Dunbar Village Video:"Answer the Call"

To follow up on our last video "Crickets " here is the latest Dunbar Village video entitled "Answer the Call" - Pointing out the NAACP's hypocrisy in their handling of the Dunbar Village gang rape. I have already thought about the concept for the next one. It involves a blue screen a megaphone shaped spaceship and Al Sharpton in a Star Fleet uniform. Let me know what you think.

In June of 2007, a horrific crime against nature and humanity happened in a place called Dunbar Village in West Palm Beach, FL. A single Black mother and her child were brutally attacked for three hours when teen African American teens invaded her home because she had reported "littering" around her apartment. They tortured and raped the woman and her son for three hours. Not a single neighbor came to their aid. The complex had no security despite a ridiculously high crime rate, the local government had ignore security issues while building luxury office buildings on the nice side of town, law enforcement wasn't sufficient...in other words, these poor Black women and children were left to rot and die.

When a group of concerned citizens contacted various African American leaders about the conditions at Dunbar Village, not a single on responded publicly. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said that they would not become involved because Black on Black crime was not a part of their mission, yet 7 months later, the NAACP came out for the first time in the case, but not to speak about inhumane living conditions and out of control crime, but to call for the release of the four suspected gang rapists despite the sadistic nature of the crime. They didn't offer a single legal reason for the release and didn't comment on whether releasing the suspects would place the community or the victim in imminent peril.

The perpetrators of Black on Black crime are not the only ones that need justice, the victims of Black on Black crime need justice too!

Feel free to forward this video on to your local and state chapter of the NAACP. The world needs to know about their unconscionable behavior in West Palm Beach

Earlier Dunbar Village Videos
"Crickets" - Highlighting Al Sharpton's Hypocrisy on Dunbar Village
"Janjaweed in America"


"Immoral Indifference"

Most Recent Dunbar Village Posts Regarding the NAACP and Al Sharpton's Reckless Attempt to Undermine the Dunbar Village Prosecution:

BLack Folks Get Ready to FIGHT! AL Sharpton to Speak Out in Defense of Dunbar Village Gang Rapist

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

Earliest Dunbar Village Posts

Where's the Outrage over Kelly? Genarlow Wilson? ( Yeah, I went there)- UPDATE Where's the Outrage Over the Florida Gang Rape???

Dunbar Village - RAZE IT TO THE GROUND AND SALT THE EARTH SO THAT NOTHING WILL GROW THERE! - How to Help.- Where in the World are the Rev's?

Maybe Black Women Should Be Pit Bulls in Our Next Life ---The Hypocrisy of Russell Simmons and Rev. Al

August 7, 2007 - National Day of SHAME- Black Leaders' Silence is Immoral- Call them on their CRAP!

National Week, Month, Year of Shame-" Immoral Indifference"- I'll be on NPR TodayJanjaweed in America.

How Do We Apply For UN Peace Keepers?- Immoral Indifference to Dunbar Village Continues.

Blacks 13% of Population 50% of Murder Victims -Background From West Palm Beach- How the Heck did Dunbar Village Happen?

Donating to the Dunbar Village Victim Assistance Fund- My "Wachovia Experience"

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

A Call to ARMS!

The Five Stages of Grief-

The League of the Immorally Indifferent on Dunbar Village,Newark, Chauncey Bailey, Stepha Henry... I'm at Stage Two

Mayor of West Palm Beach - Talk About a Hot "Mess"- There is no Shame in Resignation

National "End Mayor Lois Frankel's Foolishness" Day - Her performance in the Aftermath of Dunbar Village Way Past Poor

Read this timely editorial pointing out the vast differences in how two mayors and two governors reacted to different two brutal attacks; Newark and Dunbar Village. Then pick of the phone and call these folks. If you want to know what to ask the Governor of Florida, you can read this post, or go to this letter.

Contact: Governor Charlie Crist, 850-488-7146
Contact: Lois Frankel, Mayor of West Palm Beach. 561-822-7146

Lois Frankel, the Mayor of West Palm Beach has an agenda and that agenda is not helping the residents of Dunbar Village, the home of a vicious gang rape of a 35 year old Black woman and her 12 year old son culminating in the mother being forced to perform a sex act on her own child at gun point. They both screamed for 3 hours and not a single neighbor came to their aid or called 911. Two weeks later another African American woman was attacked outside in the open mere steps from her apartment less than a mile from Dunbar Village. Did I mention that the police in this case didn't bother to alert the media of the attack on the 42 year-old woman for two weeks while the six teens involved roamed free?

Immediately following the news reports of the Dunbar Village gang rape, the POLICE of West Palm Beach didn't notify the media to alert the public that ten gang rapists were roaming around, it was a scared neighbor at Dunbar Village that called. The Mayor didn't go on the air in an attempt to apprehend the 10 rapists. OH NO, because actually getting ten violent rapists off the street is just too boring for Lois Frankel. NO, she used the Dunbar Village gang rape to attack the federal government for turning down a $165,000 grant to the City of West Palm Beach. So instead of asking for assistance a la Corey Booker or most other Mayors faced with a group of dangerous criminals at large, Mayor Frankel decides to use her brief national platform to attack the feds for not giving her enough money and waging war in Iraq, now we can all fight about the War and spending and all that jazz, but with so many other critics and platforms speaking about THAT, wouldn't it have been a more judicious use of her platform to try to aid the victim, by highlighting the victim's assistance fund?

After the hideous gang rape and assault at Dunbar Village, Mayor Frankel appeared on CNN and blamed the Iraq expenditures for the problems at Dunbar Village. The conditions at Dunbar did not develop overnight. They took many years to take shape. Why has the public never heard from Mayor Frankel on the conditions at Dunbar during her term as mayor? (SOURCE)

Wouldn't it have been a good time to ask for assistance in hunting down the ten brutal rapists roaming West Palm Beach?

Folks this is what I would call the makings of a disturbing pattern. But you wouldn't know that based on the way the governmental leadership in Florida was behaving. Mind you ten people participated in the gang rape at Dunbar Village.... hmmm ten roaming rapists in one city, I would think that that would be cause for a big ole' press conference to warn residents. But alas, this is West Palm Beach, Florida and they have the misfortune of having Lois Frankel as their mayor.

Now I remind you that while Dunbar Village was descending into chaos, Mayor Frankel sunk $164 MILLION on building a state of the art office tower and filling it with fine furnishings.

Among other things, Mayor Lois Frankel will be remembered for her pet project, the $154 million City Center complex that will stand as a monument to bureaucrat furnishings and parking-garage design.(SOURCE)

This is during a period of time that she is lamenting that the federal government wasn't giving her $165,000 for a security guard. Perhaps as one editorial suggested, Mayor Frankel and the city leadership could have considered modest salary decreases to make sure that the residents of Dunbar Village didn't live in a self-described Hell on Earth. Read my take on Lois Frankel's lack of initiative and creativity in coming up with a measley $165,000 when in my own city, a local animal shelter managed to raise $200,000 in three weeks when the air conditioning went out in the middle of summer. All the money was raised through private donations.

Now that the federal government appears more than willing to hand over money to improve the lives of the people who live in that area of West Palm Beach, Florida:

With public pressure, it finally may be possible to win millions of dollars from the federal government or find city or private money to tear down the entire public housing project at once, city leaders said. After the rape, calls and e-mails from across the country came into the city, asking what was being done to help the victims.

"Dunbar Village is in the news, and people want to help, so maybe we can do it quicker," Mayor Lois Frankel said. "If we can figure out where to move 300 people, then we can do something quicker than a row at a time."(SOURCE)

However, this is Lois Frankel we are dealing with. Now, Lois Frankel is balking at paying to have the grant application prepared.

Will the city help the housing authority with $100,000 to hire a consultant and apply by November for a federal grant of more than $20''million to overhaul Dunbar? Mayor Frankel's open to "discussing" it, but, she said, it's "a lot of money."(SOURCE)

HUH?

"I have a deep, passionate belief that Dunbar Village should be razed and something much safer, more decent should be put in its place," Frankel said. But, she added, this crime could have happened anywhere. SOURCE

First you run around blaming the federal government for lack of funding, now they seem prepared to hand over tens of millions of dollars and you are too cheap to pay a consultant or lack the initiative to appeal to a professional to donate their time or ask the Governor to lend you a state grant writer for a month?See what more important items West Palm beach is spending their money on.

But let us get back to the original point, the apprehension of the all of the gang rapists, atleast a half dozen remain at large.

Frankel says she's had Dunbar on her radar ever since she took office in 2003 and applied for a $30 million grant to tear it down and build a mixed community with both public and work-force housing. The grant was turned down and then the program was cut, she said. SOURCE

That should scare the crap out of you if you. It was on her RADAR since 2003? Well how did all this crime happen?

Now mind you almost 650 calls to police came from Dunbar Village alone in one year. Tt was home to 15 murders and numerous assaults and property crimes, but even with this wonderful track record from law enforcement, Mayor Frankel says this:

Said Mayor Lois Frankel through a spokesman: "We have a great police force ... and we plan to keep it that way." (Source)

Oh really? a great police force for whom? Certainly not the residents of Dunbar Village.

In my sole interaction with Mayor Frankel after she allegedly fired the police spokesperson for the bad press she had recieved from the Dunbar Village case, she completely all my concerns other than making sure I knew the police spokesperson was fired due to budget cuts.

I said....

I recently saw an article that indicated that you fired Ted White
because of bad press your city received as a result of the Dunbar
Village gang rape. I also read that while those citizens in Dunbar
Village were living in Hell on Earth, you spearheaded the construction
of a 164 Million Dollar office building and parking garage, yet you
blame the federal government for a lack of funding to protect the
citizens of your city.

When do you plan to take responsibility for what happened on your
watch as Mayor of West Palm Beach and stop blaming others because you
elected to spend money on office furniture instead of human beings?

Mayor Frankel responded......

Pleased be informed that Mr. Ted White was not fired because of "bad" publicity. His position was cut from the city budget due to restrictions put on us by the state legislature. That decision was made prior to the awful crime at Dunbar Village.

LJF

You can e-mail her at lfrankel@wpb.org.

Mayor Frankel, this wasn't just an "awful crime", it was a hate crime, a crime against humanity, a crime that violated a sacred bond between a mother and child, a brutal vicious attack, during which the neighbors ignored 3 hours of screaming from both of the victims and then failed to render aid when the attack was over. Then to be swiftly followed by a very similar crime involving a gang attack on a 42-year old woman OUTSIDE in the open? At which point to do start to take seriously that you have a serious problem, worth of serious leadership?

Let's pause for a moment to consider the fact that there is a city in this country where gangs of teens have raped two middle-aged Black women within a mile of each other only weeks apart. Now due to the horrifying militaristic nature of the crimes, both because of the actual crimes committed, the ages and behavior of the assailants during and the community's response after, most sane political subdivisions would think "Perhaps we have a problem?"

Well apparently West Palm Beach, Florida isn't one of those political subdivisions. It is now time for the State of Florida and step in to protect the residents of West Palm Beach, Florida as their local elected leadership appears unwilling or unable to perform a fundamental function of local and state government, protect the public.

Charlie Crist needs to step in, Lois Frankel, Mayor of West Palm Beach, Florida. She is overwhelmed and under skilled to address the anarchy that ensued on her watch.

Please take time to contact the Governor and ask him to intervene in West Palm Beach, its poor Black residents are also citizens of the State of Florida. Read my letter to the Governor

Governor Crist's Office

(850) 488-7146

Why We Can't Wait On Dunbar Village - Security Cameras Finally Arrive...FIVE MONTHS LATER!

I recently decided to participate in a large Google Group of African American bloggers. Now, granted other bloggers put up information about their projects on this board all the time, but when I put up the press release about BlkSeaGoat's counter protest this Friday, November 16th at 12:00 ( You DC Folks show up and keep him company please). The response in the Google Group was immediate, vitriolic, and irate. Apparently we are supposed to be silent about Dunbar Village and not ask why Black leaders are remaining silent on what I believe is a crime against humanity. Most importantly, we aren't supposed to publicly challenge Black leaders about it. Apparently direct action and massive public demonstrations are only appropriate on behalf of Black criminal defendants, not Black victims of crime.

I basically got cursed out, told I was stupid, called a media whore, and other things in a response that was disproportionate to any post I may have placed on this Google Group in the less than 24 hours I have been a member. (There is clearly some deep seated WAOD hatred manifesting itself). When the blogger that cursed me out was chastened about cursing me out in public, like at true Internet Ike Turner, his response was that it was okay because it happened behind "closed doors." His reasoning is that since his attack on me, WAOD, and the counter protest was the message board comprised of about 75 Black bloggers and not on his blog, it wasn't public. In other words, he isn't courageous enough to attack me, WAOD, and the Dunbar Village counter protest publicly, he'll reserve his attacks for the "privacy" of a 75-member Google Group.

Hmmm, Nothing on the internet is private and I find that interesting that he thinks I am going to be quiet about his tirade. I've chosen not to further engage with this IIT on the Google Group. I've got to wade through plenty of irate e-mail, why am I going to add wading through profanity -laced Google Group attacks to my ridiculously long list of things to do. Don't worry y'all I got the screen capture of the whole exchange. I'll share it at the time and place of my choosing. Maybe I'll put the screen capture in my book. "Private" my eye!

But this male blogger's response to our continued coverage of Dunbar Village is probably indicative of many other folks's beliefs as well (for every one that says something 1000 think it). So I'm going to address "Why We Can't Wait on Dunbar Village"

SO why make a big deal out of one crime? Why be willing to *GASP* potentially embarrass Black "leaders" publicly about their silence on the matter?

When I ask why national leaders are silent about Dunbar Village, I am talking about the horrific nature of the crime, but included within that is the massive governmental ineptitude before the crime, ie the security cameras not working, the outside lights being shot out, a lack of police protection despite an alarmingly high crime rate in a single housing complex, the Housing Authority's failure to keep track of who actually lived in the complex, including violent criminals, the Mayor of West Palm Beach saying she was keeping her eye on Dunbar Village while allowing it to wallow in decay while she put up a 164 million dollar office building, the survey from residents prior to the crime saying that the overwhelming majority of them felt unsafe, the neighbors ignoring the screams of the victims during the crime, the neighbors not offering to help after the crime, the neighbors saying "so what a lady got raped, crime happens here all the time" and not helping police in the aftermath of the crime. Not to mention the age of the alleged perpetrators (14,15,16, 18 and counting), the police Chief (Delsa "Do Nothin'") saying $1000 is a big enough reward, the Housing Authority Director being an incompetent boob, the City Commissioners of West Palm Beach fighting like cats and dogs while residents rot, including what I think was an extremely cynical decision to pass up a 20 Million Dollar grant from HUD to revitalize Dunbar Village ( I think they did that because it sits on prime real estate and they want a condo tower on that site instead of mixed income housing JMO). Dunbar Village is a massive failure of government to carry out its most fundamental responsibility, to keep the peace. The crime is a crime against humanity, and when these criminals are prosecuted, the entire STATE will be the one prosecuting the case.

Sometimes folks forget that there are hundreds of people still stuck living in Dunbar Village. The Dunbar Village rape victim got out, but what about the folks who have been left behind? What is going to happen to them when folks stop talking about them? And what about communities all over this country where the ingredients for this tragedy currently exist? Or the six rapists that are currently running around and a threat to us all?

Local Media Attention Having Little Affect on Bureaucrats and Politicians

Now the nation may not know about Dunbar Village, but the local papers in West Palm Beach and the local TV stations report on it probably twice weekly or so. The City Commissioners have been battling about security and the local state representative has even weighed in. But even with all of this local attention, it still took FIVE MONTHS to get security cameras:

The West Palm Beach Housing Authority, which operates Dunbar Village, has been eager to have the camera installed, particularly since an assault on a mother and her son inside the community on June 18. As many as 10 attackers were involved.

Laurel Robinson, the authority's executive director, said the camera will be able to swivel 360 degrees and allow police officials to observe a large area, including Tamarind Avenue, a crime-troubled street that borders Dunbar Village.

"It adds a layer of confidence-building for the residents," Robinson said. The camera will be attached to a light pole near the community's basketball court.SOURCE

They were eager to have them installed and it took almost a half a year... how long does it take to do the things they AREN'T eager to do?

Maybe security cameras would have been helpful last week when Corndog Jones Lawson broke into an apartment in Dunbar Village and beat his pregnant girlfriend with a crow bar. By the way, do you know where police apprehended Corndog Lawson? Corndog Lawson whose name and photo was all over the news down in West Palm Beach? They found him where???? In DUBAR VILLAGE!

Cornard "Corndog" Jones, of West Palm Beach, was picked up Monday in Dunbar Village, the same complex where he allegedly struck the woman in the head and face with the bar he used to pry into her home on Oct. 30, police said. She escaped from him by running out the door. Police said that Jones screamed, "This ain't over!"SOURCE

Yes folks, even with the long arm of the law after him, Corndog Lawson returned to a place where he would feel safe from law enforcement, Dunbar Village.

Investigators tracked Jones down in Dunbar Village as he hung out with another acquaintance Monday. SOURCE

FIVE MONTHS LATER after all of the political wrangling, hemming and hawing and $900,000 spent on security by the housing authority, the criminals still know that Dunbar Village is their safe haven. Um Paging Police Chief Delsa Bush... That's a problem.

Whether we like it or not, sometimes the only thing that will prod politicians and bureaucrats into doing their jobs is the glaring lights of a TV camera and having microphones shoved in their faces. This is one of those cases. Not to mention that clearly in the face of local government ineptitude, the Governor has remained mum although it looks like at the Federal level, at least HUD is taking a look at the Housing Authority Board.

I'll Stop Talking About Dunbar Village When "Leaders" Start

So what does this Black male blogger propose I do? Move on with my life as if I never knew about it? Remove the banner? Forget about asking our African American leaders to acknowledge this? You see the point is that a group of BLOGGERS SHOULDN'T BE TALKING ABOUT DUNBAR VILLAGE AT ALL! The Mayor should have talked about it instead of throwing a temper tantrum. The Governor of Florida should have at least sent a letter saying his thoughts and prayers were with the victim. Civic organizations should have stepped up and demanded that the West Palm Beach City Commissioners and Housing Authority stop acting like three year olds and provide some modicum or security and safety or get out of the landlord business for good.

So I will be more than happy to stop talking about it when the people that should be talking about it START. You think I want to remember this madness every day or have to repeat the story to some reporter who apparently doesn't know how read the AP wire or do a simple Google search?

When the Universe tells me to shut up about Dunbar Village, I will be more than happy to move on. Until then, I'll keep talking about it. Some things shouldn't be forgotten.

I hope this clarifies my position, if not, I really don't care. When I reach the end of my days, I'm the one that will have to account for everything I did and everything I didn't do. The Universe told me to move so I did. I'll stop when the Universe tells me to, not some Black male blogger who wants the "little wimmen" to sit down, shut up, and be quiet... unless we're talking about the Jena 6 or Genarlow Wilson of course because raising hell and direct action for some folks is only appropriate on behalf of Black males.

Let that marinate!

Dunbar Village Counter Protest Update- Let the Back Channel BINGO Begin (SMH)

I don't think BlkSeaGoat quite grasped the magnitude of what he was doing when he announced last week on our podcast that he was going to go out an stage a counter protest of Rev. Al Sharpton's march at DOJ this Friday. Mamacita had to breakdown the magnitude of what he was doing when I started directing reporters to him, but BlkSeaGoat is now currently fully engaged in game of BACK CHANNEL BINGO! (Yes, I have done it again, coined a new phrase to add to the WAOD lexicon.)

Well folks, Back Channel BINGO has begun! Pull out your playing cards it is about to get interesting. Not familiar with Back Channel BINGO? Well Back Channel Bingo is what we call the flurry of activity right before you embarrass the heck out of someone. At first when your dissatisfaction becomes known, they ignore you, thinking you are going to go away. OH but if you want to set off a furious game of Back Channel Bingo, let White Folks start asking questions and then WATCH these people who have done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in response to a simple request start sending you messages through “emissaries” seeking compromise and wanting meetings.

What the heck is there to compromise about? Pull out a typewriter and type “We know. We. Care. We're concerned about Dunbar Village.” and send it to your media distribution list and send an action alert to your members. That ain't complicated. Why does that require a meeting? What the heck is there to discuss. You speak out IN PUBLIC or you DON'T. See that was quick.

When they say “let's meet to discuss a compromise.” What they mean is “ Will y'all shut the heck up about Dunbar Village? Until we conclude out carefully planned public spectacle on behalf of everybody else but Black victims of crime?” They aren't concerned about the women and children in Dunbar Village, they just don't want to be publicly shamed for their immoral indifference.

Now we couldn't get so much as a two line statement out of folks saying “We know. We Care. We're concerned about Dunbar Village.” SIX MONTHS! SIX MONTHS! They have been completely silent. For FOUR MONTHS readers have been emailing them calling them sending letters. I have gotten so many emails from folks with the copies of letter they have sent about Dunbar Village to all of these folks and more.

Quite frankly it's time to get indignant. Not ignorant, INDIGNANT! Righteous indignation is good and appropriate in this case.

Now of course all of the folks asking BlkSeaGoat, a Black MAN to please be quiet so that they can have their protest in peace (HA!) are BLACK WOMEN. Yes folks, the players in this game of Back Channel Bingo attempting to silence folks about Dunbar Village are BLACK WOMEN.

Here is an email I sent to one of these “emissaries” in response to her email ( we've gotten several. All from other Black women SMH):

Thank you for your letter encouraging us to be "united." Unfortunately
for us, the "UNITY" is apparently reserved for everyone else other
than victims of Black on Black crime so with all due respect, we'll
continue to point out the immoral silence from African American
leadership related to the plight of Black women and girls in West Palm
Beach, FL. Quite frankly they are prey and are under siege. Please
don't be confused, the Dunbar Village crime against humanity isn't an
isolated case, that area of West Palm Beach, Fl is a basically a rape
camp, where Black women and girls are being preyed upon. Two weeks
after Dunbar Village a 15 year old girl was raped in broad daylight
near Dunbar Village, a week or so later a 42 year old black women was
attacked by another group of Black teens, raped outside in front of
her apartment by a 14 year old while his friends stood by yelling
"Hurry up! Me Next!" Just LAST WEEK, one of the cousins of one of the
accused attackers in the Dunbar Village case broke into an apartment
at Dunbar Village and beat a pregnant Black women with a crow bar and
guess where they found him, this man whose picture and name was
plastered all over the news in West Palm Beach? they found him hanging
out with his buddies in DUNBAR VILLAGE. Now you may be okay with the
City of WPB and the Housing Authority cordoning off a group of poor
Black women and girls in economic refugee camp while they are preyed
upon and viciously attacked by criminals, but we are not prepared to
do that.

Quite frankly I am appalled that anyone would place "unity" ahead of
these poor Black women's human rights. We can't be UNIFIED while
Black women and girls are being systematically raped, beaten and
tortured in West Palm Beach while the Mayor, Housing Authority, and
Governor of Florida do nothing and our Black "leaders" intentionally
avoid the topic.

For the Black women and girls under imminent danger of violent attack,
the cost of silence is too high.

As an educated Black woman I am sure you understand why we will
continue to speak loudly and forcefully on behalf of of these poor
Black women and children who are reportedly too terrified to speak for
themselves. We would be immoral NOT to speak.

We didn't create this situation. For months all we have asked for was
a simple statement saying "We know. We Care. We're concerned about
Dunbar Village." while watching in horror while the same African
American leaders who are organizing this march about crime have been
intentionally silent about Dunbar Village.

The victims of white on black crime have plenty of people, powerful
people who will speak for them. Who is speaking for the victims of the
the far more common and lethal black on black violence? If you still
can't understand why we are perfectly willing to continue to publicly
shame those who remain silent on this issue, I refer you to MLK's
"Letter from Birmingham Jail":

Dr. King said:""Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so forth?
Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are quite right in calling, for
negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action.
Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such
a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate
is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue
that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as
part of the work of the nonviolent-resister may sound rather shocking.
But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have
earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of
constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just
as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind
so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and
half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective
appraisal, we must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create
the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark
depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of
understanding and brotherhood."

We're willing to create TENSION if it means more scrutiny will be
given to the plight of these women and children in West Palm Beach,
FL.

Shane has no intention of interrupting your march. He just wants to
know WHY African American leaders have been bizarrely silent on this
issue. So do the reporters that are calling. They can't understand
why either and I suspect that it is their questions that have prompted
Rev. Sharpton's recent comments, but I find it interesting that he
won't issue any written statement that can be confirmed as he did when
he was speaking out on behalf of pitt bulls. If you have one, feel
free to forward it to me. I will put it on my blog. If you have video
of these statements send those to me too, I'll put them up on my blog.
I would be more than happy crossing people of the list of the League
of the Immorally Indifferent.

So this is real simple. All we have ever asked is that folks publicly acknowledge Dunbar Village one scintilla as much as they howl at the moon about pitt bulls and millionaires who play a game for a living.

Folk are now claiming that Rev Sharpton is now speaking Hmm maybe it had something to do with that Blackberry message I sent to his staffer, more than likely it is due to questions from a reporter at a major newspaper.

When Rev. Sharpton spoke out about Nas' new album, he didn't do it in secret. When he spoke out on Imus and Dog the Bounty Hunter, he didn't do it in obscurity. When he spoke out on BEHALF OF MICHAEL VICK'S DOGS, he issued a very public written statement. So I will believe it when I read it. He has my email address and my telephone number just let me know when to cross him and others off the list of the League of the Immorally Indifferent. I would be glad to do it.

South Carolina Road Trip to Educate SC Voters About Presidential Candidates Indifference About Dunbar Village

If you are free, in honor of Martin Luther King's birthday, we are planning to roll to South Carolina to inform the voters of that great state about Dunbar Village and Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Bill Richards' immoral indifference to the conditions that exist in Dunbar Village. Join the the What About Our Daughters? Action Center if you are interested.

Be a Squeaky Wheel

It is time that Black women woke up and realized that the squeaky wheel gets greased. Now we have marched and marched and MARCHED for EVERYBODY ELSE for years. Now it is time to fight for ourselves and our children and the men who love and care about us are apparently willing to march with us and for us.

We don't need a “meeting.” We don't need a “compromise.” What we need for you to do is say “We know. We care. We're concerned”

You can understand why we need WRITTEN statements and won't settle for these phantom statements allegedly being made behind closed doors. The league of the Immorally Indifferent haven't acted honorably up to now on the Dunbar Village issue, we don't expect them to start now.

Y'all please e-mail the information about the counter protest to all of your friends and family in DC and let them know about the counter protest.

BLack Folks Get Ready to FIGHT! AL Sharpton to Speak Out in Defense of Dunbar Village Gang Rapist

You know how all these months we couldn't get anyone in the Black Elite Establishment or the Civil Rights Industrial Complex to speak out about the Dunbar Village gang rape? How we pointed out the sick mental illness of Black leaders who will speak out on behalf of criminals, but never on behalf of the victims of Black on Black crime? Well it has happened again! Now Al Sharpton couldn't be bothered to speak out about the RAPE, but apparently he has no problem speaking out on behalf of the alleged gang rapists!

In West Palm Beach, Sharpton also will condemn the "unfair" treatment of the suspects in the Dunbar Village assaults, said the Rev. William Richardson, the Florida director of the National Action Network.Richardson said Sharpton would compare the treatment of the Dunbar Village suspects, who are black, and the teenage suspects in the Boca Raton gang rape. Palm Beach Post

Guess what, nobody had to beg, plead or scream with him about it either. Just an FYI. I will address this later because I'm trying not to blog angry. Let's be clear Black women and concerned Black men, Sharpton is doing this on purpose to send a message. We hear you Reverend!!! I had recently been wondering if I had anything left to say after almost a year of blogging- I guess I was wrong. Thanks Rev. Al for the inspiration!

Essential Presence breaks it down.

Read about the horror that is Dunbar Village and the League of the Immorally indifferent:

Where's the Outrage over Kelly? Genarlow Wilson? ( Yeah, I went there)- UPDATE Where's the Outrage Over the Florida Gang Rape???

Dunbar Village - RAZE IT TO THE GROUND AND SALT THE EARTH SO THAT NOTHING WILL GROW THERE! - How to Help.- Where in the World are the Rev's?

Maybe Black Women Should Be Pit Bulls in Our Next Life ---The Hypocrisy of Russell Simmons and Rev. Al

August 7, 2007 - National Day of SHAME- Black Leaders' Silence is Immoral- Call them on their CRAP!

National Week, Month, Year of Shame-" Immoral Indifference"- I'll be on NPR TodayJanjaweed in America.

How Do We Apply For UN Peace Keepers?- Immoral Indifference to Dunbar Village Continues.

Blacks 13% of Population 50% of Murder Victims -Background From West Palm Beach- How the Heck did Dunbar Village Happen?

Donating to the Dunbar Village Victim Assistance Fund- My "Wachovia Experience"

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

A Call to ARMS!

The Five Stages of Grief-

The League of the Immorally Indifferent on Dunbar Village,Newark, Chauncey Bailey, Stepha Henry... I'm at Stage Two

Mayor of West Palm Beach - Talk About a Hot "Mess"- There is no Shame in Resignation

These are just the beginning. We have probably close to 100 or so Dunbar Village posts, the majority have been labeled. You can Read them by going here.

Dunbar Village To Be Torn Down: Never Forget!

A little under a year ago, I began blogging about a horrific crime that happened in a housing project called Dunbar Village. When I first heard about the Dunbar Village crime, I could not sleep. It is one of those crimes that kinds of snatches a little piece of your soul, throws it on the ground, and then does a tap dance on top of it.

It was more than a month before I could even write about the details. When I finally did write about it, I was angry.

Dunbar Village - RAZE IT TO THE GROUND AND SALT THE EARTH SO THAT NOTHING WILL GROW THERE! - How to Help.- Where in the World are the Rev's?

I was mad because the world, in particular the local government in West Palm Beach appeared prepared to act as if there wasn't a serious tear in the fabric that makes up civil society. I don't know if they were in shock or just outright incompetent. My second post was tled

I mean that back then. I mean it now. I know that that is controversial in some quarters, but if the government is going to take it upon itself to hold itself out to be a landlord then it has a moral obligation to make sure that the housing is fit and habitable.

I have no doubt that demolition was one of the reasons why these poor Black women were left to rot and die in the first place. Dunbar Village was abandoned by local government and law enforcement and as a result criminals were allowed to run wild preying on Black women and children with impunity.

According to Symphony from the Dunbar Village blog, the housing project sits on prime real estate, not too far from an ocean view. HUD recently approved the demolition of Dunbar Village:

"While demolishing this housing will not erase the horrible act that took place in this community, we hope it illustrates the housing authority and HUD's commitment to redevelop affordable housing in a safe neighborhood for families," Paula Blunt, HUD's general deputy assistant secretary for public and Indian housing, said in a statement. Sun Sentinel

Laurel Robinson, the most incompetent public official in the history of all time is still on the job, still delusional, and still being allowed to speak publicly for some reason. I want to know who she has photos of, because she has to have dirt on somebody to be able to keep her job:

"The problems at Dunbar are the problems that come from a site that was built 70 years ago and have been subject to changes in public programs," Robinson said.

"I am trying not to use cliches like ghettoization of the poor, disincentives to work," she said. "We have to move forward. You can't stay mired in the past." Laurel Robinson, Incompetent Government Official

Laurel has been minimizing this crime since it happened. As we have previously reported, she didn't even notify the residents that a horrific crime had occurred and that there were ten gang rapist running loose in the community. She is a truly wretched and callus human being who doesn't even attempt to hide it in the press... again, she has dirt on somebody.

They may be able to erase the physical structure, but we have yet to address the issues that would cause a group of teenagers to do this to a mother and her child. Issues that we all now know exist in every part of this country.

A week after my initial post about Dunbar Village, I wrote about the Five Stages of Grief.

The Five Stages of Grief- The League of the Immorally Indifferent on Dunbar Village,Newark, Chauncey Bailey, Stepha Henry... I'm at Stage Two

Almost a year later which stage are you on? For those of you who haven't read about Dunbar Village, you can find out more on the Dunbar Village blog. They have a wonderful chronology in their sidebar. Prepare to be angry, depressed, or both.


What About Our Daughters has received credentials to cover the 2008 Democratic National Convention. We are asking for your support in making sure that the voices, stories, and perspectives of African American women and girls are woven into the fabric of this historic event!Please consider donating by clicking our donate button in the sidebar.

Dunbar Village Two Months Later...Janjaweed in America.. A Matter of "Homeland Security"- Newark Update

If a Dunbar Village-esq crime happened in your neighborhood, how would that change the way you live your life?

How would that change the way you allowed your children to live their lives?

The latest from West Palm Beach ( It is official, these people are a tad bit off!)

Magnolia Park Rape Update ("Hurry Up! Me Next!")
Remember that second rape involving a group of Black teens less than a mile and less than a month after the Dunbar Village gang rape? The one where the rapist's friends stood by yelling "Hurry Up! Me next!" Well they arrested a second suspect....a 15 year old seventh grader. Now I know I went to school a long time ago, but at fifteen, I was beginning either ninth or tenth grade, but that is another story. Earth to West Palm Beach... "Y'all got a problem"

Back to Dunbar Village
First, the editorial writers have been busy, doing absolutely nothing but offering general words of advice, but nothing so rash as to actually demand specific action like say... install the donated air conditioners and fix the dayum street lights so the residents can see what is lurking in the shadows at night. Mayor Lois Frankel has had her "eyes on Dunbar Village since 2003," well hell if this is the results of attentiveness, I hate to see the parts of the city that were off of her RADAR.

Officials Tour Dunbar Village ( What took so long... it's only been over TWO MONTHS?). See Video here. I think they are trying to make a point, but they end up making another. You be the judge. Speak on it.

Some people apparently are planning to fight any plans to demolish Dunbar Village. Apparently unairconditioned 50 year-old barracks-style living is too difficult to part with. I don't have a problem with nostalgia and historic architecture, but WTH?

[L]ongtime residents from the 1960s and '70s, as well as County Commissioner Addie Greene, promised to fight any demolition plans, saying a chapter of local history would be wiped out.

"Why couldn't this become a model project and other people could come and see what could be done with older buildings?" said Bettye Dawson, who lived in Dunbar Village from 1957 to 1962. She noted that the housing authority offices in the community, and the landscaping around those offices, look very nice....Security cameras are more than a month from being installed. (SOURCE)

THEY DON'T EVEN LIVE THERE ANYMORE! Again, corralling a group of poor folks in a concentrated area so that they can be abandoned again is IMMORAL and CRUEL! Relying on the good intentions of political leadership is what got you here in the first place. The best protection for poor folks is to live in the middle of people who aren't. Why? Because when my street lamp goes out, I call the city. If the city doesn't fix it in the timely manner, I call the city manager, if they are crazy enough not to get it done, I call my council member and the Mayor, if that is not enough, I call Eyewitness News to do a story on my broken street lamp. ( insert whatever problem you have in place of the street lamp).

The West Palm Beach Police Chief is till engendering confidence in her law enforcement abilities... you know the one that had 15 murders in one year in Dunbar Village, rampant property crime and assaults and 717 police calls in a single year from a housing project with only 334 residents? yeah that police chief:

Police Chief Delsa Bush says they've been extremely fortunate to make any arrest, let alone four, in a case of this nature where the arrests must be based on evidence not eyewitnesses or statements. (SOURCE)

Seriously, when is the FBI going to get involved( I explain possible reasons the feds could get involved if they wanted to later in this post.) Did I mention that chief Delsa sees no need to have more than a $1,000 reward in this case? Did I also mention that she is going to solve a rape case based on DNA alone? Hmm, um what law enforcement manual is that police technique from? What if some of the attackers didn't leave recoverable DNA? What if they wore a condom as described in earlier news articles? What is the DNA was too degraded or was corrupted by the cleaning solvent the attackers threw on the victims? If you don't recover DNA does that mean the crime did not occur? Well apparently so because doing actual police work and investigation instead of convictions via mail order are too much work for Delsa:

"I'm not even sure 10 people were involved," Chief Bush said Tuesday in an interview with members of The Post Editorial Board. Nor, Chief Bush said, is a reward beyond the $1,000 offered by CrimeStoppers necessary: "We're going to solve this case solely on the DNA evidence, and we have a lot of that." SOURCE

I don't think Delsa could solve 2+2 based on her public comments. BTW Delsa, the answer is not 5.

Apparently their US Representative is saying the US Congress might be increasing funding to public housing although with West Palm Beach's track record at this point I don't know if all the funding in the world could right everything that is so very wrong.U.S. REP. RON KLEIN,

What Bloggers Are Saying
This story has legs, it might be slow moving, but it is still moving and spreading and everyday more people learn about this horror.

Mother Talkers finally heard about the story and she states why she is thankful not to be poor and points out the ridiculousness of building high rise condo towers while a portion of your town rots.

Soul Preaching asks that in the wake of the reaction to Dunbar Village, Can God Count on the Black Preacher? Um that would be NO based on results.


So in light of everything that is "happening" in West Palm Beach, I would like to offer some "observations" perhaps even a critique or two as I am prone to do. If you live in West Palm Beach, now would be the time that you stopped reading this post if you are "tender hearted" and have a heaping pile of civic pride.

Hmm,

Lots of movement, if not progress, seems to be occurring in West Palm Beach. I fear, however, that all this "movement" is all style and no substance. So perhaps we should clarify some things for the good folks in WPB, especially the political class because I become more and more distressed with each passing day of idiocy being generated from WPB. Pure unadulterated FOOLISHNESS!

1. Dunbar Village was a crime against humanity, not some petty theft of a bicycle. So what does that mean? It means that although the crime happened in West Palm Beach in a place called Dunbar Village, all of civil society has a vested interest in making sure that the conditions that facilitated this crime are stamped out and dealt with NOW, not when you get around to it. In other words this crime doesn't just belong to you and your city and its apparently petty psychotic politics. Whether you realize it or not, the eyes of the world of on you...AND y'all are looking ridiculously bad right about now. We can't afford to let you screw this up, despite your best efforts.

2. Clearly intervention from the State of Florida is required. Local government has broken down. Civil society is at risk for us all. You can't have roving militaristic gangs running around committing crimes against humanity as a matter of course. You had two rapes with one month and one mile of each other involving an attack on middle aged Black women by a group of teens. Around these parts we called that a PATTERN. One that has to be stamped out. This mentality of lawlessness and a disregard for human life and the laws of nature must be met swiftly and forcefully. The perpetrators must be dealt with unmercifully so as to attempt to dissuade potential future perpetrators.

3. The Federal government needs to get involved if the State of Florida will not. Now if reports are true that this was in retaliation for the victim reporting crime, I think a case can be made that this whole series of events qualifies as an organized criminal enterprise. Second, the victim was clearly targeted based on her gender- HATE CRIME and possibly her national origin- HATE CRIME! The United States government has a extremely vested interest in making sure that militaristic sexual violence is an aberration, not a standard intimidation tactic used by the criminal underworld on United States. The danger that this kind of attack poses to "HOMELAND SECURITY" is greater or equal to any threat posed by foreign terrorists. This gang rape was a terrorist act. You have civilians targeted for the purpose of intimidation and/or Retaliation. You got an entire neighborhood paralyzed in fear. Folks scared to leave their homes. Law enforcement out gunned and apparently outwitted(That would be YOU Delsa!).

4. What kind of civil society will we have if the freedom of movement for women and girls is restricted because little Dunbar Villages start popping up all over the country? Not possible? Well the conditions that lead to Dunbar Village exist all over the place. You think West Palm beach is the only place in America where they have piled all the poor people in one enclave and then turned their backs on them and left them to fend for themselves while the City of West Palm Beach built a 164 MILLION DOLLAR office building and recently approved 40 MILLION DOLLAR tourist promenade while the people of Dunbar Village were left to live without any working street lamps, no AC, and no security patrol. Despite the fact that it was a hotbed of crime? If a Dunbar Village-esq crime happened in your neighborhood, how would that change the way you live your life? How would that change the way you allowed your children to live their lives? Folks, that is what is at stake here; OUR VERY WAY OF LIFE! This didn't just happen to two people, it happened to us all so we have every right to maintain a vested interest in how we as a civilized society deal with this madness.

5. If ever there was something to be POLITICAL, how local and state leaders deal with this disaster should be POLITICAL. What the hell is government for if it is not shared defense? The primary function of local and state government are public safety and keeping the peace. What is more unsafe or warlike than something like Dunbar Village. So what does that mean? That means that before you build another promonade, or approve building permits, or send the mayor to some fancy conference in San Francisco, you have to handle civil order in your town. If you are not taking care of the minimal responsibilities of government, then we really don't need any politicians do we? SO hell yeah make Dunbar Village political. I mean making it non political is what got these people stuck in hell on earth in the first place. DUnbar Village should be SO POLITICAL that any politician not addressing this issue head on ought to be drummed out of office

6. We ain't going anywhere. Sorry, Mayor Frankel and West Palm Beach, you won't be able to run out the clock and hope that we forget about the horrors of Dunbar Village so you can print out some new tourism brochures. IF necessary, the city of West Palm Beach can become synonymous with Dunbar Village. Keep ignoring the public outcry by doing absolutely nothing and you might as well plant a sign right outside the city limits that reads "Welcome to West Palm Beach Florida- Home of the Dunbar Village Gang Rape." We really are not playing with y'all. Everyday, we become more sophisticated advocates and we are prepared to unleash a multimedia can of whoop @$$ if necessary. Unrelenting. Imagine every week waking up to wonder what multimedia send up we have prepared to alert the world about the foolishness in your city?

7. This whole situation from your neglect before the incident, to the apathy of your residents during and immediately after the crime to the current foolishness you political leaders are engaging in as they jockey to divert blame is RIDICULOUS and it is unacceptable. This circus might be acceptable to West Palm Beach residents, but not to the rest of the world.

You see, West Palm Beach, this is bigger than you so your typical petty myopic solutions are poorly unsuited to solve this problem so I suggest you try something new. Why not start with taking personal responsibility for you failures as political leaders to be good stewards for all of the residents of West Palm Beach. How about being man and/or woman enough to admit you could have done better but didn't. How about admitting that enough has not bee done. How about asking for the help that you so badly need. AND I AIN'T TALKING ABOUT A GRANT FROM HUD....I am talking about assistance from state and federal law enforcement. Because afterall, what happened in June in a place called Dunbar Village was a CRIME...A crime against all of humanity. One that we will NEVER FORGET!

View our Dunbar Village PSA in the sidebar. We will be unveiling an extra special multimedia treat next week. We've only just begun. As far as I am concerned, this is a battle for civilization and the only option is victory.

UPDATE: Speaking of militaristic rapes and killings, the lone survicor of the execution style killings in Newark, NJ has a victim's assistance fund:
Natasha Aeriel, shooting victim and sole survivor of the brutal Ivy Hill slaying, needs your help.

This week, Mayor Cory Booker announced an assistance fund has been established in her name:

"the fund that is seeking donations to support the recovery of Natasha Aeriel, the survivor of the August 4 shooting incident in Ivy Hill, which took the lives of three young Newark residents and left her badly wounded.

More info in the comments.
Don't just talk about it. Be about it!

OH Lord: We Do Not HATE Barack Obama... We Just Ain't Enraptured

So my sources tell me that some Obama folks are in a tizzy because of a couple of little posts at my tiny little blog. Now you would think they would be in a tizzy over the fact that Senator Obama has been totally and completely silent on Dunbar Village and other horrific crimes of violence against BLACK WOMEN. You know the BLACK WOMEN that are a huge chunk of the voting block in SC. Yeah, those BLACK WOMEN.

But instead of focusing on asking his staffers why the Senator's Washington staff said he was going to issue a statement back on August 7,2007, but apparently he didn't, they are sitting around trying to figure out how many people read my blog. Well it's called a sitemeter and if you are really clever, you might discover it one day. You should be more distressed however about my technorati rating after a mere six months. THAT ought to terrify y'all

As far as your concern about how many people read this blog, if you knew anything about blogs, you would know that you should be less concerned about how many people read it as opposed to how influential its reader base is (y'all did notice my picture plopped right next to the Senator's in the December issue of ESSENCE didn't y'all- Y'all got to be more vigilant!) and you can't go by the folks who leave comments either(although they are impressive). I am amazed at who reads this blog. You should be far more worried at a terrible knack I and my readers have for stumbling into newspaper and magazine articles. If you think Dunbar Village and this current unrest in the Black community about Black on Black crime is going to go away, you are in a dream world. People are ENRAGED about the silence on Dunbar Village and other crimes against Black women and children

FYI. Clinton knows about Dunbar Village and has been silent. Edwards knows about Dunbar Village and responded with a request for a donation. Richardson knows about Dunbar Village. About the only candidates we have not contacted are the Republicans, but you know if y'all keep irritating folks, don't be surprise if we put up their contact information for the readers one day. Y'all gone be real embarrassed if a Republican candidate picks up on the absolute RAGE simmering in the Black community about Black on Black crime. We are simply all thugged OUT.

Why Dunbar Village? Well because it is indicative of so many other horrors. We've talked about the 11 year olg girl that was gang raped by at least 20 men and boys. We've told you abut Dangela Dawson, whose home was firebombed.

Now if Barack Obama can't be moved to talk about any one of these horrors, somebody tell me what you have to do to a Black woman or child in this country to get our leaders to open up their mouths and SPEAK?

Just this week following the death of an NFL player, the issue of Black on Black crime bubbled up AGAIN and members of the media are joining me in questioning the immoral indifference to Black victims of crime in this country who are victimized by other Black people.

Jason Whitlock just out and called them "The Black KKK." Clarence Page did an article about Black on Black crime that is still being reprinted in syndication everyday in a new newspaper.

OH and If y'all are scared about the blog, what you really ought to be terrified by are my Dunbar Village videos. Well over 100,000 hits in a month and a half and those are the views I can track. They're viral and I don't even promote them on this site. People are emailing them all over the country. Obama and others are mentioned.





So while you plot your strategy against me and this blog for being Obama haters ( an outright LIE). My question is why you aren't spending your time as Black Women for Obama asking the Senator why he will speak out on behalf of Black women in Darfur and white men in America, but won't speak out about Dunbar Village and other atrocities committed RIGHT HERE in the USA. You might want to point out that he is about to be on the wrong side of history on Dunbar Village. He better call Al Sharpton.

As far as "targeting" Obama. I am not the one writing all these articles about Black women and Obama and the article I referred to is not the first. This blog is about the negative portrayal of African American women in popular culture and I think this inference in MSM that Black women who don't vote for Obama are somehow being disloyal is idiotic and stupid. If he wants Black women's votes, he ought to hustle for them.

Welcome to What About Our Daughters? We serve our truth in a glass and we ain't drinking Koolaid out of it either. I ain't scared of y'all! Bring it!

Wear Red on October 31, 2007 and Help Bring Awareness to Violence Against Women

For the past three months, this blog has been following the horrific crime at Dunbar Village in West Palm Beach, FL. We've recited the horrific facts, the apathetic reaction from neighbors, the incompetence of the West Palm Beach city commissioners, the shady dealings of the Executive Director of the WPD Housing Authority, the narcissism of Mayor Lois Franklin, and the Immoral Indifference of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, the National Organization of Women, the SCLC, the NAACP(at least they called us back), NAN, and Rainbow Push. Even the Governor of Florida, Charlie Crist REFUSES to issue a public statement. All we have ever asked for was a PUBLIC Acknowledgment of this crime by these folks. A high school intern could have typed one up. THEY ALL KNOW ABOUT DUNBAR VILLAGE but are silent.

We had to put the smack down on XXLmag.com when one of their "writers' referred to the Dunbar Village victim as "some hooker down in Florida." Symphony from Essential Presence has been right there in the thick of things. We've gone from bloggers to video producers. Symphony's video even made the local news in West Palm Beach.

Along the way, we've grieved together.We've talked about Delso Bush, the police chief of West Palm Beach saying $1000 was more than enough of an award for information about the Dunbar Village crime despite the fact that six gang rapists are running around. We've chronicled the hemming and hawing over providing $100,000 for security when the City of West Palm Beach spent $164 Mission on an office building and $40 MILLION on a tourist promenade. West Palm Beach herded a bunch of single Black women into a hell hole and left them there to die. THEY ARE STILL THERE!

We've done interview after interview. Essence magazine even did a special report on both Dunbar Village and Megan Williams.

SO tell me why when Moya, working with Fallon, went on the Michael Baisden show on Tuesday and talked about Dunbar Village. YET AGAIN, folks didn't know about it? I just can't comprehend that we know more about atrocities in other countries than we know abotu what is happening in our own backyard and so even though I've been blogging about Dunbar Village for THREE MONTHS, I'll keep blogging away because the world needs to know.

So wear red on Wednesday. Tell two people about Dunbar Village and Megan Williams. Tell them about Angela Dawson, the mother whose home was firebombed because she asked drug dealers to stop dealing in front of her house. She burned alive inside with five of her children. My regulars remember the story of the 11 year old girl who was gang raped by AT LEAST 20 MEN and BOYS while adults in the house stood by and did NOTHING.

When I say Defund the War on Black Women! I mean it.

Fallon and Moya have been working tirelessly on organizing Wednesday's campaign. Here is more from Fallon's blog, Document the Silence:

Join us and stand up to violence against women!

• Be bold, be brave, be red. Wear red on October 31, 2007. Take a picture or video of yourself and friends wearing red. Send it to: beboldbered@gmail.com. We’ll post it!

• Take Your Red to the Streets! Know of a location where violence occurred against a woman of color? Have a public location where you feel women of color are often ignored? Make violence against women of color visible by decorating the space in red. Be sure to send us pictures and or video of your display!

• Rally! Gather your friends, family, and community to rally. Check out the Document the Silence website for the litany we’re asking participants to read together on October 31^st. Be sure to send us pictures and/or video of the event! You could even gather where you created a display!

If you are a blogger, consider blogging about violence against women on October 31, 2007.
If you are a reader, please take about ten minutes today and ball these folks out for not covering these stories of violence against Black women. Iggy the dog has gotten more coverage.

ABC News (212) 456-4040
CBS News (212) 975-3691
CNN Newsroom (404) 827-1500
MSNBC (201) 583-5222
MSNBC Miami Bureau (305) 379-6920
NBC News (212) 664-4971

In addition, clown Governor Charlie Crist for sending lame emails and having folks call us while refusing to issue any public statement on this case a la "Help us catchthe remaining six gang rapists." Or "I know. I care. I'm concerned."

FLORIDA GOVERNOR
Charlie Crist
Office of the Governor
The Capital
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0001
(850) 222-7920 and (850) 488-7146
Fax: (850) 907-1267 and (850) 487-0801
Web Site: http://www.flgov.com/
Email: Internet Contact Form

Let's not forget Mayor Lois "I've Had My Eye on Dunbar Village Frankel.

Mayor of West Palm Beach Lois Frankel
200 2nd Street
West Palm Beach, Florida 33401
Phone: 561.822.1400
lfrankel@wpb.org

THANKS TO THE BROTHERS!

This month was National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. We asked men to write posts about domestic violence and we got three great pieces from DJ Black Adam, Gunfighter, and Geno Jones. Take a moment to review our series, "What About Our Daughters? Let's a Brother Speak"

Join Us in South Carolina to Confront the Silence on Dunbar Village

If you are interested in taking the campaign to raise awareness about Dunbar Village from the screens to the streets, join the What About Our Daughters? Action Center. Some folks apparently require public shaming to get them to do the right thing. We are more than happy to oblige them.

Read more about our South Carolina road trip in January. Why SC? Because the Black folks in SC will be some of the most powerful Black folks ont he face of the planet next January when they cast their votes in the presidential primary. They may very well decide who the next President will be. They need to know that these candidate KNOW about Dunbar Village, but refuse to speak out.

Cross Post: Don't Believe the Lies: Al Sharpton's Backpedal

Cross By Symphony from the Dunbar Village blog

On Thursday, March 27, 2008 columnist Tonyaa Weathersbee and blogger SheCodes appeared on Al Sharpton's radio show to discuss the intense pressure Al Sharpton and the NAACP received from bloggers and their readers regarding their support of the four males who are accused of raping a mother and her child.

We must refute some statements and accusations Mr. Sharpton made regarding the blogger campaign to denounce his unfortunate and disrespectful position in the Dunbar Village (DV) gang rape.

CAMPAIGNING FOR EQUAL MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE

Contrary to what Mr. Sharpton attempted to imply on his radio show, he did not stand before the courthouse to demand the Boca Raton rapists are denied bail. He was not complaining about preferential treatment on their behalf. If that were the case, he would have been flanked by the family members of the two girls who were raped in Boca Raton. Instead, he stood before the cameras flanked by the family members of the DV rapists and described the treatment the DV rapists have received as "unfair". He stood with them because he was advocating for them. What sense does it make to stand with the DV rapists families if he felt they should be denied bail? This backpedaling footwork would make an NFL Pro Bowl cornerback proud.

According to Nancy Othon of the Sun-Sentinel: He [Sharpton] repeatedly expressed his concern about the lack of bail for the Dunbar defendants.

According to Michael Bender of the Palm Beach Post the day before the press conference: Sharpton also will condemn the "unfair" treatment of the suspects in the Dunbar Village assaults, said the Rev. William Richardson, the Florida director of the National Action Network.

According to WPBF-TV, the local ABC affiliate: The Reverend Al Sharpton Tuesday said four black teens charged in the gang rape and beating of a West Palm Beach woman and her son were treated unfairly. Sharpton said the teens charged in the June 2007 attack in the Dunbar Village housing project should have been treated the same as five white teens recently accused of raping two young girls in Boca Raton after a party.

And far as making the rape cases equal, therefore demanding equal treatment under the law I'll start with the words of Frank Cerabino, Palm Beach Post: To call these cases identical, as Sharpton did, is to ignore far too much. And to make martyrs of the Dunbar teenagers only trivializes real cases of racial injustice and further denigrates two black victims of unspeakable crimes.

The crimes in Dunbar Village were horrific, and its not that the boys in Boca Raton deserve less than the standard punishment, the boys in Dunbar Village deserve more. Their crime was heinous and they will continue to be described by me as a roving pack of armed animals seeking to inflict unimaginable pain and damage.

BLAME THE MESSENGER

I resent the idea that people would blame the messenger for the message, rather than looking at the content of the message itself. -Anita Hill

They would love for you to fall in line with their "blame the messenger" defense strategy. Blame the messenger because they don't know what they are talking about. Blame the messenger because they got it all wrong. Mr Sharpton you can continue to ignore the benefits that technology and blogging bring to activism, thats your prerogative. You can dismiss bloggers as inaccurate and unreliable, that, sir, will be to your detriment. But bloggers specifically and grassroots activists in general are the coattails you ride into town on.

Bloggers made Jena possible, not Al Sharpton. Dunbar Village will be remembered for the work of bloggers, not Al Sharpton. To characterize us as a mere group of bloggers who get it wrong will not work with this case. If indeed we did get it wrong, we were not alone. We are joined by The Palm Beach Post, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Associated Press, and Black America Web, to name a few. You saw some of the excerpts above. There is no grand conspiracy to manipulate Al Sharpton's words. We didn't get it wrong. If anyone got anything wrong it was Sharpton for failing to deliver an unambiguous delivery of his position.

The bloggers who have contacted reporters who were on the scene, local politicians and spoke with Dunbar Village residents do not provide false information to our readers. Everything we post on our blogs can be verified. We don't post hearsay.


PROBLEM OPERATION

If there is any group of people who can't seem to get their facts straight its Sharpton and his National Action Network employees. From contradictory statements between the NAACP and NAN on who held the press conference to lies about not receiving blogger requests for clarification, the NAN has mishandled this from the beginning.

Numerous emails, letters and phone calls were made to the National Action Network. Our need for clarification was ignored. No matter what they tell you, we reached out to them. We did it as a perfunctory but sincere move because we knew they thought very little of us, but we hoped to learn their stance. They decided we were nothing more than a minor annoyance that would go away. We won't go away.

Truly, in his rush to simply play a role, any role, in Dunbar Village, I don't believe Mr. Sharpton actually thought out what position he was willing to stand for.

Let this be the alarm for any man, woman or organization that decides to align itself with those who harm Black women and children - today is a new day. Today is the day you realize we are an omnipresent force to be reckoned with and respected.

I leave you with a few words from Bella Abzug:

...whatever I am —and this ought to be made very clear—I am a very serious woman.

Dunbar Village Townhall Meeting Rescheduled to February - Thank You Rev. Sharpton

The Dunbar Village meeting scheduled for the I just found this out this afternoon and called to cancel my flight. I wanted to let y'all know because I know of at least one other person from the blog who was planning to attend.

Tanisha from Essential Presence has been working with the resident organizing the event, Ms. Greenwood, and she explains why the meeting has been postponed:

As of now it has been rescheduled for Feb. 5. [date pending] Citoya Greenwood is
working with Al Sharpton's representative in South Florida to get the
attention of Alcee Hastings, Mayor Frankel and Gov. Crist who have all
tried to weasel our or just plain ignore Dunbar Village. You now know
what I know.
Tanisha

I believe that this is a good development. After beating them about the head for MONTHS, Rev. Sharpton's organization appears to be fully engaged with the grassroots organizers in Dunbar Village. For updates and information on how you can assist the grassroots organizers, you can go to the Dunbar Vilage blog.

Thanks to Rev. Sharpton

I would like to take this time to thank Rev. Al Sharpton for being the first and ONLY person on the list of the League of the Immorally Indifferent to speak out about Dunbar Village. For months we have hammered away at Rev. Sharpton for his silence about this incident.

When I saw Ms. Greenwood walking arm and arm with Rev. Sharpton as toured Dunbar Village, I was overjoyed. Not because she was walking hand in hand with Rev. Sharpton, but because Laurel Robinson(the Caucasian woman in the leopard print top and the asymmetrical hair cut), the executive director of the WPB Housing authority who had ignored and dismissed Ms. Greenwood and the other resident's concerns and had a less than impressive concern about security and crime, was now scurrying in Ms. Greenwood's path. I was excited because Ms. Greenwood saw an opportunity and she took the initiative and had the boldness to contact his organization when she learned he was coming to a nearby location. I can't imagine how empowered she must have felt after taking that leap of faith.

Now some may have a problem with Rev. Sharpton's involvement. I welcome it. All we asked was for the Rev. to speak out about Dunbar Village and he has gone beyond that. He plans to spend the night, and his organization is now working with Ms Greenwood to get representatives from her congressman, Alcee Hasting's office to attend as well as representatives from the Governor's office in addition to the local officials and HUD representatives that had already agreed to appear.

Why is attention important? Because public SHAME appears to be the only way to motivate the local politicians to provide equal protection to the poor Black residents of West Palm Beach, Florida and if Rev. Sharpton brings a spotlight which causes the Housing Authority, City Commissioners, or the Mayor of WPB and Governor of Florida to scurry, so be it. For those worried about Rev. Sharpton bringing chaos and confusion to Dunbar Village, you clearly have not heard Ms. Greenwood speak. She is an extremely intelligent driven woman who has exhibited tremendous courage at great personal risk to herself and her child.

So again, thank you Rev. Sharpton for becoming engaged. I encourage you to continue to focus on the issue of violence against Black women and their children. Violence is a form of tyranny which robs Black folks of the rights and liberties you say you are fighting for.

For those who questioned our methods and relentlessness, there was little doubt in my mind that eventually those on the list would have to confront their silence on Dunbar Village. Not because I am arrogant, but because their silence was morally indefensible.

Blkseagoat and Symphony continue to speak on a regular basis with Ms Greenwood and Shecodes and Fallon have provided axillary support assisting her with letters and whatnot. We'll keep an eye on the situation to make sure that the promises of assistance that have been made are kept. If some foolishness pops off, you will hear it here FIRST!