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One HOOD

One Hood


Last Updated: 3/17/2009

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Gender: Male
Status: Single
Age: 23
Sign: Taurus

City: PITTSBURGH
State: Pennsylvania
Country: US
Signup Date: 7/19/2006

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Wednesday, July 08, 2009 

Category: News and Politics
Reminds me of the Dorothy Dandridge scene where a Vegas Hotel/Casino where she was the headlining act, drained a pool ans had ir scrubbed just because she dipped her toe in it.

The more things change, the more they stay the same - Paradise




10:11 PM 
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Wednesday, July 01, 2009 

Category: News and Politics
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
 Tuesday, June 30, 2009

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_631577.html

A district judge who held another ACORN worker for trial Monday on election law violations urged prosecutors to go after the real culprit, the organization that employed him."Somebody has to go after ACORN," Senior District Judge Richard H. Zoller said about the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

"It's happening all over the country. All you have to do is turn on the television," he said, referring to voter registration fraud charges brought recently against ACORN and its workers in Nevada.

"We will," Allegheny County Detective Robert F. Keenan promised as he wrapped up his testimony.

A spokesman for District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said following the hearing that the county's investigation into members of ACORN and their activities during the 2008 campaign "remains open and active."

"(T)here is quite a bit of activity aimed at determining if anyone else should be charged," Zappala's spokesman Mike Manko said.

Eric E. Jordan, 20, of North Braddock became the sixth person ordered to face trial in Allegheny County. He is charged with soliciting a voter registration and interfering with county voter registration officials by submitted applications for himself in order to meet his quota for registrations. A seventh defendant faces a preliminary hearing next month.

Zappala claims the ACORN canvassers engaged in voter registration fraud and a quota system for registrations, which is barred by state law.

Olga Salvatori, Jordan's attorney, told the judge her client did not know a quota system was illegal. She said Jordan was told he had to bring in a set number of registrations each day or he would be fired.

"ACORN should be charged, not my client," Salvatori said.

But, argued Assistant District Attorney Matthew Robinowitz: "By accepting a job with a quota, he violated the law."

Salvatori argued that Jordan didn't "interfere" with anyone because all he did was resubmit his own voter registration three times, changing his address or party affiliation.

ACORN officials repeatedly have denied the organization imposed a quota system on workers, although they have acknowledged they had "standards" canvassers were expected to maintain. They did not respond yesterday to requests for comment.
Salvatori said after the hearing it was unfair that her client and other workers were charged for such technical violations.

"I didn't even know a quota was illegal until I looked it up," she said. "They go into poor neighborhoods and sign these people up. They tell them they have to meet minimum standards. How would (the workers) know what the law is?"

Keenan testified that he questioned Jordan last spring about suspect voter registrations he filed. He said Jordan, who was in custody on unrelated charges, acknowledged during the interview that he had to get 10 to 12 registrations per day or he would be fired.

Jordan attended the hearing but did not testify.

County Elections Division Director Mark Wolosik testified that every time a voter registration application was submitted or resubmitted, county workers had to process the application and generate a voter card and other paperwork.

5:46 AM 
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Saturday, June 27, 2009 

Category: School, College, Greek

African American Male High School Graduate Celebration 2009

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=91898&id=507894491&l=34480e5a45



The Martin Luther King, Jr. Reading & Cultural Center Presented A Public Recognition & Salute To African American Male High School Graduates

Market Square, Downtown Pittsburgh
Saturday June 27, 2009 - 11:00A.M. to 1:00P.M.

*Special Performance by NAKA Entertainment*

This idea came out of a focus group Dr. Tony Mitchell & colleagues organized for the Heinz Endowment to discuss the plight of African American males, particularly youth. Many ideas emerged and much energy and passion were released and shared throughout. Martin Luther King Jr. Reading & Cultural Center stepped up to lead this initiative-“Faith is the first step.” What threatens us finds its way to all neighborhoods.

http://www.thesoulpitt.com/AAHSGrads.htm..l

11:51 PM 
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Saturday, June 27, 2009 

Category: News and Politics
Thank you Rootz at Sundown Was a big success With over 100 people in attendance Delicious Vegan Food Positive Vibes from the community & outstanding music from Leviticus Sound & Man in the Street A special thank you to: Autumn Ayers, vocalist http://www.myspace.com/autumnayers; Nick Dillon, nickknackscreativeinteriors.com; Ella Gluckman, volunteer –extraordinaire, Ras Meisha, Peabody Community Learns Youth, & all volunteers!!! Healcrest Urban Farm, located on Hillcrest between Atlantic and Pacific Aves. is a urban vegetable and herb farm on a reclaimed 1.7 acre abandoned property site.

Since 2004 we have been clearing trash and overgrown brush. Each and every community member & supporter is invited to join us to make Healcrest Urban Farm a place of healthy food, life and community.

The mission of the farm is to advocate the people’s power to grow local, nutritious, healing foods & herbs through voluntary community action, commitment and collaboration. The land is designed to hold educational and productive: vegetable gardens, native plant gardens, medicinal herb gardens, ceremonial/healing garden, market herb/culinary herb garden, and children’s classroom garden. Ms. Graziani, a certified Herbalist, will offer regular classes to the public that will both teach about sustainable gardening & natural plant healing and assist residents in preparing the land, as stated above, for production. Some examples of workshops Healcrest Urban Farm will present, include: techniques to amend the soil, creating your own compost & compost bin, herb identification & garden design, natural pest control for vegetable gardens, cover-cropping, rainwater collection for gardening & organic gardening basics.

Check out our website to see whats up for Summer 2009!! www.healcrest.com § Thursday evening Farmers Stand @ Healcrest Urban Farm 4-8 pm starting in late July Live Music every time - reggae, hip-hop, jazz, acoustic Fresh produce stand Handmade Herbal Body Products Yoga Intros & additional local vendors § Herb Identification & Gardening Workshops for the Community Learn to identify medicinal herbs for daily & acute use Harvest, store & prepare herbs for use Medicinal tea mixes & tincture making

Basic gardening skills 3 Sessions starting in August Saturday August 8th 1-4pm, Plant ID, harvesting & drying Saturday August 22nd 1-4pm, Plant ID, medicinal tea blends Saturday September 5th 1-4pm, Plant ID tinctures, salves & supps. Sign up is required. Please go to our website: www.healcrest.com & email your request to participate. Cost is $25 per session, includes materials, or $70 for all 3 workshops. § Yoga at Healcrest Urban Farm Outdoor Yoga Classes throughout summer Affordable Price Schedule to come shortly Thank you for your support. We hope to see you again soon!
11:46 PM 
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Saturday, June 27, 2009 

Category: News and Politics

'Jena 6' beating case wraps up with plea deal


JENA, La. — Five members of the Jena Six pleaded no contest Friday to misdemeanor simple battery and won't serve jail time, ending a case that thrust a small Louisiana town into the national spotlight and sparked a massive civil rights demonstration.

State District Judge Tom Yeager then sentenced the five, standing quietly surrounded by their lawyers, to seven days unsupervised probation and fined $500. It was a far less severe end to their cases than seemed possible when the six students _ all of whom are black _ were initially charged with attempted murder in the 2006 attack on Justin Barker, a white classmate. They became known as the "Jena Six," after the central Louisiana town where the beating happened.

"I just thank God that it's all over," said John Jenkins, father of Carwin Jones. "It's been a long, painful journey for everyone on both sides of this thing."

Barker and his family and friends sat without expression throughout the hearing. Barker's attorney said he graduated and is now an oil field worker. The family did not comment.

As part of the deal, one of the attorneys read a statement from the five defendants in which they said they knew of nothing Barker had done to provoke the attack.
"To be clear, not one of us heard Justin use any slur or say anything that justified Mychal Bell attacking Justin nor did any of us see Justin do anything that would cause Mychal to react," the statement said.

The statement also expressed sympathy for Barker and his family, and acknowledged the past 2 1/2 years had "caused Justin and his parents tremendous pain and suffering, much of which has gone unrecognized."

Barker spent several hours in the emergency room after the attack, but was discharged and attended a school event the next night.

By pleading no contest, the five do not admit guilt but acknowledge prosecutors had enough evidence for a conviction. LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters said in a statement that he could have won convictions but wanted to end the matter for Barker.

Charges against Jones, Jesse Ray Beard, Robert Bailey Jr., Bryant Purvis and Theo Shaw had previously been reduced from attempted murder to aggravated second-degree battery. All but Shaw were assessed $500 in court costs. The judge did not tack that punishment on to Shaw's case because he stayed in jail for almost seven months, unable to raise bail, following his initial arrest.

Each paid the fine and court costs immediately. The payment of restitution to Barker was also part of the deal, but the amount was not released. A lawsuit filed by Barker against the group was also settled Friday, though the terms were confidential.

The only member of the group to serve jail time was Bell, who pleaded guilty in December 2007 to second-degree battery and was sentenced to 18 months in jail.
Four of Friday's defendants have graduated from high school, and all are attending or getting ready to attend college. Purvis has completed his first year and Bell is planning to attend college this fall. Beard is a senior in high school in Connecticut.

"They can move along with their lives," said Bailey's attorney, James Boren. "And because there are no felonies they can look forward to full lives ahead."

The severity of the original charges brought widespread criticism and eventually led more than 20,000 people to converge in September 2007 on the tiny town of Jena for a major civil rights march. Some $275,000 was raised to hire a large defense team for the six, said Beard's attorney, David Utter.

Racial tensions at Jena High School reportedly grew in the months before the attack. Several months prior to the attack, nooses were hung in a tree on the campus, sparking outrage in the black community. Residents said there were fights, but nothing too serious until December 2006 when Barker was attacked.

"Everybody pointed a finger at Jena during this, but this happens to African-American males across the country," Utter said. "These young men were lucky that people cared and donated money so they could afford good attorneys. That made the difference."
1:21 AM 
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Thursday, June 25, 2009 

Category: News and Politics

Nationally recognized 'gang peacemaker' arrested in gang sweep [Updated]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/06/nationally-recognized-gang-leader-arrested-in-gang-sweep.html

10:13 AM | June 24, 2009
Sanchez A nationally recognized anti-gang leader was among those named in a federal indictment targeting several Mara Salvatrucha gang members who authorities said today have been involved in multiple slayings, extortion and assaults.

Alex Sanchez, executive director of Homies Unidos, was taken into custody by FBI agents this morning at his Bellflower home. Sanchez and several members of MS-13, one of the nation's most ruthless and notorious gangs, were named as a co-conspirators in the indictment, which will be unsealed later today, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.

The indictment alleges that the gang terrorized the Lafayette Park area west of downtown Los Angeles.

The case of Sanchez, who admitted being a member of the MS-13 gang as a youth but said he had sworn off the gang lifestyle, became a cause celebre early in the decade when authorities attempted to deport the self-described gang peacemaker.

In 1994, Sanchez was deported to his home country of El Salvador because of a decade-old auto-theft conviction and a subsequent parole violation for possessing a firearm. A year later, he returned illegally to the U.S. and eventually helped form the local chapter of Homies Unidos.

Sanchez was granted political asylum after successfully arguing that he might be killed if he was returned to El Salvador because of his links to the Salvadoran gang and his stand against police corruption. Sanchez said he was a victim of harassment by the Los Angeles Police Department, and his case was highlighted by police critics during the Rampart corruption scandal.

[Updated at 3:15 p.m: A previous version of this post indicated Sanchez was granted asylum because of harassment by the Police Department.]
Among those who championed Sanchez's cause was former state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles), who befriended Sanchez in the 1990s and testified on his behalf.
-- Andrew Blankstein and Richard Winton
Photo: Alex Sanchez in 2000 at the INS center in San Pedro. Credit: Los Angeles Times
4:22 AM 
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009 

Category: News and Politics
Black Port Authority police officers claim bias
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Five Port Authority police officers have filed a federal lawsuit against their employer, alleging race discrimination.

The plaintiffs, who are all black, claim that they endured retaliation by their employers after they failed to stick up for the Port Authority in another situation alleging race discrimination.

The plaintiffs are Curtis L. Boyd, of Green Tree, who was hired in 2000, Nathaniel E. Greene, of Verona, who was hired in 1997, Lester C. Jordan, of Monroeville, who was hired in 1997, Nelson E. Mitchell, of Bethel Park, who was hired in 1990, and Erich R. Wilson, of West Mifflin, who was hired in 2002.

They contend that they were called to a meeting with the then-chief of police in July 2004 regarding a discrimination complaint filed by another black officer. The plaintiffs say they were asked by the chief to defend against that accusation. When they said they were concerned about retaliation regarding their answers, they were ordered to answer the question, the lawsuit said.

After expressing their opinions that there was race discrimination, they claim that they encountered retaliation regarding promotions, as well as losing training opportunities. They are seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

A spokesman for Port Authority did not return a call seeking comment.


--
Paradise Gray
One Hood
Http://www.1hood.org
Http://www.myspace.com/paradisegray
3:50 AM 
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Friday, June 19, 2009 

Category: News and Politics

Family, friends fight to prove Joseph Hall's innocence

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-10661-Pittsburgh-Grassroots-Examiner~y2009m6d19-Family-friends-fight-to-prove-Joseph-Halls-innocence

June 19, 12:42

RadicalGraphics.org
I said there is no justice
As they led me out of the door
And the Judge said, This isn't a court of justice, son
This is a court of law.
-Billy Bragg, Rotting on Remand
Almost anyone with even a passing acquaintance with the US legal system, is left with the impression that something is very wrong. Often, systemic social and economic factors determine the outcome of a legal proceeding in the same way that they determine the outcome of a mortgage application or job interview.

This isn't to say that people should not be held accountable for their actions, just that the government entities in the US have a pretty lousy track record when it comes to fair play and ethical conduct, at home and abroad, and are utterly lacking in credilbilty. Those of us who are not in the black robes or orange jumpsuits share some of the responsibilty, especially when a life is taken. We have made it very clear that we want someone, anyone apprehended and convicted, with great haste, and this is why US death rows are populated with the illiterate and the unwanted, most of whom could not afford competent counsel. This is how initiatives such as the Innocence Project are able to exonerate dozens of wrongfully convicted people.

The aftermath of the shooting death of James Stubbs, in Pittsburgh's Homewood neighborhood, unfolds like the kind of legal thrillers popular for vacation reading, but the accused was not rescued from the jaws of the system at the eleventh hour. The recent conviction (after two mistrials) of Joseph Hall, of Penn Hills, has many of the hallmarks of this kind of case: bad lawyering at the start (later replaced with competent counsel), an total lack of any forensic evidence, the State's refusal to allow new evidence that could have exonerated Hall, but admitting evidence from a former school cop, now employed by Churchill, almost 1 1/2 years later, and a case that hinged on testimony that changed multiple times throughout, ultimately resulting in the prosecution's main witness being charged with perjury. Despite these circumstances, Mr. Hall was sentenced to 17 1/2 to 35 years, and the judge in the case, David Cashman, refused to reduce this sentence.

The shooting death of Mr. Stubbs is tragic enough, without the wrongful conviction of Joseph Hall. When attempting to explain these kinds of deaths, the media blames everything but the true culprit: capitalism, as it is practiced in the US. Since the arrival of Columbus in North America, wealth has been accumulated at the point of the sword and out of the barrel of a gun. What is commonly referred to as "gang violence" is simply a literal interpetation of the nightmare that is the "American dream", with all the slavery, genocide, apartheid, and violence that it entails.

For more information, on the way this cae has unfolded, from someone directly involved with it, check out this video interview of Joseph Hall's mother, Cecilia Coleman, by Pamela Johnson, one of the founders of the AAMI. An especially telling moment occurs at 27:45, where someone from the DA's office is trying to keep from smiling when he is telling the public to beware of an allegedly "armed and dangerous", Joseph Hall.

This case is currently under appeal, and a local efforts are underway, to provide support others who are in similar predicaments, and their loved ones.
8:30 PM 
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Friday, June 19, 2009 

Category: News and Politics
Feds won't investigate Erie cop's YouTube rant
Friday, June 19, 2009
The Associated Press

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09170/978528-100.stm

ERIE, Pa. -- The Justice Department won't investigate a YouTube video in which an Erie police officer was seen mocking a black murder victim and his family in a drunken barroom rant.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People asked for an investigation. But a Justice spokesman says the department only investigates a "pattern" or "practice" of civil rights violations, and the April 6 video was an isolated incident.
Officer James Cousins II remains on restricted duty. He served a 10-day unpaid suspension for the eight-minute rant and has apologized to the dead man's family.

City officials say they have received results of Officer Cousins' fitness for duty evaluation, but they don't expect to decide until at least next week whether he'll return to regular duty.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09170/978528-100.stm#ixzz0Ity3Hi8q&D
6:25 PM 
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Friday, June 19, 2009 

Category: News and Politics

McMenacing? Cop Accused Of Pulling Gun At McD's

Written by Brian Maass

DENVER (CBS4)

http://cbs4denver.com/investigates/denver.police.suspension.2.1049330.html

A Denver police officer has been suspended after allegedly brandishing his gun at a McDonald's restaurant in Aurora after his order took too long to fill.

Aurora police confirmed the CBS4 investigation saying the incident occurred May 21 at the McDonald's at 18181 East Hampden Avenue.

A spokesperson for the Aurora Police Department said they plan to present the case -- now classified as a felony menacing incident -- to the Arapahoe County District Attorney's Office Thursday for possible filing of criminal charges.

Sources familiar with the case, and the fast food worker's account of what happened, say two off-duty Denver police officers placed an order from their car in the early morning hours of May 21. But once at the drive through window, the employee said the men became agitated and angry at how long their food was taking. The men thought they were being ignored, according to contacts familiar with the worker's account. The male clerk then said one of the officer's flashed his police badge and pointed a pistol through the drive through window in a threatening manner, before driving off without paying.

Both officers are assigned to Denver International Airport although only one has been placed on administrative leave with pay, pending the outcome of the case.
3:55 AM 
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