Lies, Lacrosse and Lynch Mobs
Paul Scott
"When you were young and your heart was an open book
You used to say live and let live..."
Paul McCartney
Black people have to be the most forgiving bunch of folks on the planet. No matter what you do to us we base our philosophy on the scripture that talks about turning the other cheek. However, when white folks feel that their rights have been violated in any way, shape, form or fashion they quickly turn to the gospel according to the "48 Laws of Power;" "Crush Your Enemies Totally."
See, the shelf life of black rage is about 30 days. Do anything against black folks you wish. Call them nappy heady ho's, beat them to a pulp at a routine traffic stop or drag them down a country road strapped to the bumper of a pick up truck and a month later you can still be the best of buds. Sure the first couple of days there will be the usual group temper tantrum, they will organize insurrections around the water cooler and some black leader will go on TV selling wolf tickets about the great calamity that will happen if justice isn't given. But a few Human Relations Commission Unity shin digs and a couple of corporate donations to civil rights organizations later and all is right with the world.
Remember the shining example of human rights violations, Rodney King is not remembered for standing on top of an over turned police cruiser with a Molotov cocktail yellin' "Burn Baby Burn!"
Naw, he will go down in history for whimperin' the immortal words...
"Can't we all just get along?"
White folks, especially the wealthy, ain't like that. Step on their toes and they will spend every waking moment plotting your demise. It may take a day, it may take a week...It may be 20 years from now but one day you bite into your slice of fruitcake at the company Christmas party and then BAM!!!! Payback is a mutha....
(Anyone who thinks that I am being a teensy, weensy bit paranoid, obviously has never had economic sanctions leveled against his cubicle at work or had his cable suddenly disconnected during the Super Bowl for no reason at all.)
Such is the case of "the accuser", Crystal Gail Mangum who, in 2006 made international headlines when she alleged that members of the Duke Lacrosse team did some unthinkable things to her at a party.
For the first few days after the stuff hit the fan, there were efforts all over Durham, to let cooler heads prevail. As long as public opinion was riding high that some freaky deeky stuff happened the appeals for forgiveness were deafening. However, when the pendulum began to swing the other way, all bets were off. It was not long before lawsuits were flying left and right and when the bloggers found out the name of the accuser it spread through the blogosphere like a cyber wildfire. '
Even after district attorney Mike Nifong's career was ruined and Mangum's name was trashed before the world, that wasn't enough. To quote Vincent Clark, the publisher of Mangum's new book "The Last Dance for Grace," "
"It is not enough to win, we have to kill you."
Even worst are the death threats that Clark says that he and Mangum have been receiving. Black folks may cuss you out but death threats aren't our methods of operation.
Don't get me wrong, I think the whole forgive and forget thing is a little over rated, myself. But let's have some balance here. Let's have a little more civility than the folks at a Sarah Palin campaign rally.
White folks have done some ill stuff to black folks over the years, to say the least. Many of the worst racists and bigots have gone on to become doctors, lawyers, US senators, etc and but you don't see many of us holding a grudge. All it takes is an apology and a Sunday morning visit to a black church and all is forgiven. And those of us who don't suffer from historical amnesia are always accused of "livin' in the past, " even when we bring up atrocities that happened just last month.
So why all the hatin' over the fact that Mangum is releasing a book ?
Who knows what darkness that lies in the hearts of men was released on Buchanan Street that dark winter night in March 2006?
Only the Shadow knows and the people who were at the party.
I don't know 'cause I wasn't there and 9 out of 10, you weren't there either. So my beef isn't with Mangum, Silegmann, Finnerty or Evens.
My beef is with the members of the Lacrosse lynch mob that have been calling for the head of Crystal Mangum, for years and are still sharpening their hatchets right now..
Let me say here that if Mangum was really assaulted, she deserves to tell her story till justice runs down like a mighty stream and in the same manner if the Lacrosse players were, indeed, falsely accused they should be filing lawsuits from now to kingdom come. But that's between them. The rest of the population needs to chill...Find a hobby. Get on with your lives....
If you can't back off Crystal Mangum, don't hate on me for using a poster of Jesse Helms for a dart board.
Don't expect us to forgive and forget while your motto is, to borrow from the knighted ex-Beatle, "to live and let die..."
Paul Scott's blog is http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com/ He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com
Showing posts with label Vincent Clark. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vincent Clark. Show all posts
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Getting to Know the Know Bookstore
Getting to Know the Know Bookstore:
Store to host Crystal Gail Mangum
Paul Scott
The Know Bookstore has been a vital part of Durham's African American community for over 20 years and has been a favorite stop off point for out of town connoisseurs of Afrocentric books. However, because reading and black folks are seen as oxymoronic by the mainstream and since there are no reports of Saturday night stabbings at the establishment , the Know Bookstore has gone virtually unnoticed by white America.
That is until it was recently announced that Crystal Gail Mangum, aka "The Duke Accuser" will unveil her book "the Last Dance for Grace" at the store on Thursday, October 23rd at a 10AM press conference.
In an exclusive interview with owner, Bruce Bridges, affectionately known in Durham's black community as "Brotha Bruce," No Warning Shots Fired.com wanted to know why with all the scandal surrounding Crystal Mangum, would he hold her book debut, there?
"The Know Bookstore is a place where the Durham community can come to express their points of view where the major chains may shut them out," says Bridges.
That's true. As someone who has frequented "The Know" on a regular basis since 1991, I have been exposed to many different perspectives from visiting lecturers that I would not have gotten at one of those fancy bookstores in the mall. Also, although I attended a historically black college, North Carolina Central University, the bulk of my cultural awareness did not come from sitting in a classroom but by grabbing my usual ring side seat at the Know Bookstore at the popular Thursday night lecture series during the 1990's
Over the years the Know has been visited by such nationally renowned folks such as Andrew Young, civil rights leader and former Atlanta mayor, Susan Taylor, founder of Essence Magazine and Dr. Yosef ben Jochannan, one of the pioneers of African-centered study. Also, Crystal Mangum will not be the first controversial voice raised at the Know Bookstore, as guests have included Black Power activists such as the late Kwame Ture (formerly Stokely Carmichael) and Jamil Al -Amin (formerly H. Rap Brown.)
According to Bridges, the vision for the bookstore started with a lecture series at North Carolina Central University during the summer of 1981 which was later moved to St. Joseph's AME Church in 1982. Feeling that the cultural message needed to reach a larger audience such as the elderly and handicapped who could not venture out to the lectures, later in 1982, Bridges brought his "Cultural Awareness Seminar" to the airwaves via WDUR AM. The success of the radio broadcast created a market for Afrocentric reading and the Know Bookstore was established in 1982 on Dillard St in downtown Durham later in 1982. The store moved to its current location on Fayetteville St. in 1991.
What has endeared the store to the hearts of members of Durham's African American community has not only been its Afrocentric resources but the activism that has originated at the Know. As a young activist in the early 90's, I remember spreading information about my activities and posting fliers at the Know, something that Brotha Bruce will quickly point out that I would probably not have been able to do at a Barnes and Nobles. Matter of fact the first time that the world heard about my crusade against the malt liquor industry for targeting black youth came courtesy of the Cultural Awareness Seminar.
Also, other activists such as Minister Curtis E. Gatewood, former president of the Durham NAACP, who gained national attention for his "Boycott Against Santa's Cost" a campaign against wasteful holiday spending in the mid 90's , have done a lot of community organizing around the bookstore.
Although, there were many black bookstores around the country in the 90's, in 2008, the Know is the last of a dying breed, as many Afrocentric bookstores have been forced to close their doors over the last decade.
So what has enabled the Know to keep its head above water.
According to Bridges, it's because the Know prides itself in being more than just a bookstore.
Besides the community events that the store still sponsors, it also features The Know Restaurant where you can get a slammin' fish sandwich, side order of veggies, a big piece of potato pie and wash it down with a tall glass of freshly squeezed lemonade. I got to tell you though, if you want anything containing swine, you have to go somewhere else. Also the restaurant has Jazz Nights every Friday for those wanting to cool out after a hard week's work.
So what is the future of the Know and the few remaining African-centred bookstores and radio programs across the country ?
Empowering black people through education. Or to borrow from Brotha Bruce's book; to aid us in "recapturing the African mind.'
Paul Scott's blog is http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com/ He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com
Store to host Crystal Gail Mangum
Paul Scott
The Know Bookstore has been a vital part of Durham's African American community for over 20 years and has been a favorite stop off point for out of town connoisseurs of Afrocentric books. However, because reading and black folks are seen as oxymoronic by the mainstream and since there are no reports of Saturday night stabbings at the establishment , the Know Bookstore has gone virtually unnoticed by white America.
That is until it was recently announced that Crystal Gail Mangum, aka "The Duke Accuser" will unveil her book "the Last Dance for Grace" at the store on Thursday, October 23rd at a 10AM press conference.
In an exclusive interview with owner, Bruce Bridges, affectionately known in Durham's black community as "Brotha Bruce," No Warning Shots Fired.com wanted to know why with all the scandal surrounding Crystal Mangum, would he hold her book debut, there?
"The Know Bookstore is a place where the Durham community can come to express their points of view where the major chains may shut them out," says Bridges.
That's true. As someone who has frequented "The Know" on a regular basis since 1991, I have been exposed to many different perspectives from visiting lecturers that I would not have gotten at one of those fancy bookstores in the mall. Also, although I attended a historically black college, North Carolina Central University, the bulk of my cultural awareness did not come from sitting in a classroom but by grabbing my usual ring side seat at the Know Bookstore at the popular Thursday night lecture series during the 1990's
Over the years the Know has been visited by such nationally renowned folks such as Andrew Young, civil rights leader and former Atlanta mayor, Susan Taylor, founder of Essence Magazine and Dr. Yosef ben Jochannan, one of the pioneers of African-centered study. Also, Crystal Mangum will not be the first controversial voice raised at the Know Bookstore, as guests have included Black Power activists such as the late Kwame Ture (formerly Stokely Carmichael) and Jamil Al -Amin (formerly H. Rap Brown.)
According to Bridges, the vision for the bookstore started with a lecture series at North Carolina Central University during the summer of 1981 which was later moved to St. Joseph's AME Church in 1982. Feeling that the cultural message needed to reach a larger audience such as the elderly and handicapped who could not venture out to the lectures, later in 1982, Bridges brought his "Cultural Awareness Seminar" to the airwaves via WDUR AM. The success of the radio broadcast created a market for Afrocentric reading and the Know Bookstore was established in 1982 on Dillard St in downtown Durham later in 1982. The store moved to its current location on Fayetteville St. in 1991.
What has endeared the store to the hearts of members of Durham's African American community has not only been its Afrocentric resources but the activism that has originated at the Know. As a young activist in the early 90's, I remember spreading information about my activities and posting fliers at the Know, something that Brotha Bruce will quickly point out that I would probably not have been able to do at a Barnes and Nobles. Matter of fact the first time that the world heard about my crusade against the malt liquor industry for targeting black youth came courtesy of the Cultural Awareness Seminar.
Also, other activists such as Minister Curtis E. Gatewood, former president of the Durham NAACP, who gained national attention for his "Boycott Against Santa's Cost" a campaign against wasteful holiday spending in the mid 90's , have done a lot of community organizing around the bookstore.
Although, there were many black bookstores around the country in the 90's, in 2008, the Know is the last of a dying breed, as many Afrocentric bookstores have been forced to close their doors over the last decade.
So what has enabled the Know to keep its head above water.
According to Bridges, it's because the Know prides itself in being more than just a bookstore.
Besides the community events that the store still sponsors, it also features The Know Restaurant where you can get a slammin' fish sandwich, side order of veggies, a big piece of potato pie and wash it down with a tall glass of freshly squeezed lemonade. I got to tell you though, if you want anything containing swine, you have to go somewhere else. Also the restaurant has Jazz Nights every Friday for those wanting to cool out after a hard week's work.
So what is the future of the Know and the few remaining African-centred bookstores and radio programs across the country ?
Empowering black people through education. Or to borrow from Brotha Bruce's book; to aid us in "recapturing the African mind.'
Paul Scott's blog is http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com/ He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com
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