l i s a l a p e e r y . c o m

Attorney Warren Ballentine is calling for a National Blackout - a day of No Spending by African Americans. Stand against present injustices that are being allowed and accepted in America: from Mychal Bell and the Jena 6, Genarlow Wilson, Megan Williams, and all nooses being hung around country lately. Until we have federal legislation regarding hate crimes, as African Americans we need to band together to show our "Economic Power" by refusing to spend ANY money from the drug store to fast food restaurants to gas.

Ballentine is not saying go without. He's asking that we get what we need until October 29th to avoid 1) an increase in sales the day before and afterward, and 2) to quietly extend the blackout for three or four days by default.

 

Why an economic blackout? African Americans we spend an estimated $2 billion per day ($715 billion dollars a year). If we were to stop spending for one day that is 2 billion dollars that will not go into the system. However we ask that you don't make a mad dash to the stores days prior or the days following. If the stores have a major increase in sales right before or right after the Blackout than we will create the impact we need(source: Ballentine's site thetruthfighters.org).

 

Ballentine's plan does not stop here. The following week, he will ask that businesses who support the fight for justice make it known (with window sign/symbol or sticker); then African Americans and really whoever else is down will shop only/primarily at these places, giving our dollars to others who believe in justice. This is not just an African American thing - when our rights are protected, everyone else's are too.

 

To help the fight of Bell, Wilson, and the ones we have not heard of yet, in the fight for justice and equality, hold on to your money Nov.2nd. Shop before Oct. 30th. Make our numbers and power known in this easy way, from Maine to Alaska to Hawaii.

 

"Oh oh oh Jena, take your nooses down," sings John Cougar Mellencamp in his latest " protest song  "Jena."   Jena, LA has been grossly misportrayed according to the town mayor, adding that the town has been more than hospitable to all the visitors that have flocked to the city in the past year in support of the Jena Six. 

I can't not have an activist news site and not at least put up a link to the story of the Jena Six of Jena, LA. After the post I just wrote I'm too hyped up to really summarize the story, but I'll say this much: The real story here isn't just that a noose was hung on a tree after African American kids congregated under it. The real story is that the Civil Rights Movement may have helped mainstream America, but there are small towns all over the country that were never touched, visited or effected by the Movement. The kids at this high school in Jena never tried to sit under that tree, ever? The school is as integrated as it could be, but there's still the designation of "whites only" and "coloreds" even if it's unspoken. The real story is that hundreds of thousands of people still have no voice in the United States of America. Right now, nooses are in the news as my next post indicates. The back story is being slept on. We'll see where progress s made and where the change will happen. Mean time I wonder this: when the white teacher told Kevin Purvis he could sit wherever he wanted, was he knowingly stirring the racially sensitive pot?

The Jena Six Effect is sweeping the country. While racists acts and attacks have never stopped, they are making the headlines.

Grambling, Louisiana:

Were the pictures in history books and magazines not enough? Teachers in a Grambling, LA elementary school demonstrated what nooses are on at least one child while discussing the Jena, LA case involving the Jena Six. The student newspaper at Grambling State University covered the lesson, and printed pictures in the campus paper - the elementary school is run by the University. The story is only ten or so hours old right now, but I think it's interesting that the pictures published in the Gramblinite garnered more headlines than the fact the an adult put a noose around a child's neck near a tree! Check the headlines out here. The Gramblinite says it's been censored, mainly because the University told them to take the pictures off their website.

Long Island, NY:

Cops on Long Island retaliated when a black cop was promoted to Deputy Chief  by leaving a noose hanging on his locker.

Chicago IL:

A Confederate flag and three nooses decorated the car of this kid in Chicago who made racially charged statements toward two students on the school grounds. He was charged officially with disorderly conduct.

New London, Connecticut:

These Coast Guard noose incidents are a couple of months old, but new details are coming out.

This stuff has really never stopped happening, but it's been a few decades since thousands of people showed up to protest injustice in a small town, either.  What I call the Jena Six Effect is really just light being shed on a certain injustice nationwide. The Civil Rights Movement never really ended, and it seems it may have gotten another wind.

I have no words for this one. You just have to see for yourself. 

In 680, Imam Hussein was killed in Battle of Karbala. To honor the day, males of every age are slashing their heads or having tier heads slashed to honor the Ashura, the tenth day of Muharram. Comment amongst yourselves; I'm outdone.