Another Black Woman Gang Raped While Neighbors Listen to Screams...and DO NOTHING!

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.

Comments

[2Unruly]

I happen to catch this over at BWV blog too, and our(black folks) future seems pretty bleak and hopeless, since we can't teach or force certain black people to care about other black people, or just other humans in general. But we expect and demand others to care about and respect us? Frustrated. Again.

[arthur]

.. Before you run out and become a Second Amendment Sistah, ..

But if you want to become a Second Amendment Sister, here they are:

http://www.2asisters.org/

[Miriam]

2Unruly,

Do not dispair!

I once had to blow balloons for my kids. I blew it and it was hard in the beginning. For some reason it deflated and I had to blow it up again. The second time around, the balloon was actually easier to blow!

Our efforts count. Even if it doesn't seem like we are making a dent. But hopefully the next wave of activism may just find things that much easier thanks to the lights that the (true and sincere) activists of today kept aglow.

We ought to keep working at expanding the imagination of Black America, keep the messages out. And for the activists to keep the faith.

[Felicity]

Black women have to unleash forces and demand action.

[The Urban Scientist]

It's a social pathology and a social apathy - akin to what Europeans did when the Nazis were "cleansing" Europe of Jews and other ethnicities.

This is what happens when people live in fear and have NO sense of self-efficacy, impact or effect. I also blame the Stop snitching campaign - it contributes to this nonsense. And some sociology research suggests it happens more among the powerless (poor, underclass). That's why crime is so rampant in such neighborhoods.

But in middle class neighborhoods, where people have a relatively high sense of self-efficacy, even small infractions like littering and loitering are reported and dealt with forthwith. People comprehend the (causal) relationship of ignoring petty vagrancy and how it leads to rampant violent crimes. People are selfishly gaurding their neighborhood because they know vigilance is a great defense against future crime.

(Even animals know that being vigilant decreases your chances of being attacked. Sometimes you'll witness small prey mobbing predators).

But somehow our people are too ignorant or afraid or both to act out. Their silence begets their victimization.

[cinco]

I can't say anything else...

[Aphrodite]

Again I am sickened and outraged.

I am surprised and pleased to see the words "arm yourself" on your blog because it is so PC to be against gun ownership nowadays.

Growing up in the South- everyone had a gun and we never had to deal with the issues i.e. children accidentally harming themselves or intentionally harming others with them etc.

[La Belle Femme]

I'm sorry but I am absolutely against "arming oneself". Sorry to hear what happen to this sistah but the blame lies with the neighbors who did nothing. No one is examining why we have reached a point in this society, particularly where we don't have neighbors to look after each other. Let's address the root of the problem first before coming to a haste decision to buy a exclusive weapon of death.

[MargsPlayHouse]

Im at a loss...I mean how to we as a people get to a point where we hear people screaming and do nothing?!?

My heart hurts at this moement and yeah Imma become a 2nd Admendment sista cause Im left with no choice

[Natasha]

"Let's address the root of the problem first before coming to a haste decision to buy a exclusive weapon of death."

Er, right, lets keep looking for the root of the problem while more women get the weapon of the penis shoved in them, yea that Makes a hole hell of a lot of sense.

This isn't just a black problem, this is a SOCIETY problem, its the same depraved indifference among white poor, latino poor, asian poor--and yes, middle class And in the elite classes--

lets not forget the numbers of planned out gang rapes of women by ole elite Frat boys, and both fraternities and sister sororities and academia have that 'no snitch' policy.

Lets also not address rape, forced marriages, child rape under sanction of 'religion' either because, wholly crap thats their CULTURE and it would be racist to do so...

Get use to is women, this is what women have been Pandering to, in the PC, in the hanging on to ole 'brother worship' and the bashing of those few women who do confront--

oh those racist american imperialists or those imperialist white feminists.

You know what I'm talking about---and its the most vulnerable and poor,in EVERY ETHNICITY who pay the price, every damn day in this nation because loe and behold, we got to stay true to the nation, the religion, the class and all the other male affirmation BULLSHIT.

WAMI
http://wami-womenagainstmaleimperialism.blogspot.com/

[g-e-m2001]

Now. Now. I realize that everyone has their own opinions on personal protection. Make your own choice.

If you are against fire arms, that is your personal choice. IF you are in favor of, that is your personal choice. The fact that someone has made another choice is their choice.

I was highlighting that one of the commentors noted the coincidence of the Supreme Court ruling coming down on the same day.

[Bella Sultane]

Gun control is a contentious issue, and of course everyone has the right to their opinion. My comment is not meant to stir the pot, but rather to encourage some stat gathering as we each make personal choices for ourselves and our families.

Based on the stats I've seen, I'm with La Belle Femme on this one. For example:

"• For every time a gun is used in a home in a legally-justifiable shooting there are 22
criminal, unintentional, and suicide-related shootings.
• The presence of a gun in the home triples the risk of homicide in the home.[17]
• The presence of a gun in the home increases the risk of suicide fivefold.[18]"

That's from the Brady Campaign, a gun control advocacy group. So, obviously there's an agenda there. But, the stats they quote were from the following research studies, including 2 from the New England Journal of Medicine (which doesn't have a gun related agenda that I'm aware of):

16. Kellermann AL, Somes G, Rivara FP, et al. "Injuries and deaths due to firearms in the
home." The Journal of Trauma. 1998;45:263-267.
17. Kellermann, AL, Rivara, FP, Rushforth NB, et al. "Gun ownership as a risk factor for
homicide in the home." N Engl J Med. 1993;329:1084-1091.
18. Kellermann, AL Rivara FP, Somes G, et al. "Suicide in the home in relation to gun
ownership." N Engl J Med. 1992;327:467-472.

I did some searching, and didn't find more recent research from neutral sources, but if anyone has something, I'd be interested in seeing it.

It strikes me that despite differing opinions, all of us have the same goal in mind: to keep ourselves and our daughters safe.

[Sheryl]

You people hollerin' that having a gun will solve problems like these aren't thinking clearly. Will you have to constantly walk around with a loaded gun in your hand? It sounds like the first woman might have been ambushed in her own home. Where would the gun have been in that case? Too many action movies and westerns have people think that anyone can become quick draw McGraw, whip out their guns and easily blast away criminals.

I hope I have ample to get the h*ll out of this country before it reverts back to the Wild Wild West.

[g-e-m2001]

Sheryl,

NOBODy has hollered about getting a gun. What comment thread are you reading. The post said. Make your won decision. It offered at least THREE different perspectives, self defense classes, hand guns, or meeting your neighbors.

If the idea that someone may make another choice bothers you, then fine, but don't try to cast women who choose to arm themselves as hysterical or crazy. They have merely made another choice. Because ultimately according to the Supreme Court of the United States, it is their choice to make.

I for one find most gun control statistics to be illogical. IF you had any idea about how many of your rich neighbors had firearms or how many people in rural areas have multiple fire arms then under the logic that a gun AUTOMATICALLY equals accidental death means that half of the population of rural America would be dead.

Again EVERYBODY,

respect other people's right to make another choice. Whether that be pro or anti. You can make your argument about why you feel the way you feel without belittling the decisions or choices of other women. You won't be there when the choice has to be made.

[Brother OMi]

this is sickening. it really is.

you know in the last several months, my training with my daughter has intensified.

It's scary to think about but I see that I have no choice on teaching her how to maim or even kill with her bare hands. but i rather my daughter be the victor instead of the victim

[Natasha]

LOL sorry but the 'meeting your neighbors', uh,

don't think in this woman's case her neighbors would be much help, do YOU? So the meet the neighbors, yea, works great if, we lived in a leave it to beaver society, not only that, even in nice suburbs, most people aren't home during the day and why, yes, a lot of women are attacked and raped IN the safety of their homes, during the DAY. Not just by acquaintances by by strangers.

It happens every day in this country. Somewhere its happening right now as I write this.

As for guns, guns don't kill people, people do using guns. Knives can be used to kill AND to rape--do we take out all knives too? You know in England, where guns are illegal,

guess what the biggest crime/threat to women is other than rape? Not gun wounds--no, total dismemberment. Thats right,
its not unusual to walk by the police yards and see posters everywhere, can you identify this person by this body part?

So, the whole scare tactic around guns is just that, propaganda, Which, yes, not saying gun violence isn't a problem in this country it Is, but its not citizens with guns in their homes, NO, sorry,

ITS GANGS. Gangs with smuggled arms, and drug cartels. and they don't always use guns, one of the most dangerous gangs in the US, from El Salvador, don't necessarily depend on guns--they depend on knives, terror, taking over neighborhoods demanding protection monies, and any guns they have, smuggled/black market.

So you could get rid of all guns, you're not going to solve the problem of street-gang violence because they'll find a way to get guns--and even if, we had a world with no guns except for militaries,

well, ask the women in the Congo and in Rwanda, how well THAT WORKS. In Sudan? None of those women are armed, just sitting targets,

for mutilation and gang rape on the scale of a holocaust--thats what they are calling the cutting up of women in the Congo--a Holocaust against women.

But going out and getting guns won't resolve the issue of rape in itself either--one, you need to know How to use a gun IN a PANIC SITUATION, or you will wind up most likely having it used against you. The problem is not guns, but no gun education, seriously, and two, Other forms of self defense including living self-defensively, and that includes having dogs, knowing environment, and well--problem with that,

it takes MONEY. Money that these women in Dunbar and similar low income areas Don't have. Like women in the Congo, in Sudan, they are women without funds, without a way to leave, without protection,

and That, that is the deliberate stratification in this nation that is totally Unacceptable, and why?

Because its still acceptable to criminalize poor women, not just poor African American women either, poor Latina women, poor Asian women, and yes, poor White women, especially single mothers and most specifically, mothers on any type of assistance. Class Warfare,

and until That is addressed, these cases will keep happening with IMPUNITY. Class Warfare and the refusal to not shoved back into the closet by PC and cultural relativism and nationalism, no matter whence it comes from...that and, not confronting mob violence and indifference. I remember a case where a woman was on a bridge, car broke down, men beating her to death and everyone cheering...wasn't too long ago, couple of years maybe, anyone remember that?

Assimilation into Cubicle Isolated Fascist Corporatism--while the weakest and most vulnerable,

have no arms, have no support, have no voice, have no protections,

left to the wolves to devour them. And every time, we pander to the 'levels of legal protectionism and obedience to such' we reinforce those invisible fences of social prisons--while the wolves shred women, children, the poor to pieces within the gated communities, called hell on earth.

and those neighbors who heard screams and did nothing, because hey, after all, thats what the police are for--

are not just the ones right next door--they are the ones, thousands of miles away.

They are us.

Director of WAMI
http://wami-womenagainstmaleimperialism.blogspot.com/

[SheCodes]

Put me down in the 'Second Amendment Sistah' category. Hey, if a woman wants to think that karate and the goodness of her neighbors will protect her from 3-10 sadistic male offenders, that is her choice and right. I won't speak against it.

However, as a woman who lives alone, I will take EVERY option available to me. A 48 black woman in my church was raped and kidnapped by a 19 year old rapist in her own home for hours last year. He was not with her constantly -- for example, they convicted him on his DNA because he defecated in the toilet and didn't flush it.

He put her in the trunk of her car and drove off, looking for somewhere to kill her. She managed to break out of the trunk when he stopped and ran to the nearest house, completely naked. Thank GOD their front door was standing open. Would they have answered the door if she knocked?

Frankly I think that women - especially BLACK, SINGLE ones, need to get serious about our safety:

1. Get a DOG

2. Get an alarm system and arm it FAITHFULLY, even if you are just taking the trash out.

3. Get as physically fit as you can

4. Take self defense classes

5. Try to get a roommate if you can stand it.

I am not from the south but I lived in rural North Carolina for 4 years, and it has changed my opinion about guns completely. It is possible to have a gun culture that is safer and used for protection.

For example, if you roll up to a stranger's house, you're greeted with a VERY polite 'can I help you' behind a cocked rifle. LOL

[Aphrodite]

Hi Sheryl and La Belle Femme,

I know that you guys have your beliefs and feelings, but to illustrate my point further my father carried a gun on his person until he died. He was a business owner, he had a permit, and kept it concealed on his body.

He called it his peacemaker.

Fortunately, he never had to use it except for New Years. :)

I also had a male friend a few years ago who carried one (legally) in his car at all times.

If these guys know enough to have something handy, I don't see why women shouldn't use all they have available to protect themselves.

I do agree with Natasha that the banning of guns won't stop certain people from obtaining them.

It is my greatest fear that if guns are outlawed there will be a huge black market created where the lawless and insane will rule and prey openly on ordinary citizens.

I personally don't own a gun yet, but being back home with my mother, I know that there are at least 4 guns (shotgun, rifle, and 2 handguns) in this house that I can put my hands on at any given time.

They have been here all my life, my siblings lives, and my nieces and nephews lives.

Come to think of it, most people in my extended family have guns and they have children, grandchildren etc that have grown up around them with nothing of the untoward happening.

I think if more sisters had peacemakers- maybe there would be more peace. I think an attacker might have to think twice if he knew that you could protect yourself with deadly force.

[Tom]

It might interest some people on this board that one of the original plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case, Shelley Parker, was a black woman very much in the same circumstances discussed here. Ms. Parker worked as an anti-crime community organizer in her Washington DC neighborhood. After facing repeated threats and destruction of her property so serious that MPD officers advised her to get a gun, which would have been illegal, she and five other plaintiffs took the District to Federal court, the end result of which we saw on Thursday.

[The Angry Independent]

I'm going to try to dig into this issue a little more at MOA this week if I have the time... But there are a few posts up already.

Apparently, The Field Negro (The Black extreme Liberal blogger & advocate for criminals and thugs) doesn't believe that you ladies should be able to defend yourselves in your own homes. He wants you to yell for help or call police instead.

(Tell that to the lady from Nashville who called 911... that worked out pretty well).

[g-e-m2001]

WOW,

A discussion about firearms has broken out on my site. NEVER would have predicted THAT.

This blog is all about questioning the status quo. That includes the dictate that only hunters and criminals should be permitted to carry guns. I live in a place where people drive with a gun hanging inside of their cars on a gun rack.

When you are talking about a future where 90% of the households are going to be run by single Black women with no adult male within MILES, only adolescents with questionable judgment and superior physical strength how exactly are we going to be maintaining order and physical safety?

My great grandmother lived alone and had a gun...one of the reasons why later in her life we didn't get to stay over.

My views on guns changed after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

You want to feel vulnerable, be a single woman running form a natural disaster. Watch civilization unravel right before your eyes as "instinct" takes over and there is no law enforcement to be found.

Let me assure you that if you lived in an area that has ever experienced a massive evacuation... ie the Gulf Coast, the people with guns LITERALLY make the rules. The cops are busy ferrying people out. In a whole lot of sub divisions, the men set up road blocks to control who went in and out of their neighborhoods. They knew if they dialed 911 help was not going to be coming.

If you have a disaster preparedness kit and don't have a weapon inside to protect it, then you are not prepared. IF the world ever did get so bad that you had to live on your disaster preparedness kit, let me assure you that those who didn't prepare would want what you had. In addition should you ever have to hit the road and run for your lives, there will be no 911 to call.

But I like this discussion, so keep going with that.

In Chicago right now residents are actually pushing for more lax gun ownership rules following the decision from the Court.

[The Angry Independent]

Two videos I want you all to check out.

You can either be http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3vWsa4ags" REL="nofollow">a victim (actual 911 tape of a home invasion in Colorado).

OR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0SUj9cfON8" REL="nofollow">an empowered Black woman.

The choice is yours....and basically that's all the Supreme Court stated last week... that the choice is up to you as a law abiding American citizen.

One more thing...

1. If you live in your own home, make sure you have doors made of metal or a heavy high quality wood, and steel door frames (very difficult and basically impractical for a bad guy to kick in...even if he can do it, he is not going to want to spend the time and make that much noise).

2. Have an alarm system...and make sure it includes an audible alarm to scare the intruder away.

3. Get hurricane window glass for at least the first floor of your home...or try to use a security laminate...this will slow down an intruder.

4. Establish a "safe room" for your home. That is usually an upstairs master bedroom or bathroom. You want to create as much distance as possible between you and the bad guy. The room should include an extra cellphone, charged, active, and ready to go (in case your landline is cut). If you can afford it... the room should include a heavy door with steel door frame...and a sturdy deadbolt. If someone is breaking in... you should have a room where you can lock yourself in..as you are talking with 911. The bad guy is not going to want to spend time trying to knock down that door. It will take him too long.

The room should also include a landline phone...and the landline should always be choice #1. Reason? It makes it easier for the 911 operator...if for some reason you can't talk... they know exactly where you are...and will dispatch units ASAP. With a cellphone, you may have to spend precious time describing your exact location. This may sound funny...but when you are in a panic... your mind may blank out for the most simple of tasks.

5. Remove bushes or shrubs from around your home that are taller than knee high.

6. Place safety lights (that react to motion) around the perimeter of your home.

7. Get to know your neighbors...at least to the point where you will watch out for one another.

8. If you have a garage... make sure your alarm system is tied into the garage door. And more importantly...make sure the door leading from the garage to the interior of the home is reinforced...with the same door configuration that I mentioned.

In most door failures... particularly with good deadbolt locks... it is the flimsy wooden doorframe that gives way... not the door or the lock. The doorframe is the weakest spot.

And make sure your hinges are always on the inside of the door...never on the outside. If you have your doors professionally installed... that should never be a problem.

Can't think of anything else right now.

[arthur]

.. Come to think of it, most people in my extended family have guns and they have children, grandchildren etc that have grown up around them with nothing of the untoward happening..

Hi Aphrodite! Same here.

My children all learned to shoot when they were around 10 years old; this summer I'm taking my 11-year old granddaughter to the range for the first time. When she is a grown woman, she will not have any fear of firearms, because she will know how they work, what they can do and how to use them, like you.

[SheCodes]

@Angry Independent: Thank you for that information! I will cross post it, along with the videos on my blog as well.

Ladies, let's stop talking about safety and DO something about it.

[Natasha]

Again, I want to stress, this issue isn't just affecting black women, in CA, AZ, TX, there is right now, an ongoing onslaught of rapes and murders against Latina women, Indigenous women, and the media is hush hush,

in Northern states and Nevada, white poor, women and prostitutes [runaways, trafficked, economically forced, exploited] women are being murdered at high rates, media is hush hush,

all over this country, women of All races/ethnicities, HOMELESS, are being raped with impunity, numbers of them being murdered increasing, and the media is hush hush. They are INVISIBLE so they don't even count...

part of the problem Is lack of self-defense, empowerment, and Again, we need to remember, that while many can afford those security measures and guns and gun safety--WOMEN, WHO ARE BARELY LIVING, CAN NOT AFFORD...these things. WOMEN with children especially can't afford them, IF they were to get caught with guns, by, lets say CPS or the Welfare industry--they would be penalized and most likely lose assistance. I still think they should go ahead and do what they have to, to get guns, protection, etc., But,

we need to be aware of the other risks involved to these women, IN OUR SOCIETY THERE IS THIS STANDARD THAT IF WOMEN DEFEND THEMSELVES THEY ARE DEVIANTS AND ARE PUNISHED...

our Prison Industrial Complex is full of women, who DEFENDED themselves against male violence. the Legal system in this country will hang a woman for self-defense, black, white, brown it don't matter, if she's poor, if she uses force to protect her self, they'll hang her.

Anarchist women who work underground have been working with many of these women threatened by violence every day in this country , there is lack of resource, lack of support, and most of all,

a social depraved indifference to women everywhere. Especially towards poor women/low income. It is, believe it or not, a deliberate strategy of population control, to rid the nation of the undesirables, the excess labor pool, the generations of poverty [according to the mindset of capitalist eugenics programs and these types, are in every community and gov leadership]. Like I said--Class Warfare,

but allowing the poor to destroy the poor. Why they build these districts via regentifrication (sic) with those invisible fences and transfer these women to the worst segments in cities everywhere.

Why do you think halfway houses, homeless shelters (esp womens, families), low income apartments, are put in the worst gang ridden crime ridden drug ridden neighborhoods?

The 'suburbs' have a FIT if the cities try to put any shelter or place of assistance in 'their pristine beige tract housing neighborhoods' and That, That is a lot due to the whole SMART DEVELOPMENT which was pushed during Clinton era--that, and of course, Welfare Reform---

its what Americans wanted, and its not just those racist whites--its that whole assimilation into class prejudice and yes, misogyny to the core.

And hoping for some totalitarian regime type of government to deliver the poor--will result in even more death and horror. Poor are the fodder, never forget that.

If you haven't ever looked into the Poor People's Campaign I suggest you do so--its majority of WOMEN. Women in this country who are dying--one woman activist, from Philly, years ago, the gov put a GAG order on her for speaking against the economic warfare against poor women of all ethnicities at the WTO-protest in Seattle.

Self defense is yes, a part of the solution--but its by far not the Only solution, and by perpetuating the ISOLATION BY RACE, and refusing SOLIDARITY which is EXACTLY THE STRATIFICATION OF OUR SYSTEM, only works to reinforce those gates around these women all Over this nation.

Our so called LEADERS, no matter How much they scream CHANGE, are not going to help the poor, use the poor, yes, step up on the pyramid of MISERY, yes, that they'll do,

if they tell One segment of poor women to shut up and stay home,

THEY TELL ALL WOMEN, POOR AND VULNERABLE TO SHUT UP AND STAY HOME,

mark my words, if the women of Dunbar Village or the women on the borders of AZ or the women in tent cities across this country were to rise up, form women resistance to violence militias against the onslaught of terror and rape--

it would be the Government, and the leaders, white, brown and black that would send in the dogs and the police and the arm of the law to clamp down on these women so fast--they would come to the support and sympathy of the male thugs who rape, terrorize and butcher women, the drug cartels, -[and the far left esp would do this because hey baby, whats a few vaginas bleeding if it keeps the comrades happy and they deal the drugs whose monies supports the arms for revolutions elsewhere, the wealth of the underground mob cartels and political agendas that are even worse misogynists...]--

building armies on the backs of women--poor women, defenseless women, leaving generations of children left behind who are terrified, demoralized, dehumanized and ripe--

for exploitation by the very thugs and militias and cartels that would use them.

The nationalists and the theocrats will move in promising deliverance just as the gov does--only to further enslave and terrorize women everywhere---the poor,

as fodder.

Look at the Big picture, its not just Dunbar Village, and this shit, was planned and stratified and supported by Americans of all ethnicities--MIDDLE CLASS AMERICA, the buffer zone the politicians adore and pacify.

The poor see it, they know it, but I sometimes wonder if the rest truly get it. I don't think they do...

the travesty, is these women in Dunbar won't get justice just as the poor women around me don't, just as the Latina women don't, just as the poor Asian women don't, or the poor Euro-descendant women don't,

the homeless, the rural poor, the urban poor, the trafficked poor in sex slavery and labor slavery, the downtrodden in theocratically ruled communties,

because they are WOMEN. And they are POOR WOMEN --

the need is solidarity, self-defense, a CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND NOT JUST A NATIONALIST ONE, and most of all,

A WOMAN CONSCIOUSNESS.

To confront the terror in our homes, our communities, and in our country, in our legal system, in our economics, and to confront those forces who work against All women.

And stop pandering to the forces who promise aid but who are just as misogynist and classist. If they'll enslave any women or be indifferent to the misery of any woman, they'll enslave us all

[Miriam]

Hey Gina,

Did you know Krav Maga was started in Israel?

Also, I don't think there is high suicide /accidental deaths of fire arms here, but ppl go around not with guns --but with M-16s! They carry it like chapstick.

Along w/the guns is the education. What is the basis of the fear behind the guns?

When I was young, a family member taught me that I shouldn't carry a weapon.. If I did then God /the universe would target me and I'd have to actually use it.

I believed him. Back then.

He later on turned out to be a pedophile. And I had no weapon.

[Miriam]

Natasha,

I am so glad for what you said and how you said it. I hope folks really digest it.

[arthur]

..When I was young, a family member taught me that I shouldn't carry a weapon... He later on turned out to be a pedophile. And I had no weapon..

Message to all: Anyone who counsels you to become or remain defenseless, in a dangerous world, is not your friend.

[JJ]

Do you feel safer with a gun in the house? When you bring a gun into your home, you dramatically increase the risk of someone you love being injured by that gun. Research has shown that with each 1,000 gunshot victims that come to our hospitals, less than two victims are actually using a gun for self-defense at the time.(5) The majority of gunshots are due to suicide, homicide (due to escalated arguments between loved ones), and accidental firings than to self defense. In fact, more guns are fired in the United States in the act of suicide than for any other reason.(6) To put simply: suicides, homicides (due to arguments), and accidental firings would be much less likely if the gun were not in the house in the first place."

~~Physicians For Social Responsibility-Los Angeles~~

I don't understand what's so hard to understand about most gun statistics. Bottom Line: A gun in the home increases the likelihood of a fatality and is rarely used in self defense.

As far as rural America...plenty of people are shot accidentally...and any stats reported don't discriminate between "rural" households and other households.

Having a gun in the home in many cases is a false sense of safety and can be very dangerous if their are kids in the home.

And in all of the cases that r mentioned...who had time to get a gun? If dude pushes u in the house, ties u up and rapes u...when did u have the time to get the gun?

Have the gun...sure...just recognize you're increasing the likelihood that someone in the house is likely to get killed with..not some (possible) intruder.

[SheCodes]

jj: People are also injured by kitchen knives, they drown in swimming pools, they choke to death on peanut butter and other foods, they slip in bathtubs and get serious head injuries, all at greater rates of getting injured by a gun in the house.

Yes guns are serious business. And yes, there are situations in which you will not have time to get a gun, and even more situations in times where you WILL.

I can get to my gun in less than 8 seconds from the furthest part of my house. That's faster than calling 9/11 and convincing them to send a cop to my house.

I agree that if someone does not have the stomach to actually shoot an attacker dead, they should not own a gun.

But I will tell you right now, if a man was kicking my door down, crawling through my window, or lurking in my basement, he will definitely be greeted by the business end of my firearm, while I called 9/11. And if he took even a baby step in my direction it would be the last step he ever made.

[arthur]

..Do you feel safer with a gun in the house? ..

JJ, all those studies are flawed. They all equate 'self defense' with wounding or killing an attacker.

In reality, over 90% of self-defense cases do not involve killing or wounding someone; simply displaying the firearm or at most firing a warning shot is enough to deter a would-be attacker.

Also, the study [Dr. Arthur Kellerman] purportedly showing that a gun in the house is more likely to be harmful has been shown to be false as well:

".. all available data now indicates that the 'home gun homicide victims [in Kellerman's study] were killed using guns not kept in the victim's home.'In other words, the victims were NOT murdered with their own guns! They were killed 'by intruders who brought their own guns to the victim's household.' In retrospect ... it was not the ownership of firearms that put these victims at high risk. Rather, it was the victim's 'high-risk life-styles [such as criminal associations] that caused them to own guns at higher rates than the members of the supposedly comparable control group.'

The Kellerman work is the one usually quoted, but not the only study of its type; but all these studies that try to show self-defense firearms as bringing more danger to the home than they prevent have the same kind of flaws: They use data from high-risk lifestyle individuals, and then extend that to predict the same result in law-abiding households.

If someone is not comfortable with a firearm for self-defense they should leave them strictly alone. But no one should be deterred from self-defense by the idea that firearms bring more danger than they fend off. That is just wrong.

[faith]

I find this topic is going to stir up a lot of emotions in people who are in support of or opposed to the idea. I think we can all agree we'd like to live in a society free from harm. If someone has the means to own, maintain, train for the use of and is responsible for a gun then by all they should have one. I'm sure the Black families that were terrorized by the Klan and not allowed to have weapons would have appreciated them. I'm sure if I was fending off a home invasion I'd feel better having one. There's no guarantee of any outcome but we should not diminish our options.

And a sidebar, why is Angry Independent here trash talking another blogger? Especially when he wouldn't appear on the BWV podcast to answer questions about his derogatory post relating to Black women? Does anyone else find it odd that he comes here to do that? Has he made amends and I'm not aware of it? Field Negro is always respectful to his readers and to women.

[Brother OMi]

i should have made the same offer on this site

for all sisters in the dayton area, I am offering free self defense classes... I can teach grappling, knife fighting, disarming techniques, etc.

let me know.

or if not, i can point you in the right direction

[The Angry Independent]

jj: People are also injured by kitchen knives, they drown in swimming pools, they choke to death on peanut butter and other foods, they slip in bathtubs and get serious head injuries, all at greater rates of getting injured by a gun in the house.

Yes guns are serious business. And yes, there are situations in which you will not have time to get a gun, and even more situations in times where you WILL.

I can get to my gun in less than 8 seconds from the furthest part of my house. That's faster than calling 9/11 and convincing them to send a cop to my house.

I agree that if someone does not have the stomach to actually shoot an attacker dead, they should not own a gun.

But I will tell you right now, if a man was kicking my door down, crawling through my window, or lurking in my basement, he will definitely be greeted by the business end of my firearm, while I called 9/11. And if he took even a baby step in my direction it would be the last step he ever made.

Damn Right Shecodes!!!!!!!!!

Please help your sisters to become empowered!!! The "E" word seems to be something that is lacking for so many of them.

That's why I posted the video.
There seems to be this notion that guns are a whites only thing... or a male thing... When the fact is... female gun ownership is becoming much more common. In fact, most major gun dealers across the Country have programs specifically for women. Unfortunately, this information is not well known/understood in the "Black Community".

[The Angry Independent]

Do you feel safer with a gun in the house? When you bring a gun into your home, you dramatically increase the risk of someone you love being injured by that gun. Research has shown that with each 1,000 gunshot victims that come to our hospitals, less than two victims are actually using a gun for self-defense at the time.(5) The majority of gunshots are due to suicide, homicide (due to escalated arguments between loved ones), and accidental firings than to self defense. In fact, more guns are fired in the United States in the act of suicide than for any other reason.(6) To put simply: suicides, homicides (due to arguments), and accidental firings would be much less likely if the gun were not in the house in the first place."

~~Physicians For Social Responsibility-Los Angeles~~

I don't understand what's so hard to understand about most gun statistics. Bottom Line: A gun in the home increases the likelihood of a fatality and is rarely used in self defense.

As far as rural America...plenty of people are shot accidentally...and any stats reported don't discriminate between "rural" households and other households.

Having a gun in the home in many cases is a false sense of safety and can be very dangerous if their are kids in the home.

And in all of the cases that r mentioned...who had time to get a gun? If dude pushes u in the house, ties u up and rapes u...when did u have the time to get the gun?

Have the gun...sure...just recognize you're increasing the likelihood that someone in the house is likely to get killed with..not some (possible) intruder.

Most of the reports that I see of children getting guns and harming themselves tend to occur in homes of irresponsible gun owners who didn't have trigger locks.... and the guns tend to belong to criminals/felons who should not have had the gun in the first place...but they decided to keep it illegally. It's usually men who are on probation or who have priors...and they hide their guns in the homes/apartments of their girlfriends (where kids are present)...so police and probation authorities won't find them.

In other words... most of these incidents occur among the criminal element... that part of the population that we have been talking about who will have guns no matter what... a part of society who cannot be expected to be responsible with firearms and have no right to posses them.

We have had several of these
incidents occur in the St. Louis area over the past few years (kids getting hurt in the home). I can't recall any that took place in the homes of responsible, legit gun owners. All of the incidents involved felons in possession of a gun (against the law), houses that were involved in illegal activity...drug houses, meth labs, etc..., involve guns that are not registered or have been stolen or used in a previous crime, guns with serial numbers removed, or have involved other folks who should not have had weapons and who left them out in the open without the safety locks.
Very few of the incidents you describe actually take place in the homes of responsible gun owners.

The problem with the anti-gun crowd is that they are unable or unwilling to recognize the difference... they blend these two worlds together (legit responsible gun owners with the criminal element). It's an unfair and unworkable comparison. These are two completely different worlds.

I support gun control that would keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them. Although the bad guys will still find a way to get their guns (via the street).

[JJ]

People are also injured by kitchen knives, they drown in swimming pools, they choke to death on peanut butter and other foods, they slip in bathtubs and get serious head injuries, all at greater rates of getting injured by a gun in the house.

And? How many of the above mentioned homes have guns?

Look we live in a gun obsessed, Cowboy and Indian world where we like to shoot first and ask questions later.

For all these incidents of self defense...there are plenty where folk were shot needlessly and accidentally b/c of the proliferation of firearms in the community.

Not only that but many guns used in crimes are traced back to some law abiding citizen whose gun was stolen when their home was broken into.

And if you have a gun and they have gun...who wins? Just curious.

Guns beget more violence...more often than they deter anything. But it is your "right" to have one. *shrugs*

[The Angry Independent]

Faith wrote:

And a sidebar, why is Angry Independent here trash talking another blogger? Especially when he wouldn't appear on the BWV podcast to answer questions about his derogatory post relating to Black women? Does anyone else find it odd that he comes here to do that? Has he made amends and I'm not aware of it? Field Negro is always respectful to his readers and to women.

The Field Negro is one of my favorite bloggers. We just have a disagreement about the 2nd Amendment and about crime in urban communities. I have an issue with his "go soft" / "let all the criminals out of jail" stance.

This is all in fun, although it's a serious subject. My disagreement doesn't = trash talking. And when the debate is over... he's still going to be one of my favorite bloggers.

Perhaps you are so used to seeing people agree with one another... that you don't recognize an actual debate.

And regarding "making amends"... "Making amends" assumes that I have done something wrong. When I wrote about Black women.... I was writing mostly from my own observations and experiences.... I told the truth. I'm not going to apologize for that, just because it bothers you or because you disagree.

It seems that saying anything negative about Black women is completely off limits. Or there seems to be this unwritten requirement that a guy with brown skin must kowtow and kiss butt in order to comment on a blog, because it happens to be read/written by Black women. Or that he needs permission to offer an opinion, yet this requirement never seems to apply to anyone else (who isn't Black and male).

I saw that the 2nd amendment was a topic here...and I knew it was already a topic for other bloggers of color, and I decided to chime in.

Does Gina hate Black women because she pointed out that the Black women supporting R. Kelly are misguided? NO.... of course she doesn't.

Let me tell my truth and leave me alone. You are free to disagree with that truth... but please stop harping.

[Aphrodite]

Hi Arthur,

That sounds nice. I wish my father was still here so he could take me hunting. :)

[faith]

Angry Independent - [how appropriate]

Well I think the fact you refer to me as "harping" because I asked a question about the way and tone with which you approach your criticism says more about YOU than it does me. You could have posted the information without mentioning YOUR disagreement with another blogger at a different site - which has NOTHING to do with this blog. If you have the right to post then so do I.

Further if you felt you had not done ANYTHING WRONG why did you not go on the podcast and simply state that? Why are YOU not able to respond to legitimate criticism in a respectful manner?

[Lola Gets]

@Brother Omi
Dang, I wish I lived near you.

When Ive been attacked before, I never yelled "help", that gets you nowhere. I prefer "fire." THAT gets peoples attention!

L