Color of Change Issues Statement on Dunbar Village Case--FIrst Black Organization to Speak Out

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Mervyn Marcano, ColorOfChange.org

Statement from ColorOfChange.org Regarding Defendants in Dunbar Village Case

It is imperative, no matter what their color, the perpetrators of the brutal rape at Dunbar Village be brought to justice. It's critical for the victim, but also for Black people all over the country to insist that brutality and rape against Black women - crimes far too frequent and far too silent - be punished to the full extent of the law.

There have been concerns about whether the accused, Black men and boys, are getting a fair shake in the justice system; despite the heinous nature of the crimes, we do support their right to equal justice. But if the problem being raised is about white defendants in Florida getting off easy for their crimes, the focus should be on increasing their punishment, not on releasing the Black accused. At the end of the day, we must be vigilant in ensuring that our justice system is functioning fairly, but also soundly, so that real justice is achieved for the victims of the brutal rape and beating at Dunbar Village.

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I got the call this afternoon. I had shut down for the holiday, but I had to break my weekend blogging moratorium to let y'all know. Color of Change is the first African American organization to speak out about Dunbar Village... AND WE DIDN'T EVEN ASK THEM TO! I posted this morning that we're the ones we've been waiting for. We'll continue to press the NAACP about its reckless actions related to the Dunbar Village suspects, but I think that it is clear that the hope for change won't come from the Civil Rights Industrial Complex. To learn more about Color of Change, go to the Color of Change website.

MAKE A DONATION:
Don't just rant and rave. We should deny financial support to organizations that are indifferent but we should also show support to those who are making the effort and I have said before that Color of Change sets the gold standard when it comes to online advocacy, Black or White ( even if we sometimes disagree on some issues :) ). I just made a donation. You can do the same. It is time for new leadership.

Why the Black Blogosphere MUST Drop a "Daisy Cutter" on Michael Baisden

Michael Baisden, who as bold as a hot pink dress at a funeral, savaged Color of Change, a venerable Black online advocacy organization tried to slide an “apology” to Color of Change under the door as he slunk away for the weekend hoping no one would notice . Now some would consider his cowardly and half-hearted apology an olive branch. Well fine, its an olive branch-- an olive branch the Black blogosphere needs to snatch from Baisden's hand and beat him about the head with.

I'm a blogger. I may blog primarily about issues affecting African American women and girls, but I am a blogger first. There would be no What About Our Daughters? If there wasn't a Black blogosphere.That is why I will often weigh in on things that don't directly pertain to moi. For example, when folks started telling Sandra Rose that they were leaving her blog because of her thoughts, I cried “FOOLISHNESS.” When some idiot male bloggers ( y'all know who they are) repeatedly launched vicious attacks and attempted to intimidate and harass Black women bloggers who blog about interracial dating and marriage, I cried “FOOLISHNESS!” When someone came to me asking me to proclaim “I love Black men” at the beginning of my podcast because some wackjob and psycho Black male blogger was going around saying that I hated Black men, I cried FOOLISHNESS! FOOLISHNESS! FOOLISHNESS!

Although I have a pretty good sized megaphone in the form of videos, a podcast and this blog, I have only directed my wrath at another Black blogger ONCE and that was in self defense after a long campaign launched against me in coordination with Viacom employees and even then, I didn't mention the guilty party by name. Why don't I attack and mock other bloggers for what they think? Well first, because they have a right to say whatever in the heck they want to, but second, because I realize that whatever this thing is that is exploding right now, it could change the course of human history so I avoid trying to take out another blogger even one out to destroy my own blog.

Though I may vehemently disagree with many of its members, I will defend the Black blogosphere from all threats, foreign and domestic.

I don't support all of the campaigns they undertake, but there is no more organized group of Black online activists than the folks over at Color of Change. These relatively small campaigns I launch from this blog are minuscule when compared to what Color of Change with its amazing organizational infrastructure can do. When WAOD grows up, I want it to be just like Color of Change. Color of Change is the benchmark for grass roots organizing and fund raising among online activists as far as I am concerned. It is the crème de la crème - the gold standard.

Y'all know I try to make it plain. For some of my idealistic blogging bretheren and sistren, let me paint a picture”: Michael Baisden just dropped a 200 kiloton bomb on our gold standard.

This was no mistake. This was planned and intentional and launched in coordination with Michael Baisden's own fund raiser this weekend. In other words, he sacrificed Color of Change and Black online activists for his own selfish gain.

( Ironically or hypocritically, Baisden is running a CORNY “Web-a-thon” using a Chip-In Widget... A fund raising tool that wouldn't be available if it wasn't for.... THE INTERNET!)

Wake up folks this was not a coincidence. They didn't make a mistake. Baisden did this on purpose. This was a premeditated unprovoked attack on all of us. Go back and listen to the audio again. They aren't just talking about Color of Change, but all online activists. Why did he do it? Because he thought he could get away with it. After all, they are just a bunch of folks online. No need to respect them.

The damage Baisden has done to Black online activism is possibly irreparable. Tell me how Color of Change is supposed to continue its work helping Katrin victims, which most folks have forgotten about, if they can't raise money because Baisden is running around calling them “Shady.”

And Baisden did it for what? Because he wants to be Tom Joyner's water boy? He wanted to take out the competition so he would be able to say “I raised a MILLION DOLLARS!” in order to stroke his...ego.

Listen to this FOOLISHNESS as he talks about James Rucker of Color of Change.

Let us be clear. BAISDEN can't stand that Black bloggers shared credit in the media for what happened in Jena. He did this to let the world know that Black online activists are somehow second class citizens or they are to be viewed with suspicion, while he, a smutty book writer who gives bad relationship advice and parties at Hedonism II, is supposed to now be some kind of social justice movement leader. This is no different than the Rev. Jesse Jackson calling Newark's Mayor Corey Booker, “A wolf in sheep's clothing.”

Now all of a sudden Michael Baisden wants unity? Hell no! Before there can be in “reconciliation,” there must be contrition and accountability.

I could care less about the Jena 6 at this point.

My question is this:

Is the Black blogosphere willing to fight for ITSELF as zealously as it fights for EVERYBODY ELSE?

A long time ago, I said I would never fight for anybody that wasn't willing to fight for themselves so I will follow Color of Change's lead in this. However, may I make a few “suggestions” as I am prone to do from time to time.

Michael Baisden MUST invite Color of Change onto his show.

• He MUST apologize like the man he “purports” to be.
• He needs to drag Michael Bell's daddy on the show to apologize as well
• AND He needs to do all this with the same BOLDNESS he used to savage Color of Change in the first place.

If he doesn't, then the Black blogosphere needs to be prepared to ask each and every ABC radio affiliate to preempt Baisden's show to run a response from Color of Change. I mean flood the station managers' phones from coast to coast. Baisden ain't THAT big. If they won't, then the Black blogosphere needs to launch a nation campaign to DEFUND HIS SHOW. I mean “Greasy Jerry's Check Cashing Chicken N' Waffles” ought to be scared to purchase space on Baisden's show.

In an ideal world, old school and old media activists would form coalitions with online activists to leverage our resources and maximize results. Color of Change is a really good example of leveraging online activity for offline results. We want to be allies with the BEE and the CRIC. However, if we cannot, let's try not to be enemies either. But if you choose to wage war on us, we have a right to engage in self defense.

Let it be known that the next member of the Black Elite Establishment (BEE) and Civil Rights Industrial Complex (CRIC) to launch this type of unprovoked vicious attack on the Black blogosphere will be met with a swift and severe response. If somebody else wants to burn this burgeoning form of activism to the ground to suit their selfish purposes, then they need to know that the cost of doing so will be painful...FOR THEM!

If you can't get respect, settle for out and out fear.Think people online can't do it? He better go pick up the phone and call George Allen and Britney Spears. Because I can assure you that more people read a Black blog in a day than listen to his show, and we have the ability to keep it that way.If Michael Baisden wants to throw poisoned arrows the Black blogosphere, so be it, But I'll be dayumed if the Black blogosphere is going to go down without a fight. If he wants a fight, I say take it to him.

Let's roll.

See also:Jena 6 Families to Black Blogosphere..."We Don't Know Who Y'all Are."- THE IRON RULE
WARNING: Dear Mr. Federal Agent, the use of the phrase "daisy cutter" is intended as a figure of speech and not intended as a literal invitation to drop a bomb on anyone.

Jena 6 Families to Black Blogosphere..."We Don't Know Who Y'all Are."- THE IRON RULE

Apparently Color of Change, a venerable online activist organization collected money to pay for the Jena 6 legal defense and was SO OUTRAGEOUS as to use the money collected to GASP... PAY FOR THEIR LEGAL DEFENSE! Oh the sacrilege! The horror! You mean to tell me that there are actually organizations that actually use the money that they raise to do what they said they were going to do?

Well apparently the Jena 6 families want the money to be used for purposes other than getting their children out of the clank and they collaborated with consummate attention whore and smutty book writer turned prognostitute and talk show "personality", Michael "Baby Oil" Baisden to bite the hand that fed them. Better yet, they just bit off the hand of Color of Change completely. Listen to the audio of the calls. Micahel Bell's Daddy ( the one who can't stop his child from repeatedly violating parole), gets on the Michael Baisden show and says he doesn't know WHO Color of Change is and then goes on to slander ALL Black activists online. Baisden goes on to call Color of Change "Shady" Now wait just a hot dog minute. Mr. Smutty book-writing- wanna be Tom Joyner's water boy, attention whoring, womanizing, prognostitute had the AUDACITY to call somebody "shady':

Jones offered no evidence for his assertion. But Baisden told his listeners that Rucker "sounds shady to me," before promoting his own fundraiser. SOURCE

Well clearly neither Baisden nor Mickey Bell's Daddy can R-E-A-D.

Who is Color of Change:

ColorOfChange.org exists to strengthen Black America's political voice. Our goal is to empower our members—Black Americans and our allies—to make government more responsive to the concerns of Black Americans and to bring about positive political and social change for everyone. SOURCE

What does Color of Change do?:

Using the Internet, we will enable our members to speak in unison, with an amplified political voice. We will keep them informed about the most pressing issues for Black people in America and give them ways to act. We will lobby elected representatives using email, the telephone, and face-to-face meetings. We'll bring attention to the needs and concerns of Black folks by holding coordinated events in different parts of the country, running TV and print advertisements, and demanding that the news media cover our issues. We will also work with other groups—online efforts and other organizations that are doing related work—to magnify our impact. SOURCE

Now Color of Change has been absolutely transparent about how much money has been raised and where it has been sent. They even provide copies of the checks.

And how have the Jena 6 famlies reported the 250,000, they have collected... Well they HAVEN'T:

Parents of the "Jena 6" teenagers have refused to publicly account for how they are spending a large portion of the cash, estimated at up to $250,000, that resides in a bank account they control. SOURCE

Oh and Michael Baisden, he ain't revealing where the money he has been raising is going or how much he has raised:

Michael Baisden, a nationally syndicated black radio host who is leading a major fundraising drive on behalf of the Jena 6, has declined to reveal how much he has collected. Attorneys for the first defendant to go to trial, Mychal Bell, say they have yet to receive any money from him. SOURCE

So we got the organization that is being transparent being attacked by the families who clearly have something to hide or have kept such poor records that they couldn't give an accounting if they wanted to.

BAISDEN Apologizes- AFTER THE FACT

On Friday, after several prominent African American bloggers criticized Baisden for his comments, the radio host issued a statement apologizing to Color of Change "for not seeking more reliable sources."SOURCE

Wait a minute. Go back and listen to that original call. Baisden goes on and on about how he's "Checked with the lawyers" and laments how he made Michael Bell's daddy wait TWO WEEKS before slandering Color of Change. What the heck was he doing during those two weeks? Oh yeah, he was writing another smutty novel.

Black Online Activists are a New Breed (for now)

Black online activists aren't distracted by banquets and brunches. We aren't impressed by who will take our calls or invite us to sit at a conference table and drink bottled water and munch on scones. We could care less if Michael Jackson came to our birthday party. Last and certainly not least, old media doesn't respect new media. So Baisden didn't realize he was attacking a scion of the Black and Brown Blogosphere. If he had, he would have checked his facts FIRST. If he respected Color of Change he would have made that effort BEFORE slandering them. Because they weren't the old guard alphabet soup organizations (NAACP, NAN, NOW, SLCL, CHIP, DIP, SALSA) they weren't worthy of a phone call.

Now Color of Change is too diplomatic and classy to say this but I AIN'T...

Those families want that money Color of Change. God only knows why since the only thing you have been doing with the money is PAYING LAWYERS TO KEEP THEIR KIDS OUT OF THE CLANK! I say LET EM HAVE IT! Give all the money to them and then walk away and wish them well. Color of Change, you did what you set out to do, you highlighted an egregious abuse of prosecutorial discretion, your efforts and the efforts of Black bloggers over the course of MONTHS ultimately led to the national coverage and massive demonstrations.

Before Baisden ever knew who they were, black bloggers were working the Jena 6. The families have now decided to cling to Bad Boy Baisden, I say LET 'Em! Let them cling to a man whose claim to fame is that he writes smutty books. Maybe he can get them on a few more red carpets or help them produce some more myspace videos. Sometimes, you really do need to pack up your toys and head back to the crib. Especially when folks start kicking sand in your face. You have done what you could for these families, the kids aren't facing attempted murder charges. There is no coalition to be shattered or broken. You did the work you set out to do.

Eventually, the old media will get a clue and realize that the internet can magnify their power and is not a threat to it. They'll figure out that there are SOME activists that actually use donations for the intended purpose instead of buying houses furs, cars, and, paying off paramours, and paying child support. YEAH I SAID IT! The folks at Color of Change have given me no indication that they are anything other than what they are: decent honorable people trying to do the right thing.

I didn't blog about the Jena 6. About the most I have written is BET inviting them to the BET Hip Hop Awards and one fool purportedly putting up a Myspace page covered in bling, and $100 bills.

So why the heck should WAOD care about this foolishness? Well, it is simple....
Dear fellow diplomatic and tactful Black bloggers, I know that y'all want to temper your public outrage for fear of creating a chasm in some coalition you believe now exists as a result of the Jena 6, but let me make it plain as moi is prone to do. THIS WAS AN ATTACK ON BLACK ONLINE ACTIVISTS IN GENERAL. It was a calculated attack. Baisden worked on this attack for weeks and knew EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS DOING. Y'all can be all "We Are the World" if you want to, but it is what it is. Old media is terrified of Black bloggers. The Black Elite Establishment, of which smutty book writing Baisden wants to belong, views bloggers with suspicion and disdain and since I love hyperbole... they don't have a problem destroying what they cannot control and they can't control Black bloggers.

In closing, Baisden says he wants to raise another ONE MILLION DOLLARS! My question is FOR WHAT? The legal defense to my knowledge has been provided for so tell me what the Jena 6 has done to warrant $1 MILLION DOLLARS? Um anybody? This wasn't the LOTTERY! Y'all weren't in a car wreck. Nobody went to jail except the person who violated probation for previous crimes. Nobody has been kept out of college. Nobody rescued a cat from a tree or a baby from a burning house. Nobody discovered a cure for cancer. The only thing the Jena 6 did was jump a boy and beat him unconscious. For that, you do not get $1 MILLION. What you get is a lucky star, which you need to be thanking that folks were willing to raise pure unadulterated hell on behalf of your ungrateful lot.

Folks let's move on. New Orleans is still in shambles, folks in Dunbar Village are still living in fear, a WHOLE BUNCH of Black folks are actually SITTING IN JAIL, and the Entertainment Industrial Complex is still cranking out multimedia crack aimed at destroying Black America

The Jena 6 and their families want a DIVORCE from the Black Blogosphere. Give it to them already!

Remember the Iron Rule: "Never do for others what they can do for themselves." There ain't nothing left for y'all to do for those families that they can't do for themselves.

Color of Change, Keep y'allz heads up. As someone who has had repeated run ins with old media and the Civil Rights Industrial Complex, you stay in your lane, keep you eye on your goals, and do it with JOY.

Color of Change, shake them haters off! In law school we were fond of saying "be careful about the feet you step on today, they might be connected to the $*# you have to kiss tomorrow" In other words, Baisden, I hope you enjoyed the moment of "glory" by savaging Color of Change. I have the feeling you will rue the day you crossed these well meaning folks behind some foolishness.

To the families of the Jena 6, seriously, go sit down somewhere. Get your kids off red carpets and awards show stages, keep them out of after parties sponsored by liquor companies, make them take down, MySpace, YourSpace, TheySpace, pages, stop going on the radio. Just keep your head low until your children are completely out of legal peril because quite frankly, you are not helping your case. YOUR FAMILIES are not HEROES. But for the idiot hapless DA in your tiny Louisiana backwater, nobody would know your names. the only thing you did was raise some kids who thought 6 on 1 was a fair fight. Seriously, you and your families have done nothing to be proud of or famous for. Go. Sit. Down. and PRAY for the liberty of your children.

Whew. I am through.

This episode would make a GREAT panel discussion at Blogging While Brown. Someone write up a workshop proposal and turn it in during the call for workshops. I wonder if we could get someone from the Industrial Areas Foundation to partner with Color of Change to do a workshop on grassroots organizing and what happens when you violate the Iron Rule.