Monday, June 22, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
I JUST GOT SHOT AT BUT NO WEAPON FORMED AGIANST "ME" SHALL PROSPER!!!!!!!
WE WERE OUTSIDE TRANSFERRING ITEMS FROM ONE CAR TO THE NEXT WHEN A CAR ROLLED SLOWLY AROUND THE CORNER THEN FIRING A ROUND AT US. WE HIT THE FLOOR IMMEDIATELY AND HEARD 9-12 MORE ROUNDS THAT SHATTERED THE HATCH BACK TRUNK WINDOW OF THE CAR WE WE'RE UNLOADING, ONCE THE FINAL SHOTS RANG OUT, WE HEAR OUR WIVES SCREAMING OUR NAMES IN DESPAIR, WE YELL BACK AND LET THEM KNOW WE'RE OK. WE RUN BACK UPSTAIRS WITHOUT A GRAZE. GOD IS GOOD. WE IMMEDIATELY CALL THE POLICE, WHEN THEY ARRIVED WE WENT OUT TO ASSESS THE DAMAGE. THE CAR THE SHIELDED US HAD 2 BULLET HOLES, ONE ON THE PASSENGER SIDE, ONE ON THE DRIVERS SIDE. COMPLETELY SHATTERED BACK WINDOW OF VEHICLE #2. TWO BULLET HOLES IN THE STORAGE CABINETS ABOVE THE CAR IN THE GARAGE. COPS FOUND 7 SHELLS IN THE STREET.
WE WEREN'T HIT AT ALL. THE SHOOTER AND THE ACCOMPLICES WERE APPREHENDED A SHORT TIME LATER IN A NEARBY NEIGHBORHOOD.
TO SUMMARIZE THESE REFLECTIONS I SHOULD LET YOU KNOW THAT I WAS NOT AFRAID BECAUSE I KNEW THAT THE ANGELS WERE THERE. IT DIDN'T SEEM REAL AT ALL. I'M NOT MAD EITHER, I'M MOTIVATED. I'M REMINDED OF THE 18YRS OLD NARBUONE STUDENT RECENTLY KILLED IN COMPTON, AND MY NEPHEW TRAYVON EARL JEFFERS THAT WE JUST LAID TO REST THIS WEEK. BOTH WERE VICTIMS OF A VIOLENT CRIME. SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE AND GOD HAS GIVEN ME A VISION TO HELP STOP THE KILLING. BEING SHOT AT TONIGHT WAS CONFIRMATION THAT THIS VISION WILL BE CARRIED OUT BECAUSE I'M STILL HERE.
WHETHER OUT NOT A YOUNG BLACK MAN IS A VICTIM OR A SUSPECT, WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER STATISTIC. UNFORTUNATELY IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY THE VICTIM AND THE SUSPECT ARE JUST ANOTHER STATISTIC. THERE FAMILIES BECOME VICTIMS, THEIR CHILDREN GROW UP FATHERLESS.......
I'M PLEADING WITH EVERYONE WHO WILL READ PLEASE BE AN ADVOCATE OF CHANGE FOR THE YOUNG BLACK MAN. PRAY FOR THEM AND PRAY FOR YOUE FAMILY'S PROTECTION. I LOVE YOU ALL.....
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Historical Black owned Property in Manhattan Beach
In 1912, Charles A. and Willa Bruce built one of the few venues in Southern California where black families could legally enjoy the surf and sand. They ran a profitable inn, cafe and dance hall within the two-block neighborhood to which minorities were restricted by housing covenants.
But as the popularity of Bruce's Beach grew, so did white hostility. Black beachgoers would find their tires slashed; the Ku Klux Klan torched a black-owned home nearby and tried to burn down the resort. The city seized the property in 1924 via eminent domain on grounds that it was urgently needed for a park. Yet, for the next 30 years, the lot remained vacant.
Now the city is facing its unsavory past with a dedication ceremony March 31. But the efforts at honoring the Bruces seem halfhearted.
For one thing, the city is by no means united -- the City Council split on the renaming, and one councilman said he isn't sure who even warrants an invitation to the event. (Suggestion: Start with Bernard Bruce. Had his grandparents been allowed to keep the property in the family, it now would be worth millions of dollars.)
Then there is the question of the park's new plaque; its message also seems conflicted. An early version said minorities were "housed" in the neighborhood. The final version says that the area "was home to several minority families and was condemned through eminent domain proceedings
Well, yes, times have changed. But the long gap between the incident and the commemoration suggests that times may have changed more slowly than people think. Acknowledging past misdeeds honors yesterday's victims, but it also gives moral texture to the present, announcing that we are no longer a society that tolerates violent, government-sanctioned racism. Californians famously prefer to orient themselves toward the future, but the past counts too, warts and all.
Manhattan Beach should be proud of itself for choosing commemoration. It would be proud of itself if it held a first-rate celebration. Tell the story. Remember what happened. Who should be invited? Everyone, of course.
Lets thow a historical Beach Party.
