NY York Parents SHOCKED to Discover the NAACP Braintrust Doesn't Care About ALL Black People

Oh. Look, in Harlem a group of Black parents is upset with the NAACP for filing a lawsuit that might close charter schools in their community that mainly service children of color.  To all of the parents SHOCKED that the NAACP might take action that is not in your best interest, WELCOME TO OUR WORLD!  

Protesters Rally at NAACP Over School Lawsuit: MyFoxNY.com

Read the bottom of this post for an important public service announcement to Kathleen Kernivan. Mainstream media is downright gleeful at the prospect of Black people rallying publicly against the NAACP, this is nothing new around here. 

SO here is some background:

IT’S CLEAR WHY the teachers union in New York has gone to court to stop the city’s planned shutdown of failing schools and to block charter schools from using the public space. Jobs are in play, and the main mission of the union is, after all, to protect its members. What’s not clear is why the NAACP would join an effort to keep open schools that have failed miserably. Considering that it is mostly minority students who are affected, the NAACP’s action is almost incomprehensible. (NOT TO THE READERS OF THIS BLOG) WAPO

More "shock" from mainstream media. 

The images are jarring. Photos of children with signs saying “NAACP, drop the lawsuit” and “NAACP, unite us, don’t divide us.” Video clips of parents, teachers and community leaders urging the NAACP to put the education of children first and to stop supporting the status quo.It was so jarring because these children, parents and community leaders were black. Thousands of black Harlem residents rallied in the street May 26 protesting the NAACP. WAPO

Yeah it totally sucks when an organization you were raised to revere ends up doing things you find to be a direct threat to the health, safety and welfare of you and your children.

NEWSFLASH:The NAACP takes positions  that, as a practical matter, are  downright DESTRUCTIVE to Black people .ALL. THE . TIME.  Y'all just aren't paying attention... well its a good thing you're reading this blog since I DO pay attention to these things. 

For example, there was a case out of Louisiana where a man raped his 8 year old step daughter causing damage so severed that her internal organs were ripped to shreds... NAACP filed an amicus brief in support of the child rapist. 

There was a HORRIFIC gang rape of a Black woman and child down in West Palm Beach Florida, and the local NAACP held a rally..... on behalf of the gang rapists.  They wanted four violent predators released from prison so they could rape, torture, and kill more Black women and children. When they got called out, they LIED and the local West Palm Beach Chapter president failed to disclose that her family had a direct connection to one of the gang rapists.

So don't ever substitute your judgement for that of the NAACP braintrust... what's best for you and whats bests for the NAACP have nothing to do with each other.  

Parents To Rally Against NAACP Harlem: MyFoxNY.com

As I understand it, and readers I invite you to correct me if I'm wrong, charter schools ARE public schools. So the battle isn't over public school education, but WHO CONTROLS that public school education and the facilities where the children attending the schools are located. And I am also assuming that ALL of the kids in both charter schools and non charter schools in Harlem are children of color so what "protected class" is involved? Everybody is Black or Brown!

 According to an editorial written by Jealous (he doesn't actually write his own work-but anywhoo), he states:

We believe that if we make all our schools great places to learn, we will have more than better institutions and better-prepared students — we will have a better country. Benjamin Jealous' Assistant 

Um so parents in NYC, what efforts, other than filing a lawsuit, is the NAACP making to improve the schools in NYC? But finally to why I wrote this post -- this heartbreaking quote from Kathleen Kernivan:

My child cannot be told that she’s not going to get to go to her school in September,” said charter school parent Kathleen Kernivan. “I cannot look her in the eye, as a parent, and tell her, ‘Well, the problem is that this group of people that Mommy told you about during Black History Month, that did all those great things a long time ago – they want to stop you from doing great things.” WAPO

Oh I FEEL your pain Kathleen. I FEEL your pain. But as a parent, its important that you tell your daughter THE TRUTH and the truth is that Black people are  NOT a monolith and that there are Black people out there who have agendas that are NOT in your daughter's best interest.  When she encounters these Black people, she should oppose them... and NOT be shy about it. 

I Can still remember one of the most patronizing telephone conversations I have ever had in my life was with the national spokesperson of the NAACP named Richard McIntyre who was their communications directors.If you want to head the condescension drip from Richard Mcintyre's lips, you can listen to our one public interaction on our old podcast. Anywhoo, Mr. McIntyre was one who said "Black on Black crime is not part of our mission." 

I know its shocking to your system because you think the NAACP is the same organization we grew up revering. Its not. That organization is gone and it ain't coming back so if you are looking for something to tell your daughter, tell her this "You must judge an advocacy organization based on the content of the character of its current leadership. " In other words, 

Stop evaluating modern "Black" organizations based on the courageous acts of men and women 40 years ago! They're gone!

You deal with the organization as it exists today. Where there is common ground, work with them. Where there isn't, FIGHT em' and don't feel one moment of conflict about it, your child's future depends on it. 

MORE POSTS ABOUT WAOD vs the NAACP 

 Comedian Who Calls Black Women "the Ugliest Women He's Ever Seen In His Life" To Host NAACP "Image Awards"

NAACP Contacts WADO- National Office Won't Be Speaking Out On Dunbar Village- Addressing Hate Crimes Against Black Women Not 'Mission'

 Chicago Tribune Covers NAACP & AL Sharpton Joint Dunbar Village Press Conference and the Email Accountability Campaign-UPDATE: Larger NAACP Role???

Al Sharpton Wants Rapists and Torturers Roaming Your Neighborhood---NAACP and Sharpton Get Into It at Press Conference

Look at What Y'all Did: NAACP Does 180 on West Palm Beach Prosecutors... Two More Suspects MAY be Arrested-Update on the Victims

Sherrilyn A. Ifill Washes Ben Jealous' & NAACP's Dirty Laundry

So the NAACP finally went to find a Black woman who would do their dirty work for them. I am supposed to be on Blogcation today, but I could hardly ignore an ATTACK POST via the TheRoot.com dedicated ENTIRELY to this tiny little blog via some woman who claims to be an attorney named Sherrilyn A. Ifill.  I say claims to be a lawyer because she's a dim bulb indeed.

In a post about "Canabalizing" Black leaders, apparently Sherrilyn A. Iffil thinks that Black leaders are being devoured by US?  Really? All I see are a bunch of "CIVIL RIGHTS" leaders who keep getting richer while the Black middle class languishes. They fly in private jets. They are feted at nice restaurants. They get hefty salaries and write books and get obscene "speaking fees" while we languish.

Is Ben Jealous embarrassed? I would certainly hope so, but he'll be alright, he's got a lot of perks to console him.

What is most disturbing about this delusional woman is her enthusiasm to marginalize and ridicule advocacy related to combatting violence against women.  She sees the Sherrod incident as an aberration. WE see it as part of a long-standing pattern by the NAACP.

Men have such little work to do when there is a line of women who will volunteer for the job.

But using the Sherrod incident to open a barrage of unrelated criticism of Jealous, designed to do little more than malign him and the NAACP, is selfish and silly. The Root

The fact that she dismisses the concerns about Dunbar Village, the NAACP throwing a press conference on behalf of the  violent gang rapist of another woman and her child, just demonstrates that this woman just doesn't care about other Black women and girls... or not as much as she seeks the approval of men.

Most HYSTERICAL about her call for an end to the post-Sherrodgate finger pointing is that WE'VE. MOVED. ON!

We haven't posted about this in over a week, which by blog standards is a lifetime.  She's the one bringing this up LATE and LOUD. It must have taken her two weeks to get her words together.

Ms. Ifill, keep playing the role of washer woman.  You need to increase your pace however because when it comes to abusing, misusing, marginalizing, raping, torturing, and killing Black women we fully intend to hang the dirty laundry out for ALL the world to see.

P.S. This woman is none too bright as well. Any SANE person could see that the "Snookered" store is a work of SATIRE. If I really wanted to sell t-shirts, I would have exported the image at a higher dpi.  Its so tiny it looks like a postage stamp on a T-shirt.  Mr. Dreyfuss, you really need to hire people with some common sense. This woman is one egg short of a dozen.  This is the internet Ms. Ifill.... its called SNARK and we're proud of it.

NAACP SCANDAL! Ben Jealous Didn't Write Those Op Eds Either! They Said It Not I: Ben Jealous and NAACP Not Ready for Prime Time

Commemorative Snooker-gate poster by Gem2001.

Now before we begin today's post I want to speak directly to our young readers.  I realize we have an audience of teenagers that reads this blog so the Blogmother occasionally likes to pause to offer some words of wisdom lest I lead you astray.   It is never wise to bad mouth a former employer.  So don't do that. Especially if you identify your former supervisors in a a blog post. It's bad form. A, the people at the company you left don't care that you're bad mouthing them, they are still getting a paycheck.  Second, the people at future companies you may work for give you the side eye because you bad mouthed the last place you left.  

When it rains, it pours and it's a monsoon over at NAACP headquarters these days.  I received in my email inbox a dispatch from a one-time NAACP employee named Amy Alexander. She's a journo who unwisely pursued employment with the NAACP. I love being a blogger, I have an email inbox full of emails from BET employees.  I suspect that by week's end, I'll have a few more dispatches from NAACP employees.  Keep it coming folks!

I'm torn about Ms. Alexander's post because clearly its the work of a disgruntled NAACP employee, however, Ms. Alexander's blog post is remarkable in that she confirms what many of us concluded about Mr. Jealous with no personal interaction with him.  That he is cowardly and passive aggressive. In other words, Mr. Jealous is a freedom fighter who doesn't like to fight. . . unlike Shirely Sherrod and her husband, but that's a whole other blog post.  Well anywho, Amy Alexander provides additional insight into the dysfunction at NAACP headquarters, in particular Mr. Jealous' dysfunction and the dysfunction of his communications staff. 

DISCLAIMER!

Let me say in advance that I was raised not to make fun of people who have disabilities this includes  speech impediments.  In addition, there is some discussion about an alleged mental health diagnosis.  I do not approve.  I think both items are hitting below the belt.  We can savage Ben Jealous based on his poor job performance alone.  I just wanted to say that in advance lest I get a text message from my Mama after she clicks the link to Ms. Alexander's blog post. I didn't write it MAMA! I'm just linking to the post.

Okay, so now that the PSA is over, pull up some popcorn and soda kids, its time for the show!

First, Ben Jealous  hired Amy Alexander to write for him... he should have kept her on, then maybe we wouldn't have gotten "SNOOKERED:

That is how I came to be the Voice of Ben Jealous for much of the summer of 2009. Not the head of the "I-unit" -- which, I soon learned, was being "temporarily" tabled -- but the writer of Jealous' op-eds, and of the Official Statements, and Press Releases for the association. But mostly, between June and August of last summer, I masqueraded as Jealous in the pages of The Nation, U.S. News and World Report,CNN.com, and on several other high-traffic websites. (Check out these enclosed links -- they take you to columns by "Ben Jealous," all reported and written by yours' truly.) Amy Alexander

On the NAACP's dress code in the Washington Bureau:

A truly Vampiric black woman in her late 50s. You know the type -- utterly in denial about the fading of their formerly femme fatalephysique yet still committed to thigh-high skirts and Tx3s -- Too Tight Tops. In Vampira's case, sometimes on special occasions, she augmented this look with 5-inch high heels.....Lucite, see-through heels. That's right, just like those that some hookers and sex-workers delight in. Amy Alexander

That's just cruel!

On the NAACP's public stance on Troy Davis... they had serious doubts about his innocence in private:

It eventually became clear to me that the NAACP couldn't be entirely positive, either, that Davis was innocent. Amy Alexander

And the she goes and says what polite people shouldn't:

Jealous rejected -- according to Vampira -- every opportunity to improve his on-camera performance skills. Yeah, I know -- paradoxically crazy, right?

Because what I saw during Jealous' turn at Maher's desk in June 2009 was a handsome, passionate, articulate black man.....who has a speech impediment. Amy Alexander

Note to self, have every single employee I may ever have sign a confidentiality agreement. Because this mess hey-ah! 

So hopefully this is the last swing we'll be taking at the latest dead horse the NAACP has thrown at our feet. But just to demonstrate that I am not the only person who thinks NAACP President Ben Jealous is not equipped to handle the current political, economic and technological environment. You have not one, but TWO NY Times Op Eds this weekend beating him about the head... and did I mention Newsweek has Rev. Al Sharpton sounding like an elder statesman? Heaven help us all:

Later, after officials at the organization had found and released a tape of Ms. Sherrod’s entire 45-minute speech, the group’s president, Ben Jealous, apologized and said the N.A.A.C.P. had been “snookered.”

Black people are in a terrible condition right now — economically, socially, educationally and otherwise — and there is no effective champion fighting for their interests. Mr. Jealous and the new edition of the N.A.A.C.P. have shown in this episode that they are not ready for prime time, and President Obama seems reluctant to even utter the word black. Or poor, for that matter.  Bob Herbert, NY TIMES

And more from Maureen Dowd:

And why does the N.A.A.C.P. exist if not to help clear a smeared champion of civil rights who gave a stirring speech about racial reconciliation at an N.A.A.C.P. banquet? Its president, Ben Jealous, shamefully following the administration’s rush to judgment, tweeted Monday night that Shirley Sherrod was a racist without even calling his Georgia chapter president or reviewing the N.A.A.C.P.’s own video of the speech. Maureen Dowd, NY Times

Okay so now that we've cleared that up....on to more important matters. I cranked out this lovely Snooker-gate commemorative image for y'all. Do you like it?

You can now purchase your official Snooker-gate beer mug at the Snookered Store.

I whipped this up in about 20 minutes. My personal favorite is the  Snookered mouse pad.

Update on Monday, August 2, 2010 at 9:20AM by The Blogmother

Please not reader of TheRoot.com. I know Sherilyn Ifil is a dim bulb and none too bright, but no sane person would actually purchase something from the Snookered store. I INTENTIONALLY made the image of such poor quality and low resolution that it looks like a postage stamp on a T-shirt. TRUST ME, I KNOW how to design t-shirts for sale.

Its a work of political art... but I can always go back and make it high resolution.

Black Folks At the Convention- NY Govenor Patterson's Entourage Nearly Tramples the Elderly and Infirm

First, I HATE asking people to pose for photos, but I am making sacrifices for y'all so I am pushing myself beyond my comfort zone to snap pictures, but I WILL NOT ask for pictures from someone with a posse or people holding conversations with others, or people who look downright evil. *BEGIN RANT*Basically anybody that posed for a photo was nice, otherwise I would have not taken their picture. But before we get to the photos, lets talk about entourages gone WILD. You have never seen this many entourages in your life. Fully grown human beings who are incapable of walking from A to B alone and without drama. The most annoying example of the day has to go to the entourage of New York Mayor David Patterson a disabled American whose entourage nearly trampled two elderly women so that he could walk by. That was completely unnecessary. Here's a thought Governor Patterson, why don't you introduce the concept of WALKING AROUND a group of people instead of yelling "Coming Through" and shoving elderly women out of the way. What is so sad is that the group of people gathered had mobility issues. They were standing there waiting on an elevator that is always full for an extended period of time because they couldn't walk down the stairs. Not only that, but can you imagine the reaction time lag between hearing someone come out of nowhere yelling "coming through!". If these women could move swiftly, they would have walked down the stairs like I did instead of standing in line waiting on an elevator that wouldn't have room for a good hour or so.  What were these little old ladies going to do? Trip him with their canes? Unnecessary drama. Okay, I am done. But that just made me sooooo mad to see little old ladies treated like that so an able-bodied man can walk by when there was plenty of room behind the little old ladies for him to pass through. I guess politicians can only walk in a straight line. WHATEVER!!! *End Rant* Anyway. Now that I am done with my rant about self-important members of entourages and drama, on to some more photos of famous Black folks at the convention. I got a photo of Sheryl Lee Ralph and her husband looking fabulous. You know how some people look amazing on TV, but in person its meh. Well Sheryl Lee Ralph looked stunning. Cute couple. I also saw Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth she was very nice about taking a photo. I saw the NAACP's new president, Ben Jealous he was surrounded by an entourage. He appeared to be surrounded by staff that were essential to carrying out his presidential responsibilities at such a momentous event. (What I was really thinking "Maybe if he didn't have such a large posse the NAACP wouldn't always be in debt. I mean how many handlers does it take to get you from your seat to a car? That's a whole lot of hotel rooms, airfare and per diems") I took a picture Farai Chedeya of NPR. I almost asked Jurnee Smolett for a photo, but again, she was holding a conversation so was Angela McGowan. I saw a bunch of other people too, but I didn't feel like taking a picture of them. I'm sorry y'all, I like to write, not take pictures, but I did it for y'all. I might take more tomorrow. Depends on how I feel. In my next post, I'll put up some of the photos of Black women attending events at the Pepsi center on Tuesday night.

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Well At Least they Are Consistent: NAACP Protests Sentencing of "barbie bandits"- "A crime is a crime is a crime"

I vowed to try to have a three week moratorium on posting about the NAACP after the Dunbar Village debacle, but this story jumped out at me in light of our April 3rd podcast where the Florida NAACP President and NAACP spokes person Richard McIntire were our guests. During the show, listeners challenged the "appearance" that the NAACP only appears to speak out on behalf of Black male criminals , and the NAACP Spokesperson Mr. RichardMcIntire McInLIAR ( whoever came up with McInLiar gets an award) said on our show that the media reports what it wants to report as it relates to the work of the NAACP.

So of course when I saw a cnn.com headline with NAACP in it, I looked to see what the "media" was "electing" to report. Its amazing how selective the media can get when you stage a press conference on the court house steps in a high profile case and those "evil" media folks show up with microphones and cameras.. THE NERVE of the media covering your press conference that you called to talk about a high profile case.

Fresh off of their press conference to decry what they think is the "unfair" treatment of the suspects in the Dunbar Village rape and torture case, the NAACP in Georgia is speaking out on the "Barbie bandits" case because the two white women who actually walked in the bank to take the money received probation and their two Black male accomplices received 5 years and 20 years. It is like a scene out of the movie Malcolm X where the two white women get light sentences and they send Malcolm to the clank for years.

The head of the Georgia NAACP called for the state to investigate the sentences
given in the so-called "Barbie bandits" bank theft case, saying the two white
defendants got less prison time than two black men. Edward DuBose said Monday
he will ask state Attorney General Thurbert Baker to look into the case. Baker's
office did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment Tuesday.Last month, Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley sentenced 20-year-old Heather Johnston to 10 years probation after she pleaded guilty to a charge of theft by taking in the 2007 heist. The judge gave 19-year-old Ashley Miller two years in jail and eight years probation. Both women are white. Michael Chastang, 28, was sentenced to 10 years for being the mastermind of the robbery, and bank teller Bennie Allen III, 23, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced to five years. Both men are black. Chastang also is serving 15 years on unrelated drug-trafficking charges and Allen was on probation for a drug conviction. Associated
Press

When I heard what the Barbie Bandits had been sentenced to, I also shook my head and said "no way." I did not know at the time that they also had African American accomplices. I was just thinking that if these young women had been Black or Hispanic or even if they had been white women who did not fit within the narrow standard of beauty, they would have been thrown in the clank. (ignore the mug shot pictures, they lived up to their "Barbie" label at sentencing with fresh dye jobs) So I can't quarrel with the NAACP pointing out a clear discrepancy. But once again, they have some troublesome facts to deal with. Sandra Rose breaks it down. She is based out of Atlanta and then she asks:

Was the judge supposed to ignore the fact that both men were already out on probation for serious drug offenses? Doesn’t the NAACP have anything else better to do with its time? SandraRose.com

Well the answer to her question is NO. It is clear that the NAACP has made a decision as an organization to make African American criminal defendants, the face of their most public nation-wide campaign. All of these branches are following the same script. Pick a high profile local case, hold a press conference in front of the prosecutor's office decrying unfair treatment and move on. The problem three weeks ago with their Dunbar Village press conference is that there was a vociferous response from victims rights advocates decrying a) their comparison of a horrific crime against humanity to any other crime and b) arguing that some potentially violent sociopaths be released back into the community pending trial ( I don't care what they say, their intentions in WPB were clear)

A Pattern??? A Crime is a Crime is a Crime?

I did a google news search of the NAACP. In addition to their Dunbar Village fiasco where the NAACP along with Al Sharpton declared that a rape is a rape is a rape in their eyes, two other local NAACP chapters in Florida are holding press conferences to declare that a murder is a murder is a murder.

In Manatee county Florida, the NAACP is decrying the sentencing in a murder case where a 67 year old man and his wife were gunned down in their home. The Black defendants face life in prison. But wait, where have you heard the following before?

Authorities say Walker was the driver of the getaway car. They're seeking a life
sentence. Local NAACP presidents Trevor Harvey and Edward Bailey say in similar cases white accomplices have received lighter sentences. They also point out the decision involving the murder of 9-year-old Stacey William's case. The convicted felons got a plea bargain, which only gave them four years for the crime. WWSB

I am sure 9-year-old Stacey William's family did not appreciate the comparison nor does the family of Daniel Ramsey. If you are going to make the case for disparate treatment in the system, why not compare DEFENDANTS in the aggregate? If you are trying to raise public awareness of an issue, it might be prudent to do so in a manner that is not morally repugnant.

There has to be a more articulate and effective way to make this argument other than "A rape is a rape is a rape- A murder is a murder is a murder." Someone needs to go back to the drawing board because this argument is apparently being used nationwide by the NAACP, not just the West Palm Beach Branch. Disparate sentencing is an issue, but your spokespeople aren't the best on it.

By going HIGH PROFILE when it comes to arguing on behalf of Black criminal defendants and being more "low key" *cough*silent*cough* when it comes to the victims of black on black crime, you run into charges that you only appear to champion criminals and it undermines the explanation that you do not get involved in individual criminal cases. By comparing the slaughter of a 9-year-old girl to the slaughter of a senior citizen, you run the risk of being callus towards the victims of the crime and appearing to minimize violent crime.

Someone has to pursue this issue, but I can't help but question this courthouse press conference strategy they are employing to pick any case involving a White defendant at random and hold it up against a case involving a Black defendant and scream "It's Unfair" you are always going to open yourself up to having to explain away the unique facts in each case.

REMINDERS/UPDATES

• For those who watched The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo, tonight, there will be a conference call tonight to speak with the filmmaker and activists from around the world.
• This week is Child Abuse Awareness Month so our topic on Thursday's podcast will be Stephanie Williams, an author and child abuse advocate and we will also be speaking with the founder of Project New Era. That's Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 8:00PM CST- the call in number is 646-478-4750 or participate in the chatroom.
• Author Tayari Jones is hosting a Dunbar Village literary fund raiser - You can bid to get your novel critiqued and various literary works. As always with any fund raisers we mention, direct your questions to the folks running it.

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