It was heartbreaking to hear about this story involving a deceased 89-year-old lady and her 48-year-old twin sons. Adult Protective Services went to a home in Houston to check on Sybil Berndt, the mother, only to find her dead on the floor.
According to the reports, Ms. Berndt had been lying on the floor and decomposing for more than three months. Her twin sons told the authorities that she fell and that they just left her there. Reports share that she had been on the floor since January 13 of this year…(jeezus).
So now it is a crime for people to sell their own stuff? The five suspended players from the Ohio State football team are most likely just as confused by that question as I am. Well, maybe not quite as confused, because they were well aware of the rule before they did what they did. However, they obviously did not take part in creating the rule, and it is obviously not set up to be in the best interest of the players. Collegiate athletics is big business and even bigger because the athletes, who are drawing the crowds who spend the money, are working for free. Remind you of anything?
Don’t get me wrong. I am not dismissing the actions of the five O.S.U. players who were suspended, because, again, they knew the rules. Also, they traded some of their memorabilia away for some damn tattoos. Now, while that is certainly a ridiculous course of events on their behalf, when, as American citizens, have we not had the right to be ridiculous? The President of the United States can make a ridiculous choice, and the nation will redefine the English language to justify his actions. However if a young man trades something that he has earned honestly, he will be forced to miss half a year of playing time, which would likely result in him losing millions of dollars because of his diminished status as an NFL prospect. Is that fair?
(Oakland, CA) – Three groups who have actively been working toward justice for Oscar Grant – ONYX, The New Years Movement and the General Assembly for Justice for Oscar Grant – are denouncing an announcement today by the defense team for former BART officer Johannes Mehserle that they are seeking a retrial in the shooting death of unarmed Oscar Grant, III. … Continue Reading
This video is based on the writings of Massachusetts inmate Darrell Jones. Since his incarceration, Mr. Jones has maintained his innocence and spent the last 23 years fighting to stop the devastating cycle of violence and incarceration he is witnessing. This video is about hope and responsibility on an individual and government level . If the men and women behind bars think that no one expects more of them, if they believe that this great “change” Obama spoke of meant everyone else but them, the results are disastrous. Without hope, the prisons are currently breeding violence, racism and anger to be released back into our streets (97% of men come back out) fueling this endless cycle of violence and incarceration. If Obama is able to address terrorists and school children alike, then why not this prison system when it is holding so many of our people?
Here’s one excerpt from Darrell’s letter, to show its resonance and unique perspective:
Mr. President, I once read in a news article that listed the top music artists you had on your iPod. Among them, it listed Jay Z. Well, with 24 years in prison, I’ve never seen an iPod, and neither have many of the men around me, but I do know that daily I see many very young males walking around me with “Spiritual iPods” that are playing in their ears, the songs of Notorious B.I.G. singing the words “You’re nobody unless somebody kills you”. Yet two things are clear, sadly, Biggie did become bigger in death, and that many of these kids who have never seen their families together during a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner meet them for the first time in a casket with their eyes closed at a funeral. So, what troubles me is not so much that they’re willing to die, but that they don’t even want to leave here (prison) and get back to living.
For more information and to read the full letter or to contact Darrell directly, please go to www.obamaanswerthis.com.
The criminal justice system in America almost guarantees what Kevin Epps calls the “vicious cycle of recidivism” that keeps thousands of Americans from fulfilling any fraction of our social dream.
Rev. Yearwood’s experience working with T.I. is an incredible example of artists becoming activists and giving back to their communities. Working from the ground up, working with our neighbors to build healthier lives, pushing the system to reveal its prejudices and injustice…for activists like Yearwood and Epps, it is the work of a lifetime.
It was heartbreaking to hear about this story involving a deceased 89-year-old lady and her 48-year-old twin sons. Adult Protective Services went to a home in Houston to check on Sybil Berndt, the mother, only to find her dead on the floor.
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