Angola Prisoner Henry James on his 30 Years Behind Bars for a Crime he didn't Committ

Courtesy of Democracy Now:

Blacks Who "Stand Their Ground" are Often Imprisoned

From AlterNet, "Defendants in Florida who employ the "Stand Your Ground" defense are more successful when white and victim is black."

Not in the least bit surprised.

Click here for the whole story.

When the Verdict Hurts: Sermon by Dr. Howard-John Wesley, Pastor

Time magazine said this is one of the best sermons in the wake of the Trayvon Martin injustice. It's 27 minutes long. I didn't get a chance to watch the whole thing but what I did see was moving.  He gets going around 7:30. Eloquent and passionate.

Michelle Alexander on "Zimmerman Mindset"

Courtesy of Democracy Now!

Zimmerman Juror: Trayvon "played a huge role" in his own death

From the infamous juror B-37: Trayvon played a huge role in his own death. He could have walked away and gone home after he was confronted.

Yes.  Didn't Trayvon know his place? He should have just put up with Zimmerman's harassment.  What's he doing there in the first place (besides basically going home).

Sound familiar? Think she feels empathy for Paula Deen?

This is bullshit.

Race, Stand Your Ground and Inconsistencies

So I just watched a clip of The Daily Show, where John Oliver talks about a black woman in Florida who fired her gun in the air to ward off her abusive husband and was arrested for it.  She was sentenced to 20 years in prison and the jury took 12 minutes to deliberate.  That's justice in the US.

David Simon on the Zimmerman/Martin Verdict

Simon says pretty much some of the things I feel.

I was with my son this past weekend when the verdict was announced. He just moved to Atlanta with his mother and her partner. This was my first visit since they moved about a month ago. We were playing video games and watching a movie Saturday night when I heard the jury had made a decision.  My son is just about to turn 13. He's black/hispanic (mom's hispanic, dad's black--I'm technically his stepdad, but have been with him since he was 3 and by all purposes am his dad).  You try to protect them from these things for as long as you can, but the fact is that he's getting older and needs to know the way the world work when it comes to being a young black male in society.  He's goofy, funny and funky, all things that make him special.  But to someone who doesn't know him and has stereotypes of young black boys, those things aren't recognized and don't matter.

I cut and pasted the entire as much of it summarized how I feel (see below the break).  You can go to the original post by clicking here.