The Article below express my exact sentiments about
what the NAACP must do in order for it to be more
effective as vangarde to the civil rights of African
Americans. No longer can they fight the battle of
discrimination by protesting and marches. It's time
we fought 20th century problems with 21st century
tactics!
The resignation of Bruce S. Gordon as president and chief executive of the NAACP this month portends an important and long overdue shift in black America's struggle for racial justice.
Gordon resigned after only 19 months because he disagreed with the NAACP's board on the best focus for the historic civil rights group. Gordon wanted to direct more resources toward social service programs such as wealth-building, tutoring and pregnancy counseling. The board wanted to maintain its traditional emphasis on fighting racial discrimination and advocating for social justice.
No matter where one stands in this debate, Gordon's resignation signals a critical impasse. The civil rights old guard, represented by the board, seems stuck in a 1960s mind-set that expects a particular form of response from black America -- pushing for government action to remedy the effects of discrimination. This type of response was popular, successful and necessary during the civil rights movement and, in some cases, remains a powerful form of redress.
The successes and failures of the civil rights movement, however, fundamentally changed the country's racial landscape. Of course racial discrimination remains. But we have entered what has been called a post-civil-rights age that requires an array of strategies to address the complex problems many African Americans face.
Gordon sought to extend the reach of the NAACP to include another form of African American dissent: the politics of self-empowerment. Regrettably, the NAACP was not inclined to alter its long-standing approach. Julian Bond, chairman of the NAACP board, rejects even the notion that we are in a post-civil-rights period, which requires imaginative and innovative struggle for social justice. Indeed, many current civil rights leaders fetishize the form of dissent most associated with the civil rights movement. They confuse principle with tactics. They behave as though marching and petitioning the government for redress of grievances is the only principled response to the maldistribution of burdens and benefits in our democracy. And they bristle at other forms of dissent, tactics designed to reach the shared goal of equality under law for all Americans. For many, it is either the old way or no way at all.
This Article Continues Here:
Get your copy of the award winning King:
"From Atlanta to the Mountain top
It's the 3-Hour Docudrama that
tells the story of the Civil Rights
movement and the life of its
Drum Major for Peace,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To learn more and hear
excerpts from this treasured
program,click here:
http://www.kingprogram.net/
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Is Justice Eluding New Orleans ?
Justice is not being served in New Orleans. Commit
a murder there and your chances of walking are fairly
good. Is that because the powers that be in prosecuting
cases are turning their back to black on black crimes and
putting priorities elsewhere like on cases that are a sure
win? Think about it. It takes a lot of work and manpower
to gather enough evidence in some cases to prosecute. With
New Orleans manpower streached thin does this give criminals
the edge and put the general public at greater risk? Check
out the article below and offer up your comments
Garelle Smith, a resident of one of New Orleans' toughest neighborhoods, was already a sort of poster boy for the city's troubled criminal justice system before prosecutors declined to charge him this week in the Aug. 4 slaying of Mandell Duplessis. When Smith was arrested in January, an editorial in the Times-Picayune newspaper noted that he had been a suspect in two previous slayings but never went to trial. The paper called Smith "the beneficiary of a gummed up criminal justice system." If he wasn't put away this time, the paper said, the police chief and head prosecutor would "face the full brunt of an angry public.
"Smith, 25, was released from jail Tuesday.Craig Famularo, chief of the homicide division in the Orleans Parish district attorney's office, said the evidence against Smith was thin.Famularo said police arrested Smith because someone had heard him admit the crime. But two witnesses said Smith was not at the scene.So far, four men have been arrested on suspicion of killing Duplessis, a 24-year-old drug dealer and aspiring rapper. But each has been released because witnesses were either not credible or uncooperative.It is a familiar story in New Orleans. Before Hurricane Katrina, a study by the Metropolitan Crime Commission found that only 12% of homicide arrests resulted in jail time.
This Article Continues Here:
Get your copy of the award winning King:
"From Atlanta to the Mountain top
It's the 3-Hour Docudrama that
tells the story of the Civil Rights
movement and the life of its
Drum Major for Peace,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To learn more and hear
excerpts from this treasured
program,click here:
http://www.kingprogram.net/
a murder there and your chances of walking are fairly
good. Is that because the powers that be in prosecuting
cases are turning their back to black on black crimes and
putting priorities elsewhere like on cases that are a sure
win? Think about it. It takes a lot of work and manpower
to gather enough evidence in some cases to prosecute. With
New Orleans manpower streached thin does this give criminals
the edge and put the general public at greater risk? Check
out the article below and offer up your comments
Garelle Smith, a resident of one of New Orleans' toughest neighborhoods, was already a sort of poster boy for the city's troubled criminal justice system before prosecutors declined to charge him this week in the Aug. 4 slaying of Mandell Duplessis. When Smith was arrested in January, an editorial in the Times-Picayune newspaper noted that he had been a suspect in two previous slayings but never went to trial. The paper called Smith "the beneficiary of a gummed up criminal justice system." If he wasn't put away this time, the paper said, the police chief and head prosecutor would "face the full brunt of an angry public.
"Smith, 25, was released from jail Tuesday.Craig Famularo, chief of the homicide division in the Orleans Parish district attorney's office, said the evidence against Smith was thin.Famularo said police arrested Smith because someone had heard him admit the crime. But two witnesses said Smith was not at the scene.So far, four men have been arrested on suspicion of killing Duplessis, a 24-year-old drug dealer and aspiring rapper. But each has been released because witnesses were either not credible or uncooperative.It is a familiar story in New Orleans. Before Hurricane Katrina, a study by the Metropolitan Crime Commission found that only 12% of homicide arrests resulted in jail time.
This Article Continues Here:
Get your copy of the award winning King:
"From Atlanta to the Mountain top
It's the 3-Hour Docudrama that
tells the story of the Civil Rights
movement and the life of its
Drum Major for Peace,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To learn more and hear
excerpts from this treasured
program,click here:
http://www.kingprogram.net/
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Thought Can Kill !
In all my years on the planet I have heard and read
a number of stories in which people have been killed
by law enforcement officers because they thought
rather than saw actual weapons on suspects. I
applaude the New York city Grand Jury for returning
indictments against officers involved in the shooting
death of a groom just hours before he was to be married.
Officers should rely on their training rather than the kill
or be killed mentality and this way the public won't fear
them as much as they do criminals
Two officers charged with killing an unarmed man in a flurry of bullets on his wedding day pleaded not guilty Monday in a case that led to widespread rallies against police brutality.The charges were announced after a grand jury last week voted to indict three of the five officers involved in the shooting of Sean Bell, 23.Detectives Michael Oliver, who fired 31 times, and Gescard Isnora, who fired 11 shots, are accused of first- and second-degree manslaughter. If convicted, they could serve up to 25 years in prison, Queens Dist. Atty. Richard Brown said at a news conference.
The two officers also are charged with assault and reckless endangerment in the wounding of Bell's friends, Trent Benefield, 23, and Joseph Guzman, 31. Oliver also faces a reckless endangerment charge for firing a shot through a residence.The third officer, Det. Marc Cooper, faces one year in prison if convicted of reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor. He is accused of endangering people by firing four shots on a street and through the window of a train station.
He too has pleaded not guilty.At their arraignment Monday, a judge set bail for Oliver and Isnora at $250,000 in the form of a bond or $100,000 in cash. Cooper was released without bail."This was a case that was, I'm sure, not easy for [the grand jury] to resolve. But they did so, in my judgment, in a conscientious fashion," Brown said. "And now we've got to try this case."Michael Palladino, president of the New York detectives union, called the charges excessive. "It sends a very chilling message to all of law enforcement," he said.
"If they can't get it done in three shots or less, [they're] in trouble." Two officers who fired three shots or less were not indicted. Police are instructed to fire three shots, pause and reassess.Appearing with Benefield, Guzman and Bell's fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell, before the arraignment, the Rev. Al Sharpton said all five officers should have been charged. Bell, who was black, was killed around 4 a.m. Nov. 25 outside a strip club where he was attending his bachelor party. The officers have said they thought he and his friends were armed. Police later searched Bell's car and found no gun.
This Article Continues Here:
Get your copy of the award winning King:
"From Atlanta to the Mountain top
It's the 3-Hour Docudrama that
tells the story of the Civil Rights
movement and the life of its
Drum Major for Peace,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To learn more and hear
excerpts from this treasured
program,click here:
http://www.kingprogram.net/
a number of stories in which people have been killed
by law enforcement officers because they thought
rather than saw actual weapons on suspects. I
applaude the New York city Grand Jury for returning
indictments against officers involved in the shooting
death of a groom just hours before he was to be married.
Officers should rely on their training rather than the kill
or be killed mentality and this way the public won't fear
them as much as they do criminals
Two officers charged with killing an unarmed man in a flurry of bullets on his wedding day pleaded not guilty Monday in a case that led to widespread rallies against police brutality.The charges were announced after a grand jury last week voted to indict three of the five officers involved in the shooting of Sean Bell, 23.Detectives Michael Oliver, who fired 31 times, and Gescard Isnora, who fired 11 shots, are accused of first- and second-degree manslaughter. If convicted, they could serve up to 25 years in prison, Queens Dist. Atty. Richard Brown said at a news conference.
The two officers also are charged with assault and reckless endangerment in the wounding of Bell's friends, Trent Benefield, 23, and Joseph Guzman, 31. Oliver also faces a reckless endangerment charge for firing a shot through a residence.The third officer, Det. Marc Cooper, faces one year in prison if convicted of reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor. He is accused of endangering people by firing four shots on a street and through the window of a train station.
He too has pleaded not guilty.At their arraignment Monday, a judge set bail for Oliver and Isnora at $250,000 in the form of a bond or $100,000 in cash. Cooper was released without bail."This was a case that was, I'm sure, not easy for [the grand jury] to resolve. But they did so, in my judgment, in a conscientious fashion," Brown said. "And now we've got to try this case."Michael Palladino, president of the New York detectives union, called the charges excessive. "It sends a very chilling message to all of law enforcement," he said.
"If they can't get it done in three shots or less, [they're] in trouble." Two officers who fired three shots or less were not indicted. Police are instructed to fire three shots, pause and reassess.Appearing with Benefield, Guzman and Bell's fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell, before the arraignment, the Rev. Al Sharpton said all five officers should have been charged. Bell, who was black, was killed around 4 a.m. Nov. 25 outside a strip club where he was attending his bachelor party. The officers have said they thought he and his friends were armed. Police later searched Bell's car and found no gun.
This Article Continues Here:
Get your copy of the award winning King:
"From Atlanta to the Mountain top
It's the 3-Hour Docudrama that
tells the story of the Civil Rights
movement and the life of its
Drum Major for Peace,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To learn more and hear
excerpts from this treasured
program,click here:
http://www.kingprogram.net/
Monday, March 19, 2007
The Smuggler is Black-The Cargo Brown
In Houston Texas a black man fights for his life in federal court.
It seems that Tyrone Williams was smuggling 55 latino
immigrants into the country by way of refrigerated
tractor-trailer truck. 19 of those immigrants died of
suffocation. Should Williams receive the death penalty
or life in prison? Read the article below and offer your
comments.
IN his opening statement, the attorney for truck driver Tyrone Williams conceded a central point. Yes, the lawyer declared, Williams was "clearly guilty" of hauling illegal immigrants in a sealed trailer — a tortuous, four-hour passage up the Rio Grande Valley that 19 of them did not survive.It was also true, added Craig Washington, that once his client discovered all those "poor people" piled in stacks, he hastily unhooked his trailer and high-tailed it for Houston, concocting an alibi on the fly:
"He doesn't get any merit badges for that," the attorney allowed.As these concessions made clear, the United States vs. Tyrone Mapletoft Williams would not be a search to determine who was behind the wheel one steamy May night in 2003, or whether the trucker was in league with smugglers.Rather, the trial would turn on intent, on what Williams knew, or should have known, was unfolding in the back of his 18-wheeler as he rolled up U.S. Highway 77 — windows down, music on the CD player, a young woman at his side.
Seeking the death penalty, the prosecution painted Williams as a "vile and heartless truck driver" who ignored pounding and pleas from inside his trailer. In the defense telling, the truck driver was a poorly used tool of smugglers, who distracted him as they overloaded his trailer at a field outside the border town of Harlingen, Texas, and then, once the rig was underway, tripled the length of the journey.The trial opened on a Monday in late October 2006, in the 11th-floor courtroom of U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal. It was not completed until mid-January, in part because of holiday breaks, in part because of illness, and in part because of the nature of the contested ground.
This was a courtroom struggle fought on the margins of the story line, with protracted wrangling, for example, over nuances such as whether Williams' passenger in the truck cab, a drug courier named Fatima Holloway, had heard a "bumping" or a "banging" coming from the trailer."Am I correct, Ms. Holloway," Washington asked during cross-examination, "that the description you gave to the noise here in your testimony … you described it as a 'banging' noise, did you not?""Yes, I did.""OK. And my question is: Did you describe it on May 24th of 2003" — in a debriefing by investigators — "as being a 'bumping' noise?"
"I may have. I don't remember."
"Is there a distinction in your mind between 'bumping' and 'banging'?"
"Yes."
"Which is louder?"
"Banging."
So it went, witness after witness, with the lawyers lingering over points that, though strategically pivotal, could seem almost picayune given the grotesque dimensions of the tragedy: Exactly how many illegal immigrants boarded? Who closed the trailer doors? What was the greater cause of death: a lack of oxygen or excessive heat?
This Article Continues Here:
Get your copy of the award winning King:
"From Atlanta to the Mountain top
It's the 3-Hour Docudrama that
tells the story of the Civil Rights
movement and the life of its
Drum Major for Peace,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To learn more and hear
excerpts from this treasured
program,click here:
http://www.kingprogram.net/
It seems that Tyrone Williams was smuggling 55 latino
immigrants into the country by way of refrigerated
tractor-trailer truck. 19 of those immigrants died of
suffocation. Should Williams receive the death penalty
or life in prison? Read the article below and offer your
comments.
IN his opening statement, the attorney for truck driver Tyrone Williams conceded a central point. Yes, the lawyer declared, Williams was "clearly guilty" of hauling illegal immigrants in a sealed trailer — a tortuous, four-hour passage up the Rio Grande Valley that 19 of them did not survive.It was also true, added Craig Washington, that once his client discovered all those "poor people" piled in stacks, he hastily unhooked his trailer and high-tailed it for Houston, concocting an alibi on the fly:
"He doesn't get any merit badges for that," the attorney allowed.As these concessions made clear, the United States vs. Tyrone Mapletoft Williams would not be a search to determine who was behind the wheel one steamy May night in 2003, or whether the trucker was in league with smugglers.Rather, the trial would turn on intent, on what Williams knew, or should have known, was unfolding in the back of his 18-wheeler as he rolled up U.S. Highway 77 — windows down, music on the CD player, a young woman at his side.
Seeking the death penalty, the prosecution painted Williams as a "vile and heartless truck driver" who ignored pounding and pleas from inside his trailer. In the defense telling, the truck driver was a poorly used tool of smugglers, who distracted him as they overloaded his trailer at a field outside the border town of Harlingen, Texas, and then, once the rig was underway, tripled the length of the journey.The trial opened on a Monday in late October 2006, in the 11th-floor courtroom of U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal. It was not completed until mid-January, in part because of holiday breaks, in part because of illness, and in part because of the nature of the contested ground.
This was a courtroom struggle fought on the margins of the story line, with protracted wrangling, for example, over nuances such as whether Williams' passenger in the truck cab, a drug courier named Fatima Holloway, had heard a "bumping" or a "banging" coming from the trailer."Am I correct, Ms. Holloway," Washington asked during cross-examination, "that the description you gave to the noise here in your testimony … you described it as a 'banging' noise, did you not?""Yes, I did.""OK. And my question is: Did you describe it on May 24th of 2003" — in a debriefing by investigators — "as being a 'bumping' noise?"
"I may have. I don't remember."
"Is there a distinction in your mind between 'bumping' and 'banging'?"
"Yes."
"Which is louder?"
"Banging."
So it went, witness after witness, with the lawyers lingering over points that, though strategically pivotal, could seem almost picayune given the grotesque dimensions of the tragedy: Exactly how many illegal immigrants boarded? Who closed the trailer doors? What was the greater cause of death: a lack of oxygen or excessive heat?
This Article Continues Here:
Get your copy of the award winning King:
"From Atlanta to the Mountain top
It's the 3-Hour Docudrama that
tells the story of the Civil Rights
movement and the life of its
Drum Major for Peace,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To learn more and hear
excerpts from this treasured
program,click here:
http://www.kingprogram.net/
Thursday, March 15, 2007
In Muslims We Must Trust!
Ask any American Muslim how they feel about
their government and the answer you'll probably
get will pretty much be the same as any other
American. So therefore the notion that a
disgruntled American Muslim is a terrorist
threat has to be smashed. Instead this nation
has to embrace as well as trust it's Muslims if
there is to be a victory in the war on terrorism.
The article below tells how the government must
find ways to bring American Muslims into the fold.
Senior Homeland Security officials told a Senate panel Wednesday that they were having a hard time employing enough interpreters and analysts to counter domestic terrorist threats and that they needed to do more to reach out to American Arabs and Muslims.They also warned that some American Muslims were at risk of becoming radicalized and might try to execute homegrown terrorist attacks of the sort carried out on London subways and buses in 2005.
And even though they said they were aware of the sensitivity of the situation, Secretary Michael Chertoff and other officials acknowledged that they did not fully understand the radicalization process or know the size of the problem. In testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, they said the department had taken steps to better communicate with Arab, Muslim and South Asian Americans but said more needed to be done to build trust and encourage them to enter public service.
"We believe that a critical element of our strategy for securing this country is to build a level of communication, trust and confidence that is unprecedented in our nation's history," said Daniel W. Sutherland, the department's officer for civil rights and civil liberties.
This Article Continues Here:
Get your copy of the award winning King:
"From Atlanta to the Mountain top
It's the 3-Hour Docudrama that
tells the story of the Civil Rights
movement and the life of its
Drum Major for Peace,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To learn more and hear
excerpts from this treasured
program,click here:
http://www.kingprogram.net/
their government and the answer you'll probably
get will pretty much be the same as any other
American. So therefore the notion that a
disgruntled American Muslim is a terrorist
threat has to be smashed. Instead this nation
has to embrace as well as trust it's Muslims if
there is to be a victory in the war on terrorism.
The article below tells how the government must
find ways to bring American Muslims into the fold.
Senior Homeland Security officials told a Senate panel Wednesday that they were having a hard time employing enough interpreters and analysts to counter domestic terrorist threats and that they needed to do more to reach out to American Arabs and Muslims.They also warned that some American Muslims were at risk of becoming radicalized and might try to execute homegrown terrorist attacks of the sort carried out on London subways and buses in 2005.
And even though they said they were aware of the sensitivity of the situation, Secretary Michael Chertoff and other officials acknowledged that they did not fully understand the radicalization process or know the size of the problem. In testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, they said the department had taken steps to better communicate with Arab, Muslim and South Asian Americans but said more needed to be done to build trust and encourage them to enter public service.
"We believe that a critical element of our strategy for securing this country is to build a level of communication, trust and confidence that is unprecedented in our nation's history," said Daniel W. Sutherland, the department's officer for civil rights and civil liberties.
This Article Continues Here:
Get your copy of the award winning King:
"From Atlanta to the Mountain top
It's the 3-Hour Docudrama that
tells the story of the Civil Rights
movement and the life of its
Drum Major for Peace,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To learn more and hear
excerpts from this treasured
program,click here:
http://www.kingprogram.net/
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
The Fat Kid And The Candy Jar
The fat kid in this case is the FBI and the candy jar is the
2001 Patriot Act. The fat kis promised that he would only
dip into the jar occassionally and so no one was left to watch
him. While the managers of the store were busy doing other
things the fat kid couldn't resist the temptation and went buck
in the candy jar. By the time the managers of the store found
out it was way too late what the fat kid hadn't already eaten
he'd stashed for a rainy day. Now for the the more intimate
parts of this story and how it may end you must read on then
speak up on it.
Angry lawmakers on Friday threatened to amend the USA Patriot Act and limit the FBI's powers in the wake of a disclosure that agents had improperly obtained confidential records of people in the United States.
A scathing report issued Friday by the inspector general of the Justice Department found widespread problems in how the FBI has used a form of administrative subpoena — known as a national security letter — to gather phone, bank and credit information on thousands of citizens without court oversight.
The problems included the issuing of letters that circumvented Justice Department rules and regulations; in addition, the report found a record-keeping system in such disarray that annual reports to Congress substantially understated the number of subpoenas the FBI was issuing.
The inspector general also disclosed that the bureau had an unusual contract with three phone companies to provide call records and subscriber information without legal process.
The revelation was a major embarrassment for the FBI, which had vowed to use its investigative powers carefully when Congress reauthorized the Patriot Act last year.
National security letters do not require the approval of a judge, and have long been popular with law enforcement. The 2001 Patriot Act made them even easier to get in terrorism and espionage cases. The act also for the first time permitted FBI agents in the field to issue the letters; that authority had previously been reserved for officials at FBI headquarters.
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III on Friday took responsibility for failing to establish an adequate monitoring system for the anti-terrorism measure. "How could this happen, who is accountable? And the answer to that is I am to be held accountable," Mueller said in a briefing with reporters. He cited problems with training and oversight of personnel, as well as the bureau audit system, and announced a number of steps to overhaul the process.
Mueller's boss, Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales, pointedly criticized the FBI and its director for falling down on the job.
"During the discussion of the reauthorization of the Patriot Act, I believed that the FBI was acting responsibly in using national security letters," Gonzales told a conference of privacy experts Friday. "Because of the good work of the IG, I've come to learn that I was wrong."
Gonzales said the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility had opened an investigation into possible misconduct by lawyers at the FBI who failed to monitor the subpoenas.
"Once we get that information, we'll be in a better position to assess what kinds of steps should be taken," Gonzales said after his speech. "There is no excuse for the mistakes that have been made, and we are going to make things right as quickly as possible."
Two influential senators Friday expressed anger at the inspector general's disclosures and said they were considering tightening the Patriot Act regulations that allow the FBI to use the national security letters with such wide latitude.
Sens. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) also said they would call Mueller and Gonzales to testify in the coming weeks to get more answers and determine how widespread the problem is. Leahy is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has oversight of the Justice Department and the FBI, and Specter is its ranking Republican and former chairman.
"The inspector general's report shows a massive misuse by the FBI of the national security letters for law enforcement," Specter said. "There'll be oversight hearings. And I think we may have to go further than that and change the law, to revise the Patriot Act … and perhaps take away some of the authority which we've already given to the FBI, since they appear not to be able to know how to use it."
This Article Continues Here:
Get your copy of the award winning King:
"From Atlanta to the Mountain top
It's the 3-Hour Docudrama that
tells the story of the Civil Rights
movement and the life of its
Drum Major for Peace,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To learn more and hear
excerpts from this treasured
program,click here:
http://www.kingprogram.net
2001 Patriot Act. The fat kis promised that he would only
dip into the jar occassionally and so no one was left to watch
him. While the managers of the store were busy doing other
things the fat kid couldn't resist the temptation and went buck
in the candy jar. By the time the managers of the store found
out it was way too late what the fat kid hadn't already eaten
he'd stashed for a rainy day. Now for the the more intimate
parts of this story and how it may end you must read on then
speak up on it.
Angry lawmakers on Friday threatened to amend the USA Patriot Act and limit the FBI's powers in the wake of a disclosure that agents had improperly obtained confidential records of people in the United States.
A scathing report issued Friday by the inspector general of the Justice Department found widespread problems in how the FBI has used a form of administrative subpoena — known as a national security letter — to gather phone, bank and credit information on thousands of citizens without court oversight.
The problems included the issuing of letters that circumvented Justice Department rules and regulations; in addition, the report found a record-keeping system in such disarray that annual reports to Congress substantially understated the number of subpoenas the FBI was issuing.
The inspector general also disclosed that the bureau had an unusual contract with three phone companies to provide call records and subscriber information without legal process.
The revelation was a major embarrassment for the FBI, which had vowed to use its investigative powers carefully when Congress reauthorized the Patriot Act last year.
National security letters do not require the approval of a judge, and have long been popular with law enforcement. The 2001 Patriot Act made them even easier to get in terrorism and espionage cases. The act also for the first time permitted FBI agents in the field to issue the letters; that authority had previously been reserved for officials at FBI headquarters.
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III on Friday took responsibility for failing to establish an adequate monitoring system for the anti-terrorism measure. "How could this happen, who is accountable? And the answer to that is I am to be held accountable," Mueller said in a briefing with reporters. He cited problems with training and oversight of personnel, as well as the bureau audit system, and announced a number of steps to overhaul the process.
Mueller's boss, Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales, pointedly criticized the FBI and its director for falling down on the job.
"During the discussion of the reauthorization of the Patriot Act, I believed that the FBI was acting responsibly in using national security letters," Gonzales told a conference of privacy experts Friday. "Because of the good work of the IG, I've come to learn that I was wrong."
Gonzales said the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility had opened an investigation into possible misconduct by lawyers at the FBI who failed to monitor the subpoenas.
"Once we get that information, we'll be in a better position to assess what kinds of steps should be taken," Gonzales said after his speech. "There is no excuse for the mistakes that have been made, and we are going to make things right as quickly as possible."
Two influential senators Friday expressed anger at the inspector general's disclosures and said they were considering tightening the Patriot Act regulations that allow the FBI to use the national security letters with such wide latitude.
Sens. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) also said they would call Mueller and Gonzales to testify in the coming weeks to get more answers and determine how widespread the problem is. Leahy is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has oversight of the Justice Department and the FBI, and Specter is its ranking Republican and former chairman.
"The inspector general's report shows a massive misuse by the FBI of the national security letters for law enforcement," Specter said. "There'll be oversight hearings. And I think we may have to go further than that and change the law, to revise the Patriot Act … and perhaps take away some of the authority which we've already given to the FBI, since they appear not to be able to know how to use it."
This Article Continues Here:
Get your copy of the award winning King:
"From Atlanta to the Mountain top
It's the 3-Hour Docudrama that
tells the story of the Civil Rights
movement and the life of its
Drum Major for Peace,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To learn more and hear
excerpts from this treasured
program,click here:
http://www.kingprogram.net
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Muslim Meets Muslim
For a long time I was under the impression that the Black
Muslims in this country were far different from Muslims
in the rest of the world. I wasn't alone in this observation.
The Muslims felt the same way too! All of that is about to
change as the indigenous Muslim and the immigrant Muslim
join forces to work out their differences for the betterment
and survival of both in this country. Read on and you may
find youself asking, damn what took them so long?
Under the glistening dome of a mosque on Long Island, hundreds of men sat cross-legged on the floor. Many were doctors and engineers born in Pakistan and India. Dressed in khakis, polo shirts and the odd silk tunic, they fidgeted and whispered.
One thing stood between them and dinner: A visitor from Harlem was coming to ask for money.
A towering black man with a gray-flecked beard finally swept into the room, his bodyguard trailing him. Wearing a long, embroidered robe and matching hat, he took the microphone and began talking about a different group of Muslims, the thousands of African-Americans who have found Islam in prison.
“We are all brothers and sisters,” said the visitor, known as Imam Talib.
The men stared. To some of them, it seemed, he was from another planet. As the imam returned their gaze, he had a similar sensation. “They live in another world,” he later said.
Only 28 miles separate Imam Talib’s mosque in Harlem from the Islamic Center of Long Island. The congregations they each serve — African-Americans at the city mosque and immigrants of South Asian and Arab descent in the suburbs — represent the largest Muslim populations in the United States.
Yet a vast gulf divides them, one marked by race and class, culture and history.
For many African-American converts, Islam is an experience both spiritual and political, an expression of empowerment in a country they feel is dominated by a white elite. For many immigrant Muslims, Islam is an inherited identity, and America a place of assimilation and prosperity.
For decades, these two Muslim worlds remained largely separate. But last fall, Imam Talib hoped to cross that distance in a venture that has become increasingly common since Sept. 11. Black Muslims have begun advising immigrants on how to mount a civil rights campaign.
Foreign-born Muslims are giving African-Americans roles of leadership in some of their largest organizations. The two groups have joined forces politically, forming coalitions and backing the same candidates.
It is a tentative and uneasy union, seen more typically among leaders at the pulpit than along the prayer line. But it is critical, a growing number of Muslims believe, to surviving a hostile new era.
“Muslims will not be successful in America until there is a marriage between the indigenous and immigrant communities,” said Siraj Wahhaj, an African-American imam in New York with a rare national following among immigrant Muslims. “There has to be a marriage.”
The divide between black and immigrant Muslims reflects a unique struggle facing Islam in America. Perhaps nowhere else in the world are Muslims from so many racial, cultural and theological backgrounds trying their hands at coexistence. Only in Mecca, during the obligatory hajj, or pilgrimage, does such diversity in the faith come to life, between black and white, rich and poor, Sunni and Shiite.
This Article Continues Here:
Get your copy of the award winning King:
"From Atlanta to the Mountain top
It's the 3-Hour Docudrama that
tells the story of the Civil Rights
movement and the life of its
Drum Major for Peace,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To learn more and hear
excerpts from this treasured
program,click here:
http://www.kingprogram.net/
Muslims in this country were far different from Muslims
in the rest of the world. I wasn't alone in this observation.
The Muslims felt the same way too! All of that is about to
change as the indigenous Muslim and the immigrant Muslim
join forces to work out their differences for the betterment
and survival of both in this country. Read on and you may
find youself asking, damn what took them so long?
Under the glistening dome of a mosque on Long Island, hundreds of men sat cross-legged on the floor. Many were doctors and engineers born in Pakistan and India. Dressed in khakis, polo shirts and the odd silk tunic, they fidgeted and whispered.
One thing stood between them and dinner: A visitor from Harlem was coming to ask for money.
A towering black man with a gray-flecked beard finally swept into the room, his bodyguard trailing him. Wearing a long, embroidered robe and matching hat, he took the microphone and began talking about a different group of Muslims, the thousands of African-Americans who have found Islam in prison.
“We are all brothers and sisters,” said the visitor, known as Imam Talib.
The men stared. To some of them, it seemed, he was from another planet. As the imam returned their gaze, he had a similar sensation. “They live in another world,” he later said.
Only 28 miles separate Imam Talib’s mosque in Harlem from the Islamic Center of Long Island. The congregations they each serve — African-Americans at the city mosque and immigrants of South Asian and Arab descent in the suburbs — represent the largest Muslim populations in the United States.
Yet a vast gulf divides them, one marked by race and class, culture and history.
For many African-American converts, Islam is an experience both spiritual and political, an expression of empowerment in a country they feel is dominated by a white elite. For many immigrant Muslims, Islam is an inherited identity, and America a place of assimilation and prosperity.
For decades, these two Muslim worlds remained largely separate. But last fall, Imam Talib hoped to cross that distance in a venture that has become increasingly common since Sept. 11. Black Muslims have begun advising immigrants on how to mount a civil rights campaign.
Foreign-born Muslims are giving African-Americans roles of leadership in some of their largest organizations. The two groups have joined forces politically, forming coalitions and backing the same candidates.
It is a tentative and uneasy union, seen more typically among leaders at the pulpit than along the prayer line. But it is critical, a growing number of Muslims believe, to surviving a hostile new era.
“Muslims will not be successful in America until there is a marriage between the indigenous and immigrant communities,” said Siraj Wahhaj, an African-American imam in New York with a rare national following among immigrant Muslims. “There has to be a marriage.”
The divide between black and immigrant Muslims reflects a unique struggle facing Islam in America. Perhaps nowhere else in the world are Muslims from so many racial, cultural and theological backgrounds trying their hands at coexistence. Only in Mecca, during the obligatory hajj, or pilgrimage, does such diversity in the faith come to life, between black and white, rich and poor, Sunni and Shiite.
This Article Continues Here:
Get your copy of the award winning King:
"From Atlanta to the Mountain top
It's the 3-Hour Docudrama that
tells the story of the Civil Rights
movement and the life of its
Drum Major for Peace,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To learn more and hear
excerpts from this treasured
program,click here:
http://www.kingprogram.net/
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