#whywecantwait

Join us October 23 at 12:00PM EST for a virtual town hall #WhyWeCantWait: Where Do We Go From Here? Demarginalizing women and girls of color and creating an intersectional social justice agenda For the past 16 months, activists, academics and stakeholders of all races and genders came together under #WhyWeCantWait, committed to the basic principle that the needs of women and girls of color could not be addressed by a trickle down vision of racial justice. Through letters, petitions, op-eds, meetings, agitation and advocacy, we challenged decision makers to advance holistic solutions to the many inequalities facing communities of color. As the touchstone of this campaign, we wrote, “women and girls of color are not doing fine, and until they are, men and boys will not be doing fine either.”  On September 19, President Obama finally called for increased recognition and support for Black women at the Congressional Black Caucus Awards Dinner. But our work is far from over. Now we must ask--where do we go from here? Time is ticking. In the few months that remain, what steps can the Obama Administration take to address the challenges facing women and girls and lift up the barriers--structural, institutional and social--undermining the wellbeing of communities of color? What does real love for women and girls of color look like? Join us for #WhyWeCantWait: Where Do We Go From Here?, to discuss some of the hard facts about the status of women and girls of color, and to consider what concrete steps could be taken to enhance their well being, and the well being of their families and communities. We all deserve something we can believe in. Let’s consider together what an equitable and meaningful racial justice agenda really looks like! CLICK HERE TO RSVP This groundbreaking moment cannot be separated from the efforts of people like you, who tirelessly shed light on the need to support women and girls of color. Our collective efforts have yielded tremendous success, but our work is far from over. Obama’s recognition of the linked fate of Black women and Black men provides a momentous opportunity for us to call on him to take action in support of a holistic racial justice agenda. The time is ripe to make asks that pressure the President to make the most of his remaining time in office.  Also Save the Date for the following #WhyWeCantWait Events: State of Female Justice, December 5, 2015 Breaking the Silence: A Town Hall on Women and Girls of Color in Philadelphia, December 12, 2015 Justice Uncompromised: A Summit to Build an Intersectional Political Agenda, March 10-12, 2016 Thank you for your unceasing commitment to shed light on the barriers to equality facing women and girls of color. Facebook Twitter Website Instagram YouTube About the African American Policy Forum Founded in 1996, AAPF was developed as part of an ongoing effort to promote women’s rights in the context of struggles for racial equality. It serves as an information clearinghouse that works to bridge the gap between scholarly research and public debates on questions of inequality, discrimination and injustice. Website: www.aapf.org  Email Address: afampolicyforum@gmail.com Phone Number: (212) 854-8041 Mailing Address: African American Policy Forum, Inc. 435 West 116th Street, Rm. 827 New York, NY 10025

jazz news/events - NYC

Jonathan Batiste, National Jazz Museum in Harlem's Artistic Director at Large brings his legendary energy and great music to the intimate and historic  Alhambra Ballroom in Harlem on October 28 at 8pm (with a reception at 7pm) to benefit  the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Get your tickets here! $500 Preferred seating and reception $250 Preferred seating and reception $150 Preferred seating $100 Preferred seating $75 General seating Click here to purchase tickets or call 212-348-8300. Join the Facebook event here.   WE ARE MOVING! After 15 years at our East 126th Street location, we are very proud to announce that we are moving to 58 West 129th Street, right off of Malcolm X Boulevard! Our planned move in date is late 2015,  please visit our website for more details! We've started an Indiegogo campaign to purchase new computers, stock our exhibit and office spaces with new furniture and make our new location technologically cutting-edge. We invite you to become a part of this new era by contributing to the cause! Numerous perks await you (and of course our undying love and appreciation)! Please tell your friends.   Make a contribution. October 19-23, 2015 Events Schedule Monday, October 19 5:30 pm Jazz Talk: "New World A-Coming: Jazz and Civil Rights" Guest: bassist and composer Marcus Shelby Location:  Stanford University Cantor Arts Center 328 Lomita Drive Stanford, CA Jazz musician and scholar Loren Schoenberg returns for a new season of Stanford Live's popular Jazz Talks series. Jazz has a long and intertwined history with America's civil rights movement, involving major artists such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. In conversation with special guest, Bay Area bassist, composer, and bandleader Marcus Shelby, Schoenberg will explore this rich history with a historical discussion, visual documents, and music. This talk is part of Stanford Live's 2015-16 Live Context programs on the theme of "Arts and Social Change." Co-sponsored by Cantor Arts Center and Stanford Live More information here. Tuesday, October 20 7:00-8:30 pm Jazz and Contemporary Culture: Jazz and Classical Music Host: Greg Thomas Guest: Mark O'Connor and Dr. Courtney Bryan Location: The New School  55 W. 13th Street Jazz Performance Space  Arnhold Hall, 5th Floor Mark O'Connor and Courtney Bryan Mark O'Connor, student of American fiddle pioneer Benny Thomasson and French jazz violin icon Stephane Grappelli, is a premier American master of violin, integrating jazz improvisation with other virtuoso violin styles into a whole new American approach to strings performance. Courtney Bryan, a New Orleans native, is a prolific and eclectic composer, pianist, and arranger with compositions ranging from solo works to large ensembles in jazz and new music idioms, film scores and more. In April 2015, the world premiere of her composition of SANCTUM for orchestra and recorded sound took place at Jazz at Lincoln Center as part of the American Composers Orchestra Blues Symphony & Beyond. Photo Credit: Jim McGuire Join the Facebook event here. Educational Programs Our GUIDED GROUP VISITS are designed to suit the needs of the visiting adults, tourists, children, teens and student groups. We can accommodate a variety of group sizes for a one-hour program that can include a performance, a film, a lecture demonstration, or a lesson in jazz history to compliment school curriculum. To schedule a visit go to www.jmih.org/education or call 212-348-8300 ext. 102. Membership Special Offer to NJMH Members:   Become a Member or Renew Membership and receive discounts on tickets to our Fall Benefit Concert featuring Jonathan Batiste on October 28.   Members will receive 20% discount on $75 and $100 tickets Members seeking a discount should call the museum at 212-348-8300 ext 103 to receive the discount   Join our growing community of local and international JAZZ lovers and play a vital role in our mission to promote and preserve our nation's JAZZ heritage and offer innovative educational programs that interpret and celebrate the rich history of JAZZ.  For more information on our membership levels of giving and benefits please call (212) 348-8300 Ext. 103 or visit our website www.jazzmuseuminharlem.org/membership.

on this DAY

ON THIS DAY: OCTOBER 16, 1859, JOHN BROWN, A WHITE ABOLITIONIST, LED AN UNSUCCESSFUL RAID ON THE FEDERAL ARMORY AT HARPERS FERRY.

THIS WAS AN ATTEMPT TO START A LIBERATION MOVEMENT AMONG ENSLAVED BLACK PEOPLE IN HARPERS FERRY.

BROWN WAS CAPTURED AND TRIED FOR TREASON, MURDER, AND INCITING A SLAVE INSURRECTION.

HE WAS FOUND GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS AND HANGED.

To read more on this event GOOGLE his name

#blacklivesmatter

Natasha McKenna: When Killing a Black Woman in Crisis is “Professionalism” The African American Policy Forum is deeply disappointed that the six officers who swarmed and Tasered Natasha McKenna to death in Fairfax (Va.) County Jail will face no criminal charges for their actions. We condemn the disregard for McKenna’s humanity that led to her detainment and death after she called 911 for mental health support. We are gravely concerned that this failure to prosecute effectively endorses the view that responsibility for her death falls on the person least in control of the situation—McKenna herself. The fact that McKenna’s call for help resulted in her being criminalized, detained and ultimately treated as a deadly biohazard evidences a system that views Black women in crisis as less than human. A shocking video released on September 10 shows that McKenna stopped breathing after six officers in hazmat suits Tased the naked woman four times with 50,000 volts of electricity. McKenna was Tased while shackled, restrained in a chair, and covered with a hood. The tragedy that unfolded, which we can now all see, shows that McKenna's death was not a mere accident, nor was it dictated by any real concern for officer safety. It was a raw exercise of power, rationalized by the perception that McKenna’s behavior was evidence of willful disregard for their authority. Fairfax County Sheriff Stacy Kincaid released the footage in an effort to show the “professionalism” and the “restraint and the patience that the deputies demonstrated.” Kincaid’s comments strain credibility. That McKenna was certainly terrified, confused and desperate was lost not only on the officers who killed her, but on the authorities who judged the officers' behavior to be “professional” and consistent with all applicable laws. Unfortunately, McKenna’s death is no anomaly. The killing of Black women in crisis is all too familiar. Michelle Cusseaux, Tanisha Anderson, Shereese Francis, Kayla Moore, and Tyisha Miller were all met with deadly violence when they or their loved ones sought supportive intervention. Along with McKenna and many others whose names we don’t know, these Black women in mental health crises were brutalized by the very people who should have helped them. McKenna’s mistreatment demonstrates the at-times deadly results of law enforcement being first responders in mental health crises. Police officers are not mental health professionals and often lack the skills and training necessary to handle such situations. In February, McKenna called 911 during a mental health crisis. She had been diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 12. Instead of providing her with mental health support, officers brought McKenna to Fairfax County Jail on an outstanding warrant. After being held in jail for seven days, McKenna—who weighed 130 pounds and was 5’4’’ tall—was hooded and shackled by officers attempting to move her to a mental health facility. Within minutes of being Tased, she stopped breathing. She died in the hospital seven days later. After visiting her in the hospital, McKenna’s mother reported that her daughter's eyes were blackened, she was covered in bruises, and one of her fingers was missing. The coroner classified McKenna’s cause of death as “excited delirium,” a term commonly used when deaths result from law enforcement use of Tasers that is not recognized by the medical community. Moreover, law enforcement ignored that the use of Tasers is not recommended on those suffering from mental illness. The circumstances surrounding McKenna’s death are an indictment of a system that treats the most vulnerable members of our society as threats to the status quo rather than individuals in need of support. As a nation we must do better. If we don’t speak up and force attention to McKenna’s story, those in power will face no repercussions for their blatant disregard for the value of her life. Join the African American Policy Forum, Amnesty International, Black Lives Matter DMV and SURJ NoVa in calling for an expedited Department of Justice investigation into McKenna’s death, along with immediate action to bring US policing practices in line with international human rights standards. CLICK HERE to sign Amnesty International’s petition calling for a swift and independent DOJ investigation, accompanied by concrete action including national guidelines for Taser use and the creation of a National Crime and Justice Task Force. Also CLICK HERE to add your name in support of SURJ NoVa and Black Lives Matter DMV’s call for the officers responsible for McKenna’s death to be fired. The gross miscarriage of justice in Natasha McKenna’s case reminds us of the need to be vigilant in our call to #SayHerName. We must rededicate ourselves to uplifting her story. We must let the powers that be know that if we don’t get no justice, they won’t get no peace. #SayHerName. #NatashaMcKenna.

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as a matter of FACT

Slaveholders in all the colonies lived an uneasy life with their "property" often in revolt or flight:

In 1657 Indians and Negroes attacked Hartford, Connecticut and burned homes.

In 1690 Connecticut towns instituted a 9 o'clock curfew for Indians and Negroes. Some towns passed laws that forbade either group to come out of doors during fires.

In 1727 Indians and Negroes attacked Virginia settlements. Obviously a number of Black men had made common cause with red men.  To the Indian, slavery was unknown before the coming of the White man. Clearly the enemy of both the slave and the Indian was the same, the White man.

When Natchez Indians massacred Whites in 1730 they spared 106 Negroes.

A Boston law forbade Negroes or Indians from carrying a stick or cane, day or night, which could be "fit for ...fighting or anything of that nature."

See "Eyewitness: The Negro in American History by William Loren Katz

birth of a COMMUNITY CREATOR

EDITH S. SAMPSON, Black lawyer and judge, was born on this day 10/13/1898.

One of eight children born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania to Louis Spurlock and Elizabeth A. McGruder, she went on to become the FIRST BLACK DELEGATE appointed to the UNITED NATIONS.

She later married and moved to Chicago, where she studied law at night while working full-time during the day as a social worker,  graduating at the top of her class from John Marshall Law School in 1925.

Mrs Sampson opened a law office on the South Side of Chicago in 1924, which served the Black community for years.

She practiced law until her death in 1979.






To read her incredible and inspiring bio GOOGLE her name