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by Malkah Fleisher Nisan 28, 5769 / April 22, '09 | Published: 04/20/09, 2:06 PM
Arutz Sheva
| Israel accused of nazism
| My neighbor Barack
| Obama and the Jews
Nov 5, 2008 0:29 | Updated Nov 5, 2008 12:27
Chicago
© 1995 - 2009 The Jerusalem Post. All rights reserved.
yiddishe neshima
Washington, D.C.
Exceeding organizers' expectations, 200 to 300 people gathered this morning around the northeast Metairie home of Travis and Kiyanna Smith to denounce vandals that chemically burned hate symbols into the African-American couple's lawn and to take turns digging up and resodding the defaced patches of grass.
Click here to listen to today's comments from Rabbi Loewy and the Smiths.
Dubbed "Uproot Hate," the Independence Day event was organized by a coalition of churches, synagogues and mosques.
"History teaches us that silence is rarely an effective response to bigotry," said Rabbi Robert Loewy of Congregation Gates of Prayer in Metairie as he delivered the statement of purpose for the interfaith ceremony staged on the Smiths' lawn at the corner of Homestead Avenue and Live Oak Street. "We gather to affirm the American values enshrined in that Declaration of Independence."
"We denounce the cowardly and hateful action that took place some two months ago," said Archbishop Alfred Hughes of the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans. "We renounce all unjust discrimination."
The Smiths, who found the letters KKK and three crosses burned into their lawn shortly after they moved into their home almost two months ago, thanked the attendees.
"We appreciate you welcoming us into your neighborhood," Travis Smith told the crowd. Later he said he was overwhelmed by the turnout.
"A month or so ago, I didn't think no one cared," Kiyanna Smith said, explaining that only a handful of neighbors responded initially to the racist symbols. "For me, I needed more people. And I see I got more people.".......
Mark Waller may be reached at mwaller@timespicayune.com or (504) 883-7056.
Injustice
Rallying in Chicago, Sat. July 14 '07
"Judicial Shuffle"
Dixie Shuttle
Resistance: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. .." Hosea 4:6 Resist the injustice. Get Informed. **Injustice Resistance Movement of Louisiana**
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Intel. Report: Iran Will Use Latin America to Attack US, Israel | by Malkah Fleisher
Intel. Report: Iran Will Use Latin America to Attack US, Israel
by Malkah Fleisher
(IsraelNN.com) Just two days after US President Barack Hussein Obama shared a controversial and landmark handshake with Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez at the Summit of the Americas, the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center has released a study analyzing the flowering alliance between the increasingly anti-Western Latin America and the virulently anti-Israel Iran.
The study was conducted at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC), a non-governmental organization dedicated to Israeli intelligence and terrorism issues.
According to the study, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is using anti-Western Hugo Chavez as a springboard into several Latin American countries, such as Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Ecuador, where he intends to establish a religious, terrorist, political and economic foothold in South America. Iran has already made major inroads in its relationship with Venezuela and Bolivia, largely based on shared anti-American sentiments.
Iran will utilize this developing relationship to challenge the United States, parts of Asia, and Africa, said the study.
The Islamic Republic will also leverage petrodollars and Muslim operatives positioned throughout key Latin American countries to implement a radical anti-Western agenda, fight America's anti-nuclear policy, and to slash international economic sanctions according to the IICC.
In addition, the report warns that Iran may launch anti-American and anti-Israel terror attacks through intelligence and terror networks in South American countries.
Ahmadinejad, who hosted a "World Without Zionism" conference in 2005, promoting his goal to "wipe Israel off the map", has already succeeded in wounding Israeli diplomatic relations in the region, with Israel's diplomatic core being forced out of Chavez's Venezuela and Bolivia during the anti-terror Operation Cast Lead in January 2009.
Khomeini-inspired Shi'ite Islamic and Iranian revolutionary propaganda is being exported by Iran into non-Muslim and Muslim communities in Latin America, in large part through its terror proxy, Hizbullah, which is raising funds for operation by uniting with South American drug and crime cartels.
The IICC report cites several U.S. intelligence and military officials expressing concern over rising Iranian activity in Latin America, and increasing numbers of converts in the region to Islam.
Chavez and Obama exchanged a warm greeting on Friday, and again on Saturday, at which time Chavez presented Obama with a book on American and European imperialism in South America.
Chavez, who said being in Iran's capital city of Tehran made him feel "like arriving at one's own home", told reporters he shared a good moment with Obama, who he called "intelligent." The Venezuelan dictator once referred to former US President George W. Bush as "the devil" at a meeting of the United Nations.
Venezuela and Israel enjoyed a strong relationship in the past, with Venezuela voting in favor of Jewish statehood at the United Nations on November 27, 1947.
Arutz Sheva
| Israel accused of nazism
| My neighbor Barack
| Obama and the Jews
Nov 5, 2008 0:29 | Updated Nov 5, 2008 12:27
Obama mentor: Barack has a 'yiddishe nishama'
By YAAKOV KATZChicago
© 1995 - 2009 The Jerusalem Post. All rights reserved.
When Abner Mikva entered the lobby of his lakeside apartment building to vote on Tuesday morning, he wasn't surprised by the long voting line stretching down the hallway.
In the 2004 elections, there was no line at all.
"People are excited," Mikva told The Jerusalem Post as he stood in line to vote. "This election has people more involved."
Born in Wisconsin, Mikva went to the University of Chicago's Law School and served in the Illinois House of Representatives and in the US Congress from 1969 until 1979. He resigning his seat when president Jimmy Carter appointed him to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, where he served until 1994. He then was White House counsel under president Bill Clinton until 1995.Mikva was something of a mentor to Obama as the Illinois state senator made his first move into national politics in 2000 in a failed bid for Congress. They became close friends several years earlier when they met on the University of Chicago campus where they were both teaching at the law school.
Regarding concern in Israel about an Obama presidency, Mikva said that "Barack will be the first Jewish president in the US."
"He has a yiddeshe nishama," Mikva said. "He is committed to Israel and its security concerns and understands that democratization does not happen by force but by example, and there is no better example in the Middle East than Israel."
On Tuesday, Hyde Park was buzzing with activity. Police were blocking off streets and were deployed on every corner and alleyway around the Obama home, which is located right across the street from the KAM Isaiah Israel Temple, the oldest synagogue in the Windy City. Unusually long voting lines were recorded across Chicago.
"After meeting him for the first time, I was immediately impressed by how smart and thoughtful Barack was," Mikva said.
The two grew closer in 2000 when Mikva campaigned on Obama's behalf throughout Chicago. Obama failed to make it into Congress and Mikva said that one reason was that Obama didn't know how to speak to black audiences on the South Side.
"He got clobbered in the black areas since he came across as a Harvard Law professor," he recalled, noting that by Obama's senate bid four years later, the state senator had come a long way as an orator. "When he spoke to black audiences in 2004 he had the rhythm and knew how to speak. He could have taught a thing or two to Dr. [Martin Luther] King."
Mikva stayed in touch with Obama after he entered the Senate, serving as an informal adviser on his 2008 presidential campaign as well as on its finance committee.
"As an older mentor to Obama, I always tried to transmit to him not to change his message and to be consistent," Mikva said. "Obama has stuck to this and is always consistent."
Abner Mikva
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Obama-"Quiet Riots" |June 2007|Hampton University Ministers' Conference
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America:In The Final Throes
Washington, D.C.
Mychal
Roundtable: 'Jena 6' Teen Attempts Suicide
News & Notes , January 5, 2009 · On today's bloggers' roundtable: Mychal Bell, one of the teenagers involved in Louisiana's Jena 6 case, reportedly shot himself in the chest, in a suicide attempt.
Plus, a conservative satirist is under a cloud of controversy for lyrics he wrote about President-elect Obama.
And a new report finds the murder rate among black male teenagers on the rise.
Farai Chideya moderates today's roundtable with Jasmyne Cannick; Shaun King of Shaun in the City; and Eric Brown of the Detroit News.
Related NPR Stories
Dec. 30, 2008Why Are So Many Young Black Men Being Murdered?
Dec. 30, 2008Satire, Race And The 'Magic Negro'
Dec. 30, 2008Flap Over 'Magic Negro' Song Roils RNC
Dec. 30, 2008Why Are So Many Young Black Men Being Murdered?
The Jena 6 In Photos
ms moon (msmoon) wrote:
Shuan is right on in his defense of Mr. Bell. I guess I don't get Ms. Cannick's and Mr. Brown's flippant response to Bell's attempt to kill himself. Instead of questioning what would draw this young man to the point where he decided to take his life, the response seems to be that he somehow owed "The Black Community" for sticking up for him and the other Jena men. And that "right is right and wrong is wrong" -- is she implying that suicide is wrong, as in Bell is wrong for feeling the way he did at that moment? Way to show empathy. I know it's cliche but hardly anything in life is ever black and white, period. Without addressing underlying issues, those grey areas, we're not helping anyone.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009 2:27:22 PM
Unfinished Business (Unbu) wrote:
Mychal's story is very complicated. As it was said by him concerning media glare; he was referring to the glare that would come because of his recent arrest.As for support systems, it was a feeding frenzie at the height of the jena phenomenon. This isn't complete yet, because others are still in "trial limbo". Capitalizing took place, then; and has taken place now. The same local station in Monroe, La., that aired a news report the LaSalle DA's office had an offer on the table, that would of garnered Mychal only 6 months June of 07; aired on their local evening news, the Monday of the shooting incident that he had been arrested Dec 24th at Dillard's.It was that Media Attention that Mychal referred to. Remember, on Sept 20th Mychal was in custody. He was present for a news conference on his release Sept. 27th. He was present the same day at a family residence in Jena, as media was there, including a crew from Dr. Phil. His attorney's by court order allowed no interviews. CNN performed a interview with Mychal in Monroe, at Carroll High School Stadium in early 2008. CNN held & aired that interview a few days, before the LHSA made the decision, he would not play football. The courts, had him in a state program then.
Monday, January 05, 2009 5:31:40 PM
News & Notes , January 5, 2009 · On today's bloggers' roundtable: Mychal Bell, one of the teenagers involved in Louisiana's Jena 6 case, reportedly shot himself in the chest, in a suicide attempt.
Plus, a conservative satirist is under a cloud of controversy for lyrics he wrote about President-elect Obama.
And a new report finds the murder rate among black male teenagers on the rise.
Farai Chideya moderates today's roundtable with Jasmyne Cannick; Shaun King of Shaun in the City; and Eric Brown of the Detroit News.
Related NPR Stories
Dec. 30, 2008Why Are So Many Young Black Men Being Murdered?
Dec. 30, 2008Satire, Race And The 'Magic Negro'
Dec. 30, 2008Flap Over 'Magic Negro' Song Roils RNC
Dec. 30, 2008Why Are So Many Young Black Men Being Murdered?
The Jena 6 In Photos
ms moon (msmoon) wrote:
Shuan is right on in his defense of Mr. Bell. I guess I don't get Ms. Cannick's and Mr. Brown's flippant response to Bell's attempt to kill himself. Instead of questioning what would draw this young man to the point where he decided to take his life, the response seems to be that he somehow owed "The Black Community" for sticking up for him and the other Jena men. And that "right is right and wrong is wrong" -- is she implying that suicide is wrong, as in Bell is wrong for feeling the way he did at that moment? Way to show empathy. I know it's cliche but hardly anything in life is ever black and white, period. Without addressing underlying issues, those grey areas, we're not helping anyone.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009 2:27:22 PM
Unfinished Business (Unbu) wrote:
Mychal's story is very complicated. As it was said by him concerning media glare; he was referring to the glare that would come because of his recent arrest.As for support systems, it was a feeding frenzie at the height of the jena phenomenon. This isn't complete yet, because others are still in "trial limbo". Capitalizing took place, then; and has taken place now. The same local station in Monroe, La., that aired a news report the LaSalle DA's office had an offer on the table, that would of garnered Mychal only 6 months June of 07; aired on their local evening news, the Monday of the shooting incident that he had been arrested Dec 24th at Dillard's.It was that Media Attention that Mychal referred to. Remember, on Sept 20th Mychal was in custody. He was present for a news conference on his release Sept. 27th. He was present the same day at a family residence in Jena, as media was there, including a crew from Dr. Phil. His attorney's by court order allowed no interviews. CNN performed a interview with Mychal in Monroe, at Carroll High School Stadium in early 2008. CNN held & aired that interview a few days, before the LHSA made the decision, he would not play football. The courts, had him in a state program then.
Monday, January 05, 2009 5:31:40 PM
Melissa Bell: POLITICAL PRISONER - Finish the Business in JENA!-Released $30k Bond Dec 4-08
'Jena Six' mother accused of hitting women with shovel
By Bill Sumrall • bsumrall@thetowntalk.com • October 18, 2008
Melissa Bell, who was charged with contempt of Court the week of the Homer March, has since been released after an amount was paid. The fact is Jena's citizenry are experiencing racial profiling in a grand sweep. Tina Jones, mother of Jena Six Bryant Purvis, was pulled over the same week Melissa Bell was arrested. A sheriff deputy pulled Purvis' Mom over, asked where did she work & after being told she worked at the local healthcare facility; the deputy alledgedly commented, I'd better let you go, you may have to take care of me one day. Tina Jones was traveling in a vehicle the officer [evidently] thought she shouldn't be able to afford.
Mychal's Dad was stopped & arrested the weekend of the Homer March. He has since been released, after paying an amount.
Rev. Sharpton was on a local broadcast[via telephone] in Alexandria last week and aided in Mychal's Mom's situation. On Friday the 17th of April, Sharpton Talk hosted Melissa Bell, a local Louisiana broadcaster & an attorney who was involved in Mychal's plea deal.
It is rumored that the jena justice system has offered Melissa fifteen years in a plea deal for the shovel incident.
It is also known the other 5 of the Jena Six, are being offered 18 months & an amount to be paid.
The mother of the most well-known member of the "Jena Six" has been arrested and is facing two charges of aggravated second-degree battery, officials said Friday.
Melissa S. Bell, 38, of Jena -- the mother of Mychal Bell -- was arrested Oct. 11, said Darryl Husbands of the LaSalle Parish Sheriff's Office. She is being held in the LaSalle Parish Jail, with bond set at $100,000.
Melissa Bell was charged with the battery of two women who claim she hit them with a shovel, Sheriff Scott Franklin said.
The women told deputies that they dropped their children off at Bell's home but returned when they received a call from someone saying a drug sale had just occurred at Bell's home while their children were there, Franklin said. The women went to retrieve the children when the altercation occurred.
"Obviously, they were very upset," Franklin said.
Deputies were notified and went to the scene. The two women went to the Sheriff's Office that same day and filed affidavits against Melissa Bell, who surrendered without incident, Franklin said.
Also arrested Saturday in connection with the incident was Pamela S. Simmons, 31, of Jena, who was charged with simple criminal damage to property; Carlisha M. Bell, 17, of Jena, charged with battery; and Perry E. Bell, Jr., 36, of Jena, charged with simple battery domestic abuse, authorities reported.
By Bill Sumrall • bsumrall@thetowntalk.com • October 18, 2008
Melissa Bell, who was charged with contempt of Court the week of the Homer March, has since been released after an amount was paid. The fact is Jena's citizenry are experiencing racial profiling in a grand sweep. Tina Jones, mother of Jena Six Bryant Purvis, was pulled over the same week Melissa Bell was arrested. A sheriff deputy pulled Purvis' Mom over, asked where did she work & after being told she worked at the local healthcare facility; the deputy alledgedly commented, I'd better let you go, you may have to take care of me one day. Tina Jones was traveling in a vehicle the officer [evidently] thought she shouldn't be able to afford.
Mychal's Dad was stopped & arrested the weekend of the Homer March. He has since been released, after paying an amount.
Rev. Sharpton was on a local broadcast[via telephone] in Alexandria last week and aided in Mychal's Mom's situation. On Friday the 17th of April, Sharpton Talk hosted Melissa Bell, a local Louisiana broadcaster & an attorney who was involved in Mychal's plea deal.
It is rumored that the jena justice system has offered Melissa fifteen years in a plea deal for the shovel incident.
It is also known the other 5 of the Jena Six, are being offered 18 months & an amount to be paid.
The mother of the most well-known member of the "Jena Six" has been arrested and is facing two charges of aggravated second-degree battery, officials said Friday.
Melissa S. Bell, 38, of Jena -- the mother of Mychal Bell -- was arrested Oct. 11, said Darryl Husbands of the LaSalle Parish Sheriff's Office. She is being held in the LaSalle Parish Jail, with bond set at $100,000.
Melissa Bell was charged with the battery of two women who claim she hit them with a shovel, Sheriff Scott Franklin said.
The women told deputies that they dropped their children off at Bell's home but returned when they received a call from someone saying a drug sale had just occurred at Bell's home while their children were there, Franklin said. The women went to retrieve the children when the altercation occurred.
"Obviously, they were very upset," Franklin said.
Deputies were notified and went to the scene. The two women went to the Sheriff's Office that same day and filed affidavits against Melissa Bell, who surrendered without incident, Franklin said.
Also arrested Saturday in connection with the incident was Pamela S. Simmons, 31, of Jena, who was charged with simple criminal damage to property; Carlisha M. Bell, 17, of Jena, charged with battery; and Perry E. Bell, Jr., 36, of Jena, charged with simple battery domestic abuse, authorities reported.
Hundreds gather to replant lawn marked with hate symbols - July 4, 2008
Exceeding organizers' expectations, 200 to 300 people gathered this morning around the northeast Metairie home of Travis and Kiyanna Smith to denounce vandals that chemically burned hate symbols into the African-American couple's lawn and to take turns digging up and resodding the defaced patches of grass.
Click here to listen to today's comments from Rabbi Loewy and the Smiths.
Dubbed "Uproot Hate," the Independence Day event was organized by a coalition of churches, synagogues and mosques.
"History teaches us that silence is rarely an effective response to bigotry," said Rabbi Robert Loewy of Congregation Gates of Prayer in Metairie as he delivered the statement of purpose for the interfaith ceremony staged on the Smiths' lawn at the corner of Homestead Avenue and Live Oak Street. "We gather to affirm the American values enshrined in that Declaration of Independence."
"We denounce the cowardly and hateful action that took place some two months ago," said Archbishop Alfred Hughes of the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans. "We renounce all unjust discrimination."
The Smiths, who found the letters KKK and three crosses burned into their lawn shortly after they moved into their home almost two months ago, thanked the attendees.
"We appreciate you welcoming us into your neighborhood," Travis Smith told the crowd. Later he said he was overwhelmed by the turnout.
"A month or so ago, I didn't think no one cared," Kiyanna Smith said, explaining that only a handful of neighbors responded initially to the racist symbols. "For me, I needed more people. And I see I got more people.".......
Mark Waller may be reached at mwaller@timespicayune.com or (504) 883-7056.
Resistance
Injustice
Stop WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS
Lisbon, Louisiana-Claiborne Parish School Closure
Regional news: Claiborne's all-black school targeted for closureLouisiana Gannett News
LISBON — Many parents of Pineview High students believe for too long their children at the all-black school for prekindergarteners through 12th-graders have been treated like stepchildren.
The white students, and some black, who live in the attendance zone slowly have been allowed to transfer to other Claiborne public schools, helping push neighboring Summerfield School to a 70 percent white student population.
Pineview High's dwindling enrollment meant advanced academic courses were not made available to its students. Sports programs that once included baseball, track and basketball are now down to a single offering — basketball. Music and industrial arts also have been deleted from the Lisbon school's schedule.Even the food trays and utensils in the cafeteria this year have been replaced with paper plates and plastic forks and spoons.The ultimate punch came last week when Pineview High students learned the Claiborne School Board voted to close the school at the end of this academic year if the decision is approved by a federal judge overseeing the school system's long-standing desegregation order.However, Pineview High parents are not ready to concede defeat."We do have a plan in motion. I can't say what it is yet," said parent Vevelyn Johnson, of Lisbon. "But we're not going to sit here and let them close our school without a fight. If we go down, it will be with a fight."School Board member Tommy Davidson, of Athens, who offered the motion to close Pineview High, said several factors entered the decision but at the top was the decline in student population. In 1970-71, the student count was about 382; now, it's 117.Concerning community members, though, is the lack of adequate communication about other options. Closing Pineview High was Plan A. School Board members made references to other plans being considered, but none was made public during last week's meeting."My interpretation is the School Board is suggesting, at the expense of the Justice Department, to close Pineview to save money," said David Aubrey, first vice president of the Claiborne chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "But the Justice Department says they did not close Pineview; they only recommended desegregation of schools in Claiborne Parish."Why don't we shut all the small schools down and just have two schools in Claiborne Parish, in Homer and Haynesville, and you could save money?," said Aubrey, who was invited by a Justice Department attorney to sit in on community meetings this week. "They did not give the people in the community the option. Why did they start with Pineview?"Racially identifiable schoolsClaiborne, like many school systems in Louisiana, is under a 1970 court order that mandates the elimination of racially identifiable schools. For decades, Pineview High has held the distinction of being the parish's predominantly black school, serving the rural area in the Lisbon community east of Homer.But its continued status of being one race and the amount of attention it gets from the School Board has kept Claiborne on the Justice Department's radar.A complaint lodged in 2004 that the school system was not meeting its desegregation obligations almost mirrors those aired by concerned parents in recent days. Then, the School Board had to provide a volume of information to the Justice Department and implement some policy changes, including requiring address verification of all student transfers.Justice Department officials again late last year put school officials on notice that its policies and practices still were not measuring up. And if changes were not implemented by August, the department promised to put its own plan into action.Justice Department attorney Iris Goldschmidt and paralegal Ani Shahinyan visited Claiborne schools this week. They've also met privately with parents and school staffers and in large meetings with community members.Complaints have centered on every school in the parish and include such allegations as racial isolation in classroom assignments and disparity in discipline among white and black students.The decision to shutter Pineview High has not been "taken lightly" by any board member, Davidson said. One only has to look at the student numbers and the finances.Educational costs at Pineview High, because of its lower enrollment, average about $9,000 per student, compared to about $6,000 in the other schools, Davidson said.The inability to lure enough certified teachers means some lower elementary classes are combined. Other classes have teacher-pupil ratios much lower than the parish average of 15 to 1."And we lose money every year on our lunch program there," Davidson said.School officials estimate the district will save $400,000 to $500,000 by closing Pineview High.Attempts on Tuesday and Wednesday to interview Claiborne schools Superintendent Wayne King were unsuccessful. King, who assumed the leadership role last year, would not make himself available for an interview. He and School Board attorney Bob Hammonds, of the law firm of Hammonds and Sills in Baton Rouge, have shadowed Goldsmith and Shahinyan on their school visits.Calls to a half-dozen other School Board members' residences were unanswered Thursday, as were multiple calls to Hammonds.Davidson said Hammonds will submit the Pineview High closure plan to the federal court for review. The goal is to have an answer by the end of the school year so students and teachers will know where they will go this fall.About half of the Pineview High students would go to Summerfield, about 10 miles in one direction. The others would go to Homer, about 12 miles in the other direction. Teachers and support staff members would be absorbed into existing schools."No one will lose their jobs. But we believe through attrition we will lose some employees and these will take their places," Davidson said.Attendance zones ignoredPark on Hebron Road near Pineview High and watch the daily migration of cars that zoom past en route to Summerfield, challenged nearby resident Stanley Johnson. The Pineview High graduate with two small children attending the school recognizes vehicles of Lisbon area residents who bypass Pineview High to take their children to and from Summerfield.Ignoring the attendance zones has long contributed to the decline at Pineview High, Johnson said. He and sister-in-law Vevelyn Johnson agree the School Board has "allowed" Pineview High's demise to take place by not enforcing attendance zones for each school."They're trying to say it's our enrollment. But they have helped our enrollment to go down by allowing kids to go to Summerfield, Claiborne Academy and others. "» Why let them leave?" Vevelyn Johnson said.She also notes a number of the parish's students even cross state lines and attend school in Junction City, Ark.Closing Pineview High will settle the desegregation order but it will not create harmony as some wish, Vevelyn Johnson said.Unlike Bossier and Claiborne public schools, Caddo can close schools and redraw attendance zone lines without the government's approval, said Caddo School Board attorney Reginald Abrams.But Caddo still is under orders to comply with minority-to-majority transfers, where students can transfer to a school that is predominantly of the opposite race of the transferring student; create enhancement programs for all schools and ensure schools' administration isn't racially identifiable, Abrams said.Vevelyn Johnson, Stanley Johnson, grandparent Lanie Ford and Gloria Pitts, a Pineview High tutor with grandchildren in the Lisbon school, wondered why the Claiborne School Board did not consider realigning the Pineview High and Summerfield attendance zones, with one serving as an elementary school and the other a high school. And they asked why Summerfield was not closed and merged with Pineview High."Because it's all racial," Ford said.Said Vevelyn Johnson: "We feel like we are being made to adjust to what everyone else wants. Why not adapt to us or meet us halfway?"Pineview senior Kashara Cooper and juniors Jessica Johnson and Lachristie Brown already have heard rumors of incidents between the black and white students at Summerfield."They don't want us there," Jessica Johnson said of the predominantly white school. She and Brown, members of Pineview High's nine-person junior class, would attend Summerfield under the School Board's plan."I feel like it's not going to be a better situation for me and my classmates to have to attend another school" Jessica Johnson said. "We're all going to be separated. "» We'll be uncomfortable in that setting."Cooper, one of six Pineview High seniors, said she was unable to qualify for a Tuition Opportunity Program for Students scholarship because Pineview High lacks the advanced academic courses she needed. Students also have been unable to participate in extracurricular events such as Future Business Leaders of America competitions because of a lack of money. And social studies and science fairs were called off this year."We have to raise money on our own if we want to go to a state competition," Cooper said.The Lisbon community, black and white, is like a big family, Stanley Johnson said. That's why he's perplexed it's not reflected in the student population."When I went to school here, there were white kids. And there would be more now if they were going to the schools they're supposed to be going to."School officials, he said, have not provided adequate information as to the correct breakdown of students who actually live in the district versus those attending school there.The whole ordeal is touching everyone in the community, Stanley Johnson said. The school is the heart of Lisbon."Most of the faculty (are) graduates here, and the kids are children and grandchildren of graduates," said Pitts, who retires in May after almost 25 years as a tutor."It's just like death," she said of the prospect of losing the school.
LISBON — Many parents of Pineview High students believe for too long their children at the all-black school for prekindergarteners through 12th-graders have been treated like stepchildren.
The white students, and some black, who live in the attendance zone slowly have been allowed to transfer to other Claiborne public schools, helping push neighboring Summerfield School to a 70 percent white student population.
Pineview High's dwindling enrollment meant advanced academic courses were not made available to its students. Sports programs that once included baseball, track and basketball are now down to a single offering — basketball. Music and industrial arts also have been deleted from the Lisbon school's schedule.Even the food trays and utensils in the cafeteria this year have been replaced with paper plates and plastic forks and spoons.The ultimate punch came last week when Pineview High students learned the Claiborne School Board voted to close the school at the end of this academic year if the decision is approved by a federal judge overseeing the school system's long-standing desegregation order.However, Pineview High parents are not ready to concede defeat."We do have a plan in motion. I can't say what it is yet," said parent Vevelyn Johnson, of Lisbon. "But we're not going to sit here and let them close our school without a fight. If we go down, it will be with a fight."School Board member Tommy Davidson, of Athens, who offered the motion to close Pineview High, said several factors entered the decision but at the top was the decline in student population. In 1970-71, the student count was about 382; now, it's 117.Concerning community members, though, is the lack of adequate communication about other options. Closing Pineview High was Plan A. School Board members made references to other plans being considered, but none was made public during last week's meeting."My interpretation is the School Board is suggesting, at the expense of the Justice Department, to close Pineview to save money," said David Aubrey, first vice president of the Claiborne chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "But the Justice Department says they did not close Pineview; they only recommended desegregation of schools in Claiborne Parish."Why don't we shut all the small schools down and just have two schools in Claiborne Parish, in Homer and Haynesville, and you could save money?," said Aubrey, who was invited by a Justice Department attorney to sit in on community meetings this week. "They did not give the people in the community the option. Why did they start with Pineview?"Racially identifiable schoolsClaiborne, like many school systems in Louisiana, is under a 1970 court order that mandates the elimination of racially identifiable schools. For decades, Pineview High has held the distinction of being the parish's predominantly black school, serving the rural area in the Lisbon community east of Homer.But its continued status of being one race and the amount of attention it gets from the School Board has kept Claiborne on the Justice Department's radar.A complaint lodged in 2004 that the school system was not meeting its desegregation obligations almost mirrors those aired by concerned parents in recent days. Then, the School Board had to provide a volume of information to the Justice Department and implement some policy changes, including requiring address verification of all student transfers.Justice Department officials again late last year put school officials on notice that its policies and practices still were not measuring up. And if changes were not implemented by August, the department promised to put its own plan into action.Justice Department attorney Iris Goldschmidt and paralegal Ani Shahinyan visited Claiborne schools this week. They've also met privately with parents and school staffers and in large meetings with community members.Complaints have centered on every school in the parish and include such allegations as racial isolation in classroom assignments and disparity in discipline among white and black students.The decision to shutter Pineview High has not been "taken lightly" by any board member, Davidson said. One only has to look at the student numbers and the finances.Educational costs at Pineview High, because of its lower enrollment, average about $9,000 per student, compared to about $6,000 in the other schools, Davidson said.The inability to lure enough certified teachers means some lower elementary classes are combined. Other classes have teacher-pupil ratios much lower than the parish average of 15 to 1."And we lose money every year on our lunch program there," Davidson said.School officials estimate the district will save $400,000 to $500,000 by closing Pineview High.Attempts on Tuesday and Wednesday to interview Claiborne schools Superintendent Wayne King were unsuccessful. King, who assumed the leadership role last year, would not make himself available for an interview. He and School Board attorney Bob Hammonds, of the law firm of Hammonds and Sills in Baton Rouge, have shadowed Goldsmith and Shahinyan on their school visits.Calls to a half-dozen other School Board members' residences were unanswered Thursday, as were multiple calls to Hammonds.Davidson said Hammonds will submit the Pineview High closure plan to the federal court for review. The goal is to have an answer by the end of the school year so students and teachers will know where they will go this fall.About half of the Pineview High students would go to Summerfield, about 10 miles in one direction. The others would go to Homer, about 12 miles in the other direction. Teachers and support staff members would be absorbed into existing schools."No one will lose their jobs. But we believe through attrition we will lose some employees and these will take their places," Davidson said.Attendance zones ignoredPark on Hebron Road near Pineview High and watch the daily migration of cars that zoom past en route to Summerfield, challenged nearby resident Stanley Johnson. The Pineview High graduate with two small children attending the school recognizes vehicles of Lisbon area residents who bypass Pineview High to take their children to and from Summerfield.Ignoring the attendance zones has long contributed to the decline at Pineview High, Johnson said. He and sister-in-law Vevelyn Johnson agree the School Board has "allowed" Pineview High's demise to take place by not enforcing attendance zones for each school."They're trying to say it's our enrollment. But they have helped our enrollment to go down by allowing kids to go to Summerfield, Claiborne Academy and others. "» Why let them leave?" Vevelyn Johnson said.She also notes a number of the parish's students even cross state lines and attend school in Junction City, Ark.Closing Pineview High will settle the desegregation order but it will not create harmony as some wish, Vevelyn Johnson said.Unlike Bossier and Claiborne public schools, Caddo can close schools and redraw attendance zone lines without the government's approval, said Caddo School Board attorney Reginald Abrams.But Caddo still is under orders to comply with minority-to-majority transfers, where students can transfer to a school that is predominantly of the opposite race of the transferring student; create enhancement programs for all schools and ensure schools' administration isn't racially identifiable, Abrams said.Vevelyn Johnson, Stanley Johnson, grandparent Lanie Ford and Gloria Pitts, a Pineview High tutor with grandchildren in the Lisbon school, wondered why the Claiborne School Board did not consider realigning the Pineview High and Summerfield attendance zones, with one serving as an elementary school and the other a high school. And they asked why Summerfield was not closed and merged with Pineview High."Because it's all racial," Ford said.Said Vevelyn Johnson: "We feel like we are being made to adjust to what everyone else wants. Why not adapt to us or meet us halfway?"Pineview senior Kashara Cooper and juniors Jessica Johnson and Lachristie Brown already have heard rumors of incidents between the black and white students at Summerfield."They don't want us there," Jessica Johnson said of the predominantly white school. She and Brown, members of Pineview High's nine-person junior class, would attend Summerfield under the School Board's plan."I feel like it's not going to be a better situation for me and my classmates to have to attend another school" Jessica Johnson said. "We're all going to be separated. "» We'll be uncomfortable in that setting."Cooper, one of six Pineview High seniors, said she was unable to qualify for a Tuition Opportunity Program for Students scholarship because Pineview High lacks the advanced academic courses she needed. Students also have been unable to participate in extracurricular events such as Future Business Leaders of America competitions because of a lack of money. And social studies and science fairs were called off this year."We have to raise money on our own if we want to go to a state competition," Cooper said.The Lisbon community, black and white, is like a big family, Stanley Johnson said. That's why he's perplexed it's not reflected in the student population."When I went to school here, there were white kids. And there would be more now if they were going to the schools they're supposed to be going to."School officials, he said, have not provided adequate information as to the correct breakdown of students who actually live in the district versus those attending school there.The whole ordeal is touching everyone in the community, Stanley Johnson said. The school is the heart of Lisbon."Most of the faculty (are) graduates here, and the kids are children and grandchildren of graduates," said Pitts, who retires in May after almost 25 years as a tutor."It's just like death," she said of the prospect of losing the school.
The Streets, the Media & Beyond
Movement in Motion
Rallying in Chicago, Sat. July 14 '07
Ongoing Injustice Status
- Motion of the 5
- Jesse Ray Beard Probation Dispostion Modification Motion
- Jena Judge Reversed in Beard Case-
- Request for Expedited Consideration
- Jena Judge Order
- Attorney's letter on Jesse Ray Beard
- Coach's letter of Jesse Ray Beard
- Order-Dilatory Exception-Motion to Strike
- Bell Cross Claim-
- LaSalle School Bd. Answer to Barker Suit
- Barker Law Suit in "Jena Six" Case
- Peremptory Exception of No Cause of Action
- Motion to Recuse
- DoJ's Community Relations Service headed to Ville Platte,La.
- Poor Mychal-Pre Sept 4th Analysis
- *Michael Jarvis Cobb - 349 years - 2005
- *Mychal Bell, the Jena Six, the Law & Justice
- *Advocate Story pdf
Judge J. P. Mauffray
"Judicial Shuffle"
Unfinished Business
Yeager rules to recuse ‘Jena Six’ judge
August 1, 2008
In a ruling signed Thursday afternoon, 9th District Court Judge Thomas Yeager ordered that Judge J.P. Mauffray be recused as the presiding judge in the remaining five cases of the defendants who have become known as the “Jena Six.”
Each of the remaining defendants – Robert Bailey Jr., Jesse Ray Beard, Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis and Theo Shaw – have been charged with aggravated second-degree battery and all separately filed motions to have Mauffray recused. The defendants are accused of attacking a fellow student at Jena High School in 2006.
The case has brought national attention to the rural LaSalle Parish community of Jena.Yeager heard the consolidated motions May 30.
“The Court finds that there is an ‘appearance of impropriety’ when a reasonable person with knowledge of all the facts would conclude that the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned,” Yeager wrote in his “Written reasons for the motion.”
“It is no consequence that the judge is not actually biased because our law and our Judicial Cannons are not only concerned about fairness to individual litigants, but, are equally concerned with public confidence in the judiciary which confidence may be irreparably harmed if a case is allowed to proceed before a judge who appears to be tainted.
”Yeager heard testimony in May from the defendants' attorneys and from Mauffray, who sits on the 28th Judicial District Court in LaSalle Parish. The attorneys claimed Mauffray had made several statements to a number of people indicating that he has prejudged the defendants' guilt and sentence.When Mauffray testified, he didn't deny the majority of the attorneys' claims."I might have said that," Mauffray initially said when asked whether he had used such terms as "ringleader" or "brains behind the operation" to describe Bailey.
In later testimony, Mauffray denied using the term "ringleader" but said it reflected his "impression of Bailey" from testimony he'd heard during the trial of the sixth defendant, Mychal Bell, who pleaded guilty in December to juvenile charges of second-degree battery.Beard's attorney, David Utter, testified to several statements he heard Mauffray make about Beard and the other defendants. Those statements included terms such as "troublemakers," "violent bunch" and "runs wild."
* * * * * * * * *
'Jena Six' defendant Jesse Ray Beard removed from house arrest, will be allowed to leave the state
By Abbey Brown • abrown@thetowntalk.com • July 9, 2008
JENA – A judge today removed “Jena Six” defendant Jesse Ray Beard from house arrest and ruled he could leave the state.
Ninth District Judge Tom Yeager made the ruling today after Beard's attorney, David Utter, said Beard would be leaving with a family in the state of New York and taking an English correspondence course required to enter the 11th grade.
Utter argued that Beard needed more supervision and support, which is why the New York placement would be the best thing for him.Yeager said Beard would need to be back by Aug. 11 in order to be ready start at Jena High School on Aug. 14, but Utter hopes Beard will be allowed to attend an out-of-state school.LaSalle Parish Assistant District Attorney Steven Kendrick argued that allowing Beard to leave would be like giving him a vacation he doesn't deserve.Jena High School Principal Glen Joiner testified that Beard had received 13 different disciplinary actions in the last school year and was recommended for expulsion, which was later overturned.
Yeager said Beard needs both a good environment and a desire to "make this happen." The only way to see if that desire is there is to let Beard go and try.In addition to the return date, Yeager is also requiring Beard to take the English course, to not have a cell phone and to have behavior and educational reports forwarded to the court and the juvenile probation officer.
Beard is the youngest of the "Jena Six" defendants, who have drawn national attention in a case in which they are accused of beating a fellow student at Jena High School in December 2006.
August 1, 2008
In a ruling signed Thursday afternoon, 9th District Court Judge Thomas Yeager ordered that Judge J.P. Mauffray be recused as the presiding judge in the remaining five cases of the defendants who have become known as the “Jena Six.”
Each of the remaining defendants – Robert Bailey Jr., Jesse Ray Beard, Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis and Theo Shaw – have been charged with aggravated second-degree battery and all separately filed motions to have Mauffray recused. The defendants are accused of attacking a fellow student at Jena High School in 2006.
The case has brought national attention to the rural LaSalle Parish community of Jena.Yeager heard the consolidated motions May 30.
“The Court finds that there is an ‘appearance of impropriety’ when a reasonable person with knowledge of all the facts would conclude that the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned,” Yeager wrote in his “Written reasons for the motion.”
“It is no consequence that the judge is not actually biased because our law and our Judicial Cannons are not only concerned about fairness to individual litigants, but, are equally concerned with public confidence in the judiciary which confidence may be irreparably harmed if a case is allowed to proceed before a judge who appears to be tainted.
”Yeager heard testimony in May from the defendants' attorneys and from Mauffray, who sits on the 28th Judicial District Court in LaSalle Parish. The attorneys claimed Mauffray had made several statements to a number of people indicating that he has prejudged the defendants' guilt and sentence.When Mauffray testified, he didn't deny the majority of the attorneys' claims."I might have said that," Mauffray initially said when asked whether he had used such terms as "ringleader" or "brains behind the operation" to describe Bailey.
In later testimony, Mauffray denied using the term "ringleader" but said it reflected his "impression of Bailey" from testimony he'd heard during the trial of the sixth defendant, Mychal Bell, who pleaded guilty in December to juvenile charges of second-degree battery.Beard's attorney, David Utter, testified to several statements he heard Mauffray make about Beard and the other defendants. Those statements included terms such as "troublemakers," "violent bunch" and "runs wild."
* * * * * * * * *
'Jena Six' defendant Jesse Ray Beard removed from house arrest, will be allowed to leave the state
By Abbey Brown • abrown@thetowntalk.com • July 9, 2008
JENA – A judge today removed “Jena Six” defendant Jesse Ray Beard from house arrest and ruled he could leave the state.
Ninth District Judge Tom Yeager made the ruling today after Beard's attorney, David Utter, said Beard would be leaving with a family in the state of New York and taking an English correspondence course required to enter the 11th grade.
Utter argued that Beard needed more supervision and support, which is why the New York placement would be the best thing for him.Yeager said Beard would need to be back by Aug. 11 in order to be ready start at Jena High School on Aug. 14, but Utter hopes Beard will be allowed to attend an out-of-state school.LaSalle Parish Assistant District Attorney Steven Kendrick argued that allowing Beard to leave would be like giving him a vacation he doesn't deserve.Jena High School Principal Glen Joiner testified that Beard had received 13 different disciplinary actions in the last school year and was recommended for expulsion, which was later overturned.
Yeager said Beard needs both a good environment and a desire to "make this happen." The only way to see if that desire is there is to let Beard go and try.In addition to the return date, Yeager is also requiring Beard to take the English course, to not have a cell phone and to have behavior and educational reports forwarded to the court and the juvenile probation officer.
Beard is the youngest of the "Jena Six" defendants, who have drawn national attention in a case in which they are accused of beating a fellow student at Jena High School in December 2006.
Jesse Ray Beard
Dixie Shuttle
Blog Archive
About Me
Coin Coin=Ko Kwe **Cane River & Melrose"the People"**
Metoyer, Marie-Therese Also known as: Coincoin Born: 1742 Died: 1816
Marie-Therese Metoyer was one of the most successful entrepreneurs in colonial America. As a planter and landowner, she founded a prosperous community of free blacks and Creoles (American-born people, often of mixed race) in the Louisiana Province. Historian Francois Mignon wrote that she "was endowed with unusual energy and intelligence."
She was born in Natchitoches in the French colony of Louisiana in 1742 and baptized Marie-Therese, but was called Coincoin (Ko Kwe in the Glidzi dialect), a name traditionally given to the second-born daughter in a family born to the Ewe people of Togo in western Africa, her parents' homeland. Because Louisiana was governed by French law, slaves were allowed to legally marry, as her parents, Francois and Francoise, did.
Her family was owned by a French military officer, Louis Juchereau de Saint-Denis. After his death, Coincoin was given first to his widow, then his son. She was then sent to live with Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer, a merchant living in the Red River Valley. The two apparently fell in love and Coincoin gave birth to 10 of his children. In the French colony, mixed-race relationships were not uncommon, and most French colonists did not share the prejudice toward Africans that prevailed among other white European settlers during that era. Metoyer purchased Coincoin from her mistress and granted her freedom when she was pregnant with their fifth child, so that the remaining children were born free...... =======================
Marie-Therese Metoyer was one of the most successful entrepreneurs in colonial America. As a planter and landowner, she founded a prosperous community of free blacks and Creoles (American-born people, often of mixed race) in the Louisiana Province. Historian Francois Mignon wrote that she "was endowed with unusual energy and intelligence."
She was born in Natchitoches in the French colony of Louisiana in 1742 and baptized Marie-Therese, but was called Coincoin (Ko Kwe in the Glidzi dialect), a name traditionally given to the second-born daughter in a family born to the Ewe people of Togo in western Africa, her parents' homeland. Because Louisiana was governed by French law, slaves were allowed to legally marry, as her parents, Francois and Francoise, did.
Her family was owned by a French military officer, Louis Juchereau de Saint-Denis. After his death, Coincoin was given first to his widow, then his son. She was then sent to live with Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer, a merchant living in the Red River Valley. The two apparently fell in love and Coincoin gave birth to 10 of his children. In the French colony, mixed-race relationships were not uncommon, and most French colonists did not share the prejudice toward Africans that prevailed among other white European settlers during that era. Metoyer purchased Coincoin from her mistress and granted her freedom when she was pregnant with their fifth child, so that the remaining children were born free...... =======================
"The People"
Creoles are generally known as a people of mixed French, African, Spanish, and Native American ancestry, most of who reside in or have familial ties to Louisiana. Research has shown many other ethnicities have contributed to this culture including, but not limited to, Chinese, Russian, German, and Italian.
This culture began as an offspring of the Old World and the New when this country was still being colonized. Creoles are not one thing or the other, and have lived their lives being misunderstood, misrepresented, and misinterpreted. In the past, under White government, Creoles were not allowed to be an equal part of society. Blacks, free and slaves, did not feel Creoles were part of their world either. Because of this rejection, Creoles had a strong bond with one another and had to create their own world and culture. They were self-sufficient and relied on each other. Creoles were landowners, artists, teachers, and business people.
Even today this bond among Creoles nationwide is strong. There is tremendous pride in knowing where they come from. The Creole Heritage Center is committed to the challenge of correcting the wrongs and misconceptions associated with this culture and will represent the Creoles in a true light. Their culture and heritage, rarely acknowledged in spite of its uniqueness, is worthy and deserving of attention and preservation; without it an important part of the American experience could be lost.
Isle Breville & St. Augustine Catholic Church
Our Uncle, born in Natchitiches Parish use to tell of "the Peoples". He said they ran things in Cane River, even in the times of my life. They were respected. And all the folks in the communities got along. Our family house "was" on what they called "the hill" in the town of Natchitoches. The Metoyers had a business next to the family house. My mother was born & raised on Melrose in 1923. My daddy was a Black Creole. He acted like it!
Cane River Creoles-"The People"
This culture began as an offspring of the Old World and the New when this country was still being colonized. Creoles are not one thing or the other, and have lived their lives being misunderstood, misrepresented, and misinterpreted. In the past, under White government, Creoles were not allowed to be an equal part of society. Blacks, free and slaves, did not feel Creoles were part of their world either. Because of this rejection, Creoles had a strong bond with one another and had to create their own world and culture. They were self-sufficient and relied on each other. Creoles were landowners, artists, teachers, and business people.
Even today this bond among Creoles nationwide is strong. There is tremendous pride in knowing where they come from. The Creole Heritage Center is committed to the challenge of correcting the wrongs and misconceptions associated with this culture and will represent the Creoles in a true light. Their culture and heritage, rarely acknowledged in spite of its uniqueness, is worthy and deserving of attention and preservation; without it an important part of the American experience could be lost.
Isle Breville & St. Augustine Catholic Church
Our Uncle, born in Natchitiches Parish use to tell of "the Peoples". He said they ran things in Cane River, even in the times of my life. They were respected. And all the folks in the communities got along. Our family house "was" on what they called "the hill" in the town of Natchitoches. The Metoyers had a business next to the family house. My mother was born & raised on Melrose in 1923. My daddy was a Black Creole. He acted like it!
Cane River Creoles-"The People"
Tangi desegregation case lawyer wants out
- By DAVID J. MITCHELL
- Advocate Florida parishes bureau
- Published: May 14, 2009
One of three plaintiffs’ attorneys in the Tangipahoa Parish public school desegregation case is seeking to withdraw from the case, citing “irreconcilable issues,” court records say.
Gideon T. Carter III, a Baton Rouge lawyer, has asked U.S. District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle to withdraw him from the case.
He was enrolled in it June 29, 2007, records say.
Filed Tuesday, Carter’s motion does not describe what those issues are but he wrote that they have created a conflict with his continued representation of the plaintiffs. He did not return a message left at his office Wednesday.
The move comes as the Tangipahoa Parish School Board submitted a proposed school desegregation plan that calls for $187.4 million in school construction and improvement and about $12 million a year in operational spending on a series of new magnet schools.
Lemelle has given the plaintiff’s attorneys in Joyce Marie Moore, et al., v. Tangipahoa Parish School Board, et al., until May 18 to respond to the plan.
Lead attorney Nelson Taylor said Wednesday that Carter was brought in to try to negotiate something with the School Board and that has come to an impasse.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys have to litigate the board plan, which will call on other types of expertise, Taylor said.
He also said plaintiffs’ attorneys have not been paid yet, and Carter has a large private practice to maintain.
The lawyers are having to litigate because the board has proposed “a desegregation plan that does not desegregate the schools” and has taken a “hardline position” on some matters, Taylor said.
In a motion filed last week, school attorneys argued court precedent does not mandate that all schools be desegregated.
On an aggregate basis, a little more than 56 percent of the 39 schools that would exist in the parish after the multimillion-dollar desegregation plan is in place would remain segregated. The system has 36 schools.
But school attorneys noted in court records that 17 schools would be desegregated, 11 more than are currently, and additional schools would be very close.
The plan also avoids the risk of white flight through voluntary steps such as magnet schools and adds educational resources to schools that now can be racially identified as black, school attorneys wrote.
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