Civil Rights Activist Dick Gregory was admitted to the hospital on August 12 in
Washington D.C, where he passed away today. Rest Easy...#DickGregory #Baba #Baba...
The Gregory family thanks everyone for the outpouring of love and support.
The family is asking that in lieu of flowers, please consider purchasing copies of Dick Gregory’s newest book “Defining Moments in Black History“ for your family or friends to keep the words and passions of Dick Gregory front and center. Or, consider a tax-deductible donation to the Dick Gregory Foundation.
Dick Gregory’s new book
The Most Defining Moments in Black History According to Dick Gregory
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOAPVFUSm2IDec 2, 2010 - 6 min - Uploaded by AniseDC
BREAK THE CHAINS!!! Find out why the we say "The Capital of the Nation is the Last Plantation"!
1. i believe in the spirituality, humanity and genius of Black People, and in Our new pursuit of these values.
2. i believe in the family and the community, and in the community as a family, and i will work to make this concept live.
3. i believe in the community as more important than the individual.
4. i believe in constant struggle for freedom, to end oppression and build a better world. I believe in collective struggle: in fashioning victory in concert with my Brothers and Sisters.
5. i believe that the fundamental reason Our oppression continues is that We, as people, lack the power to control Our lives.
6. i believe that the fundamental way to gain that power, and end oppression, is to build a sovereign Black nation.
7. i believe that all the land in America, upon which We have lived for a long time, which We have worked and build upon, and which We have fought to stay on, is land that belongs to Us as a people.
8. i believe in the Malcolm X Doctrine: that We must organize upon this land, and hold a plebiscite, to tell the world by a vote that We are free and Our land independent, and that, after the vote, We must stand ready to defend Ourselves, establishing the nation beyond contradiction.
9. Therefore, i pledge to struggle without cease, until We have won sovereignty. I pledge to struggle without fail until We have built a better condition than man has yet known.
10. i will give my life, if that is necessary. I will give my time, my mind, my strength and my wealth because this IS necessary.
11. i will follow my chosen leaders and help them.
12. i will love my Brothers and Sisters as myself.
13. i will steal nothing from a Brother or Sister, cheat no Brother or Sister, misuse no Brother or Sister, inform on no Brother or Sister and spread no gossip.
14. i will keep myself clean in body, dress and speech, knowing that i am a light set on a hill, a true representative of what We are building.
15. i will be patient and uplifting with the deaf, dumb and blind, and i will seek by word and deed to heal the Black family, to bring into the Movement and into the Community mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters left by the wayside.
Now, freely and of my own will, i pledge this creed, for the sake of freedom for my people and a better world, on pain of disgrace and banishment if i prove false. For, i am no longer deaf, dumb or blind. I am - by grace of Malcolm - a New Afrikan.
FREE THE LAND! https://youtu.be/Ci73uw78CJA FREE THE LAND! FREE THE LAND!
The Blueprint for Afrodescendants
The peoples and Governments of the world are well aware of the duplicity of the United States Government as it calls for Human Rights and democracy while continuing, to this day, systematic discrimination against and disenfranchisement of its Afrodescendant population– the inheritors of the legacy of plantation slavery (the so-called African-Americans). While we recognize that moral leadership is the tone that the United States Government wishes to convey to the world, it has failed to take the key moral action that would begin to repair the ongoing wrong that has existed since the very inception of this Government. Does anyone recognize the significance of this key to peace?
To repair the damage and lingering effects of plantation slavery. To restore us to a state of independence and self-determination. To govern ourselves according to our wishes and desire. To attain true freedom, justice and equality on some of this earth that we can call our own.
District leaders are rallying against a series of bills targeting Washington, D.C.'s autonomy, recently advanced by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
The legislation in question would hand a number of decisions, which are currently made by D.C. voters and the D.C. government, over to the federal government. Matters like giving Congress the final say over D.C. laws, allowing President Trump to select D.C.'s judges and attorney general, and more.
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) also voiced her opposition, particularly to two bills expected to be voted on this week.
One, introduced by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), mandates pretrial and post-conviction detention for certain crimes. The other, from Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), seeks to repeal D.C.'s Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022, which prohibited the use of certain neck restraints by police officers and established body-camera procedures.
Norton criticized the federal intervention, stating, "D.C.'s local legislature, the D.C. Council, was elected by D.C. residents. Its members are accountable to D.C., and they are the appropriate elected officials to dictate D.C. laws, not Republican members of Congress representing the interests of far-away districts."
Mayor Muriel Bowser, Attorney General Brian Schwalb, and Council Chairman Phil Mendelson issued a joint statement urging Congress to reject the proposed legislation.
The full list of DC-related bills advanced by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform:
H.R. 4922:DC CRIMES Act:This bill would limit the authority of the D.C. government over its criminal sentencing laws by prohbiting the D.C. Council from altering criminal sentencing laws that were in effect on a specified date, reducing the maximum age for a youth offender from 24 to 18, and repealing a provision that allows courts to sentence youth offenders below the mandatory minimum.
H.R. 5140:DC Juvenile Sentencing Reform Act:This bill would lower the age at which juveniles can be tried as adults from 16 to 14 for specific violent offenses such as murder, first-degree sexual abuse, and armed robbery.
H.R. 2096:Protecting Our Nation’s Capital Emergency Act:This bill would establish a 90-day statute of limitations for initiating a corrective action against any MPD officer or civilian employee.
H.R. 5183:District of Columbia Home Rule Improvement Act:This bill gives Congress increased authority over the district by instituting a 60-day Congressional review period for all D.C. laws, regulations, and executive actions, with Congress having the power to employ a line-item veto. It would also prevent the D.C. Council from extending emergency laws or enacting similar legislation that Congress has previously disapproved.
H.R. 5103:Make the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful Act:The bill would build upon a previous executive order by establishing a federal commission tasked with coordinating law enforcement efforts between federal and local agencies.
H.R. 5214:District of Columbia Cash Bail Reform Act:This bill would amend D.C.'s pretrial release and detention processes by mandating pretrial detention for defendants charged with violent crimes and requiring cash bail or bail bonds for those accused of certain charges.
H.R. 5172:Strong Sentences for Safer DC Streets Act:This bill would require mandatory minimum sentencing for charges like second-degree murder, kidnapping, and rape.
H.R. 5163:Clean and Managed Public Spaces Act:This bill would allow federal enforcement of a ban on tents, tarps, or makeshift shelters on sidewalks, parks, and other public areas.
H.R. 5181:SOAR Act Improvements Act:This bill would extend and expand the D.C. Public School voucher program.