We Are Women Warriors to Host A “No Excuses Community Meeting” & Forum

An Emergency, 'No Excuses' Community Meeting

Last week, deadly and potentially fatal acts of violence happened at one of Buffalo's public high school. One staff member was shot and a student was stabbed 10 times by another student. We, as a community, can no longer sit back and depend on the police, Buffalo Public Schools and anti- violence groups to try to resolve acts of violence and anti-social behaviors that have their beginnings in dysfunctional households all across our city. In many of these homes are parents who had difficulties in school when they were students. Many of these former students did not attain the education, good parenting skills and social discipline needed to assist and guide their children to be a successful student and productive member of our community. These parents and guardians need help and it is time we recognize this fact. It is a simple fact that broken homes generate a broken community and school systems and we cannot address the problems until we engage the student in conjunction with his neighborhood and home environment. We must address these conditions now without laying blame or giving excuses!

We Are Women Warriors will host a 'No Excuses' community meeting, Thursday, February 24, from 5-8 PM, @ the Frank E. Merriweather Library, 1324 Jefferson Ave. There will be a panel discussion and a Call for Action type of audience participation where the attendees will be allowed to offer comments or to ask questions. The panel will include BPS school board member, Sharon Belton- Cottman, community activists, Jesse Doyle, Sherry Sherrill & Lamar Smith; and Pastor Frederick Gelsey, founder of the Homicide Prevention & Education Program. To find out more information or to register for the speaker's list, please call Betty Jean Grant @ 716-602-5877.

Scrap the Multi- Rental Idea at 725 Humboldt Pkwy!

Dear Community Leaders, In the last several hours I became aware of the City of Buffalo interest in Redeveloping 725 Humboldt Pkwy. Certainly anyone can see the need to improve the facility of an older school bldg. in one of the busiest corners in the area. Again, I'm all for a redevelopment scheme which will accomplish more than another 12 apartments. Cut the budget in half and take the other 4 million and develop the remainder of the neighborhood's rental needs where the yield will be a lot more than 12 units! It is my opinion the site should remain in the public interest and better operated as a neighborhood services and public administration site, even perhaps a local bank or credit union branch - more walk up than drive as parking during business hours will be trying for residents and travelers. It is my suggestion that the multi-rental idea be scrapped and look more to service an area in need which is local, accessible and walkable. There is a small lot for parking, which may limit parking space for staff or operator space (which may not be bad either, as it would encourage resident staffing and incentive to walk the neighborhood and sell the services). The stately appearance of the building itself will likely have to be preserved as well, as the Hamlin Park Preservation organization will insist that to be the case, again, much more suited to the service task. There is a nearby site which is more suited to a development similar to what is proposed here.At the corner of Northland and Humboldt, there is an older church building which would certainly add more to the neighborhood as a housing development. Again, only a suggestion, but a mixed use rental and co-op ownership type of design similar to what has occurred on the West side of Buffalo recently. There is also the Asbury/ Babesville model as well, of a commercial cultural site, a service, really not part of that neighborhood's past. The area is very accessible and surrounding greenspace will add another advantage to offering cultural and lifestyle services, adding even greater value to the area. Indeed this process is a long way down the track, but unfortunately, in an incorrect direction. even if you should reject any of my suggestions as alternatives. The facts remain: the area around 725 Humboldt is too busy, congested and commercial for your planned purpose and likely inconsistent with the preservation needs of the community. Survey the area and see what comes back. There's still time I'm sure. (As we're in the midst of redrawing district maps, I wasn't sure in whose district the project would now reside. If you're an elected official and it's in your district, please forward a reply.) Ff.Michael A. Brown (Ret) 93 Shoshone St. Buffalo, NY 14214 University District ED5 716-864-3266

Eric Adams' Black on Black Crime...

The mass incarceration state was built to lock up as many Black people as possible and discussion of even modest reforms is shut down. Such was the case in New York where the mayor and police commissioner smeared Manhattan's district attorney, forcing him to backtrack on his campaign promise of reducing the number of prison sentences. The Black face rises to the high place because of adherence to white supremacist ideology.

The term “black on black crime” is a particularly pernicious trope. It is a ruse used to absolve the systemic racism which kills Black people in a plethora of ways. It invalidates Black people’s suffering and gives license to law enforcement and its many acts of brutality.

Ironically, it also describes what is happening among a group of Black officials in New York City. The new mayor and his police commissioner committed a brazen political mugging of the Manhattan District Attorney.

New York City mayor Eric Adams personifies the political imperative to perpetuate an unjust system. Adams was a police officer himself before he went into politics. He has promised to give the police everything they want, including those things that Black people do not want. His mayoralty is a classic case of the dangers of Black faces being in high and inherently corrupt places.

Adams uses fear of crime to gain support for stop and frisk procedures and bringing back the plain clothes units which killed men like Sean Bell and Amadou Diallo. New Yorkers are propagandized by the media into thinking that a police presence makes them safer and that criminal justice rules should never be questioned. Those who don’t believe in police state impunity are intimidated into changing their minds.

Alvin Bragg is Manhattan’s District Attorney and he quite rightly campaigned on a promise of seeking jail time less frequently. Shortly after taking office he issued a memo giving guidance to his prosecutors which detailed what crimes should be charged by his office and when incarceration should be requested. Bragg proposed no prosecution for sex work, misdemeanors, or non-payment of transit fares. Despite what his detractors claim, none of his proposals gave license to commit violent crimes. He seeks to help the mentally ill and unhoused and give them access to assistance instead of to a jail cell. But he was immediately attacked despite making sensible proposals to reduce incarceration in a way that would not endanger the public.

The Adams administration police commissioner, Keechant Sewell, made clear that there would be no justice allowed while she and her boss are in office. She very publicly undercut Bragg with an email sent to every NYPD officer claiming that Bragg made them less safe. “I have studied these policies and I am very concerned about the implications to your safety as police officers, the safety of the public and justice for the victims.”

Bragg’s biggest offense was proposing the end of charging for resisting arrest, unless there is also a felony charge. Resisting arrest is a catch all charge meant to intimidate or to ensure jail time. It is often used to defend against police brutality. The person who ends up hospitalized or dead after a police encounter is nearly always said to have resisted arrest. Sewell and others have lied about Bragg and what he clearly states.

Bragg also had the misfortune of issuing his recommendations shortly before two NYPD officers were killed. None of the particulars in that case were related to his positions on jail time, but his enemies made the most of a tragedy. The two officers were funeralized with great pomp at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, with a phalanx of thousands of police in attendance. The copaganda was thick and Bragg became a target. One of the widows condemned Bragg in the eulogy to her husband, “This system continues to fail us. We are not safe anymore, not even the members of the service. I know you were tired of these laws, especially the ones from the new DA.”

While Bragg was being labeled as soft on crime, Joe Biden visited New York to echo the tough on crime mantra. Of course Biden’s failure to do what voters want and his dismal performance with the ongoing covid pandemic have made him very unpopular. Coming to