Friday In The Park With Elicker

I support the protestors and the removal of the statue, but if Los Fidel is the leader of the movement in New Haven, they're doomed.

I'm a critic of Elicker, but I think he's done the city right both with his COVID response and response to recent protests.

His budget is still trash though.

Mayor Elicker is about to learn an important lesson. The lesson is: if you don't respect yourself other people will never respect you. Mayor Elicker stood and received verbal abuse from m. Fidel. If he had respect for himself he would have left the park. By staying he showed weakness in the face of the abuse and the mob feeds on weakness. Mr. Mayor not everyone is going to like you, and without self respect you have nothing. Good luck in trying to lead now.

Catdude — I'm totally with you. My first impulse was to have Fidel's back to the end of this earth. But the way he treats our Mayor? The dude is full of himself, and he needs to grow up.

Still love Fidel's moxie,...

What an amazing example of both courage and compassion the Mayor is setting.
He showed up simply to listen to who ever was around and without a police escort or a bodyguard.
Why should he fear the people when he knows he is on their side?
Ala Ochumare is a charismatic leader and she set the tone for the peaceful and collaborative rally outside the NHPD over 2 weeks ago. It was a spirit of caring and community that I hadn't experienced since Martin Luther King Jr' "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, DC.
Los Fidel may not be as eloquent, but he is living proof of the toll abuse takes on a person. Do NOT dismiss what he says.
These are people who living, not the American Dream, but the American Nightmare. They are bearing witness to their truth, something the Quakers taught me and others to value.

Mayor Elicker is doing a MARVELOUS job. For him to sit there and be DISRESPECTED and respond so courteously! Smh. As a Latina (afro-Latina if you prefer the term) I am so immensely embarrassed by Los Fidel who supposedly represents liberal people of color- because we do NOT all act or speak like that. Reading this is so embarrassing and disheartening. It makes me sad and embarrassed for my people. The statue needed to go down, but that is the people's collective choice. Its not the mayor's responsibility to be present for every event- that is what a DEMOCRACY is for! I am glad that Mayor Elicker is who he is.

Agree completely with Patricia Kane's commentary.

We are living through a time in which dialogue and change is difficult and raucous. Things are going to get heated. That's just the way it is.

We ought to listen to the protestors. Mayor Elicker has been doing a good job at managing this moment... even through this kind of conversation takes a lot of stamina!

A Columbus statue supporter threw the first punch at around the 4:10 mark in the video.)East Haven man detained for attacking pro-removal activist.

The question is,Was this man arrested? and if not why not?

Mayor Elicker actually gave Burgos legitimacy by talking to him for 2 hours. Maybe he was scoping out the enemy. Burgos showed his true nature by swearing at the Mayor. He seems to think he can ask police officers what they are doing by bluster, bullshit and bad behavior. Seems like he has lots of spare time to be an agitator.

I will agree that the clown that sucker punched him should have been arrested because ever loudmouth jerks can be crime victims of crime too.

The Mayor disgraced himself by sitting with Burgos and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't sit with anyone wearing a different shirt slogan.

Politicians are like limp noodles. No spine.

3/5ths...the old guy was not arrested for the same reason protesters around the country are getting off....cops are being instructed to back off. You can't have it both ways, can youi?

Carlos is a felon.....if you want to be taken serious, pick better speakers!

The man is unstable and not fit to be a face for the movement.

"You have the power to make changes," Ochumare told Elicker.

She said the police department's no-chase policy needs to be enforced. "You chase us until we crash, or never come out alive again."

Don't you mean you fail to stop for the police who are trying to conduct a M/V stop and flee at high speed until you crash and kill yourself or a third party, that sounds more accurate. Police in NH pretty much don't chase if you take off, with very few exceptions. You can NEVER truly have a no
pursuit policy no more than you can ban choke/cardiovascular holds.

If your defunding the police then I would like the opportunity to have MY tax dollars put to a city service of my choice, like FUNDING THE POLICE, who we need more than some BS social cause.

I also bet she can name a few people that were abused by those that are not police, like Fidel for instance and I guarantee that number is much higher but no one wants to talk about that.

JUSTIN ELICKER is absolutely "INSANE"
What sane individual campaigns to be in a position where they face repetitive backlash regardless of their intentions? What sane individual campaigns to be in a position where his wife and young children's lives will never be the same because of path that he chose?
What sane individual seeks out what most in our society views as a "thug" that was screaming obscenities at him while pacing back and forth overflowing with 'lifetime's" of frustration, anger and "misdirected aggression" a foot away with no visible security or protection?
What sane individual presses on despite being called a racist and a Trump supporter?
This level of insanity combined with determination, fearlessness and nobility will help lead us through a 2020 that is taking no prisoners on multiple levels. When he was elected I thought his "plate was full" and he had his work cut out for him. 2020 has shown no mercy and has presented a cocktail of unprecedented obstacles that he has to confront while facing backlash from the public. Great leaders lead by example, Justin has shown us that he cares, that will take him a long way. "Justin" DID not have to remain there and face criticism from a very angry and impulsive yet extremely articulate young man who has unlimited potential in Los Fidel. Justin realizes that Fidel is a soldier in the same fight for justice and equality who is not yet polished but has an important message that he needed to listen to because he has been ignored. As for people that are not yet convinced of our mayors "moral compass", I believe that he has his set on GooD. His ideals seem to be more aligned with the mentality of the white "freedom fighters" of Summer 1965 than "Trump" of 2020 like his Naysayers would like the public to believe. Dr. King told us not to judge by the color of ones skin but by the content of their character. Based on his ACTIONS I believe that Justin has the right amount of insanity to us through 2020 and beyond.

MAYOR ELICKER WILL LISTEN AND MAKE PROMISES BUT NO ACTION , WE ASKED FOR AN INVESTIGATION IN SOME CITY DEPT THAT HAS A LOT OF SHADY STUFF GOING ON FOR YEARS AND HE PROMISED TO LOOK INTO IT AND NOTHING HAPPENED !!!!!!

This is Mob Rule gone a muck, This incompetent mayor gives this guy a platform. Everyone, have we really lost it. I love New Haven, I'm asking for all the community leaders to come together and lets have a dislodge.
We need Rev. Kimber, Darnell Goldson, Mayor Harp (I miss her) Andy Consiglio, Mayor DeStefano, Rep Juan Candelerio and a few others, to hold an emergency summited so we can repair the damage this New Cannon native has done to our beautiful city. Please this is a serious appeal.

posted by: MrHinkyDink on June 26, 2020 11:46pm

3/5ths…the old guy was not arrested for the same reason protesters around the country are getting off….cops are being instructed to back off. You can't have it both ways, can youi?

He throw a punch.That is call a assault.he should have been arrested.

My bad.White Privilege?

@THREEFIFTHS

Ask Tony Timpa how well that white privilege works in practice.

The mayor sits and legitimizes criminals, so more crime happens. I wonder if Mr. Elicker told the police who was throwing bottles at people while he encouraged Burgos to tell his tales.

I doubt it, Justin's no snitch.

Los Fidel has a lot of passion, I don't like the dialogue and he obviously wasn't taught or mentored on how to show respect and in order to gain respect. It's a two way street, I know a lot of felons and other men/women that were in the criminal justice system that understand this. There's no excuse for blatant disrespect when someone is actually trying to listen to you, no matter if you think they are already in the wrong.

With that being said he's right on many points, the Mayor is a bit of a coward in terms of confrontation. He didn't come outside for hours at that May 31st protest and he didn't show up on the day this statue was removed. Maybe he needs to attend de-escalation training, something to note. I still don't understand why the time was given to the public of when the statue was to be taken down. That made no sense at all.

I'm also still confused as to why the older white male was not arrested AND Los Fidel aka Carlos. I have seen myself and too many others get arrested for fighting mutually, breaching someone's peace or just disorderly conduct. All got summons or were taken into custody and then given a summons at detention, sometimes.

These folks are no different. With all that being said, mission accomplished, the statue was taken down....a win for the "good" guys. So what is all this extra-ness about??? I wonder if all of these people are marching with the organizers of Ice The Beef, in order to show a stand against the real villains in this city, the pieces of trash that killed the beautiful and talented Kiana Brown....the march has started and those of you commenting can still join at any point...

Stay safe everyone.

The movement should find new leadership. Carlos Burgos is a felon with a long record of violence

Dear NHI Staff,

Early in the creation of this comment section, Paul Bass shut it down to explain that the comments were getting out of hand, and he set down rules for how readers would make acceptable comments here. He even went so far as to say that one's "tone" could bar some comments, an edict that I questioned, and from which Paul backed away, realizing that it would be nearly impossible to regulate tone.

The spirit of Paul's message was clear, however. He did not want this comment section to mirror the one published in the New Haven Register, where the comments are full of rancor, racism, and unbridled disrespect. Unfortunately, the Independent is not holding to the standards it set.

In a story about a young girl's tragic death, Paul and the staff thought it appropriate to allow commenters to denigrate political movements in that comment section, instead of being kind enough, only, to express sympathy to the loved ones of that child. There seemed to be little if any regard for her loved ones who might be reading said comments.

Concerning this article alone, I've read comments that refer to Mr. Fidel as a "nut," a "nutjob," and a "fool." You have lost the battle to hold this section to respectable comments and debate, and you have lost me.

The Rev. Mr. Samuel T. Ross-Lee

[Reporter's Note: Thank you for the comment, Reverend, and for pointing out that name-calling that I shouldn't have let through into the comment thread for this article. I've removed those sections of comments that engaged in name calling. Thanks again, Tom]

Part One
Because of lessons learned from the past, those of us who are older students of the American human rights struggle are in a unique position to assess the tactics and strategies that groups are now using to redress grievances. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, aided by the efforts of freedom fighters before him, and contemporaries like El-Haj Malik El Shabazz, James Foreman, John Lewis, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Ella Baker waged one of the most successful political, social, economic, and cultural change movements in our national history. The Movement had a discernible pattern that included the following:

• Protestors took the moral high ground in their quest for justice because they needed to personify the proposed changes they sought.

• Most of the protests were non-violent both in physical and linguistic terms, which meant that physical violence and vulgar speech or actions directed at opponents were taboo. (Dr. King never called George Wallace an ass even though he might have been one). He never used the N-word, F-bombs, or other incendiary speech. He never gloated when he won a victory.

• The leaders and frontline soldiers in the Movement were emotionally stable and disciplined. They were not narcissistic and self-serving individuals seeking personal reward and fame. They respected the turf of the people they claimed to represent. For example, King and others never assumed that they knew what was best for people in communities outside Montgomery. Instead, they consulted with local leadership before public demonstrations. It was never about King. It was about the Movement.

• They educated themselves about the general and specific knowledge they needed to claim truth and did not resort to their oppressors' propaganda devices.

• Image was important. Human rights leaders and followers knew that the world was watching and behaved accordingly in terms of dignity, speech, and even dress.

Part Two
Some of the most poignant scenes in the archival film documenting the Civil Rights Movement are pictures and newsreels of elderly Black men and women, bitten by dogs and beaten by Bull Connor and his goons, while dressed in Sunday finery. While these images did nothing to offend the sensibilities of White Southern Christians, it exposed their hypocrisy to the world.

Civil Rights leaders knew that uncontrolled anger and outrage played into oppressors' hands and diverted attention from the goals of the Movement. Undisciplined people were not suited for the Movement, and organizers weeded them out of it. The welfare of the group was more important than the ego of the individual.

The struggle was a struggle between good and evil; it was not a struggle between Black and White, gay and straight, rich and poor, people of faith and nonbelievers, or citizens and immigrants. It was a struggle to gain for every human being, what one would want for oneself.

The leaders and participants of the American Civil Rights Movement recognized that freedom had a twin sister called responsibility, and one could not exist without the other. Finally, One could argue that the Movement secured more rights for others than for the African Americans who died and sacrificed in it, but this is a discussion for another time.

To the Cause,

Would you elaborate on how you believe that the people you mentioned could contribute to solutions for these problems?

I'm proud of the Mayor for returning to talk to individuals who kept coming back to the same areas to protest. It's important to listen to everybody who has a complaint whether or not you agree with everything they say, or even if you don't like the way they say it. The pro statue supporters and the anti statue protestors both had individuals who weren't the most polite or rational speakers, but they were passionate about their causes. I feel the Mayor is doing the best he can under extraordinary circumstances in extraordinary times.

How can anyone call a man a coward who faces his opposition with calmness and poise? If you had said that Mith McConnell, Ben Carson, Clarence Thomas, or any Democrat or Republican were cowards for not speaking the obvious at a time of national peril, you would be correct. If you had said that people who need a posse with them to hit and chase a kid at a park because they did not agree with him, you would be right. If you said an armed officer that placed his knee on the neck of an unarmed man pleading for his life for nearly nine minutes, or three men who chased a jogger, filmed it and lied about it were cowards, you would be right.

If you said that all the people who knew about this crime and did nothing were cowards, you would be right again. If you say that in the face of overwhelming evidence, that people are not brave enough to move, not remove, statues and memorials to people who fought a war against this country, or who "discovered" a territory and slaughtered and enslaved the people who were already there were cowards, you would be right again. We SHOULD move those statues and memorials to the Smithsonian and title it: The Nation's Disgrace: Apostles of Hate. As for those of you who say that these past hate apostles should be judged by the norms of their times, I counter that love of others and oneself is older than any human institution, and using this argument to justify Thomas Jefferson or any of the so-called founding fathers is plain wrong. All of them knew that tyranny was wrong and they killed as many British soldiers that they could to gain their freedom, exclusive of the freedoms of most others including poor white folk and White women. Should we not stop trying to defend them or their statues and move toward a more perfect union buttressed by self-evident truths that guarantee every citizen the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? To do otherwise is cowardly.

Los Fidel and the angry group that gathered outside Mayor Elicker's home until the middle of the night a few weeks ago should check their own behavior, even if their grievances are legitimate. He's been mayor for not even seven months, four of which have been consumed by a major public health crisis and now this national reckoning. He deserves a chance to hear and take action--and also to be held accountable for taking action, like any elected official. He doesn't deserve the level of personal abuse.

It takes a degree of personal and political courage to show up in a hostile environment, sit on the ground without an entourage, and listen to the concerns of angry people.

Something tells me it's more than any of the people criticizing him for weakness would have the presence and fortitude to do.

The coast is clear for Justin. He's with his real friends. That does not go unnoticed. Even though they're Hamden, I guess they'll still be able to vote for him.

And now , even the name of the park must go. General David Wooster did not do enough, eh?
"David Wooster was an American general who served in the French and Indian War and in the American Revolutionary War. He died of wounds sustained during the Battle of Ridgefield, Connecticut. Cities, schools, and public places were named after him. He has been called "a largely forgotten hero of the Revolution."

Wooster made it safe for people to come here and cry victimhood. Now, he will be erased from history.

"The past was alterable. The past never had been altered. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia."

― George Orwell, 1984

posted by: Conscience on June 27, 2020 1:13pm

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, aided by the efforts of freedom fighters before him, and contemporaries like El-Haj Malik El Shabazz, James Foreman, John Lewis, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Ella Baker waged one of the most successful political, social, economic, and cultural change movements in our national history.

I Disagree.It was the Black Power Movement which Influenced the Civil Rights Movement.The Black Power Movement had focus on racial pride and self-determination,The leaders of the Black Power argued that civil rights activism did not go far enough.in fact this is why Richard Wright had written a book titled Black Power in 1954,Stokely Carmichael (AKA) Kwame Ture said We want Black Power which put him at at odds with DR.King.As the the civil rights movement King had championed as losing momentum, the message of the Black Power movement caught on with an increasing number of black Americans.

Racism is both overt and covert. It takes two, closely related forms: individual whites acting against individual blacks, and acts by the total white community against the black community. We call these individual racism and institutional racism. The first consists of overt acts by individuals, which cause death, injury or the violent destruction of property. This type can be recorded by television cameras; it can frequently be observed in the process of commission. The second type is less overt, far more subtle, less identifiable in terms of specific individuals committing the acts. But it is no less destructive of human life. The second type originates in the operation of established and respected forces in the society, and thus receives far less public condemnation than the first type. When white terrorists bomb a black church and kill five black children, that is an act of individual racism, widely deplored by most segments of the society. But when in that same city .

Part One.

At least Mayor Elicker is accessible. Where are the 'woke" Board of Alders? Still in hiding! Perhaps they are drafting the mother of all resolutions!

Part Two
Birmingham, Alabama - five hundred black babies die each year because of the lack of proper food, shelter and medical facilities, and thousands more are destroyed and maimed physically, emotionally and intellectually because of conditions of poverty and discrimination in the black community, that is a function of institutional racism. When a black family moves into a home in a white neighborhood and is stoned, burned or routed out, they are victims of an overt act of individual racism which many people will condemn - at least in words. But it is institutional racism that keeps black people locked in dilapidated slum tenements, subject to the daily prey of exploitative slumlords, merchants, loan sharks and discriminatory real estate agents. The society either pretends it does not know of this latter situation, or is in fact incapable of doing anything meaningful about it."
― Stokely Carmichael, Black Power: The Politics of Liberation

My bad.I can not forget the Black Dominican.Carlos A. Cooks who came out of Garvey's United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), Carlos Cooks in 1941 started the African Nationalist Pioneer Movement (ANPM)Carlos Cooks delivered on the streets of Harlem. Along with Arthur Reid, Robert Jordan and Ras DeKiller, were the foremost street speakers of the day, and they would pave the way for such notables as Ed "Porkchop" Davis, Charles Kenyatta and even Malcolm X.

https://drstephenrobertson.com/digitalharlemblog/maps/harlems-soapbox-speakers/

Bottom line Black people have to go back to Black Nationalism.

There is an internal discussion going on at 165 and 200, and of course, in certain neighborhoods that they have already started the countdown to the next mayor.

If we have any natural disasters like hurricanes, blizzards and more covid....with the paltry coffers Harp and Jones left behind....then New Haven will go to receivership by the State and MARB.

The countdown has started and new names are about to emerge to finally run 165 the way it is supposed to be.

Dennis Serf
Why do too many people believe that a man with a mic or a person who speaks out about an issue is leading a movement?Please check your thinking skills. If Burgos is leading a movement then so is the guy(s) that chased him. Los Fidel was only leading a movement to get away from the people who came after him. By modern Olympic track standards, he did a great job, but needs to recognize that you do not fight injustice with vulgarity and cockiness. Educate your self son and learn something about struggles for human rights. You might start with the Autobiography of Malcolm X and Parting the Waters by Alex Haley and Tyler Branch respectfully. I never read or saw that King or Little used the F word or the N word. This would be a good start.

It's been a long time since I have posted. This article really made me think about what it means to be a leader in the line of fire & be the person sick to death of living with racism and intolerance. Being a transgender woman, I have faced some rather brutal hatred for being who I am. On the other side of the coin, I've watched racism & wondered, how can a person so completely hate someone because of them being different.

We're in a different world than 6 months ago, however, racism & inequity have plagued humanity for thousands of years. When are we going to grow up as a species? When are we going to become what we have the potential to be?

I applaud both Justin and Fidel for having an open conversation. But ... this could have turned out better. Justin can step up and advocate for the changes that need to be done. As mayor, he needs to be more proactive and step out of the shadow of cityhall more often. Fidel's anger is justified, despite his history, and might want to consider venting his energy into a more constructive way.

Last year, I said that the tough things to be done are unpopular, extremely hard to do, and takes thinking outside the box. Im not criticizing anyone in this article nor the people involved in the acts of violence against Fidel, nor the activists. We have to do what we need to do without worrying about being disliked as a politician nor about being reelected.

If you do right by the people & go above the duties of office, you will stay elected without trying. Don't use your position as an elected official to influence change, be who you are by working hard and just do it.

Take care & stay healthy.

Fidel lists a bevy of charges and arrests that he says the police have put upon him over the years and none are his fault? Why is he to be believed, why is he to be taken at his word? "f..king white devil", seriously?

My personal opinion....showing up on the day of statue removal would have equaled political grandstanding and Elicker refrained. Showing up the day after to address protestors continued grievances was an unnecessary elective that he chose; it shows his character. Executives are supposed to serve by listening to everybody; not just political supporters.

Three Fifths, the aim of justice movements is legislative. The Panthers did good work but they are in a long line of minor activists who received a lot of press but had little legislative impact compared to a lineage that started with the Charlotte Roberts case in Massachusetts through Brown, and the civil rights legislation under Johnson in the Sixties. The human rights movement is like a relay race with some having to run longer and faster than others. Charles Hamilton Houston,Thurgood Marshall, King, Ruston, Heschel, Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner, Evers,and others made major contributions and should be considered. By the time the Panthers were formed, much of the modern civil rights legislation had passed. Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and the Radical Republicans played a major role in the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. Ironically it was the 19th century Republican Party and not the Panther Party that got the party started. Pun intended.

Dear New Haven,

Seriously? Carlos admits to be a felon and takes no accountability for his actions. Hitting someone over age 65 is assault on the elderly. He will 100% be arrested again within the next 3 months and it will not be his fault.

Where does it end? Now that the mob legitimately thinks they run the city, because they do, do they next target Yale? We know what New Haven would be without Yale and that is Flint. Thankfully the only way the name of Yale can be changed is through the state charter, so good luck with that. The democratic machine can't risk messing with that cash cow. How about looking at taking down anything with the name Whitney? He did invent the cotton gin, which industrialized slavery.

If this is the avenue society is moving then be consistent. All history must go. Just remember that also includes every mosque and Islam. Muhammad owned slaves and killed many. Where is that outrage?

All will be held accountable in the end.

In the words of a great American, "I'll give you my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands"

Come and take it

I am still mystified that some people commenting here have anointed Los Fidel as the leader of anything in New Haven. He is not a local resident and he has not earned the credibility to speak for this city and even if he was a resident he has violated every rule of engagement that the REAL human activists used to air grievances and press for solutions. I may be wrong, but I do not know a single Black or Brown leader in this city that sees this young man as a leader. He spent more time negotiating clemency for himself than he did advocating for a more broader application of justice. This does not excuse the older folk at the scene who hit and chased him. But, has anyone said they were leaders?
Many of the young Blacks present were getting on Fidel's case for his language and attitude. Leadership is earned. Why is it that some people use such a low standard for Black leadership when there are such great examples from the past and currently? Black Americans have produced some of the greatest leaders in this country and so have other ethnic groups. Please stop trying to choose our leaders. Stay in your own lane., or is just another attempt to discredit the cause? It will not be the first time. Check your own belief systems before you venture into unknown territory.

Mayor Elicker is now preoccupied with trying to please "the mob" when citizens of New Haven are seeing violent crime go up. Another homicide in the Elm city last night. I believe that's 4 in about two weeks. Also there have been shooting victims almost daily in that time frame as well. We need to get these social workers on the street ASAP to stop all this violence! I'm curious if the independent has any statistics for homicides and shootings from this year compared to last year in the same time frame. My guess is by the end of 2020 the numbers will not be good. I pray for everyone in New Haven, because we will need a miracle!

Violence only creates more violence.
Only by listening, and talking WITH each other, not AT each other can we come to an understanding of each other's pain.
Nobody is perfect, humans are flawed.
As my family elders and my favorite teachers always said "do into others as you would have them do onto you," and "do not judge someone else until you have walked in their shoes."

"The Panthers did some good work".

Maybe, but they did terrible things that negated anything positive.

Like kidnap, torture, pour boiling water on Alex Rackley, move him out of Orchard Street, shoot him in the chest and head and then dumped his body. Like a bag of garbage. That was the centerpiece of the New Haven Panther trial.

Not good

Here's a link to living Black Panther history. White have demonized a group that started out providing free breakfast to children. The FBI and white establishment destroyed them. https://www.ctinsider.com/news/ctpost/article/Randall-Beach-This-Panther-keeps-looking-for-15367702.php?sid=5d481d382c885e251716ea94&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CT_PO_Insider

The Panther Party in general DID do some good work nationally with breakfast for children in many poor communities and health clinics as well. Members of the local party tortured and executed Alex Rackley. This was murder and indefensible.

My comment listed others as the prime movers in the Civil Rights Movement. You should have directed your comment at Three-fifths who claimed that the Panthers did the lion's share of that work. They did not. But, this does not diminish the good they did.

About Mayor Elicker, he has shown the ability to multitask and is doing a lot more than catering to dissenting voices. It would be good for other mayors to communicate with the peope who are protesting I do not view his efforts as taking away from other duties. He probably works too hard and does not even have a body guard. I guess no good deed goes unpunished

Not uncommon for criminal gangs to do good deeds in the community while at the same time doing their regular work which was crime and violent acts. FBI and "white" (whatever that means you pernicious individual) did not destroy the Panthers. They did that themselves.

posted by: Conscience on June 28, 2020 10:04am
Three Fifths, the aim of justice movements is legislative. The Panthers did good work but they are in a long line of minor activists who received a lot of press but had little legislative impact compared to a lineage that started with the Charlotte Roberts case in Massachusetts through Brown, and the civil rights legislation under Johnson in the Sixties.

Please read again what I wrote.I never wrote anything about the panthers.I wrote about the Black Power Movement and Black Nationalism which Influenced the Civil Rights Movement.I also wrote about how Black Nationalism came before the Civil Rights Movement.Martin Delany, Is The Father of Black Nationalism which goes back to1852. In 1852, Delany published the first full-length statement of black nationalism, "The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States, Politically Considered.The Civil Rights Movement.began in the late 1940s and ended in the late 1960s.The Civil Rights Movement in this day and time is a failure.The Civil Rights Movement in this day and time is now control by Black Judas Goat leaders who are just pimping their People for Political and Financial Gain.

The political philosophy of black nationalism means that the black man should control the politics and the politicians in his own community; no more.
Malcolm X

posted by: Chris246 on June 28, 2020 12:31pm
"The Panthers did some good work".

Like kidnap, torture, pour boiling water on Alex Rackley,

You must not have read about the FBI Counterintelligence Program,Because if you did you would have seen why this Happen.

The FBI's Secret War
Sixty years ago, the FBI launched COINTELPRO. Its mission was simple: destroy the Left.

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/08/fbi-cointelpro-new-left-panthers-muslim-surveillance

I know it's hard, especially in a time of revolutionary change, but listening to all folks and following the process is more important than ever. I agree with Ken Burns: the Confederate flag, statues and base namings need to come down. The Civil War was about slavery, and all the noble cause mythology around it was just white supremacy, But please go slow, listen to all folks and follow process meticulously before ripping up our history. History is who we are now. And no man or woman that we now honor was perfect.

Chris,
You used the term pernicious. To whom were you referring?

First of all. This is not a war. Wars were fought for you to speak freely. Get that straight. Second of all, (if I were Mayor) at the first "FU" I would have left!

Juan Eastman (pictured at left) began talking to the mayor about how police departments gain revenue by collecting fines. Elicker should know that this statement is not true. In Connecticut, the state gets 90% of the fine, with only 10% going to the municipality (not the police department). Traffic enforcement is a cost, not revenue, center for Connecticut towns. We are not Ferguson; there is no incentive for towns to try to balance their budgets with fines for petty offenses. (Civil asset forfeiture is another matter.)