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Operation Silence: Stage One: (Un)Vote Here!

Voting rights discrimination is spreading in the U.S. with the primary target being Black and Brown communities. And you thought Jim Crow was dead…

Khalil A Cumberbatch

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Operation Silence: Stage One: (Un)Vote Here!

Operation Silence: Stage One: (Un)Vote Here!

Preemptive Strike

When I was a young child I remember attending elementary school in Queens, NY, and being told that voting rights were important. I was told that hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, struggled, fought and died for others to have the right to vote. I was taught about a man named Martin Luther King Jr. and about his efforts, as well as others, to “win” voting rights for the Black and Brown people in this country. All history lessons that I believed in. Until the summer of 2013.

 

On Tuesday, June 25th, 2013, the Supreme Court ruled on Shelby County v. Holder. The ruling effectively “gutted” Section 4 (S4) a key provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1965, which struck down most of the old Jim Crow restrictions that prevented Black people from voting. The same Act that I was taught leveled the playing field for Black and Brown people in this country regarding voting rights was essentially thrown out.  In a 5-4 ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that “things have changed dramatically”, thus making the need for S4 obsolete. However, the reality is quite the opposite.

 

Since the striking down of S4 states like Texas, South Carolina and Florida have implemented voter laws that are disgustingly discriminatory and targets predominantly low-income Black and Brown people. S4 road-blocked these laws from being passed, however, since last year these states and others are moving aggressively to pass and implement these laws.

 

Additionally, people who have felony convictions may lose their voting rights while on probation or parole and in some states all-together. It is no coincidence that the same demographic that is negatively impacted by the striking down of S4, are also grossly over-impacted by the criminal punishment system (More about this in my next post).

 

Battleground

Denying access to voting rights is one of multiple battle fronts where Black and Brown voices are being targeted for silence. From a historical perspective the need to mis-educate, mislead, and misinform the Black and Brown masses has been an ongoing war that has been covert, and sometimes overt, yet the war continues.

 

How does that occur today you may ask? Through a continuous bombardment of our senses. Television (or should I say Tell-a-lie-vision) shows such as Bad Girls Club, The Real housewives of whatever county that they choose, Love and Hip-Hop, use of terms like Ratchet, thug, Ni*&a, etc. are all sources of media and culture that fuel a flawed perception that Black and Brown people hate, envy, talk about, and overall scheme on one another constantly. Thus, giving a general perception that these shows are a reflection of the average Black and Brown family.

 

Further, our money culture has become so warped (by design) that we place value on items that are completely above our financial means with the hope that these items will give us a sense of “eliteness” or “belonging” or “validation”. Clothing brands such as True Religion, Louis Vuitton, Louboutin a.k.a. red bottoms, to name a few, are all clothing brands that are coveted in our culture and neighborhoods, yet are all owned by the mega-rich, who ironically DO NOT design their clothing primarily for us. Yet, the association with having these things distracts us from the real issues that are eroding our culture.

 

Victory?…

Why attack voting rights? Simple. With the impending end of President Obama’s two-terms the presidential election of 2016 is set to be a battle for Republicans and Democrats, even more so for Republicans, as it is widely anticipated that Hilary Clinton will run and win the Democratic Nomination and go on to give any Republican candidate a run for their money. With lame attempts by McCain-Palin in 2008 and Romney-Ryan in 2012, the Republican Party is aiming to and achieving the degradation of the Black and Brown vote, thus creating odds that are in their favor as majority of us vote Democrat. Also, losing the right to vote essentially makes a person a second-class citizen, who is basically forced to sit back and watch the political process. While some may say that an individual vote does not count, the right to vote should be freely given and maintained without threat of coercion and systemic discrimination that stems from a voter ID law or a felony conviction.

 

However, the dark tone of this post comes with a silver-lining. The masses are organizing against the GOP’s plans. Movements such as Moral Mondays, Occupy Wall Street, election of politicians that are outside of the two primary parties are all signs that the general public are awakening and spreading the word about the actions of the GOP. In part two of this three part series I will be discussing the criminal punishment system and its effects on the Black and Brown communities; the vicarious trauma that comes from incarceration; and how the prison industrial complex chews up and spits out our young men and women at alarming rates. Until then…continue the resistance.

 

You can follow Khalil on Twitter or email him at kcumberbatch@kinetic-solutions.org.


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Khalil A. Cumberbatch is a nationally recognized formerly incarcerated advocate for criminal justice and deportation policy change.

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Crime & Justice

Jam Master Jay’s godson and childhood friend found guilty of murder in 2002 killing of Run-DMC pioneering DJ

Ronald Washington, Jay’s childhood friend, and Karl Jordan Jr., Jay’s godson, were convicted of murder in what prosecutors say was motivated by greed.

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Jam Master Jay murder
Jam Master Jay in 1985 (Photo Credit: Jeff Pinilla • CC BY 3.0)

Two men were found guilty of murder Tuesday in the 2002 killing of Jam Master Jay, the pioneering DJ of the groundbreaking hip hop trio Run-DMC.

2 found guilty of Jam Master Jay’s murder

Ronald Washington, Jay’s childhood friend, and Karl Jordan Jr., Jay’s godson, were convicted of murder in what prosecutors say was motivated by greed and a drug deal gone awry.

Pioneer murdered in 2002

Jam Master Jay, born Jason Mizell, was shot and killed at a recording studio in Jamaica, Queens, on October 30, 2002.

Jam Master Jay RUN-DMC

Run-DMC

For years, no one was arrested for the slaying, leaving one of the most shocking shootings in music history unsolved.

In August 2020, authorities would finally get a break in the case, unsealing a criminal indictment alleging Washington and Jordan conspired to kill Jam Master Jay in retaliation for a drug dispute.

A third defendant, Jay Bryant, was charged in May 2023 with murder while engaged in narcotics trafficking and firearm-related murder. He has pleaded not guilty and is set to go on trial separately in January 2026.

Witness testimony in Jam Master Jay murder trial

The verdict followed a four-week trial in which jurors heard from several witnesses who recounted the moment the pair killed the legendary DJ inside his 24/7 Studio in Hollis.

A witness, who was at the recording studio that night, testified Washington and Jordan came in armed, and he alleged Jordan shot Jay in the head.

Uriel Rincon was playing the “Madden” football video game with Mizell at the studio when the two were ambushed. He suffered a gunshot wound to his left leg from Jordan, also known as “Little D”.

Rincon, said he had kept the attackers’ identities secret because he was “confused and scared,” reports ABC.

Defense attorneys for the men convicted of murder say Jay Bryant is the real killer

A hat found next to Jam Master Jay’s body contained only Bryant’s DNA, and Bryant was the only defendant seen on a security camera, according to the attorneys.

Washington and Jordan each face between 20 years-to-life behind bars at their sentencing.


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Crime & Justice

Detroit man awarded $10 million after wrongful conviction

Alexandre Ansari was wrongfully serving a life sentence over claims that in 2012 he shot and killed Ileana Cuevas, a 15-year-old girl.

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$10 million wrongfully convicted Alexandre Ansari
Alexandre Ansari (Photo Source: Wolf Mueller Law)

A Detroit man who was wrongfully convicted and incarcerated for over six years was awarded $10 million in damages by a jury.

$10 million for man wrongfully convicted

Alexandre Ansari was wrongfully serving a life sentence over claims that in 2012 he shot and killed Ileana Cuevas, a 15-year-old girl, and wounded two others in Detroit, according to a lawsuit filed by Ansari in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division.

$10 million wrongfully convicted Alexandre Ansari

Alexandre Ansari (Photo Source: Wolf Mueller Law)

“Once I got the verdict back, my heart dropped. And I’m like, ‘Dang, I got to spend the rest of my life in here for something I didn’t do.’ And you know, I tried to kill myself,” Ansari told Linsey Davis on “ABC News Live Prime.”

“It felt like nobody didn’t put all the evidence together to see that I wasn’t the person in the first place. So things started getting overwhelming for me.”

Exonerated

Ansari, 39, was exonerated in 2019 by the Wayne County Circuit Court after it determined that Moises Jimenez, a former Detroit police detective withheld evidence for Ansari’s trial that would have implicated someone else as the shooter, according to the County of Wayne Office of the Prosecuting Attorney.

Jimenez received an anonymous tip that linked the shooter to the Mexican Drug Cartel, according to the complaint that released Ansari.

The officer withheld the evidence from Ansari’s 2013 trial, according to the lawsuit.

Jimenez’s attorneys told ABC News that the former detective claims that he provided all evidence he uncovered during his investigation and plans to appeal the $10 million lawsuit verdict.

There have been no reported arrests connected to the shooting since Ansari’s exoneration. Ansari was wrongfully arrested for the crime when he was 27 years old.


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Crime & Justice

6-year-old stabbed to death in Baltimore

Alan Geslicki, 32, was arrested Wednesday in the Tuesday attack that killed Seron O’Neal.

k covin

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6-year-old stabbed in East Baltimore

A Baltimore man who allegedly fatally stabbed his girlfriend’s 6-year-old son has been arrested and charged, authorities said.

6-year-old stabbed in East Baltimore

Alan Geslicki, 32, was arrested Wednesday in the Tuesday attack that killed Seron O’Neal.

Alan Geslicki

Alan Geslicki (Photo Source: Baltimore Police Department)

Geslicki was arrested shortly after the stabbing following a traffic stop and foot pursuit, officials said.

Geslicki allegedly stabbed the child at the boy’s home in the southwest neighborhood of Morrell Park on Tuesday.

Police said the 6-year-old was stabbed multiple times in the back. He was sent to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Officials are describing the brutal attack  as a “domestic-related stabbing.”

Geslicki has been charged with first-degree murder.

Statement on 6-year-old being stabbed in Baltimore

Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott took to social media Tuesday evening to express outrage at the “absolutely horrific, unthinkable act.”

“I’m devastated by this, and my heart is with the loved ones of this poor child tonight,” Scott wrote on X.

“The person who did this deserves every bit of accountability they will face.”

Investigation

There is an ongoing investigation into the stabbing, according to authorities.

Anyone with information should contact homicide detectives at 410-396-2100.

Anonymous tipsters can call the Metro Crime Stoppers tip line at 1-866-7LOCKUP.


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