Keep talking

19th March 2012   ·   0 Comments

By Edmund W. Lewis
Editor

There’s a lot going on with cops using young Black men for target practice, a federal prosecutor clowning on a local blog and a growing number of Louisiana residents discovering that our beloved governor doesn’t care as much about the people of Louisiana as he would like to have you think. None of that should distract you from your daily commitment to passing along information of use to the people in your orbit or engaging others in meaningful conversations about the future of this city, state and nation. Always remember that the human brain is a muscle that needs daily exercise every bit as much as the human heart, legs and arms.

Get your questions and your conversations in, just like you establish a daily regimen of fruits, veggie, cardio and a sound night of sleep. Here we go:

• How much of the extra manpower the federal law enforcement officers assigned to New Orleans to help the city fight violent crime will be allocated to address the violent crimes still being committed by members of the New Orleans Police Department?

• Does NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas and narcotics detectives think the sale of marijuana is responsible for the rise in violent crime in New Orleans?

• With several dozen federal law enforcement officers assigned to New Orleans to address the escalating violent crime in the city, how much more will authorities focus on criminals who bring planes and boats filled with heroin and cocaine into the city rather than simply target young, Black marijuana peddlers?

• How many local radio stations that cater to “urban” listeners will be playing Outkast’s “Git Up, Git Out and Git Something” on Election Day?

• Am I the only viewer who thought “Poor thing” after watching former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s story in the HBO docudrama “Game Change”?

• How many of the teachers who protested Louisiana Governor Piyush Jindal’s proposed changes to the public education system last week actually voted last year?

• Has anyone noticed that many of the candidates that embrace “family values” often introduce and support local, state and federal legislation that wreaks havoc on families across the United States?

• Did anyone else happen to catch the local news story about the three neighbors who were either robbed at gunpoint or had their homes burglarized on the mayor’s uptown New Orleans street?

• Why does a city whose mayor insists doesn’t need any help from the Louisiana National Guard to fight violent crime need help from several dozen federal law enforcement officers for the same purpose?

• Does anyone who has read about what appear to be two questionable shootings of 20-year-old Black men over the span of six days still think this is the new and improved New Orleans Police Department?

• Where was all that stuff about “One New Orleans” when the mayor was calling the cops who killed Justin Sipp and injured his brother, Earl Sipp, “heroes”?

• Now that the mayor has six deputy mayors on his executive team, do you feel like Katrina recovery-related tasks are being completed any faster than before the mayor took office?

• Does anyone who has seen those anti-Obama bumper stickers that say “Don’t Re-Nig in 2012” are cute or funny?

• Does anyone see a connection between rising anti-Obama sentiment across the United States and the recent murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida by the head of the Neighborhood Watch group in the gated community where Martin’s father lives?

• Before you go to the polls to cast a vote for a candidate, how much do you weigh the endorsements each candidate receives and how those who endorse the candidate have performed while in office and treated the Black community?

• After witnessing the Detroit Lions front office sign wide receiver Calvin Johnson to an eight-year, $132 million contract last week, what does New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees think about Saints owner Tom Benson NOW?

• Who Dat trying to re-sign Drew Brees and other New Orleans Saints players on the cheap?

• With virtually every category of crime rising in New Orleans in 2011, including rapes, armed robbers, burglaries and home invasions, shouldn’t we all just pull up our stakes and try to buy a house in the cop-heavy French Quarter?

• With the NCAA Men’s Final Four headed to New Orleans at the end of the month and the lion’s share of the police force protecting visitors to the CBD and the French Quarter, who’s going to protect the rest of the city?

• Do you really feel like you’re getting your money’s worth for the property taxes you pay to the City of New Orleans?

• Have you gotten the impression that the U.S. Department of Justice is less committed to rooting out corruption and abusive policies and practices in the New Orleans Police Department than it once was?

• After the recent scandal involving a federal prosecutor who used nola.com to vent and post negative comments about public officials and suggest that President Barack Obama might pardon former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, who the prosecutor referred to as “Dollar Bill,’”who still thinks U.S. Attorney Jim Letten is running a tight ship on Poydras?

This article was originally published in the March 19, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper