Black Relationships and Domestic Violence

By Hugh V. Collins and Syreeta L. McNeal, CPA, JD

I know everyone is talking about the alleged domestic assault and battery that occurred between Chris Brown and Rihanna during the weekend of February 7 – 8, 2009. Recently, MTV, US Weekly and People magazine did specials or cover stories regarding the incident. Gossip organizations like Mediatakeout.com and TMZ.com all had their spin on what transpired. Many people are expressing outrage and taking sides. Some people have stated that Rihanna must have done something and deserved to get beat by Chris Brown while others believe that Chris Brown had no right whatsoever to lay a hand on Rihanna regardless of the argument between them. Well, domestic abuse is more common and more people in the U.S. and in the world have witnessed some form of domestic abuse in their lives or among their families. According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics report in 2005, one in 320 households were affected by intimate partner violence. Also, they report that female victims are more likely to be victimized by intimates than male victims.

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More Chris Brown and Rihanna Details Emerge

New details are emerging about Chris and Rihanna's domestic dispute that happened during Grammy Night! According to what Rihanna has said in a police report Chris has been abusive before! Read below for the juice via hollyscoop:
According to Police reports, Rihanna claims that Chris has hit her in the past and she referred to it as an ongoing and escalating abusive relationship.
When Rihanna first spoke to LAPD she refused to tell them what started the argument that night. We’ve now learned that it was the result of another woman sending Chris a text message about meeting up later on in the night.
During the argument, according to the police report, she ordered him to drive her home and “faked a call” to someone, saying things like, “He’s dropping me off. Make sure the cops are there,” reports TMZ. This enraged Chris.
He then said something to the effect of “You are really fu**ed up now. I’m going to kill you.” That’s when Chris allegedly began his violent attack with his fists.
At some point during the attack Rihanna took the car keys out of the ignition and threw them outside. He reportedly went outside to look for them, and returned back to the car and allegedly choked her. That’s when she lost consciousness and a witness called 911.
Based on Rihanna’s statement and her injuries Chris will definitely face a felony domestic battery charge, but it’s unclear at this time whether or not that’s the only charge he’ll get because evidence that he made criminal threats against Rihanna is kind of thin.
Damn hate to say I told ya so but damn I TOLD YA'LL ASSES he had to have hit her before for it to escalate to this! I blame publicity for trying to make these kids seem perfect! SHIT happens! I'm also hearing Chris' music is being yanked from airwaves due to his recent legal issues! Damn just when we thought no one could f*ck up their career more than R.Kelly or Kobe Bryant, Chris comes along and does this :-(

posted by Lady Drama @ 1:44 PM 0 comments

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Big Time College Recruit Shot and Killed

Billey Joe Johnson Sr. opens the driver’s-side door of his dead son’s Silverado and begins to examine some of the leftover splatter. It clings to the dashboard, leeches out of air conditioning vents. Some of it even found a resting place on the truck’s exterior.

“There goes a hunk of meat right there,” the father said, pointing to a nickel-sized fragment of his son’s brain. “How’d it get over here?”

In the back seat, a geometry book rests next to camouflage clothing and empty boxes of buckshot. Billey Joe Johnson Jr. often woke up at 4 a.m. to hunt before heading to George County High School, where everyone knew him as the football star who would escape crushing rural poverty by running from it.

Piles of recruiting letters litter the back seat, the remnants of life as one of the most sought-after running backs in the Class of 2010. Alabama wanted Billey Joe. So did Notre Dame. And dozens of other schools. He was ready to commit to Auburn. By many accounts Billey Joe was a popular, big-dreaming, clean-living kid. So it’s no wonder his father stands in the yard next to a single-wide trailer, trying to play forensic expert. Searching – like many in this rural community – for answers about who shot his son.

Sheriff’s incident reports and radio reports.

Local authorities stopped Billey Joe for a traffic violation on the morning of Dec. 8, and they say the truck is simply the site of a terrible tragedy. But to the elder Johnson, it’s a crime scene.

Nearly two months later, only one fact is certain: Instead of running out of George County as a football hero, Billey Joe was buried beneath it at the age of 17.

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Your Black World: Barack Obama's Brother Arrested in Kenya

George Obama, the half-brother of U.S. President Barack Obama, has been arrested by Kenyan police on a charge of possession of marijuana, police said Saturday.

George Obama was arrested in Kenya on a charge for possession of marijuana, according to police.

Inspector Augustine Mutembei, the officer in charge, said Obama was arrested on charges of possession of cannabis, known in Kenya as Bhang, and resisting arrest. He is scheduled to appear in court Monday, Mutembei said.

He is being held at Huruma police post in the capital of Nairobi.

Speaking from behind bars, Obama denied the allegations.

"They took me from my home," he said, "I don't know why they are charging me."

George Obama and the president barely know each other, though they have met. George Obama was one of the president's few close relatives who did not go to the inauguration in Washington last week.

In his memoir, "Dreams from My Father," Barack Obama describes meeting George as a "painful affair." Barack Obama's trip to Kenya meant meeting family he had never known.

Don't Miss

• Behind the Scenes: Meet George Obama

McKenzie tracked down George Obama in August and found him at a small house in Huruma, a Nairobi slum, where he lives with his mother's extended family. His birth certificate shows that he is Barack Obama's half-brother.

The two men share a Kenyan father. In the memoir, Barack Obama struggles to reconcile with his father after he left him and his mother when he was just a child.

Barack Obama Sr. died in a car accident when George was just 6 months old. Like his half-brother, George hardly knew his father.

 

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Your Black College: The "Miseducation" of Black Youth

Going to a prestigious university, and having come from a well recognized series of primary and secondary education is a blessing that I never take for granted. My high school’s graduating rate was about 90% my senior year, and moved up to 94% the year after. Out of about 500 seniors, less than 100 are not continuing on to higher education or vocational options.

A fifteen minute metro train ride from my high school in Maryland will take you to the D.C. public school system, where everything is the complete opposite. Washington D.C. public schools have received and/or tied for the lowest rankings in the country as far as basic learning skills, test scores, drop-out rates, poverty make-up, and safety issues are concerned. The Washington Post featured an article about whether or not the District schools are fixable. Noting that

“After decades of reforms, three out of four students fall below math standards. More money is spent running the schools than on teaching. And urgent repair jobs take more than a year…”

Washington Post article

There is a deeper issue than this. I think the most important thing that contributes to the success of students in any school system, is the attention paid to the racial make-up of these students and their needs, their economic backgrounds, the lack of motivation, and the unfortunate plight of using property taxes to pay for the upkeep of schools in cities where property tax is low or properties are not owned.

Most of the students that attended my high school come from middle-class, single family homes and townhouses, decent paying jobs, and safer-than-most neighborhoods. At a glance I would say the school is about 56% white, 26% Black, 10% Asian, 6% Hispanic, and the rest a combination of smaller populations.

In the cities where most Black and Hispanic families are, the Black population can sometimes be as high as 98% and the poverty level beyond belief. Even the city of Syracuse, where I attend the university, sees similar results to those of the D.C. public schooling systems. The problems are repetitive. More attention is given to thriving schools that have enough money coming in from their property taxes to pay for newer and better facilities and equipment. More parents in these thriving schools are actually involved with the schooling of their children. More teachers and guidance counselors are helpful to students that don’t pose as threats to their safety.

My younger sister is the president of her high school’s NAACP Youth Leadership Chapter, so when I am home, I attend some of the meetings with her. In almost every meeting, the topic has been about how to get the Black students of Maryland and D.C. public schools motivated enough to come to school, stay in school, and graduate to higher learning.

Too many of our youth are “miseducated” about their chances of success. The guidance counselors and teachers in these schools of urban areas suggest these students consider working after high school instead of going to college. The parents either did not go to college and don’t tell their children they should, or are not home enough to really be involved with their child’s education (although, I do understand that some parents have no choice but to work- sometimes multiple jobs, sometimes for single parent families).

Too many children drop out and follow lives of crime or become pregnant. Those that drop out are often times not given any reason or motivation to go back. Too many children believe that rappers and athletes are the only moneymakers, and therefore see no point in school for those talents ( what about doctors, lawyers, journalists, businessmen/ or women…?), and finally, too many children are not informed about the MANY scholarships, programs, fee waivers and resources that can help them succeed regardless of their race, gender, family, and economic standing.

The problems are repetitive. The initiative has been taken, but the results are far from where they need to be. I do not think it is Obama’s job to come to the rescue of the Black community. What he can maybe do for the school systems, is see to it that the governors of each state make sure that funding is equalized for all of their areas.

Kanye West said in his song “Champion”:

“‘Cause who the kids gonna listen to, huh?/ I guess me if it isn’t you”

I take that as a personal challenge. Whether or not you have children, it is our duty as members of the Black community to see our kids succeed. Better yet, it is our duty as members of the human race to see all kids succeed. They at least need to know that they have options, because success does not only mean going to college, it means living up to their fullest potentials- whatever that may be.