On Friday, 54-Year-Old Joseph Renick was arrested and charged with murdering 15-Year-Old Sentonio Cox the prior Sunday. According to reports, young Sentonio was shot in the head while backing away from Renick. In addition to Sentonio Cox, police are also looking into possible ties to the murder of 8-Year-Old Jurnee Thompson, 7-Year-Old Xavier Usanga, 2-Year Old Kayden Johnson, 18-Year-Old Trina’ty Riley, 10-Year-Old Nyla Banks, 45-Year-Old Antionette Banks, 46-Year-Old Gene Watson lll, 3-Year-Old Kennedi Powell, 10-Year-Old Eddie Hill IV, 16-Year-Old Kristina Curry, 16-Year-Old Jashon Johnson, 11-Year-Old Charnija Keys, 16-Year-Old Myiesha Cannon, 15-Year-Old Derrel Williams, and 16-Year-Old Jason Eberhart. This seems eerily familiar to The Atlanta Child Murders, of the late 1970’s & early 1980’s. Wayne Williams was sent to prison, as the one who committed those murders; but he was never actually convicted of any of those children.  He was actually only convicted in the murders of two adults. The murders predate any investigation and continued on after his arrest. At east one family of White Supremacists has been rumored to have been responsible for the murders, citing the desire to create a race war. And of course, in this case, many we quick to scream about “Black On Black Crime” with no regard to the idea that maybe something else might be in play.
Officially, Renick is charged with first degree murder, armed criminal action, and unlawful possession of a firearm. There is no word on what the next steps are, regarding the other murder investigations. He is being held on a $500,000 bond.
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-08-30/man-charged-in-first-case-in-string-of-child-homicides-in-st-louis
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/26/us/st-louis-shooting-children-victims/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/30/us/st-louis-child-shooting-arrest/index.html
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/year-old-girl-among-three-killed-saturday-night/article_688445e2-67ab-54c5-9d11-d1eafe750443.html

In September 2009, Muskegon, Michigan Police Officer Charles Anderson pulled over Julius Johnson. Sadly, by the time this routine traffic stop was over, Mr. Johnson was dead. What was Julius Johnson’s crime? He was a passenger in the car of a driver who had attempted to leave the area. Under circumstances that have never been explained, somehow Officer Anderson, and Mr. Johnson ended up in an alley-and Julius Johnson ended up shot to death after an alleged fight ensued. Per usual, Overseer Anderson went unpunished for executing Mr. Johnson. The local NAACP sought a federal investigation, but the request was basically ignored. Even worse though, Julius Johnson’s sister Tunisia Phillips found herself in jail when prosecutors decided that her assertion that she heard her brother begging for his life was not true. No information has been made available as to how they came to this decision; but Ms. Philips ended up serving three months in jail. Now one month short of a full ten years later, Officer Charles Anderson is again under investigation. An investigation that at minimum should be the catalyst for reviewing his past actions in a new light. Oddly enough for reasons that he could have never seen coming…
Officer Anderson had put his Holton, Michigan home up for sale, and among the prospective buyers was the Black couple of Robert & Reyna Mathis. While touring the house, Mr. & Mrs. Mathis unexpectedly came across a framed copy of his application for membership into The Ku Klux Klan, and several Confederate Flags. Mr. & Mrs. Mathis posted a photo of the KKK Application on Facebook, and in addition to it going viral, the pic caught the attention of local officials. Overseer Anderson has been taken off the streets and is now on paid administrative leave. While the hope here is that while his past record will come under a stricter review, and that he will finally be held accountable for any prior misconduct, reality says that nothing of substance will come out of this. How can you trust the police to investigate the police???
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/08/09/black-man-michigan-cop-kkk-house-suspension/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/michigan-officer-investigated-on-paid-leave-after-kkk-items-found-at-home/ar-AAFCDj8?ocid=spartandhp
https://time.com/5649505/michigan-police-officer-kkk/

With The 2019 NFL Draft now in the rearview, sports fans have now had a couple of weeks to scrutinize, agonize, and/or celebrate the moves made by their favorite teams. But for me, good or bad, I’ve always had my eye on scrutinizing those making the choices. Who are the General Managers, and Personnel Directors, behind who gets drafted and when? Well, I’ll tell you who they are not…They are overwhelmingly Not Black. Roughly 70% of the players in the league are Black, but yet there are only three Black Coaches (plus one Latino) & only one Black General Manager. There are a plethora of Black NFL scouts, and assistant coaches; but rarely are they given the opportunity to prove themselves in higher roles. For those that break through, the leash is very short. But for their white counterparts, it’s a completely different story.  
When looking at the most controversial and/or questionable roster moves made so far this year, those picks were made by NFL front offices led by two retreads (Dave Gettleman & John Dorsey), a former TV analyst (Mike Mayock), and a couple of former players with zero front office experience (John Elway & John Lynch). Meanwhile, Jerry Reese (who built the two-time Super Bowl Champion New York Giants squad) remains unemployed. Rick Smith built The Houston Texans into a relevant franchise; but has yet to see a second opportunity. And the 2016 Executive Of The Year Award Winner-Reggie McKenzie turned The Oakland Raiders into a 12-4 team of the future; but was ousted so that Jon Gruden could consolidate his power over the franchise (what would Al Davis think?) Ray Farmer and Sashi Brown were fired for not turning water into wine; but arguably eleven other teams continue to flounder in mediocrity & bad decision making without questioning the choices made from up on high. Coaches continue to be fired, and this past season brought new meaning to “Black Monday,” but the GMs for these teams remain safe-even though they are the ones that built these horrible teams (more on that later). And these GMs continue to fire/refuse to hire Black & Latino Coaches-preferring instead to hire from a coaching tree that does not yet exist, one rehire, a couple of new faces from losing teams, and one coaxed out of retirement. Four Black Coaches were fired during, or after the 2018 season. The most eye-popping firing was the dismissal of Steve Wilks, by The Arizona Cardinals, after only one year. And who did they replace him with? The Cards replaced him with Kliff Kingsbury, who had just been fired at Texas Tech after posting a losing 35-40 record during his six years there. Yep, that makes sense (Not!). Denver’s firing of Vance Joseph, after only two seasons, never raised enough eyebrows either-being that John Elway keeps wasting money & draft picks on bad quarterbacks.
So who is that lone Black General Manager in The NFL? He is Chris Grier of The Miami Dolphins, who ironically made the only new hire of a black coach this season. Grier, who came up as a New England Patriot’s Scout, chose New England Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores to take The Dolphins to the next level. The pressure will surely be on for both Grier, and Flores, as history says that brothers do not get much time to implement their programs. Add the reality that The NFL’s first ever Black General Manager (Ozzie Newsome) has retired, and coaches like Mike Tomlin are going into the season on the hot seat. Regardless of roster moves, that let two elite level superstars leave-while giving yet more money to an interception prone QB, Tomlin will surely be forced to fall on the sword if The Steelers do not shine this season. Let’s also keep an eye out for the Senior Vice President of Player Personnel, in Washington, Doug Williams. The D.C. franchise is yet another one known for dysfunction; so hopefully this legend will actually get a fair shake at proving he belongs amongst the front office elite.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/terencemoore/2019/01/02/nfl-teams-keep-firing-black-head-coaches-but-thats-not-the-problem/#4a75b9406a55
http://insidethepylon.com/nfl/2019/03/25/towards-a-level-playing-field-the-hiring-and-firing-of-minority-gms/

While listening to a podcast about the strange case of The Atlanta Child Murderers, and the theory that a Georgia KKK member named Charles T. Sanders was actually responsible for some of the murders, the long-suppressed memory of 14-year-old Kerrick Majors suddenly came to mind. Majors was brutally tortured, raped, and murdered by three white assailants, after he accidentally broke a $2 vase a The Nashville Flea Market in April 1987. Donald Ray Middlebrooks, Tammy Middlebrooks, and Robert Brewington were each convicted in the case. The trio beat Kerrick with brass knuckle knife, yelled racial expletives at him, forced him drink urine, sodomized him with a stick, burned him, carved an X into his chest, and later stabbed him to death. According to court documents, the entire ordeal lasted for three to four hours. Young Kerrick was left in a wooded area, naked, and hidden under a mattress. His body was not found until the next day.
Donald Ray Middlebrooks was sentenced to death-and has failed in multiple attempts to appeal. Robert Brewington received consecutive sentences 40 & 35 years, and Tammy Middlebrooks was sentenced to life. Kerrick Majors story was buried in the archives, never to be mentioned again, by a city that has always aggressively pursued control over how it is viewed by the rest of the country. Buried so much so, that after an hour long Google Search, I could not find his obituary nor a single stand alone photo of this young martyr.
http://tncourts.gov/press/1999/07/06/supreme-court-upholds-middlebrooks-death-sentence
https://law.justia.com/cases/tennessee/supreme-court/1992/840-s-w-2d-317-2.html
https://books.google.com/books?id=wrMDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA36&lpg=PA36&dq=Kerrick+Majors&source=bl&ots=jpq9MRyym5&sig=ACfU3U2l8hUNDxRxqVp8kxuIY2iCfNDS3g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj2grW844niAhUPnKwKHbnwBpgQ6AEwCnoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=Kerrick%20Majors&f=false
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In 1995, I started what would become a 19-Year Loc Journey. I remember my mother immediately, and repeatedly warning me that I would never get a good job-as long as I had those “dreadlocks.” I ignored her warnings, and though there were absolutely some challenges, but even she eventually embraced this Black Man’s Crown. But for so many others, and especially for Black Women, the struggle is all too real. Many of our sisters have been fired, and/or had job offers rescinded, simply for wearing their hair in its Natural State. Adding insult to injury, last year The U.S. Supreme Court TWICE sided with employers that sought to discriminate against those who dared to leave the perms, wigs, and weave alone. Can anyone tell me how one’s hair style reflects his or her work ethic, and/or ability to perform within one’s job description? Yeaaaaahhhhhhhh, I thought so.
The good news is that, for at least one major city, there is now a movement in place to pushback against those who would seek to discriminate against any brother or sister who chooses to wear his or her hair in its natural state. The 1st law of its kind, is a small victory; but hopefully will lead to similar legislation in other urban areas. This new mandate was authored by New York City Commission On Human Rights, and provides protections for this with “natural hair, treated or untreated hairstyles such as locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, fades, Afros, and/or the right to keep hair in an uncut or untrimmed state.”
In addition to future protections, the city ordinance provides a standard from which previously targeted citizens can now sue, and also mandates for stiff penalties for any school or business in violation. Violator could be hit with fines of up to $250,000, without a cap on damages; and can force employers to rehire anyone fired, demoted, harassed or punished based on the choice to go natural.
New York has set the bar, now it’s your turn Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, Nashville, Charlotte, Atlanta, Memphis, and the list goes on…
https://www.essence.com/hair/new-york-city-hair-discrimination-law/
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/02/224697/new-york-city-natural-hair-discrimination
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/18/style/hair-discrimination-new-york-city.html
https://rewire.news/ablc/2018/05/16/u-s-supreme-court-ignoring-black-hair-discrimination/
https://www.ebony.com/culture/black-news-anchor-fired-unprofessional-natural-hair/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-classifies-hair-restrictions-as-discrimination-11550537156