Skip to content
View in the app

A better way to browse. Learn more.

African American Literature Book Club

A full-screen app on your home screen with push notifications, badges and more.

To install this app on iOS and iPadOS
  1. Tap the Share icon in Safari
  2. Scroll the menu and tap Add to Home Screen.
  3. Tap Add in the top-right corner.
To install this app on Android
  1. Tap the 3-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the browser.
  2. Tap Add to Home screen or Install app.
  3. Confirm by tapping Install.

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 07/29/2018 in Posts

  1. These sorts of results keep a brown person a bit paranoid. Hm, maybe I should see if WebCrawler still crawling and getting somewhere better.
  2. 1 point
    "Not my specialty."
  3. I guess the real answer as @Chevdove has revealed is that we simply can't rely on one browser if we are serious about discovering all the web has to offer. Due to Google's de facto monopoly, our laziness and convenience, or plain ignorance, most of us are happy to use Google as our default search engine for all the reason described and more. This is a mistake. I'm guilty of this myself. If more web users used other search engines, more sites would be discovered, those site would be in a better position to grow and the web would be a better place. Thanks for helping me to see that it does not have to be about using just one search engine over another but taking advantage of the uniqueness that they all provide.
  4. JAY Z & the KALIEF BROWDER STORY I never keyed in on this story about Kalief Crowder until I began to research about Jay Z and Beyonce’s sacrifices in their bringing forth the Trayvon Martin Story. But, because this story about Kalief maybe regarded as ‘old news’ in this community and based on what has been aired, however, I would like to take a hard-right turn though and ask some questions and make some conclusions that may lead to solutions not yet considered in this case and the many other cases being reviewed in America on this same wise. In light of this story too, it seems that America would be a system that rewards bad behavior on many levels and hopefully, the deeper layers of this story will soon manifest and present some serious issues with this system that have been downplayed and accepted as the norm and issues that could help to prevent this kind of torture that has been occurring against our people on a continual basis. This young man, Kalief Browder, has a story that would also be just as compelling as all of the other young Black men and older men who have been sacrificed in this system. Nevertheless, my deep gratitude does go out to Jay Z and Harvey Weinstein for offering up their sacrifices to get these stories out and attempt to put them in the forefront of the worlds’ consciousness. Because Kalief’s story was so put together like a maze though, it took me many hours to understand. Also, even though this story was presented in depth, however, there still seems to remain many common gaps in Kalief’s story, just as the stories of the many other Black Americans who have been wrongfully charged with crimes that they were never proven to have committed. So, in my summary, I hope to highlight some deeper issues about this case and fill in some other gaps that seem to be deliberately blotted out in some reports but presented in others and, in so doing, reveal how this gorgeous young man, with such a pretty clean youthful appearance was completely exploited by the system and many people all the way to the end. Furthermore, it was not until I looked at the AALBC site and read a post about search engines that I stumbled across the Six Part Series of Time~The Kalief Browder Story, on the Bing search engine, a series that was created by Julia Willoughby-Nason and co-produced by Jay Z that really caused me to see a more better picture behind this child’s sufferings. It is so amazing to me too, that Kalief’s hell began in 2010 during the first term of former President Barack Obama and two years before Trayvon Martin had been gunned down. Kalief was arrested and imprisoned in the infamous Rikers Island at the age of sixteen (16) for three (3) years and for an alleged crime of stealing a backpack that eventually was never proven. He was held in solitary confinement for two years, starved at times and he went through torture that was caught on camera. He was given plea offers that he rejected and soon the charges were dropped but eventually, and after he was released from prison, he committed suicide. And just as one of the most incredible dynamic women I have ever come across, Ms. Michelle Alexander, and author of ‘the New Jim Crow’ stated in this docu-series, Kalief’s experience would not be unique, but nevertheless compelling. It grips me especially because it occurs during a time when Black America had hope in the presidency of Barack Obama that there would be a positive ‘Change’ for us as this was his presidential platform. Michelle Alexander, author of THE NEW JIM CROW I will start with Kalief’s mother. Her name was not given but, Kalief was taken from her at birth byway of the Child Protective Services because it was said that cocaine or some type of drug was found in her system. So Kalief was born into the system and like him, the other two older sons that this woman gave birth to was also taken from her at birth. They were put into the foster care program and given to a woman named Vernita Crowder. Now the series does revolve around both Kalief and Vernita. When Vernita was in her mid to late forties (40+), she said she had a heart attack in 2000. But, after this time, however, she and her husband began to be foster parents and she said that for the fifteen (15) years that she had been a foster parent, she had about thirty foster kids. She had another heart attack in 2007 when she was about fifty-two (52) years old. Vernita initially adopted three Hispanic-looking children, Akeem, Nicole, and Raheem and then later, she adopted the three Black American brothers, Kamal, Deione, and Kalief, and she stated that she had seven children altogether. Now in several interviews reporters asks Kalief later when he was released had he any prior convictions and he said no. But in the docu-series it turns out that was a false statement. Because the reporters failed to do proper research prior to interviews, Kalief was put into a position in which he made statements without his attorney present that subjected his credibility to totally unfair scrutiny. So, prior to Kalief’s arrest for an allege robbery though, he was arrested for joy riding in a stolen BREAD TRUCK with a friend. He was convicted of a felony for this crime and also given a probationary period. Later it also came out in a deposition hearing that Kalief began to be associated with a gang before his arrest and tattooed his Blood name, SPADE, on his arm. So, in 2010 at the age of sixteen (16) as he and a friend were walking home from a party one night, the police drove up and approached them. Kalief was identified that night by the alleged victim in the police car, a man originally from Mexico and he alleged that Kalief had jumped him and stolen his backpack two week prior. Kalief was then handcuffed and taken down to precinct 48 and later booked and sent to Riker’s Island. So now, here follows my first set of hard questions that seemingly people don’t want to ask: *Was there another obvious reason why Kalief was arrested and imprisoned for three (3) years for an alleged crime other than ‘the system failed’? In other words; Could there be another motive and deliberate intent to imprison Kalief without ‘Due Process’ that was orchestrated by way of certain people in high places? Obviously, the punish of being imprisoned for three years would not even fit the crime even if Kalief were proven to have stolen a backpack! *Because Vernita was not working on a job outside of her home, how was she not able to account for the whereabouts of her six (6) children? How can any mother keep up with six kids and lead a normal life? What was her motive to become a foster parent in her forties and especially when after she had a heart attack? Did she have a congenital heart disease? Why would her health NOT be an issue with the Social Services Department when she was approved to become a foster parent? Why did not any documentary or report ever explain why Vernita had no children of her own or disclose this issue if she did give birth to children? Why does America attack Black American women for having many children and then gloss over this issue about Vernita having six foster children in this story about Kalief? It seems as though Kalief was set up for failure from the start of his life. The investigative reporters for the Jay Z production found out more details. The Mexican man was working at a restaurant and he told his brother what happened, and his brother called the police and asked them to check the surveillance camera, but he said the police did not follow up completely. He said that his brother, the alleged victim, was so traumatized by the experience that he left America and took a flight back to Mexico, and so he left the country and therefore, Kalief was held in prison even though the very allege victim was gone out of the country. And so, this alleged crime could never even become a conviction, but the docu-series brought out that the prosecution continued to make it appear, falsely, that they had contact with the witness even though the brother stated that in Mexico, his brother had no phone or internet accessible. Meanwhile, the brother also said the prosecution only called a few times before his brother left the States and moved to a remote area in Mexico. They knew that his brother had left the country, nevertheless, they continued to tell the courts that they had the witness. Eventually, the court attempted to coerce Kalief to plead that he was guilty to a felony, but he rejected the plea. Kalief was made aware of the pitfalls of having a felony due to his older adoptive brother Akeem who had been arrested, convicted, and pled guilty to a felony charge for which he served time. Akeem was pursued and dubbed, THE BRONX RAPIST and helicopters at one point flew over Vernita’s house and she underwent a media storm when Akeem was arrested. Furthermore, Akeem denied certain aspects of this charge, but he also said during the docu-series, that he was caught one day in high school at a time when a young girl was performing oral sex to him. So eventually, Akeem pled guilty to one count of sodomy which would be a felony and he served time in a jail for three months and then in prison for five months. So Kalief refused to accept a plea bargain and continued to claim his innocence. Finally, after three (3) years of being imprisoned at Rikers, the charges were dropped and Kalief was released and was only given a metro card. Because of the anguish he continued to have as a result of being abused in prison, one day, Akeem called an attorney, Mr. Paul Prestia, and he became passionate about Kalief’s case and filed a 20-million-dollar lawsuit against New York on behalf of Kalief. And, Kalief’s attorney, Paul, sought media attention and this was how the world began to hear about Kalief’s story. Kalief was aired on many shows. Eventually, he went back to school and obtained a GED and later enrolled and began to attend the Bronx Community College. But even after all of the support Kalief was given, it became too much for this child and eventually he took his life. Kalief began to be attacked by others in his community due to the media attention and at one point, he was shot in the stomach and then at another time, he was stabbed in the face. Yet at another time, he and his brother were faced with another conflict in his community in the Bronx and it would be during this time, that he was again arrested and given a court date appearance. Most of the reports and videos almost completely omit the real reasons behind why Kalief chose to take his own life and some even make it seem that it was an abrupt decision that Kalief had made due to his mental instability. Even Vernita continually commented that she had no idea of Kalief’s predicament that led him to commit suicide other than his constant statements of being mentality imbalanced. But however, the truth would be obvious in lieu of the facts that have been shadily presented. Because of the torture Kalief underwent while being incarcerated, on several occasions he attempted to commit suicide. And after he was released, he was admitted for psychiatric help and also, was prescribed strong medication. Kalief was told that if he did not take his medication, he would not be able to go home and so, most reports divert the truth with this aspect of Kalief. However, even though Kalief was overwhelmed by this horrific abuse by this system, as a matter of observation, he was highly intellectual and was able to express himself extremely well in the media. To say that he was extraordinary would be an understatement. Therefore, ultimately and except for his attorney Paul, just about everybody close to Kalief failed him. Seemingly, due to the circumstances at that time of his death, Kalief’s decision to take his life was not an irrational one. Even though he was able to stand his ground in Rikers, however, when he was faced with so much exploitation, greed and hate in society, and even though he reached out constantly for help, he was destroyed by those adults who should have shielded him. And so, the real truth that led to the death of Kalief was because in April of 2015, he was arrested, charged with a misdemeanor, and summoned to appear in court a few days prior to his death. Previously one evening, Kalief and his brother Kamal had become involved in an altercation, and the police were called and then apprehended both brothers. During the scene, it was later said by Kamal, that the two brothers hugged each other tightly and would not let each other go, and so, they were arrested for resisting arrest, handcuffed and jailed. After their release, they were to appear in court on June 10, 2015 but this led Kalief to take his own life on June 6, 2015 at the age of 22. On that day, Kalief took a cord and hung himself in his bedroom while his mother Vernita was downstairs. In addition, Kalief realized that the interrogation he endured in the deposition required due to the lawsuit filed, that the state tried to destroy him and had no intentions for him to win his suit. His was drilled and asked a barrage of questions about his character from his childhood upwards and made to feel as if he was responsible for the mistakes he made as a child and, wrong for seeking restitution for being imprisoned for three years on an allegation that the state could never even prove. Obviously, Kalief saw what he believed to be a pattern in that after his lawsuit was underway, and then arrested, he felt that he would become railroaded back into the system and then prison. Even though he desperately tried to overcome horrible obstacles, he soon saw no escape on earth. So, he made a decision to make his own escape. Kalief was born in 1993 into a world that never gave him a chance to thrive, so he made is exit. And then about a year and four months later, Vernita died of a heart attack. Prior to Vernita’s death too, she also filed lawsuits for the wrongful death of Kalief and during this interim, her now estranged husband decided that he wanted to pursue Vernita and wanted compensation from the lawsuits. So he obtained a lawyer to file on his behalf. When Kalief was first arrested, a bail was initially set at $10,000 but then it was downgraded to $3000.00. At this point, Vernita’s estranged husband had abandoned her long before this time and even though he was retired and had money, he did not give Vernita any money to bail Kalief out of jail. The bond was set at $900.00 but Vernita did not have it. Eventually, she asked a neighbor and came up with the bond, but however, when she went to the bail bondsman to have the money processed, she was surprisingly told the bond was denied because Kalief had a previous conviction, a felony charge for joy riding in the bread truck. So then, the courts changed their stance and said that Kalief had violated his probation of his felony conviction when he was arrested for the alleged robbery of a backpack. So therefore, Kalief remained in Rikers for that three year period and endured vicious and brutal beatings byway of other inmates, most of whom were Black like him, and also beatings byway of certain security guards. He was only 155 pounds and stood about 5’5” yet, he was brutally beaten by full grown men, prison guards and some of them also encouraged the beatings byway of other inmates. In an incident when Kalief attempted suicide, the guards watched and then after he dangled, they cut him down and beat him brutally and Kalief ran out into the hallway to be seen on the surveillance cameras. Therefore, the reality of possibly being forced back into prison led Kalief to take his own life. After Vernita filed lawsuit for the wrongful death of Kalief, her estranged husband tormented her and began proceedings to sale the house that she lived in for thirty (30) years. Finally, a few days after meeting with Jay Z about this docu-series, Vernita had a heart attack and on October 14, 2016, she passed away. Three days later her estranged husband had sold the house and all five of the surviving adopted children had to move out. Now, are another set of ‘hard-questions’ that has led me to make my brief conclusions on this heart rendering story of Kalief and I pose these questions to Black African American Descendants of Slaves: *If you were an upper-class Nigerian, would you agree to young Nigerian upper class children being raised by another culture in Africa just because of both cultures being darker skinned African peoples? *If you were a Moroccan, would you agree to Moroccan children being raised up by another culture in Africa such as Ghanians just because of both cultures being in Africa? *If you were an Arab, would you agree to Arab children of your tribe and culture being raised up in a European or Chinese culture? *What makes it acceptable for Black African American children to be legally fostered out, adopted, and put under the parentage of someone of another culture just because they are famous, Brown Hispanic or Black American from perhaps Brazil (Brazilian American) or from Mexico (Mexican American) or etc.? It would not be my individual responsibility to solve America’s problem for the rape and miseducation of my people, but, to allow this American government and society to shift the burden on Black African American Descendants of Slaves (BAADOS) to solve the problems with the foster care program is a great deception. European Americans know their origins, Asian Americans know their origins, and even Nigerian African Americans may know their origins, but BAADOS are a product of the Transatlantic Slave Ship Trade and thus, many of us began our existence here in America and are a complete product of this system. This Democracy and Republic has become our god and we have no other higher power. Many other cultures around the world are born and taught the ways of their people, their culture and their Birth Right (heritage) through formal processes, but we over here in the States are expected to attach our allegiance to America only. Therefore, wouldn’t that cause the flaws in this system to be based on these premises? But however, for Black Americans to not speak out about Black children being deprived of their culture and ancestral origins would be our responsibility as well. Would people from Japan agree to Japanese children being raised up by Arabs and to be taught by Arabs the Japanese culture? Would Russian people today agree to Black American DOS raising Russian children and teaching them the Russian culture and heritage? Only as slaves held captive within the European cultures had we been allowed to nurture White American’s children. This kind of rape of the mind, soul, and spirit of our children of their culture should be formally addressed by this system with adequate solutions. When we commonly accept Black mothers as being worthless, justify them being bereaved of their own biological children, view this earthly fate as being solely their own fault, as being innately a bad person and, offer no solution to address to our government then, are we not a part of the system that has thrown the towel in on our own women? When has it been normal for a mother to want to carry a baby just to get rid of it after birth? Kalief’s mother had three gorgeous sons that were given incredible names of which two are names that link them to African origins; KAMAL [ie. KHAM-AL], DEIONE, and KALIPH [ie. Kalief]. Howbeit, like Kalief, so many Black children are born to be abused by the system from the cradle to the grave. Many Black children are born and conditioned from birth to abuse other Black people and are encouraged to show deviant behaviors that inevitably lead them into being accused, convicted, and imprisoned. The states seem to avoid spending tax money on Black children like Kalief and this too may be the underlying motivation behind the fate of Kalief as well. He was not even allowed state funding to even have a trial! When children age out of the welfare system, their caretakers stop getting those paychecks. So, many of our young adults and even parents or foster parents become viewed as worthless consumers—not producers and thus a financial burden on the tax system. So, the next step may be the prison system for many Black youth therefore, would this be another reason why Kalief may have begun to believe that the state had no intentions of making financial compensations for his imprisonment? Our Black American youth are disconnected from their birth parents on a high percentage and designed to portray negative behavior and then be rewarded for this kind of bad behavior—TEMPORARILY. Soon many of them run into further conflicts—relationship conflicts—that lead them into the court system and then prison. And again, this process began at birth. Why are Black women, the nurtures for our culture, condemned to be all that bad in that they seem to have no adequate defense? Why do many Black women submit to being in abusive environments and then react aggressively defensive continually, even at times towards our own children to the point, we are cut off? When Black Americans continue to forget that we, as Descendants of Slaves, are actually ‘Descendants of SLAVE CHILDREN’ then, are we in condemnation of our own selves and have excused this government for their lack of accountability to our being completely cut off from knowing our true origins and cultures from the Motherland? If a Black child has been fostered out to be nurtured under another culture, that child’s life is cut off from his or her natural humanity. That is a form of Human Sacrifice. Have we not been raped of our culture and our heritage? Kalief believed he was cursed but why did not anyone explain to him that it would actually be the opposite in that the behaviors of people acting against him and exploiting him for financial gain in this society were cursed? Hindsight may have led some people to justify Kalief’s false imprisonment because the signs were already present at the time of his second arrest that his future would be bleak as he was free to associate with gangs and was not doing well in school. So, outwardly the eradication of Solitary Confinement for young teenagers 16 and 17 years old due to Kalief’s story may be a great victory but, inwardly, could this also be viewed as just a band aide for a bigger problem; the continual incarceration and captivity of Black Americans? Right there in New York, we have been made to anguish over the horrors of the destruction of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centers, but on the other hand, we have been blinded to the presence of the infamous prison systems in that same region that many BAADOS are forced to reside in and are the products of the greatest trade commodity in America that led to the trade foundation upon which this powerful system was built upon. I have researched and found some brief you tube videos about this story on google search engine. But afterwards, I actually found the entire series that was later completed and aired in 2017 on the Bing search engine. So, I have selected a few of the brief videos to share here and also the entire six-part series that features Ms. Michelle Alexander and many other activist who share their passionate viewpoints in the life of this amazing and beautiful young man, the late Kalief Browder. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85EzySEBQo4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EZvKuW6yT0 Pt 1 THE SYSTEM p2 THE ISLAND p3 THE BING p4 THE WITNESS P5—Injustice for All P6 THE AFTERLIFE https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Kalief+Browder+Part+3&&view=detail&mid=15B7A5CDE4D23C31B69E15B7A5CDE4D23C31B69E&&FORM=VRDGAR https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Kalief+Browder+Part+3&&view=detail&mid=8AF456746BDB5720F7938AF456746BDB5720F793&rvsmid=15B7A5CDE4D23C31B69E15B7A5CDE4D23C31B69E&FORM=VDRVRV https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Kalief+Browder+Part+3&&view=detail&mid=4848980B7EB2D07848334848980B7EB2D0784833&&FORM=VDRVRV https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Kalief+Browder+Part+3&&view=detail&mid=E78C04726EF557F6BFB5E78C04726EF557F6BFB5&&FORM=VDRVRV https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Kalief+Browder+Part+3&&view=detail&mid=F08DAA8E53B4E9A9F2D0F08DAA8E53B4E9A9F2D0&&FORM=VDRVRV https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Kalief+Browder+Part+3&&view=detail&mid=D8587FA996742380EE45D8587FA996742380EE45&&FORM=VDRVRV

Account

Navigation

Search

Search

Configure browser push notifications

Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.