Darrell Davis

Racist Peekskill Patch Dying

The above graph shows the number of monthly visitors the AOL owned on-line newspaper Peekskill Patch gets. As you can see, they are dying a slow death. Down to about 5,000 monthly visitors. That is less than 200 readers a day. More embarrassing for Peekskill Patch is that they are actually "Peekskill-Cortlandt Patch." Cortlandt has twice the population of Peekskill. Between my Facebook friends and twitter account, I reach about the same amount of People as the racist Peekskill Patch. I won't even mention my two radio shows on five stations in the same sentence as Patch.

Generally, I ignore that "newspaper." There is nothing there to read accept KKK rants by the paper and comments by monkey wannabes.

From time to time someone will say, "You have to see what Patch wrote." And so they wrote a ridiculously insensitive, racist article about the 2/27/12 Peekskill City Council meeting where we caught the mayor and council lying; where the mayor then had Peekskill Police charge me while I was at the podium exposing them, and then close down the "citizens to be heard section" of the meeting.

Given the fact that the mayor and council were lying about a new legal action which hit the Peekskill Housing Authority that includes allegations of corruption, sex discrimination, peeping tom activities and fraud- against women and people of color- the Patch, in their headline, chose to characterize the encounter as "People Screaming." No mention of lying, cover-ups or ethics issues involving the mayor and city council. What a disgrace.

Sadly, if the Patch, and it's editor, Liz Giegerich, weren't so racist, the paper had a chance. If you were to look at the above graph of their falling readership you would see that when they wrote about our issues in a balanced way, their numbers peaked. 

Patch and Giegerich have chosen to be the local New York Post. Crud, racist and nonobjective.  R.I.P:)

Peekskill Bean Runner Cafe's Hypocritical Owners

Peekskill City Council Woman Drew Claxton and her boyfriend, Ted Bitter are the co-owners of the Bean Runner Cafe in Peekskill N.Y. The hypocrisy of the two reached amazing heights when Mr. Bitter showed up at a recent Peekskill Council Meeting for the sole purpose of attacking children.

As some of you know, for the past year and a half residents of Peekskill- Black, White and Latino- have joined forces with others who find racism despicable.  At first we took our grievances behind closed doors with the Democratic Party leaders, including Mayor Mary Foster. In fact, we did that twice before deciding we had to take our issues public.

The response by the city leaders was TOTAL disrespect, marginalizing us, denial, insults, attacks, rule changes, threats with police force and more. But a strange thing happened- our support swelled! Culminating with a hugely successful march for dignity on May 23 2011. That was the second time the city asked for mediation. We accepted and was met with character attacks at the  meeting by the city's representatives.  One of them was Drew Claxton. We broke off talks.

As a result of the community, more and more rejecting the Democratic Party, the Peekskill Dems had a hard time finding candidates to run this year. Two one- term incumbents decided they had enough, two replacements also dropped out in time. They got kicked off of the Independence Line for fraud. Of course ALL of this is the community's fault for standing up for Human Rights. How did the city respond? By cancelling, after 15 years,  Parks and Recreation bus service for the award winning and nationally recognized dance group Staj and the Stajettes! They retaliated against our children.

Myself, some parents and the girls dance group went to the last council meeting to object and point out that WE pay for everything and the city spent at best, $3,000 last year for transporting these girls. Ted Bitter, Bean Runner Cafe co-owner and spouse of Councilwoman Claxton shows up, screaming like a maniac and bringing the girls dance group to tears.

He basically said the council can't be racist because it is diverse and his white spouse, Claxton married a Black man. He also said he has a track program and when they need money-mind you, we didn't ask for money- he begs and harasses people at supermarkets.

He is ignorant to think that diversity means a lack of racism. Diversity usually brings MORE racism. I mean you have to have SOMEONE to discriminate against! He also doesn't understand that we are teaching these girls to be self sufficient. They raise ALL of their budget with art and bake sales- not begging. But we are also teaching them that self-respect means asking for your fair share of the resources just like every other group in town!

Bitter is a hypocrite and so is  Drew Claxton. They have the Bean Runner Cafe because she is politically connected and he exploits her white skin privilege. I hope people recognize the hypocrisy and the hurt to these children caused by Ted Bitter .

Spend your money elsewhere.

 

 

Peekskill Dems One Year Later, Silent as Blacks Abused

It's been a year since we went to our "friends" the Peekskill Democrats. They would not be in office if not for us. Instead of addressing the blatant racism in Peekskill Government and the abuses at the Housing Authority under Harold Phipps (who the mayor supports), they have attacked ALL of our rights to speak, have representation on the Housing Board and threatened us with arrest and/or eviction.

Take a look at   of me talking to the mayor and council. It is not totally wasted. The people sitting at home watching this are so disgusted with our treatment, we are getting more supporters everyday.

 

 

Peekskill Mayor, Meet Seth Godin

I don't know how much marketing genius Seth Godin will appreciate me highlighting one of his articles to point out the lunacy of a politician, but here we go.

Peekskill Mayor Mary Foster says that a person's past should have nothing to do with the decision to hire them. She is referring to Peekskill Housing Authority Director Harold Phipps. You may recall I wrote about Phipps' less than stellar past job performances.

Since arriving in Peekskill, Phipps has literally terrorized an award winning little girls dance group, illegally let himself into several women's apartments with his pass key. They have complained to Mayor Foster about this. He yells and screams at residents. He makes lewd remarks to females. He has threatened critics with arrest or eviction. And has attacked the rights of residents to organize. Peekskill Mayor Mary Foster says she supports him anyway. After all, it's only Black people complaining.

Turning back to Seth's post, in which he refers to people who don't think past performance is a good indicator of future performance, he says,"...I think it's worth pointing out that you're nuts."  Of course he didn't have Mary Foster in mind when he wrote that. But it sure fits.

Yes Mayor Foster, you are nuts to stand by this man. You knew his job history and STILL made public statements of support. And not ONE statement in support of the residents he manages. The residents who voted for you. Shame on you!

Like the "N" word, "Racism" to become the "R" Word

I have been wrestling with the idea of writing a guest post for a New York newspaper on the subject of racism. And as I thought about it I realized that even before I could start formulating the content of the article, I had to think about the onslaught of personal attacks I would have to endure just for bringing the topic up. Racism; Soon to be referred to as the "R" word. Something that we in America will be frowned on for mentioning or bringing up. Very difficult to discuss and address if you aren't even allowed to say it!

Sadly, racism is as ugly and devastating today as it has been in the last 50 years. And sadly, we as a nation fumble and stumble in our awkward attempts to deal with it. We do that partly because of a number of reasons: One reason is that the average person- Black or white- doesn't recognize it. If someone doesn't walk up to you and call you a ni**er or if you are not confronted with "no Blacks allowed" they just don't see it.

A second reason is that America- sub-consciously- has not embraced the humanity of African Americans. The whole culture and educational system in this country pushed the idea that black people are inferior. This was originally done to justify slavery to Judeo-Christian population. When slavery ended, no one went back and said, "you know all that stuff we taught you about Blacks being savages with no history or culture? Well, none of that is true. And so today, Americans still look at Blacks, largely, through those eyes. And as such, treat Blacks that way.

A third reason is many whites are just so defensive of any kind of criticism that says they are not perfect or that perhaps some of their success is not due only to their intelligence and hard work. I think this is partly what causes so many to always try to prove racism among Blacks or see "reverse-racism." Its like the kid who gets caught taking extra cookies and replies that his brother or sister did the same thing yesterday. They try to avoid their behavior.

There are more reasons racism is so touchy and difficult to talk about. Having said that, for me personally, I will continue to use the word racism when it fits. And, in spite of another big reason people don't use the word- the charge of pulling the "race card"- I am not going to see a duck and call it a horse.

If we are to heal this nation and move society even further along the road of democracy, we need to have honest discussion to find real solutions. The fact is racism is directly responsible for destroying millions of lives senselessly. It keeps human beings divided and blind to the real enemies of human progress- like war, corporate greed and corruption. It takes brave people to acknowledge that and a braver people to take action against it.

Help Save the Cab Calloway Legacy

If you know anything about Jazz, and even if you don't, you probably heard of Cab Calloway. Cab owned a house in Westchester NY. That house was visited by such legends as Duke Ellington, Sammy Davis, Michael Jackson and our sister we just lost, Lena Horne.

Like many non-profits, the Cab Calloway Foundation is facing hard times. In fact, the house, which the family no longer owns, is being rented by the foundation and the foundation is in danger of eviction. If that happens, all hope of buying the house back- which is the goal- and protecting the Calloway home and legacy will be lost. We need your help!

Foundation director Michael Mills and Cab's daughter, Cee Cee Calloway are working hard to turn things around. But the situation is dire. We need donations (tax deductible) or loans. I am now acting as co-chair of the fund raising committee for the foundation. I recently reached out to a film legend for help who came through! But we need more.

Please, please give what you can. Please make checks payable to Cab Calloway Foundation Inc. You can send checks addressed to the foundation to:

The Cab Calloway Foundation, Inc.
1040 Knollwood Road, White Plains, NY  10603

In addition you can get for more information at 914-909-3985

Knowing NY Gov. David Paterson

The very first time I met then State Senator David Paterson it was under extremely ugly circumstances. It was in 1987 and I was in Albany NY, seeking the support of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus (as it was known then). I needed their support in my call to New York Governor Mario Cuomo for a special prosecutor to investigate a racially motivated attack on an African American man. He was attacked by a gang of white men who chased him down a Peekskill NY street with bats and pipes because he had a white girlfriend. Fortunately he escaped physical harm. Five days later, someone set his house on fire. Shortly after that, he was shot in the leg by an unknown assailant.

Around this time the Tawana Brawley case had broke and most of the politicians were rushing to that case and the TV cameras. I was scheduled on that day to meet with members of the caucus. After waiting in a big conference room for fifteen minutes and no lawmaker in sight, in walks this slightly built man in a suit that I thought looked too small. It was David Paterson. He walked in accompanied by one member of his staff. We greeted each other and both sat down.

I was there with the lawyer who was helping me and the family on this case, world renowned Attorney Lennox Hinds. I had mailed Sen. Paterson all newspaper clippings related to the case and a copy of the letter I sent to the governor.

I began by thanking the senator for finding time to meet with us. I then handed him another copy of the letter I had sent to the governor since I would be going over those issues with him. He politely handed the letter back to me and just said, "Thanks but I've memorized it."

It wasn't until later on that my attorney told me that David was legally blind! From my early interaction with him, I just didn't get it. Even more amazing was that he had in fact remembered every point I made to the governor in that letter. He would from that point on help me personally with several other issues over the years. He always took my calls, never was too busy to talk. And yet, he lived in Harlem. He didn't technically represent me. But that was to become David's legacy. He was called "the people's senator."

Over the years David Paterson stood up for the people and the grassroots. And if you know anything about New York media, you know it is very reactionary. Very hostile to Black people. And so David, long before he became governor, became an enemy of the local press. They had painted a bullseye on him. The fact is, David Paterson inherited a train wreck of a state. The press never gave him a fair deal. The same press that would draw apes depicting Black people, relentlessly tried to destroy and discredit him.

Having said that I must also say that we as a nation tend to think in terms of "right and wrong." Sometimes there is "a wrong and a wrong." I think that David Paterson fell victim to what most other politicians who are in office too long succumb to; the notion of preferential treatment. The idea that they deserve things the rest of us don't. The worse of our public officials become corrupt. The best of them lose perspective.

This domestic violence case was really the last straw for me and many others. As hard as I try, I just don't see any good reason for the state police or the governor to have had contact with this poor woman. Still, David deserves the benefit of the doubt on this. I would say wait for Cuomo's investigation but guess what? I used to work for the now State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and I can tell you this in no uncertain terms- Cuomo will cut Paterson's throat and then go get ice cream.

New Yorkers have really lost on this deal. Paterson is brilliant and given a fair chance, could have got New York back on track. He was a great legislature and his tenure as governor won't change that. Then again, I never anticipated David falling on his own sword.

Thoughts On Tiger Woods' Statement

By the time most of you read this post, Tiger Woods will have made his highly anticipated statement regarding the events surrendering his famous November automobile crash and all the allegations that have since surfaced. And the truth is, to my way of thinking, it doesn't matter much what he says. He will be  talking to basically three groups of people: those who are against him; those who support him; and those who wonder what is going on in the real world. I belong to the third group.

Listen, there are several dynamics at play that make up the whole Tiger Woods scandal. Most of it has little to do with Tiger sleeping around. In America, an athlete not being faithful to his spouse is as surprising as a politician not being faithful. It happens, it happens a lot and many people know about it.

So what is all the uproar about and why is Tiger Woods' statement so anticipated? The Woods scandal is more about lies people tell. Not Tiger, but the public. Tiger has to go out there before the public and crawl on his belly before America. He has to play the game. He has to be "contrite." He has to admit he was deceptive. He has to do all of this to get back into the money game. So be it.

But the lies we tell are more revealing. His critics say he was paid billions because of his squeaky clean image. Lie number one. You see. We all know that nobody is perfect. Nobody! And yet, we root for Tiger and buy things associated with his name and tell ourselves the lie that we do this because he is so "clean."

And they tell us that Tiger Woods gave up his right to privacy when he accepted all that money from sponsors. Lie number two. If money is the measure of a persons right to privacy than a person who is very poor should have no privacy. They would not be entitled to any. Privacy is a human and legal right. It is not determined by how much money you make.

It took comedian Chris Rock to point out the difference between being rich and being wealthy. He said Shaq is rich; the man who wrote Shaq that check is wealthy! Who is that man? Shouldn't we know his name since more money means less privacy?

Lie number three? Tiger (or any athlete) is a role model. Nonsense. Many dominating athletes are pampered and emotionally unbalanced because they spend most of their waking hours playing a game. How can they possibly develop into a well balanced person when they become obsessed with chasing a dead end dream- of making the pros- that is sold to mostly African American youth. They don't, in many cases, obtain an education and end up on a street corner somewhere in heart brake America.

And the biggest lie of all: We are no longer a racist society, we elected a Black President. My friends, Obama is in the White House and Black People are still getting kicked in the butt by the police, discriminated against in health care, jobs, mortgages and education. But also, in sports. Their are a lot of people in America who simple want to see this young, brash, rich, Blackman crawl on his belly. And that, more than any other reason, fueled this media frenzy.

Tiger Woods is a knuckle head. He did his wife wrong. But you know what? Millions of people around the world are starving or dieing from unclean water, disease or war. And I don't give a rats behind about what Tiger does in his personal life. I want him to hit good shots on the golf course. I want my favorite artist to paint, singer to sing. That is all they owe me.

John Mayer's Racist Remarks

It never ceases to amaze me the racist ignorant remarks that come out of peoples mouths. It's not only that they say these thing, but that they are so comfortable saying them. That is the part that floors me. John Mayer is one individual. Don Imus, Jimmy The Greek and countless others have put their foots in their mouths over the years. But I think many people miss the point.

The bigger issue with people and their racist remarks is that we as a society are quick to jump on the individual, and not address the systems of thought and social relations that produce them. Everyday people laugh at racist jokes. Everyday people tell them. And yet, we still don't get down to the reality that the racist remarks come out of a system of racial oppression.

This system discriminates against people of color everyday and has resulted in the separation, segregation and exploitation of countless millions. Racism in health care results in less quality medical treatment; in education, less quality learning; in criminal justice, higher instances of criminality because of racial profiling.

John Mayer is a knuckle head. As much as his words are stupid and hurtful, the system that fosters them should be the real target of reform.

Honor Black Wall Street

I am very excited to announce a new social network for African Americans who celebrate the spirit of the entrepreneur. It is called Honor Black Wall Street, named after that thriving Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma around the turn of the century.

I receive emails from all over the country from people asking advice about starting their own business. The reason I think this network is so valuable is because most networks today are crowded with people already in business and are using the networks to market. I want to do that too, but also provide a forum for people looking to start their business and need some help getting there.

Having said that, I don't consider myself to be a master, but still a student. But there are a few things I am absolutely clear about. 1) We, African Americans, need to be more industrious and self-reliant. One of the best ways to do that is by starting your own business. And 2) We need to not depend on a political party to provide us with our freedom. And, finally 3) The state of Black America today tells me we need to do things differently as a people.

With that, I want to invite you all to visit Honor Black Wall Street and bring your questions and proposed solutions. Let us together explore ideas for new businesses. Let us network and do business together. Whether you are starting out, thriving or somewhere in between, help make this the site to be on.