black…MYstory

Last August, a 21-year-old Nigel Haskett, an employee at an Arkansas McDonald’s, came to the aid of a patron who was being assaulted by her boyfriend.  He succeeded in getting the man out of the door and stood in front of it to bar his entry.  The man then went to his car, got a gun and shot Haskett several times.

Nigel Haskett fought for his life and survived.  He is now fighting McDonald’s for $300,000 in worker’s comp claims to cover his medical expenses.   McDonald’s claims that it is right to deny Haskett coverage because, as a part of their 30-minute orientation, McDonald’s employees are supposedly informed that they are supposed to only call 911 in emergency situations.  However, in many instances, courts have sided with “good samaritans” in cases like this, especially when it would result in good will towards the employer.

Clearly, a case like this could have generated some rather positive press for McDonald’s, had they played their cards right.  Instead, they are now looking like an evil empire for denying claims to an employees hurt while trying to protect a McDonald’s customer.

I think McDonald’s will soon realize that what they will lose in good will and lost opportunity will soon exceed $300,000.

Update: Here’s a video of the incident in question.

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A few weeks ago, I shared a story about 3 men who went on a racist rampage that included beating a black teen with a metal pipe and police baton and hitting a white man, who they mistook for a black man, with a car, leaving him in a coma for 2 months. Their motive — anger over Barack Obama’s election to the Presidency.

Well, to keep the hate going, last week, three men were indicted for setting a black church ablaze on November 5,2008 because Barack Obama had won. The men, Benjamin Haskell, 22, Michael Jacques, 24, and Thomas Gleason, 21, stand accused of setting fire to the predomininately-black Macedonia Church of God in Springfield, Mass.

If convicted, the men each face up to 10 years in prison.

In related news, ladies and gentlemen, I am sorry to report that Barack Obama’s election as President has not ended racism.

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You may have been ripped off and not know it yet.

Today,  Heartland Payment Systems has come out and stated that a breach of their systems occurred last year and it was huge.  In fact, it may be one of the largest breaches ever reported, with tens of millions of credit and debit transactions being comprimised.

Here’s why you might be at risk.  Heartland Payment Systems handles credit and debit card transactions for some 250,000 businesses.  40% of their clients are small to mid-size restaurants but, currently Heartland is declining to mention who some of those clients are.

The president of the company, Robert Baldwin, stated that the Secret Service helped to determine that the breach was from mailicious software on Heartland’s network but, they don’t know how long the software’s been on their systems.  So, with a monthly volume of over 100 million transactions monthly, one could imagine that the impact could be tremendous.

So, check your statements (you may want to go back a few months, too).  With a breach this big, you information may be at risk.

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Once again, we have a case of a young black man dying under suspicion circumstances in an encounter with police.  This time, it was in New Orleans, Lousiana, in the early morning of January 1, 2009.

Adolph Grimes III had relocated to Texas with his fiancée in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  He rushed back to New Orleans on New Year’s Eve of this year, along with his fiancée and 17-month-old son, to ring in the new year with his family.

According to his father, Adolph Grimes Jr., his son made it with just seconds to spare.

The family was celebrating at Adolph Grimes III’s grandmother’s house.  At approximately 3am, Grimes walked out of his grandmother’s house and was waiting in his car for his cousin when 9 undercover cops drove up and surrounded the car.

Next, there was a barrage of shooting.

Police are saying that Grime started the shooting but, police shot at Grimes a total of 48 times.  Grimes was hit 14 times, with 12 of those rounds hitting him in the back, killing him.

Grimes did have a handgun on him which, according to family members, was legally registered.  He also had a shotgun and some rounds in his trunk.  Grimes had no criminal history and had graduated from one of New Orleans’ most prestigious high schools.

A lot of questions need answering.  First of all, 9 undercover, plain-clothes officers surrounded the vehicle.  Did they identify themselves as police officers?  Secondly, do they have ballistics test showing that Grimes even fired his weapon?  If so, how are we to know if he indeed fired first or simply fired back?  Thirdly, how did Grimes go from being inside his vehicle to dying block away from his grandmother’s?  Perhaps, could he have thought that he was being carjacked as opposed to being arrested. Did he run for that reason?

My questions, obviously, are only speculation.  By some of the comments I’ve read on the articles above, there are people who want to blame Grimes because he owned a gun, something that many white men in this country do, often in even greater abundance.  The fact is, there seemed to be no reason for those officers to approach that vehicle in the way that they did.

Some are comparing this killing to that of Oscar Grant III but, I actually compare it to the killing of Sean Bell.  In both instances, you have the shooting victim encountering plain-clothes, undercover cops, who may not have identified themselves as such.  In both instances, these men died in a hail of bullets.  In both instances, these men were apparently doing nothing illegal And, in both instances, these men left fiancées, children, a host of family members and a lot of unanswered questions behind.

Let’s hope that, unlike the Sean Bell case, truth and justice prevail.

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Honestly, I knew that there were going to be acts of violence associated with the election of Barack Obama as president.  Some people are so full of fear and hate that such a change elicits violent and irrational responses.  Nonetheless, reading about such things still affects me.

Three Staten Island, New York men are being charged with federal hate crimes after a rash of Election-night assaults that ended with one man in a coma.

Ralph Nicoletti, Michael Contreras and Brian Carranza  formed a makeshift clubhouse to watch the Election-night results.  Seeing that Obama had won, the group decided to take out their anger on unsuspecting victims in a predominately-black neighborhood in Staten Island.

Their crimes included a metal pipe and baton beating of 17-year-old Ali Kamara, a young black man who was badly bruised on the arms, legs and torso and required staples to close the lacerations on his head.

However, their worst attack was reserved for Ronald Forte, a 38-year-old white man.  On that rainy Election-night, Forte was wearing a hooded sweatshirt.  Believing him to be a black man, Nicoletti hit him with the car in which they were riding.  Forte was flipped over the hood, smashing the windshield.  He has been in a coma for over two months, requiring a respirator to breathe.  According to Forte’s family, he is suffering from brain damage and motor control problems, as well.

A search of Nicoletti’s home produced more weapons and a note implicating him as the ringleader of the crew.

To read the federal indictment against the three men, click the link below:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/9832472/Federal-indictment-against-three-teens

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Today, IndyMedia released new and clearer footage of the shooting of Oscar Grant.  This video was taken at a much closer range and shows, in much more detail, what transpired in the moments before, during and after, the killing of Oscar Grant III.

Thanks to RawStory.com for the video.  It can be viewed below:

 

 Oscar Grant Shooting - New Footage: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Fortunately, today, Robbie Tolan is still alive but, his potential baseball career is in jeopardy.  On December 31, 2008, Tolan and his cousing were returning to the family’s home after making a late-night run to get some food. They were driving Tolan’s parents’ SUV and had pulled into the driveway when they say a man with a gun and a flashlight approached them.

According to the two men, the officer did not identify himself.  The officer and his partner had both men on lie on the ground.  In the meantime, Tolan’s parents heard a commotion (it was in their own driveway, after all) and came out to see what was happening.  Police will only say that an “altercation” occured.  The family says that Tolan’s mother was pushed up against a wall.  The family says that when Tolan tried to lean up to see what was happening, he was shot in the chest.  The bullet went through his lung and lodged in his liver.  Tolan, the son of former Major League player Bobby Tolan, is currently recovering in a Houston hospital and the officer in question, Sgt. Jeff Cotton, and his partner are on administrative leave after the shooting.

However, this incident has sparked serious concerns about this being a case of racial profiling. The family resides in the prominent, mostly-white suburb of Bellaire.  Police officials deny that race was a factor but, many are asking what prompted the officers to suspect that the vehicle was stolen.

Both men were unarmed.

The family has retained legal counsel and is asking that charges be filed against the officer.

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Yesterday, it was announced that Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle resigned from the force, right before he was to interview with internal affairs investigators over the shooting death of Oscar Grant III.

Grant was shot and killed by Mehserle early New Year’s day.  At the time, Grant was face-down, pinned by another officer when Mehserle stood to his feet and fired the fatal shot that entered Oscar Grant’s lower back, ricocheted off the pavement and entered his lungs, killing him.

Grant was a 22-year-old supermarket worker and father of a 4-year-old daughter.  It is not clear if Oscar Grant was even involved in the fight to which BART police were responding.  His shooting death was captured by various citizens with cell phones.

Mehserle’s resignation means that he will not have to speak with internal affairs investigators however, his legal defense will continue to be paid for out of a statewide fund for police officers.

In the meantime, the Alameda County D.A. will be deciding soon as to whether or not criminal charges will be pursued.

On a related note, yesterday,  a protest over the shooting turned into a “mini-riot” when a small group broke away from the protest and vandalized police cruisers and storefronts.  A total of 14 arrests were made.

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In my lifetime, I have read many headlines like the one I posted.  Whether it’s Timothy Thomas or Roger Owensby from Cincinnati, Ohio; or Sean Bell or Amadou Diallo in New York; or, now, Oscar Grant III of Oakland, CA.

Video has surfaced showing what appears to be an arrest of 22-year-old Oscar Grant III, at approximately 2am on New Year’s Day 2009.  Police responding to a call on a BART train.  It is not clear if Grant was involved in this fight.  However, citizens with camera phones captured video of Grant’s arrest.

Just prior to his death, Grant is held down face-first by two officers, with other officers nearby.  There appears to be a struggle and one of the officers stands up, draws his weapon and shoots Grant in the back.  Apparently, the bullet, after going through his lower back, ricocheted off the ground and struck him in his lungs, killing him.

It is still unclear why the officer chose to shoot Grant.  Grant had no weapons and police had him pinned to the pavement.  But, instead of grabbing his cuffs, the officer reached for his gun.

Oscar Grant III leaves behind a 4-year-old daughter.

His family is seeking answers and has filed a $25 million lawsuit against BART’s police department and is asking prosecutors to consider murder charges for the officer who who Oscar Grant III.

The video of the shooting can be viewed here.

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Jesse Jackson, Jr. has come out swinging on the heels of him being named as “Senate Candidate Number 5″ in the criminal complaint against Illinois Governor Rod Blagejovich, who was arrested yesterday for allegedly trying to “sell” the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama.

Investigators tapped Blagejovich’s phone and, in one conversation, was heard alleging that Jackson Jr. had offered to raise up to $1,000,000 for him.

Jackson has soundly denounced these accusations, stating that neither he or anyone representing him had made any such offers to the governor (basically, he is saying that the governor is lying).

Obviously, this political drama is going to play out heavily over the next several weeks (and possibly months) ahead.

The video of the Jackson press conference is below:

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