» Run Cynthia Run - By ¡Para Justicia y Libertad!

» Run Cynthia Run - By ¡Para Justicia y Libertad!: "Just when the Democratic Party rid themselves of their black torn on their side. Think again. Bwahahahaha. She is back and will really be a torn on their side. Former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney has taken the necessary steps to run for President of the United States as a Green candidate against the Democratic and Republican nominees next year. On October 22, 2007, Ms. McKinney registered with the Federal Election Commission as a presidential candidate."

Clarice Orsini

Clarice Orsini By S. Botticelli


Clarice Orsini of Rome married Lorenzo the Magnificent Medici in 1469. Her marriage was not one of love. It's more about the social and political ambition of the Medici family. She's the mother of ill-fated heir Lorenzo Medici who was exiled by Savonarola's goverment. She's also the mother of Pope Leo X.

I liked the Botticelli painting of Clarice Orsini Medici. It's a reflection of the times when Florentine women had few rights and were subject of various sumptuary laws which curbed extravagance in clothing and accesories(jewelry included). The above painting shows her dress in sombre colors and almost no jewelry except a plain necklace and a wedding ring.

Remembering Shawna Hawk, Latasha Norman and the Recent Victims of Violence

Shawna Hawk 1972-1993



Latasha Norman, R.I.P.

Today, Miss Shawna Denise Hawk would have turned 35 years old. Instead she was murdered on February 19, 1993. A victim of the sadistic serial killer who is still on death row after he was convicted in 1997 of nine murders of young Black women in Charlotte between 1992 and 1994. Miss Shawna would have been married with children and an accomplished professional woman today.

What I'm writing about today is the epidemic of violence against Black women in the past two weeks. The latest in the war against Black women is Latasha Norman of Greenville Mississippi.

Like Shawna, Latasha was an upstanding college student. Miss Norman attended Jackson State University in Jackson, MS and was on her way to success until her ex-boyfriend, who was stalking her for awhile after the breakup, murdered her last month. Her case didn't merited attention outside of Jackson where she was first reported missing in mid-November.

Her case drew national attention while she was missing for more than two weeks, especially after Hinds County Sheriff and Jackson Police Chief Malcolm McMillin scolded the media for, in essence, ignoring Norman because she is black.

Miss Norman was described by family and friends as a beautiful, accomplished student and a good all-American girl.

Another accomplished young woman, Stepha Henry, is still missing since April of this year. She was last seen at a club in Miami in mid-April. Although her story was nationwide, even meriting two pages in People magazine, the case wasn't as big as Natalee Holloway, the Alabama teen who was missing in 2005. The public is still obsessed about her since her disappearance.

Last month, they found Teresa Bunn's body in a dumpster in Chicago. She was one of two women killed in the same manner. Also remember Nailah Franklin, a young Chicago professional who was missing for a few days until her body was discovered in October. Fortunately, the local news covered it. Unfortunately, it wasn't national news.

Latoyia Figueroa's disappearance didn't register until her family and bloggers protested against the oversaturated coverage of missing pretty middle class white women at the expense of all other women by mainstream media.

Meghan Williams, Theresa Bunn, and the young Haitian women who was gang-violated by several men at Dunbar Village deserve our sympathy and help. We shouldn't ignore nor treat these ladies with less dignity and respect we accord to women of other races and cultures.

Miss Shawna would have been alive years ago had the police and society in general been up to their jobs in 1993. May God be with the family of Latasha Norman as they grieve the loss of their daughter, sister, friend and collegue.

May Latasha Norman, Latoyia Figueroa, Theresa Bunn, Shawna Hawk, Caroline Love, Vanessa Mack, Olamide Adeyooye, Cynteria Phillips, Michelle Stinson, Tynesha Stewart, Cherica Adams, Audrey Spain, Debra Slaughter, Betty Jean Baucom, Nixzmary Brown, Sherrice Iverson, Brandi Henderson, Valencia Jumper, Aaliyah, Tashanda Bethea, Jessie Davis, Nailah Franklin, Elisa Izquierdo, Tamika Huston, the three New Jersey College Students, Reyna Marroquin, and Imette St. Guillen rest in peace. They will always be remembered by those who care the most.

blackagendareport.com - Ten Reasons Why "Save Darfur" is a PR Scam to Justify the Next US Oil and Resource Wars in Africa

blackagendareport.com - Ten Reasons Why "Save Darfur" is a PR Scam to Justify the Next US Oil and Resource Wars in Africa: "The star-studded hue and cry to 'Save Darfur' and 'stop the genocide' has gained enormous traction in U.S. media along with bipartisan support in Congress and the White House. But the Congo, with ten to twenty times as many African dead over the same period is not called a 'genocide' and passes almost unnoticed. Sudan sits atop lakes of oil. It has large supplies of uranium, and other minerals, significant water resources, and a strategic location near still more African oil and resources. The unasked question is whether the nation's Republican and Democratic foreign policy elite are using claims of genocide, and appeals for 'humanitarian intervention' to grease the way for the next oil and resource wars on the African continent."

AP Video On Baby Grace

Hat tip from Kenneth Hudson:

Here's the link to AP videos on the Baby Grace case:

http://video.ap.org/v/Legacy.aspx?g=26b0d457-7f8d-4432-8b61-cfe185ecb84c&f=&partner=en-ap

Thank you, Mr. Hudson.

Democracy Now! | Former Black Panther Details Brutal Police Torture to Extract Confession in 1971 Murder Case

Democracy Now! | Former Black Panther Details Brutal Police Torture to Extract Confession in 1971 Murder Case: "Two Nobel Peace Prize laureates are calling for all charges to be dropped against eight former Black Panthers arrested earlier this year for allegedly killing a San Francisco police officer over 35 years ago. Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mairead Maguire said the charges against the San Francisco Eight should be dropped because the case is based in part on statements made under torture. Harold Taylor, one of the co-defendants, gives a detailed and powerful account of the abuse he endured while in police custody. We also speak with Ray Boudreaux, another of the San Francisco Eight as well as their attorney."

Truthdig - Reports - When Did the Victim Become the Murderer?

Truthdig - Reports - When Did the Victim Become the Murderer?: "WASHINGTON—Why do you suppose so many people were so quick to blame Sean Taylor for his own murder? Relax, that’s a rhetorical question. There’s no need for self-exculpatory huffing and puffing, no need to point out that the verdict of suicide-by-bad-attitude—pronounced so often this week, and so coldly—was usually couched in broad hints or softened by the nebulous fog of the conditional mood. Everyone knew what was really being said, and everyone knew why. Taylor instantly became not a person but a character, one whose purpose was to advance a narrative about young black men and their manifold failings. Taylor, a gifted defensive back for the Washington Redskins, had been in trouble with the law. Despite the millions he earned playing football, he never managed to escape the quicksand lure of the mean streets—parasitic friends, envious haters, a culture of casual violence. It was his decision to swim in this cesspool of dysfunction, the narrative said. And, like so many other young black men who have made the same wrong choice, he paid for it with his life."

Officer stuns pregnant woman with Taser

Officer stuns pregnant woman with Taser


TROTWOOD, Ohio, Nov. 29 The FBI is reportedly investigating an Ohio police officer's use of a Taser on a pregnant woman.Michael Etter, public safety director in Trotwood, said the officer did not realize the woman was pregnant, WHIO-TV in Akron reported.Etter said the woman came to the police department Nov. 18 trying to hand over custody of her 1-year-old son. She became agitated and tried to leave with the boy, at which point the officer decided he had to stop her for the child's safety.The woman was wearing a heavy coat and held her son on her lap while she talked to the officer, Etter said. He added she did not say anything about being pregnant even after she was arrested.

The Black Commentator - Black America's Legacy of Struggle

The Black Commentator - November 29, 2007 - Issue 255: "Life is struggle. Shirk it and lose it. Embrace it and most assuredly fulfill it. What does Black America’s legacy of political struggle really mean? In succinct terms, it refers to the enormous sacrifices, both personal and collective, made by those men, women and children who endeavored to further the cause of economic, social, and political equality, justice, and freedom, particularly with respect to Black Americans and our Red and Brown sisters and brothers."

With case unsolved, family searches for closure
Slain woman's family seeks closure, justice
By Tara Malone, Tribune staff reporter
November 26, 2007


Stuffed animals, rose bouquets and blue signs reading "It's a boy!" ringed a tree in the dusty abandoned lot Sunday, reminding nearly four dozen family and friends who gathered in the cold of their double loss here earlier this month.Theresa Bunn, 21 -- eight months' pregnant with her first child, a son relatives said she planned to name Michael Pierre Terry Bunn -- was found strangled and burned in a garbage bin nearly two weeks ago along the 6100 block of South Prairie Avenue, the first of two women killed in a similarly grisly manner near Washington Park this month.Bunn's killer remains at large. Chicago police officials continue to investigate the slayings of Bunn and Hazel Lewis, 52, who was found strangled and burned Nov. 14 in another trash bin behind an elementary school near her home. Investigators have not found evidence linking the two slayings, Officer John Henry said Sunday.


Related links
Family and friends remember a pregnant woman who was killed, burned Video
Murder victim's kin seek closure Photo
Family remembers 2nd burn victim as giving


Because Bunn's body was so badly burned that it was identified only through dental records, her family decided to forgo a formal funeral and instead hold a vigil where Bunn's charred remains were found. They came searching for some sense of closure."To me, this is her last place," said Anthony McCray, Bunn's father. "It shouldn't be here. They took our baby and burned her like she was garbage."Many extended condolences to Lewis' family, saying they know too well the grief the Bronzeville woman's relatives must feel.

The vigil came a day after Bunn's memorial service, and relatives, friends and neighbors laid flowers, a music box topped with a ballerina and nearly two dozen stuffed bears around a tree in the center of the lot. Some wore T-shirts emblazoned with a picture of Bunn smiling. Others paused before a framed, poster-size picture that, like a tombstone, listed her full name -- Theresa Marie Bunn -- and the dates of her birth and death. Many carried balloons that they let loose together, with red and blue filling the sky."That's Theresa's tree from here on out," said Bunn's cousin Chris Hogan, who wore a T-shirt that on the back read, "Rest in Peace, Baby Boy Mike."Photographs from her days at Englewood High School are stored away, McCray said, unable to offer any comfort yet. Her bedroom remains untouched. Her 19-year-old brother, also named Anthony McCray, still comes home expecting to gab with his sister, the eldest of five siblings, whom friends remember as quick to lift everyone's spirits. Bunn's youngest brother, Michael, 14, for whom she planned to name her son, tries to escape the reminder of her loss in his schoolwork.

Until Bunn's assailant is arrested, charged and put behind bars, relatives said, any closure will remain elusive."This didn't even ease the pain," said Rose Marie Williams, Bunn's aunt. "We were expecting a baby next month and we don't have [anything]."Bunn's son would have been the family's first grandchild, McCray said.Police said Bunn was last seen Nov. 12. She told family members she was going shopping either in Chicago or Evergreen Park. Her mother worried that a mental condition she had might have left her confused.

Bunn's body was discovered just before midnight that day.Her relatives urge anyone who might have seen or heard anything suspicious to contact police. Apartment buildings surround the lot."This time it's our daughter. But it could be your daughter, your niece, your mother," McCray said."We, as a community, need to help each other."Tribune staff reporter Megan Twohey contributed to this report
tmalone@tribune.com
More articles

Baby Grace Identified and Serial Killings In

Thanks, Ann.

Here are two articles concerning murdered and missing women and girls:

http://kathmanduk2.wordpress.com/2007/11/25/baby-grace-identified/#comments

THE SERIAL KILLINGS OF ACRES HOMES

http://kathmanduk2.wordpress.com/2007/11/25/the-serial-killings-of-acres-homes/

A very chilling report on violence against Native American women in the US and Canada

http://kathmanduk2.wordpress.com/2007/11/25/rape-of-native-american-women-uninvestigated/


Thank you Ann for keeping me abreast regarding violence against women of Color around the world. This needs to be addressed.

About those other women ...

About those other women ...
November 21, 2007

We're in Week Two of an all-out national dragnet for missing Bolingbrook woman Stacy Peterson. And now a fresh national media frenzy has swarmed over a Glendale Heights family, the second Indian family from DuPage County this year where children were doused with gas and burned.

Yet we hardly hear a mention of the cases of two women whose charred bodies were found on the South Side: Theresa Bunn, a 21-year-old black woman, and another woman, believed to be 30-50 years, were discovered in ashes in garbage containers near Washington Park in the Woodlawn community. Bunn was last seen Nov. 12. The unidentified middle-aged woman -- whose remains were too damaged to determine race -- was discovered Nov. 14.

And in between those grisly finds, a 14-year-old black girl, Deanna Glass, from Bronzeville, disappeared.

"It definitely symbolizes something to whomever committed these grotesque acts that [the burned women] were thought of as trash," said Delilah McDonald, a 20-year-old student, while waiting for a Cottage Grove bus with a male escort for her safety.

How is it that we know so much about the Peterson family and their Jerry Springer-like story arc and yet we know virtually nothing about these other missing women, believed to be all black on the South Side? We don't even know who killed Nailah Franklin, the 28-year-old black woman whose body was found in a Calumet City forest preserve in September.
Stacy Peterson had plenty of reasons to rethink her choices and escape to start anew. If some tragedy has befallen her, let's hope authorities can find her quickly.

But what about the burned women and the missing teen? These were not run-of-the-mill murders -- if there is such a category. Not only was Bunn strangled and burned, she also was eight months pregnant. That means her baby boy, to be named Michael, was murdered, too. Police have no clue who the second burned woman is. And there's nothing about Deanna that would suggest she would run away. She's described as an A-student and no-nonsense girl. Deanna's mother, Gail Glass, last saw her daughter while she was in the hospital and now has the onerous task of gathering Deanna's dental records in case police find a body. Police have distributed community alerts to solicit residents' assistance in these cases.
We hate to even bring this up, but could a serial killer be on the loose? Two women burned, a third girl missing on the same side of town. We aren't the first to suggest these incidents might be connected.

"We don't think we have enough to classify this as a serial killer," said Monique Bond, Chicago Police Department spokeswoman.

Many Woodlawn women are resigned to the fact that heinous crimes in their neighborhood don't necessarily generate big headlines. They are used to seeing white women publicly elevated when something happens, and Peterson and her prosaic life are no different.
"I'm afraid for my daughter," said Camille Fairman, 32, who's given her own teen daughter orders to stay in a group and to call home for a ride after dark. "I told her to scream, kick or try to do something like that to put up a fight."

Several years ago a serial killer on the South Side was knocking off prostitutes and leaving them in abandoned buildings. Their deaths didn't make the front page until someone connected the pattern.

We shouldn't put a value on life in certain neighborhoods. If these two women were found burned to death in Lincoln Park, there'd be a task force formed by now. That Woodlawn is just a stone's throw from our celebrated University of Chicago and the planned site for the 2016 Olympics shouldn't matter, but if that's what it takes to generate some outrage, so be it.