Tagged: First Amendment
“The first black president has become the first niggerized black president.” — Dr. Cornel West
Yesterday afternoon, I was watching CNN and Dr. Cornel West gave a great interview with CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin. Although the initial focus of the conversation was on the tragic events that took place in Charleston, Dr. West brought the conversation full circle when he discussed the role our nation’s first “niggerized black president” has played in exacerbating our country’s issues with racism. Click the link below to hear Dr. West’s statements. Do you agree? I definitely do.
Source: Pam Key. “Cornel West: Obama ‘Has Become The First Nigg**ized Black President.” Breitbart. June 22, 2015. http://www.breitbart.com/video/2015/06/22/cornel-west-obama-has-become-the-first-n-gerized-black-president/.
“‘There will never be a nigger in SAE!’ chanted a bunch of Biebers from the dark side. The OU frat video released earlier this week shocked the nation. But not me. I never believed the lie of a post-racial America, so new heights of white shittiness don’t surprise me. Instead, my mind went to that kid who still longed to be the unwanted “nigger” in a fraternity where he’d be like Baldwin’s “fly in the buttermilk.” That black boy or girl who has no idea who the hell s/he is, who thinks that finding a home in places like the SAE house might offer some desperately needed sense of belonging. I write this in the hopes of reaching that lost black body floating adrift in the chaos of racial identity — just like I did for much of my life.”
Wow!!! This is going to be a great read!
While reading the quote above, I thought about Chief Judge Loretta A. Preska’s recent visit to Columbia Law School, where she gave a speech about the perceived threat to First Amendment rights taking place on college campuses throughout the U.S. She saw it to to be a problem that schools were crumbling under pressure to the demands of students and rescinding their offers of having divisive and ignorant public figures like Ann Coulter speak at their campuses. Based on her statements, it seems like she would say that the racist speech of the SAE members should be protected/totally acceptable and that the university should not have taken any adverse actions against this predominately all-white fraternity. The reason why? Because she is RACIST! I wanted to ask her a question including a scenario like this, but in a room full of white people, I didn’t want to get all Malcolm X up on her ass. Shouldn’t racist speech, language, THINKING be out right BANNED now that we live in a “post-racial society”? I wish!! Should African American and other non-racist students have to tolerate shit like this from whites when their alleged superiority is based on nothing more than a lie? I don’t think so!!! This shit has got to change…
Source: Kasai Rex. “I Was The Black Guy In A White Frat.” Salon. March 15, 2015. http://www.salon.com/2015/03/16/my_shucking_and_jiving_years_i_was_the_black_guy_in_a_white_frat/.
law & music: a day with Chief Judge Loretta A. Preska and Tori Kelly.
Today was pretty eventful. I attended an event honoring Chief Judge Loretta A. Preska of the Southern District of New York at Columbia Law School, where she was honored by The Federalist Society as the first recipient of The [Alexander] Hamilton Award. She gave a 20 minute speech entitled “The Death of Free Speech on Campus” and spent the rest of her time answering questions from the audience.
Leonard and I have both written numerous letters to Preska over the years about the overall fraud & corruption taking place in the Southern District of New York, particularly with the two Republican appointed federal judges overseeing our cases — Robert P. Patterson and P. Kevin Castel. Preska has acknowledged our letters by posting them onto our respective dockets, but she has remained silent and taken no further action. Smdh.
Although I wanted to speak to her [either by asking a question or speaking to her one-on-one], I decided against doing so. Nonetheless, it was good to hear her speak — even if I didn’t entirely agree with what she had to say.
When I got home, I saw that one of my favorite singer/songwriters — Tori Kelly — was in town and was having a free show @ Birchbox Soho, so of course, I checked that out as well.
She impeccably performed the first single off her upcoming debut album titled “Nobody Love,” and four other songs, including “Paper Hearts” and “Dear No One.”
Can’t wait for Tori to release this album!! Today was a good day!
“Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Thus, if the defendant’s statement is factually accurate, then the plaintiff cannot win his/her defamation lawsuit, no matter how damaging the statement might tend to be to the plaintiff’s reputation. So, when publishing an assertion of fact, make sure that it is accurate. And if you cannot be absolutely certain of the truth of your statement, then at least be sure that it cannot be falsified, since a defamation plaintiff bears the burden of demonstrating that the statement was false at the time it was made.”
Although I presented a pyramid of evidence proving all of my claims against William Morris, Loeb & Loeb LLP and lead attorney Michael P. Zweig, and they never met their heightened burden of production & persuasion to refute these claims or felt that they needed to. Instead, they argued that I was “racist”/”anti-Semitic” and said that I was engaging in defamation, slander and libel against them. Although they never identified anything that I said that was untrue, Arbitrator David L. Gregory of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) awarded them $1,000 for the “damage” I’ve caused them for speaking the truth…
Source: Hajir Ardebili. “Five Tips For Tweeting Without Getting Sued for Defamation.” Corporate Counsel. February 4, 2015. http://www.corpcounsel.com/id=1202716861431/5-Tips-for-Tweeting-Without-Getting-Sued-for-Defamation#ixzz3Qn0IjDFR.
“On Sunday, Rams stars Stedman Bailey, Tavon Austin, Jared Cook, Chris Givens, and Kenny Britt all participated in the demonstration, as they exited their home field tunnel to start the game. ‘I just think there has to be a change,’ Cook told the Associated Press after the Rams’ blowout victory. ‘There has to be a change that starts with the people that are most influential around the world.’ ‘I don’t want the people in the community to feel like we turned a blind eye to it,’ Britt added. ‘What would I like to see happen? Change in America.'”
In response, the predominately all-white…
St. Louis Police Officers Association (SLPOA) released a statement early on Monday strongly condemning what they called a “tasteless, offensive and inflammatory” display.
The SLPOA’s business manager Jeff Roorda said, “it is unthinkable that hometown athletes would so publicly perpetuate a narrative that has been disproven over-and-over again.” The SLPOA went on to call the NFL “remarkably hypocritical” for allowing the players to protest and called for them to be disciplined and for the Rams organization to apologize.
“I know that there are those that will say that these players are simply exercising their First Amendment rights. Well I’ve got news for people who think that way, cops have First Amendment rights too, and we plan to exercise ours,” said Roorda.
Is Roorda making some kind of threat or something?? As we know, whites believe they are the victims of discrimination and that our protests against institutionalized racism, police brutality and other injustices that disproportionately affect black and brown communities are merely “perpetuat[ing] a narrative that has been disproven over-and-over again.” Smdh. It’s thinking like Roorda that’s part of America’s problem. This guy needs to be fired, along with the rest of them — similar to what happened to Darren Wilson and the last police department he worked for.
if what I’m saying about William Morris and Loeb & Loeb LLP is “without merit” and “frivolous,” shouldn’t that person conclude that I have engaged in defamation based on the “non-factual” statements made?
“[William Morris and Loeb & Loeb LLP’s] application for a Protective Order (Letter of November 17, 2014) is DENIED. Mr. Washington’s statements about judicial officers, whether addressed to the judicial officer or to the public, are protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution so long as they do not amount to harassment, threats or other tortuous or criminal conduct. The same is true regarding statements about private citizens, although the Court does not pass on the question of whether any statement about a private person was defamatory or damaging. SO ORDERED.” — P. Kevin Castel
On November 17, 2014, William Morris and Loeb & Loeb LLP sought for P. Kevin Castel to file a Motion for a Protective Order against me:
I filed a Notice of Appeal on November 12, 2014, so Michael P. Zweig and Loeb & Loeb LLP knew that the Southern District of New York no longer had jurisdiction over the case. I took a considerable amount of time away from working on my Motion in the appellate court, to respond to Michael P. Zweig’s frivolous request:
Clearly, my response was effective. I sent the letter to Castel and the Defendants’ counsel via e-mail around 12:05 PM, and Castel’s chambers e-mailed us his decision around 3:30 PM. Read P. Kevin Castel’s response:
finally! federal judge P. Kevin Castel just DENIED William Morris and Loeb & Loeb LLP’s request to issue a PROTECTIVE ORDER against me!! hahaha. don’t try to fuck with my #firstamendmentrights
I really shouldn’t be that excited since Castel no longer has jurisdiction over the case…but ALL of Castel’s decisions over the last four years have been in favor of William Morris and Loeb & Loeb LLP. It definitely feels good knowing that he decided against continuing to abuse his power and denied their request as I put the finishing touching on my Motion and submit it to the Second Circuit. 🙂
Revolution & Religion: A Dialogue Between Cornel West and Bob Avakian.
I just found out this event is taking place today in New York City. I might check it out!
“This Article attempts to provide a basis for removing from racism the veil of protection it sometimes has received from the First Amendment…”
Source: Carla D. Pratt. Should Klansmen be Lawyers? Racism As An Ethical Barrier to the Legal Profession. 30 Fl. State Law Review 857, 864. 2003.
Me Against Iniquity: Understanding the Complexities of Global White Supremacy (Racism) Through The Eyes of an Unapologetically BLACK Intellectual 