LET THE PANDERING AND COMPROMISING BEGIN!!!

It's official!! Reverend Al and some of the Civil Rights establishment have heard our cries! .............NOT! If anything, they are trying to avoid some shame and embarrassment for being called out on their indifference, ineptitude, silence, and apathy. Thanks to Gina at WAOD, people are starting to understand that this is a SERIOUS faux pas for our black "leaders". In an attempt to keep me and my supporters from unleashing a counter demonstration, I have been receiving emails reminding me that we must remain "united". I'll be posting the emails and my responses here, so I'll keep this message brief.

It's sad that we have to SHAME people into being accountable, but hey, if it works and the desired results are achieved, why knock it? One more thing, to my haters, I am in this for the long haul... get your daggers ready and keep them ready.

Greetings Shane,

First allow me apologize for offending you and/or your service to the community. Please know that was not my intent. Thank you on behalf of my children for your courageous efforts and diligence.

You are correct, I am not a mental health professional and I have not experienced the burden of psychotropic drugs. What happened in Dunbar was to say the least horrific and it is happening globally to women, children, and babies (18mths in the Congo). I am not convinced that these youth are sociopaths because there are youth nationally and globally who are committing the same acts of violence and in some cases worse. So do we label them, and drug them, and remove them from society? How do we prevent the violence, sustain peace, and provide the basic human needs in the community? Peacebuilding seeks to analyze and then address violence. If you would like to speak further, I would enjoy sharing some additional tools with you for your advocacy toolbox and learning more about your service. If not, I wish you peace and blessings on your journey for justice.

Jacqueline

On 11/14/07, SB Johnson <sbjatlanta@yahoo.com> wrote:

Jacqueline,

I'm not sure why I was copied on your email, but since I was included I'll take the liberty to respond. I read your email with great interest and I still for the life of me have no idea what it is that you are talking about. How does peacebuilding stop teenage sociopaths from victimizing yet another human being? I want you to actually READ about Dunbar Village. I want you to read the affidavits and the grand jury testimony. This woman was sodomized and tortured. How does transformative therapy work to rehabilitate a sociopath? Are you a patient of transformative therapy? Are you currently taking any type alternative mood regulators?

I'm sorry but your response, while very philosophical, is completely irrelevant to what happened at Dunbar VILLAGE. aGAIN read ABOUT THE CRIME.

Yours in the struggle,
Shane

P.S. I don't live in Dunbar, but I've been advocating on behalf of these people since July of 2007. What have you done?

----- Original Message ----
From: Jacqueline Roebuck Sakho < contactjrsakho@gmail.com>
To: Alfia Johnson <nomadicgriot@hotmail.com>
Cc: ru4justice@juno.com; sbjatlanta@yahoo.com
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 6:55:12 PM
Subject: Re: FW: Counter protest to Rev. Al Sharpton's rally on Fri. Nov. 16. :(

Greetings Alfia,

Thank you for this valuable information. I was not aware of this horrifically violent incident. We must be very careful and empathic with this issue. A violent harm has happened to the entire community. See as we discussed in Busboy, we the community of Africans that are the descendants of slaves are suffering from intergenerational trauma and systemic injustice and oppression. Our current organizations and leaders are not properly trained in strategic peacebuilding, the operative word here is "strategic". These are the skills that are going to be effective for the 21st century. Marching and protesting may get some attention if the mainstream media grants it worthy; however, the attention has the potential to cause more harm to that community. The Dunbar Village Community will be left alone without healing or support and the organizers and organizations will go home or back to their comfort zones. We must ask, what is the root? Let's organize some peacebuilding workshops. Let's get our mental health professionals trained in transformative trauma healing. Let's get our social scientist and theorist trained in conflict transformation. This is a plan for saving our daughters and sons. Remember...Ubuntu. If you haven't heard of this term, it's an African philosophy that originates from one of the Bantu dialects of Africa, and is pronounced
as uu-Boon-too.

Sister Roxy Allen writes this about Ubuntu:

It is a traditional African philosophy that offers us an understanding
of ourselves in relation with the world. According to Ubuntu, there
exists a common bond between us all and it is through this bond,
through our interaction with our fellow human beings, that we discover
our own human qualities. Or as the Zulus would say, "Umuntu Ngumuntu
Ngabantu", which means that a person is a person through other
persons. We affirm our humanity when we acknowledge that of others.

Feel free to pass this on to your communities and networks.

Peace and Blessings,

Jacqueline

Rose,

Thank you for your email, but I can't help but wonder WHY NOW wants to get involved at this point. Your organization is yet another example of how social justices organizations (whose premise is to be a voice for the marginalized) has failed to be a voice for Dunbar. I don't think that you've gotten the point about the counter protest so I'll make it plain for you. NOW should be a shamed of themselves for being particularly silent on this issue. I also would like to point out that it's very rare that NOW takes the lead on anything that DOESN'T adversely affect white women. This is the reason Alice Walker (whose quote you use in your signature) has never supported NOW and the idea of feminism because of the selective exclusion of the needs of black women and women of color.

Now, if you believe that NOW is firmly committed to organizing some action on behalf of the woman who was raped at Dunbar Village, as well as the women who continue to be victimized (and everyone else), then I would be willing to have a conference call with you this morning. As far as what I'd like to see happen at Dunbar and how NOW and others can be involved in that process, I think we can proceed in the following manner:

• Statements from the Presidents of ALL sponsoring social justice organizations acknowledging the Dunbar Village Tragedy and how they Failed to respond quickly, for immediate release
  
• Advertisement of the Victim's assistance fund on their respective websites (the victim and her son need monetary support for therapy and medical costs) for immediate release
  
• Follow-up and updates on the progress of the trials of the 4 defendants in custody to be published on their respective websites to be published by 12/28/2007
  
• An Open letter signed by each organization demanding the Resignation of the Mayor, Housing Authority Director, and Chief of Police of West Palm Peach, to be drafted, signed, and published by 11/30/2007
  
• Use of field organizers to assist Dunbar residents with filing HUD complaints
• Use of field organizers to lobby for the dissolution of the West Palm Beach Housing Authority and takeover by the Federal Government or State

I am not sure that another march will change anything for the victim and her son, but will probably be a meaningful and symbolic way to support the residents of Dunbar Village whom the mayor of West Palm Beach has forgotten. The deplorable conditions, escalating crime, lack of police presence and protection have all equally contributed to a cadre of catastrophic failures that resulted in a brutal gang rape and torture. Please contact me immediately if you wish to to have this meeting.

Regards,
Shane

----- Original Message ----
From: Rose Afriyie
To: sbjatlanta@yahoo.com
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 4:07:30 PM
Subject: Meeting with Al Sharpton

Hello Shane,

First, I want to commend you for taking exceptional leadership on this important issue. My name is Rose Afriyie and I am a field organizer for the National Organization for Women, headquartered in Washington , DC . I hope this communication finds you well. I was writing to you because I am interested in holding a meeting to see if a compromise can be made so that we can all march unified at noon this Friday. I wanted to see if you and your co-organizers were open to a closed dialogue on your needs and concerns in scheduling a march for the woman in Dunbar with the organizers of the march for justice. Please call or e-mail with your thoughts on what a meeting would look like and what could be addressed so that we can all proceed in unity to demand justice for both men and women of color.

Dr. Holness,

He's had several opportunities since it happened in June 2007. Perhaps his schedule was too full marching for juvenile delinquents, sex offenders, and over-indulged but incredibly stupid, super-rich athletes.

----- Original Message ----
From: "Holness, E. Gail Anderson"
To: SB Johnson
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 3:40:01 PM
Subject: RE: March on Washington

Shane,

Apparently, this issue is deeper with you and Rev. Sharpton than I surmised; perhaps he is the best person to defend himself on this issue.

Dr. E. Gail Anderson Holness

Special Assistant to the President

Office of the President

University of the District of Columbia

Building 38 Suite A-O3

4200 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20008

202 274-6098 office

202 409-0105 mobile

2022 274-6033 fax

EHolness@udc.edu

---

From: SB Johnson [mailto:sbjatlanta@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 3:36 PM
To: Holness, E. Gail Anderson
Subject: Re: March on Washington

Dr. Holness,

Thank you for your email. Why hasn't he published this statement on his website? Why (if in fact it actually happened) did it take so long? Why hasn't Dunbar received the same time and attention that the Jena 6 or Genarlow Wilson did? You can remain united with him as much as you want, but as I and others like me have discovered, Rev. Sharpton speaks only for certain people. Any instance of injustice regardless of who the victim and perpetrators are warrants public action, but the Dunbar Village incident received none. Your silence implies that you condone what happened. Your silence implies that black women don't matter, especially when their abusers and victimizers are black men. Al Sharpton is NOT above criticism and it's high time that these self-appointed and self-absorbed black leaders are called out on their apathy and immoral indifference. Publish the transcripts of the lecture and I will post them on my blog ONLY if Rev. Sharpton specifically mentioned the Dunbar tragedy. You can read more about Dunbar Village here.

Regards,
Shane

----- Original Message ----
From: "Holness, E. Gail Anderson"
To: sbjatlanta@yahoo.com
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 3:24:23 PM
Subject: March on Washington

Shane,

Greeting,

Rev. Sharpton has been speaking about this issue to clergy and others since being in Washington , DC over the past week. As a matter of fact Rev. Sharpton spoke about this very issue yesterday to our students at our Distinguished Lecture Series at the University of District of Columbia . We must remain united in our efforts to eradiate injustices in our society and the March on Washington is our vehicle.

Dr. E. Gail Anderson Holness

Special Assistant to the President

Office of the President

University of the District of Columbia

Building 38 Suite A-O3

4200 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20008

202 274-6098 office

202 409-0105 mobile

2022 274-6033 fax

EHolness@udc.edu