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‘How Long Does It Take to Click a Seat Belt?’: Closing Arguments in Freddie Gray Case
“How long does it take to click a seat belt and click a radio to ask for a medic? Two, three or four seconds?” Baltimore prosecutor Janice Bledsoe asked as she faced jurors during closing arguments in the first trial regarding the death of Freddie Gray. She then placed on the table, so jurors could…
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Verdict in 1st Trial Over Freddie Gray’s Death Could Come Next Week
There could be a verdict as soon as next week in the first trial related to the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore. The defense’s case in the trial of Police Officer William Porter, charged with involuntary manslaughter in Gray’s death, concluded Friday. Gray died earlier this year from injuries he suffered while in police…
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Jurors Visibly Shaken When Video of Freddie Gray’s Arrest Is Played in Court
The mood in the courtroom Thursday during the testimony of Freddie Gray’s best friend, Brandon Ross, 31, was heavy. The room was silent and still after those present heard the screams and pleading from Ross and bystanders on the cellphone-video footage. It was a solemn reminder of the personal stakes of this case that has…
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Black Judge, Black Jury? Why the 1st Trial in Freddie Gray’s Death Is Different
With the trial of William Porter set to begin Wednesday, the first of six trials in the death of Freddie Gray, it is clear that this will be no ordinary case. This is in part because Judge Barry Williams, 53, is no ordinary judge. During the jury-selection process, Williams asked a pool of hundreds of…
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1st Trial in Death of Freddie Gray to Begin Monday in Baltimore
While cases of police misconduct flood the news, a trial involving the death of Freddie Gray is set to begin Monday in Baltimore. The trial, which has fallen under the radar a bit because of a gag order imposed by Judge Barry Williams, is the first of six separate trials for the police officers accused…
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Rapper Jahi Educates in the Classroom and From Behind the Mic
Jahi isn’t your average rapper. He doesn’t have to just worry about flow and lyrics when he tours with Public Enemy as part of the group PE 2.0. As an educator and pioneer of the African-American Male Achievement program in the Oakland, Calif., public school system, he has to wait until summer break, when the…
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Kente Cloth Klansmen and Paul Rucker’s Art That Provokes
Paul Rucker isn’t intentionally provocative. His art tells American stories. It just so happens that those stories are provocative, wretched and criminal. At the opening last week of his installation “Rewind” at the Baltimore Museum of Art, there are rows of tall and imposing mannequins donning Ku Klux Klan robes. One holds a baby wearing…
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Check Out America’s Worst Police Departments
Almost half of Americans hate their police department. In a new study, a little over 47 percent of Americans gave their police precinct a grade of D or F. The states of Arkansas, Idaho, Missouri, Virginia and Georgia are among those ranked highest in the number of people reporting negative perceptions of police. The results…
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Bernie Sanders, Black Lives Matter and the Search for a Black Agenda
“I don’t know if I will do the fighting myself or other people will.” That’s what Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump threatened Tuesday at a press conference. He was talking about not allowing Black Lives Matter protesters to interrupt him at any forum. But while Trump talks hypothetical encounters with the burgeoning racial-justice movement, his…
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Ex-Baltimore Police Officer on Abusive Cops: ‘So Many of Them Are Punks’
In late June, a little more than a month after the uprisings involving the death of Freddie Gray, a series of tweets appeared from retired Baltimore police officer and former Sgt. Michael A. Wood Jr., who worked on the force 2003-2014, that started with: “I’m going to start Tweeting the things I’ve seen & participated…
