hot old lady in love park

i left love park's candlelight vigil for trayvon martin a few minutes ahead of the peaceful crowd. those who could stand plummeting temps and winds that literally blew me down the sidewalk two times, went on to occupy something in philly, while i briskly walked to my illegally parked jeep.

i peed for a second time at the krispy kreme on chestnut, plucked a parking ticket off my windshield, (philadelphia parking kiosks only take quarters while my camera bag was filled with nickles and dimes), and headed toward the art museum. i made my way on to a user-friendly schyulkill- this means i am headed west leaving the city after 7 p.m. est.

the schyulkill is always friendly when you're leaving.

too late for smerc, i tuned into wpht http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/station/talk-radio-1210/   

and hung out with gary arnell for a chill drive home.
arnell's guest, jenice armstrong, columnist for the philadelphia daily news, was reporting live from ground-zero, love park. seemingly surprised by the small number gathering for the candlelight vigil, http://www.philly.com/philly/gallery/Trayvon_Martin_vigil_at_Love_Park.html?viewGallery=y ms. armstrong seemed even more perplexed by the national attention the death of trayvon martin was receiving. 

i listened further as ms. armstong recounted philly murders in recent past, that, according to her garnered no attention whatsoever, posing the question, "where was the outrage over these murders?".

in a column, posted 3/26/2012

http://www.philly.com/philly/living/20120326_Jenice_Armstrong_.html?cmpid=138894519
armstrong highlights 4 recent philadelphia homicides near or around the gunning-down of trayvon martin and in conclusion states, " Not to take as much as a Skittle away from Trayvon, but aren't these people's untimely deaths worth our getting worked up about as well?"

answer: of course they are! and what did you do about them, jenice? and your job doesn't count.  

trayvon martin's murder has received attention that eluded our fellow philadelphians for one reason and one reason only-

al sharpton.

al

did anyone in philadelphia call al blueberrypie sharpton?
i am pretty sure sharpton works a lot like batman, and requires at the very least a phone call, if not a shaft-like help-us-hologram in the sky.
i find the naivete in your question, well, weird at it's least.
the civil rights movement gave birth to the much needed organization and representation for a very underrepresented group of americans.
whites had always been above and beyond represented in every possible constitutional way, and had no need for such organization. and imagine in 2012 if there was a national association for the advancement of white people.
it was never needed, nor would it be tolerated.

young black men are murdered at an outrageous, disproportionate rate every, single day in this country. 

as a journalist, but more importantly as a black female journalist who, i am assuming lives in or at least near philadelphia, i ask you this: 

 how do you not know yourself what to do to draw attention to your hometown - which currently places 1st for homicide rates in 2012?

the world's perfect puppy, lucy

i am an aarp card holding woman in the suburbs of philly and i know who to call. when my puppy, lucy, hears al on msnbc recalling his pie-thieving days in brooklyn, she growls. even my dog knows - call al sharpton!
nothing brings the racial tension to the table like al.
no one can spin the murder of a young man by a gun wielding security officer into a racial frenzy, like al.

now, if sharpton were not such a self-promoting opportunist, i would applaud and encourage his participation in every homicide in every city across this great nation.
the problem with al is, he forgets why he is there and only sees the color of one's skin. i just find that odd from a man who quotes dr. martin luther king.
sharpton should have term limits, much like our congress should have term limits. out with the old, in with new.
sharpton, like his fellow sexagenarians, are antiques to the system. sharpton wants to march in a world that needs less and less marching. 

not exactly stealth

if al could fly to florida, stir up some shit and then fly back to his rockefeller center office in new york, new york, hop in his corporate limo, and get back to his day job at msnbc, that would be great. but al can't do that. al needs to be the story; needs to be the show; he just can't walk out of the limelight.
we need a navy seal-type who slips in under the tv camera radar, wreaks all sorts of havoc, then slips out as stealthly as he came.
mission accomplished, bin laden is dead, claps hands together and that's that.
last night i stood among fellow philadelphians where i saw some angry, some sad, some determined, some militant humans meld together; i saw folks i thought probably had some money in their pockets and some i knew did not. i saw old and young, human and canine.  i listened, i participated, and i then i drove home.

that's what i did, jenice. my job is working in a bookstore. my obligation as a human being was to choose to be in love park.
reporting the news is one thing.
being the news is another.

cmk

no more division, please.

philly 3/26/2012

let's go!
msg. me on fb.

www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20120323_Million_Hoodie_March_set_for_Philadelphia_tonight.html

sharpton, heathers, and hoodies

above all else, my heart breaks for the parents of trayvon martin. so far, the only absolute truth i can accept is, there is no more unimaginable pain or grief than the loss of your child. period.
i am inexpressibly sorry.
al, i hope you will find comfort and solace from those you love during this difficult moment. i am sorry for the loss of your beloved mom.
but i still do not like you, and you should have never stolen her blueberry pie.
ok. now i rant.

a disclaimer-
i will not:
i will not replay events that occurred 3 weeks ago in sanford, fla.
nor will i render my opinion on events that occurred 3 weeks ago in sanford, fla.
i have a modest legal background, and aside from a few obvious cases that i followed like it was crack, i have finally learned to hold off on judging the guilt or innocence of a defendant, pretrial.
this is not to mean i won't offer opinions, oh no....
i have so many opinions, the dvsm suggests i'm a hoarder.
i reject such nonsense, and the bitching commences.

3/22/2012

i joined the https://www.facebook.com/MorningJoe chat thread bright and early as usual.
it is my personal car wreck and i just can't look away.
as news of the trayvon martin death spread, the last several days focused less on the gop clusterfuck, and more on the events surrounding the death of this young man.

joe opened the show from his home state of florida, and the first 30 minutes of programming was devoted to this story.

fb's mj chat thread was on fire with opinions, and as opinions go these were far, far, did i say far different than the usual attack, attack, attack behavior. i do believe this is when ann franks' "good" comes out in people as we tone tempers and attempt to tap into verbalizing our "feelings" rather than beat the shit out of each other with our opinions.

it struck me the number of white people who kept pointing out their whiteness when expressing their sorrow in a way that suggests it is somehow odd for a white person to have sorrow over the death of a young, black man.
 

im old, i'm white, and i care

there were petitions to be signed coordinated by posters who less than 72 hours prior, said to another poster:

ms. links-a-lot: m.s. (a fellow mj poster) would vote for bozo the clown if he was white!
now i am all for the freedom to express yourself, but good gawd how do you say something like THAT and 3 days later start a petition about racial injustice? 

but ms. links-a-lot is also an old white woman in delaware.

from another poster whose name i deleted because i am "fair" to newbies:
name deleted: Don't let up on the Trayvon Martin coverage. People need to know the truth & his family deserves justice. With live from another white middle aged woman in upstate NY.
3 hours ago · Like · 4
to which i reply:
Cat Kerr "newbie"- as if it is weird a white woman would care about this? why mention your race in that post?
3 hours ago · Like · 1
Cat Kerr should you get extra props bc you're a white lady who says you care about a black kid?
why not, i care!

i had pretty much secured my position in the mj shitter for another day after that comment.
which is fine. 

mom! cat's in the toilet again.

i do bring these situations on myself by expressing strong opinions. so a'ight, if you wanna roll, then baby i will verbally roll your ass into a little ball and kick you to the curb; albeit, in the kindest, gentlest way possible because i am zen and you are SO not.white people say the right things when they have to. especially in public, and even MORE especially on a chat thread where they will NEVER be accountable for one damned real thing.

GIVE ME A PEN! I CARE!

white people sign petitions, join in for a little outrage, donate a few bucks, talk about legislating some new shit to protect minorites, and enjoy long walks on the beach. but when it comes right down to it, white people don't get messy about it.

black people march. they dodge bullets. they get arrested and spend time in jail-
and NOT "occupy jail" where you pretend you just got stoned at woodstock, burned a flag, and spent the night in the pokey with the po po.  
unh uh, black people go to REAL jail where it's hard to get out.
they yell and scream and demand equal protection, representation, and freedom under the same constitution that provides the aforementioned for my old, white lady ass.


let this be a lesson to those who start petitions.
next time, get up off your ass and actually go DO something about something.
 
hypocrisy at the expense of a young black man, disgusts me. 
and ANYONE who uses  another family's tragedy as an excuse to promote a personal agenda of any kind will be called on it.
this is your opportunity to evolve.
do it.
cm

kind hands have room for everyone

p.s. and i know this is super hard to believe, but, bozo THE clown is not on this ticket.