Black Leaders Protest Jury Award To White Officers In Videotape Beating Case

The fact that two former white Inglewwod police officers were granted $2.4 million dollars by a jury has seemed to galvanize black leaders and activists. The LA Daily News reported that Congresswoman Maxine Waters and an array of black activists on Friday held a protest rally to condemn the jury awards.

The officers sued the city after one was fired and the other was suspended in connection with the videotaped beating of a black teenager during an arrest.

"Many believe the officers aren't only getting away with the beating but also being rewarded for misconduct," Waters, D-Los Angeles, said outside Inglewood City Hall.

Mayor Roosevelt Dorn said he would try to convince the city to appeal the verdict or ask the judge in the case to overturn the awards or grant a new trial.

WHO WILL REPLACE MFUME?: NAACP ponders leader to replace outgoing president.

Some members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People feel it’s time to recruit someone like hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons to replace outgoing president Kweisi Mfume.

‘EYES ON THE PRIZE’ WIDE SHUT: Expensive copyrights kept series off the air last weekend.

Why, you may be wondering, did we not see the granddaddy of all civil rights documentaries “Eyes on the Prize” during the King Holiday weekend? It has simply become too expensive.

A DREAM DEFERRED NO LONGER: The Black Gay Rights Movement's Perspective of Dr. King's Dream

Black Gay Rights champion and writer Jasmyne Cannick has laid out an interesting atricle that compares the Black Gay Rights battle of today to the by-gone Civil Rights days.

"When Martin Luther King Jr. marched in the 60s for the civil rights of African-Americans, he wasn't marching for the civil rights of some, he marched for all Blacks," Cannick writes. "Side by side, straight Blacks marched with gay blacks and it's important that the contributions of gays to this movement do not continue to be downplayed and overlooked.

"The gay rights movement has been compared to the 60s Civil Rights Movement repeatedly and questions surrounding King's views on homosexuality are constantly being asked. We will never know for sure what King thought about homosexuality, but we do know that he apparently had no issue with working with gays because one of his closest personal and political advisors was an openly gay man, Bayard Rustin. Rustin was is best known for being one of driving forces behind the march on Washington in 1963."

Read MORE of what she has to say HERE.

Kennedy Agonized Over In-Your-Face-Racism

Back in 1963, President john F. Kennedy agonized over what to do about the in-your-face racism and violence in the South and in Birmingham, Alabama, in particular.

Birmingham had been boiling with civil rights demonstrations for weeks. Hundreds of black children had marched to protest segregation, and Police Commissioner Bull Connor ordered officers to disperse them with fire hoses and dogs, news reports said at the time.

"There's no federal law we could pass to do anything about that picture in today's (NY)Times. Well, there isn't," Kennedy fumed. "I mean, what law can you pass to do anything about police power in the community of Birmingham? There is nothing we can do."

The tape of his meeting with 20 members of Americans for Democratic Action was released by the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston to coincide with Martin Luther King Day on Monday.

Read the FULL report here.

What Would Dr. King Say To The Bling Bling Generation

Jan 17, as we all know, is the National King Holiday. You may be wondering what Dr. King would have to say to today's hip hoppers who are so consumed with material gains. Cameron Turner has an excellent essay at EURweb.com that addresses the issue.

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