The Week In Review & Open Lines 7/5/2013

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Tonight we review some of the news and issues of the past week.

Possible Topics

George Zimmerman murder trial

State Constitutions and slavery

Reactions to Hawthorne, CA cops falsely arrest Black male and kill his dog Max

Racially showcasing white victims of oppression

America's war on Black boys & men w/ Shareef Hameed

  Download Podcast The George Zimmerman murder trial has many in America glued to their television sets or checking social media for updates. A lot of people have invested a lot emotionally into this trial and if George Zimmerman walks, there is no telling what they might do lacking the proper guidance because COINTELPRO has rendered many of these communities leaderless since the 60s and 70s.

 However, if George Zimmerman is convicted, there will be celebrating and a lot of slapping hands and hive-fives until the next Trayvon Martin comes along 28 hours later and they are reminded once again that ain't a damn thing changed. Youth counselor and Militant Mind Movement member Shareef Hameed spoke to Black Talk Radio News about the Zimmerman trial, potential riots and organizing our communities to become self policing.

Paula Deen, Black people and PTSD w/ Abena Afreeka

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Retired NFL player Chris Jenkins is the latest Black person to come out in defense of Paula Deen, the former Food Network host and entrepreneur who admitted to using the n-word in reference to Black people. Jenkins went as far as to say that he does not view the “n-word” as a “bad word” in 2013 and that he views it “more a test of my inner strength”. 
 Chris Jenkins is not the only Black person coming to the rescue of Paul Deen. Several Black people who were in a long line outside of one of her restaurants said that they had forgiven Deen. 
 On social media networks, some Black people were also claiming that it was not a big deal and even went on the attack against some of Deen’s current and former employees who told a lawyer with the Rainbow/Push coalition that they faced waged discrimination and that white employees were promoted faster. Those doing the attacking questioned why it took a white woman to file a lawsuit against Deen and her brother for the Black employees to get the guts to step forward. 

Joining us tonight is Abena Afreeka of Afreeka Live and Racism Non-Anonymous. We will discuss how the Paula Deen story and certain responses to it from different Black people relate to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from living under the constant presence and pressure of racism and white supremacy.