of police brutality but definitely not the first case. Where it was undocumented and accepted in the past, the public began to speak out. A major case about police brutality was against a Hispanic man named Jose Campos Torres, who was a 23 year old veteran who fought in the Vietnam War. Torres was brutally murdered by six HPD officers on Cinco de Mayo. According to the Revolution Newspaper, On May 5th 1977, Torres was severely beat, handcuffed and was then thrown into the Buffalo Bayou in Houston, TX; “Only two of the killer cops faced any criminal charges- they were convicted of “criminally negligent manslaughter” and given one year of probation and $1 fine! The case then went to federal court- the cops were given suspended sentences and one year for assault.” Even in the late 1970’s people of color remained victims of extreme racism and torture from the police. The first Black Chief of Police was Lee P. Brown who was appointed in 1982. Though the city of Houston celebrated their first Black Chief of Police, it was merely a shallow victory. Conditions for Black people still did not improve, in fact, our conditions have gotten worse. On their website, The Houston Police express how racial profiling is a violation of state and federal law, “The Houston Police Department has established a policy, General Order 600-42, concerning the prohibition of racial profiling as set out in state and federal laws concerning racial profiling and discriminatory practices in general.” Though the Houston Police Department is clear about the consequences of racial profiling, their racist practices have not changed. Police Brutality in Houston has gotten worse and still remains unsolved. In the year 2015, Black and Hispanic people still suffer unequal representation in the Justice system. According to the Houston Police Department records, “In 1873 the police force consisted of the City Marshal and twelve officers. The races of the officers were evenly divided between white and black officers.” Though we are not sure what role exactly those Black officers played in the Houston police department, we do know that the department had equal representation of Black and White people whereas in 2015, equal representation is largely an issue. According to a New York Times article, “South Houston, about 12 miles southeast of Houston, is nearly 90 percent Hispanic, but its police force is nearly three-quarters white.” This is evidence that people of color are largely disproportionately represented in the justice system. Though Hispanics suffer police brutality, the most targeted group of people is African iii
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June 1, 2015
Americans. When pulled over by the police, African Americans are racially profiled. According to the Earl Carl Institute for Legal and Social Policy, “While African Americans only comprise approximately 23% of the Houston population; in 2012 they represent 32.2% of stops made by the Houston Police Department. Although Houston Police Department statistics show that white drivers are more likely than black drivers to be carrying contraband, 47% of African American and 36.5% of Hispanic stops result in an arrest compared to only 14.8% of Whites who are stopped .Blacks are much more likely to be tasered (use of a taser or Conductive Energy Device (CED)) by Houston police than any other racial group.” Though racial profiling is an issue the Houston Police department continues to perpetuate, they speak against it. The Houston Police Department continues to support the dehumanization against people of color, especially Black. Many people in government would like you to believe that the Houston criminal justice system is a respectable entity. The facts are, “Between 2007 and 2012, HPD officers were involved in 550 incidents in which either a citizen or animal was injured or killed by a police officer’s bullet, according to agency records. Of the nation’s 50 largest police departments, from 1990 to 2000 the Harris County Sheriff’s Department ranked first in the nation in the number of fatal shootings...The Houston Police Department ranked second...In 2011, ABC News investigated Houston police brutality complaints and discovered that they rarely result in officer punishment. In 2010, not a single citizen complaint against a Houston police officer for excessive force was sustained out of 239 complaints.” Given the undeniable evidence, it is clear that the Houston Police Department is racist, irresponsible and apathetic. Police Brutality against Black people in Houston have always existed since its inception in the 1800’s. Today, police brutality has gotten worse but continues to disguise itself in secrecy and false statements of justice. If you visit their website, HPD prides itself on being a fair and honest organization dedicated to making the lives of its citizens better. People of color have suffered tremendously by this crooked and racist injustice system. What will it take for us to wake up? How many innocent Black people will be brutalized and dehumanized in 2015? Will more stories go unnoticed? Does anyone care? In our last issue we mentioned the hundreds of Black Men who died in 2014. Will there be over 300 deaths this year as well? We have been racially profiled, hit, kicked, tased, raped, broken limbs, stabbed, blinded, choked, tortured, mutilated and murdered, yet no one seems to care. We have not been contacted yet by anyone in the community wanting to work with us put a stop to this crooked system. Are we okay with the way things are? iv
[BLACKER THE BERRY NEWS, ISSUE #2 ]
June 1, 2015
Have we become numb to our suffering? We are dying in massive amounts and yet no leader can seem to put an end to police violence in Houston. With our many Black leaders in and out of government, we have not accomplished anything in the Houston justice department since its inception in 1837, in fact, conditions have gotten worse. - Nikki Luellen B.T.B NEWS
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Book List by Paris Johnson/ Educator, Activist and Writer 1) From Babylon to Timbuktu by Rudolph Windsor 2) The Willie Lynch Letter 3) A Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass 4) Booker T. Washington’s The Atlanta Exposition 5) Soul of Black Folks by W.E.B. DuBois 6) The Miseducation Of The Negro by Carter G. Woodson All Books except one are available online in pdf format. This book list is a brief introduction to Black History and a discovery of self.
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[BLACKER THE BERRY NEWS, ISSUE #2 ]
June 1, 2015
ALL EYEZ ON ME BIG BROTHER, THE NSA SPYING PROGRAM AND ITS IMPACT ON MINORITIES The NSA spying program has been recognized across the United States and the world as the largest undertaking of its kind. The National Security Agency’s program collects bulk information such as, texts sent from phones, e-mails, call logs, online search queries and much more. This information outlines the daily lives of many Americans and gives the government an inside window to our private lives. Under extensions of the Patriot Act, the NSA has been able to create this technological window into our lives. Many argue that this breaks the 4th amendment of the constitution which states the government cannot make warrant-less searches and seizures of individual’s properties. Many in the government have argued that the American public assumes no privacy within their online activities. Spying not only on U.S. citizens but leaders of foreign nations, it has lived up to its promises of attempting to monitor everyone, anywhere at any time. However that monitoring has not been successful in stopping even one terrorist plot and has been credited with hurting U.S. foreign relations when it was discovered that German Chancellor Angela Merkels cell and personal e-mails were being monitored. The real target of the spying program is to monitor U.S. Citizen’s. This program’s core philosophy is centered on the “enemy within” idea. This is the belief that our neighbors could turn on our country. This has largely impacted minority communities especially in areas with a large immigrant demographic. Minneapolis Minnesota is home to an area with a vi
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large population of immigrants from East Africa seeking refuge from Somalia or Syria. These first generation Americans are being recruited by groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS. Many of these young black or Arab men are being recruited because of the American culture, which doesn't provide Arab and Black men fair opportunities, and not necessarily their Islamic faith. With police brutality on the rise and people of color being targeted by police, the atmosphere for terrorist opportunist is palpable. This was the story for Abdulrahman Daoud (21) who was arrested in Minneapolis on terrorist conspiracy charges. His mother Farhiyo Mohamed said they were happy to come to the U.S. to start a new life. The spying, policing of the communities and brain washing of this young man by opportunists lead to his downfall. With the Patriot Act having a deadline of June 1st to renew the spying program it is important to weigh the outcomes it has had on U.S. citizen and the world. Creating distrust within and outside our boarders and not creating the results the program promised to produce, it is clear that the spying and bulk monitoring needs to come to an end! - Chad Mossman
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[BLACKER THE BERRY NEWS, ISSUE #2 ]
June 1, 2015
* If you have a story about police brutality you would like to share with the public, lets us help you get your story out! * To place an ad in our newspaper is only $5 for a week and the fee is only $10 to run your ad for an entire month! * If you are interested in being a part of our research team, or want to be a contributing writer, email us. You will be contacted promptly! *Casting Call for African American men (all ages) for upcoming stage play for JUNETEETH! Serious Actors only!!! To schedule your audition, call 713-305-3811
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[BLACKER THE BERRY NEWS, ISSUE #2 ]
June 1, 2015
Thank you for your contribution to Blacker The Berry News!!! All proceeds are used for the continuation of our Black Theater program, this newspaper and the materials needed to work on the issue of Police Brutality in Houston, TX. Supporting Black businesses are always important but supporting Black Businesses that give back is key.
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