"Hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess."
- Barack Obama, quoting Scripture, at the end of his Democratic Presidential Nominee acceptance speech on August 28, 2008
We did indeed. We held firmly, and went from Yes We Can to Yes We Did!
I am simultaneously laughing and crying at the same time that enough people in these United Stated united together to make change possible.
Barack will be everybody's President, but Black America is particularly proud. We will never be same. Our ancestors and dead civil rights activists are surely weeping with joy in heaven above, and our youth have a fantastic role model.
OMG, I am so, so, so incredibly proud. I will never, ever forget this joyous moment. I have witnessed history, a history I never dreamed I would see in my lifetime.
And God bless all the whites, Latinos, Asians, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, and any others who supported and had faith in a Barack Presidency. This includes the anti-war and anti-racist and anti-Bush policy crowd, all inspired that this decent human being is the best man for the job. He could not have been elected without your embracing change and accepting him for what he can offer this nation.
And with us, most of the rest of the world will be celebrating that America finally came to its senses.
We can depend on this: recall those tens of thousands of Germans in their own country who came to see him speak this past summer, and they can't even vote for him. Wow. *laughs happily* Just saw they've began the party in Africa!
Everybody can claim Barack if they want to. His history is unique and his love for humanity speaks loud and clear.
We're popping the corks here. Barack, you had a vision and a plan, and we love you for that. Congrats baby, to you and our First family!
Chances are, I entered this world at a later point in American history than most of you reading this, and if ever being 'old' can be considered lucky, this is one of those times.
I watched Rev. Al Sharpton speak last night, and I'll discuss that in few minutes. For now, know that he is one of my contemporaries and a little older than me. He's been a tireless fighter for racial justice and he's probably the only black man I've ever seen who can make Hannity squirm and truly look like the hate-mongering asshole he is. I can barely convey the pleasure that gives me.
Sharpton shares the same historical memories I have. For me, it began with the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I was seven at the time. I don't remember the day he was shot, but I was outside playing when my mother called me in to join her and my father watching the funeral. I didn't want to see it or be part of their grieving. They knew he was a dream for a President and were hurting over his killing.
I just wanted to be a kid and play, but history grabbed me for a moment and made me stop.
Sharpton, like me, was a kid at the time of the 1963 March on Washington led by Martin Luther King, Jr. I barely remember it, and only remember complaining to my much older brother that couldn't see or hear much.
I remember the day King was murdered the same way all Americans remember 9/11. For black folks, his assassination was our 9/11. I was sitting in 6th grade in Catholic school. My teacher was a nun, the kind that dressed in the old style black and white attire. Someone interrupted our class and whispered the terrible news to her.
Did she stand there looking stupid and continue the lesson, like George W. Bush did when he got news of this event? Hell no. That's one reason I immediately thought he knew ahead time that this act of evil was gonna go down.
My nun immediately told us. The tone of her voice told us that she was hurting from this tragedy and it pained her to pass along the message. One girl cried. I sat there in shock.
What a contrast to some of the stories I've heard from others, where their teachers and classmates found joy in his murder and their racism.
Then came the nationwide riots. I lived in DC, on the main street by Walter Reed Hospital. Riots broke out in downtown and other parts of of the city. Black folks, enraged and grieving, tore the place apart. The opportunistic subset of the crowd looted, but it was just burn baby burn for most folks who were simply outraged. The fires were only symbolic of their anger inside.
The city had a curfew. I saw a friggin' tank roll past my apartment building. It's a damn shame I didn't have my little camera with me that moment. Two strange white people, possibly reporters, walked past me and I overheard the woman ask the man, what do Negroes want? He seemed as helpless and dumbfounded as her.
I so much wanted to tell them that we wanted the same thing everyone else did and we weren't any different. I was too young to have the confidence to interrupt them and say this.
My generation stood on the backs of those who lived in misery and struggled for freedom and equality, beginning with that first luckless African kidnapped from the motherland and brought here in chains.
I watched so many of my brothas and sistas, along with anti-racist whites fight the fight to make this country a decent place for all of us to live in and raise our families. John, Martin, Robert, Malcolm, and a number of civil rights activists went down. More recently, ordinary people in recent times reminded America not enough has changed, like Rodney Can't We All Just Get Along King, and Sean Bell, gunned down by cowardly, racist cops for absolutely nothing other than being black.
The first great love of my life, and older brotha, was truly revolutionary. He was a former Panther in the late 60s turned journalist. I recall being awed when he described a speech he'd given a few years before I knew him, that got him locked up for inciting a riot. There wasn't no damn riot; the cops listening didn't like what they heard or the excitement of the crowd. They were the riot and broke it up. The charges didn't stick and he was out of jail a few days later. He's had a remarkable life of giving service to his people in writing about racism and corporate greed.
I often think of how much more interesting my life would have been if I had stayed with him, but I was too young to understand that time and tide wait for no one. He met and married someone else a couple years later. At least my consciousness had been raised, and I learned at an early age that some causes are worth sacrificing for, fighting for, perhaps dying for.
Life instead put me on another but similar path: to become a social worker, then a mental health provider, and adopt two children who were born to crack addicted mothers.
I view my children as casualties not of prenatal drug addiction, but racism and poverty, because all those alcohol ads pasted at every bus stop and corner in the low income areas of the inner cities didn't flood the black community until after the riots.
The crack cocaine epidemic occurred virtually overnight around 1985-1986, thanks to the CIA and Iran-Contra Affair operating under Ronald Reagan and his VP, George H. Bush. John Kerry was a freshman Senator at the time, and tried to get answers about it in 1986; his efforts were largely thwarted and he was ignored by the media.
A Pulitizer Prize winning journalist named Gary Webb broke the story in a small newspaper in 1996. The powers that be worked hard to quash it and discredit him, including the big news organizations. Webb is said to have committed suicide, but I'm don't believe it. Why? He's the only person I've ever known to do this by shooting himself in the head twice.
Efforts to keep blacks in a drug haze was in concert with much harsher laws targeted at those who possessed or sold small quantities of crack cocaine, not powered cocaine. Prisons became the opposite of being socialized - they became privatized - and the pressure has since been on state and county jails to keep 'em filled up. Indeed they have, with mostly black and brown occupants.
A people cannot overcome oppression if their minds are clouded with alcohol and drugs, and that was the whole point of the War on Black People disguised as the War on Drugs. Blacks are viewed by the ideological racists as not quite as human as themselves, and more importantly, a pool of cheap labor. Blacks had progressed too quickly from the benefits of the Civil Right Movement. Hardcore drug addiction brought the revolution of black progress almost to a grinding halt.
Meanwhile, across the tracks and on the white side of America as well as the new black and Latino middle classes, the proliferation of malls, prosperity, and mindless electronic entertainment distracted them from outsourced jobs, the polluted environment leading to global warming, and the plans of the suit and tie pirate politicians and corporate sharks for the next set of wars.
America became a 'service' nation populated by hedonistic, wasteful, overly materialistic consumers who grew up and lived in a bubble that produced little beyond bombs, paperwork and fast food.
They got very, very rich, but the problem with the greedy is that they don't know when or how to stop.
Fate had a different plan from those who would continue to do business as usual. Americans got fed up. The timing appears perfect: out of nowhere comes along a new man - Barack Obama - who has a vision and a plan, and just in time for those cutthroat Wall Street Pirates to reveal themselves.
It's as though he were born for this moment in history.
Barack is cool. He's brilliant. He's biracial - a big plus for uncertain whites who feel comforted by this, and blacks who can claim him as their own too.
His history runs from inspiring to downright eerie: While he worked and networked tirelessly over the past 20 years, he became the Illinois State Senator only four years ago. In a nation ruled by rich, gray-haired white men, his rapid success as a 43 year old black man is remarkable.
Remarkable events do occur occasionally: John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, overcame tremendous religious bigotry toward him and was 44 when narrowly elected.
If elected on Tuesday, Barack Obama made it loud and clear he will be a President for everyone, which includes us black folks who know in their gut that neither McCain nor Palin gives a rat's azz about minorities or even women's reproductive rights, and their campaign has proved this repeatly.
Last night Al Sharpton was interviewed by DL Hughley. It was a very human moment as he said, and I'm paraphrasing:
"Once Obama gets into the White House, we are accountable. We have to do something with it, all of us, including you, DL, who has this remarkable opportunity on CNN. Martin Luther King, Jr. made this dream a reality. We almost have it now, and we have to do something with it, or the struggle and fight against racism has all been for nothing."
His words of wisdom echoed in my ears ...the fight will have all been for nothing.
History operates on a continuum. For my generation, should Obama win on Tuesday, it will be a satisfying conclusion to what we've lived through, for, and seen so much suffering.
Sharpton symbolically passed the torch to Hughley and all the rest of the younger blacks out here to reap the benefits of the revolution, and not let it rot like unharvested grapes on a vine. Hughley listened closely to the wisdom of his elder, and one could see the words penetrate his mind and heart. He knows he was unexpectedly given a great gift - with strings attached: accountability and responsibility. His face, in awe, showed he understood this.
With an Obama Presidency, we all will receive that gift, particularly the younger generation. The haters will try to wrestle it away from us. They don't want change because the status quo of racism benefits them.
They're too blind to see that they'd be voting against their more important and pressing interests, or that under end stage capitalism everyone except the wealthy is treated like a nigger. Collectively, they may make it impossible for Obama to lose, or the enemies of democracy may succeed at stealing this election; they've certainly been trying hard enough.
At some point, the haters may even steal him from us as they did Martin Luther King, Jr. For some reason I don't worry too much that they will succeed. Barack doesn't appear to ever wear a bullet proof vest. It's as though he believes that God will watch his back, and for better or worse, he's exactly where he's supposed to be.
I do however, worry that some of us will be assaulted or die from random, hate-based violence in the days and weeks ahead if Barack wins. We've already had a preview in October of how bad bad can get.
Like it or not, the revolution is on.
Obama's hype is change, but in reality he's talking about the same old revolution dating back to the Bible: the revolution for human rights. Jesus stated that the second most important thing to remember after loving God with all your heart, is to love one another as you love yourself. He spoke not of religion, but of fairness.
It is when leaders in a nation or even a family refuses to live by that second directive that causes every revolution for justice throughout history.
This week, we and much of the world will eagerly watch from on the edge of our seats as a new chapter begins in the continuum of history.
For me, Al Sharpon and our generation and those older than us, it's one of the later or final chapters in our lifetime. Unlike our ancestors who were born and died in slavery and had little relief in between, or our grandparents who suffered making ends meet while tolerating the daily indignities and occasional terrorism by haters like the Klan, we have seen tremendous progress. Anti-racist whites feel good about this, but for us it's deeply personal.
Sharpton was so right; we don't want the struggle to be all for nothing. He said something else so interesting and I was really feeling it. I'm paraphrasing, but he said,
"On Election evening, I'm going to be at Martin Luther King's gravesite to give thanks. For without him, this would not be possible."
I'll be with Al in spirit. I agree with all he said except one thing: if we fail in the near future, I cannot allow myself to believe so much sacrifice and pain endured has been for nothing. We have survived through hell, and a critical mass of whites now have their eyes open wide and are ready to hold hands with us and enter a new era of change.
Win or lose, or no matter how an Obama Presidency ends if he does win, this year and this week are moments that my nearly 13 year old daughter and 20 year old son - like me, decades earlier - have had their youthful concerns interrupted.
The struggle for social justice, like history, lies on a continuum. One lost election or this one won but plagued with crippling problems from the descent of the economy and the sundown of American imperialism, will not mean all is lost.
For my youngest child, she is beginning the first chapter in her book of memories. I dedicate my book to her and all of you, with the words, we shall overcome.
I haven't dined out in quite sometime because necessity turned me into a home chef. Even my dog got a clue and finally stopped peeing next to his food bowl after I told him we'd adopt the ways of a faraway culture and eat him, if the fridge and cabinets go bare next year.
It's common knowledge, or at least should be, that America's chicken's have come home to roost.
I'm certain our new feathered friends will like urban areas. So be it. If I have to have one, I want an urban chicken. I'll keep her in my bathroom. I don't think they can be house broken, so that's the easiest place to clean.
Yeah, y'all are thinking that Kit done lost her damn mind.
Nope. I even have a plan for my hen.
I'll play my Rev. Wright video once a day to remind my new home girl that she's supposed to be sitting next to my bathtub and happily roosting. That way she'll be generous with her eggs and the dog won't have to hide every time he hears someone's stomach growl.
My daughter can groom it so it will look like exotic. There are a lot of senior citizens in our building. Their eyesight isn't that great, so maybe we can pass it off as a poodle. See? This one only needs a collar and leash.
It's been a bitch of year, but damned if I'm running from chickens. I'll shove one or even two in a cage with a nice little nest, and she or they can feed my family.
Long ago when my son's was a wee thing, his babysitter had roaches, then we had roaches when one of those little suckers snuck home with him and multiplied, at least until I introduced them to a fumigator. Guess we'll need to visit his old sitter and bring some new ones home. Then roaches will finally be useful, and can be used to feed the chicken.
*scream ewweeel*
Right after Rev. Wright said God would punish this country for all the evils, i.e., genocide, slavery, and oppression, that the American government did to so many people throughout history and present, all hell broke loose.
Not many people wanted to hear that, and even had the nerve to call him a racist for complaining about racism.
Well, he shouldn't have said God damn America even if probably meant God will damn the American government for what it's done. I've been wondering ever since if this was some sort of chicken curse we now have hanging over our heads. Most of us didn't do jack to nobody but lots of us have been affected.
Maybe now is a good time to review how we've been damned since May:
Over 800 wild fires caused by lightening strikes in Northern California.
Floods submerged parts of several mid-west states, which is one reason that our food prices are higher.
Don't forget about all those tornadoes.
Gas prices shot up, another reason food prices have increased since transporting it is more expensive. They've eased back down but that's temporary from the word on the street.
The housing market's engine, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, rolled over and died. They've been nationalized. Or should I say, Socialized, as in, Socialist?
The little country of Georgia stupidly followed "someone's" secret orders to invade their annexed northern side that doesn't even want to be bothered with them over our plan to put missiles there, facing Russia, who in turn kicked their azz. The Ruskies embarrassed the fuck out of us when the EU backed off 'cause they depend on Russia's gas and oil and don't want to piss them off, and now the whole world knows The Bear is back in the geopolitical game.
The fake Christian Right always felt they have a monopoly on God. The head hater minister of one of America's leading Evangelical groups led by James Dobson, asked his members to pray for torrential rain of biblical proportions to wash out Obama's formal acceptance speech as the Democratic Presidential Nominee at Denver's Invesco Field. Oh, what a beautiful day!
And how quiet the haters were afterwards.
Instead, McCain's shining moment got washed out. God scheduled Hurricane Gustave to hit Louisiana at exactly the moment that George W. Bush was to deliver his speech at the Republican National Convention. Afterwards, the media operatives of hate feigned amnesia about this mass prayer, not only because they were embarrassed, but because they were strategizing their next acts of pure racist hate and deceit, the kinds Rev. Wright so fiercely complained about.
Then along came September 15th, the Black Monday that will be remembered as the first day of the new Great Depression II if historians get it right.
Lehman Brothers died, followed by a few more and the $850 Billion Welfare to Wall Street Rip-Off Bailout reward to them at taxpayer expense - to corporations and banks that effed up, with more on the way.
Paulson and Bernanke, in hindsight, might be more worried about going to trial than about Wall Street going belly up, in this photo. The spook-infested AIG ain't worried about shit. They got their cut and partied hard by misusing $440K to celebrate. Guess they were happy about that Bush 'Socialist' plan, since they're nationalized now.
Ooops! I forgot. Socialism, as re-defined by the Right, only counts when you tax the top 5% a little more than the bottom 95% of the population, who would also get universal healthcare and nice social programs.
The Right doesn't think it's Socialism when you save the Wall Street Sharks and mega-corporations that robbed, pillaged, or simply screwed up. They are correct. What they embrace is totalitarism combined with cronyism.
During all the politricks, polar bears, who have no voting rights, don't have enough ice in their habitat to survive man-made global warming. Their only solace is that we'll soon be an endangered species too.
I'd save one and put it in my bathroom too, but it wouldn't fit very well and might eat my chicken and dog. Then I'd have no eggs, and at night my feet would be cold since the dog keeps them warm.
Amidst all the above, McCain's hidden puppet master had him chose an opportunistic moose hunter who will surely slay Liberty - as directed - if she ever becomes Prez, and his remaining supporters are still nutty enough to go along with this to keep the White House white.
Forget about the October newsletter by those silly Republican women had, which suggested Barack will make Food Stamp dollars and we can all eat high on the hog. Those dumb bitches are mental throwbacks from The Flat Earth Society, and will wish the hell they had some Obama Bucks to buy barbecue ribs, fried chicken, watermelon and Koolaid.
Our economy is fried thanks to the GOP aka The Party That Wrecked America, but unlike fried chicken, we can't eat it. Maybe before Bush leaves office, he can issue a Zero dollar bill with his photo on it to remind us what a memorable President he's been.
And that's just the first flock coming home to roost. More are on the way. The writing is on the wall everywhere.
Now Joe Biden said "we will be tested" early next year. Duck n' cover, kids! And Colin Powell hinted at it too, saying, "there’s going to be a crisis come along in the 21st or 22nd of January that we don’t even know about right now."
Maybe they've seen large flocks of chickens on radar from one of those fancy-schmancy outer space weather thingys.
Like most of y'all, I love some Obama. I bet that confused, race-baiting McCain volunteer who carved the letter B on her face secretly does too. All them racists are obsessed with him. Shee-it, they think and talk about him more than black folks. While we're sleeping, they're up wide awake, wondering his next move.
Maybe now's a good time to invest in companies that make meds for insominia, depression, anxiety and paranoia. The fixed news crowd could make us rich after Election Day! Yes, the nervous breakdowns will come then. We're beginning to see it already.
Well, sucks for them. Their hero is older than an aging Captain Kirk who can't maneuver through the trouble ahead any better than he could his own plane back in 'Nam.
But Spock, Jr. Obama can.
Barack is gonna try to get the money flowing again once he's in the White House, but we're currently entering the new Great Depression II. They're trying to keep it a secret so they can steal a little more until there's nothing more to steal.
The first Depression hit on Oct 28 & 29, 1929, but it took a few months before it hit Main Street. Like me, President Franklin Roosevelt had a plan for his generation's chickens coming home to roost. He got the nation through it with his chicken in every pot idea among others.
I figure this one will be worse, so I'm not eating mine. Just the eggs. Greenspan made another dumb ass mistake this week by ridiculously lowering the interest rates to encourage consumers to spend what they don't have in a country that's broke. I don't know Peter Schiff, but he made sense the other day on Bloomberg, talking about how this will cause hyperinflation. Hell, a dozen eggs may end up costing five or ten bucks by next year.
Things are hitting real close to my home. This week, one of my relatives got laid off from her job. She wasn't alone. One out of five got their pink slips. The remaining will go nuts trying to keep up with their work and that of the riffed employees.
Stock yo' pantries and save yo' cash, 'cause ain't nobody is stopping these birds of economic prey, because Superman won't be sworn in until late January.
Hmmm. I don't look forward to any of this, but I do like eggs. Scrambled eggs with cheese, sunny side up on toast, deviled eggs, you name it. So if I have to have a bird coming home to roost in my broke azz life, I want her to be an urban chicken.
It bothers me that William Balfour, the #1 suspect in the shooting deaths of Jennifer Hudson's mother and brother, has yet to be charged with this crime which occurred on October 23rd. This suggests the police have reservations over whether or not he did the deed.
Several things were nagging me in the back of my mind about this case yesterday. Finally it hit me.
The murders are estimated to have taken place around 9 AM Friday morning. That afternoon, Hudson's brother, Jason, was found fatally shot in his chest in his bedroom. Her mother was found in the living room, fatally shot execution-style in her head. Both had multiple gunshot wounds; in one unnamed victim, the wounds were defensive.
I wonder if the time given by neighbors who reported hearing gunshots is correct, because if so, why wasn't Julian, the missing seven year old, in school?
I also wonder if the bullets came from the same gun.
I also wonder about Jason Hudson's lifestyle. On his MySpace page, he listed N/A for high school graduation on the bottom left column. At 29, he still lived with his mother. These two factors, plus his being home on a Friday afternoon, made me wonder if he had a job.
He looks like he was a very nice man, but his past lifestyle, girlfriends and associates should be fully investigated, as the killer might turn up if Balfour wasn't the one. Jason Hudson was also quiet heavy. Here's a photo of him from Julia's MySpace page where she states he had to pick her up from work because "William's bitch ass sold my car".
Given his size, it's unlikely one person could have moved his body from the bedroom after shooting him. Thus, was his killer originally with him in his bedroom?
For all I know, Jason Hudson could have been celibate and working a night job. But what if he was involved with someone, and they had sex, followed by an argument and an impulse killing? That's a trail that I hope the police are traveling on.
The feds, if they haven't already, need to check his sheets and private area for hairs that don't belong to him. If they find any, this is DNA evidence. They also need to check his cellphone records and home phone records.
Another thought is could Jason Hudson been using drugs with a buddy? I wonder about this because the bedroom is where a single man or woman living with their mama is the most likely place to get high when a buddy or girlfriend visits due to its privacy. It's a better choice than the basement, where the mother might come down to do laundry, etc.
Or could the mother have been murdered first in the living room? Jason Hudson could have been asleep, heard the shot, and stood up. The killer could have run upstairs, flung open the door and fired upon this moving target - Jason - in the chest.
I am of the leave no stone unturned philosophy. I emailed Englewood Chicago police last night with this alternative hypothesis, asking them to consider if Jason Hudson was the victim of a vengeful sex partner gone nuts in a relationship gone wrong, or a drug deal gone bad.
I know these things take time, but it seems that with all the CSI technology, the feds would have nailed William Balfour by now on murder chargers or gotten a confession in the past four days. I don't know Illinois laws on polygraphs, as not all states accept them as evidence in a court of law, but could find no news story that indicated they asked or he offered to take one.
Meanwhile they smartly have Balfour sitting on ice in the Illinois Department of Corrections on an unnamed parole violations. This could have been for anything, from failing to tell his P.O. where he moved when left the family in May, or allegedly selling the family car without permission, where he and his wife Julia Hudson jointly owned a car, not having a job, or missing an appointment.
By the way, Balfour's MySpace page is still up and there are lots of photos. These two below are of him, Julia, Julia's missing son Julian, and a god-daughter.
There's an excellent chance William Balfour is the killer given his history and recent conflict with Julia and the family, but if he's not, that person (or persons) is still roaming free, and either has the kidnapped seven year old nephew of Jennifer Hudson, or did the unspeakable to this child. It chokes me up thinking about this. I know his parents and family are going through hell.
It's also interesting to note that Julie Hudson was heart-breakingly pleading on TV for whoever has him to please return him, "just drop him off on the street, anywhere, please."
She did this after William Balfour was locked up. Her sister Jennifer offered a $100,000 reward for him yesterday. This suggests they have not outruled that William Balfour and the killer may not be the same person.
Lastly, way in the back of my mind, I also wonder if this was hate crime...
*************************
Addendum #1 Added, Tues 10/28 @ 6 PM, EST
At the risk of going out on a limb, something about this case doesn't feel right.
I found this news article that went in more detail about Balfour's history. A simple car theft he attempted to do at 17 or 18 went real wrong when the owner of the vehicle came out and jumped on the car.
That's how he got the carjacking charge.
He recklessly drove away with the owner hanging on the car roof, and crashed into a pole which almost killed the poor guy.
That's how he got the attempted murder charge.
I call this Stupid Urban Teenager Syndrome.
So when Balfour was released, he hooked up and married Judy Hudson. Problems arrived big time when he sold their car. He couldn't have sold it if his name wasn't also on the title.
This is what I call Married People's Shit Syndrome.
No clue as to why he did it. Whatever the reason, it pissed off Julie and may be what led to her and the family kicking him out.
He also had new, pregnant girlfriend who he was living with at the time of the murders. I couldn't find a timeline, but he moved out of the Hudson home in May. If she was pregnant before May, that gives us an idea of why he and Julia had marital problems. Also I'm curious as to the pregnant girlfriend's history. Does she have a history of having "issues", such as jealousy or mental instability? Had he planned to leave her and return to Julia or move in with his mother or someone else?
So, we know why and how William Balfour originally landed in jail. Was he a violent man? I haven't found any history of his ever beating on his wife. Doesn't mean he didn't, but I've yet to run across this kind of story. I have to wonder if he was capable of killing her mother, brother, and son if he never laid hands on his wife.
Was he into the street hustle and drug game? He was into something, or Julia wouldn't have written on her MySpace something to the effect, William is my 2nd best friend after my mother... and the person I know most likely to go to jail.
Anyone can snap and become violent, but unless other facts about his life are revealed, his profile doesn't quite fit the kind of man who would load a bunch of bullets into three people he lived with and had affection for two or more years, including shooting this child, possibly in the car.
If he had been smoking PCP or had become strung out on crack, that changes things. If he's actually a sociopath, or had descended into a lifestyle of robbing folks since being kicked out, that will too.
These are to consider, and as a commenter on this thread "C", pointed out, that the world is watching, so the feds are doing it by the book rather than just "beating a confession" out of him.
The Chicago police must wonder the same things I do, including all the bullets were used in the murders. Each victim had multiple gunshots.
Did they all come from the same gun? Whoever did this sounded like they came prepared to kill.
And just when exactly, was this child murdered?
So far the cops aren't saying. If Balfour is innocent, he might be lucky he was busted the afternoon of the deaths, because if the kid was killed afterwards, someone else was involved.
A man was walking his dog on Monday, and it began howling in the way it never had before, and ran to the car that held this child's decaying body. The police won't reveal the date and time of death. They are clearly still following a number of trails to make sure they have the right person in custody.
And this is what brings me to continue wondering if this was a hate crime, one to remind white America why they shouldn't vote for a black President.
Far-fetched? Not with the hate out there. The other day two white guys planned to kill 88 blacks and behead 14 of them before they proceeded to their next mission of assassinating Obama. They were willing to die for their White Power cause. These murders came the day after that silly, race-baiting McCain volunteer carved a B backwards on her face and blamed a black man for robbery, rape, assault and mutilation, but was revealed to be a liar.
On the other hand, the Hudson triple homicide could have simply been by a couple of strung out neighborhood druggies who did it. I wonder if they'll ever find out. If Balfour really did it, I wouldn't blink if they gave him the death penalty.
I'm satisfied with the pace of this investigation. I wish all were as thorough. The FBI and Chicago feds need to continue following every trail, so that justice, when it comes, will come to the right person.
Addendum #2, 10/28 @ 10:45 PM
Finally, new info that gives a clearer and chilling view that the #1 suspect may well indeed be the killer. Police have not filed charges at this hour so we can assume they're still fact checking and testing.
Here are some highlights of quotes from this evening's story in the Chicago Sun Times:
"...he stopped talking when police suggested he take a polygraph test."
"A source said Balfour told Julia Hudson he would kill her if he found out she had a boyfriend, despite the fact that he had other girlfriends."
"Police believe that Balfour went to the Hudson family home Friday and shot through the front door, striking Hudson's brother, Jason. Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, came into the living room, screaming, and Balfour shot her as well, sources said."
"...sources also said Balfour's girlfriend contradicted his alibi and told police that he was involved in the slayings."
"Police have not ruled out the possibility that more than one person was involved..."
In another article, he didn't show up to meet his parole officer that Friday.
My thoughts: I fight like a tiger for justice because I've seen so much injustice in my life, particularly when it comes to black males. Time and time again, they've been set back and set up.
This is why I'm so methodical in my thinking and examining all available evidence. A black life is valuable, and never should we jump to conclusions that lead the wrong black man to prison.
I think at this point, they have the right black man.
I am livid that someone who had such a fucked up youth but got a such a grand chance to live with, love and be loved by a good family fucked up again, far worse than any ordinary street thug or criminal would ever do.
I wrote an earlier post on this story titled, A Conversation With An Almost Ex-Thug About the Jennifer Hudson's Nightmare.
In it, my son Xavier, a former confused teen and gang banger, got it right when he said a few days ago, "William Balfour is a gun hard bitch nigga."
Tonight I told him of the latest news. He looked angry as hell listening to the new information, then gave a smile of satisfaction and said, "Told ya that bitch nigga was guilty. His next stop is Death Row."
I smiled too and nodded in agreement.
In my heart, I mourn for the Hudson family. The survivors of any homicide are terrible victims too. It can take years to feel normal after this kind of tragedy happens to you and you never, ever forget.
Ironically this includes Balfour's mother and pregnant girlfriend too, even if you're tempted to hate them by association.
If he's guilty, and he probably is, his murder rampage of three left behind dozens of family and extended family members. I don't even want to think about what any of their upcoming holidays will be like. They are all in my prayers.
On a positive note, at the rate the feds are moving on this case, and if all the evidence and witnesses and sources are correct, the right man is locked up, and justice will be served.
Good.
Addendum #3 - 10/29/2008 @ 11 PM
My first love is politics, and my second human relationships. The Hudson case combines elements of social justice, crime, and how relations can go terribly wrong. I'll update this post periodically, as much for myself as for those of you who may interested in my take on it.
No charges filed yet, but more news in this fascinating case. Turns out that the Hudson family home was raided in March 2002.
This is how uneven justice is in America:
Julia's case was thrown out by a judge who said the search was illegal. Her mother, by the way, missed being with Jennifer on American Idol because she was in court.
Even though one judge said the search was illegal, another apparently didn't. The late brother, Jason was given a lesser charge and ordered to a drug abuse program. The boy's father, Gregory King was convicted of drug trafficking. Further, according to that article, cops say Jason Hudson and Gregory King were affiliated with a gang, the Gangster Disciples. They said William Balfour belonged to this one too.
Gangs are very common in large urban areas and it's easy to get tagged as being a member. If you grow up in a place, chances are a number of your friends from the sandbox join one, and this makes you 'affiliated' with them.
The lure of easy money is always a temptation as all those predatory home lenders can tell you, and this includes the Wall Street Banksters.
I'm still wondering if any of them will do a day in jail for the trillion dollar tab the taxpayers will foot the bill for.
Easy money is more tempting in urban areas due to fewer jobs, but the brothas there are far more likely to be vilified and end up in the grave from fighting over turf or in jail.
This brings us back to my earliest question in this post, was the brother, Jason, involved with a drug deal that went bad?
"Witnesses said Balfour drove his teal Chrysler to the Hudsons' block Friday, arriving about 7 a.m. But later the vehicle was discovered by police parked about a mile away outside Robeson High School. Balfour's girlfriend told police that he was at her West Side home not long after the slayings..."
"Investigators... are trying to determine whether another person drove Balfour to the West Side after the killings at the Hudsons' South Side home, sources said."
Yeah, he can't be in two placed at the same time, and by the way, how did he log into his MySpace Page on Sunday 10/26 when he was locked up? If not him, who?
***************************************
Addendum 4 - Tues Nov 11, 2008 @ 7 AM
Police have yet to file charges against William Balfour. In an unusual and smart move to keep him detained in prison while they continue to investigate the murders of Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother, and young nephew, they passed the buck to the Prisoner Review Board.
According to this morning's Chicago Sun Times article, "The chief reason for holding Balfour was a report from Cook County prosecutors that his girlfriend, identified as Shonta Cathey, said she saw him holding a gun that matched the color of the murder weapon..."
When this story broke, I said it would be wise if the lifestyle of the late Jason Hudson was closely examined, rather than assuming Balfour committed the murders as an act of domestic violence revenge. I even emailed the Englewood Chicago police, who at that time considered Balfour to be their only suspect.
The Chicago Sun Times developed a timeline on 11/03/2008. One of the most striking things is that Balfour's car was reportedly seen arriving at the Hudson residence at 7 AM on the morning of the murders. He hasn't lived there since May, and my guess is that Julia, a bus driver, had already left for work. This tells us he came to visit Jason.
Balfour, we learned through the news, had a crack addiction and was busted this summer when police stopped him and saw a crack rock in plain view in his car.
Thus, with Balfour's addiction, why in the hell would he be up and out at 7 AM for anything? Unemployed crack cocaine users are usually up late, go to bed late, and sleep through most of the day, then repeat the same cycle of pursuing the rock. Figuratively speaking, that is their job, and speaking of jobs, Jason Hudson didn't appear to have one. This begs the question, where was he getting his income?
Jason Hudson was shot in the leg this year but refused to get treatment for it at a hospital. We can speculate that he knew who shot him, but he didn't want the police asking him a hundred questions in an Emergency Room, which may have invited attention to whatever he was doing.
This is what I suspect happened: William Balfour and Jason Hudson were more than drug buddies and were dealing on the side. Balfour's mother alleged in this interview with Nancy Grace.
I can't stand Nancy Grace. I've always thought she's not only a "people" stupid bitch, but a racist who has be "in control" when interacting with black people. This makes her less effective as an attorney and a media professional.
Grace wasted a lot of time being defensive because Balfour's mother was so angry about the media, when she should have pursued the mother's allegation that Jason Hudson and William Balfour were running drugs together.
Here's another video of Noxious Nancy that interesting only in the interview with a man about Jason's gun being used in all three murders.
Between Jason and Balfour, I think Balfour screwed up big time on a cocaine deal. I speculate that he came to the house that morning at 7AM to discuss the deep shit they were in and how they needed pay back whoever they owed. Two hours later, their dealer spotted his car in front on the Hudson house, killed Jason, the mother, and took the kid.
This is where I'm split. Either Balfour escaped from the murderer(s) before they could kill him, or he promised them he'd get the money owed if they spared his life.
The police figured out that someone else was involved, but they were too stuck on the domestic violence angle and other trails went cold.
William Balfour ain't the brightest bulb in the box, but he knows that if snitches, he's dead immediately. If he keeps his mouth shut but still charged with multiple counts of homicide, he'll live several years on Death Row.
Balfour doesn't realize it, but he's safer in jail. If I were a thugged out dealer and he was released in December for lack of evidence, he'd be dead in 48 hours or less.
I reader left me comment earlier this morning on the spectacle Julia Hudson has been making of herself on her MySpace page. I hadn't been keeping up with her at all; the elections were too exciting and I moved on to other things. I've read a variety of links and will share my thoughts on her in an upcoming, separate post this week, not about her per se, but mentioning her as an example when too much for too long goes wrong in a person's life and they descend into a downward social drift.
*************************
Addedum #5 - November 13, 2008 @ 4:30 AM
Jezus Christ this case is fascinating. It's gone beyond a gang hit to having 'mob' written all over it.
Jennifer Hudson and "some family members" are currently being protected by billionaire Donald Trump's folks at his Chicago hotel:
"She's a great girl. And we're protecting them well,"Trump told PEOPLE [magazine] at a benefit honoring Australia director Baz Luhrman at the Museum of Modern Art Monday night. "They are very safe."
This begs the question, why the fuck does Jennifer Hudson need protection? I read a couple weeks ago that she was scared, which then made me wonder why.
Chicago is long known for it's history of the mob, which later became intertwined with black gangs. William Balfour joined the Gangster Street Disciples at the age of 11.
Balfour and the late Jason Hudson were gang members of the Gangster Disciples, which rakes in $1M a week thru drug deals. That amount of cocaine needs rich folks with planes to transport it here. No, I ain't saying Trump is involved, and here's a nod of approval for his protecting Jennifer and her sister Julia, and whatever other relatives who may be at risk for knowing too much.
I'm kicking around the idea of doing another post on it.
DL Hughley not only 'broke the news' on last night, but he broke some barriers and brought us into a new frontier. He was the first comedian - and a black comedian at that - to have a show on a well-known cable news program, and he and other actors in it tackled racism.
That was not only radical, it was historical, by both him and CNN for allowing it. The Right must have been frothing at the mouth over the truths DL Hughley told.
DL's opening monologue of political satire began a bit rocky. The jokes had a rushed feel to it and he was clearly nervous. I cut the brother some slack, after all, he was in new and uncharted territory and knew it.
Hughley has never been known as a politically savvy comedian like Chris Rock or Dave Chappelle. His strength was not trying to be one of them. Instead he was himself, and for me, it worked.
This is an important point, because if we hold all black comedians to the standards of two greatest ones of this century, then we've thrown away a lot of other good talent.
This briefly happened to Hughley. In 2007, that redneck pundit Imus was kicked off his own show for awhile after calling the women on the Rutgers basketball team "nappy-headed hoes."
DL got tangled in this mess when interviewed later on Jay Leno. He agreed the women were nappy-headed and some of the ugliest he'd ever seen. He speaks his mind, but that's one time he stuck both feet in his mouth by appearing to side with Imus (a huge no-no in the black community), and being too specific in who he was calling ugly.
The show biz savvy Jay Leno saw the blunder immediately and tried to help out by quickly ending the show, but it was too late to salvage DL's greatest ever fait accompli.
We all make at least a few stupid mistakes, but if we blow off everyone who does, no one will be left, including us.
Thus, I don't hold it against him. Don't hate, but I'm forgiving like that as long as mistakes aren't consistent and a central part of someone's character.
If anything, I take more issue with bourgeois blacks who vilify the black underclass by sensationalizing a handful of news stories about black teens, men, and musicians as though whites don't have these issues too. It's as though they don't realize they're undermining the black family in the process, and aiding white racists by not examining the larger social issues.
This group also usually whines endlessly about the use of the N-word in comedy and music. I like that multi-purpose word when used among blacks. I'm with Whoopi on this. It's our damn word. We claimed it as our own, and thus diluted the power that racist whites had over it.
Can't tell the Hughley haters any of this. They wrote him off. Their loss, because he learned from his mistake and has grown immensely. That's quite an accomplishment for brotha with only a GED who years ago, used to get on my nerves cracking jokes at the expense of members in his audience. If the show survives, he may go down in history as one of the most memorable comedic social commentators of our time.
I'm serious, that nigga did a comeback and was truly radical last night in dealing with racism.
I most appreciated that his jokes and the skits were not of the Steppin' Fetchit, denigrating type, nor were they of 'let's show how niggas can act a fool' variety that so infuriated me in David Greer's first episode of Chocolate News.
No, DL Hughley was radical in hitting racism head on, one joke after another. It's as though the sole purpose of his first episode was to address the nuttiness of racism.
Another was his interview with Neil De Grasse-Tyson, an intense hunk of a brotha who is an Harvard-educated astrophysicist and Director of the Hayden Planetarium. DL did a skit-type review of black presidents in past movies, leading up to the last one where Morgan Freeman starred who had the crisis of an comet rapidly approaching earth. He was a riot interviewing DeGrasse-Tyson, who was also funny. Watch this:
DL went to a Palin rally and interviewed the folks there. That was a definitely funny, but it's genius was both his sheer audacity in doing this, and his charm in how he used humor. A lot of the Palin supporters unexpectedly connected with him. You'll love this:
One clever skit was the show's riskiest. DL interviewed another black comedian (couldn't find his name) who dressed as pimp in purple - named Freddie Mac. I thought, oh no, not this on CNN!That skit had a deep message: that predatory housing lenders, Wall Street and our government pimped the American people.
I suspect this skit, however, turned off a number of blacks before watching the whole thing, as the knee-jerk reaction is not wanting white viewers to see us play the age old stereotype of a pimp since most of us are hoping Obama will win. The comedic brilliance of it was that Wall Street is a far bigger pimp than anything we've ever seen in our communities.
This is but another reason I contend that the DL Hughley show was radical. It throws the light on the hypocrisy of racism, and did it with style and humor.
Lastly, DL winged an interview with former Bush spokeman Scott McClellan. That was nicely done and the two men had a comfortable connection. Hughley was able to tease out who McClellan will vote for on November 4th: Barack Obama.
Damn but it's a new day. Change is everywhere. Thank God I've lived to see it.
I froze to the point of having a chill sweep across my body when I first read that the mother and brother of the famous singer-actress, Jennifer Hudson, was shot dead in their home yesterday. Nor does it bode well that her seven year old nephew is still missing.
If you are unfamiliar with her, she got her start to fame on American Idol and later had an unforgettable role in the movie, Dream Girls. She sang at Barack Obama's Democratic Presidential Nominee acceptance speech this past August.
William Balfour is the "one and only" suspect of killing her 57 year old mother, Darnell Donerson, and her 29 year old brother, Jason Hudson. They were found shot dead in their home, and their car is still missing.
Did he do it?
I don't know, but possibly. He was apprehended last night, but so far has not been charged with the crime. I can say with certainty that Balfour, now only 27, has the profile of being a troubled youth.
He was paroled in 2006 at age 25. He must have been 17 or 18 when arrested and convicted on carjacking and attempted murder charges, and spent seven years in prison during a time when most American youth are working or going to college, and trying to figure out who they are and what they want in life. Balfour missed that boat.
Yesterday his mother said, "Out of no means did my son do this. This heinous crime to this family is unbelievable. It's unbearable."
I'll bet it is since she's been down this road before with him, so her statement is even more tragic. He wasn't with her when the murders occurred, thus she can't say for absolute certain that he didn't do it. It must be killing her.
My son Xavier, is a former gang banger who was also a troubled youth. It took enormous effort by me and a host of professionals, family, and friends to pull him off his own path of destruction. Last night I told him about Jennifer Hudson's nightmare. He was appalled.
"I can't believe someone would kill someone's mother and brother!"
"Here's the picture of the guy they think did it," I said.
I studied Xavier, as he studied Balfour's photo.
"That nigga's gun hard," he said.
"Whatchu mean?"
"He's past hard. He's gun hard. Looks like he'd shoot anyone without thinking about it. But underneath, he's a bitch nigga. I'd whip his azz in a fight. Lot of brothas would. That's why he lives by the gun."
"They don't know for certain he did it," I said.
"Probably did," he replied, "and if so, they gonna beat his azz when he goes to jail."
He shook his head. "Damn," he said. "Her mother..."
I explained that Balfour had been involved with Jennifer's sister, Julia, and read to him that she said on her MySpace page that "her No. 1 best friend was her mom, her second was "William" and her third was Jennifer. She also said her mom is the person she most admires while "William" was "most likely" to get arrested."
I said, "Never did Julia dream her lover would be busted for killing her mother and brother, and kidnapping and maybe murdering her seven year old son. I hope that boy is his son, or he might be dead too."
"I think I know how it happened, Ma," he said.
I listened.
"I'll bet that he came to the house, maybe wanting a visit with the kid or looking for his girl [Julia]. The mama probably told him no or to stop coming around, and he started mouthing off at her, and then the brother jumped in and told him to get the fuck out of their house. That's when that bitch nigga pulled out his gun and shot them dead, with the brother first, then panicked like the lil' bitch he is and ran, taking the kid with him."
Reading more about this today, his hypothesis makes sense. Jennifer's brother was shot in the chest, suggesting to me that the murderer aimed quickly for the largest part of his body. Jennifer's mother was shot in the head; this was an execution-style killing.
It's always interesting to get the point of view of a thug or a cop. The best cops have the ability to think like criminals, but had the opportunity - and took advantage of it - and chose the straight path. Many I've met through my dealings with Xavier were bad boyz themselves as juveniles.
These particular cops were good guys and gave both him and me inspiration that he could stop using drugs, avoid trouble friends, and live a normal life. Xavier did the first two, but until he gets a trade or GED (a high school general equivalency degree), his life won't be quite normal as we think of it. He's scheduled to take a certification class to become a personal trainer and has a $6.50 an hour job now at the gym he works out in, but that's hardly enough for him to live independently like a normal adult would live.
As a therapist, I listen to projection too. That's when someone projects their feelings onto someone else. For example, if you think black men who dress a certain way or have a little swagger in their walk are inherently dangerous, you're more likely to project your beliefs on them and be quicker to assume they're guilty, sort of like middle aged people thought all long-haired young people were LSD using, sex-crazed hippies back in the late 60s.
Likewise, if you've been a black man who was once inherently dangerous, you might also negatively project your feelings and experiences on another brotha. Maybe you're right and maybe not.
As Xavier would say, it takes one to know one. At 17, drug addicted and a member of the Bloods, he was kicked out of a girlfriend's house. They had dated seriously for a year but she was tired of his descent into the street life and broke up with him. Her mother yelled in the doorway for him to not return and slammed the door. In a fit, he stabbed himself.
Yeah, that'll teach her.
Damn but I was glad she waited until he was in the yard before she did that. I'll bet she and her daughter were too. Anyone impulsive enough in anger to stab themselves could stab you in a rage. He was crazy as shit on drugs and moody by temperament along with those awful adolescent hormones.
He wasn't all that sane this summer either, at 19, when his last girlfriend was thinking about aborting his baby. He was so in love with her and praying she'd keep it. He called her place and she cruelly played games on the phone... she was giggling in the background and some guy answered and started trash-talking to Xavier that she was his girlfriend now and the sex the were having was (you fill in the blank).
Xavier ain't never been wrapped too tight from mild prenatal alcohol and chronic poly-substance abuse, plus his early years in neglectful foster homes that left him malnourished when I adopted him.
On that night, he was clinically insane for about a two hours. Nigga had borrowed a gun I didn't know about and said he was gonna kill that son of bitch at his girl's place. Called one of his old homeboyz to pick him up and drive him over there. I was a star in diffusing that shit.
When his friend pulled up in front, I told him of Xavier's plan. This young man's jaw dropped in shock. He's a former gang banger who went straight and now has a great job, and didn't want no part of that. He was a star too, and talked sanity back into my son's head in our parking lot. That story is in my long and compelling article, Abortion Blues.
Thus, Xavier is in an exquisite position to speak of how a criminal lifestyle combined with disadvantages and loss of love can make some men go crazy and become violent.
He was still angrily staring at the photos of this man and Jennifer Hudson. Steam was practically coming out of his ears, and if looks could kill, Balfour would be dead. I had the sense that my son could see what he could have become.
"You almost lost it too, a couple months ago," I said.
He grit on me. "I'd have never shot that azzhole!"
"You were nuts that night. Anything could have happened."
"I'm not like that."
He went back to staring at the photos. He reminded me of myself, never realizing how much I admired and cared about Jennifer Hudson until something unspeakably horrid happened to her family.
I asked Xavier, "Assuming he did it, what went wrong with William Balfour?"
