"COP KILLER RECEIVES JAILHOUSE LYNCHING"

IS THE KU KLUX KLAN ALIVE & WELL IN PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY?

Who's on first? The buck stops here!









Jack Johnson, Melvin High, and Glenn Ivey

In 1946 a black man in Walton County, Georgia was accused of stabbing a white man. The man Roger Malcom was arrested and jailed. When the sun went down that evening a well known Ku Klux Klan member and bootlegger paid the bail to have the accused stabber released.

Malcom and his wife Dorothy, brother, George and his sister-in-law May were taken to a deserted field and gunned down by at least a dozen Ku Klux Klans men. They were armed with shotguns, rifles and a machine gun. May, the sister-in-law was pregnant, the klans men cut her womb out of her body. The brutal and mass killings got the attention of President Harry Truman. President Truman would later assign the FBI to investigate the gruesome massacre. No one was ever arrested and brought to trial. Recently the FBI and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation have discovered some new information about the case that they can’t ignore. They have re-opened the case. They are being encouraged to seek prosecution of the last living members of that vigilante group before they die.

The more things change the more they remain the same. Fast forward 2008 to Prince George’s County, Maryland known as the richest black county in America. Despite their riches the county is still one of the most dangerous police jurisdictions in America for a black man to live. The county runs a close second in DBC (Death By Cop). The Los Angeles and New York City Police Departments are tied for first. Their sworn oath of duty----is to serve and protect!

America’s police departments have been called one of the worst gangs in our community. You name the crime and they have committed it.

In Prince George’s County nineteen year old Ronnie White was being held in connection with the death of thirty-one year old Prince George’s County Police Officer, Corporal Richard Findley. Findley was a ten year veteran of the department and served his community as a volunteer fireman. Corporal Findley was on a stake-out on Friday June 27, 2008 when he tried to stop a pick-up truck driven allegedly by Mr. White. He was hit and dragged to his death.

Mr. White was being held in solitary confinement at the Prince George’s County Correction facility in Upper Marlboro waiting for his day in court.

On Sunday morning June 28, 2008 between 10:15 am and 10:30 am a Klan like act was committed. Someone was allowed to enter the guarded facility and break Mr. White’s neck. The timetable itself says to me it was a set-up. Several guards on duty have refused to corporate with law-enforcement. Since this murder is not rocket science the solution is easy, charge everyone who was on duty and had excess to Mr. White with obstruction of justice and conspiracy to commit murder. Sit back and watch “The Code of silence” go from deaf and dumb to squeals of pigs being taken to the slaughter.

This hideous act in 2008 of “Jail House Justice” is a sad commentary on the black community and its law-enforcement leadership. First, there is County Executive Jack Johnson (a former Prince George’s County State’s Attorney). He was well aware of police misbehavior as it related to the black community. He had first-hand knowledge of how treacherous they could be. During his term as State’s Attorney he arrived to work early one morning to discover that a poisonous snake was joining him for coffee. It was rumored to be a gift from the Prince George’s County Police Department. It was clearly an attempt on his life.

His aggressive style as Prince George’s State’s Attorney had the cops in the county running for cover. During his term in office as County Executive I saw his style change from a tiger’s roar to a cat’s meow as it related to oversight of the police department. With their violent history safe guards should have automatically been taken and in place to insure the safety of the accused ‘Cop Killer.’ Mr. White should have been transferred to another jurisdiction for his protection which by the way is a routine maneuver in law-enforcement.

I was not shocked to hear of the murder of Ronnie White, I was shocked that the County Executive and Police Chief Melvin High didn’t take the necessary precautionary measures to see that the young man had his day in court. This incident proves that there is still “Justice and Just-Us” even with black folks pretending that they are in charge. Two wrongs still don’t make a right.

The present Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey is expected to lead the investigation. Mr. Ivey was quoted saying, “Unfortunately, we’ve got a fair amount of experience with investigations into law enforcement.” His community commitment was questioned in a column written by me “Breaking the Faith” (We are a people betrayed by our preachers and politicians) in the Washington Post in May 2004. His commitment according some community leaders is still in question. His eyes are on the prize (County Executive) much like his predecessor, Jack Johnson.

The Prince George’s County legacy and reputation of “Bad Cops” goes all the way back to the 50’s with me growing up in NE Washington. The department had a reputation for mistreating blacks and you didn’t even have to break the law to get their attention---our black skin was the attention getter. They were especially, fluent when came to using the BIG N word.

The Justice Department has had its eyes on the Prince George’s Police Department for decades. In the 80’s the county had one of the highest shooting rates among large police departments nationwide. In 1999 there were charges that officers in the canine unit improperly set police dogs on black suspects. The prone was expanded to the entire police department in October 2000 after a Howard University student Prince Jones was shot five times in the back by a county officer in a case of mistaken identity. The Justice Department prone is expected to end next year, if that is the case that would be a big mistake. The Prince George’s County Police Department should be given a life time contract with the Justice Department, they have earned it.

The present chief Melvin High is a nice guy but he is cautious not to step on an egg and crack it. He was also the subject of my column in the Washington Post. He was quoted as saying as it related to youth violence at Suitland High School, “My hands are tied I have got to move on.” If he can’t address the problem of youth violence how can he be expected to address the problem of adult violence in his own department?

In the 70’s and 80’s Chief High (Discipline Review Board) was a part of the administration of the DC Police Department along with former DC Police assistant chiefs, Issac Fullwood (former Chief), and Marty Tapscott. They looked the other way as a bad cop by the name of Tommy Musgrove was allowed to physically abuse black prisoners on weekends in the cell block of police headquarters in the late 70’s and early 80’s. The Justice Department finally took over the investigation and Musgrove was convicted and sentenced to jail. His conviction was later overturned on appeal after serving a year. He was given back pay and his job back. Musgrove was a ‘Bad Cop’ that beat the system because so-called ‘Good Cops’ would not take a stand and do the right thing. I was a witness up-close and personal, my brother Sgt. Earl K. Bell led the investigation that got Musgrove convicted.

Good cops outnumber the bad cops on police departments around the country, but there is this false sense of security that “It is us against them mentality.” The Code of Silence if you check its origin was the idea of a snake oil salesman smooth talking “Bad Cop.”

My brother Earl was a DC cop for 18-years and my late brother Alfred Robert Bell was a
U. S. Marshall for 20-years. I have worked side by side with law-enforcement (DC MPD, FBI, Secret Service, etc) for my entire career as a youth advocate in the streets of the inner-city. During the 1968 riots while working for the DC Recreation Department as a Roving Leader I was assigned a DC MPD badge by a community minded Assistant Chief, Tilmon O’Byrant. The purpose was to get me through DC police barricades to talk with looters and other law-breakers without interference. It was a scary assignment. I was the only one who didn’t have a gun and a bulletproof vest. I have seen good cops and bad cops up close and personal. The good cops in Prince Georges’ County out number the bad cops but have their priorities confused with loyalty and the law.

In another display of police misconduct and abuse of power on the eve of his death a group of Ronnie White’s friends tried to hold a candle light vigil in his memory. Members of the Prince George’s Police Department’s goon-squad stepped in and broke up the memorial. This is a violation of these young people’s Civil Rights. Jack Johnson and Chief High need to tell their officers to back off immediately.

Beware adults, the FBI and our children are watching and following this case very closely.

GEORGE CARLIN KEEPING IT REAL IN AMERICA!

IN APPRECIATION

THE ONE AND ONLY GEORGE CARLIN









During the month of February 2008 the designated month sat aside for blacks to celebrate their history, I was reading a magazine interview with comedian George Carlin. The interview immediately got my attention. I have been a George Carlin fan for as long as I can remember. His concerts on HBO are classics.

George Carlin was an award winning comedian, actor and writer, he died on June 23, 2008 of heart failure. He was seventy-one years old. He was due to receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center here in Washington, DC in November.

The comic genius of Red Fox, Richard Pryor, Paul Mooney and Eddie Murphy had a lot in common with George Carlin, they all had foul mouths and made us laugh whether we wanted to or not. They all took issues with the powers to be (politicians and ministers) and took profanity to a new level.

When I discovered George’s interview I was coordinating a Black History Forum at my apartment complex in Bowie, Maryland: The forum was titled “The Young and Restless: Youth Violence in our Community and Schools.”

I decided to use the thought provoking interview of George Carlin in the hand-out program for the forum.

The thing I loved about George is that he had a no cut-card and nobody was off limits no matter your gender, race, creed or religion. He was definitely an equal opportunity offender. He went places with comedy that others dared not to go. I am thinking that he and Red Fox brought stand-up comedy into the 20th century.

In an interview with Keith Oberman on MSNBC television last year he told Keith “I hate the Bush White House and what they have done to this country. When I am on stage I just want to destroy them.”

George’s 1972 album “Class Clown” contains the monologue ‘Seven Words you can never say on television.’ This morning I needed something to laugh about and I went to the internet and found the printed monologue and laughed my ass off. The monologue contains the words that got him into trouble with the FCC. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court and a decision was rendered that these seven words could not be use during the television family hour. The decision made George a bigger star and now a legendary figure in the world of comedy.

Adding George’s interview to the Black History program was a great move on my part. During the reception after the program it was a topic of conversation among the youth and senior citizens in attendance.

I named his interview “An American History Lesson” by George Carlin.

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and no time for dinner, more conversations, but less time. We have more degrees, but no common sense, more knowledge but less judgement, more experts yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch too much TV, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. There are more opinions and money, but more liars and thieves. We talk too much, love too seldom and player hate too often.

We’ve have learned how to make a living, but not a life. We have added years to life but not life to years. We have been all the way to the moon and back, but we don’t even know our neighbors. We have conquered outer of space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things.

We’ve cleaned up the air but polluted the soul. We have conquered the atom but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more but accomplish little. We learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, we produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less.

These are times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are the days of quick trips, disposal diapers, throw away morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom.

Remember to spend some time with your loved ones they are not going to be around forever. Remember, to say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember to say “I love you” to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again. Give time to love, give time to speak! Make sure you give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind. Always remember life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath.

Footnote: It sounds like George was speaking from experience, he had just lost a love one.

DOC RIVERS IS NO RED AUERBACH----BUT!

Red and Dotie share a laugh on Inside Sports

While the spirit of Red Auerbach lurked in the new TD Banknorth Garden the new “Big Three” dismantled and embarrassed the Los Angeles Lakers franchise in the NBA finals 131-92. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen reminded Celtic fans of dynasties past. There was Bill Russell, Sam Jones and K. C. Jones or Larry Byrd, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish dynasties.

The 2008 Boston Celtics went from worst to first in a hurry. The new "Big Three" solidified their places in Boston Celtic lore. Paul Pierce scored a double-double in points and assist and was named the MVP of the series. Kevin Garnett scored 26 points and had 14 rebounds and Ray Allen tied an NBA finals record with seven 3 point shots while scoring 26 points. The "Big Three" whether they like it or not had lived up to their name.

The NBA’s Boston Celtics and Red Auerbach are the most successful team and coach in NBA history. The franchise has won 17 World Championships; Red won 9 of those as the head coach. Number 17 came on Tuesday night June 18, 2008 in TD Northbank Garden. The man in charge was a man we call Doc and not Red.

While America was seeing Black for the first time (Presidential nominee Barack Obama) the City of Boston was also seeing a familiar Red as in Auerbach. It had been twenty-one years (1987) since these two teams last met in an NBA final. The last thing the city, the team and the fans wanted to see was a Lakers’ win to move Jackson ahead of Auerbach. The last time the Boston Celtics won an NBA Championship was 1987. Red Auerbach was still the Godfather of the NBA and President of the franchise.

Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson came into the series tied with Red and needed a win to move ahead of him in the championship finals win column. The Lakers blew a 24 point lead to the Celtics in game four at home to go down 3-1 and a 39 point lost in the finals didn’t help his case. He returned to Los Angeles hopefully never again to hear being compared to Red Auerbach.
It is not by accident or coincident that Doc Rivers is the head coach of the Boston Celtics or Danny Ainge is the team’s General Manager. Thanks to Red the Celtics were the first equal opportunity and keeping it in the family employer in the NBA.

When Doc Rivers became the coach of the Celtics, Red’s advice to Doc, “Keep it simple.” Red won 9 NBA Championships by keeping it simple and playing tough in your face defense, thanks to a man named Bill-- as in Bill Russell.

Make no mistake Doc Rivers is no Red Auerbach, DC's fearless talk show host Coach Butch McAdams said it best on a recent talk show. He said, "Doc Rivers as a basketball coach makes a great television/basketball commentator."

In defense of Rivers I have always thought that coaching a pro sports team was overrated. If you got the "horses" and the respect of grown men anything is possible--meet Doc Rivers.
This year’s team didn’t have a Bill Russell but their team defense was the best in the league. In 2007 the Celtics had the worst team in the league and the media and fans were calling for Doc Rivers' dismissal. In 2008 GM Danny Ainge pulled off an NBA heist that would have made Red Auerbach proud. Kevin Garnett is one of the most gifted big men in the league. He had been the face of the Minnesota Tmberwolves' franchise since leaving high school 12 years ago, but basketball success had not followed him to the NBA. Garnett had become an unhappy camper and wanted out.

The acquisition of Kevin Garnett and NBA sharp shooter Ray Allen was a stroke of genius. You add holdover Paul Pierce and it brought back memories of Celtic pride with Auerbach, Bill Russell, John Havlicek, Sam Jones, K. C. Jones, etc leading the charge against Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and the incomparable Wilt Chamberlain. I am still trying to figure out how the Celtics pulled that one off. The answer could easily be---Red Auerbach.

How and why did Minnesota trade Garnett to Boston? It is rumored that the spirit of Red Auerbach contacted Minnesota GM Kevin McHale while he was in a deep sleep one night and said “Kevin you owe me one, trade Garnett to Boston and we are even.” The rest is team sports history.

This final match up brought together one of the NBA’s most heated and hated basketball rivals. The match-up lacked the marquee value of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain or Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, but it did not lack the mental and physical intensity that this rivalry has known for decades. The only other major sports franchises that come close to this rivalry in intensity is the match-up of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

The World of sports lost a true giant when Red died on October 28, 2006. He was born in Brooklyn, NY but he loved his adopted hometown of Washington, DC. The finals championship left no doubt that Red Auerbach is the greatest coach in the history of the NBA.
His won-lost record in Human and in Civil Rights was nothing to sneeze at----he was in a class by himself.

In 1950 Chuck Cooper of Duquesne University and a second team All-American was drafted by coach Red Auerbach and owner Walter Brown. Cooper would become the first black player drafted and signed by an NBA team. The NBA is now the most integrated pro sports organization in America. The NBA plantation mentality is no longer implemented by whites it is now implemented by black men. Red was not a big fan of NBA Commissioner David Stern or Wizard’s owner Abe Pollin, it had something to do with trust and integrity.

Red was the first coach to play five black players at the same time. He was first to hire the first black coach when he hired Bill Russell and the first to hire a black General Manager his name was also--Bill Russell.

During the tenure of owner Walter Brown and Red Auerbach the Boston Garden was a “Racial Free Zone.” The stifling racial strife in the city of Boston for the past several decades was not allowed in Boston Garden the home of the Boston Celtics. When games were played in the garden the Redneck riff-raff had to check their KKK robes and hoods at the gate and replace them with shirt and tie, blue jeans and T-shirts.

When the basketball hall of fame had forgotten the contributions of Earl Lloyd the first player to ever play in an NBA game in 1950, Red reminded them. Earl was finally inducted into the Naismith Basketball of Fame in 2001 fifty years later. Thanks to Red Auerbach, better late than never.

The Boston Celtics were the underdogs in this year’s series and were picked to lose to the Lakers in six games by the so-called experts. The experts can be found sitting at NBA press tables around the league during the regular season. Many would not know the difference from a left hook and a hook shot, but they are the experts never the less. The Celtics won in six games---so much for the experts!

This was the eleventh championship final between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics now lead the series 9-3. The most important statistic was the one owned by the coaches, the late Red Auerbach and Phil Jackson. Each had won nine NBA Championships. A win by the Lakers would make Phil Jackson the outright leader. Please don’t think this was lost on the city of Boston, the Celtic organization, the players or the coaches. The city of Los Angeles, the Lakers organization, the players and their coach were also caught up in this historical footnote in NBA history, more than bragging rights were at stake.

Did you see Bill Russell and Magic Johnson lurking in the stands, behind closed doors, in locker rooms and in bath rooms? They were there to remind the players not to let them down and what was really at stake.

Phil Jackson had not forgotten that when his record was compared to Red Auerbach’s, Red made it perfectly clear that Phil was an NBA opportunist. Red built his incredible record with just one team—the Boston Celtics and Phil was an NBA vagabond. Red said, “Phil Jackson is the television version of Bob Barker, if you got the players, Lets Make A Deal.” In other words, 'I have sneakers and I will travel.'

Red Auerbach was a genius and one of a kind. If you are looking for the definition of coach in Webster’s Dictionary it is spelled, A-U-E-R-B-A-C-H. Red could X and O you to death (chalk and black board). He was a psychiatrist, motivator, P. R. man and an intimidator. The league’s referees, coaches and players were often the target of his wit and sharp tongue. He stood 5’7 inches tall and I still remember watching a game on television and Red challenging the 7 foot Wilt Chamberlain to a fist fight. Red would later tell me on my talk show Inside Sports, “I should have gotten an Academy Award for that performance.” Talking about getting under an opponent’s skin, when he was sure that victory was in hand he would light up his famous cigar on the bench. There were several occasions when he would light the cigar up too soon and the opposition would make a comeback and got the last laugh. Those laughs were far few and in-between.

There were times when Red could be too smart for his own good. Boston Celtic great and Hall of Fame player Sam Jones once told me the story about Red having a curfew, something he very seldom did. Red requested the team in a hotel during a long winning streak. It was the night before they would be playing the worst team in the league. Red wanted to make sure everyone stayed focused and not take the losers for granted. He ordered room service (sandwiches, chips, pretzels, sodas and beer) for everyone in a suite. The players then retired to their rooms together. The next day they lost to the worst team in the league by 20 points. Red said, "That was my first curfew and my last curfew." He learned, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Bill Russell took a page out of one of Red Auerbach’s chalk talks and promised Kevin Garnett one of his championship rings if he did not win a championship during his stay in Boston. Bill was depending on the pride of Kevin being man enough to go out and earn his own ring. Bill was right and Kevin finally took up residency under the basket in game six and it was no contest. Today I can vision Red smiling and reaching for his cigar, the heavenly no-smoking sign off for a day. Doc Rivers is no Red Auerbach but in 2008 he was running a close second in Boston.