When the Focus Shifts to Our Back Yard

Lee, here.

So, maybe 15 minutes after we finished producing this morning's program, news comes that the U.S. Supreme Court decided to rock the boat mightily here in Washington, D.C., with regard to a three-decade old gun ban. Of course, by now, we've learned how to scramble. Through a bit of quick hustling, we were able to stay on top of the news and offer an updated conversation to reflect the development.

The justices say the District's ban is unconstitutional, that the rule has overstayed its welcome in the city. There are a lot of emotions out there about this one. And they're sort of all over the place.

I don't know how long you've been following us, but if you were with us during our early podcast pilot days (kudos if you were), then you might remember hearing the story of two D.C. moms -- they shared two similar experiences, but two very different perspectives. Shanda Smith and Valencia Mohammed both lost children to gun violence. One was dedicated to keeping a ban on handguns in the city. The other, however, was against the restrictions. And they were both rooted in their stance. The conversation still lives on our blog, so take a listen. I'm sure you'll find it interesting.

There's a common feeling that retracting the ban would theoretically open the floodgates to gun violence in the city. As of today, the city is just one murder shy of where it was last year (85 to 86 homicides, respectively, although it's unclear how many of those murders can be traced to gun violence). For that very reason, others say it's about time they're allowed to protect themselves. Regardless, it'll be interesting to see how people react to the being told they can now do something they've been told for so long was unlawful.

I should point out that today's high court decision still allows the city some say as to who can now own a handgun (mental illness or a felony conviction are likely disqualifiers).

We'll see.

Also, make sure you're with us next week. Michel's packing her bags, and we're taking the show on the road (let's just hope we can persuade her to come back!). More to come ...

Lee Hill

3:13 PM ET | 06-26-2008 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

 

A Fair Trial?

Hi all. It's Cheryl Corley, sitting in Michel while she takes some time off.

After we went off the air, we learned that Tim Russert, the host of NBC's Sunday Talk Show "Meet the Press" had died of a heart attack while at work. It was a shock wave for our industry. Russert was a journalist who loved his job and what we do - reporting, investigating and talking to people. He was one of the country's best known political reporters on television and we join the rest of our industry in honoring his life and his commitment .

Today's show was a mix of politics, religion, and court rulings. For example, if you think everyone has a right to a legal hearing if they get arrested, it seems the Supreme Court agrees! Today, we talked about the court's 5-4 ruling giving detainees at Guantanamo Bay a right to challenge their detentions. Our two guests, Cully Stimson with the Heritage Foundation and Shane Kadidal at the Center for Constitutional Rights have decidedly different views on Guantanamo but they agree we're not likely to have a more pragmatic detention policy until there's a new administration.

How best to mix politics and religion, if poverty is the subject? That was the question for our three guests, Iman Malik Mujahid, Alexia Kelley and Reverend Kip Banks. They joined us to talk about the discussions being held between religious leaders and a congressional caucus over the country's priorities. They say religious leaders have a moral responsibility to make sure issues like poverty stay in the forefront of the political arena.

And it's Friday, so the Barbershop Guys had a lot to say about Barack Obama's "fight the smears" website, the big Spike Lee/Clint Eastwood argument over World War II movies, plus the squabble between our own Barbershop guy Ruben Navarrette and CNN's Lou Dobbs. Check it out.

And of course we heard from you, which we always love.

Have a great weekend. We'll talk more Monday.

Cheryl

Douglas Hopper

4:11 PM ET | 06-13-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

A Police Checkpoint OR a Police State?

When is a local story not a local story, or not JUST a local story?

Your opinion is as good as ours but we felt that this issue of what to do about spiking crime especially homicide is one that many cities are struggling with. So when we saw that DC and police officials were trying something new we felt others would want to know what it was all about. It's a story about the police checkpoints in DC. They went up this weekend in a neighborhood called Trinidad. The DC councilman who represents the area, Harry Thomas Jr., was our guest today and told us there have been some 22 homicides there in a matter of months; there were seven in the city the weekend before last and three of them in Trinidad. This is not the first time that DC police have tried this. Here's a piece in the Washington Post that talks about some of the history.

Here's another piece that details the circumstances around the seven people killed the weekend of May 30 through June 1.

It's important to note that in many cities the crime rate is actually trending DOWNWARD. Here's a piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer today that makes that point. But the number of homicides is still too high. One is too many if the victim is someone you love.

On a more amusing note ... Gas prices (ok, not that amusing...). We had two guests from the two countries were prices are HIGHEST and LOWEST:Norway and Venezuela. Two analysts told us why.

And the MOCHA DADS. We always try to do something spicy for Father's Day. Today we got the idea to do a roundup of DAD bloggers, particularly interested in those that combine the Dad world with multicultural concerns. That's why we had an African American dad, and an author of the blog Rice Daddies, about Asian-American fatherhood. But the conversation wasn't exclusive. Jeff Steele of DC Urban Moms and Dads is not a man of color, but the list serve he moderates and the blog he writes definitely addresses, as the name implies, urban issues.

If you are a Father or thinking about becoming one or want to support someone who is, consider checking them out.

Enjoy.

(PS. Douglas here. About the piece on the police checkpoints ... we've put together an audio slideshow from the Trinidad neighborhood. We asked some residents how they felt about the new checkpoints and I think you'll find their answers very compelling.)

Michel Martin

1:47 PM ET | 06-10-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

Pausing to Remember a Fallen King

Hello everyone, it's Cheryl Corley, sitting in for Michel Martin today.

Today's show commemorating the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, assassination and the legacy of his life was a travel through so many moods and emotions -- from the startling revelation from Martin Luther King, III, that he and his siblings learned their father had been shot while they watched the evening news on television to the continuing dispute over who was involved in King's slaying, to an examination of the civil rights leader's speaking styles.

The Rev. Martin Luther King's death shook this nation in so many ways, but as his son reminded us, the assassination was the most "tragic and traumatic" time of the King family's lives. Martin Luther King, III, continues the push for civil rights and runs an organization called Realizing the Dream, Inc. This week, he wrote an op-ed piece calling for the next president to appoint a cabinet level position to confront poverty head-on.

Former Congressman Louis Stokes joined us and recounted the findings of the House Select Committee on Assassinations which investigated both King's death and the assassination of President John Kennedy. The committee concluded that James Earl Ray was indeed the person who killed King but it also found there may have been a conspiracy. The congressman says the committee investigation, conducted in the late 1970s, came too late to identify any co-conspirators. Don't say that to William Pepper and Judge Joe Brown, though. They remain irate over the congressional results and have performed deep investigations of their own. Pepper was an attorney for Ray -- who recanted his guilty plea almost immediately -- and represented Ray as he sought a new trial. Judge Brown listened to those proceedings and testified himself during a civil trial, saying that the bullet that struck Dr. King did not match the gun Ray reportedly used.

We listened to just a bit of the Barbershop guys today on the show as they talked about Dr. King's legacy but their entire conversation is here on the web. Our last piece was a wonderful discussion Michel had with author Jonathan Rieder, which was more about the man than the myth of Dr. King. It was a chance to get a little behind the scenes peek at a King who was not on the stage but who still had "fire in his bones." The bonus: clips from a few speeches we don't often hear.

That's it for this week. Until the next time ... peace. Michel is back next week.

-- Cheryl Corley

Michel Martin

6:39 PM ET | 04- 4-2008 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

 

Ruling Allows Early Prison Release, but Then What?

How interested are you in how the sausage gets made?

A lot? Not too much? A show of hands ...

OK, so I'll compromise.

Short version: suffice it to say, the show we planned at 11 p.m. yesterday bares only a slight resemblance to the show you heard today. Let's just say that one guest's travel plans changed unexpectedly, another became SICK AS A DOG (you don't want to know, trust me) ... and, just as we were coming in today, we learned of new developments (which came Friday evening) in a story we've been following. It was a tiny bulletin in the stream of national news, but an important development, nonetheless. We felt we should bring you, but did not reach the right person until early this morning ...

(Sigh. Never a dull moment. That's why we're in the news business. As I say all the time, it'll either keep us young, or make us prematurely gray.)

I am particularly interested in your comments about the early release of folks convicted for crack cocaine offenses.

We've been following this. For years, activists have been complaining that the sentences for crack offenses were way too severe, compared to those for powdered cocaine. The U.S. Sentencing Commission finally agreed and lowered the sentences for some nonviolent offenses retroactively. As a consequence, about 1600 incarcerated persons were immediately eligible to have their sentences reduced; up to 20,000 could be released.

For many, this is a rare victory of common sense over ideology. It is so easy to pretend to be "tough on crime" by ratcheting sentences up, whether it makes a difference or not.

But does it make a difference?

Have these harsh sentences contributed to safer streets? And now that there seems to be a burgeoning agreement that this is unfair, what happens next? What do these folks face when they go home? Are their communities ready to welcome them, or are there mixed feelings about the devastation to which they contributed?

This is the territory we want to explore. Any ideas, comments are appreciated. And, if you are willing, we might put you on the air. So please let us know if you are game for that.

Michel Martin

5:39 PM ET | 03-10-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

More on the Sean Bell Case ...

Happy Leap Day.

Are you happy, or sad, to have an extra day? They say that time is the one thing they're not making any more of (so is land, actually), but I, for one, like Leap Day because it makes me feel like I am getting an extra 24 hours for free. It's not as fabulous as the Daylight Savings Time. (Fall back? Love it. Spring ahead? Not so much. ... That sleep thing again).

I want to flag a couple of things about today's program and get your feedback ...

The Sean Bell case. I think that perceptions of law enforcement and interactions with police are among the issues where blacks (and to a lesser extent browns) and whites disagree most.

Why do I say that?

Consistently, polls show that African Americans are likely to view interactions with law enforcement as negative, and the police as biased. Whites tend to take a different view (check out the recent Pew poll (pdf), done in association with NPR, on racial attitudes).

Not to make assumptions, but I bet the degree to which you've followed the Sean Bell case depends very much on who you are. Bell, as you may recall, was leaving his bachelor party in New York in November 2006 when he and two friends were shot by undercover police. A total of 50 early morning shots were fired by city police officers, three of whom are now under indictment. Bell, who is African American (as were his friends), was to have been married later that day to his longtime girlfriend and mother of his two daughters.

The interesting wrinkle: the three officers are white, black, and Latino. Although the white officer fired the most shots (30), needless to say, there are very different views of what happened that night.

The prosecution says the officers were reckless to the point of incompetence, causing a needless loss of life. The defense say the officers were in fear of their safety, had reason to believe Bell and his cohorts had a gun (although they didn't) and that Bell was drunk and tried to run them down with his vehicle.

The trial is expected to last for several more weeks, and we thank NPR member station WNYC's Brian Lehrer -- expert on all things New York -- for a rundown.

The question? When something is very important to some people, and not to others, how do you balance it? Are you willing to listen if something very much affects someone else, even if it's something you don't care much about?

Why, or why not? ... And how do you decide?

The second issue we discussed today: our Faith Matters conversation about religion in America. Another Pew poll (they're busy over there, aren't they?) described how fluid Americans are about religious identity. I find this subject fascinating and want to know if you do, too. (I'm not asking you to do my job, just gauging your interest on whether to go deeper on this topic).

Let us know, as Lee Hill says, and blog it out.

Have a great weekend.

Michel Martin

5:28 PM ET | 02-29-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

 

Baltimore Beatings Similar to 'Jena Six' Case?

Lee, here...

I would argue that many of you have heard something about the story that lead our broadcast today -- a woman, Sarah Kreager, according to authorities, was terribly beaten while riding public transportation in Baltimore.

But, perhaps it's fairer to note that many are expressing frustration over why this story hasn't been covered more in the news. At a glance, it seems to have all the elements of a headline story, with tense undertones -- a white woman is severely beaten, allegedly at the hands of black teenagers. (Kreager's companion, along with the black driver who came to her defense on the bus, were also allegedly assaulted.) Black leaders, such as Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon and U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), have strongly denounced the attack, as might be expected.

But is it fair to compare what happened in Baltimore -- either looking at the facts (many of which are still unclear), or just public sentiment -- to the situation in Jena, La.? Are folks quicker to assume this was a hate crime because of the perceived racial dynamics at work?

Interesting to note: At this point, hate crime charges have not been filed in the "Jena Six" ordeal (the timeline of those incidents includes the hanging of a noose), nor in the Baltimore case. Since news of the attacks on Kreager and others on December 4th, more incidents have surfaced involving patrons of public transportation in Baltimore.

We want to know where you come out on this. Before our reporting today, were you familiar with the story in Baltimore? If so, what was your initial reaction? ... Racially motivated, or a random, unfortunate attack on the innocent?

Tell us more.

Also...

Stay tuned, we're working on our list of fascinating people in 2007. We pretty much have it narrowed down. Wonder if you'll be surprised by our picks ... Any guesses?

Lee Hill

5:40 PM ET | 12-19-2007 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

 

Speaking of Dilemmas...

Weird cocktail today, but we hope it worked.

We talked about holiday dilemmas ... Plus, news about why the death penalty was abolished in New Jersey. Whatever you think about the subject, I think you will find yourself riveted by State Sen. Ray Lesniak's account of why he pushed his state to repeal the death penalty. It was, he said, a matter of personal conviction, driven by a spiritual awakening.

How often does that happen? How often does a public figure say that?

It leads to all kinds of interesting questions, not all of which we could get to, not least of which is why Lesniak's personal convictions should drive public policy. But remember, this is an act of the legislature, signed by the governor yesterday.

We hope Lesniak will post something for the blog later, along with another lawmaker who strongly opposes repealing the death penalty. Until then, some numbers from the Quinnipiac University poll... They polled New Jersey residents extensively on the question. We had their assistant polling director on to help us sort out the findings.

And, holiday dilemmas. This was one of my all-time favorite shows. We had not quite wine women and song, but we did have wine diva Callie Crossley to help us get the lowdown on sparkling wine. And, we had etiquette guru Harriette Cole on to tell us how to conduct ourselves at holiday parties!

Enjoy!

(But don't make me read about you in the paper. Or rather, if I do read about you, be sure it's the Style section of the newspaper, not the crime page. ...And you know what? This time of year, you might want to stay out of the Style section, too. They're looking for bad behavior, and we don't want that.)

Michel Martin

4:06 PM ET | 12-18-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

Sean Taylor Coverage ... Fair?

Happy Monday. I hope you all had a fine weekend.

A bittersweet day in Washington and Miami today. Washington Redskins football player Sean Taylor was laid to rest in Miami. The whole team was there...

Now I know what some of you are thinking because I've heard it at the grocery store and I've read it on the blogs. Some of you are saying, look, if it was MY mother or brother nobody would notice (a man said this to me last week when I was in the checkout line). And some of you are saying ... what about the men and women in Iraq? Why is this more important?

I'm going to push back on both of those themes.

We WOULD notice. On this program we've made it our business to notice the violence going on around us: our interview with Anwan Glover of HBO's "The Wire," whose brother was murdered just a few months ago; our ongoing coverage of the murders in Philly ... in Delaware, in Baltimore; our conversation with Valencia Muhammad, a former D.C. school board member, who lost two sons to gun violence and is active in the conversation on gun control (and not on the side you might think); and our conversations about "snitching." I think we've been there, and we will be there.

But there is no question that this awful death has struck a chord. The facts are now known -- Taylor confronted burglars in his home in the early morning hours last week; one of them shot him, he died soon after ... his fiance and baby cowering under the covers.

In the early days, a theme seemed to emerge: was Taylor somehow complicit in his own death? Were his brushes with the law a factor in his murder? It turns out that none of that was true, but what was true is that Taylor was a black man killed in his own home by other black men who wanted to take what he had.

So is this about celebrity? ... About envy?
Is this about the low regard for life among too many young men?
Is it about being in the wrong place at the wrong time (in the middle of the football season, Sean wasn't expected to be home)?
I don't know -- all of it ... none of it?

Here's what I do know: if something makes you ask that many questions, if it haunts you in this way, then it is something to talk about.

I recommend the pieces by the two columnists we had on today -- David Aldridge and Omar Kelly...

Continue reading "Sean Taylor Coverage ... Fair?" »

Michel Martin

3:58 PM ET | 12- 3-2007 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

 

One Question: Why?

Here is a post that came in while we were broadcasting from Las Vegas. Our web producer Lee Hill sent it to me and I decided to wait to reply because I thought it deserved a more thoughtful answer than I could deliver amidst the craziness last week.

The post came in response to our segment on the employment prospects of ex-offenders. Andre told us she is an African American woman, married, with two children, one college-bound and one still in high school.

Here's an abbreviated version.

She writes:

I am irritated by the constant focus on black male incarceration rates and the obsession with black male ex-offenders. Its as though we now accept that the black male progression to adulthood includes at least a stint or two in the penitentiary followed by a life of low-wage jobs, drug dependency, violence, or recidivism. ...I would love for your show to tell me more about the following: I want to know why so many black parents are getting away with shirking their responsibilities, especially black men? I want to know why parents are not being held accountable. I want to know why black men, after all of their Million Man March bravado, are missing in action. But I don't want to hear the excuses. None of these excuses explain away the violence, the depravity, and self-annihilation that consumes many black communities. ...I want to hear about college-bound brothers and entrepreneurs. I want to hear about fathers who come home every night, check homework, read bedtime stories, and shoot hoops with their sons.

We had a man like that on the show today. His name is James Harvey and I'm sorry to tell you the reason we had him on. His son, Dashon Harvey, was one of the four children -- no, young people ... no, college students -- who were gunned down on their knees by five boys and men in a Newark schoolyard last weekend.

When you get some time, here's a tribute to Dashon:

I asked Mr. Harvey if he was ever afraid, as his son was growing up, that that day would come. He told me no, never ... because he had no regrets. He said he'd been there for his son when he was supposed to be there, and his only regret was the many who were not there for their own children.

It seems now that at least three of the assailants were teenagers, one of them possibly as young as 15.

Would somebody please tell me, why?
Why were four young people, on their way to college in the fall, fated to die on their knees at the hands of two or three others?

Let's say you believe evil walks the earth. OK, then what?

Let's say too many parents aren't doing their job. OK, then what?

Let's say it's racism, or the economy, or whatever. OK, then what?

That's why, I say, it's not one or the other. Our conversations cannot be just about thugs (in this case it seems that they were all Latino, but I'm not sure what difference that makes) and their false machismo or upright, do-right men men headed to Ivy covered quads.

The two are linked, if for no other reason than that the world is small, and there is no fence high enough to keep the two apart. This is not to say I don't understand Andre's frustration. I do. But as long as thugs keep do-right young men and women from growing up, then we need to hear their stories, too ... if for no other reason, we need to know why one ends up holding a gun and the other ends up on the other side of it.

Our condolences, once again, to the families of Dashon Harvey, Iofemi Hightower, Terrance Aeriel, who were buried this weekend. Our best wishes for a full recovery to Natasha Aeriel...the only survivor of the Newark attack.

May their deaths and their families' suffering not be in vain.

Michel Martin

9:39 PM ET | 08-13-2007 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post