New England Sun-Times

Call a Black person “articulate.” Instead: Because of a long history of oppression, degradation, and dismissal of the talent and skills of Black people, understand that such a statement coming from a white person is often construed, and meant, as meaning “articulate-ness” is something unusual in a Black person. Say “one of my best friends is [black, Latino, person of color, etc.].” Instead: Ask yourself first: Do you know where that person shops for groceries? Where they go to church? Where they get their hair cut? What their children’s/granchildren’s names are? Have you ever been to their home? These are the things you know about a best friend. Say that the success of [Oprah, Bill Cosby, Michael Jordan, etc.] show that there’s no longer any racism. Instead: Ask yourself about Madame CJ Walker. She was a millionaire, the first black millionaire, in the early part of the 20th century.  Lynchings were still going on.  No one would say ...

Hundreds of police officers turned their backs on a screen showing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio as he spoke at the funeral of one of two officers killed last week in what has been called an "assassination." The funeral at the Christ Tabernacle Church, in the Glendale neighborhood of Queens, was broadcast to thousands of police who gathered outside. The killing of Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu came amid heightened tensions between the police and the mayor over what some police saw as a lack of support for the force. The atmosphere was mostly respectful, but there were scattered signs of protest even before the police officers' action when the mayor spoke. A block from the church, though, retired NYPD Officer John Mangan held a sign that read: "God Bless the NYPD. Dump de Blasio." In his speech, the mayor seemed to try to reach out to police, honoring not only Ramos, but the entire NYPD. After directing his rema...

By Andrew Couts   A local Fox affiliate in Baltimore has apologized for inaccurately reporting that anti-police-brutality demonstrators chanted “kill a cop” at a recent protest. Footage of the Washington, D.C., protests, which originally aired on C-SPAN, showed Tawanda Jones, whose brother Tyrone West was killed by Baltimore police in July , leading a common chant at protests against police violence. “We won’t stop/We can’t stop/Till killer cops/Are in cell blocks,” Jones chanted. As Gawker first pointed out , however, WBFF Fox 45 edited the footage to cut out the last line, and the news anchor claimed Jones’s chant of “Till killer cops …” as “Kill a cop”—a call for the murder of police. The segment was part of WBFF’s coverage of this weekend’s vicious murders of two NYPD officers , linking the anti-police violence movement to violence against law enforcement off...

Elvin Payamps, 38, was taken into custody after a witness overheard him saying he wanted to kill cops. GLENDALE — A former city Department of Correction employee was busted with illegal guns, brass knuckles and a bulletproof vest he took from his old job after he was overheard talking about killing police, the NYPD said. Elvin Payamps, 38, spoke about a plan to kill a police officer while on his cellphone inside a TD Bank on Metropolitan Avenue and 80th Street at 1:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve, police said. "I'm going to kill another cop. We should do it before Christmas. The cop should have been white that was killed. I always have a gun on me," Payamps said, according to the criminal complaint. A 54-year-old witness overheard the conversation and called 911, but Payamps left before police arrived.  The NYPD put out a description for Payamps, and he was found at Metro Mall two miles away on Metropolitan Avenue, where he was getting into his car, acco...

ABC News - There have been 40 separate threats against New York City police since two officers were shot and killed in Brooklyn Saturday, the NY...

This week, cellphone video appeared online showing NYPD officers assaulting a pregnant woman, throwing her to the ground, and using a taser on her belly. The altercation allegedly began when police interrupted the family from eating dinner without reason and without a warrant, and lured them out of a Brooklyn restaurant. When on the street, police reportedly planted a knife on 17-year-old John Lemos and threatened to take him to jail.  According to the family, they have a history with these specific officers, and they believe that the officers were attempting to frame Lemos because they had a grudge against him.  Either way, carrying a knife in a big city should not be a crime to begin with, and the police had no legal reason to interrupt this family’s dinner. Lemos’s mother was witness to the entire ordeal, and when she attempted to defend her son she was viciously attacked by the officers.  When police began to get rough with the woman, onlookers t...

Tuesday, Mar 25, 2014 • Updated at 2:46 AM EST (NECN: Alysha Palumbo - Providence, RI) - Handcuffed and plain-clothed, two Providence police officers were in court Friday morning facing serious drug charges and allegations they abused their power. 44-year-old Detective Joseph Colanduono of West Warwick is a federal drug enforcement officer, who's been given the mayor's award for outstanding police work. Colanduono is accused of not only possessing cocaine but connecting the lead drug dealer with buyers. 33-year-old patrolman Robert Hamlin of East Providence is a school resource officer at Central High School. Hamlin is accused of providing the alleged drug ring with inside information. ...