What the Legacy Looks Like For The People Of Flint, Michigan

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is on MSNBC touting everything he's done for the underserved in Michigan other than addressing what he's doing NOW for the citizens of Flint, and particularly, the thousands of children who have been poisoned with lead-laced water for the past two years.

For those who don't understand what institutional racism is, this is a prime example.  These children will suffer the effects of this lead poisoning for the rest of their lives. One official said, and I am paraphrasing, "Oh, it will only be  matter of a couple of IQ points", when referring to the impact it will have on children, mostly of color, in the future.  I guarantee you this...when they grow into adults and can't get into college because of those "couple" of IQ points, when they commit crimes because they can't hold jobs because of those "couple" of IQ points,, and when they are a burden on society, it will just be yet another excuse for the dominant society to say people of color are inferior.

Governor Snyder...this is a travesty, and it happened under your watch.  Please resign IMMEDIATELY!

My Thoughts On The Bill Cosby Sexual Assault Charges

Since the Bill Cosby accusations first surfaced months ago, quite a few men who I respect tremendously have come to me with the stupid conspiracy theories, the "blame the victim" take, the "gold digger” take, etc.  REALLY…they just don’t fly.  These charges involve the very first woman we know he raped.  In a sworn deposition in this particular case, the creep admitted to securing Quaaludes (a potent and powerful drug that can incapacitate very quickly) so that he could drug women and have sex with them…DUH, people!...How much more proof do you need?  Also, In this particular case, he settled out of court this woman, with the stipulation that she keep her mouth shut, and Andre Constand is not, and has never been living high off the hog, as are none of the other women…so where are the gold diggers???  Like I’ve always said, 57 women aren’t telling the same lie, and none of them knew each other.  Face it people, The “Cliff Huxtable” you’ve loved for all of these years is character, not a “real” person!  Bill Cosby is a rapist and a pedophile.  What???...How many women have to come forward 100, 200, 500 before they are to be believed, because I’m betting these 57 are just the tip of the iceberg.

You can talk about Stephen Collins, father on the television show, “Seventh Heaven”, Woody Allen or Roman Polanski, but as we all know there is another standard for those whose skin is a certain hue, and that in no way lets them off the hook for their deeds, for THEY TOO, are rapists and pedophiles…privilege just affords them a different type of punishment, or not.  I would also argue, that there are no accusations that any of them drugged and raped almost 60 women, not that that makes any difference, because just one act of rape or pedophilia, is far too many.

The image Bill Cosby’s attorneys and “handlers’ were trying to portray of him yesterday during his arraignment and bail hearing was insulting. In just a few months you go from someone who is thriving and on the road to reviving your career with a new show, to a crippled, disheveled, pathetic piece of a man who looks like he can barely remember his own name?  REALLY, Bill Cosby…go away, and let’s just hope that “away” is behind bars for the rest of your natural life.

My Thoughts On The Massive Environmental Agency (EPA) Spill In Colorado

Okay, so I have a question...  How is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the primary agency in this country for protecting the environment, and one/some of your employees breach a dam sending 3 million gallons of pollutants into a river and its tributary?  From the three floods in my hometown back in the '70s, I know that the raging force of rushing liquid is something to be reckoned with, but not one person could have thought of a way to stop it, or at least slow it down before 3 MILLION gallons spilled out?  Three million gallons is a lot of poison.  The enormity of the situation is palpable, affecting two states so far (Colorado and New Mexico) and all of the cities and towns along the Animas and San Juan Rivers between Durango, CO and Farmington, NM.

The people who reside in the area and local businesses are going to be devastated on multiple levels, and here's why: as reported by CNN, "one of the samples of mercury was nearly 10 times higher than the EPA acceptable levels; samples of beryllium and cadmium were 33 times higher, and one of the arsenic levels was more than 800 times higher".  Along with those contaminants, iron, zinc and copper, heavy metals, also leaked into the water.  Officials are saying that it may not seep into the ground and poison drinking water...okay, and my name is Wilhelmina Fufu.  In addition to all of the above, residents will never be able to sell their homes...would you live there?  Then…to add insult to injury, the EPA made no attempt to notify residents until the next day.  As of today, the EPA is reporting that there are areas of the Animas River that are back to levels before the spill…REALLY?  Could it be because all of the contaminants have leaked into the soil already…I’m just saying.

Lastly, it's being reported that the effects of the poison may not be as bad as they thought, because they put a cage containing something like 20 fish in the water before the spill to see how they fared in the water, and only one of them has died.  They say that they can't be sure it died from the poison...Hello, Wilhelmina here again.  I just can’t believe that based on the amount of poison that was leaked into that lake, that there wouldn’t be serious future consequences to the people of those areas for a very long time.  The EPA seriously needs to be held accountable for this monumental environmental disaster, as countless lives, both human and animal are going to be impacted for many years to come.

Please post your comments below.  I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

The Case of Former Speaker of the House, Denny Hastert and Allegations of Sex With His Former Students

I was blown away yesterday when the longest serving Republican Speaker of the House, Denny Hastert was indicted by federal officials for agreeing to pay a victim $3.5 million to keep quiet about misconduct while a teacher and wresting coach, before he entered Congress.  Of course, my first thought was that he sexually abused a student.  Well it has come out that that seems to be the case.  At least one other former student has come forward with a similar story, although he was not paid.   In addition, when questioned by the FBI about the withdrawals, he lied, which is a felony. While I submit that Mr. Hastert should be considered innocent until proven guilty, the evidence against him is telling.  He was paying his victim in $50,000 increments until he raised eyebrows at his bank, and they reported him for making withdrawals of $10,000 dollars or more…heck, even I knew that banks were required to do that.  While considered by most to be "squeaky clean", he has been investigated in the past for financial improprieties with nothing coming of said investigations.

I find it very disheartening that a gaggle of members of Congress have been found to have committed these types of crimes.  These are the people running our country folks.  Mark Foley, Republican in the House representative who was caught sending sexually explicit texts to Congressional pages, and Larry Craig, the Republican senator from Idaho, who attempted to solicit sex from an undercover male police officer in a bathroom stall at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport come to mind.  Denny Hastert was considered a “good guy”, and now, people are wondering, “If he couldn’t be trusted, who CAN we trust?”  This doesn’t even take into account the other types of corruption that other members of Congress have committed.

Denny Hastert was third in line after the vice-president to become president.  What a scary thought that a potential pedophile may have been in the White House.  The question I ask is, “Where is the integrity in our government officials, and why aren't they being screened as they would be in corporate America?’

The North Charleston Murder of Walter Scott By Those Charged to “Protect and Serve"

And so it continues…Walter Scott, not even the latest victim of a police shooting in less than two weeks…hmmm.  Well at least the officer that shot him dead got charged with murder…what remains to be seen is if he gets convicted.  The video is VERY disturbing!  How do you shoot at someone running away from you eight times, hitting them four times in the back, once in the ear, then walk over and handcuff them while they lay face down dying, AND, without performing any life-saving measures which you lied about, and said you did (very similar to what happened to Kajieme Powell who was shot and killed by police in St. Louis, just days after Michael Brown was murdered).  THE KICKER:  It's VERY clear the officer was trying to frame Mr. Scott for grabbing his taser gun after he said that he tried to take it from him.  He picks up the taser from where Mr. Scott began running, and places it conveniently by him lying on the ground next to his dying body.  He doesn't pick it up until other officers arrive on the scene.  Okay, so I'm no cop, but wouldn't that taser be part of the crime scene investigation???  He should have left it lying there with the unarmed black man he just gunned down like a dog in the street.  

Now, new video has surfaced of him laughing when talking to another officer right after he murdered Mr. Scott, while talking about his adrenaline being up.  The blatant disregard of white police officers for black lives is palpable.  

Other police killings of black men have occurred since.  I leave you with these two thoughts…”The next person could be your husband, son, father grandson, nephew cousin or friend.”  And in the words of the great Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “Injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere.

Reflections On The First Inauguration of Barack Obama

On the morning of the 57^th Presidential Inauguration, I am filled with some of the best memories ever of the first inauguration of Barack Obama.  A friend of mine had connections high up in the White House, so we got tickets right on the West Lawn, close enough to actually see the president being sworn in.  It was the absolute coldest day of the year, but no one cared because history was being made.  What struck me most that day was that major celebrities were treated the same as everyone else.  They had to go through checkpoints just like we did, they didn’t get special seating, nothing.  In fact, I was sitting right next to “Sting”, the musician, and Billy Baldwin, Forest Whitaker, Common, Tracee Ellis Ross, Beyonce' and Jay-Z were literally only feet away.  In fact Forest Whitaker bumped into me trying to film on his video camera.

It was a day of pride for African-Americans, and it showed on every last one of our faces.  I remember in the blocks-long walk to the Capitol making eye contact with people of other races and ethnicities, and having them smile, and nod at me, like they knew how big this was for black people and how far the country had come.  I also remember walking down the street passing people on the way to the inauguration, and shouting “Barack Obama”, and having them shout, “Barack Obama” back at me.  There was a sense of pride in the air that’s hard to explain…(never felt it before, and will probably never feel it again), and it showed on EVERYONES’ faces…now imagine that look on almost two million people.  It was just electric!

So as the president begins his second term, and final four years in office, I wish him much success in achieving his agenda (I am committed to helping him do that), and that he and his family are kept safe from harm.

The 2009 Inauguration was the experience of a lifetime, but I appreciate the fact that this time around, I will be watching it from the comfort of my home on my family room couch.

Mitch McConnell and other Congressional Ilk

Now that the “Fiscal Cliff crisis is over, Republican Senator Mitch McConnell has begun talking trash about the “Debt Ceiling”, saying that President Obama is “In for a fight whether he likes it or not.”.  I try to be really careful in who I label a racist, because some people are not racist, they’re just stupid.  Mitch McConnell is a racist through and through.  Among his other rants against the president, he was the one who said, “The single-most thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”.  Instead of doing the business the people of Kentucky elected him to do, McConnell has spent his every waking moment obstructing the president over the last four years, and has no shame for his hating.  I have no respect for someone who will throw this country “under the bus” solely for the purpose of ruining the president, and doing so because he is a black man.  And NO, I’m not giving him credit for his role in working with Vice President Biden on the Fiscal Cliff.  Some folks want to credit him with getting the bill passed, when he was actually a major player in holding it up.

I’ll be calling McConnell’s office AGAIN today to let him know exactly what I think of him and what he’s doing.  By the way, his number is (202) 224-2541.  I’ll be doing everything I can with my contacts in Kentucky, and I do have them, to unseat McConnell in 2014.  Ashley Judd, the singer and actress is considering a run against him, and is polling only four points behind.  I have literally been harassing her on Twitter to run for his Senate seat.

There is no place in government for the ilk of Mitch McConnell, John McCain, Lindsey Graham and some others.  It’s time for them to go.  Their attempts to hold on to an America that doesn’t exist anymore is pathetic, and their contempt and efforts to smear people of color are totally offensive.  A lot of people don’t give much thought to elections when we are not electing a president.  It’s time to do so…these elections are just as important.  The lesson here…vote in EVERY election.