From Color of Change.org - I will be updating you on the developments this Friday. Jena 6 Judge Put on Trial Lawyers Cite Clear Pattern of Bias, Demand Removal of Judge Mauffray Jena, LA--Citing powerful evidence of Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr.'s bias against them, five of the African-American youth known as the Jena 6 are back in court next week seeking to remove Mauffray from their cases. Legal documents filed in the proceedings reveal Judge Mauffray's personal vendetta against the Jena 6. Among other incidents, Mauffray characterized the young men as violent trouble-makers and confessed his intent to incarcerate one of the youth—regardless of the strength of the evidence. Given Mauffray's documented inability to preside over a fair trial for these youth, their legal teams have requested that a new judge be appointed to handle all Jena 6 related proceedings. "Judge Mauffray is the man at the center of Jena's broken justice system and now he is forced to justify his bias in a court of law with the entire nation watching," said James Rucker, Executive Director of ColorOfChange.org, the 400,000 member group that has advocated on behalf ...

The NAACP has selected 35 year old Benjamin Todd Jealous as its next President and CEO. Jealous was the only candidate presented to the group's 64 member Executive Board. This quote by CNN says a lot about the vote. When the 34-21 vote was announced, "no one clapped or celebrated," one board member said after the meeting in Baltimore,Maryland. The story goes on to say, "Some board members wanted to hear from two others whom the search committee identified as finalists, but Jealous' supporters prevented it, sources said. " Roland Martin writes more about the vote at Essence.com. Another (board member) said "when we left the room, many were in disbelief." Those who didn't support Jealous say he was marked as the primary choice of board chairman Julian Bond, who began calling board members two weeks ago to line up support. There was vigorous discussion to postpone the vote to allow the board to hear from the other two finalists, but that effort was beaten back by those who backed Jealous on the board. In a subsequent article, Roland says "According to multiple board members, the search firm employed by the NAACP to find a new leader, the San Francisco-based Hodge /Niederer / Cariani / ...

Click on the link below to see a press release from the J.L. Turner Legal Association (JLTLA). The JLTLA, the African American Bar Association of Dallas, press release concerns the group's support of Sen. Rodney Ellis of Houston and Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins' call for penalties against prosecutors that intentionally withhold evidence resulting in innocent people being imprisoned. jltla-press-release-for-prosecutorial-misconduct.pdf FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: E. Steve Bolden, II Phone: (214) 803-6093 estevebolden@hotmail.com J.L. Turner Legal Association Back’s Dallas County ...

As early as this week, the NAACP will make a decision on who be their next president. With the organization getting ready to celebrate From what I have read, Benjamin Jealous and Alvin Brown are fine candidates for the position, yet I'm of the mind that there is one candidate that should stand as the choice of the NAACP executive board. Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III should be the next president Involvement in civil right on a local level Some of the NAACP leaders are interested in finding leader who has "worked in the movement" Well just short investigation into Dr. Haynes ministry at Friendship-West Baptist Church will find that he has been intimately involved in the so-called movement. There is a local instances that highlights Dr. Haynes' leadership in the area of social justice. First is the case of Tyrone Brown. In short, a Dallas judge sentenced Mr. Brown to life in prison after testing positive for marijuana while on probation for armed robbery. Tyrone was 17 at the time. Dr. Haynes rallied a coalition which included Mr. Brown's family (who worked tirelessly), civic leaders -including the local NAACP, and members of the faith ...

The mainstream media continues to acknowledge the emergence of African American bloggers while black leadership and black media continues to ignore them.  The latest example is an article in the Washington Post titled Critics of Old Guard Take Black Activism Online.  Here are some of the highlights from the story written by Darryl Fears. The new black revolution, as singer Gil Scott-Heron famously predicted, is not being televised.  It is raging online. Blogger Gina McCauley, 32, who is organizing the first conference of nonwhite bloggers this summer in Atlanta, said that what Jones and Rucker have started "can potentially become a new Niagara movement," a reference to the small contingent of black intellectuals, including W.E.B. Du Bois, who met near Niagara Falls in 1905 to form an organization to oppose segregation. The organization eventually became the NAACP. Others have another name for the new efforts by black bloggers: Civil Rights 2.0. Blogger L.N. Rock said that if abolitionist Frederick Douglass, former congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr., civil rights organizer Bayard Rustin and "people like that were around today, they would have blogs." "The NAACP's youth-outreach efforts are dysfunctional," Rock said. "We would have been glad to work with them had they asked. ...

Is anyone surprised? As reported by the New York Times, "Three detectives were found not guilty Friday morning on all charges in the shooting death of Sean Bell, who died in a hail of 50 police bullets outside a club in Jamaica, Queens." Hours before his wedding this young life was taken. And apparently it was nobody's fault.

Land Development, Homeownership, Juvenile Justice System, Substance Abuse and the Return of New Orleanians on Summit Platform Dallas, TX – April 18, 2008 – Faith Formula Human Services is poised to keep the focus on poverty conditions in America. To this end, United States Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Dr. Frederick Douglas Haynes III, Senior Pastor of the Friendship West Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas will join forces again to host the 3rd Annual Faith Summit on Poverty, April 25th and 26th , 2008 at the Friendship-West Worship and Conference Center, 2020 W. Wheatland Road; Dallas. The central theme and goal is to engage, enlighten and equip citizens to mobilize their city, state, county and federal elected officials, and community stakeholders to promote positive public policies geared to fight the War on Poverty! Opening political forum and workshops set a three fold agenda: (1) to take a microscopic look at America’s “Cradle to Prison Pipeline”; (2) to discuss openly and directly the causes of substance abuse and lack of treatment and recovery centers in the southern sector; and (3) to investigate the realities of land development in distressed communities. On Friday, a community job fair with over thirty-five employers ...

Thanks to Making the Walls Transparent who produced the above video that chronicles the release of Thomas McGowan, the 16th person exonerated in Dallas County based on DNA evidence.

Many were troubled by the story of a 12 year old that was allowed to strip in a local night club.  What was just as bad was  a loophole in the Dallas city charter which allowed them to remain open after the incident.  Here are changes that the city council approved on Wednesday to address the problem: Prohibiting a sexually oriented business from allowing a minor to enter the premises, employing a minor, or allowing a minor to perform Requiring sexually oriented businesses to keep files with documentation of identity, age and criminal history background check on operators and entertainers Requiring a sexually oriented business to name designated operators. One must always be present during operating hours Reducing the effective date for license suspension or revocation from 30 days to 10 days Prohibiting private and enclosed VIP rooms This is good, swift work by the mayor and the council.  These changes go into effect on Monday. Source - Pegasus News Also on Wednesday Thomas Clifford McGowan was freed after spending 23 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit.  Dallas County has set more prisoners free (16) than any other county in the nation.  Barry Scheck of the ...

Color of Change Press Release  Lawyers File Motion to Recuse Judge and DA—Putting State on Trial—Claiming Clear Pattern of Race Bias  JENA, LA— Lawyers for the youngest of the Jena 6, Jesse Ray Beard, filed a motion today to remove Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr. and District Attorney Reed Walters from any future involvement in juvenile court matters involving Beard. Mauffray and Walters served as the trial judge and prosecutor, respectively, in the Jena 6 cases and Beard's attorneys argue that their prejudice during and after the proceedings has betrayed an unfair bias against Beard. Millions of Americans remember District Attorney Reed Walters as the man who refused to prosecute white students who hung nooses at Jena High School and then threatened black students at a school assembly saying that he "could end their lives with a stroke of his pen." Walters charged Jesse Ray Beard, and five other African-American students with attempted second-degree murder for allegedly beating Justin Barker, a white student, in a schoolyard fight following the incident. Attorneys for Beard argue that this and other facts paint a clear picture of the District Attorney's bias. "Millions ...