HELLOWEEN

It's Helloween night, it's a Hell of a sight
In the hood when the freaks come out at night.
Monsters and ghouls embodied by fools
In the shadows and the alleys of shut down schools
Doing the Devils work carrying the Devils tools.
In waitbands Glocks, to protect Hell's rocks
Snaps and fiends are like zombies as they walk the blocks
The Vampires don't suck necks here, they suck cocks
A buck fifty to your face, snatch your jewels that's fake
looks like Freddie Kruger slashed you, and you was wide awake
or so you thought, the American dream has turned into a nightmare,
nobody fights fair, you have no rights here.
Haunted crack houses missing windows and stairs
Halloween is one long night, 365 days of fear round here.
Devils night, Devils night, What A hell of a night
Get money, get money, there's no wrong or right
Our morals get lost when the money gets tight.
Razor blades in the apples, poison the candy
They give to the children, Devils night how dandy.
Sweet treats to rot teeth or Turn tricks for nose treats,
If you run to the church you'll have to run from the priests
Run to your bedroom, hide under the sheets.
But you'll never escape the evil that's under your bed
Redd up Pittsburgh, Red, Red, Red!

Paradise Gray Oct. 31, 2006
Http://www.myspace.com/paradisegray

I wanna talk to the Mayor, the Governor, the Motherfuckin President

"I wanna talk to the Mayor, the Governor, the Motherfuckin President
I wanna talk to the FBI, and the CIA, and the Motherfuckin Congressman
I wanna talk to you.

Mr. Mayor imagine if this was your backyard
Mr. Governor imagine if it was your kids that starved
Imagine your kids gotta sling crack to survive
Swing a Mack to be live, cart a Ack to get High" - NAS - (I Want To Talk To You)

In the past few weeks the members of the One HOOD Coalition left no stone un-turned while seeking justice for Pamela Lawton and her children. We reached out to the Mayor, the Govenor, Senators, members of the City Council, and even a future Presidential candidate. We have also reached out to Pastors, Ministers, Reverends, Imams, Elders and Community Leaders and everyone within ear-shot of us probably still has a ringing in the ear closest to where we were standing.


Khari Mosley and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl


Minister Jasiri X, Khari Mosley, Bill Peduto, Paradise Gray


Senator Barack Obama, Minister Jasiri X


Bob Casey, Khari Mosley


Lynn Swann, Reverend Cornell Jones

We have demanded that elected officials be accountable to the people who vote for them and have asked them to have the testicular fortitude to step up and challenge a system of justice that is unjust and is attempting to criminalize our youth and railroad a mother who is seeking justice.

It all stems from a case of police oppression that occurred on August 26th, 2006 when Officer Eric Tatusko stopped Pamela Lawton and a van full of children, pulled his gun out, turned off his radio, cocked back the slide of his weapon and threatened to blow a 7 year old little girls brains out if she continued to move around and make noise.

Well Mr. Officer, we are not done making noise! We will continue to keep the pressure on.

On Friday The 13th, 2006 Ms. Lawton was treated like a criminal by being finger printed and photographed, she has had to appear in court again as she is still facing charges of Disorderly Conduct for yelling for help.

I asked sister Pam how she felt being finger-printed:

"I felt degraded, hurt and embarrased because I'm telling the children in the community and at the Shuman Center to obey God, the laws of the land and to get thier education, I tell them to pay attention to the instructions of thier teachers and family. And there I was being finger-printed like a criminal".

"I feel violated because of what that man did this to us, everytime I look across the table at my children I feel like they are still being terrorised and I can't protect them. I couldn't protect my own children from a man who is sworn to protect and to serve us, he has authority and took control over my children after taking it away from me" - Pamela Lawton

On October 24th, the Pittsburgh Civilian Police Review Board authorized a full scale investigation into The Lawton case.

At 7:45 the next morning (October 25th, 2006), Pamela Lawton's supporters braved the winter cold and crowded the Municipal Court Building in the Shadows of The Allegheny County Jail downtown Pittsburgh, PA.

When Pamela Lawton's name was called, nearly everyone in the room stood, approached the bench and stood behind Ms. Lawton and her Attorney Joe Williams. It was a powerfull showing of support that took the entire court by surprise.

In a questionable showing of respect for her peers, an obviously irritated Judge Katleen Bubash went against her own better judgement to throw the case out and allowed a postponement of the case until Nov. 30th, 2006 at 8:00 A.M. at the same Municipal Court Building on 1st ave. (downtown Pittsburgh).

She told us of an tacit (implied) agreement between the court, the DA and police bureau that she and her fellow judges honor, to allow postponements in cases where the police are not actually ready to prosecute. She acknowledged that this was a special case, but she would not treat this case any different than she does any other, in spite of the fact that she was angry that the DA and police were not ready to procede at the moment.

"For judges to have an implied agreement with the police, but no agreements spoken or unspoken with citizens, shows that the justice system is not blind and is biased against regular everyday people". - Minister Jasiri X

"They think that by delaying the case, we are going to give up or ease back. That's not going to happen. It's a state of emergency when our children are put at risk, we are going to continue to pack the courtrooms no matter how many times we have to do it until we see justice done. That's how much we support Ms. Lawton and her children". - Reverend Cornell Jones

"The wheels of justice roll oh so slowly at times. One of those times was October 25, 2006 when so many of us assembled to support our sister, Pamela Lawton. Unfortunately the legal system allows people like sister Lawton to be jerked around. I believe that the judge made the decision which she thought was appropriate, based on past practices of allowing the DA's office to ask for a continuance. The ruling did nothing to allay the fears, frustrations and outright pain being experienced by Pamela Lawton. This is why we CANNOT allow the system to intimidate us, to slow us down or to beat us. Let us rise up and make certain that at least as many people are present on Thursday, November 30th at 8 am, as were present on October 25th. We cannot allow those who are not our partners in justice to just "wait us out!!" - Tim Stevens

We demand that these bogus charges be dropped. We challenge the new "Police Chief Elect" Nate Harper to do the right thing also. Sir, if you truely want to help mend the relationship between the black community and the police dept. we ask that you begin by being a true agent for justice and get the charges against Pamela Lawton dropped immediately. Also suspend Officer Eric Tatusko pending the ongoing investigation, he is a danger to our community and to himself, he should not be allowed to patrol our community with a loaded weapon until it is proven that he is stable and in control of himself. We do not need "a token of racial diversity" Mr. Harper, We demand Justice! Don't tell us about justice, Show us.

Pamela Lawton is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 30th, 2006 at 8:00 A.M. We are calling for everyone who can get to the court to be there 15 minutes early. If you are thinking that you cannot make a difference, you should think again. We should all internalize this situation, you should treat it as if it were YOUR child, YOUR wife or YOU. If you live in the Pittsburgh area there is "NO EXCUSE" that is good enough that you should miss this court date! (Unless of course you are in a coma or ill).

Reverend Cornell Jones commented: "We will organize a Mini-Million Man March and walk up in there that deep if we have to".
Make no mistake about it, We have to.

Please continue to call and email Pittsburgh's Elected Officials and demand that the charges against Pamela Lawton be dropped:

Luke Ravenstahl
Mayor's Office Room 512
City-County Building
414 Grant Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Phone: 412-255-2626
Fax: 412-255-2687
luke.ravenstahl@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
mayorcompl@city.pittsburgh.pa.us

Kathleen Kraus
Acting Director of the Public Safey Department
(OMI)
100 Grant St Room 732
Pittsburgh, Pa 15219
(412)255-2963
kathy.kraus@city.pittsburgh.pa.us

Police Chief Elect Nate Harper
Police Bureau
1203 Western Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15233
Phone: 412-323-7800

Len Bodack
Chairman of the Public Safety Services Committee
len.bodack@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
City-County Building
Suite 510/Floor 5
414 Grant Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Telephone: 412-255-2140
Fax: 412-255-2419

Paradise Gray
One HOOD
http://www.myspace.com/paradisegray
http://www.myspace.com/onehoodorg

The Coverup In The Pamela Lawton Case Is On - SPIN, SPIN, SPIN!

Jill King Greenwood recently scribbled a story about the Pamela Lawton case in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/today/s_474307.html

It is to be expected that the "Right Leaning" Pittsburgh Tribune-Review would spin the story of Pamela Lawton, but Jill Greenwood could have at least been more creative!

Let's take a moment to dissect the hypocracy of Jill Greenwoods selective reporting and carefully chosen words written specifically to shape public perception in the case of Eric Tatuskco who aimed his gun at a 7 year old and threatened to "Blow Her Brains Out" during a traffic stop of Pamela Lawton and a van full of children on August 26th, 2006.

A sure indication of that the way that the media wants a story spinned is to look at the picture that they use of the subjects. The Tribune-Review published a picture of Ms. Lawton that is not very attractive, an old tried and true method used to "color" Ms. Lawton as an "Ugly" person. This tactic and many other dirty tricks that the mainstream media use to spread lies and propaganda are well documented in books such as:
"The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media: Decoding Spin and Lies in Mainstream News"
which is avaiable at: http://www.amazon.com/Habits-Highly-Deceptive-Media-Mainstream/dp/1567511546

Then the tribune-review attempts to use Bill Peduto, who was the first public official to step up and deal with the situation in a professional and caring manner.

"Peduto said he doesn't know whether the allegations are credible."

"Credible" means "believable" or "trustworthy."

We have met with Bill Peduto twice since this incident and he made no such statements to us. The Tribune-Review is attempting to do two things with this statement.

1. You are trying to convince the public that Ms. Lawtons story is not "beliveable nor trustworthy".

2. You are trying to say that Bill Peduto is telling us one thing and you another, which is an attempt to undermine our trust of Bill Peduto.

We have heard no statement from the Pittsburgh police who have historically proven that their stories are not believable and they are most definately not "trustworthy" in cases of police brutality and bulling tactics

Police misconduct in '95 shooting death

Pennsylvania state police cleared in killing of 12-year-old

Pittsburgh police lock up antiwar protesters for 30 hours

The Tribune Review never covered the original story. Never interviewed any of the witnesses (there are more than 6) and failed to mention that Ms. Lawton never received a citation at the time of the incident. She received a summons for disorderly conduct 3 weeks later by mail.

According to the "Trib" Police and OMI officials declined comment, and Tatusko could not be reached for comment.

I would love to hear how they expain the fact the Eric Tatusko never called for backup and why they had to remove officer Tatusko from the scene rather than have him drive his own car that was used to stop Ms. Lawtron.
And if Pamela Lawton was guilty of "Disorderly Conduct" why did 10 police cars worth of Pittsburgh Officers not charge her nor arrest her on the spot? Why did Lt. Cindy Windsor lie to Debbie Todd of The New Pittsburgh Courier when asked about the case, Lt. Windsor said she wasn't on duty that day?

A note to Jill Greenwood and The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

I am a D.J. and a former Break-Dancer, I know a good "SPIN" when I see one!

--
Paradise Gray
Honorary Chairman, Pittsburgh LOC
National Political Hip-hop Convention
Grand Arkitech Of The X-Clan/ BlackWatch Movement
Minister Of Arts And Sciences Millions More Movement
Director Of Almost Home Youth Ministries
Minister Of Information/ One Hood
Http://www.myspace.com/paradisegray
Http://www.myspace.com/onehoodorg

"One Hood" members meet with Councilman Bill Peduto

"One Hood" members met with Bill Peduto on Friday morning September 29th at his office in the City/County building. We were concerned that no elected official nor spokesman for the Police department had made a public statement in regards to the case of Pamela Lawton and her children being detained by Police Officer Eric Tatusko who according to Mrs. Lawton and several documented witnesses; pointed his weapon at Mrs. Lawton's 7 year old daughter Joshelyn and threatened to "Blow her brains out" during a traffic stop in the Shadyside section of Pittsburgh on August 26th, 2006.

"This happened in my district and I'm trying to find out what happened,
I don't know all the facts, but I think that people need to know what's going on. I will be a conduit to all concerned individuals from different communities. It doesn't help anyone for the city to be torn apart or divided because people don't have enough information." - Bill Peduto

Mr. Peduto said that he had spoken to Ex-Police Chief Costa (who just resigned). Mr. Costa said that the Police had started an internal investigation into the matter. Mr.Peduto said that he would also speak to the new acting Police Chief Paul J. Donaldson about the investigation and advised us to reach out to the new acting Chief as well and meet with as many elected City/County representatives as we could.

We made a few suggestions to Mr. Peduto of productive ways of creating more accountability from the Police department to the community:

1. Drop all charges against Pamela Lawton.

2. Suspend Officer Tatusko without pay until investigation.

3. Cultural Sensitivity training for all officers who serve the public in our communities.

4. Better training on de-escalating problems.

5. Give the Civilian police review board more power.

6. Video cameras in police cars.

7. Work with community based organizations to deal with drug situations, crime.

8. Re-establish Community orientated police.


We will continue to be dilligent and keep the pressure on to insure that Pamela Lawton and her daughters receive justice.

In other related Pittsburgh Police news:
According to The Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Allegheny County Sheriff Pete DeFazio confirmed that he was retiring on Oct. 31. The Sheriff's dept. has been under federal investigation for corruption since 2002 resulting in the convictions of Mr. DeFazio's former Chief Deputy Dennis Skosnik and 2 other top Officers for bribery, tampering with a witness, mail fraud, making false statements and money laundering.

Paradise Gray
"One Hood"
Putting the Neighbor Back into "The Hood"

Civilian Review Board Hears of Pittsburgh Police Misconduct

An emotional crowd came out to the Pittsburgh City County Building on Monday September 18/2006, the same night that "Big Ben" Roethlisberger made his 2006 debut for the Steelers. But they didn't come out to swing "Terrible Towels" on this Monday night. They came out to ask questions about why Pittsburgh Police officer Eric Tatusko waved his "Terrible Pistal" in the face of Pamela Lawton's youngest daughter 7-year old Joshalyn, terrorising Mrs. Lawton her two daughters, and two other children aged 2 and 3 years old who were in her car on August 26th, 2006.

I greeted Minister Jasiri X of Pittsburgh's Muhammad's Mosque #22 outside of the City/County building. He introduced me to Mrs. Pamela Lawton, who seemed a little shy and intimidated that we had showed up with so many young people who were very enthusiastically greeting her with hugs and handshakes. We had made a bunch of phone calls and sent out emails making a passionate plea for people to come out and show thier support for the women and children of our community. A diverse group heeded the call and representatives of One Hood, The Disciples of the Village, The BlackWatch Movement, The League of Young Voters, The Millions More Movement, The Black Political Empowerment Project, The Nation of Gods and Earths, The National Political Hip-hop Convention, JPB Inc, IDI Productions, Brotha Ash Productions, The Soul Pitt, Al Nur, Royal Tribe Music, The Community Empowerment Association, Urban Youth Action, The Mental Health Association of Allegheny County and other concerned community members met in front of the City/County Building for a meeting organized by the Citizen Police Review Board.

I suggested that we jay-walk and cross the street directly to the City/County building from the parking lot, Mrs. Lawton said that we should obey the law and wait for the light and cross at the corner. After we crossed the street she pulled Brother Jasiri to the side and told him that she was uncomfortable being in the center of so much attention and controversy because her only intention was to save her daughters life. Minister Jasiri reassured her that all of the people were only there to offer her support, and show everyone that there were black men in Pittsburgh who cared about our women and children. She thanked Brother Jasiri and we proceded to go upstairs to the City County Chamber room.

Mrs. Lawtons supporters stood as she approached the podium and silence creeped across the room as she spoke before the review board about the terror of being pulled over and having her life and the lives of her children threatened at the intersection of Negley and Kentucky Avenue in the Shadyside section of Pittsburgh on August 26th by Officer Eric Tatusko. She became emotional as she described how Officer Tatusko approched the passenger side of her car and drew his pistal and pointed it directly at her 7 year old daughter Joshalyn and told her to get her hands up. Scared by the gun pointing at them while the officer ignored the pleas of thier
mother, the young girls screamed and cryed causing Officer Tatusko to tell Mrs. Lawton that if she didn't tell the kids to stop moving around and screaming he would "Blow her brains out"! Mrs. Lawton explained that she literally begged the officer to come over to the drivers window and deal with her as she was the only adult in the car, but he was focused and continued to point the gun at her daughter and ignored her pleas to put down the gun and take her identification. Mrs. Lawton then began to scream for help with her hands in the air. There are witnesses who heard Mrs. Lawton's agonized screams for help and saw the officer with his gun drawn pointed at the passenger side of the car. Officer Tatusko held his gun on Mrs. lawton and her children for over 20 to 30 minutes and Mrs. Lawton said that she was so relieved when other officers arrived at the scene that she attempted to hug the first one that came close enough, who pushed her away. To make matters worst Lt. Cindy Windsor a female officer separated Mrs. Lawton from her children and told her to "shut up or you're going to jail and your children to CYF". Mrs. Lawton had committed no crime, had no drugs or weapons in the car and neither she nor her children did anything to provoke the Officer to pull his gun.

Mrs. Lawton was not the only person to tell a nightmare story involving misconduct by the Pittsburgh Police, many people black and white told stories of being disrespected, yelled at and in a few cases beaten by Pittsburgh Police officers one lady told of how her 13 year old daughter was beaten up by police and Ms. Tamecia Anderson told a sad story of being handcuffed, arrested, stripped, beaten and shocked with a taser in a holding cell (while 4 months pregnant) by "Zone 5" Pittsburgh Police Officers and Correction Officers at The Allegany County Jail in 2003. When she awakened from being knocked unconscious and held for 3 days, she went to the hospital and was told that she needed emergency surgery because the baby in her stomach was dead. When asked why it took so long to come forward with this information Ms. Anderson responded "I was young and I didn't know who to call or where to go to report the Police. When you get beat up by someone, you call the Police, who do you call when the Police are the ones that hurt you?" I didn't find out about this Police Review Board until today.

I am OUTRAGED! at the actions of the Pittsburgh Police department, I understand that they have one of the most difficult and dangerous jobs in the world, but that does not excuse the kind of behavour that the people spoke of in front of the review board. I am equally outraged at the people who did not come out and support. Some people really had some good excuses, classes, practices, prior engagements, soooo whattt! Would these excuses be worth the words if this was your daughter? Your family? There are no excuses good enough to explain why any man who heard about this meeting and did not show up should not have come. We have been talking the talk forever. It is time to walk the walk.

Freedom is NOT FREE! My Elder Sonny Carson once told me: "Never ask for anything that you can't take". You cannot ask for Freedom! We are reponsible for our women and our children and everything else that happens in our community. Drugs in our community - We are responsible, violence in our communiuty - We are responsible. When are we going to stand up like men and handle our business? We have stood on the backs of our mothers and our women for too long, It is time for blackmen to stand up on our own two feet. Our women must be tired of holding us up. We defend our money with our life, we defend our jewelry, our drugs, our block, when are we going to defend our women and children? We have to clean up ourselves and our community and put the neighbor back in the
"Hood". It is the only way that we will be able to fix our family situations and our relationships with our women. What could possibly be more important than that?
--

Paradise Gray
Honorary Chairman, Pittsburgh LOC
National Political Hip-hop Convention
Grand Arkitech Of The BlackWatch Movement
Minister Of Arts And Sciences Millions More Movement
Director Of Almost Home Youth Ministries
One Hood