Wyclef Jean Haiti earthquake: Singer leads charge to help through Yele Haiti charity - and Twitter
Hip Hop artist Wyclef Jean is urging people to donate $5 to his Haitian charity, Yéle Haiti, by texting "YELE" to 501501. (The donation will be automatically charged to your cellphone bill.) His is one of many Haiti earthquake relief efforts underway.
By Matt Clark Staff writer / Christian Science Monitor
Platinum-selling Hip Hop artist Wyclef Jean - a native son of Haiti - is leading the charge to help his beleaguered homeland ... through Twitter.
Mr. Jean's platform of choice seems to be Twitter, where the former Fugees star is urging people to donate $5 to his Haitian charity, Yéle Haiti, by texting "YELE" to 501501. (The donation will be automatically charged to your cellphone bill.)
"I cannot stress enough what a human disaster this is, and idle hands will only make this tragedy worse," said Jean in a statement. "We must act now... Haiti needs your prayers and support." Read the full story here
From the Right to the City New Orleans Working Group
A CALL TO ACTION TO SUPPORT NEW ORLEANS' RIGHT TO THE CITY!
As goes New Orleans, so goes the rest of us. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced that starting December 15th it will begin bulldozing 4,600 public housing units in New Orleans, an 82% reduction in public housing in the city. This is the City and Federal Government's plan, even though 50,000 families remain in FEMA trailers and there are an estimated 12,000 homeless. It's clear that what is happening in New Orleans is a threat to public and low-income housing in all of our cities.
From December 10-15, New Orleans residents and allies will be engaging in a week of actions to delay and ultimately stop the demolitions. Targets of the week of action include City Council members and Senator Vitter(R-Louisiana), who has stopped the passage of the Senate version of the Gulf Coast Recovery Act, SB 1668, a bill that requires one-for-one replacement of any public housing demolished, AND would prohibit demolitions like this.
We may be a little late on this incident – but better late than never. Just think, before the rise of the net, incidents like Jena, Palmdale, CA and the one below in Ft. Pierce Florida, went on without public knowledge. Thanks to our friends over at Newsmakers Journal for sending out this information.
During his aggressive arrest of a 15-year-old female for a curfew violation, a Ft. Pierce police officer punched and pepper-sprayed an 89 pound teenager. According to WPBF-TV, Officer Daniel Gilroy arrested Shelwand Riley, for violating curfew and acting suspiciously. She was allegedly carrying a garbage bag full of new clothes with tags still attached, WPBF reported.
The teen pleaded not guilty last week to a resisting-arrest charge.
I must warn you, this video sparks a lot of emotion, especially as a parent. It is very sad to see, first hand, what our youth have to deal with when they leave home. And this from the very people paid to protect them. This video illustrates the need for elders to be more vigilant in training young people on the proper procedure to follow when they are arrested – regardless of their guilt or innocence.
While I agree this is a race issue – I’m sure they’re not beating affluent white kids for curfew violations - I believe it’s also an issue of the criminal justice system gone wild. The teen in question was more likely to be a minority, however, the out-of-control officer would have used excessive force regardless of race. Judging by the way he handled this young lady, he is unfit to police himself far less the community.
Newmakers Journal (www.newsmakerslive.com) makes the shrewd point, “An unruly African American teenager can be punched in the face and peppered sprayed by a police officer, but cannot be spanked or disciplined by her parents without the parent(s) suffering serious consequences.”
Great article today on the sentencing guidelines. Make sure you send your letter to the US Sentencing Commission to support making the change in sentencing guidelines retroactive.
Watch the CBS story on the disparity in sentencing click here
High Court reviews sentences for crack vs. powder cocaine
By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A federal judge's decision to slice a few years off a lengthy prison term has brought to the Supreme Court the racially tinged issue of harsh sentences for dealing crack cocaine.
Derrick Kimbrough, a black veteran of the 1991 Gulf War, received a 15-year-prison term for selling both crack and powder cocaine, as well as possessing a firearm in Norfolk, Va. Most crack defendants in federal court are black.
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