City of Surprises

A City Full of Surprises 

There were a few surprises at the Worcester City Council meeting on January 13, 2015.  It was not a surprised that the City Council voted through Councillor Lukes' resolution to support the cops unconditionally and at the same time bash the Black Lives Matter protesters. It was something of a surprise that two Councillors voted against it. This might have been a Profile in Courage moment in their political lives and it might be the end of their political careers. I think that Councillor Rivera is fairly safe and will get reelected. She is a district Councillor in a district that likely supports better police accountability. The same cannot be said for at large Councillor Rushton. It would be a surprise if he is reelected.

Before the City Council meeting it was reported that the Mayor sought some compromise either from Councillor Lukes or from the so called minority communities or both.   Councillor Lukes was at one time a reasonable person and would have compromised, but her personality has changed within the last few years. She refused to change a single word of her mean spirited resolution. This was not surprise.

In a meeting with the so called minority communities Councillor Rivera came up with wording that softened Councillor Lukes’ resolution and a decision was made to make the new wording a friendly amendment. This was surprising as Councillor actually went out on a limb for previously marginalized communities.

A group of protesters and residents spoke against Councillor Lukes’ resolution. This was not a surprise given the numerous protests that have continued since the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson. Councillor Luke’s reactions to the Black Lives Matter protestors were a surprise.  She became very emotional and said that the cops could not help her to drive out trouble makers who live near her property in the Canal District. She never made it clear the connection between her resolution and the police being able to harass her neighbors into leaving their domicile. Councillor Lukes sounded distraught and tearful when Mayor Petty came to her rescue by telling the audience that she deserved respect.

It was not surprising that Councillor Gaffney, some people say he is in the Tea Party, gave a “I am not a racist “ apology for voting with Councillor Lukes. Councillor Gaffney spoke how he had to work hard to get where he is. He went to school at Worcester State College and worked a full time job at the same time. Like Councillor Lukes it was not clear the connection between his hard work and the resolution.

It was not a surprise when the Mayor would not allow the friendly amendment written by Councillor Rivera to come to a vote. Instead he bowed to the wishes of Councilor Lukes, the Mayor allowed Councillor Rivera’ amendment to be voted on as a separated resolution. It was not a surprised that Councillors seeking cover voted for this separate resolution.

Manager Augustus spoke a few words about the good things being done by the City to resolve the issues. He said that these efforts were not well known. He said that the next class of police officers was half “minority” The surprise is not that what the City is doing is not well known, but that the Manager spoke at all. He has been an absent voice.

When the Black Lives Matter people rose up singing and walked out of the City Council meeting with the passage of Councillor Luke’s resolution, that moment was a surprise. As they were leaving Mayor Petty thanked them for their input. This was an interesting surprise as it showed that there are people in the City who do not see themselves as interlocutors between the people and the powers that that be.

Indirectly related to the events in Worcester is the blockade of I-93. It is a surprise how much energy this issue of police accountability is generating. I would not be surprised if this actually becomes a new civil rights movement.

Playing The Non Racism, I am Neutral Card

Playing the Non Racism Neutral Card

Once hidden over, the open confliction of the duties of the Police, the policy obligations of the City Council, and the demographic changes in the City will be like an open sore for all to see at the January 13, 2015 City Council meeting.  The City Council will pass a resolution supporting the Worcester Police absolutely and attacking the growing number of people especially the so called minorities who protested against police misconduct in Ferguson and in Worcester.

It is a foregone conclusion that the resolution written by Councillor Lukes will pass unchanged from its provocative and mean spirited words. There were some who thought Councillor Rushton would revise Luke’s resolution to be less provocative and leave open the door for dialog.

Many people are angry, disappointed, and feel betrayed by the actions of City Council. Not one City Councillor has said that he would vote against the resolution.  There is discussion among the opponents of the resolution about how to respond to what we consider another in a long line of racist disparities disguised as neutral policy.  Communities United is planning a MLK Day  Potluck Dinner on January 19, 2015 to win support for their efforts and to reclaim the militancy of Martin Luther King Jr. and infuse it into a new civil rights movement.

Communities United Collective and others have taken a lead in the protests at City Council.  Their efforts have put the City somewhat on the defensive. The Police Chief has come out in the press with a “Black on Black” news story. The number of shootings has increased. The statistics and the police’s policy is hard to know as the City Council has no policy regarding the police actions and the City Manager is mum, pretty much letting Chief Gemme do as he sees fit. This issue should be addressed, but the fact that it came out the day before the City Council meeting is evidence of its pretext.

The Police Department has put the pressure on the City Council by alleging that the delay of Councillor Lukes’ resolution has caused morale problem among the ranks. The City Manager who is the supposed boss of the police is nowhere to be found on these issues.  How is it possible the Police Chief can speak for the City department and the City Manager says nothing?

Evidence of racism disguised as neutral policy has been the elections of Councilors. No male person of color has been elected to City Council in my almost fifty years living in Worcester as an adult.  Lenny Cooper, Bill Coleman, Juan Gomez could not get elected, although Juan Gomez was appointed when a Councillor resign.  Women of color have been able to win elections and their elections are well deserved. The racist fear by some in the City of the angry Black man lurks and rears its ugly head every two years.

This year 2015 is a Council election year and no one councilor wants to be seen soft on crime. The City’s demographics are changing. We shall see who votes against the Luke’s resolution and his fate in the elections. Playing the neutral non racism card seems to be getting harder to do.

Lukes, More Harm Than Good

Lukes, More Harm Than Good

 

   There comes a time in everyone’s life when events overtakes him and he is unable to respond to  changes. Time has caught up with Konstantina Lukes, City Councillor in Worcester. That line between harm and good was crossed when she proposed a resolution that called for the support of the police and attacked the protests against police misconduct at the January 7, 2015 City Council meeting.

In many ways her recent actions remind me of former City Clerk Robert J. O’Keefe who would do outrageous and mean spirited things such as put on birth certificates that a baby was a bastard. He denied people the right to register to vote based on flimsy reasons such as whether or not a person was enrolled in a college. Arrogantly Mr. O’ Keefe would say he knew better than anyone else as he had a law degree.

 In the past Councillor Lukes has done some good. She was a Director at the ACLU. She had useful ideas about the City budget. She supported the candidacy of Dr. Boone for Worcester School Superintendant. I remember when Councillor Lukes,  her husband, my wife, and I had breakfast together at Broadway. I found Councillor Lukes to quite personable and gracious.

Her association with the Tea Party and sour grapes about her loss of the Mayoralty to Joe O’Brian   seemed to cause Councillor Lukes to lose her ability to put things in perspective.  Councillor Lukes’ resolution against the protests around Ferguson, NYC, Cleveland and other locations of police misconduct feels like an attempt to reestablish her relevance in a world which is changing before her eyes. The main change has been that the City is now majority “minority”.

 

 When the City was majority White and there were relatively few “minorities”, the liberal White politicians would act as agents for the “minorities “communities. Such a person was Arthur Chase who defended Dr. Goldsberry who tried to set up a facility off of Burncoat St for at risk kids.  I still am grateful for his bravery in the face of a NIMBY reaction. This is changing with more calls for representatives from the “minorities” communities.  Instead of “agents” representing us; there is a need for  representatives who have experienced what we have experienced, felt what we have felt, and can articulate them in a language in which we can relate. At this point Councillor Lukes does not even pretend to feel what we feel; her actions are a provocation.

 

 The Worcester police have not condemned the protests in the mean spirited manner that Councillor Lukes has done.  Some of the police have left open the door for dialog which Councillor Lukes wants to slam shut. I think that Councillor Russell got it right when he said the Councillor Lukes resolution was being used as a wedge issue to divide Worcester. Instead of a wedge there should be more transparency and accountability by the Worcester Police to the public. There should be a discussion of how this is done. Today not even the police can quantify or evaluate its effectiveness, because no one knows or is even attempting to keep track of what the Worcester Police is doing.

 

Councillor Lukes arrogantly challenged the people speaking against her resolution at the January 7, 2015 City Council meeting to vote her out of office. It might be time instead for Councillor Lukes to take stock of what she has done and whether what she has done is more harm than good. It might be time for her to step down and let people more relevant to the times run the City.

What 2015 City Council Candidates Will Not Discuss

 But Should

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 Oversight of the Police.

 

 Oversight of the police does not mean that the cops are doing anything bad. It does mean that what the cops do should be transparent to the residents of Worcester. Right now not even the cops can say that their efforts are successful or effective or not. It is unlikely that the City will set up such over sight, given Councillor Luke’s petition of support for the police department.  It should be overseen, if for no other reason than for  Council to fulfill its duty to set policy.  How can policy be set if no one can say for certain what is going on. Perhaps with Ferguson demonstrations of 2014, a non governmental agency will find the political strength to oversee the cops’ policy.

 

  The Start of the School to Jobs Pipeline.

 

There has been a lot of talk about a school to prison pipeline that has a disparately negative impact on the dark skin and poor children of Worcester Public Schools. It is certainly true that more school discipline is being resolved by police arrests,  adversely affecting many students. It is a certainty that no candidate will talk about the school to prison pipeline; it is time to talk about the school to jobs pipeline.

 

There are many groups in the City helping children and providing mentoring and other help such as the United Way, CAC, YWCA, and others.  It might be time to coordinate these efforts and have the different agencies work in a more coordinated manner to make sure every child gets what she needs to graduate high school, become gainfully employed and lead a successful life. Every child at risk should have a mentor and every child should have something worthwhile to do after school.

 

 

 

  Green Energy Jobs

 

Manager Augustus has proposed sustainable energy for Worcester utilizing solar and other technologies on top of the public garages and at the Greenwood Dump. I hope that the City Councillor candidates discuss who gets these jobs and how the realized savings are  distributed and whether additional programs are doable.

 

 

The Franchise for Worcester Residents

 

Many Worcester Residents are not citizens of the United States. Neither Massachusetts nor Worcester has citizens; the people who live here are residents. Which means that some residents of Worcester cannot vote in Worcester only elections such as  the City Council and School Committee races.   A large proportion of the City’s residents is not represented by the City Council, although Councillors will say they listen to everyone.  Residents of Worcester who cannot vote send their children to Public Schools and have their streets plowed, and pay taxes, just like citizens. This seems to violate the principle of the American Revolution, “No taxation without representation”. Although unlikely to be taken up by any candidate, I look forward to this discussion.

Hiding Behind Dead Cops

The president of the NYPD union has opportunistically used the murder of two good NYPD officers to further his political agenda with the Mayor of New York City (NYC). Patrick Lynch has blamed the Mayor of NYC for the deaths of officers Liu and Ramos. 

Not only is Lynch hiding behind two dead cops in making his comments, he is also creating a racially charged climate in NYC by insinuating that the Black community want to kill cops. We in the Black community want justice and bad cops off the job. The Mayor of NY has Black children.

Some people have raised the issue that there is a connection between the protests against the racist conditions faced by dark skin people and the shooting of police officers.  Beside NYC another police officer was murdered in Tarpon Springs Florida. The shooting in NYC was done allegedly by a man who allegedly  also shot a woman in an act of domestic violence and he killed himself. In Tarpon Springs the alleged murderer was trying avoid a return to prison. There is no direct connection between the protests and the murders; there is an indirect connection through the media.

The irrationality of Patrick Lynch’s rants are seen when he said nothing when two White people indirectly connected to the Neo Nazis ambushed and killed two police officers in Las Vegas earlier in the year. He also said nothing when the “survivalist” Frein ambushed two police officers in Pennsylvania, killing one officer.  Although the union has reportedly agreed to refrain from these rants, the harm is done.

A modern definition of White supremacy and White privilege is Black people having to apologize for our race when one person commits a crime, while the bosses such as Patrick Lynch never apologizes for the acts of the White neo Nazis nor for a White survivalist who kill cops.  Patrick Lynch never even said he was sorry for the victim of domestic violence as she was also like the police officers a victim of a mentally ill man.

I recently read a story where some Black cops of New York City have said that they feel threaten by other cops when they change into civilian clothes and are off duty.  A fear that is magnified by unarmed Black people who when confront by the police understand the cop can shoot and kill us with impunity. Cops can kill us based on their “belief” their lives are in danger. This logic is nonsensical as the definition of a first res ponder is that they put his life in danger. The standard for the police using deadly force must be a higher bar.

Many times I have agonized over this issue as I have relatives who are cops and I love them dearly and wish only that they remain safe. I hope that other police departments do not create a more racially charged environment by repeating the shameful, slanderous, and racist comments made by Patrick Lynch.

In many ways Patrick Lynch comments are an indicator of how effective the protests have become. He has taken notice of them as has the Mayor of New York.  I can only think that City bosses have also taken notice.

New Civil Rights Movement

                                          Young Faces From Worcester In NYC 12-13-14
                                            Photo courtesy fo Robert lBlackwel Gibbs

The New Civil Rights Movement

The demonstrations against the killing of unarmed Black men are a good thing. This fight against racism will eventually benefit everyone as it will cause a review of police procedures and policies. The criminal justice system is rigged in such a way that no police officer who kills anyone is ever indicted. This should change to a different standard of any police officers who wrongfully kills someone should be fired. The standard is a long struggle before it could be effectuated. And it might never be accomplished without a complete dismantling and overhaul of our justice system.

On November 13, 2014 there were three demonstrations for racial justice seen on Worcester, Boston, NYC, and Washington. At least twenty five people went to the NYC demonstration from Worcester. The trip to NYC was organized by Communities United Collective (CUC). A group formed shortly after a Support Ferguson Mo rally in July of 2014 in the Worcester commons. The CUC consists of mostly relatively young people of all races who are too young to have participated in the civil rights movement of 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.  All of the people in CUC are enthusiastic and this showed when they and students boldly blocked the streets of Worcester and made their voices heard at the Worcester City Council meeting.

A weakness of the CUC seems to be that they are never certain from meeting to meeting what is needed to be done.    

The description of the rally in New York by some of the people who went shows this enthusiasm.

Jules

“The Millions March was a peacefully organized Rally. It was a very successful. We shut the streets down and raise awareness. It won’t end until Justice is brought to those who ripped families apart and took the lives of the innocent. If I had to do it again, I’d do it a thousand times over.”

Jonathan

“The bosses have to have heard and that is why they are discrediting the marchers in any way that they can. This was no rowdy bunch of hoodlums. This was an extremely well organized political action. I expect reforms to come in the long term. This is just the beginning of a growing movement. The police can't do this anymore. The people aren't going to let them

 Ed

“Yeah sure! I thought it went really great and it was amazing how many people came out in solidarity. I think are point of why we're fighting got across but we still have a ways to go and we need to take that people power past protesting.”

Robert

“Uplifting while sorrowful! It was moving to see so many like minds there for the main cause. The police were calm but we knew what they really wanted. When we all took Brooklyn Bridge and shut down both sides to traffic it was a show of real power.”

The rally in Washington D.C. might indicate a difference in tactics between the old guard civil rights activists and the young activists. A group of younger demonstrators from St. Louis wanted to go up on the stage when the TV cameras were and speak. The people running the rally said that the people from St. Louis needed VIP passes to get on stage.

This new civil rights movement apparently has reached a critical stage. What is next? More blocked streets, more teach ins, or something else is next? Will there be a division between the young and the older civil rights activists?  Hopefully this new movement will have the lasting power of the effectiveness of the old.

Don’t Cry For Darren Wilson

Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown and the grand jury of St. Louis County Missouri presented to District Attorney McCullough a No True Bill, no indictment. Mr. Wilson showed no remorse or regret in his TV interview. The finding of the grand jury did not come as a surprise as almost no police officer has been indicted for any action, no matter how bad, while he was on duty.

What came as a surprise is that Darren Wilson resigned from the Ferguson Police Department a few days after the No True Bill.  His resignation is somewhat puzzling.  When the police officers in Worcester killed Cristino Hernandez in 1993 they did not resigned nor were they fired, despite the Inquest Judge ruling that the Worcester Police used “excessive force”.

Today Ferguson is seventy percent Black and the Ferguson Police Department is ninety four percent White.  In 1993 Worcester was seventy percent White and the Worcester Police Department was at least seventy percent White, if not a higher percentage.  In Worcester the opposition to the police homicide of Cristino Hernandez was divided with many people saying that the Worcester police killing him was not racist.  That division does not exist in Ferguson today among the protesters; there is some division regarding the destruction of property.

   It is a common occurrence that when people make serious mistakes they are fired or forced to resign. We have seen this in Massachusetts at the Department of Children and in the Department of Public Safety; even the supervisors are forced out.  When the police make a mistake and accidentally (unjustifiably) kill children, the least that should happen is that the officer resigns.

   Darren Wilson has resigned. Some people may feel sorry for him because he says he cannot continue his work in law enforcement. However it is likely he could find a job anywhere in law enforcement in which the population is not majority minority.  

   It is unlikely he will be charges with violation of Michael Brown’s civil rights. There is going to be civil trial for wrongful death brought by Michael Brown’s parents. In order to be successful the parents will have to name the City of Ferguson as a defendant. This means that the City will cover Mr. Wilson’s court costs.

  Mr. Wilson will have an opportunity to write his book about how unjust the system treated him. The right wing might ask him to go on speaking tours about the need for law and order. Mr. Wilson will do alright for himself. He is no victim. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Michael Brown.