Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Sept. 6, 1990, edition 1 / Page 5
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page A5 Winston-Salem Chronicle Forum SEPTEMBEI^Ar1990 ptop N.Y. prison guard brutality ' All forms of police brutality e abhorrent and objectionable, ne of the most brutal forms of 'is violent law enforcement mis- induct is "prison guard brutality." ^son inmates who are held cap- re in a closed prison system are ilnerable to the malicious and 'ten violent retribution of sick ison guards. *'*This is not a loose indictment Ml prison guards in America, ut what happened several weeks ro at New York City's Riker's land Prison demands a national ■otest against prison guard brutal- y. Prison guards, who were angry the city for not giving in to all of .e demands of the Correction fficers Benevolent Association, ent on a violent rampage which ft 162 persons injured, 20 guards id 142 inmates. Like the majority ' the population at Riker's Island, le vast majority of the injured ■isoners were African-American. The prison guards precipitated prison riot when nearly a thou- ind members of the Correction fficers Benevolent Association ockaded the bridge leading to iker's Island to demand the right I use greater physical force ;ainst prisoners. On Aug, 14, this illegal block- le at Riker's Island turned into a ee-for-all - a drunken, violent tack on hundreds of defenseless mates. For hours at the bridge, e prison guards drank beer and her alcoholic substances. We understand why Mayor inkins was at first reluctant to der the New York Police Depart- ent to clear the bridge attempting avoid a violent confrontation, he mayor was successful at the •idge. But the prison guards turned on the mayor, the city and the law. These guards disrespected themselves and all the people of the city. As soon as Phil Seelig, presi dent of the Correction Officers would beat a prisoner just to satis fy his own bloodthirst? Who will correct these "correctional offi cers"? Although it is nearly 20 years later, we still remember the Attica Prison massacre in upstate CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL By BENJAMIN CHAVIS JR, Benevolent Association, stood on top of a van and shouted, "We got just about everything that we want ed," hundreds of prison guards stampeded off the bridge and head ed toward the prison complex. Ted Katz of the N.Y. Legal Aid Soci ety's prisoners' rights project said that the prison guards appeared to be "very pumped up ... they were even flashing their guns ... and not exactly in a law-abiding frame of mind." After the prison riot was quelled, some prison guards, according to Katz, took inmates to the lobby of the North Unit, which has a 45-foot-long corridor. It was in that corridor where numerous inmates were "payback" beaten with nightsticks and clubs. Katz confirmed that "a long corridor wall on both sides is coveted with blood." Now we have learned that one of those beaten, 36-year-old Steven Glover of Harlem, has died. Although his death and the so- called "payback" beatings of inmates by the prison guards are being investigated by different law enforcement agencies, a nasty smell surrounds the whole affair. What kind of a man in uniform New York. The Riker's Island attack cannot be tolerated in New York City nor anywhere else in this nation. The New York City Correction Officers Association is not "Benevolent" -- some of their members are psychopathic thugs who violate human rights under the color of the law with utter impunity. No wonder the recidi vism rate is so high for prison inmates, given the institutionalized barbarity that they have to endure. Now is the time to once again declare: Stop Prison Guard Brutal ity in America and Throughout the World! The prison guards responsible for the Riker's Island brutality must be brought to justice. Even the Emergency Service personnel were attacked by the prison guards to prevent the injured inmates from receiving emergency medical treat ment. The New York City Correc tion Officers "Violent Association is dangerous and a moral disgrace. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. is exec utive director of the Commis sion for Racial Justice of the United Church of Christ. ^ock group accused of assault on children "1 know all of that," he cried, It what are we going to do about This was the plea of a desper- e parent fighting a seemingly tpeless battle against a disease ir which there appears to be no tre. There is a war being fought in immunities across America, and I the victor goes the minds and mis of our young people and our ition. These children don't belong I somebody else. They are ours. They are not the targets of ireats made by Saddam Hussein; St we become distracted by our ne automobiles. Rather, they are rgets of a sophisticated LBO, "a iveraged buy out" in which the ue barbarians at the gates ride on msical Trojan horses conducting 1 all-out war to totally destroy leir prey. Who is doing the fighting? In lis comer is the everyday, work- ig, decent human being who is ;eking to make the community a suer place not only for himself at also for you, for me, and for ur children. He believes in the alues of hard work, education, id sound moral values. He saves loney for a rainy day, and more ften than not, he goes to church a Sunday. In the other corner is none Iher than groups like the Miami- ased 2 Live Crew, led by the fiery ip artist Luther Campbell. Their lission: To seek and destroy the lack family by using the patriarch ) destroy the matriarch and in the roccss, reduce both of them to the atus of mere animals, thus ren- ering the union and its offspring itally incapable of sustaining self beyond the most primitive ivels of existence. Here is public enemy number ne, or whatever you want to call The feeling of helplessness xpressed by so many parents amcs at a time when many in this luntry are also fighting for their ves against the AIDS virus. Right nw, scientists have no cure for the isease. They know it's a virus; ley know it when they see it, but ley haven't been able to stop it. here again, is the sense of help- issness. Similarly, the black family is fighting a battle. There are so many threats to our children. They come in the form of childhood accidents, teen pregnancy, poverty, illiteracy, peer pressure, television, violence, the temptation to experi ment with sex, AIDS, and, of course, the ubiquitous presence of thought about their little minds and how they were made in the image of God and how groups like 2 Live Crew were actually trying to stone them to death, throwing rocks at children while hiding their dirty hands behind their backs. But if you listen to Campbell, he w'ill tell you that "his" 7-year- ON THE AVANT-GARDE ByTANGNIVRI drugs and alcohol. Just as scientists have found it extremely difficult to fight AIDS because the mutating vims renders the body's own immune system vulnerable, so is it that Black America is finding it difficult to fight off the antibodies that are produced in its "own body," know ing full well that the mission of the antibody is to destroy the whole body. Like many of us, it wasn't until a few months ago that I'd ever heard of the rap group 2 Live Crew or their album "Nasty As They Wanna Be." It appeared to me that this was yet another one of the debates argued by the ACLU over the use of a few nasty words being hollered over more mindless rap music. But when Benjamin Hooks, Spike Lee, and USA Today columnist Barbara Reynolds took a look at the actual lyric con tent of the album, I determined that this was not about free speech. It wasn't about racism. This was about whether or not somebody has the right to walk into a crowd ed theater and scream "fire!" These so-called lyrics are an invitation by Campbell's cronies to violently attack black women. There is no other explanation. There is no other rationalization. When 1 read excerpts from some of their "tunes," my mind immediately flashed to the little boys and girls that play every day on the playground at the Winston Lake YMCA. There they are in all of their innocence, protected by a cyclone fence, carefully watched by the women who stand nearby, I Crown^ Drugs) COUPONS EXPIRE SEPTEMBER 8, 1990 Service, Selection & Savings - From "The Prescription People' ?f * r One A Day Within GO'S or Within BetaCamtenel Flintstones With Iron 60's $099 .®ta 1 Nix Lice Treatment 2 oz. $099 4-oz. 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While Campbell may pretend to be the "protector," his actual mission is to seek and destroy the black family. No matter how you phrase it, dress it, cover it, rub it, print it, or hide it, if you sell women on the street, you're a pimp. What Campbell and others like him are doing is "rapping" to the community by day and raping it by night. 2 Live Crew is a dis grace to the history and legacy of everything good that black folks in this country have stood for. Sure, there is a lot of good going on in rap music, but every thing that has a good beat may not be good to dance to or to live to. No, I am not against free speech, and no, 1 am not being a prude. But as far as I am con cerned, you don't have to be a prude to not want to see somebody come into your community, rape, pillage and destroy, and then, on his way out, leave a tip as if to say, "Oh, by the way man, here is a lit tle something for the kids." Keep it, Luther! One can only imagine what the community outrage would be if this same album were written, pro duced and performed by non blacks. Think about it. Why aren't we more angry about this? FILM PROCESSING Labor Day FILIVI DEVELOPING SPECIAL Bring Your Film to CROWN DRUGS for Processing and Save! 99 12 Exp. Roll or Disc 15 Exp. Processed for 24 or 36 Exp. Roll Processed for 2 3 99 Thru Sept. 6th C-41 Process for 110, 126, disc or 35mm color print film. We Reserve the Right to Limit Quantities Visit One of These Convenient Crown urug Locations: 1. S31 P«t*rs Cr—k Parkway 8. Lawlavllla. 8499 Shallowford Rd. 2. Raynotda Uartof ShoppIrK) Cantar 9. Starttayvtlla, Old Hwy. 52 North 3. 3075 Kamartvllla Road 10. King, Colony Cantra 4. 301 Acadia Avanua 11. Walkartoam, Hwy. 66 5. HanaaMall 12. 4917 Country Club Rd. 6. OMlown. 3716 Raynotda Road 13. Barmuda Quay 7. dammona, Waatwood VlHaga 14. Naw Markat Plaza - Kamaravilla Alao In: Sallabury, Yadkinvilla, Mocktvilla, Nawton, Taylortvilia & Lexington. IVe Reserve The Right To Limit Quantities. visit a Crown Optic Shop today, located In Crown Drug Stores at the following locations: . Willow Ook ^ ■ HanosMall snwngcaiw . DayMson Plan Wlnstoft-Satafn MoetuWk, NC Lennjion, NC NC. 766-9322
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Sept. 6, 1990, edition 1
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