Black Bloggers urge Congressional U.S. Taser Torture Hearings

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Tuesday April 28, 2009
Black bloggers call for "Congressional Taser Torture Hearings"


CONTACT:
Wayne Hicks, Electronic Village, blog@elecvillage.com
LN Rock, African American Political Pundit, AfricanAmericanPoliticalPundit@gmail.com
Eddie Griffin, Eddie Griffin-BASG, eddiegriffin_basg@yahoo.com

A group of bloggers called the afrospear, a 2 year old coalition of black bloggers from across America (and around the world) held a day of Blogging for Justice standing up against pre-trial capital punishment by electrocution event on Friday. More Here

The Afrospear also established a p etition to Congress calling on Senator leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and members of the Congressional Black Caucus to speak out and organize public hearings on the systemic human rights violations occurring with Federal funding against black, Latino, Native American and other Americans.

Group member Eddie Griffin, of the blog, Eddie Griffin-BASG, said, "While there continues to be considerable media and congressional attention to torture in Guantanamo, there is comparatively little attention to the mounting evidence of human rights violations in the streets of America by a number of police departments across America, including torture and killings of black children, women and men through-out the United States through the use and abuse of Tasers."

LN Rock, a 2008 DNC Convention Blogger, who publishes the blogs, African American Political Pundit and Tasered While Black said, "We want Congress to stand up with us against the police pre-trial electrocution of black children, women and men - by taser. He went on to say, "We believe that few Americans support spending our tax dollars on torture, which violates our moral, religious and legal traditions. Most Americans expect an American policing policy that ensures the rights of all individuals regardless of race, greed, color, national origin, sex, disability or political or religious affiliation."

Wayne Hicks, publisher of the blog, Electronic Village, said, "We believe most Americans would favor Congressional hearings as to whether our own U.S. police, policing policies and actions violate Federal and International laws prohibiting human rights violators. Evidence of widespread police abuse of tasers is more than enough to warrant our concern and justify a congressional inquiry." He went on to say, " We propose that Congress undertake serious oversight into the extent to which our taxes are funding human rights violations and torture by tasing, and provide an alternative roadmap to the restoration of our democratic values. We want Congress to make sure that police pre-trial electrocution of black children, women and men by taser stops."

The bloggers are asking for:

1. The U.S. Attorney General and the Justice Department to aggressively fulfill its most basic mandate of enforcing the law. Torture by tasing is a crime, and the Justice Department is the right place to initiate an independent top-to-bottom investigation of the torturing of black children men, women and children by local police jurisdictions throughout the United States. It's important that the general public understand the 'use of force continuum' used by law enforcement officials, and how it is abused by many in the law enforcement community. (See the use-of-force-continuum provided by the blog Electronic Village) Note: Although there is a Justice Department Review of TASER-related Deaths the on-the-spot pre-trial electrocutions continues.

2. Congress should investigate whether US police tasing policies violate Federal or international civil and human right laws, including the U.N. Convention against Torture, and international covenants against cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of citizens even in cases of so-called "state emergencies".

3. Congress should require the effective regulation of Taser use and require police/citizen review panels by Federal, state and local police and security agencies, including strict adherence to international human rights standards, or act to defund all such Federal, State and local police and security agencies who violate taser use regulations that would be established by Congress. No Federal stimulus dollars should be used to purchase tasers.

The bloggers point out UN's Committee against Torture has declared that Taser use can constitute a form of torture, while USA: Amnesty International has an on-going concern about the use of tasers on American citizens. With all the conversation about the Bush torture memos and torture in the United States, we the undersigned bring up the issue of torture of black Americans at the hands of police in the United States. We urge you to stand up against the police pre-trial electrocution of black children, women and men by taser.

Here is a sampling of what black bloggers are saying about the tasing of so many blacks in the United States.

“A day of blogging for Justice ... What bloggers are saying and thinking:

Asabagna - Afrospear Think Tank - http://afrospear.wordpress.com/2009/04/24/a-day-of-blogging-for-justice-standing-up-against-the-pre-trial-electrocution/

Wayne Hicks - Electronic Village - http://tinyurl.com/chedrx

Shawn Williams, Dallas South Blog.com - http://tinyurl.com/cx6h97

Nate, Nateo Blog - http://nateo.blogspot.com/2009/04/call-for-stopping-pre-trial.html

Antoinette - Antoinette's Point of View - http://aapov.blogspot.com/

Cherie S. - http://memoirofcherieamour.blogspot.com/
Mr. E-D - Excited-delirium.com

LN Rock, African American Opinion - http://africanamericanopinion.ning.com

Francis Holland - Francis L. Holland Blog - http://francislholland.blogspot.com/2009/04/police-pre-trail-execution-pigs-on.html

Kathy - Daily Kos Blogger - Do White People Care About Tasing? http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/4/24/724113/-Do-White-People-Care-About-Tasing

Zhana - Ancestral Energies - http://ancestralenergies.blogspot.com/2009/04/no-to-pre-trial-electrocutions.html

The Kid - Pirate satellite: A Day of Blogging for Justice - http://kid-kidfunkadelic.blogspot.com/

Wayne Bennett, The Field Negro, Major side bar and link highlighting the importance of this day.

http://field-negro.blogspot.com/

Purple Zoe - UltraVioletUnderground - http://purplezoe.blogspot.com/2009/04/day-of-blogging-for-justice-ban-pre.html
April Davis - Around Harlem.com http://blog-aroundharlem.com/2009/04/24/blogging-for-justice-standing-up-against-the-use-of-police-tasers/
PaJoyner - PlezWorld - http://pajoyner.blogspot.com/2009/04/day-of-blogging-for-justice-death-by.html
Yobachi - Black Perspective.net - http://www.blackperspective.net/index.php/act-against-police-taser-abuse/
Ms. Lady Deborah - From my Brown Eyed View - http://msladydeborah.blogspot.com/2009/04/day-of-blogging-for-justicestanding-up.html
Eddie Griffin BASG - http://eddiegriffinbasg.blogspot.com/2009/04/gravest-injustice.html
Rev. Sequoyah Kofi bin-Tomas, Intelligent Aboriginal News Service (IANS) - The Angry Indian - Inteligentaindigena Novajoservo: When "Non-Lethal" Weapons Kill
Wayne Hicks - Villager, OxDown. Firedoglake - http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/4927
Wayne Hicks - Villager - Electronic Village-.. http://tinyurl.com/59jet6 - Use of Force Continuum
SjP - Sojourners Place - http://sojournersplace.blogspot.com/2009/04/blogging-for-justice-stop-taser.html
LN Rock - Post Racial Blog - http://postracial.blogspot.com/2009/04/tasering-and-toturing-black-americans.html
The SuperSpade - http://www.thesuperspade.com/taser-torture/
Anyway I Have To - http://underovr.blogspot.com/2009/04/day-of-blogging-for-justice-standing-up.html
Vanessa Byers- On The Black Hand Side - http://www.blackhandside.net/2009/04/day-of-blogging-for-justice.html
It All Goes Here - http://nateo.blogspot.com/2009/04/call-for-stopping-pre-trial.html
Independent Bloggers Alliance - http://independentbloggersalliance.blogspot.com/2009/04/day-of-blogging-for-justice-standing-up.html
Rover's Morning Glory - http://www.roverradio.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=Black-kids-women-and-children-are-being-tasered-to-death-while-black....html&Itemid=382
Assata Shukur Forum - http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/open-forum/37831-4-24-blog-against-pre-trial-electrocution.html
RiPPa - The Intersection between Maddness and Reality - http://rippdemup.blogspot.com/2009/04/day-of-blogging-for-justice-end-taser.html
Lola - Whatever Lola Wants - http://lolagetslife.blogspot.com/2009/04/day-of-blogging-for-justice-standing-up.html
African American Political Pundit Report - http://aappreport.blogspot.com/2009/04/day-of-blogging-for-justice-standing-up.html
African American Political Pundit Blog - http://aapoliticalpundit.blogspot.com/2009/04/blacks-tasers-and-torture-sign-online.html
Electrocuted While Black - http://electrocutedwhileblack.blogspot.com/2009/04/at-least-five-seventeen-year-olds.html
Scotty - Black Talk Radio - http://blacktalkradio.ning.com/profiles/blogs/a-day-of-blogging-for-justice?xgs=1
Proud Black Blogger - http://proudblackvoter.blogspot.com/2009/04/congressional-black-caucus-needs.html
Carmen D. - Black Voices - http://www.blackvoices.com/blogs/2009/04/27/lets-put-a-stop-to-taser-madness/
Chicago Cop Watch - http://chicagocopwatch.org/2009/04/at-least-five-seventeen-year-olds-suffer-police-pretrial-capital-punishment-by-electrocution-this-year/

Here is a link to the Afrospear Petition to request Congressional hearings on the Taser torture of Americans: http://www.petition2congress.com/2/1822/taser-torture-in-america-call-congressional-hearings/

Where do black web sites fit in a post-racial America?

By Brandon Whitney

Source: The Daily Voice

When visiting African American blogs online, I occasionally run across comments made by irate people who find the existence of sites that focus on black culture to be racist. There is a certain portion of the population that objects to any acknowledgment of African American culture. Their argument is that if we are to truly be one country, then race should never be a factor in any fashion. The existence of African American groups and, even separate acknowledgment of culture, are seen as reverse racism.

I think I grasp their arguments but find them lacking because what they are arguing for isn't a melding of two cultures that have evolved in the United States, but rather the complete elimination of African American culture and our assimilation into the mainstream.

Are black organizations racist?

There are several aspects to look at in the "Blacks are Racist" arguments. The first of which is race. Someone who is black is generally considered to be a person of African descent. There are about 700 million Africans who live on the continent. There are tens of millions of people of African descent in the New World. In Africa, there are many different cultures; this is true in the New World as well.

I state all this to make this point. Within the racial category of black, there are numerous different cultures, similar to how white encompasses many different cultures, even in the United States. Within the white population of America, southerners and northerners have different cultures. People of Irish, Polish, and Italian descent still cling to some aspects of their ancestral cultures. This basically means that when people attack the existence of African American organizations as inherently racist, they are simply viewing African Americans as members of a race and failing to see the culture that exists separately from their racial category. If a young white man or woman grows up in an African American environment and they "act black," they are not changing their racial category. They are assimilating into a preexisting culture.

Jewish societies exist in the United States, as do Italian-American groups, and Irish Americans as well. They are not accused of being racist or jingoistic, and neither should African American organizations. They are simply cultural organizations that either cater to certain aspects of the culture or address problems that disproportionally affect their constituency. Once we separate race -- a physical manifestation -- from culture, and mental manifestation, we can see why their existence is not inherently racist, and in some cases are necessary.

If one attacks the existence of African American organizations and groups, then one should just as aggressively attack Italian American, Irish American, and many other similar groups. This rarely happens because such groups cause little harm and simply add to the American cultural experience. African American groups are no different, save for the fact that much of African American culture developed as the result of harsh and bitter circumstances in the New World.

Are black media and web sites racist?

Is it still important to have African American news agencies? Are they necessary considering that a healthy number of African Americans work on network news? The answer is yes. In the modern age, when a relative goes missing, an African American does not call CBS or CNN; they email someone's blog. They do this because their missing relative is not usually considered newsworthy to the cable networks and network news broadcasts.

The African American media is not the news in Black face, or an attempt to pretend that Blacks have not made progress in the mainstream press. It reports news that would not otherwise be available, accept for the existence of the black media.

The television news is a money making businesses. Executives put what they think will garner ratings in order to get more commercial dollars. So when a young African American boy disappears, his story is not likely to get on the network news. It is not profitable. I even hesitate to call this racist because a white male or an unattractive white female is not likely to make the news either. The failure of the mainstream news to help find missing young African American people is just one of the ways in which it fails to share information with people who need it.

Rather than beg the media to change the way in which they cover news, the African American community has leaned on other sources to get important information out. When a historically African American university has financial trouble, black media spreads the word and helps mobilize people to save the school. When a child is missing, African American blogs and news agencies spread the word so that they can be found. These are more than just for-profit businesses; these are tools to improve the everyday living of people within, and without, the African American community. More HERE