RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - OBAMA-NATION: "I can't breathe"

"and know when to say, "Yes Sir, officer," "Yes, Ma'am, officer,"

Garner was quite compliant and coooperative. That did not save him.


Professor Gloria Emeagwali

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From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com]
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Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - OBAMA-NATION: "I can't breathe"

True and very true, we cannot bring Cosby's case in the mix. If a dozen or more women (and men, I must add) of varying colors and creeds come to present a similar accusation against an individual, even if the individual were to be an angel, one has to scratch one's head and say, "Well, I don't honestly know what to say here." But the police brutality against black men has become endemic in the American landscape and only a person of some gnomic extraction would breathe easy. Until the international communities, or independent human rights organizations would have the courage to look into this despicable and scary phenomenon pervasive in "the Land of the free and the home of the brave," I am so worried, we have not seen the end of it.

Having said that, I also hope there comes a time when my people would start to understand the white American police culture and know when to say, "Yes Sir, officer," "Yes, Ma'am, officer," if only to be able to walk away and at least be able to breathe. It's a lot of humiliation, but humiliation and humility come from the same root word, and if humiliation would make one live beyond the moment of conflict, it may be okay, after all. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., "longevity has its own place;" the senseless shedding of the blood of young black males, which may often be preventable, is totally uncalled for. We need to be able to breathe.

Michael O. Afolayan
From the Land of Lincoln


On Wednesday, December 10, 2014 11:33 AM, "Emeagwali, Gloria (History)" <emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu> wrote:




I really don't think that we should mix the Cosby case with the murder of Brown and Garner. Cosby may well be guilty of a few incidents. He may also be totally innocent.
Who knows? In the case of the police brutality case, though, we have direct proof, thanks to citizen videography.

But I agree totally with queries about the questionable makeup of grand juries. The justice system in the United States is terribly flawed. That is why the country
has most of the world's prisoners - who are disproportionately Black. There is a clear attempt, directly or indirectly, to undermine the gains made from the Civil Rights Movement,
by indiscriminately intimidating and harassing Black males, in particular, and creating a kind of Black Gulag.

There are about 2.4 million persons in the U.S prison system, with private prisons making up about 10%. About 40% of prisoners are Black.

So I totally agree that a lot of people can't breathe.


Professor Gloria Emeagwali
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora

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From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>] On Behalf Of Assensoh, Akwasi B. [aassenso@indiana.edu<mailto:aassenso@indiana.edu>]
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Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - OBAMA-NATION: "I can't breathe"


VC Aluko and All:



I, too, can't breathe in OBAMA-NATION!



Also, as a Black Man, I am being choked by accusations upon accusations in the Cosby Allegations!! xercising my Freedom of Speech, I have scenarios to explain my point below in the new Chokehold (Allegations) I am suffering:



Scenario #1 about not being able to breathe:

What bothers me tremendously in this great nation (our adopted home) is how Grand Jurors are often selected to do the bidding of Prosecutors and the Police: for example, a Black, un-armed man is shot by NPD officer(s) 41 times in his doorway and killed (i.e. Mr. Amadou Diallo from Guinea). A Grand Jury of 12 Jurors were empanelled to hear evidence in order to indict or not to indict; there was need for 9 simple majority Jurors to indict. The "almighty" District Attorney (DA) named 9 White Jurors and 3 non-White Jurors. Verdict: No Indictment! The reason is that there were no 9 Jurors to indict!!



Question: Why is nobody talking loudly about the composition of such Jurors, as it also happened in the Grand Juries of Mr. Garner and the others in the past?



Scenario #2 about being choked by accusations upon accusations in the Cosby allegations:

The first accuser of Mr. Cosby, which was settled, years ago detailed for everybody to read or hear that she was drugged and raped. Maybe, to avoid "heap" or "mountain" of legal defense bill, Mr. Cosby agreed to settle, and to pay compensation, without accepting either guilt or any wrongdoing!



Now, all the other women (who read or heard the early or first accusation) are claiming or alleging, similarly, that they were drugged and raped! Anti-Cosby people are saying that all 18-20 women, making the accusations can't be lying! Question: Why are people in a great Democracy -- in which one is not guilty until so proven by one's Jury of Peers not wondering about the possibility of some women (if not all) "aping" the first accuser's allegation, that was settled by Mr. Cosby?



Furthermore, does silence make Mr. Cosby guilty, in a place where a denial means the accuser is lying and, as a result, she can sue also for slander or defamation that Mr. Cosby called her a liar? Of course, if Mr. Cosby committed any of those alleged crimes, then he should face the consequences of his actions!



However, without bragging, I can add that I have 2 wonderful daughters. Also, I have many, many great African sisters and brothers, who have daughters in America, all of whom I claim and call as my nieces. So, I think about them in the light of the Cosby accusations. Yet, am still being suffocated by what seems to be like rehearsed allegations, including one who alleged that she was raped at 15 (but there were no bruises for her parents to know!!!)!



So, still, I can't breathe!



A.B. Assensoh.











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From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>] on behalf of Mobolaji Aluko [alukome@gmail.com<mailto:alukome@gmail.com>]
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2014 10:33 PM
To: NaijaPolitics e-Group; USAAfrica Dialogue; nigerianid@yahoogroups.com<mailto:nigerianid@yahoogroups.com>; naijaintellects; NiDAN
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - OBAMA-NATION: "I can't breathe"



My People:


First Ferguson, now Staten Island.....

Enough should be enough.....I can't breathe from all this American injustice...



Bolaji Aluko
Shaking his head

_____________________________


Watch commentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbvYsdAVVSg


Watch chokehold
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvATEjsf41g

Garner - post choking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT66U_Ftdng


Obama comments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6RgfWAsIuA




Published on Jul 18, 2014


New York City police officers killed a man Thursday after he had broken up a fight between two other men, insisting on placing him in a chokehold and slamming his head to the pavement, piling on top of him as he gasped for air and as he continually told the cops he couldn't breathe.

The entire incident was caught on video from a witness who kept telling the cops that the man had not committed a crime.

But evidently, the cops suspected him of selling untaxed cigarettes, which apparently is a very serious crime in New York City.

According to the New York Daily News: "I can't breathe! I can't breathe!" Eric Garner, 43, repeatedly screamed after at least five NYPD officers took him down in front of a Tompkinsville beauty supply store when he resisted being handcuffed. Within moments Garner, a married father of six children with two grandchildren, ceased struggling and appeared to become unconscious as police called paramedics to the scene. An angry crowd gathered, some recording with smart phones. "When I kissed my husband this morning, I never thought it would be for the last time," Garner's wife, Esaw Gardner, told the Daily News. Police officials said Garner has a history of arrests for selling untaxed cigarettes. They did not immediately say why officers were at the scene when he drew their attention. An NYPD spokesman would only say the man "was being placed in custody, went into cardiac arrest and died" at Richmond University Medical Center.

Although police are not saying what led up to this incident, it is believed they responded to fight between two other men.

Garner broke up the fight and the two other men fled, so that left the cops with nobody to harass except Garner, whom they apparently knew from his history of selling untaxed cigarettes.

Garner weighed 400 pounds and had a series of health complications, which will no doubt be the blame for his death.

But the video speaks for itself. He was killed by the NYPD.


__________________________________________________________


WIKIPEDIA


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner


Death of Eric Garner

On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner died in the Tompkinsville<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tompkinsville,_Staten_Island> neighborhood of Staten Island<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staten_Island>, New York<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York>, after a police officer put him in an apparent[7]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-Civil-7>[8]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-Fresh-8>[9]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-BBC-9> chokehold<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chokehold> for about 19 seconds,[3]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-orta-3> a tactic banned by the New York City Police Department<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Police_Department> (NYPD).[10]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-Sullivan-10>[11]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-Goodman-11> Garner was initially approached by officer Justin Damico on suspicion of selling "loosies", single cigarettes from packs without tax stamps<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_taxes_in_the_United_States>.[12]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-NYDailyNews-12>After Garner expressed to the police that he was tired of being harassed and that he was not selling cigarettes, officers made the move to arrest Garner. Officer Daniel Pantaleo, also on scene, put his arms around the much taller Garner's neck, applying an apparent chokehold shown in a video recording of the event, which has since gone viral. While lying facedown on the sidewalk surrounded by four officers, Garner is heard repeating "I can't breathe" 11 times.[3]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-orta-3> Garner was pronounced dead approximately one hour later at the hospital.[13]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-13>[14]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-14>

After the incident, city medical examiners concluded that Garner was killed by neck compression from the apparent chokehold, along with "the compression of his chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police". Contributing factors included bronchial asthma, heart disease, obesity, and hypertensive cardiovascular disease.[2]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-APCoroner-2>[1]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-NBCNY-1>[15]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-15>[16]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-16>[17]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-:0-17> As a result of Garner's death, four EMTs<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_medical_technician> andparamedics<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramedic> who responded to the scene were suspended without pay on July 21, 2014;[18]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-18> the two paramedics have since been returned to their regular duties. Officers Damico and Pantaleo were placed on desk duty, and Pantaleo was stripped of his service gun and badge.[19]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-19>

On December 3, 2014, a grand jury decided not to indict officer Pantaleo.[20]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-20> The event stirred public protests[21]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-21> and rallies[22]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-WashingtonPost-22> with charges of police brutality<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_brutality> and was broadcast nationally over various media networks.[23]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-23>[24]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-Time-24> Attorney General Eric Holder<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Holder> announced that the Justice Department would launch an "independent, thorough, fair, and expeditious" civil rights investigation into Garner's death.[25]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner#cite_note-NYTimes719-25>


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