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Saturday, November 16, 2024
Culture

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Donnimechia Singleton – North Charleston, S.C Youth Resistance

On a drive through the city this last election day, we spotted a young man with a bright sign on Ashley River Road in Nort Charleston, S.C. that read, “Guns Down Chucktown.” We learned that this was Donnimechia Singleton, the founder of North Charleston, S.C Youth Resistance, and he has made it one of his primary goals in life to be an activist in the community, determined to calm the gun violence that is plaguing the low country. We stopped through so that he could introduce himself to the Syllabus Magazine Audience.

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Autopsy #3

It’s a tragedy that this family has been fighting for six years for answers in the death of their teenage son, Kendrick Johnson, who was found dead in a gymnasium mat at Lowndes High School. The family recently paid to have a third independent autopsy conducted on their son’s body, and the conclusion is in line with the first autopsy performed six years prior.

The Johnson family felt the need to get another autopsy because of the federal investigation that had concluded there was no evidence of foul play in the death of Kendrick Johnson. Federal investigators determined Johnson’s death was caused by “positional asphyxia.” The Justice Department stated, there was “insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that someone or some group of people willfully violated Kendrick Johnson’s civil rights or committed any other prosecutable federal crime.” State and local officials believe that the teen got stuck in a large mat as he was reaching for a pair of sneakers, however this explanation has never been satisifactory for Johnson’s parents who beleive he was murdered.

The most recent autopsy found that Johnson died from “non-accidental blunt force trauma between his neck and abdomen” which reflects the findings of what was concluded in the first autopsy six years prior. Unfortunately, even with the new finding, officials don’t believe that there will be any additional investigations, due to the details of the federal findings stating there was no foul play involved.

On Facebook, Jackie Johnson wrote a post about the most recent autopsy which read, “Kendrick KJ Johnson WAS MURDERED but we already knew that.” The family is sticking by their belief that brothers Brian and Brandon Bell, the sons of a local FBI agent had something to do with Johnson’s death. Investigators are adament that video evidence prove Brian and Brandon were no where near the gym during the time of Johnson’s death. The Johnson family also filed a civil lawsuit claiming a mass cover-up by the FBI, Sheriff, and School Superindent. However, a judge in turn, ordered the Johnson family to pay attorney’s fees to a number of defendants named in one of their suits. The judge also claimed the Johnsons and their attorney fabricated evidence to support the claims against the FBI and others.

Unfortunately, even with three autopsies, we may never know the real story of how this young teen died, helpless, and (allegedly) alone in a high school gym.

Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution

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“A lot of times at lunch, i’ll text Andrew. I said, ‘Are you eating with anyone? And he said ‘No’. And I sat at my desk at work and I just prayed I said, ‘Lord, please send somebody to eat with him.” – Kay Kirby

CBS News launched a series called, “A More Perfect Union”. The goal of this series, according to CBS News, is to show us “what unites us as Americans is far greater than what divides us.” We couldn’t think of a better time than now for this news network to produce a series on unity. What makes this series even greater is a feature story on a South Carolina high school, a teen who ate lunch by himself for years, and a council of students who decided do something about that. CBS This Morning Saturday’s cohost, Dana Jacobson went all the way to Boiling Springs High School in South Carolina, to find out how these students aimed to change one kid’s life.

Andrew Kirby spent his freshman year eating alone, and like so many kids in high school, wasn’t a social butterfly. Also, with his neurological disorder and after undergoing several major surgeries throughout his life, it was slightly difficult for him to make friends.

“A lot of times at lunch, I’ll text Andrew,” explained Kay Kirby, his mom. “I said, ‘Are you eating with anyone? And he said ‘No’. And I sat at my desk at work and I just prayed I said, ‘Lord, please send somebody to eat with him.”

Well, we all know God answers prayers, and it came in the form of a special student council who noticed Andrew eating by himself, and asked if he could join them. On the first day of school of his sophomore year, Andrew finally had a crew to sit and enjoy lunch.

“If we were sitting by ourselves, we would want someone to sit with us so we didn’t want kids to sit by themselves,” said the student council members. “Everyone needs to have someone and anyone can be a help with that.”

Andrew’s mother explained how it’s great to know in this day, that teenagers still took the time to be observant, and noticed a fellow student who simply may have needed a friend. She stated, “They weren’t being in their own clique, they weren’t being selfish, they took their time to reach out to somebody who might be different. An you know, you never know what a child is going through – they maybe have a bad home life, maybe they’re depressed, and there’s a kid sitting by themselves and they noticed that. The peace I have now at lunch I don’t feel like I need to text him and check on him.”

Just think, how schools could independently destroy bullying, or help defeat depression with teens, or perhaps some other horrible incident, by simply building councils of caring children who’s job is to care for another student who may need a friend or someone to talk to. Kudos to Boiling Springs High School for making the news and going viral for something good that happening in South Carolina’s schools.

Syllabus Magazine

Syllabus Magazine, the Carolina’s source for Music, Culture and Fashion

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Emanuel Documentary

For those of us living in Charleston, S.C., June 17, 2015 is a day branded on our hearts, minds and souls. For the majority of us, we remember what were doing, where we were, and how we felt as we slowly began to hear about what had taken place at Emanuel A.M.E. Church that evening. This day took Charleston, S.C. from being the number 1 place for southern hospitality and tourism, and catapulted us into martyrdom; a catastrophic example of what happens when racism and hatred is allowed to breed from one generation to the next.

Now, the story of Emanuel and the beautiful people who were murdered in this historically black church, will take center stage once again. Actress Viola Davis, who was born in St. Matthews, South Carolina and Golden State Warrior’s Point Guard, Stephen Curry partnered together to tell the story on what happened that fatal night.

The story “Emanuel”, directed by Brian Ivie, will narrate the events that led Dylann Roof to walk into a Wednesday night bible study and murder nine African American church members during their closing prayer. Along with the expertise of Ivie, Curry is bringing on his production company, Unanimous Media, and Davis is also using her production company, JuVee Productions; both are named as executive producers.

What can we expect in this documentary? Probably much of what many of us locals have already seen: in depth interviews with family and survivors. Many people outside of Charleston have never heard from the survivors who made it out of the room that night; now their stories will once again be placed on an international platform. Right now, many are curious if the production duo will delve into the history, family background, and environmental aspect of Dylann Roof, his family and his influences? And if so, how deep will they go to get Roof’s perspective and/or discuss the how racism, culture, and rhetoric influenced this massacre?

Emanuel 9 – Charleston Will Never Forget

Kum Ba Yah

What many of us hope, especially many of us in the African American community, is that they don’t make this documentary some sort of Kum Ba Yah version of how black people came together with white people after a tragedy – that would be a catastrophe! However, based on these statements, its starting to sound like that’s where we’re headed.

In a statement, Steph Curry went on to talk about his roll as a producer for “Emanuel”:

“Emanuel is an incredibly powerful film and we’re honored to come on board as executive producers. The documentary highlights how a horrible tragedy can bring a community together, and spreads an important message about the power of forgiveness. Stories like this are the reason we created Unanimous and entered the entertainment space. I hope the film inspires others like it does me.”

Viola Davis also made a statement, that also sounds very Kum Ba Yah-ish

“June 17, 2015 served as a stark reminder of the power of racism. That evening, a routine bible study at Emanuel Church was a soft target based solely on the racial profile of the congregation. We, along with the country, grieved each family’s loss. Yet, miraculously, from this devastation we witnessed tremendous benchmarks of humanity. The survivors found courage to love in the face of hate. JuVee is proud to be a part of this healing and truth telling along with Unanimous Media, Brian Ivie and John Shepherd.”

These powerhouse forces in the entertainment industry are sure you create a beautiful documentary on Emanuel and the lives of each person in church on that fatal night. They have the money, influence, and resources to create a powerful film. However, there is a deeper story that needs to be told; as important as the aspect of forgiveness may be, and yes, it is highly important; there is the elephant in the room. Black people continue to deal with a vitriolic hatred that is ingrained in southern culture. The story of Emanuel isn’t all about holding hands and giving hugs; many of those people who held hands on the Ravenel Bridge, also wanted to continue flying their confederate flags AND voted for the most racist president our generation has ever seen. So please, Steph and Viola, make us proud, but please, miss us with the Kum Ba Ya.

Source: The Wrap

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Syllabus Magazine, the Carolina’s source for Music, Culture and Fashion

http://www.syllabusmagazine.com

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Turning Horror Into Hope

Across the country we are seeing women and more people of color who are taking the leap, and jumping into the political deep sea. Most recently, Lucy McBath has decided to get her feet wet, and is running for U.S. Congress for the state of Georgia’s 6th Congressional district. McBath’s mission is to fight for the legacy of her son, Jordan Davis, and fight for national gun reform.

McBath is a national spokesperson for Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense for America. Most importantly, she’s a mother and a two-time breast cancer survivor – so if anyone is a fighter, it’s definitely Lucy McBath. However, she is best known as the mother of Jordan Davis.

She described Jordan and fun, active and a kid who wanted to know about everything. If you remember, 17 year-old Jordan was murdered by a white man, because he refused to turn down the music in a vehicle.

In an interview with Now This Politics, McBath says she was advised by another woman to wait and not run for Congress. McBath responded, “Ithink you just get to a point where you stop waiting for someone else to do it, and say ‘why not me?“

As the daughter of two civil rights era activists who marched alongside her parents during this era, McBath says she was living a somewhat normal life, until the senseless murder of her son. She says the murder of Jordan sparked something that was always there, but had not been sparked in some time.

McBath was considered the dark horse, she came into the race last, didn’t have all of the resources in comparison to the other candidates, and was the only minority female running. Despite it all, she was able to clench the nomination and is now in the running to take her seat on the House floor. In the Now This interview, McBath says that black woman have been the backbone of this country and “our experiences give great credibility to what’s possible for young women and little girls.”

“You feel for her as a mother,” said Cheryl Brown, 60, in a New York Times interview. “Years before meeting Ms. McBath, Brown kept a Jet Magazine cover featuring Jordan Davis at her Atlanta-area home. The cover read, “Is Your Child Next?,” and it resonated with Ms. Brown because she, too, fears her black son could fall victim to racist violence.“

Lucy McBath’s heart is definitely in her campaign, and in her purpose. Let’s hope she wins in the upcoming Georgia election, and we pray that through her, Jordan Davis’ legacy will continue.

Source: NowThis and NY Times

Syllabus Magazine

Syllabus Magazine, the Carolina’s source for Music, Culture and Fashion

http://www.syllabusmagazine.com
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