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Wednesday, April 05, 2023

Stories about People and Society.

 

The historic criminal indictment of former President Donald Trump has been very stirring. Now, he has experienced his arraignment. The grand jury indictment and related court documents have been unsealed. Prosecutors accuse the former President of trying to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election and was part of an unlawful plan to suppress negative information (along with promoting financial corruption). Trump has pled not- guilty denying all charges. His lawyers want the charges to be dropped. Trump wants to continue in 2024 Presidential campaign. He spoke in Florida at nighttime. Trump is being charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He is investigated in other cases like involving documents, his role in the 1/6 insurrection, and being involved in trying to steal the election in Georgia during the 2020 election. Donald Trump was fingerprinted at the start of the arraignment. Even Mitt Romney believes in the myth that DA Bragg used an overreach on Trump for political reasons. The truth is that Trump has done corruption for years because of political reasons overtly.


The late Raheem Ahmad released the picture of the ancestor Mary L. Williams publicly. He passed away at Hampton, Virginia on May 31, 2021. His parents were Emma Bradshaw-Lankford and Sylvester Warren. Raheem Ahmad (formerly James Earnest Bradshaw) was born on October 3, 1945, and he was my 4th cousin. Raheem Ahmad married Bettie Jean Best first, Linda Sheryl Moore second, and his last wife was Nadirah Ahmad. Raheem's mother was Emma Frances Bradshaw Lankford (b. 1926). Emma's parents were Jimmie Bradshaw (1892-1971) and Corrine Kelle (1891-1967). Corrine's mother or Raheem Ahmad's great grandmother was Mary L. Williams (who was the daughter of John Burwell Williams). Raheem ws drafted and served in the United States Army from 1965 to 1967. He lived in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and in Hampton, Virginia. Raheem was a bus driver for what we in VA call the HRT (or Hampton Roads Transit) for 20 years. He was the Vice Present of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local No. 1177 until he retired in 2012. He helped to mentor and counsel the youth for years. His brothers were Melvin Bradshaw (1949-2011) and Charlie Bass Lankford Jr. (1964-1970). His aunts were Mamie L. Scott, Ida Mae Ricks, and his uncle was James E. Bradshaw. My late 4th cousin Melvin McDonald Bradshaw married Joyce Brown on December 27, 1973. The couple had 3 daughters, who are Sherrise Bradshaw (b. 1969), Nadirah Shamah Bradshaw (b. 1981), and Nikita Shawan Bradshaw. My 5th cousin married Torey Leveare Lashane Lee on June 6, 2009, at Franklin Virginia. The couple has the child of TJ Lee or my 6th cousin. His children are Dana Michelle Bradshaw Humphries of Washington, D.C. (b. 1967 whose mother is Bettie Jean Best. Bettie was born in 1944), Sean Timothy Ahmad (b. 1968. Sean's wife is Trina) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Donna Yvette Williams Boykins of Franklin, Virginia (b. 1968. Her husband is Tony Bokyins). Raheem Ahmad's grandchildren are Caprice, Clifton, Kyle, Tajai, Dazja, Ronald, and Jarvis. His great grandchildren are Syncere, Jayden, and Aalyiah.

Tons of people are commenting on Angel Reese instead of the team victory of LSU. Some racists and sexists have gone out of their way to lie and mention that Reese did the worst thing in sports. The reality is that I can list tons of athletes who did competitive words much more militant than Angel Reese. Angel Reese didn't threaten anyone, didn't hit anyone, and many hypocrites refuse to critique Caitlin Clark for her John Cena "You can't see me" hand signal. Tony Yayo did the "can't see me" hand signal before John Cena too. Black self-expression is always scrutinized more so than any other person in history. Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Larry Bird, etc. did way more than what Reese did. Reasonable people can agree or disagree with Reese's and Clark's actions, but Angel Reese is not a thug, not classless, and not some slur. She is a young black lady who has the right to be unapologetically black on her terms. I think that Angel Reese refuted respectability politics. When even Caitlan Clark said that Angel Reese is right, you know that there is a double standard. People who play or know basketball knows that Angel Reese's actions are very lightweight compared to what takes place in basketball games worldwide among commentaries and signs. There is a double standard. Black people in mainstream society are treated worse than non-black people involving talking in a basketball game. Keith Olbermann and Dave Portnoy are obviously wrong for making disrespectful comments about Angel Reese.


This year is the 55th year after the unjust assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. April 4th, 1968, was a date when America was going through massive changes. Over decades after World War II, massive economic oppression, racism, deindustrialization, and imperialism existed worldwide. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. back in 1968 was criticized by numerous conservatives for going too far and many so-called militants viewed him as not going far enough. The truth is that Dr. King was more revolutionary than his "militant" critics. Dr. King glorified democratic socialism by his own words, he opposed the Vietnam War as unjust, he told the truth that Black is Beautiful, he worked to promote the Poor People's Campaign to redistribute the wealth back to the majority of the people (in trying to end poverty, stop housing discrimination, and advance a just living for human beings), he desired the growth of black owned institutions, he wanted reparations for black Americans, and he desired a boycott of the 1968 Olympics (because of racial injustice). 

Therefore, Dr. King was a real revolutionary. During that time, Dr. King worked with Memphis sanitation workers to advance economic justice. These workers wanted a union and desired a total promotion of the dignity of work. All work has dignity, and the right of workers to be respected of their rights must be honored by word and by deed. After his prophetic I Have Been to the Mountaintop speech, he stayed at a Memphis Hotel. Dr. King came from a middle-class family in Atlanta, Georgia, but he advanced the interests of the poor and working class diligently. He sacrificed his life for black people, and he supported liberation movements of black people in Africa too (from Nigeria, Ghana, and to South Africa). He was assassinated at about 6 pm. in Memphis. The government illegally monitored Dr. King. Dr. King in his later years wanted to unite many people to fight class oppression and racial injustice. He desired a true social change in society. 

Rest in Power Brother Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.


By Timothy



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