40 Years In The Wilderness

By Paradise Gray

A diverse group of Freedom Ryders from Pittsburgh, PA members of The League Of Young Voters, Teens Against Senseless Violence, (T.A.S.K.), Healcrest Farms, Student Conservation Association (S.E.A.), GTECH, the Millions More Movement and One HOOD loaded up vehicles with young people and joined thousands of other committed and aspiring young people from across America on a mission of organizing, information gathering, networking and leadership training. As guests of Van Jone's/Green For All "A Dream Reborn" Conference, Elder Harry Belafonte's "The Gathering" and Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network 2008 National Convention it was a very busy and informative weekend.

We have seen the image of Dr. King laying on the balcony of The Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee with Rev. Jesse Jackson, Hosea Williams and Rev. Ralph Abernathy pointing in the direction that the fatal bullet was fired from many times. In magazines, documentaries and in history books, it is the image of one of the most tragic moments in American history. Noting however, prepared me for the emotions that I would be overcome (no pun intended) with by standing at the very spot on April 4th, 2008, the 40th Anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Assassination. The Lorraine Motel is now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum.

Friday morning April 4th, thousands of people came together in pouring rain and marched to the Lorraine Motel, Davey D walked with one of the original sanitation workers that Dr. King came to town to help.He told Davey that Dr. King was not in Memphis discussing civil rights, he was in Memphis helping sanitation workers who were on strike for better wages and benefits when he was shot and killed, 40 years later the sanitation workers of Memphis Tennessee still don't have a pension. We also found out that African-American's who make up over 50% of the population of Memphis only control 1% of the business's.

"It seemed that most of the preachers and leaders of organizations who spoke from the balcony were trying too hard to be King like, some even copying Dr. King's cadence and voice, like they were trying to make the media's high-lite reel by delivering the definitive speech of the day. The subject of racial issues was not handled well after it had been brought up, there are some serious problems in Memphis between Black and Brown people that no one touched upon. I'm also disappointed that no one from the Hip-hop generation was offered an opportunity to speak. Especially after noticing that in 1967 Dr. King spoke of the important role that music played in bringing different races together and the Hip-hop generation has done that very well."
- Davey D

Davey D was not alone in his disappointment of the days activities as there were multiple marches and separate events instead of one organized, unified voice and movement. There was grumbling and people were noticeably upset that 3 people who were on the balcony with Dr. King: Jesse Jackson, Dr. Wyatt Walker and Billy Kyles did not get a chance to speak during an event organized by Rev. Al Sharpton at the Lorraine Motel. And prior to the National Action Network's event the founder of the Civil Rights Museum Judge Bailey had his microphone cut off in the middle of his speech. The struggle was divided during the life of Dr. King between different factions and organizations, you had The Civil Rights Movement, Malcolm X and The Nation Of Islam, The Black Panthers, The U.S. Organization and others who were played against each other by government sponsored COINTEL-PRO and similar programs. Those divisions are obviously still present as we have seen recently with the mis-handling of the marches and legal cases in Jena, Louisiana and now with the 40th Anniversary of Dr. King's assassination.

Thankfully, there are many organizations who are willing to work together in our struggles to keep the dream of Dr. King alive, we have to continue to keep the pressure on and fight against oppression and poverty for the sake of all people. We also have to hold each other accountable, not just leaders of organizations, elected officials and spiritual leaders but every individual citizen of this nation.

There was a great speech by Elder Harry Belafonte during the April 4th Foundation's 8th Annual Awards Gala where he received The "I AM A MAN" Award: "Mr. Belafonte used his speech to articulate the true "Dream" of his close friend Dr. King and explained to the audience that if Dr. King were alive he would be in the streets where our children are dying and being incarcerated everyday. He said Dr. King told him for just 50 brothers from the streets he would trade 5000 preachers. Mr. Belafonte also defended Rev Jeremiah Wright, saying the only problem with what Rev. Wright said was that more preachers are not saying it. He ended his speech by introducing the young leaders from the Gatherings Executive Committee and informing the crowd he would be helping us to develop an new movement to save America" - Jasiri X

After being introduced by Van Jones, President and Founder of "Green For All" as the Dr. Martin Luther King of the Hip-hop Generation, Rev. Yearwood of The Hip-hop Caucus brought the house down at the Dream Reborn Convention with a fiery speech, letting everyone know without doubt, that "We Are The One's That We Have Been Waiting For" and it was our responsibility to continue the struggles of our elders and ancestors. Rev. Yearwood preached that Dr. King was watching our efforts from heaven and he approves of what was going on to the left of the spot where he was assassinated.

I asked Khari Mosley about his experiences in Memphis: "I spent this past weekend in Memphis with the country's emerging progressive leaders discussing the next phase of the civil rights struggles: connecting the social justice movement to the environmental movement. We can no longer afford to exist in silos, the planet is in peril. We can save the planet and shift the global economy in ways that ensures wealth, natural resources and access clean land, water and air is available to all 6 billion members of the human family. This is our moral obligation of the 21st century. I am convinced that the future of our human existence depends on the next 100 years. I am convinced we have much more in common, than we have differences. I am convinced we share a common destiny. We shall either prosper or perish together. In these coming days embrace your "higher angels", if not for yourself, do it for those who await us in the next world. Do it for those who have yet be born. Dr. King once said: I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant." - Khari Mosley

It is obvious that a time has arrived for new voices, new tactics and new opportunities, a time for this generation of leaders to stand up and take up the struggle for Freedom, Justice and Equality for all people going forward. New voices carrying an old message that America has not taken heed to for much longer than 40 years. We have the opportunity to frame our struggle in more inclusive ways, tying our struggle to the struggles of other's in areas that we all have a stake in. 40 years after the death of a man of God who was not afraid to let his "voice cry out from the wilderness", a man who had been to the mountain top and seen the promised land, a man who's eyes had seen the glory of the coming of the lord.

His voice still cries out to us from the grave with a message of Peace, Unity, Hope and yes, of Dreams, in his words:
"We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

--
Paradise Gray
One Hood
Http://www.myspace.com/onehoodorg
Http://www.myspace.com/paradisegray

Judge orders court for Pamela Lawton

By: Paradise Gray


Police Officer Eric Tatusko
Photo: Paradise Gray

- Pamela Lawton stood before Municipal Court Magistrate Charles McLaughlin Jr. accompanied by the diverse group of supporters that have been with her from the beginning including: The One HOOD Coalition, B-Pep, The Blackwatch Movement, Disciples of the Village, The League of Young Voters, The Millions More Movement and The Thomas Merton Center. Ms. Lawton bravely retold the emotional story of the events that took place on August 26th 2006 when a routine traffic stop turned into a terrifing crisis as Ms Lawton testified under oath that Officer Eric Tatusko lost control of himself and pointed his weapon at the head of her 7 year old daughter Joshalyn and threatened to "Blow her brains out" if she didn't stop moving around and making noise.

The first thing that I noticed is that there were many more Officers in the courtroom that morning than usual (they certainly got the memo), and they were real agressive, telling people to take their hats off and be "Quite" in the court. Politeness was out of the question as they barked loud orders at people like they were talking to children rather than adults. Officer Eric Tatusko and Lt. Cindy Windsor showed up with at least 5 other officers. The DA only allowed testimony from Officer Eric Tatusko and Lt. Cindy Winsor who in spite of having since August to prepare, didn't seem to have their story straight.

It was great to finally hear Officer Eric Tatusko and Lt Cindy Windsor's side of the story and in my opinion Pamela Lawton came across as a much more credible person than both Eric Tatusko and Lt. Windsor. Who's credibility is already in question after telling Debbie Todd (The New Pittsburgh Courier Writer who broke this story) that she wasn't even on duty the day August 26th when Ms. Todd first started investigating Ms. Lawton's story. A clear lie as Lt.Cindy Windsor's name was all over the original paperwork. Officer Tatusko said that he noticed that Ms. Lawton's stickers were bad as he drove past her as her vehicle was stopped at a red light, he turned around and followed her in traffic for a few blocks without alerting her by turning on his lights or sirens. He said that he thought that she was speeding but he had no instrument to determine her exact speed and that he had a hunch that she was trying to flee. After a few blocks he was able to catch up with her after Ms. Lawton stopped behind a moving van that was blocking traffic. He then said that he turned on his lights and pulled Ms. Lawton over after approximately 50 feet. He said that he got out of his car and could immediately hear Pamela Lawton screaming at him to "Get Over Here" pointing at the street next to her out of her window, he then called in and reported that he had made a traffic stop and made a request for backup. He said that she continued to scream at him and ignored all of his commands to give him her license and registration and kept demanding that he come over to the drivers side window. He said that she identified herself to him as a police officer so he suspected that there was a weapon in her purse and he then unholstered his gun and pointed it at the ground and made a second call requesting for backup. Officer Tatusko said that when backup arrived at least 3 or 4 officers (including him) had their weapon unholstered.

Lt. Cindy Windsor said that she did not notice that any officers had they're weapons out when she arrived, and that she was attempting to calm Ms. Lawton down and asked her to sit down on the back of the moving truck. She admitted that she threatened to send Ms. Lawtons children to CYF if Ms. Lawton didn't calm down. Mr. Williams asked her what made her think that threatening to take away a mothers children would calm her down? Ms. Lawton answered that Lt. Windsor didn't ask her to sit down on the back of the moving van, Lt Windsor grabbed her by the arm and threw her down against the back of the van.

If I were Nate Harper (the new Pittsburgh Police Chief) or the Pittsburgh DA , I would do everything within my power to drop the charges against Pamela Lawton and charge Officer Eric Tatusko for his crime immediately! Ms. Lawton's Attorney Joe Williams did a great job of exposing doubt in Officer Eric Tatusko and Lt. Cindy Windsor's stories. They tentatively answered his questions and paused at great lengths before answering many times. Eric Tatusko stumbled often by answering questions that the DA objected to before the Judge could even respond to the objection.

Joe Williams also did a great job of breaking down the "Disorderly Conduct" charge, he argued that Pamela Lawton did not break the law as defined by Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes CRIMES AND OFFENSES (TITLE 18) CHAPTER 55.

* § 5503. Disorderly conduct.

a) Offense defined.--A person is guilty of disorderly conduct if, with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof, he:

1. engages in fighting or threatening, or in violent or tumultuous behavior;
2. makes unreasonable noise;
3. uses obscene language, or makes an obscene gesture; or
4. creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition by any act which serves no legitimate purpose of the actor.

(b) Grading.--An offense under this section is a misdemeanor of the third degree if the intent of the actor is to cause substantial harm or serious inconvenience, or if he persists in disorderly conduct after reasonable warning or request to desist. Otherwise disorderly conduct is a summary offense.

(c) Definition.--As used in this section the word "public" means affecting or likely to affect persons in a place to which the public or a substantial group has access; among the places included are highways, transport facilities, schools, prisons, apartment houses, places of business or amusement, any neighborhood, or any premises which are open to the public.

The DA charged Pamela Lawton with additional charges of § 1376 (another traffic/vehicle related charge) and offered Attorney Williams the opportunity to delay to prepare. Ms. Lawton suggested to Mr. Williams that she wanted no further delays and wanted to continue on with the proceedings.

Mr. Williams argued that the charges should be dropped as Pamela Lawton had no "intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, nor recklessly created a risk thereof". Her actions were consistant with one of the most primal instincts of a Mother, and "served the legitimate purpose" of defending her children who were put at risk due to the actions of Officer Eric Tatusko who was pointing his weapon at her 7 year old daughter threatening to "Blow her brains out".

** "What is appropriate behavior for a mother with a gun drawn on her child? Is it a contrived response without a legitimate purpose," questioned Williams. "No, it isn't because there was no intent to cause inconvenience, no fighting or threatening or violent behavior. There was no unreasonable noise. There is no basis for a disorderly conduct." - Joe Williams

In response to Officer Tatusko's testimony that he felt that Ms. Lawton was attempting to flee, Mr. Williams questioned Officer Tatusko that if he had not alerted her with lights or sirens and was so far behind her in traffic how could he make that assumption?

Attorney Williams pointed out for the record that Officer Eric Tatusko was driven from the scene and not allowed to drive himself from the scene in the vehicle that he used to stop Pamela Lawton, suggesting that he had lost control of himself and had to be removed from the scene by the other officers. Mr. Williams also noted that Ms. Lawton lept into the arms of the first backup officer to arrive at the scene and felt that she was being saved from Officer Tatusko.

The DA refused to drop the disorderly conduct charges and reminded the Judge (Municipal Court Magistrate Charles McLaughlin Jr) that Officer Tatusko and LT. Windsor are an employee's of the Commonwealth and that means that the evidence presented "must be taken in a light favorable to the Commonwealth". Magistrate McLaughlin approved the DA's request to send the case to trial on Febuary 22nd, 2007.

This is another example of why the police are unable to investgate themselves, with just a few simple questions Mr. Williams was able to show inconsistancies in the officers stories. Mr. Harper the new chief of police is asking the community to cooperate with the police, however we never get the police to cooperate in cases of police brutality - Minister Jasiri X

*References: Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes CRIMES AND OFFENSES (TITLE 18)

**Lawton hearing held over for trial By Debbie Todd

Additional Info:

The New Pittsburgh Courier
Original Story in The New Pittsburgh Courier

Lawton hearing held over for trial

D27023908755>Citizen Review Board Hears of Pittsburgh Police Misconduct

Pittsburgh Post Gazette:
Woman faces trial for confrontation with police

Woman faces charges after confrontation with police

Mother tells review board about traffic stop, officer pointing gun at child

http://www.myspace.com/paradisegray
http://www.myspace.com/onehoodorg

Midget Pro-Bowl seeks ‘One Hood’

Event promotes unity among all players.

By Deborah M. Todd

Full Story In The New Pittsburgh Courier

The tensions that arise on game day for Pittsburgh's midget football teams often have less to do with team rivalries than ongoing beefs between the team's neighborhoods. With that in mind, organizers decided to use the All-Star game to bring everyone on the same team.

The Housing Authority of Pittsburgh and the One Hood Coalition came together to host the first annual "One Hood Midget Football Pro-Bowl" Nov. 19. While the purpose of the game was to recognize the accomplishments of roughly 320 young athletes from Southwestern Pennsylvania and Allegheny County Midget programs, the event was also meant to promote unity among all players.

"It's important they stress the fact that we're all from one community and we need to begin breaking down barriers between us," said Richard Morris of the Housing Authority.

"We hope some kind of bond or friendship will come about," said Bob Poston, president of the Midget Football League. "Hopefully, through this, we can stop some of the violence."

Understanding that it would take more than a single football game to unite young people used to being adversaries on and off the field, Morris reached out to the One Hood Coalition to help spark a dialogue between them.

"They asked us to come in to do a workshop to engage young people in conversation about popular culture and how (it) influences daily decisions," said Paradise Gray of One Hood.

The Nov. 17 workshop invited young people from throughout the community to join the more than 400 youth football attendees to a community forum on violence prevention. As the youth were encouraged to create alliances with one another despite being from different teams and communities, they were lead by example through moderators from the One Hood Coalition and the violence prevention initiative One Vision, One Life.

"It's always positive when all types of organizations from all the different communities can be represented at one table," said Khari Mosley of One Hood. "It's really important to have groups like "One Vision, One Life" involved, who have been doing a lot of work on the ground for the past couple years. Now there's new organizations like "One Hood" coming into the fold as partners trying to assist a lot of the good work that's been going on."

To pay homage to their efforts in bringing the community together, One Hood was promised a $500 check from the Housing Authority. But for all parties involved with the Midget Pro-Bowl, the true reward came from seeing kids from Homewood to Beltzhoover form bonds that may not have existed otherwise.

"I think it's a wonderful thing that they brought everyone in the communities together," said Marilyn Stubbs of Beltzhoover, whose son Keenan played for the Southwest All Stars. "This last week, his experience has been so wonderful that he's been coming home from practice talking about "Mom, I played with this team and that team I was playing against. We all came together and became as one."



By Deborah M. Todd

Full Story In The New Pittsburgh Courier

http://www.myspace.com/paradisegray

The First Annual “One HOOD” Midget Football Pro-Bowl

The First Annual “One HOOD” Midget Football Pro-Bowl

In the wake of the increase of youth violence in our community, a group of leaders from different organizations have come together in unity to address the challenges by providing outlets to bring young people from different communities together using sports and recreational activities.

The Housing Authority of Pittsburgh is honoring “The One HOOD Coalition” this year by naming the pee-wee All-Star game: The First Annual “One HOOD” Midget Football Pro-Bowl. The games will feature the largest assembly of young talent that our city has ever seen.

The activities begin on Friday Nov. 17th From 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
The One HOOD Coalition and One Vision One Life will host a Violence Prevention Youth Seminar at the Presley Street High Rise 601 Presley St.
(on the North Side behind the Giant Eagle Market).

The All-Star games are scheduled for November 19th at Oliver High School Stadium from 10 am to 5 pm and will include teams from two city leagues and will showcase as many as 320 players from throughout the city. There will be four games featuring players in the age ranges of 7–14 years old and there’s sure to be a future NFL player in the bunch. These children are to be commended for the hard work and dedication it has taken them to become “2006 One HOOD All-Stars”. Please join us in celebrating players from the following areas:

Allegheny County Midget All-Stars The Clairton Bears, Garfield Gators, Hill District Disciples , Homewood Bulldogs, Kingsley Knights, Lincoln-Larimer Big Cats, North Shore Stallions, and The Wilkinsburg Hornets.

South West Midget Football All Stars The Beltzhoover Browns, Braddock Falcons, Hazelwood Cobra’s, 6th Ward Seminoles, and the West Pittsburgh Steelers.

Participating Organizations;

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh:
The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh is the highest quality provider of affordable housing in the city.

Our agency is committed to providing our residents with top notch sell sufficiency programs and youth recreational opportunities. – A. Fulton Meachem Jr. - HACP Executive Director.

One Vision One Life
One Vision One Life Is a violence prevention initiative whose goal is to reduce violence by offering an opportunity to a better life.

Bringing communities together is our goal. Being involved with the midget football league gives us the opportunity to do that. – Taili Thompson

One HOOD:
A pro-active grassroots alliance of young leaders from faith based organizations, community activists, political groups and concerned citizens, “Putting the Neighbor Back into The Hood”.

The League Of Young Voters:
A National organization that empowers 18 – 35 years olds in the civic process by making politics meaningful, relevant and fun.

Our organization always stresses that voting is just one aspect of being an active citizen. We must engage our communities using various forms of activism. Which includes mentoring young people to be positive and productive. - Khari Mosley Reginal Director

The Millions More Movement:
The Mission of the Milions More Movement is to gather the best, brightest and most willing minds to mobilize and organize our people, and to develop short and long range plans and programs for human development.

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan teaches, "The more we unify, the more power we can generate to change reality." Our coming together is the first step of a movement that can and will change the conditions of our communities and our people. - Minister Jasiri X


Disciples Of The Village:
A faith based community organization that reminds us that “it still takes a village to raise a child”.

I am excited by the opportunity to provide this kind of outlet for the kids.
This is a great chance to celebrate positive efforts by our youth rather than focus on negative aspects of their lives. - Darnell Drewery

ISLah:
ISLah means the Initiative to Safeguard Life Assets and Honor- it is the outreach portion of
Masjid Nur Uz Zamaan (Light of the Age Mosque)

Organized sports has always been a means to create character in our community when it is not mistaken for personal gain and opportunity. - Luqman abdus-salaam

The BlackWatch Movement:
A National organization founded to fight for the rights of disenfranchised inner city youth, empowering them to use common sense, right reasoning and critical thinking to take responsibility for self.

You can’t just tell young people to say no to this and say no to that, at some point you have to give them something to say yes to. – Paradise Gray

Media contact info:
HACP Community affairs dept. 412-456-5058
rohrerc@hacp.org

One Vision, One Life – Tamera Miller – 412-434-1287

One HOOD Coalition – Paradise Gray – 412-537-1940
onehood@gmail.com

Allegheny County Midget Football - Bob Poston – President - 412-401-8439

http://www.myspace.com/onehoodorg
http://www.myspace.com/paradisegray

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