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Volume 76 – Number 45
July 17-23, 2013
michiganchronicle.com
Real Times CEO Jackson on NNPA Trayvon Martin and the generational burden of black boys board
2013 Jim Crow Justice
Hiram E. Jackson, CEO of Real Times Media and publisher of the Michigan Chronicle, was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the National Newspaper Hiram Jackson P u b l i s h e r Association (NNPA), the association of Black newspapers, at the group’s annual convention. Real Times Media is the parent company of the Michigan Chronicle. “I am honored to have been elected to such an historic organization,” said Jackson. “In this
See JACKSON page A-4
WHAT’S INSIDE Now or never for Detroit (Page A-3) City council candidate Vince Keenan is running for office because he believes this is an incredibly important time for the city. Keenan, who is running in District 6, said, “We’re going to have to make sure that tough decisions are made with as much feedback as possible from community members.”
Benny Napoleon endorsement (Page B-5) The General Assembly of the Council of Baptist Pastors of Detroit and Vicinity unanimously voted to endorse Benny Napoleon for mayor of the city of Detroit. The candidate spoke of his “experience and understanding of Detroit’s challenges” and said he has a plan to “reduce crime by 50 percent.”
Entrepreneur on a mission (Page C-1) Since 2002, Monica G. Anthony has been on an entrepreneurial mission of excellence as founder of the Detroit-based Gian-Chris, Inc., a company that began as a commercial real estate consulting entity.
By Bankole Thompson CHRONICLE SENIOR EDITOR
The history of America is still being written and the acquittal of George Zimmerman of second degree murder by a Florida jury of five White women and one Hispanic female in the mindless shooting death of 17-year-old African American teenager Trayvon Martin is now an important chapter in that history that gave birth to centuries of slavery and Jim Crow. Like so many, I was shocked by the verdict and could not comprehend how in 2013, a jury purporting to be part of balancing the scales of justice would let go a martial arts trained man with a gun who got out of his car, soaked in his prejudice and tired of seeing Black youths in the neighborBankole hood, followd an innocent Thompson teenager and killed him. The prejudiced jury, as evidenced by the interview juror B-37 gave to CNN Monday night, revealed the dark character of a system of justice that has long been failing young Black boys. How long will this continue before those who administer justice finally right the wrongs of the criminal justice system? Even though juror B-37 admitted that Zimmerman went too far and should not have gotten out of his car with his gun and followed Trayvon, she still believed “George,” as she referred to Zimmerman repeatedly, was on the right side of the law. Then she said both Trayvon and Zimmerman were responsible for what happened, but she assigned no culpability to Zimmerman. More troubling for the juror was when she described Trayvon’s female friend, Rachel Jeantel, as not “credible” because of her “communication skills,” and that she was “using phrases I never heard before,” showing the deep-seated prejudice of a jury whose life experiences do not equate to Trayvon, his female friend or any other Black person.
Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, the parents of Trayvon Martin. Did the prosecutors conclude that Trayvon’s life was not worth vigorously fighting to convict his killer by throwing the entire book, including racial animus, at Zimmerman? Did the prosecutors decide because of national attention they would just charge Zimmernan for the sake of charging but not put up a strategic and strong fight since their own Sanford Police Department showed no value in a dead Black boy’s life by letting his killer talk his way out of an arrest and go home to sleep on the night he killed Trayvon Martin?
Why didn’t the prosecutors object when their own witness, Chris Serino, the lead detective from the Sandford Police Department, on the witness seat converted into a glowing character witness for Zimmerman? Given what they knew and the information they were privy to, including forensic evidence regarding how Trayvon was killed, why did the prosecution allow their witness, Serino, to collapse their case and not even object? Were the prosecutors, Sanford Police Department and the jury eating from the same plate of racism? The fact is, if young Trayvon Martin was a White boy, Zimmerman would never have followed him in the first place. But even if he had followed him and shot him to death, he would never have gone home that night. He would have had a lot of explaining to do in the interrogation room and the prosecution would have moved heaven and earth and even planet Jupiter to convict this killer. Everyone from the prosecution, to the Sanford Police Department to the jury would have all identified with a young White boy killed because he could be any of their sons. Their pursuit for justice would been a personal mission to uphold the law and they would make sure Zimmerman did the time for the crime.
Apparently, by referring to a Black witness as not credible and using phrases she claimed she does not understand, juror B-37 confirmed to us that the jury members have had limited or no dealings whatsoever with the Black experience. They have no inkling of the life of a Black teenager and sought to compare the behavior of 17-yearold Trayvon to that of a grown man like Zimmerman.
But in Trayvon’s case, he became a tragic victim of his skin color which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said five decades ago should not be used to judge people. King said on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that people should be judged by the content of their character. Trayvon’s only crime was that he fit the
Makes us wonder why the prosecutors would, in the first place, if they were really interested in winning this case and given the national attention it received, allow a jury that is not diverse in thought, belief systems and life experiences to examine one of the most important racial justice cases in history.
See TRAYVON
MARTIN page A-4
Trayvon Martin
Triumphs and travails (Page D-1) Since winning the “American Idol” competition in season 3, Fantasia has had a great deal of success as well as a substantial amount of drama in her life. However, she views herself as a survivor and much more.
City Council still has work to do, Jenkins says By Bankole Thompson
ing with less members than we started with,” Jenkins said. “So it is going to be challenging for all six of us. We do not only have to be council members but now we have less staff to work with with three cosolidated policy divisions.”
CHRONICLE SENIOR EDITOR
Saunteel Jenkins, the newly elected president of the Detroit City Council, says that despite the arrival of an emergency manager, the Detroit City Council, contrary to public opinion and perception, still has some legislative work to do. Jenkins in an interview days after her ascension to the presidency of Detroit’s legislative body following the sudden disappearance of Charles Pugh, said the City Council is not sitting idly by, even as Emergency Financial Manager Kevyn Orr tackles the budget and legacy costs.
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Rather, the council, she said has been meeting to pass resolu-
Jenkins said the council is now dealing with three departments: Fiscal Analysis, Research, and Development and Planning.
Saunteel Jenkins tions, ordinances and introducing zoning measures in the city as well as ratify or disapprove of contracts that become before the
legislative table. “I expect that this next five months are going to be challenging because we are work-
“We have reduced the number of staff and cut our administrative staff by half,” Jenkins said. “The council still has a role to play because we are writing and passing ordinance through our committees and passing or canceling city contracts. We are
See JENKINS page A-4