Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James at Mayor Steven Fulop 2nd Annual Jersey City Prisoner Reentry Conference “The Prisoner’s Story” at St. Peters University in Jersey City, NJ 4/2/15 (William Perlman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
Calling the New Jersey Supreme Court and other state officials “mere pawns” of Gov. Chris Christie, former Newark Mayor Sharpe James on Wednesday railed against the court’s decision to not hear an appeal over his use of campaign funds to pay legal expenses in a criminal probe.
Mother of the Year: This mom is being called “mother of the year” after cameras captured her snatching her son from a Freddie Gray protest in Baltimore and disciplining him for his behavior.
Here’s the kind of mother more boys need! — or THE WORLD for that matter…
On yesterday, the day of Freddie Gray’s funeral, high schoolers let their emotions get the best of them and threw rocks at police officers and set cars on fire inciting pure chaos in Baltimore., MD.
This mother, Toya Graham, said she –like millions of us, watched the melee on television in disbelief and pure disgust.
She decided to get out and find her own 16 year old son –whom she did eventually find, wearing a hoodie, participating in the fray and (in her words) ‘just a mess’.
On the now famous cell phone video, she grabs him (by the neck) and slapped him around, demanding he “take his a– home”–exactly what my mother would have done (and all mothers SHOULD for that matter).
Give this woman “Gangster Mom of the Year”.
We need more old school mothers like her that are not afraid to snatch their kids up and drag them off the streets, all in the name of love.
In my opinion, it’s better this mother slap her son up and drag him home, then the police or far worse-a fellow prisoner.
In years to come, he will thank his mother for being the kind of mother that cared enough to slap him around for doing wrong.
It’s all out of love and in the name of “old school” discipline.
Gang rivals from the Bloods, the Crips and Black Guerrilla Family are side-by-side against police brutality in Baltimore this week, determined to unite for a “common good”.
What a beautiful sight to behold.
In the wake of the Baltimore uprisings, rival gangsters put down their guns and flags to foster unity and stand against police brutality.
The public display of unity between urban gangs is definitely a positive step in the right direction. It feels good to see togetherness among young black youth and adults during these times in which racial division and tension has reached its climax.
As an African American woman, it disturbs me deeply every time I hear of news of another unarmed black man being killed by police, but as a “realist” I understand that there is a deeper underlining issue at hand. We as a race must set a better example, and in order to demand respect and true equality, we MUST first respect our own.
A Twitter post that I ran across rang true:
“Police will not stop killing black men until black men stop killing black men”.
Hopefully more unity (and less violence) among gangs will help to promote positive changes within black communities and help re-invent how blacks and minorities are viewed by law enforcement, the judicial system and –possibly the world.
It is an effort that must be put forth by us all.
#BlackLivesMatter #AllLivesMatter
Several photos purportedly showing members of the usually warring gangs posing together have been shared on social media, in an alliance apparently brokered by the Nation of Islam activists in honour of Freddie Gray, who died of a spinal injury while in police custody and whose funeral served as the catalyst for the riots.
One photo sees men in red bandanas sitting next to men in blue bandanas with their fists in the air, while a video shows members of each gang with their arms around each other explaining that they’ve put their differences aside because they don’t want people to get hurt.
“I can say with honesty those brothers demonstrated they can be united for a common good,” said Carlos Muhammad, a minister at Nation of Islam’s Mosque No. 6. “At the rally, they made the call that they must be united on that day. It should be commended.”
“We can unite and stop killing one another,” he added to The Daily Beast, “and the Bloods and the Crips can help rebuild their community.”
Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James at Mayor Steven Fulop 2nd Annual Jersey City Prisoner Reentry Conference “The Prisoner’s Story” at St. Peters University in Jersey City, NJ 4/2/15 (William Perlman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) 
The Pen Hustle With Brandy Cavalli 
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