We told you about the story of brave little Alexis Goggins who threw her body in front of her mother when the mother’s crazed ex boyfriend open fire.
WHAT ABOUT OUR DAUGHTERS INDEED: 7-YEAR OLD TAKES SIX BULLETS TO SAVE MAMA FROM CRAZY-AZZ BOYFRIEND
At the time we pointed out that Alexis’ story initially received none of the national attention usually heaped upon precocious little non-Black children who get lost in the woods, or can play the piano, dial 911 when their mothers go into labor etcetera. In other words, why wasn’t this newsworthy? Was it because the editorial decision makers in this country have decided that another little Black girl being the victim of gun violence wasn’t an abberation?
Why the MSM Chooses to Cover Selfishness instead of Selflessness: Alexis Goggins and Robert Hawkins
Eventually Alexis began to receive some national attention. She was on Good Morning America among other places.
Mementos from the recovery are displayed in Parker’s china cabinet. Members of the Detroit Pistons visited Alexis in the hospital. She was hailed a hero by the Detroit Police and a church. She was named by The News as a 2007 Michiganian of the Year.
“We did ‘Good Morning America’ and a lot of interviews for newspapers and television,” Parker said. “A man in the Army sent her one of his medals for bravery.”
Alexis turns 8 on Sept. 22. The lingering pain from her wounds has gone, but there have been complications. An infection caused her brief hospitalization a month ago. There is ongoing physical therapy and talk about another surgery to graft bone into the left side of her head where so much of her skull was destroyed. Detroit News
Well the cowardly ex boyfriend reached a plea agreement in Detroit last week:
The artificial eye 7-year-old Alexis Goggins wears in the space where her real eye was destroyed by a bullet is so realistic that people might not notice.
But her mother, Seliethia Parker, 32, can never forget how her life was saved by the little girl who threw herself into the path of a gunman’s rage on Dec. 2 and absorbed seven bullets at point blank range.
Calvin Tillie, 29, was to be sentenced this morning to 25-60 years. He pleaded guilty on Aug. 28 before Wayne County Circuit Judge David J. Allen to two counts of assault with intent to murder and one count of hostage taking. He would be required to serve his minimum sentence before his first chance at parole under state law. Detroit News
For his part, Calvin Tillie’s Lawya’ says he is remorseful and never intended to hurt an innocent child.
“They (the prosecutor) took a hard line with him[boo freaking hoo], but Mr. Tillie accepted the plea and accepted responsibility[well what else would you do, YOU SHOT THEM afterall],” Winters said about the man with a lengthy criminal record [um so what was his appeal to this woman???]who had dated Parker and didn’t want the relationship to end. “I know that he is remorseful. He is very upset about what happened in the car[We're "upset" about what happened in that car too Calvin!]. He certainly never intended to harm an innocent child.”Detroit News
Um what exactly was Calvin planning when he forced Alexis, her mother and a friend into a car at gun point? Whatever. Y’all have some interesting laws in Michigan. Kidnapping three people. Assault with a deadly weapon on two people one of which is a child under the age of 12, plus you already had a lengthy criminal record and you get a 25 year minimum?
Shawnte Wells- Another Manchild Shoots Girlfriend in the Head
On a similar note, Sandra Rose did a post today about a young Black woman who was shot in the head by another cowardly manchild in Atlanta, GA. The young woman is currently fighting for her life in an Atlanta hospital.
A College Park man, who police say may have been despondent over the recent death of his mother, shot his girlfriend Monday at their home and then drove to a Jonesboro cemetery where he shot himself at his mother’s grave site…25-year-old Shawnte Wells, suffering from a gun shot wound to the head.Sandra Rose
Way to honor your dead mother. Shoot your defenseless girlfriend in the head and leave her for dead and then kill yourself. There is more to this story.
Cowardly Manchild Rapes 10 year old Black Girl- Girl Gives Birth
Since we are on the subject, I have a number of stories that have piled up of additional crimes against humanity being committed against Black women and children that are being given little to no attention. This is from WAOD reader Lorraine.:
This man preyed on a defenseless 10 year-old who gave birth shortly after she turned 11. I am outraged but I checked the Internet and 10 year-old mothers are all over the place. Where are Jesse and Al speaking out about pedophiles preying on our little girls? I know where they are, they are making sure black pedophiles aren’t getting more time than white pedophiles.
We are worried about some stupid pact a few immature white girls made in Mass when black girls are impregnated by men who are way older than they everyday. No one has time for our babies? …Especially when they are helpless little black girls whose own mothers sometimes turn their backs so they can keep a man. … Why was her child alone with this monster? The reports indicate that she may be charged. The poor little thing probably didn’t even know what was happening to her little body. WAOD Reader Lorraine
A man accused of impregnating a 10-year-old girl should spend the rest of his life in prison, prosecutors say, even though rape charges don’t allow for such a long sentence.
They plan to argue that pregnancy and childbirth for such a young girl is physical harm, the standard needed to seek a life sentence.
A Hamilton County grand jury on Wednesday charged Michael Chaffer, 40, with two counts of rape and one of felonious assault. Chaffer is accused of raping the now 11-year-old girl many times from Sept. 8, 2006, to Nov. 4, 2007. Source
Good for them. You can expect the NAACP to be filing legal briefs on this accused rapist’s behalf as the did in the case of a little Black girl who was 8 years old when she too was raped by her stepfather, Patrick Kennedy to the extent that her internal organs were ripped to shreds.
Kennedy, who is black, also has the support of the American Civil Liberties Union, based in New York, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Those groups argued that, historically, “the use of the death penalty for rape, far more than any other crime, has been driven by obvious racial discrimination.” Source
I understand the principle they are attempting to stand for, but I don’t care how many new presidents they appoint or new online voter registration campaigns they launch, Ben Jealous and Julian Bond will NOT be getting any membership dues from moi anytime soon.
The Grim Sleeper
This report in from Deidre from Black and Missing:
Anyways, I wanted to pass along a story with you.The LA Weekly sent me thecover story on The Grim Sleeper. I don’t know if you ever heard of him, but to sum up, he has been killing AAs, mainly AA women in the Los Angelos area since 1985. His last victim was in 2007 and so far there has been 11 and it could be more since the latest one was recent. Anyways, it’s a very interesting story. I posted on my blog here: http://blackandmissing.blogspot.com/2008/09/bewarethe-grim-sleeper.html
Amazing how this barely touched the media outlets. Smh.
What stands out from the story is this quote that is so indicative of the state of crimes committed against Black women and girls:
Nobody with any pull — no homeowners association, no local chamber of commerce — was demanding answers to 10 murders by the same guy in a poor section of town.
Last year, the disinterested Bratton got a wake-up call — of sorts. On January 1 of 2007, a homeless man collecting cans from a Dumpster off Western Avenue discovered the lifeless body of 25-year-old Janecia Peters near a discarded Christmas tree. She’d been placed in a black garbage bag wrapped tightly with a twist tie. She was nude but for her gold heart pendant. Her shooting barely registered with the Los Angeles media, which misreported it, calling it a stabbing. LA Weekly
Typical. Deidre did some amazing work, including a slide show chronicling the Black women who have been victims of this killer. If you have never visited Black and Missing, you need to make it a regular stop.
I THINK I caught up on all of the crime stories you guys have sent in. Thanks for being my eyes and ears and helping to make Black women around the world aware of what is going on out there.
29 comments ↓
Black Women,
We’re going to have to turn this thing around for our sons and daughters. I don’t have a clue as to how to start, except in our own neighborhoods, in our own way. For me, I like working with young women and girls in my church. I know not everyone is religious. But, I think we need a hands on approach. So, someone else’s approach may be through a community organization. Maybe not the big “I need a 501c3 grant, before I can do anything” organization. Just women working together to get something done.
A couple of my coworkers actually started a club for girls, so after school, girls wouldn’t be home alone unsupervised while mothers (single or otherwise) were at work. They stopped for awhile, but I would love to see them bring it back. They would take them bowling, out to eat pizza, or back to a community center to play cards, do homework, or watch a movie. It wasn’t professional. It would never make the news. But, it meant they weren’t home alone with “the boyfriend” (theirs or moms), or just home alone.
I was a latchkey child while my parents were at work. The potential for disaster is HUGE. I never wanted that for my own kids. But, if you need to bring in money to support your family, its sometimes hard to avoid if you live in area that doesn’t offer after school care.
I think we can sometimes help, just by offering alternatives. My job ends early enough that I can say to another mother, “When I pick up my kids, I’m willing to pick up yours. You don’t have to pay me. After all, what does it take to fix an extra peanut butter and jelly sandwich until you come home.” Just don’t be mad at me if I treat him like I treat my own and tell him not to lose his mind in my house.
We can do this. We need to become our “sister’s keeper”. There’s definitely more I could do.
Lord have mercy, what a way to start the day…..I’m almost in tears at my desk after reading this post. What is it going to take to get people to see that black women and girls need love and protection like everyone else!
And I have always had a low level opinion of the ACLU…
We can do this. We need to become our “sister’s keeper”. There’s definitely more I could do.
Its clear that Black women are going to have to find and implement solutions on their own to these issues. Looking to organizations or groups or “the community” isn’t going to work. I’m working on some stuff that isn’t ready for prime time yet, but despite assertions to the contrary there are things that Black women are doing such as the group you spoke about that are steps in the right direction.
If we are going to see the disintegration of the Black family, which I think contribute to a LOT of these cases, we have to replace it with something else. The problem is that there aren’t many great substitutes for family.
Lord have mercy, what a way to start the day…..I’m almost in tears at my desk after reading this post.
Sorry, Katrina. I have been trying really hard to keep this blog from looking like a crime blotter. Its rough to write post after post about the mayhem and misery heaped upon the most vulnerable among us. I kind of got away from posting about this stuff because it takes a toll. Believe me, you haven’t seen a fraction of the stuff readers sent in, but after taking a break, I will start to post more of these stories. I might not have all the “solutions” but any solution has to begin with acknowledging that we have a problem.
Black women… WE HAVE A PROBLEM!
I am at a loss for words.
” I might not have all the “solutions” but any solution has to begin with acknowledging that we have a problem.
Black women… WE HAVE A PROBLEM!”
You are so right, Gina. You are so right.
This is so horrifying. It think we need an NAACP geared towards black women and girls.
If we are going to see the disintegration of the Black family, which I think contribute to a LOT of these cases, we have to replace it with something else. The problem is that there aren’t many great substitutes for family.
I agree wholeheartedly. The solution, at least immediately, cannot be “pick better mates” or “get a better job” or any of the other “solutions” that are obvious but will take a generation at least to see any real results.
Right now we need to really think of this as a rescue mission. Try and rescue, literally, any black woman you can. If you can’t rescue her, try and help rescue her children. Some black American women are living lives that would rival the brutality of women in the Congo – seriously.
We have got to change our attitudes towards poor black women in our community. I have heard (and read) so many disgusting comments about poor black women and it almost often comes from other black women that may be one generation removed from poverty. It’s like we forget or just don’t want to remember. The “EBT” jokes, making fun of a woman’s appearance (i.e. “bad weaves” “fake nails”) is almost always linked to her economic status. We treat poor black women as if they are the bane of our existence.
$$$$ rules everything, including who we decide to have sympathy for.
I don’t even know where to begin with this.
I’m going to assume that they ran a check on people incarcerated during that gap.
I’m going to assume that they cross-checked those folks with other violent crimes.
“[police] did not want to panic the city at-large over a killer who was targeting mostly “street people” who voluntarily got into his car.”
I mean…who cares right? If you don’t “look like” a “street person” you have nothing to worry about. If you are a “street” person…oh well.
What they REALLY mean is we don’t wanna riot cause we ain’t gon’ touch this!
Clearly some of the victims have arrest records. Conventional wisdom says drugs, petty theft, prostitution, drunk & disorderly….in other words LAPD can’t care…as much…
Now if somebody were slaughtering Nebraska runaways (who also have records) on Hollywood or Sunset…don’t you think Nancy Grace would be screaming up and down? I also think they’d be called runaways or homeless…not street people.
***
On a side note this society has to take mental health and rehab seriously. You have a lotta sick people that are just walking victims.
Besides…where are the gangstas down for the hood?
How can you help someone who doesn’t even think what their doing is wrong or not productive?
I mean these are some of the women who think talking properly is acting white and if you are in your 20’s w/ no children even if you aren’t married look at you like you are doing something wrong.
@ Naima
I’m sorry but your comment is incredibly selfish.
Who cares if people think you talk white? Unless you’re like 10 years old I would hope that you have gotten over this by now. This is not about YOU, it is about THEM. If you have it together then you already know what to do and how to do it. If you only date men worthy of your respect and love then you are light years ahead of the game. The problem is, you having it together will never, EVER help other women.
Sometimes we have to put aside our accomplishments and the fact that there are some in our community that are hateful.
Did it ever occur to you that a lot of women with no education, no accomplishments, no support and who are emotionally and spiritually bankrupt lash out at more accomplished sisters out of jealousy? This isn’t something new, it happens in ALL races. The difference is, there are many more black women suffering than succeeding. The fact that these women may be jealous doesn’t mean they deserve to live in a violent, unforgiving world.
Reading this hurts my head and my soul but it needs to be brought into the light. One by one we will make a difference.
@Naima
“w/ no children even if you aren’t married look at you like you are doing something wrong.”
Wow! That’s a pretty tough statement that I ought to “poo poo”. But, I have to admit you’re right. By the age of 25, I still didn’t have any children of my own and I was drilled by my roommate’s mother about why I didn’t have kids. In my naivete, I told her I wasn’t married.
She asked me what that had to do with it and suggested I was “pretty old” not to have at least one child yet and wanted to know what I was waiting on. I was speechless. I wasn’t speaking with a peer, I was talking to someone’s mother & grandmother. I just smiled and nodded politely like a dolt and silently prayed my roommate would get dressed faster so we could leave.
Even my roommate was convinced that it was a good idea to have all of your kids “out of the way” by the time you were “my age” at that time, 25. She was straight up serious.
For some, I think you have to earn their trust, in my limited experience. If you’re from a different socioeconomic status, you have to pull that nose out of the air. You know how we do it, when we think we’re looking exceptionally cute. LOL.
Look beyond the bad weave, multicolored nails, etc., and realize she’s got to overlook some stuff too (thinking we’re snooty, stuck up, and being judgemental etc.)
We’re in a crisis. All you can do is offer. You’re right, some people won’t accept help. But, some will. Especially once we get past the baggage that separates us.
I feel like I have to do more than what I’m doing. Like most of you, I don’t know where to start. I know someone with a radio show on WBAI in NY (anyone familiar with this). I could ask her if she could highlight things that affect black women specifically since they like to give airtime to women of color (in addition to traditional white feminists). It’s a start.
I become physically ill when I read things like this. I’m not a violent person, but I would castrate these men without compunction.
The question that keeps coming up with me is one that was stated loud and clear in this post “Why were you with him, and once you realized he was a monster, what kept you in the relationship”
It still kills me to read this! Because I don’t get it!
@Somebodies Friend
Is it low self esteem?
It’s taken me one whole day to respond to this Giana’s post. Reading this story literal haunted me all day.
“We have got to change our attitudes towards poor black women in our community. I have heard (and read) so many disgusting comments about poor black women and it almost often comes from other black women that may be one generation removed from poverty.”
I think the first problem is thinking that the issue is a “poor black women’s” issue. Case in point is the Essence article on domestic violence in Prince Georges County, which often boosts that they are the richest black county in America. In the article it stated that these women stay so they wouldn’t loose their lifestyle. I’ll bet my paycheck that many of these cases its not just the women who are battered and abused in these households.
I just hope we don’t fall into this and I hate to say this elitist trap and women began to belittle each other or start these debates on “Is it better to have a family at 25 or 35?” And the reason why these women are dealing with the rape and abuse is b/c they choose to have a family earlier.
The issues really boils down to why are these women deciding to throw their children as well as themselves underneath the bus for a man?
Lajane Galt said “On a side note this society has to take mental health and rehab seriously. You have a lotta sick people that are just walking victims”
Totally agree. In Eckhart Tolle’s “The New Earth” he talks about “pain bodies” I think one of the solutions is how do we get black women professional help to deal with their pain bodies?
My contribution has been geared more towards the family aspect. It’s been difficult to gain traction for my site http://www.urbanplaydates.com. But, I’m going to keep plugging away.
thelildiva,
With your permission I would like to forward your link out to my list serves and personal distribution lists. I know more than a few people interested in what you’re doing.
Thanks.
BlkSeaGoat….sure! Thanks!
thelildiva4u,
I’d like to link to your site on my blog as well, it’s a parenting lifestyle blog for black families. Please be on the lookout for an email from me.
Thanks!
i must confess…..i didn’t know these types of crimes were being committed against black women and children until i started reading this blog and others (where have i been?). has it really gotten this bad?
thank you for your work, WAOD.
Okay, all this kinda stuff leaves me no choice to urge women to find your true best friend in the whole wide world.
http://fc67.deviantart.com/fs26/f/2008/125/f/f/Remington_870_MCS_by_FangtheTyphoon.jpg
(I hope this link posts correctly)
Go see your local NRA instructor and get some trigger time in.
@Chantal,
Welcome to my world. I can assure you that when i started this blog I was clueless as well. I never intended for this blog to be a crime blotter, but yes this stuff is happening. I reccomend a book called “Getting played” by Jody Miller. She interviews 14 year old boys and girls at an alternative school. It will break your heart. But change the way you view the world. This madness is QUITE common in some quarters.
Al, maybe we need to start a Girl’s weekend retreat at a shooting range. We can go to the firing range inthe morning and then get spa pedicures in the afternoon. its a thought.
Rifle range in the morning and a pedicure at night. Works for me.
Al you read my mind! Seriously I’ve been thinking about hitting the rifle range ever since I started reading this blog. Read Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Talents” and “Parable of the Sower” and get a glimpse at the possible direction of this “great nation” of ours. Shoot, we may all need to start getting some “trigger time” in soon.
But on a more unifying note… LorMarie said ” I feel like I have to do more than what I’m doing. Like most of you, I don’t know where to start.”
But this blog is a wonderful place to start. The things we do may not seem like much, but those small contributions do make a difference. And the folks on this blog have the gumption to make a difference…
Thelildiva4u has a serious website that focuses on making the family stronger (which I will be linking to as soon as I finish typing this). I’ve started hosting workshops for pre-teen girls here on Long Island. BLKSeaGoat has a network of contacts that could help spread a good message. And Gina has an vast audience that gets a serious education everytime they click on WAOD. And LorMarie, I will be contacting you because I would love to talk to your friend at WBAI about bringing some of the issues faced by pre-teen girls to light on her radio show.
People, we’ve got the makings for a network of change right here!
peace
I learned about Black and missing through your site. very informative
it’s shocking how much the mainstream media refuses to put out there.
Why do black people treat their own in such ways? How can a black man treat black women the way they do? How can the radio allow songs that diminish women in the manner they do, and still why do people listen to it?
I see a real problem with the way black women are treated, and i think that black women need to be way more saavy than their male counterparts. if romeo over there has a criminal record, no religion at all, and has anger/controlling issues, then that’s a red flag for me. Ain’t no way I’ll find a quality man that’ll end up being a loving father in da club. Women, you have got to work smarter, not harder. These nasty men deserve to get locked up for good, not just a few years here and there. Women, raise your sons to be strong, fre and hard-working, that way you know for sure that they’d never end up in a mess like these poor women have become victims of.