48th Anniversary of the Black Panther Party

This week is the anniversary of the formation of the Black Panther Party. That was 1966, 48 eight years ago. The original six members of the Black Panther Party are depicted in this photograph.

Standing (L-R): Elbert 'Big Man' Howard, Huey Newton, Sherwin Forte, Bobby Seale
Kneeling (L-R): Reggie Forte and Bobby Hutton

Former Black Panther Party member Eddie Conway shared his recollections of the founding of the organization.



Eddie Conway was a member of the Baltimore branch of the Black Panther Party.  He spent 44 years in prison for an alleged crime of killing a police officer, a crime that he did not commit as laid out in his book,  Marshall Law: The Life & Times of a Baltimore Black Panther.

Wordless Wednesday: Baltimore Ravens, 2013 AFC Champions

SOURCE: Sports of All Sorts Pinterest Board

Lakeesha Alert: Phylicia Barnes, North Carolina Teenager Goes Missing in Baltimore

We are issuing a Lakeesha Alert for Phylicia Simone Barnes, a star high school student from North Carolina who went missing in Baltimore last week. The 16-year-old honor student from Monroe, N.C., was visiting her half-sister when she disappeared three days after Christmas. 

Most villagers know that we live in a world where missing teenage girls are not national news unless they have blue eyes and blonde hair. As such, we've learned not to depend on the Amber Alert system. We go straight to the Lakeesha Alert ... and we ask all of our blogging kinfolk to do what they can to spread the word.

Phylicia was last heard from December 28 when she posted a note on Facebook. She is 5'8" tall ... and a straight-A student. In fact, she finished her high school studies ahead of schedule and planned to attend college in Baltimore. 

We need to pray for Phylicia Barnes.  We also need to find Phylicia Barnes.  Here is an interview conducted with Phylicia's mother.







The FBI and Baltimore police are conducting the investigation.  Police say that they obtained additional security video from the area surrounding the apartment, but it has yet to shed new light on the case. FBI helicopters have scoured the area for three days without finding any clues.

"If there's any good news, we haven't found anything yet," Baltimore Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

Police say several people who visited the apartment are considered persons of interest, and the two likely scenarios proposed by investigators are abduction or murder.

"At this point, you hope it's an abduction," Guglielmi said.

We need to shine the spotlight on this case to ensure that all available resources in Baltimore and around the nation are galvanized to help locate this missing teenage girl. The Lakeesha Alert has been issued. Help us get the word out.

Barnes was last seen wearing a navy blue pea coat with a hood, a turquoise shirt and blue jeans, white slipper-boots and was carrying a caramel-colored purse.

Anyone with information in the case is urged to contact Baltimore Police at 443-984-7385.

Taser Death: Carl Johnson (Baltimore, MD)

It's happened again. Another unarmed citizen killed by taser-happy police. Carl D'Andre Johnson, 48, got into a fight with a state trooper and two Baltimore County police officers after he crashed his Toyota pickup truck. A Maryland state trooper was the first on the scene. Police say that Johnson did not cooperate with the trooper's commands. Evidently, he tried to escape and when he couldn't escape in his car he began to yell obscenities and quarrel with the state trooper. [see VIDEO]

Two Baltimore County police officers entered into the fray. The three law enforcement officials then began a series of events that included pepper spray and two 50,000 volt changes of taser gun electricity into Johnson.

Shortly after he was electrocuted a second time, county police say Johnson lost consciousness and was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Johnson was an accomplished architect and religious man, his brother said, not the type of person who would challenge police and wind up dead after receiving a shock from a taser gun.

For Carl Johnson's brother, the circumstances don't add up.

"The way this is being described is completely out of character ... unprecedented," said Gene Johnson, 42, as he traveled to a Georgia airport to come to Baltimore. "He never had an ounce of trouble."

Indictment: Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon (.PDF)

It disappointed me to learn that Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon was indicted on charges (28-page indictment, PDF format) that she accepted illegal gifts during her time as mayor and City Council president, including travel, fur coats and gift cards that she allegedly used for a holiday shopping spree.

The 12 counts included four counts of perjury, two counts of misconduct, three counts of theft and three counts of fraudulent misappropriations. Alledgedly, the mayor received gifts from developer Ron Lipscomb, as well as the use of those gift cards to purchase $237 worth of merchandise, including a PlayStation2 and DVDs.

Dixon released a statement about the charges.

"There is something I want to tell the citizens of this great city about the charges that the State Prosecutor has brought against me today.

For the past two years, I have done my best to serve the City of Baltimore as Mayor, and I will continue to do so. I will not let these charges deter me from keeping Baltimore on the path that we have set, or from carrying forward the significant progress we have made thus far.

I am being unfairly accused. Time will prove that I have done nothing wrong, and I am confident that I will be found innocent of these charges. But, for the moment, I cannot comment further on the allegations that have been made against me. Instead, my attorneys will address these matters on my behalf.

I want to make it clear, though, that I will continue to put all of my energies into running the City of Baltimore during these perilous economic times. And with God's grace, I am confident that the city, my family and I will weather this storm."

Mayor Dixon appears to have more allies that Gov. Blagojevich does in his state. I noticed that the Baltimore Police Department released a statement about the indictment.

"The indictment against Mayor Sheila Dixon is a matter between the mayor and the state of Maryland. Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld is focused on targeting bad guys with guns and addressing the policing needs of the city of Baltimore. Mayor Dixon has been and will continue to be a great leader and partner in Baltimore's fight to get illegal guns off the streets, advocating for tougher gun control laws and improve overall public safety for the residents, business owners and visitors of the city."

If found guilty, Dixon could face jail time.

Do you think that there is something to this indictment? Or does it just appear to be a Republican prosecuter's witch hunt against a hard-working civil servant? What say u?

Police Arrest a 7-year old Child

My son is 7-years old. He is an active child who does well in school ... likes to play football and basketball ... enjoys X-Box and Nintendo ... reads ... goes to birthday parties. It is inconceivable to me that the police would roll up on our block and place my son in handcuffs, take him to the local precinct, fingerprint and book him.

Yet, that is what happened to a young boy in Baltimore MD earlier this week. The police say that he was illegally sitting on a dirt bike on the sidewalk.

Back in the day, the police would locate the parents of a wayward child, especially if the child was on his own block. They might put him in the squad car and drive him to his house. What are we coming to when 7-year old children are being placed into the criminal justice system?

In Miami, FL the police used a taser gun on a 6-year old boy at his school. In Cincinnati, OH the law says that a youngster can be shot with 50,000 volts of electricity from a taser gun. Efforts to raise the minimum age for this police action failed.

One common denominator for these cases? They each involved Black children. Why are we surprised that there is such a negative view of law enforcement in the African American community when we continue to see these examples of the lynching mentality that we're told went away many decades ago?

As the mother of the 7-year old child in Baltimore said, "This has changed his life,” she said. “He’ll never be the same."