Dumb and Dumber: Wrongfully Impugning the Integrity of Boston’s Black Leadership

Black Lives MatterMy observation from afar is that “Black Lives Matter” (BLM) is a group of people made up of the members of the white and black races and all the races that occupy a position somewhere between those opposite colors. (See photo left of a recent demonstration on Newbury Street.)

The BLM group in Boston was founded by Daunasia Yancey, age 23. Daunasia grew up in the South End, went to the Newton Public Schools courtesy of METCO program properly described as: “Boston’s imperfect attempt at desegregation.” She became quite a handful during her school days. When she was told to tone it down a bit because she was too loud or aggressive it meant to her she  was “too black.”

It would be a great understatement to suggest that she walks to the beat of a different drummer. There is nothing in the March 2015 Boston Magazine article to suggest she graduated from high school, went to college or ever held down a job. Or to put it another way, she seems to have been educated in the college of hard knocks. How she survives is not disclosed but what seems clear is that she is her own woman and is not interested in the opinions of others.

BLm protestIt seems that at 4:00 am on a day last month her group BLM decided to stage a rally outside the home of Mayor Marty Walsh. They  were there “in order to bring him a long overdue wake-up call” to tell him “our city deserves better than the Olympic games.”

Many, including the mayor,  have rightfully expressed their indignation that they elected to hold a rally 4:00 am disturbing the neighborhood.  I suppose the connection between the issue that gave the group its name (the shooting of blacks by cops) and the issue that brought out their early morning ire (the Olympics) is that the tons of public money that will be spent on the Olympics (don’t believe that there won’t be several billion) could be better spent elsewhere.

I may be going a little too far in suggesting that connection because as sometimes happens when these protests occur little logic goes into the reason for them. They sometimes occur because someone gets an idea on how to get publicity which happens to stoke the interest of a few. They act on it without any further thought.

This protest at 4:00 am involved less than a dozen people who stayed around for about five minutes. The disturbance was really no more noticeable than that caused by one of those disgruntled dogs who decides to bark at the same hour. It should have passed like that. Everyone who  was awaken quickly returned to his or her slumber.

Instead, the Herald’s Joe Fitzgerald brings it up in his column on July 6  saying: “where was the harsh reprimand, the indignation, of political and clerical leaders in the black community, normally quick to spring to any available microphone?” That might be a fair question if BLM was a black group. It isn’t. It is made up of all races.

Why then Fitzgerald is demanding that the black leaders step forward to condemn this rally and suggesting they are negligent in not doing so? This isn’t a group under their control anymore than it is controlled by any other race. I’d suggest it is pretty dumb for Fitzgerald to be calling out the black pols and clerics on this matter. Even dumber is his question: “Why is it so difficult for leaders to tell them [protesting at 4:00 am is not OK] that?” How did they become BLM’s leaders?

Fitzpatrick starts off his column writing: “Speak against the reprehensible antics of the Black Lives Matter crowd here in Boston and it’s seen as bogus proof that you must be ignorant, hateful and racist if you’re white; . . .  there’s another form of expression far more toxic in volatile times such as these, and that’s the stony silence of timid souls who’d rather abide unacceptable behavior than call it what it is.”

Fitzpatrick, who is white, does give currency to the notion of being “ignorant, hateful and racist” when he condemns the black leadership of Boston for its “stony silence” when it had no dog in the fight and when he wrongfully calls that leadership “timid souls.”  Perhaps on this matter in these volatile times the stony silence should have come from Fitzpatrick. 

19 Comments

  1. John King McDonald

    Rather, I have not heard recently of how Officer John Moynihan is doing
    . My prayers for his strong recovery are with him now as they were the night it was reported. I believe it happened in late afternoon. As to Joe Fitzgerald, well, there is a likable quality there and he can crank out a good column when he’s not overthinking things. But then, I have a soft spot in my heart for Mike Barnicle, so go figure 🙂

  2. Here are Angela Clemente’s pdf files on FBI -Mafia
    collaboration in New York
    https://sites.google.com/site/scarpadocuments/62nd-precinct-rogues

    62nd Precinct Rogues

    62nd Precinct Rogues

    The NYPD’s 62nd Precinct is known for having long standing problems of alleged corruption for many decades. The following pages within are important for several reasons. When Scarpa provided the FBI with intelligence they often times chose NOT to act on the information. These inactions were stunning to me and partially prompted some of my current legal motions that are in court today awaiting a judges decision.

    One of the questions that I raised in my most recent motion was what the FBI did with the intelligence that Scarpa provided them. I wanted to know why some people were prosecuted and some were not. Were they conducting selective prosecutions? If so why?

    In the attached document Scarpa identified twenty-seven different officials who he described as participating in corrupt acts. On this subject matter I have not been able to locate any corrective action that took place from this intelligence. The inaction creates a new question years later on whether the murder of Patrick Porco was also purposefully botched. A legal proceeding may be forthcoming.

    • You asked if they were conducting “selective prosecutions.” I believe I can answer your question.

      As one government attorney, Bruce Krasker, told me when I asked that he not allow an innocent Hispanic female employee to be framed for something she did not do and presented him and his subordinate, Jerome Brennan, with overwhelming evidence that she was being framed in retaliation for filing a Title VII complaint, his response:

      “We (the Legal Directorate) can do anything we want. It’s called gaming. We can deny, we can delay,,,dismiss. We can manipulate the system any way we want.”

      In view of the evidence I provided and the admission of one of the officials, I thought Krasker was insane for putting his career and law license on the line. I was wrong. She stayed framed, lost her job and had no choice but to accept a settlement from the court. That same process of legal jujitsu is played out over and over again in federal courts across America and in my view causes great harm to us all.

      The last line of defense for an innocent person is the court. When the court joins in with the prosecutor misconduct to conceal and/or withhold evidence and make false statements, our confidence in the court system is shattered. That’s not “delivering justice” as I know it.

      The hard evidence file and my email exchanges with the principals in the frame up are readily available. I always say that if you believe something, you better have the evidence to back up those beliefs.

      [email protected]

    • That’s New York…………..not Boston.

    • And in other news……North Carolina sharks are taking a stand against humans,…Yellowstone National Park Bisons are escalating their attacks on humans…even sturgeons…those huge ugly fish with big lips are jumping out of the river and into boats killing humans…..animals are loose all over the world…and attacking humans. is this some sort of concerted backlash by the animal kingdom? What do you think msfreeh?

      • And in other news…..there is an Appeal coming up (July 27) on the “The Trial of Whitey Bulger,” same time , same channel, same federal courthouse.

  3. Dan,
    Correct and correct.
    Black leaders, and any other interested relevant leaders, might want to reel in a black woman leading a black group supporting a black cause, with a black name, now protesting inexplicably….going off-topic in opposition to the Olympics. Call me crazy.
    Waking up babies and old people outside the Mayor’s house at 4am is definitely dopey, and it accomplished it’s intended goal since here we are, talking about it.
    BLM is a cause/effect, which is and was justifiable and morally correct based on it’s national origins, but the Boston chapter under Ms. Yancey is spinning out of control and becoming an embarrassment.

  4. Matt: I think the 4 a.m. start time was deeply dopey and dreamed up to attract publicity. I also see no earthly reason why black leaders should respond to an Olympics protest. Fitzgerald sounds like a Donald Trump man to me.

    • Fitzy is just an old hack columnist who is NOT from SoBo/Dot, he just likes to ingratiate himself to people who are, …and act as if he is.

  5. In 1999 a Memphis jury concluded that Memphis Police Chief and 25 year veteran FBI agent Frank Holloman and Memphis police officer Earl Clark, the MLK assassin, conspired with the FBI and others to murder Dr King.

    see official MLK website

    Civil Case: King Family versus Jowers | The Martin Luther King Jr …
    http://www.thekingcenter.org/civil-case-king-family-versus-jowers
    Who is this man who was claimed to have been James Earl Ray’s controller and …. which information was given to the police and the FBI and forgotten about. …… He named the shooter as a Memphis Police Department lieutenant, Earl Clark, …

  6. Matt:

    While we are on the subject of “stony silence” the following opinion piece regarding the criminal citation against Emerson College professor Jabari Asim has been met with the same stony silence:

    “I don’t know anything about this case or the parties involved, but Newton Police Chief Howard Mintz is wrong when he says this dispute does not belong in the newspaper. It does. Any and all alleged injustice belongs in the both the court and the court of public opinion, and early on.

    Let’s be clear: The police have, perhaps, the most dangerous job in America, never knowing if they are going home, to the hospital or to the morgue, on any given day.

    No one should be giving the police any grief, their job is tough enough. On the other hand, no police officer should abuse his or her power or authority.

    Color of law violations are the worst and need to be dealt with by only one standard. They seldom are.

    If Mr. Asim’s story can be supported by the evidence, this police officer may or may not be in a spot, depending on what standard of justice applies in our two-tiered American justice system.

    We have a black justice system and a white justice system. Although it’s wrong, we all pay a huge price for discriminatory practices. As Bob Dylan once wrote, which can be supported by daily news accounts of high dollar, public corruption, “Steal a little, go to jail. Steal a lot and they make you a King.

    As I continue to write, based on my direct knowledge, well planned discrimination and disproportionate retaliation against blacks (and females) by the Department of Justice is conduct that is against the law.

    DOJ’s discriminatory practices creates that “slow boil” that contributes to some of the problems in Black America and to the racial divide in America.

    Consider this, the two most powerful men in America, President Obama, United States Attorney General Eric Holder along with the 40 members of the Congressional Black Caucus can end most of the discriminatory practices in the Federal government if they want to.

    Do they want to? I see no evidence for well planned discrimination to end. I say that racial stratification only insures racial divide to succeed and prosper in America.

    Regarding promotion fixing designed to cheat blacks (and females) out of merit based promotions, as one Region I, Vice President of Blacks In Government (BIG) told me, “You’re going to ruin our good thing.”

    Based on my approximate 45 years experience in Title VII matters, both private and public, one of the reasons why the the black leadership in America stays silent is because they, too, are the beneficiaries of racial division, which is a multi trillion dollar business in America. The silence insures that it will stay that way.

    Despite United States Attorney Carmen Ortiz’ claim that “no one is above the law,” we can find assistant United States Attorneys who participate in, perhaps, the biggest promotion fixing scheme in the history of the federal government, subsidized by more than a trillion taxpayer dollars.

    Using the courts for pattern and practice discrimination is wrong and only proves that there is no such thing as “equal justice under the law.”

    Defenseless minorities (and females) suffer for the benefit of those senior level officials (black and white) who live high off taxpayer dollars.

    Consider the words of President Lyndon Baines Johnson: “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him someone to look down on and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”

    My comments are based on direct knowledge – no hearsay and no speculation.

    Anyone needing evidence to prove what I say, can write. All questions and comments are welcome, but keep it civil and factual. Don’t shoot the messenger.

    Michael Curry and Darnell Williams, what say you?”

    [email protected]
    Community and Good Government Advocate
    Sworn & Commissioned Officer – Massachusetts Trial Court (Retired)
    Board of Director member – Boston State Hospital Project

    • You were in the presence of LBJ and heard these words directly spoken by him?
      From his mouth to your ear? In person?

    • That’s what one of his biographies reads.

      I wasn’t there when President Kennedy was murdered by the alleged “lone assassin,” Lee Harvey Oswald, who used a piece of junk $12.95 mail order rifle that couldn’t hit the side of a barn door, but the whole world knows President Kennedy was assassinated.

      Contextually, I’m only reporting this historically accurate comment for relevant educational purposes.

      Regardless of color or political affiliation, we all pay dearly for the DOJ’s pattern and practice of Title VII discriminatory actions. You can read about the consequences in many newspapers across America.

      [email protected]

  7. radio, television and the Boston Herald have done to our minds
    what the Military-Industrial complex has done to the land.

    We now think like New York City looks.

    I have fond memories growing up to the cigarette and alcohol ads
    of the Boston Herald. Both my parents would succumb to lung
    and throat cancer from Joe Camel.

    Now I look forward to reading their car ads
    while Climate Change knocks on Boston’s door.

    see https://robertscribbler.wordpress.com/

    The only mistake Ms Yancey has made is not laying
    siege to the Mayors home and creating a volunteer civilian review
    police board with subpoena powers.

    Here is a shout out to Ms Yancey hoping her
    group will create sttandards of performance
    for the Boston Police Department.
    Then enforce them.

  8. John King McDonald

    Joe Fitzgerald has been around a long time..He can get a little too ” MONSIGNOR JOE” in the exhortatory writing voice for my likings at particular intersection of the secular and the non -secular. And oh yeah ….. JOE FITZGERALD HAPPENS TO BE BLACK !!! …. Of course he is not, but when you color all judgements with the moral paint and pigment of … Race … even carefully qualifying the gradations and hues of skin color, well, then, it’s the silly season ..Undaunted Dauntia is a real piss cutter who pulled a punk move. I still get a kick out of her and do not reject her or her views out of hand. FYI …BLACK LIVES MATTER has excluded its white members from certain demos and strategy meetings. Stony silence is a real bitch. 🙂 … Monsignor Joe is no racist, but just, like his detractor here a little too : tendentious, pretentious, sententious, and irascibly Irish … Contentious … when writing. But … So What? .. It’s four a.m. and there is REVOLUTION in the air in Marty’s home patch. Alright Dauntia … give me that ” home slice ” you represent yourself as with a little less cheese … though you are a hot tomato 🙂 … # JOE FITZGERALD’S LIFE MATTERS .

  9. I know the issue is that protests were held in the very early morning but just as a historical note people from Boston went out to Wellesley to protest forced busing at the home of Judge W. Arthur Garrity on more than one occasion in the seventies.

    Writing in the National Review last month, conservative writer Kevin Williamson called out the Right for its “habit of treating politics as an exercise in emotional vindication.”
    http://www.nationalreview.com/article/420084/donald-trump-puts-camp-campaign

    There is absolutely no reason the conservatives couldn’t have jumped on the Black Lives Matter bandwagon. The advent of cell phone cameras revealed that some police in some places were taking shortcuts or misusing their authority with an economically and otherwise vulnerable population. This is a very fixable problem. Recognizing it is a problem based on the evidence transcends ideology. Kemp would have seen it. Buckley would have seen it. Reagan would have seen it. Today’s Right missed it completely. They preferred instead to indulge some more in their habit of “emotional vindication,” and Fitzgerald and others are still doing it.

    American conservatism has gone from being a disciplined, empirical, intellectual movement to a bunch of histrionic right wing cry babies. Now the presidency is on the line, and National Review wishes it could tame the beast they have helped create. I don’t wish them well. They deserve to reap what they have sown. And we have Jim Webb on the Democrat side anyway. Kevin Williamson though rocks the party that rocks the Party.