Leading stories of 2014 reveal persistent issues in Black America

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – For decades, Black newspapers in cities across the country, have reported weekly stories of police brutality, unjustified shootings by police and police misconduct; including profiling in Black neighborhoods. But with the advent of video cameras, the Internet, and social media, the world now knows of this issue, which the Black Press has covered for years.

A string of police killings of unarmed Black men in 2014 alone has drawn a spotlight to police misconduct, perhaps like never before in history. Because of the gravity of this issue and the extent of its domination of the 2014 national news circuit, police misconduct; coupled with the protests that ensued easily leads as the top news stories of 2014.

• The Killings: In 2014, the issue of disparate police brutality and killings of Black men came front and center. Among a string of incidents were the police killings of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown of Ferguson, Mo., on August 9 by Officer Darren Wilson and the July 17 police chokehold death of Eric Garner of Staten Island, N.Y., a husband and father of six children, by Officer Daniel Pantaleo. In addition to the fact that both men were unarmed other factors in the cases fueled the anger. Anger over the Brown shooting was largely based on eye witnesses who said he was shot with his hands up as well as the fact that his body was left in the street for four hours before it was removed. Ire over the Garner case was fueled by his repeated pleas, “I can’t breathe” as the officer maintained the chokehold. Other police killings protested included Tamir Rice, 12, shot and killed by a Cleveland police officer while playing with a toy gun; and John Crawford III, 22, shot by police inside an Ohio Walmart while carrying a BB gun.

• Extensive Protests: Protests that began in Ferguson only days after Brown was shot, grew and intensified in cities across the nation after grand juries refused to indict either officer in the Brown or Garner case. Though most protestors were peaceful, some burned businesses. But, creative, non-violent protests prevailed. They included marching, walk-outs, and so-called “die-ins” – lying in the streets blocking traffic and shutting down businesses to call attention to the scourge of police brutality. Following a day of mass marches in Washington, D.C. and New York City on Saturday, December 13, diverse Black denominations around the country – in an act of unity – asked their congregations to wear black to church, symbolic for the hue and cry of thousands of marchers, signs and t-shirts – “Black lives matter”. Though protestors have vowed that their fight for justice is not over, many have at least momentarily withdrawn public protests out of respect for the families of two New York police officers shot at point blank range by a mentally ill man who claim he killed them in retaliation for the death of Brown and Garner. Black leaders condemned the Dec. 20 assassination-style killings of Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu. The officers were shot as they sat together in their police cruiser. The shooter was identified as Ismaaiyl Brinsley of Baltimore. Brinsley, whose family said he was suffering with an untreated mental illness, had also shot and wounded is ex-girlfriend. He committed suicide after shooting the officers.

• National Responses to Protests: Among significant responses to the protests, President Obama has appointed a Task Force on 21st Century Policing, headed by Philadelphia Police Chief Charles Ramsey, and Laurie Robinson, a former assistant attorney general, now a professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. That task force is slated to return with recommendations March 2. Meanwhile, police forces around the country are establishing new measures of their own, arming themselves with body cameras and initiating new trainings. Attorney General Eric Holder has ordered federal investigations in both, the Garner and Brown cases.

Though police misconduct dominated the news in 2014, a sweeping look at other news items important to Black America also reveal recurring and long-standing issues that have yet to be totally addressed:

• Voting Rights Remained Threatened: Civil rights leaders remained on guard with Election Protection programs during the Nov. 4 mid-term elections as voter intimidation and suppression tactics apparently remained in play. Though political activists conceded there is dire need for massive voter registration, they blame voter identification laws and shenanigans at the polls for continued violations of the Voting Rights Act. Also, Congress has yet to establish new laws to assure non-discrimination in voting after Shelby County v. Holder, in which the U.S. Supreme Court effectively gutted the Section 7 “Preclearance” clause for states with histories of race discrimination in voting. The “Preclearance” clause made it mandatory for certain states and territories to change voting laws without first seeking clearance from the U. S. Department of Justice.

• Economic Disparities Remain Major: President Obama said it clearly in his End of the Year Press Conference: “The gap between income and wealth of White and Black America persists…And we’ve got more work to do on that front.” Among the disparities that continue is joblessness. Though unemployment has subsided for Americans across the board, Black unemployment, currently at 11.1 percent, is well more than double the rate of whites at 4.9 percent.

• Homicides in Black Com­munities: Homicide rates among Blacks remained extremely high. It has consistently remained among the top 10 causes of death for African-Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The Violence Policy Center reports the murder rate for Blacks in America is four times the national average and that four out of five Black homicide victims are killed with handguns.

• Missing Nigerian Girls: On April 14, an Islamist armed group called Boko Haram kidnapped nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls, outraging people around the world. The Twitter hashtag #BringBackOurGirls went viral. Eight months later, about 60 of the girls have escaped, but the others remain missing.

• The Ebola Crisis: The 2014 Ebola epidemic was the largest in history, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It has affected multiple countries in West Africa, killing approximate 7,700 as of Dec. 29. The risk of an Ebola outbreak in the U.S. is believed to be very low, however four cases have been treated in the U.S. Only one death from the virus has occurred in the U.S.

• Deaths of Iconic African-Americans: Among the deaths of iconic African-Americans this year were former Washington D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, 78, on Nov. 23; beloved actress and civil rights leader Ruby Dee, 91, on June 11; and internationally renowned poet, Dr. Maya Angelou, 86, on May 28;

• The fall of Bill Cosby: Once an icon for Black fatherhood, comedian, actor and author Bill Cosby is now scorned in many Black and White circles after being accused of rape and sexual misconduct by more than a dozen women. Though he has not been arrested; nor indicted, the women, both Black and white, have all told similar stories of being drugged and/or somehow sexually attacked by Cosby. The accusations have taken their toll on his reputation, causing colleges and universities to drop use of his name and even TV Land has pulled his “Cosby Show” reruns. Cosby continues comedy performances around the country and has said little publically in response to the allegations except vehement denials through his lawyers.

This article originally published in the January 5, 2105 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.