To the POINT DN

Associate Editor’s Message Ballet or the Bullet

The Ballot Or The Bullet

Last week the nation experienced yet another mass shooting. Tis time, it happened on the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing. The gunman killed three and wounded five others. The extra ammunition and “kill list” authorities said he possessed suggest the situation could have been even worse. By now, you’ve heard the fact that the US has experienced more mass shootings this year than number of days. Folk who want to see change have to recognize the choice before us. It’s “Te Ballot of the Bullet” (to borrow the title of a Malcolm X speech). We know the gun lobby is the pimp and the GOP lawmakers who block gun reform are gunmakers’ “hoes.”

We also know that over 75% of Americans (Republican and Democrat) want gun reform. In recent years, 60% of voters vote during presidential elections with other elections seeing a 40% voter turnout. Tat means literally millions of folk aren’t voting. But we don’t even need millions; just a few thousand more votes nationally could swing power away from “thoughts and prayers” advocates and give it to those who are tired of seeing masses of people gunned down.

THE REAL UPSIDE-DOWN

A US congresswoman, who I hate to even name, Marjorie Taylor Green, is openly calling for “red” states to separate from “blue” ones—an act in total opposition to the Constitution she took an oath to protect. Te US Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, handed over all Jan. 6 US Capitol insurrection security footage to Fox News host and white nationalist favorite Tucker Carlson. An act so blatantly unfair and unethical it’s too obvious to even explain. Several GOP lawmakers slammed President Joe Biden for visiting Ukraine, saying “Ukraine ain’t our friend and Russia ain’t our enemy;” words consistent with the political party that was cool with their president (Tefon Don) colluding with and being in debt to Russia to the tune of multiple millions. Te party of supposed “law& order” and “family values” celebrated insurrectionists, “cleared” a child trafcking colleague (Matt Gaetz) and “forgave” a state AG (Texas) who has committed more crimes than Trump has lies. And these scoundrels have the nerve to tell us what is lawful, Christian and just, while acting in anti-law, anti-Christian and anti-justice ways. Te show “Stranger Tings” has a “real” world and an alternate universe called “Te Upside-Down.” But what do we call our “real” world when lawless lawmakers defne their evil as “good” and lawlessness the “law of the land”?

Lessons From History

One important aspect of “history” is the lessons we can learn from it. To that point, let’s listen to the epitome of Black Resistance, Harriet Tubman, who shared these words while freeing her enslaved sisters and brothers—advice we’d do well to heed today: “If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there’s shouting afer you, keep going. Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.” Black people… keep going!

ON THE WEB

• Meet the co-founders of Houston’s Hip-Hop Museum.

• See why Blacks & Latinos in Texas say “Don’t drink the water.”

• Check out the top Black Power songs of all time.

New law focuses on de-escalation training for ofcers

By Raquel Rogers

A new law will provide millions of dollars to train Houston police ofcers in de-escalation tactics. Te bill was frst introduced by Senator John Cornyn afer the death of George Floyd prompted global cries to end police brutality.

Te new law, which was signed on Dec. 27, 2022, authorizes $124 million in grant funding over 4 years for police training in de-escalation tactics, especially when dealing with people sufering from mental health crises. Te goal is to reduce the number of ofcer-involved deaths and retain experienced police.

Mayor Sylvester Turner said the federal funding would be “a tremendous beneft” to the city of Houston.

“Tis is a large city, 640 square miles, and things are happening throughout the city, sometimes at the same time. Any additional dollars that can help us increase the number of support, increase the number of teams, especially for people in crisis will help out quite a bit,” Turner said.

Te training’s curriculum — which is currently being developed by the U.S. Department of Justice, will be made available to state and local law enforcement agencies.

Afer the death of George Floyd in 2020, Mayor Turner met with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and Houston-area leaders to discuss the relationship between law enforcement agencies and community members. According to Cornyn, input from that discussion was incorporated into the law.

“Tis is a tough job and recruiting is not easy because it can be a dangerous job,” Cornyn said. “And we want to keep our law enforcement ofcials who are on the job now. We want to keep them as long as we can. Tis de-escalation training act will supplement the good work being done here at the local level and hopefully, in the end, save lives and get people the help they need,” Cornyn said.