Anti-Gay Pastor Arrested for Masturbating in Public in front of Children

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

A Christian fundamentalist pastor who has taken especially strong positions against the gay community has been arrested for masturbating in a public park in front of young children. The Rev. Grant Storms of New Orleans is known for campaigning against the Gay Southern Decadence Festival in New Orleans. The pastor has been booked for obscenity by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office.
Storms claims that he was just having lunch in Lafreniere Park in his van when he decided to relieve himself in a bottle instead of going to the bathroom. However, two women claim that they saw Storms through the open windows of his van and that he was masturbating while watching young children. The ladies got the attention of an officer, who then had Storms arrested. His bail was set at $5,000, but he was released due to jail overcrowding.

In an effort to stop Southern Decadence, Pastor Storms actually videotaped public sex acts and showed them to legislators. "There's no economic gain that justifies an orgy in the streets," Storms said. "That's all it is -- a three-day orgy in the streets."

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Oscar Robinson Joins Massive Lawsuit Against the NCAA

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

The great Oscar Robertson, former superstar in both college and professional basketball, said that he was approached recently by fans asking him to sign trading cards that showed him to be a player with The University of Cincinnati. Robertson, who played for the school 51 years ago, was shocked to see his image and a picture of his jersey attached.
Upon seeing that he'd been violated in this way, Robertson called the Upper Deck Trading Card company for an explanation, not getting a response that made sense. That's when Robertson found out that the NCAA had signed deals with companies to use his likeness, for the rest of his life, without obtaining his consent.

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Rodney Stanberry’s Cousin Fights to Have His Case Brought to Light

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Dr. Artemesia Stanberry has been relentless in fighting to free her cousin, Rodney K. Stanberry, who appears to be in prison for crimes he did not commit. I first heard about the case from Dr. Wilmer Leon, as we were headed to Missouri last year to rally on behalf of Heather Ellis, a college student threatened with 15 years in prison for cutting in line at a Wal-Mart.

When I first heard about Rodney's case, I couldn't believe my ears. From what Dr. Leon was telling me, it sounded like a case of lazy police work, where officers didn't want to go through the efforts of going all the way to New York to find the true killers. Additionally, like so many others affected by our racially-skewed criminal justice system, Rodney K. Stanberry ended up in prison because he was the most convenient person to incarcerate. This is particularly true in Alabama, a state where the modern prison system has powerful links to slavery.

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New Evidence on the Murder of the Notorious B.I.G.: LAPD Under Suspicion for Involvement, Cover-Up

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

CBS Los Angeles is now reporting new evidence that officers within the Los Angeles Police Department may have played a role in the death of the rapper Christopher Wallace, also known as The Notorious B.I.G (aka Biggie Smalls).
Wallace was murdered March 9th, 1997. According to witnesses, a lone gunman in the driver's seat of a black Chevy Impala pulled up to the truck where Wallace was sitting in the passenger seat and opened fire. Wallace died shortly thereafter.
The Wallace family filed suit against the LAPD in 2005, bringing forth additional evidence that was not considered, implicating LAPD officers that they believe were involved in the death of Christopher Wallace. The two officers under suspicion are David Mack and Rafael Perez. Both Perez and Mack are in prison now for unrelated crimes, Mack for bank robbery and Perez for stealing cocaine.

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OJ Simpson Allegedly Beaten in Prison by Skinheads

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

OJ Simpson has, according to the National Enquirer, been having a hard time in prison. The magazine is claiming that some White Supremacists have been targeting Simpson for bragging about his sexual conquests with white women.
"Inmates cheered as a muscular young skinhead knocked him to the ground, punching and kicking him to a bloody pulp and inflicting injuries so severe he secretly spent nearly three weeks in the infirmary before he recovered."
While the Nevada Department of Corrections is denying that any such incident took place, I know enough about corrections departments to know that their words have as much credibility as Sarah Palin at a Mensa convention.

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Sports Commentator Dick Vitale Refers to NBA Athletes as “Inmates”

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

It's nearly impossible for something I hear on television to wake me up in my sleep. Some exceptions might be the start of a nuclear war or the voice of Beyonce Knowles. But this morning, I heard a voice that yanked me out of La-La land faster than you could say, "Whatchu talkin about Willis?"
Sports commentator Dick Vitale was on the ESPN Show, "Mike & Mike in the Morning" talking about the possibilities regarding the trade of NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony. The hosts were discussing the rumor that Anthony may copy LeBron James and join forces with two other superstars headed to the same team.
In reference to his frustration about the idea of men like Anthony choosing their own fate in spite of the fact that NBA Commissioner David Stern objects to their behavior, Vitale said that such moves were like "Inmates controlling the asylum."

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Watkins/Sharpton rally in Ohio for Kelley Williams-Bolar and Educational Equality in America

On Thursday, February 17 at 6 pm, Dr. Boyce Watkins and Rev. Al Sharpton will rally in Akron Ohio on behalf of the case of Kelley Williams-Bolar, the single black mother who was jailed for sending her kids to the wrong school district.  The information for the rally is below:

 

Mountain of the Lord Church
Rev. Eugene Norris
1477 Copley Road
Akron, OH 44320
(330) 873-9793

Rapper Jailed for Child Support, but the Baby Isn’t Even His

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse university – Scholarship in Action 

Hip Hop News 24-7 recently interviewed the rapper J-Kwon about his interesting child support situation. During an interview with Miss Georgia, J-Kwon informed listeners that he'd been paying $2,500 per month in child support for seven years for a child that was eventually determined to not be his.

The artist goes on to say that he was jailed for not making the child support payments, which derailed his entire career, killing his ability to earn income. He also said that when it was determined that he wasn't the child's father, the courts provided no remedies whatsoever for him to retrieve the tens of thousands of dollars he'd paid over a seven-year period.

J-Kwon is now saying that he plans to start a foundation for fathers who are having their rights violated by the child support system. I support his initiative, because many of us forget about the millions of fathers out there who are doing all they can to have access to their kids and trying to do the right thing, but are left alienated by deceptive mothers and a court system that would rather see a man in jail than with his own children.

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Update on the Jamail Johnson Shooting: He died Saving his Classmates from Gun Fire

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Jamail Johnson, the Youngstown State University student who died at an off-campus party Saturday morning, has been reported to have died trying to save his friends from gunfire. Jamail was a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
The Trumbull County Conservative Examiner says that when the gunmen began to shoot, Johnson ran toward them and pushed them out of the house. This, according to observers, saved the lives of dozens of other students. He even fought with the gunmen after being shot.

The two alleged shooters, Columbus Jones Jr. and Braylon Rogers, 22 and 19 years old respectively, are facing charges for aggravated murder.

21-Year Old Swallowed a Pound of Cocaine

by Dr. Boyce Watkins 

Luisa Gil of Union City, NJ was arrested in Boston after swallowing a pound of cocaine.  Authorities are holding her on $200,000 bail on a charge of Class B substance trafficking. 

The 21-year old woman flew into Logan airport from the Dominican Republic.  When authorities questioned her, her answers seemed suspicious.  She then admitted to swallowing 50 pellets of compacted cocaine.  The cocaine had been wrapped in condoms.

After hearing the woman tell her story, police took her to the hospital, where the dope was recovered.  The drugs had a street value of $50,000.  She was allegedly paid $2,000 to make the transfer of the drugs to the US.

17-Year Old Boy Stabs Girlfriend After Hearing that She is Pregnant

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

A 17-year old boy is in custody after allegedly stabbing a girl repeatedly after she told him that she was pregnant. Cortae Diaz Kelly, a student at Ypsilanti High School in Michigan, is accused of stabbing the girl in a nearby wooded area. The girl is now in intensive care after getting surgery at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital.
County assistant prosecutor Arianne Slay is saying that Kelly stabbed the girl 12 times in her head, back and hands. She played dead to get him to stop the attack. She also says that Kelly confessed to trying to kill her. He is being charged with assault with intent to murder and being held on a $1 million bond.

 

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Black Professors are Missing from Most Campuses, Including HBCUs

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

During a four-year college career, most students take roughly 40 courses. Personally, I went to graduate school for another 7 years after college, taking an additional 40 - 50 more classes. During my entire undergraduate, masters and doctoral experience, I never had one single African American professor.
This experience made the educational process incredibly uncomfortable for me. I never experienced the privilege of my white classmates, who had teachers they could relate to, work with and connect with on a meaningful level. I did meet one African American professor (I never took his class) named Dr. Tommy Whittler. He is the sole reason I became a professor today because he was the first faculty member who'd ever taken time to mentor me as a human being.

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White Father Threatens Black Boys for Talking to his Daughter: Should He Go to Jail for that?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Millry, Ala., is a town where racial tensions have allegedly been running high for a very long time. The boiling point was hit recently, when a white father came to the town's high school and threatened one of the black players on the basketball team.
The infuriated parent told one of the boys that if any of them made contact with his daughter, he would "kill him and his black friends," at least that's what was reportedly told to Latisha Mitchell, the step-Mother of one of the players.

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Mitchell claims that her son was only friends with the man's daughter and that they would text message each other. TheNAACP took notice of the man's racial threats, and the town is in an uproar. There is even conversation about the Ku Klux Klan planning a retaliation against local residents who held a meeting to discuss what had occurred.
Since the incident, the father has been banned from school property, but some parents are saying that the father should be arrested for his public threats.

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Ephren Taylor Issues Statement in Response to Eddie Long’s Youtube Appeal Alleging Financial Mismanagmeent

 

Bishop Eddie Long did a Youtube appeal to former Capital City Corp CEO Ephren Taylor about members of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church who allegedly lost money as a result of their investments.  Taylors reps have responded with this statement below:

FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION
January 31, 2011
MEDIA CONTACT:
Candace Reese J.
Envision Global
(678) 367-3117
C.Reese@EnviGlobal.com

STATEMENT FROM EPHREN W. TAYLOR ON BISHOP EDDIE L. LONG
YOUTUBE VIDEO APPEAL AND NEW BIRTH MISSIONARY BAPTIST
CHURCH WEALTH TOUR 2009

ATLANTA, GA (EnviGlobal.com) – Business Accelerator and entrepreneur, Ephren W. Taylor releases the following statement regarding the recent Youtube.com video appeal posted by New Birth Missionary Baptist Church pastor, Bishop Eddie L. Long:
Due to many inaccuracies, and based upon what I view as a direct character assassination and an attempt to paint a picture of an inability, on my part, to take responsibility for the actions of City Capital Corporation during my tenure as CEO, I am extending facts relative to the aftermath of the Wealth Tour at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church.

I visited with Bishop Eddie L. Long in late 2009 prior to bringing my Wealth Tour Live to New Birth, with hopes of inspiring and empowering the congregation in business through seminars, and to make my book, Creating Success from the Inside Out, available to all attendees. The church received a percentage of product sales, and stated their intent to sell videos from the presentations. I also operated on Bishop Long’s behalf to secure certain media opportunities for him. Members of the City Capital team were in attendance, and subsequently, members of the church elected to partner with the company on community service opportunities across the country that aid in creating jobs. Even after my departure last year as CEO of City Capital Corporation, there has been consistent communication between myself and Elder Maurice Waddell, Chief Operating Officer at New Birth, of which there is a significant amount of documented phone and e-mail correspondence.

City Capital’s legal team has connected via phone and e-mail with members of New Birth, per the list provided by the church. Paralegals confirmed that each member received a resolution package, and I personally reviewed an updated report on which clients were contacted, and when contact was initiated. Since last year, the legal team has been working with individuals to legally and privately resolve, refund, and restructure any potential issues. To protect the integrity of the process, resolutions are confidential.

A conference call, hosted by the attorneys representing City Capital, was held with all New Birth members involved as recently as this month, in which Elder Maurice Waddell participated. Since my transition from City Capital Corporation in 2010, I have operated completely independent of the company.

However, in good faith, I have chosen to honor my commitment to assist in the efforts to advance a swift and positive conclusion for all parties.

-Ephren W. Taylor

NEWS
For all media inquiries, please connect via email at C.Reese@EnviGlobal.com or phone at (678) 367-3117.

Shocking Video of Teen Being Beaten by Houston Police Officers

 

Chad Holley is brutally beaten by police, although he’d clearly surrendered before the beating.  Click here to see the video.

Black Men Angry After Nun Falsely Accuses Them of Rape

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University -  Scholarship in Action 

The Onion does a hilarious skit about a blond white woman accused of killing her classmate. The punishment administered by the judge is not the death penalty, a long prison sentence or even community service. Instead, she is punished by forcing her to go on trial as a 300 pound black man. The skit goes on to show the girl's parents crying in court over the judge's cruel and unusual punishment. "No one in this country deserves the horror of being treated like a black man," they say in front of a group of news cameras.

While the skit was certainly funny in its own right, it was built on a very serious set of functional inequities in America's justice system: black men are more likely to be searched, arrested, convicted and incarcerated for crimes, even when they didn't do anything wrong. While we've heard about the cases of the Scott Sisters and Kelley Williams-Bolar, there are thousands of other men and women in prison after being found guilty of simply being black.

 

Click to read.