Looks like a Pennsylvania Summer Camp group may have fallen victim to civil rights era discrimination when they wanted to go for a swim recently.  According to Philadelphia's NBC Television affiliate, a group of African-American summer campers were prohibited from going to a private pool they had already paid to use. View more news videos at: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/video. Here's some of the story as it appears online. "I heard this lady, she was like, 'Uh, what are all these black kids doing here?' She's like, 'I'm scared they might do something to my child,'" said camper Dymire Baylor. The Creative Steps Day Camp paid more than $1900 to The Valley Swim Club. The Valley Swim Club is a private club that advertises open membership. But the campers' first visit to the pool suggested otherwise. "When the minority children got in the pool all of the Caucasian children immediately exited the pool," Horace Gibson, parent of a day camp child, wrote in an email. "The pool attendants came and told the black children that they did not allow minorities in the club and needed the children to leave immediately." And what was the reason given for being turned around?  "There was concern that a lot of kids would change the ...

I met Ryan Grim online back in 2007 when he was with Politico and have kept in touch with him over the years.  I was excited to learn about his new book that I'm hoping to get my hands sometime soon.  It's titled This is Your Country on Drugs.  I hope to get an interview with Ryan after I read through his book, but until then, I'll post a few of excepts that appeared at The Root. In the summer of 1996, the San Jose Mercury News broke the story of the connection between L.A. crack dealers and the U.S. funded Nicaraguan Contras. More than a month later, the Washington Post weighed in with a five-story, roughly 10,000-word broadside that ripped the series apart, debunking its central tenets and wondering aloud what it is about black people that makes them so paranoid.   The Post’s editorial board explained that “the shock of the story for many was not simply the sheer monstrousness of the idea of an official agency contributing to a modern-day plague—and to a plague targeted on blacks. The shock was the credibility the story seems to have generated when it reached some parts of the black community.”But it wasn’t their fault they were so gullible, the Postassured in ...

BY KRISTIN OF BECAUSE I SAID SO The Supreme Court has decided to reverse a decision made by the U.S. Court of Appeals which included Judge Sonia Sotomayor. I have yet to read the entire ruling but I find myself wondering about the ramifications the ruling will have on the New Haven community. It is my understanding that New Haven is predominately a minority community and will now be served by few minorities in positions of authority. I know of many people who came from areas where authority figures did not look like them. I know first hand how feelings of mistrust will pervade the neighborhood and do very little to bridge a widening gulf. After reading the original ruling I agreed with the ruling in which Judge Areterton arrived. I can say with all honesty I am happy the New Haven 20 will receive the promotions they deserve. I will also say I am very apprehensive about the future of affirmative action. It is my personal belief that though we have come along way affirmative action is very much needed to ensure a diverse environment,especially on college campuses. For many minorities affirmative action is our Legacy admission. It will be interseting to ...

I wanted to share the contents of an email sent out by Color of Change Director of Grassroots Mobilization, James Rucker, to their massive member list regarding the plea of "No Contest" by the defendants in the "Jena 6" case late last week. Color of Change was at the forefront of the internet movement to secure justice for the young men back in 2007. I've had a chance to correspond with James and meet some of the Color of Change staff.  They are utilizing 21st century tools to combat injustices that have persisted for generations.  It's cool to see that they haven't just rested on their involvement in Hurricane Katrina justice and with the Jena 6, but continue to stay engaged, even taking the fight to Fox News.  They remain relevant and functional as many such organizations have the tendency to fall off into the abyss of irrelevancy.  Kudos to C of C. Dear Shawn, Friday, nearly two years after more than 320,000 of you stood up to protect them from Jim Crow justice, the Jena 6--Jesse Ray Beard, Carwin Jones, Robert Bailey, Theo Shaw, Bryant Purvis and Mychal Bell--are all now free to move ahead with their lives. We ...

BY EDDIE GRIFFIN of Eddie Griffin BASG Blog Black Bourgeoisie? I found it interesting that Shawn P. Williams writes in “Why” Part Two: Why I celebrate Juneteenth: In my adult years as I began to rub elbows with the black bourgeoisies, many of them scoffed at the June 19th holiday. “Why would you celebrate slaves in Texas spending an extra 2 ½ years in bondage?” they would ask. I have to admit, it’s a pretty good question… As we’ve gotten more and more educated, we get further and further away from the wisdom born out of the struggle of our people. Eddie Griffin Commentary- I don’t know what “black bourgeoisie” means anymore. Back in the day, it meant something negative like that of a black person whose thinking was whitewashed, or someone going through an identity crisis, or someone who thought themselves to be more educated and elite than the common everyday Negro. We used to think that they acted and thought themselves to be better than the rest of us... maybe so. Ignoring the French historiography and Marxist class categorizations that give meaning to the name of this group of people, I want to go straight to the psycho-sociological aspect of the issue... that ...

The Holocaust Memorial Museum announced that 39 year old Stephen Tyrone Johns died as a result of gunshot wounds suffered at the hands of Neo-Nazi James von Brunn.  The Museum released the following statement. There are no words to express our grief and shock over today’s events at the Museum, which took the life of Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns. Officer Johns, who died heroically in the line of duty, served on the Museum’s security staff for six years. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Officer Johns’s family. We have made the decision to close the Museum Thursday, June 11, in honor of Officer Johns and our flags will be flown at half mast in his memory. DCist points us to a memorial Facebook group that has been created in his honor.

It's reported that James von Brunn, an 88-year-old white supremacist, walked into The Holocaust Museum and opened fire, apparently killing security guard. von Brunn was also shot and is hospitalized. von Brunn I've already heard comparisons to abortion opponent Scott Roeder's shooting of Dr. George Tillman, and Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad who shot and killed Private William Long in recent weeks. While all three used guns, did not personally know their victims, and were fueled by some sort of deranged hate, von Burnn doesn't fit the "Lone Wolf" profile so neatly. Von Brunn is well known in hate group circles, and though you wouldn't expect something like this out of an 88 year-old, it's not his first time acting out. According to von Brunn's website Holy Western Empire, he "attempted to place the treasonous Federal Reserve Board of Governors under legal, non-violent, citizens arrest." The site says he was "convicted by a Negro jury, Jew/Negro attorneys, and sentenced to prison for eleven years by a Jew judge." This is how Talking Points Memo describe the event: On December 7, 1981, a man named James W. Von Brunn pulled out a sawed-off shotgun at the Federal Reserve Board headquarters, claiming ...

When I received an email two days after Brandon McClelland was killed in Paris, and saw the details of this case and how it was handled from the beginning, I knew something was wrong.  I knew "beyond a shadow of a doubt" would be difficult. The longer the case drew out, the more I thought that Shanon Finley would again be let off easy.  Well he and buddy Ryan Crostley are now out of jail after charges of murder against them were dropped after word of their release first circulated yesterday. I can only shake my head, because from the beginning I knew this would be a very hard case to prosecute.  When the only witness is dead, things get a little dicey. I still say this; a speeding gravel truck could have hit a person walking on a dark highway, but I don't know of anyone, drunk or sober, who walks those roads these days. May God bless the family of Brandon McClelland. Photo by George Strawn

One of the bright spots of my trips back and forth to Paris, Texas has been meeting Jesse Wallace. Jesse is a Paris High School student who is active in extracurricular activities and in his church -Solid Rock Baptist. Sometimes when you see people you just know. The first time I saw Jesse, he was giving a speech during Black History Month. His words were well thought, his delivery was spot on, and he exuded a maturity that was far beyond his years. After the service, I made a note of seeking out Jesse and his parents to let each of them know how great of a job I thought he did. As fate would have it, I followed Jesse giving his speech again the next day when I delivered the keynote address for the Paris High School Black History Program. Jesse and I have kept touch via email since I left Paris last. We've had a dialogue on writing -style and content- and I've encouraged him to work on it like a craft. This morning my mom had sent me an email that contained a column from Mr. Wallace that ran in the Paris News. ...

I just finished up an interview with Dr. Cornell West, which I'm working to have up on the site by this afternoon. We were talking about his role in the movie Stand, which will air this Sunday May 24th on TV One (9 PM Eastern, 8 PM Central). I will review stand at Dallas South on Friday, but until then watch the above trailer, check out standthemovie.com, and wait for our interview with Dr. Cornell West this afternoon.