Commentary by Black Kos editor JoanMar
My Turkey Day table was filled with laughter, moments of shared incredulity and horror at the reality of having to face narcissism-on-steroids 2.0, and, despite it all, an abundance of gratitude. It was a warm and loving experience for us, and we had so much to be thankful for. Sadly, the same cannot be said for so many families and for so many different reasons. I’m especially heartbroken for those families who are missing loved ones because of the intentionally murderous actions of individuals who swore to protect and serve.
17-year-old Rayvon "Ray" Shahid
Police said since Shahid did not stop running after being tased, he was shot. He was allegedly shot six times in the back and one time in the back of the head. Michigan State Police also said found a loaded Glock handgun with an extended ammunition magazine at the scene of the shooting.
Yolanderia Gentry said she does not believe Shahid had a gun despite what police have been stating. She pointed out that this is not the only time an incident like this has happened in the city of Flint.
“Over 40 years ago, there was a young man by the name of Billy Taylor, and he was just 15 years old,” Gentry said. “He was my classmate. The police shot him. He was running – so they said – and they shot him the back of the head with a 12-gauge shotgun.
Thirty-eight year-old Brandon Boyd father of six
Family members of a 38-year-old man in the throes of a mental health crisis, who called 911 himself and was later shot dead by police on the steps of a Long Beach church in a gunbattle that left one officer injured, are demanding justice.
“Brandon had his hands up and wasn’t posing any threat as multiple eyewitnesses have confirmed,” his sister, Tiffany Boyd, said at a Tuesday news conference. “He was peaceful and in need of help.”
Brandon Durham called for help and got six bullets instead
Brandon Durham called 911 early Nov.12, saying he was hiding with his 15-year-old daughter after someone broke into his home, Assistant Sheriff Dori Karen said.
Bookman was one of the first officers to arrive and kicked in the front door. Koren said the officer found Durham in a hallway struggling over a knife with the intruder.
In a short clip of body camera video released by police, the officer yells for them to drop the knife, then fires one round. Durham and the intruder both fall to the floor, then the officer moves closer and fires five more rounds while standing over them, the video shows.
These totally unnecessary killings of Americans were just three of the over 1,192 people killed by police year-to-date.
According to Mapping Police Violence, Police have killed 1,192 this year.
The United States find itself in questionable company:
Top 10 Countries with the Highest Numbers of Police Killings in the World (most recent annual data):
With a well-regulated, sophisticated, and empathic police force, more people would have been at the family gatherings for Thanksgiving this year. One thing I know for sure: the promise of “total immunity” for murderous cops is not likely to lead to justice or accountability. Instead, it paves the way for a police state and all that entails.
I do hope that the majority of white people who voted against decency, practicality, and progress understand that in a system without guardrails, their loved ones are also in danger. It is not just Black and other marginalized communities who will be forced to have empty seats at their family gatherings. The vampire that needs human blood to sustain itself will take it from wherever it’s to be found. Such is the nature of unchecked power.
Rest in peace to Rayon, Brandon D, and Brandon B. Condolences to all their loved ones. You all deserved so much better.
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Brandon Louis Armstrong, the music giant's great-great nephew, makes his Broadway debut playing multiple parts in a new musical about the jazz legend's life. The Grio: A Louis Armstrong relative steps up to help portray the music icon on Broadway
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The new stage musical about Louis Armstrong on Broadway opens with the jazz icon in a rehearsal room alongside an anonymous piano player. Keep an eye on the guy on keys.
Audiences may not know it, but there are actually two Armstrongs onstage at that moment — the actor playing the great trumpeter and one of his real-life descendants. In an act of casting kismet, the piano player is Brandon Louis Armstrong, the music giant’s great-great nephew.
“That moment always feels like I get to — as Brandon — speak to my great-great uncle from beyond,” he says. “I get to just spend a moment in conversation with him and ask if he’s OK and hear his voice.”
The younger Armstrong is making his Broadway debut in “A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical,” playing multiple parts, including a piano player, a teacher and as an understudy for Louis Armstrong himself.
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A clutch of artists, curators and enthusiasts is welcomed by drummers, dancers and an unforgiving bout of sunshine amid cranes and scaffolding. The burgeoning, clay-coloured edifice with its earthen finish designed by David Adjaye, a knighted Ghanaian-Brit, is to house the Museum of West African Art (mowaa), a new hub for arts and culture in Nigeria’s historic Benin City. A jamboree of talks and workshops is more a proof-of-concept than a full-blown opening. Yet mowaa already stands shoulders above most other Nigerian museums, where many valuable artefacts are shut away in old warehouses.
In 1897 most of Benin City, then the capital of an extensive kingdom, was razed by the British. Their trove of looted plaques and sculptures—some of the finest art in Africa—ended up in museums all over the world.
A common argument against restoring this treasure to its original home is that Nigeria has nowhere to keep it safe and on permanent view for locals. mowaa is Nigeria’s riposte: a top-class museum on the edge of the royal palace’s compound to be managed by experts from home and abroad. “You’ve got to be very careful not to build something that is simply mimicking museums in the West,” says Philip Iheanacho, the director.
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