Ode To the Bynum Weeks,
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Don’t call on me,
I’ll call on you
…OR NOT! The Lord Almighty
Our long national nightmare is over.
Yes, y’all the New Face of Domestic Violence, Juanita Bynum Weeks Bynum finalized her divorce from her bow-tie wearing, Satan-blaming charisma-challenged husband, Bishop Thomas Weeks, III. I only comment on this because these two have provided some of the best material this blog has ever seen.
Not because of the violence, that was shameful and sad, but because these two publicity hounds turned what should have been a community’s tragedy into a publicist’s dream.
Indecent and out of order would have been the best way to describe the circus-like levels this foolishness rose to: Sending messages to each other through sermons and YouTube clips ( Yes, y’all Bishop Weeks has a Youtube Channel). Writing books, retracting books, requiring new $250,000 threshing floors because you can’t use the one at your own home, going on every Black syndicated radio station in the country.
These two had me torn because I believe that domestic violence should come out of the shadows. I don’t think it is a “private” matter. I think everybody ought to know. Victims should not be isolated. If one spouse is using the media to wage war with the other, I think the other spouse has a right to respond. On the other hand, people who hold themselves out to be shepherds ought to at least make some minimal effort to conduct themselves in a manner befitting the station they believe they’ve been called to.
If WWJD was the standard of conduct, I can’t help asking if Jesus would set up a YouTube channel to send messages, make threats, and spread lies. Would he ask the sheep to contribute $250,000 for a new threshing floor or announce to advertisers that his new website was receiving 40 million hits due to the attention created by news of the abuse. Something just seemed unseemly about this whole mess from the time that Bishop Weeks blamed Satan for making him lay hands on his wife. A charge Satan vehemently denied.
Positive proof some preachers are just as daffy as their congregations or the people that follow them. These people aren’t perfect, but have been duped into believing they have to be. Use your own head and stop this deification of celebrities. Preachers and Pastors are mailmen and women who bring the Word- they are not the Word. Self evaluation is the hardest task to perform. If we spent more time straightening ourselves out and less time worrying about who is going out with who, we might find ourselves living own lives a lot more abundantly. But wait, what would the reporters do then? Figure it out or perish.
So in the end, Juanita Bynum hot a gig working as a “consultant” on Divorce Court and a gig on ABC Family’s Lincoln Heights. She got to go on Good Morning America, got a cover of ESSENCE and Thomas Weeks now has a YouTube Empire, $40,000 in attorney’s fees and a 2004 Range Rover… With these gas prices??? He should have demanded a bicycle.
I have written a po-em in honor of the occasion because y’all know how the Bynum Weeks inspire my creative side:
So we bid adieu
to the marriage many of us never knew
yet ended up knowing more than we would care to
Before it was through
About these two
Couldn’t tell who
was lying or true
about that parking lot milieu
I challenge you to sum up this situation with a Rhyme of your own.
We’re having a very interesting debate about a post I wrote Friday about a woman being gang raped while her neighbors listened to her scream and do nothing. In that post, I mentioned a comment from Black Women Vote that pointed out the recent Supreme Court Decision finding that the District of Columbia’s absolute ban on guns in private homes was unconstitutional. She mentioned the option of Black women arming themselves.
Now in the original post, I mentioned two alternative options including self defense classes and meeting your neighbors, but apparently including the option to arm yourself was controversial to some people. It wasn’t an endorsement one way or the other. Well Angry Independent offered this very disturbing video of a home invasion of a single Black women and her son. Hmm where have we heard that before?
4 teens or young men were caught on tape trying to get in her house through windows, the garage door, and kicking in the front door as well. They went so far as to cut her phone line.
Just thought I would add this clip to the discussion.
Yesterday the Supreme Court of the United States made plain that the right to bear arms is an individual right under US Constitution. In other words, you have the right to protect yourself in your own home. The court’s ruling comes just in time apparently because there’s been yet another case of a Black women being gang raped while her neighbors listened and did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!!
Over at Black Women Vote, they are reporting on a case out of Philadelphia where a Black woman was gang raped while her neighbors listened.
The next door neighbor says she saw the victim enter the building and immediately heard screaming..
Benite Sangare told Action News, “She got in the hallway, slammed her door shut and screamed. I didn’t pay any attention to it. I thought she fell over something, and that was it. I went to bed.”
Police say the trio of thugs wore green and white golf gloves. They stayed in the apartment a total of 4 hours before stealing money and fleeing. One of the intruders was referred to as “Gary”. The victim eventually walked a mile to the 39th police district to report the attack. A number of neighbors reported hearing her screams, but no one thought to call the cops.
That was no next door “neighbor.” That was an Immorally Indifferent Apathetic Neighbor who said this:
“I heard her scream ‘Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my God.’ Then I didn’t pay attention and laid back down.” ABC
And this person had the nerve to give a news interview so that they could document her indifference on camera. Watch the Video to see it for yourself.
Our Tour of the League of the Immorally Indifferent “Neighbors”
We’ve actually done a few stories like this where neighbors hear or in some cases watch a woman being raped and don’t bother to dial 9.1.1.
A security video from an apartment hallway shows at least 10 witnesses ignored a woman’s cries for help for more than an hour as a man beat and sexually assaulted her, prosecutors in Minnesota said.
The surveillance video clearly showed men and women looking out their apartment doors or starting to walk down the hallway before retreating as the woman was assaulted for nearly 90 minutes, police spokesman Tom Walsh said. CBS News
You would think that SURELY neighbors would intervene if they knew a child was being raped. Uh uh. Not for a little Black girl they won’t
A 13-year-old boy with no previous record was the latest suspect to be charged Monday in the brutal sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl on Labor Day by as many as 19 males.New details revealed in the complaint included:
• An adult woman was in the house during the assaults, knew what was happening and did nothing to stop it. JS Online
And who could forget Dunbar Village Resident Paticiea Matlock’s comments upon learning that her neighbors, a single mother and her child had been raped and tortured for three hours while the neighbors listened and did nothing:
“So a lady was raped. Big deal,” resident Paticiea Matlock said. “There’s too much other crime happening here.” SP Times
I think that was one of the most disturbing aspect of the Dunbar Village crime, the way everyone around there from the residents, to the housing director, to the Mayor of West Palm Beach seemed numb or indifferent to it all.
Last but not least on our tour of Immoral Indifference is Romondo Jack, the man who saw a broken, beaten, raped and tortured Romona Moore and then walked away to attend…. A BABY SHOWER and GO SHOPPING!
Ramondo Jack and Romona Moore were raised three-tenths of a mile apart in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. The last time Mr. Jack saw Ms. Moore, on a visit to the old neighborhood, he said, she was lying on a basement floor, stripped to her underwear and chained by the neck and arms. Her eyes were blackened, her face swollen and bloodied, her voice weak from crying.
Mr. Jack walked out of that basement, joined his family across the street, shopped for a new outfit, attended a baby shower and then drove back to his new home in Maryland, he testified in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn yesterday.He never called the police, he said. New York Times
We should all know now is that these are not aberrations in fact, you are foolish not to realize that looking the other way is apparently common. seeing as how 80 % of us will be growing up old alone and childless according to ESSENCE, y’all had better think about what youa re going to do when something goes bump in the night.
Essential Presence did a post on the need for Black women to engage in self defense:
In Miami Beach after a female jogger was raped by a gang of teens (three are still on the loose) the police department was inundated by inquiries from women desperate to know how they could prevent becoming a victim. The police responded with a two-hour self defense class.
Many police departments conduct free classes through college campuses, try that if you’re a college student or work on a college campus. Type in your city and “free self defense class” to get started. (If you’re in a small town like mine, type in the county or the county seat).
Every Black female in the blogosphere seems to be a determined, strong woman. Take charge. Here’s something you can do. In fact, we can do it together.Essential Presence
Another commenter over at BWV suggested another option in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision, she suggests arming yourself.
It is interesting that as I read this, the US Supreme Court has ruled that individuals do have the right to own firearms to protect themselves in their homes.
When you can’t rely on anyone else to protect you or even call for help, only one avenue is left open. We all know what that avenue is and as long as things are the way they are, we should act on what we know and protect ourselves. Deborah
I could not find any websites promoting gun ownership for Black women ( I’m shocked!), but I did find Black Man With a Gun: and apparently there is something called the Urban Shooters Association. The site has a pretty interesting history of gun control. Read and make your own decisions.
Before you run out and become a Second Amendment Sistah, you might want to start by having a conversation with your neighbors that says “If you hear me screaming at 1:00 in the morning, kindly call 911, please and I will do the same for you!”
This story out of Philly will not be reported in any major news outlet. So do pass this latest episode of immoral indifference to the screams of Black women along.
The African-American targeted network’s annual awards show, which honors the best performances in music, sports and movies, drew 5.8 million viewers—the smallest viewing audience for the eight-year old franchise since 2004, according to Nielsen Media Research. Last year’s show, which featured performances by Beyonce, 50 Cent and TI, drew more than 6.3 million viewers. Multichannel News
What? You mean T Pain and Lil’ Wayne couldn’t pack them in this year? Congrats to the 500,000 Black folks found something else to do with their time this year. “The best performances in music, sports, and movies???” I thought that was the NAACP Image Awards. It doesn’t matter, they are both the same.
Let me assure you that these deluded women prostrating themselves before the golden throne of R. Kelly would have been the first in line to chuck some stones at Mary Magdalene.
As you know, last Friday Allison Samuels of Newsweek wrote an article indicating that Black women all over the web were praising the R.Kelly verdict:
African-American blogs such as Young, Black and Fabulous, What About Our Daughters and Essence quickly filled up with letters from women exclaiming their joy over Kelly’s freedom. Newsweek
Please read our open thread on the Chester’s acquittal, I don’t recall anybody “praising” that verdict over here. However, I did not quibble about it. Well NPR followed up with a blog post called “” Why Did So Many Black Women Support R. Kelly” They highlighted the petition written and signed by Black men. I previously posted about the petition on this blog. They also quoted this blog directly:
As Samuels points out, blogs like What About Our Daughters fielded a huge response from women following a jury’s acquittal of Kelly on child pornography charges.
For her part, What About Our Daughters blogger Gina McCauley says:
“You bet things are beginning to change. Black women are giving up sacrificial lamb duty and we no longer have to rely on mainstream media and the Black Elite Establishment to have a voice.”
What do you think?
We did get a huge response, but it was NOT supportive of Chester and I don’t think the folks at NPR made that clear, but again, I let that slide too. But I did read your emails complaining.
So anyway, I happened to be over at ESSENCE.com again ( I know. I know) and I see that there is another story about the petition called “R. Kelly Rebuked” by Eboni Barnes. The story was about the petition written by Professor Cobb that we posted about least week on this blog. The petition apparently has about 1000 signatures.
The petition started by 19 black male writers was written by journalist Kevin Powell and William Jelani Cobb, an associate professor of history at Spelman College. The petition claims African-Americans have taken to the street when Black men are victims of injustice, but stay silent when Black women are abused. ESSENCE.com
So I said to myself “Let me see what these loons in the comments have written.” As usual, they did not fail to disappoint. Sure the petition is not a panacea, but in a world where BLACK PEOPLE are more than willing to stay mum while Black women and girls are raped, tortured and killed, it was kind of refreshing to have Black men open up their mouths and SPEAK!!!! To acknowledge what happened.
Do you know that the comments on ESSENCE.com have the nerve to be trying to criticize these BLACK MEN for standing up for Black women?? Here is a sampling:
Let God be God…I’m sure if R Kelly was the guy on the video tape GOD will make him answer for it! …Don’t make R Kelly the ‘oil crisis’ of Black America…look in the mirror!
-MoniqueMcdowell.com
Once again…who are we to judge anyone? My question however is this…what ever happened to the word NO? I truly believe that it starts at home…if these young women started saying NO and realized that they are worth so much more than a video, a night or minute or hour of passion. We (women) are the one’s that allow men to treat us any old way – Stand Up and say NO you will not treat me like that, you will not degrade me like that, YOU Will respect me. Not saying that we should be vigilantes, but asimple word works.
-Miss J in Maryland
We all talk about God when r kelly is concern but God is a forgiving God and he never condems anyone about anything instead of putting him down pray that he gets help with his problem.Make sure we educate our young woman about enjoying their childhood and spending time with their family and people around their ages and make sure you know where your children are at all times dont give them to the street or make them look to other people for care and support.If we all can do that it would really make a bigdifferent and teach
-Talk with children its important (dc)
JUDGE NOT YET YE BE JUDGED!
Simply turn this and all disturbing issues over in the hands of our SAVIOR. And allow him to change it for HIS glory.
But we have to teach our daughters that they do not have to give themselves to define themselves!
-Anonymous [they didn't even get the quote right]
No I haven’t sign the petition… 1 because I am a women and 2 becuase its ridiculous. Who are we to judge….I haven’t seen the video. Don’t want to see the video. But whatever the case is rather he is guilty or not he will have to answer to that. No petition or protest can equal the what God has in store.
For those of you who believe he is so guilty, what is it based upon. Is it from you seeing the video, if so that means you need to be prosecuted as well for viewing/buying child porn.
-Ms. Angie
This is a publicity stunt for some poor black mens group….If r-kelly is guilty then he has to deal with God and no petitions no one not buying his music can compare to what God has in store for him
-Only God can judge me
This sounds like a group of men who is jealous of someone fame and they are trying to get everyone else on the band wagon. . . .
-Gloria, Dallas, TX
Can anybody tell me why these Bible-quoting sisters are praising a man who’s claim to fame is producing raunchy sex songs.? Where did the Apostles talk about “bumping and grinding?” In the Book of Raunch, Second Chapter, Verse 69?? Y’all telling on yourselves!
As far as what would Jesus do? The last time I checked, he didn’t have a problem with turning over tables, casting out demons, asking folks why they were tripping, and stepping in to aid the most vulnerable in society as opposed to the rich and the powerful. But then again, maybe they read a different Bible. Nobody is condemning R. Kelly to Hell! Go back to that Christianity Correspondence School you got your bible learning from and demand a refund! Your Bible study teacher should have their credentials revoked.
Black women, heal thyselves ( is “thyselves” a word?) This is some disturbing mess right here. Not only do Black women appear to be willing to openly defend this man, but they are invoking the name of God to do it. Once again, these intellectually challenged individuals over on ANOTHER WEBSITE appear to be placing the responsibility on a 13 year-old girl as opposed to a fully grown man. Seriously, whenever I get through with whatever, I need to write a book.
Let me assure you that these deluded women prostrating themselves before the golden throne of R. Kelly would have been the first in line to chuck some stones at Mary Magdalene.
Please note, THESE ARE NOT WAOD readers. I don’t want my readers to be lumped in AGAIN with these no-Bible-reading/understanding, celebrity-idol-worshiping, sacrificial-lamb- wannabees over THERE Whatever foolishness other folks tolerate in their comments section, we have never praised Chester on this blog. EVER!
WOW! A report about Black women’s success that isn’t couched in terms of the failures of Black men or how Black women’s achievements amount to a crisis. Are you watching NBC Nightly News?
So CBS’s Byron Pitts did a segment on the growing number of Black women who own their own businesses.
Between 2002 and 2008, the number of firms owned by African American women increased by 19 percent – twice as fast as all other firms, according to the Center for Women’s Business Research. And they generated $29 billion in sales nationwide.
What’s driving these women into entrepreneurship?
“There’s this disillusion in the corporate world,” said Beverly Holmes of the Center for Women’s Business Research. “It’s the fact that this glass ceiling is still there.” CBS News. CBS NEWS
Notice how he didn’t feature women lamenting how owning their own business will affect their marriage and dating prospects. That’s the good news, the not so good…the average annual revenue for black women business-owners is $37,787, while Black men $107,720 a year white women earn $155,000. We’ve got to close the gap ladies!
Thanks Byron!
You can compare this review of how CBS handled the issue of Black women entrepreneurs with the hack job NBC Nightly News did on us.
Last week marked one year since the brutal attack on a mother and her child in a place called Dunbar Village.
Now the city officials are reporting that after the addition of lighting security cameras, and security patrols the crime rate has been cut IN HALF.
The prosecution is pretty much in the same place it was a little under a year ago. Four suspects are in custody, the four they have physical evidence on. One of the four has plead out and will be deposed by attorneys in the coming weeks.
You don’t want to rush a prosecution because the state only gets one shot to get a conviction in this case, but it looks like there is a possibility that the remaining attackers may not be prosecuted anytime soon.
Belohlavek also says there are other potential suspects in the investigation, but so far detectives have no physical evidence linking them to the crime scene.CBS12
The victim said that there were up to ten and I spoke with someone who we have mercilessly criticized on this blog and they claim that the masterminds aren’t even in custody. I’m beginning to believe them.
This atrocity led me to become a blogger and has truly opened my eyes to the violence that Black women and Black girls are subjected to by Black males. So this has become a crusade for me and a story that I will not be letting go of. Ever. Universal Blackness
It was an atrocity, wasn’t it? Not just the HORROR of the details of the crime, but that these Black women and children were left to rot and die. Nobody cared if they lived under the tyranny of gang violence. The city was building high rise office buildings and tourist promenades instead of purchasing light bulbs and security cameras.
The fact that they have cut crime in half and gotten conditions to the point that people feel safe being outside their own homes is an indictment of the City of West Palm Beach and the Housing Authority. Why did a Black woman and her child have to be sacrificial offerings for the LANDLORD to provide fit and habitable housing?
One year later, how has hearing about the Dunbar Village gang rape affected how you view the world? Did it impact you the way it impacted Mr. Shadow? Feel free to share in the comments.
File this one under foolishness and chicanery, courtesy of that bastion of the Civil Rights Industrial Complex, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and their president, Dr. Charles Steele:
He said that Michelle Obama has had rougher treatment than her husband because she has ancestors who were slaves, and Barack Obama, whose father was born in Kenya, does not.
“Why are they attacking Michelle Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, and not really attacking, to that degree, her husband?” Steele asked. “Because he has no slave blood in him. He does not have any slave blood in him, but Michelle does.” Atlanta Journal Constitution
Yeah he said it. MLK would be so proud. What? Was Andy Young unavailable?
So OF COURSE because this chicanery was too tempting to resist, Rush Limbaugh had a field day with “Slave Blood” on his show.
Folks, I want to get a little prediction to you here. It won’t be long, it may happen tonight, it may happen tomorrow, but somewhere in the Drive-By Media there will be a story, probably Associated Press, and it will be picked up and amplified from there. One day after Obama warned that his critics would play the race card, Rush Limbaugh jumped right in and did just that by talking about how his wife, Michelle, has slave blood, but he ain’t got no slave blood. Keep in mind that when they do this, it was some guy that runs the Southern Christian Leadership Conference who said that. They’re going to say, Limbaugh jumped right in, Obama warned us, the Republicans are going to play the race card, and Limbaugh plays the “Magic Negro” song, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I can predict these people. RushLimbaugh.com
He kept going…
CALLER: Yeah. Hi, Rush. Yeah, the reason I’m calling is, I… You know, I’m not a big supporter of John McCain, but one of the things that’s kind of getting me to think about voting for him is my concern that Michelle Obama will be the next Hillary Clinton.
RUSH: Not true, because Michelle Obama has slave blood. Hillary doesn’t. RushLimbaugh.com
Thanks A LOT Dr. Steele! For another take on Dr. Steele’s comments, you can head over to Black Political Thought.
What About Our Daughters has received credentials to cover the 2008 Democratic National Convention. We are asking for your support in making sure that the voices, stories, and perspectives of African American women and girls are woven into the fabric of this historic event!Please consider donating by clicking our donate button in the sidebar.
Well, I have been so swamped, I haven’t been able to keep you abreast of the latest blog related developments.
Blogging While Brown For those attending Blogging While Brown, the discounted hotel rates end on June 24th. Even if you haven’t registered, you might want to reserve the hotel and your flight.
WAOD/ Michelle Obama Watch in the News
Newsweek One Friday Allison Samuels wrote a piece on R. Kelly asking why so many Black women were supportive of Chester. I was a bit taken aback that she indicated that many readers of THIS blog were voicing support for R. Kelly:
Thanks for the link Allison, but I don’t think that reflected the overall sentiments expressed in the comments section of our R. Kelly open thread. The quotes I supplied in the post were from ESSENCE.com featuring comments supporting R. Kelly. The foolishness occurred over there at ESSENCE.com, not here. I don’t recall anybody here expressing joy. But that is neither here nor there. The article near the end made clear that IIIII didn’t support Chester, so I didn’t parse details.
That may be beginning to change. The site What About Our Daughters posted a strongly worded petition this week urging black men to stand up for black women and to stop supporting anyone who exploits their daughters, sisters and wives (the site is run by women, but the petition was written by a man). “I would have to say,” the site points out, “that during this entire R. Kelly ordeal, it was Black women and not Black men who acted the most disturbing in their defense of R. Kelly.”
I had a lot of fun with it and the editor let me be me. For those of you who miss my fabled rants, I think you will enjoy the piece I did for The Guardian. Feel free to join in on the discussion in the comments section over there.
Michelle Obama Watch Michelle Obama Watch has been all over the news and new offers of assistance roll in everyday. Salon did a piece on us when we were less than 24 hours old. We got a mention in the Wall Street Journal on our second day online. and Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post also mentioned us.
In other words, I have been swamped and am exhausted. Thanks to all of the contributors over at MOW. I really didn’t do anything to promote the site other than post about it on this blog and it is kind of taking on a life of its own. We’re still getting our sea legs but it should be an interesting summer or an unmitigated disaster.
Don’t forget I am still covering the Democratic National Convention in August. I also applied for credentials to the Republican convention, but I haven’t heard a peep yet. Help me get there by hitting up the PayPal button in the sidebar or the banner at the top of the page. It doesn’t matter whether is is $5 or $50, every little bit helps. Thanks in advance for your support.
Remember that you read it on THIS blog first. Stanley Crouch has written an article on direct action aimed at defunding the Regime of Booty, Bullets, and Bling. He also spoke with Tim Winter of the Parent’s Television Council that dropped a little tidbit about the usefulness of the V-Chip for programming on BET and MTV:
But it is, just like the fate of pimps, getting hard out here for a black businesswoman. Especially since Procter & Gamble, Pepsi, Wal-Mart and General Motors have just pulled ads from BET rap programming.
Most importantly, perhaps, is the fact that Winter noted with the exception of one program on BET, neither BET nor MTV carried content descriptions that would work in conjunction with the V-Chip to block the programs from coming into the homes of parents or warn them about the presence of sexual content, suggestive dialogue, violence or foul language.
I’m shocked.
The point is not denying sex or violence or brutal, even hateful, language. We know they have all been used by serious artists to tell us true and sometimes disturbing things about ourselves. That is very different from pretending that the freedoms artists have gained against the puritanical censorship of work intended for adults should be irresponsibly applied to work intended to do nothing more than exploit or titillate our children by pushing them into areas that they are not mature enough to handle.
