Victims of the Freeway Phantom

In 1971-72, a killer called the Freeway Phantom terrorized the young black female population of Washington, DC. He was never caught. He raped and strangled at least 6, discarding the victims near I-295. (Hence the name). It is hoped that this video might generate even one clue that might solve these tragic cases. Background music is George Harrison's "Give Me Love" and Louis Armstrong's "Wonderful World". -- KWH

Missouri suburb shaken by gunman's rampage - Los Angeles Times

Missouri suburb shaken by gunman's rampage - Los Angeles Times: "The roots of the dispute involved the city ticketing his business, Cookco Construction, for parking commercial vehicles in the neighborhood, said Ron Hodges, a friend who lives in the community. The tickets were 'eating at him,' Hodges told the Associated Press. 'He felt that as a black contractor he was being singled out,' said Hodges, who is also black. 'I guess he thought mentally he had no more recourse."

Meghan Williams To Receive $40,000 scholarship

Thanks, Ann.

This courageous young girl deserves every bit of it.

Ridwah Laher: Hamilton Faces Racist Abuse

Fatima

I am not a fan of Formula One racing but I started paying some attention when Lewis Hamilton shook up the rafters and brought some real excitement to the sport.

Hamilton, a 23 year old Black Briton, has however angered some Spanish fans who support his Spaniard team mate and rival, Fernando Alonso.

So what is a bigotted Spanish fan to do when your hero is left looking quite ordinary by a brilliant Black kid?

Well taunt him of course. And what better way to taunt him than by showing up in blackface and wooly wigs with shirts that read "Hamilton's Familly" (sic).

These bigots showed up on Saturday as Hamilton was testing at the Montmelo circuit in Barcelona.

Sad huh?

Hamilton says he is saddened by this behaviour. But he is not alone in facing this kind of racist abuse.

Sports figures who are not white are often racially abused at sporting events in Spain.

Last year there was a spate of racist insults at football (soccer) matches.

La guayabita: Why Afro-Colombians Oppose the Colombia FTA

La guayabita: Why Afro-Colombians Oppose the Colombia FTA: "Marino Cordoba, founder of the Association of Internally Displaced Afro-Colombians (AFRODES), submitted this post as a guest blogger for The Hill.

The U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement is considered a non-starter in the U.S. Congress because the country is the world’s deadliest for union activists. Less known, but equally disturbing is the systematic violence now confronting Afro-Colombians.

African descendants comprise 26% of Colombia’s population. As with other African descendants, we face racial discrimination which results in economic hardships far worse than those experienced by the average Colombian. However in Colombia, a vibrant 1980s civil rights movement won full recognition of our cultural rights and collective ownership and community control of our territories and natural resources. The 1991 Colombian Constitution and the landmark Law 70 explicitly enshrine these rights and recognize official democratic Afro-Colombian governance structures, similar to those of your Indian tribes."

Nixzmary Brown's Trial

http://kathmanduk2.wordpress.com/2008/02/06/defense-in-nixzmary-browns-beating-death-focuses-on-mothers-role/

Thanks, Ann!

Beautiful Black Models

They're a class act!

The Unbearable Whiteness of Fashion

Thanks, Ann.

Each year, Black women contribute to fashion and beauty industries in the amount of 40 billion dollars. We go to malls outside our communities to buy the latest in fashion. Are we going to believe the oft-repeated lie in the fashion industry that they can't hire a Black model because we're not profitable to the world?

The fashion and beauty industries are 75 years behind when it comes to race. People of Color make up 33% of America's population. Yet the fashion industry's runway and ad campaigns remained lily-white.

What about modeling agencies? Most of the modeling agencies are located in relatively affluent white areas and often dispatch modeling scouts to mainly white shopping centers and malls instead of cities and neighborhoods of Color to recruit models. What the industry wants to project is a false lily-white image of America to the world and most people fall for it.

The faux idea that white women are the epitome of beauty, virtue, and affluence is being exported to the far corners of the earth along with hateful images of Black women. This racist/misogynistic duality of women has harmed women in America and the world. The fashion industry wants to project the image of white models so that brainwashed and gullible public buy into the peculiarly American notion of the cult of white womanhood.

This is what the industry wants and prefer and want it to continue because the industry, like everything else is soak completely in the oil of racism/classism.

Frank On TV

Frank testifies in the Nixzmary Brown trial of ... (more)
Added: January 31, 2008
Frank testifies in the Nixzmary Brown trial of Cesar Rodriguez

Black Inventors

Today is the first day of Black History Month. For today, I'll start with Black inventors since Blacks have contributed to American science and industry since its founding. Here are several links of bios of important inventors:

Black Inventors A-Z

Famous Black Inventors

Contemporary Black Inventors

AIDS Created as BIO-Warfare!

AIDS Created as BIO-Warfare!: "The first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Wangari Maatha of Kenya, spoke out on the AIDS virus saying it was man-made and deliberately created as a weapon of bio-warfare.

'In fact it (the HIV virus) is created by a scientist for biological warfare,” she said. 'Why has there been so much secrecy about AIDS? When you ask where did the virus come from, it raises a lot of flags. That makes me suspicious,” Maathai said.

The Kenya based East Africa Standard reported that in response to questions from Asian and European media, she said, 'I want to dedicate the prize the African woman. I want to hold and embrace her. She has suffered so much and I feel this is an honor to her.

'Although I am a biologist, I have not done any research. I may not be able to say who developed the (HIV) virus but it was meant to wipe out the Black race,' she continued.

'When she first blamed the HIV/Aids on 'some sadistic scientists, Professor Maathai kicked a storm, leaving some experts outraged and others supporting her,' the Standard reported."

Is the term “Canadian” the new code word for racist references to black people? « The Frame Problem

Is the term “Canadian” the new code word for racist references to black people? « The Frame Problem

I read an interesting article in this week’s newsletter of the Clarington Durham Regional Humanists. Apparently the term “Canadian” is being used by some in the Texas court system as a safe code word for “Black people”. Apparently this usage of “Canadian” is being used a bit more broadly than just be Texan court workers, as this usage of the word is the 4th listed definition of “Canadian” on Urban Dictionary, and has received 316 thumbs up ratings versus 192 thumbs downs.

Here is the definition offered at Urban Dictionary:

Expression for black people used by whites as “code” when they want to refer to blacks in a semi-derogatory manner without being detected in a group of people

“Jeezus, look at all the Canadians out tonight.”

Tags for this definition include “spooks”, “porch monkeys”, “jigs”, and “Africans”.

Here is the post from the CDRH Humanist Hub (as linked in the newsletter):

Is term ‘Canadian’ used as racist word?
Email lands Texas district attorney in hot waterhttp://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/297666Is term ‘Canadian’ used as racist word?

Email lands Texas district attorney in hot water
Jan 26, 2008 04:30 AM
Brett Popplewell
Staff Reporter

Is “Canadian” the new black? Perhaps – that is if you’re a racist speaking in code.