“Well, Who Burns Churches in God’s Name??!!” South Carolina Black Churches Under Fire

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Ragged pieces of the Confederate Flag Dipped in blood still smoulders upon The basement floor of Mount Zion AME Church.

A White man in 'Blackface' Adorned in the KKK’s uniform Waves his right hand in the air, Once the crowd ceases talking, He opens the meeting by reading Job 2:1-7 And the group of men and women respond with laughter.

“These niggers are nothing like Job,”

“Kidnapping, enslavement, and lynching clearly hasn’t been enough for them,”

“As long as we have Monkey Obama pushing his legislation to appease the American people, we have nothing to fear.

Their so-called leader has turned his back on them.”

“And who allowed a Black man in the White House anyway?-“

“SILENCE!” Commanded the lonely Black man.

“Hey nigger, you show some damn respect when you address your superiors.” “Yeah, we n da middle of a war here. Ain’t no time for some monkey uprisin'.”

The man in 'Blackface' motions his right hand towards the creed, The crowd repeats the allegiance to the cause:

LONG LIVE WHITE SUPREMACY!

“Hey Uncle Tom, can we get along with this meeting? Gotta get home to my wife and kids.”

The man in 'Blackface' welcomes Father Joshua to the front for his portion of the meeting.

“I am delighted to see almost everyone here tonight, Long live white supremacy, The only time of the month where we allow ourselves to utter these very words For it is important to clothe our behavior with popular terms such as WASPs, American government, and Fox News-“

Everyone erupts in laughter.

“Now I will not give much attention to the stupidity of our young comrade Dylann Roof, but I will say that a job well done is a job well done!

These youngsters just have to remember the most important rule, NEVER GET CAUGHT!

For Christ’s sake, we have senators, policemen, and generals to make our jobs easier That young lad got too excited, And now we have moved forward in the war During a time when we were not clearly ready.

But do not worry! For our weapons are worthy enough to bring us victory.

"NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS........"

Who shall I thank for setting fire to the Glover Grove Baptist Church in Warrenville, South Carolina?”

Eyes look everywhere around the room.

“Oh, now don’t be shy, We here must praise the work of our comrades.”

One man speaks up:

“Sir, no one has said anything cause no one set fire to that church In fact, we have no clue how that fire started.”

“WHAT??!! But it was on our list for that day and time. What about College Hill Seventh Day Adventist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee?”

“Yeah, we did that sir. And Briar Creek Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, And God’s Power Church of Christ in Macon, Georgia, But, we have no idea who did Fruitland Presbyterian or Greater Miracle”

“WELL WHO IN GOD’S NAME IS BURNING THESE CHURCHES THEN??!!”

Mary, a seven year old girl, wakes up In her Princess and the Frog bed She looks at her window As she usually does when she wants to gaze at the stars and moon. Her favorite night was when the moon was red However, this night was different Because of the thunderstorm.

She usually runs to her parents’ room, To hide from the lightning Instead she sat up and watched the sky.

In the distance, the Mount Zion AME Church illumined briefly, Beneath the brilliance of the lightning dancing above it. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning strikes the building And it bursts into flames, She watched as the building burned down to the ground, And prayed that her pastor was not in the basement on this night.

POET & SOCIAL CRITIC: @ chrycka_harper

FBI Arrest 159, Rescue 105 Child Prostitutes in Largest Anti-Trafficking Operation

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Dario Macieira, Staff WriterLast Modified: 01:02 a.m. DST, 31 July 2013

FBI Bust Child Pornography Ring, Photo by Children's Embassy Megjashi WASHINGTON − In a three-day nation-wide sweep, members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in conjunction with other local, state, and federal officers, arrested 159 pimps and rescued 105 juvenile victims of forced prostitution. The action, named “Operation Cross Country VII”, has been the largest yet of the bureau’s Innocence Lost National Initiative. For comparison, a similar action in 2012 netted 104 arrests and 79 children rescued.

Ronald Hosko, who one year ago was promoted to the position of Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, spoke to reporters at the FBI headquarters in Washington. In addition to the arrests, the operation included “129 seizures of cash, drugs, firearms… estimated to have a value of $165,000.”

The prostitution sting, which was conducted in cities all across the nation from Miami to Seattle, focused on several different venues for prostitution, both physical and digital, including: truck stops, casinos, motels, internet sites, and social media platforms. Websites such as backpage.com offer easy avenues for the advertisement of sex with children, despite the website’s stated cooperation with police. Raw footage from the operation shows police consulting these websites, including advertisements for escorts around the ages of 20 and 21, who are in fact much younger.

The children that become victims of forced prostitution often come from broken homes and impoverished backgrounds, making them very vulnerable to a pimp’s promises of money or affection. Many pimps began as victims’ boyfriends. Others help girls gain illegal entrance to the United States. Offers and affection the pimps give are quickly used to emotionally control their victims, to isolate them and prevent them from escaping. Some girls do not even come to see themselves as victims, despite the physical and mental abuse they suffer.

Alexandria, as a sixteen year old living on the street, was recruited into prostitution by an abusive boyfriend. At the time she believed she had no other options, remembering, “I called everybody, I need help, I called my family, I called my friends, I called everybody I knew and nobody picked up.” It would take her two years to find the courage to contact the FBI.

Despite the success of recent operations, the number of victims rescued pales in comparison with the number of children at risk of forced prostitution. The National Center for Exploited and Missing Children estimates the number of children annually at risk to be close to 100,000. Many come from states’ foster care systems, and have weak or non-existent ties with their families. Arresting pimps and freeing their victims only treats the symptoms the wider disease. More must be done to help vulnerable children avoid falling victim to sex-trafficking.

Follow Dario on Twitter Twitter: @nahmias_report Staff Writer: @dariomacieira

Boston Terrorist Bombing Silences Martin Richard

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Patrice Ellerbe, Staff WriterLast Modified: 12:49 p.m. DST, 17 April 2013

Martin Richard, 8-year-old victim of Boston Terrorist Bombing, Photo by Peter BostonBOSTON, Massachusetts - The FBI has determined that two bombs made from pressure cookers with nails, ball bearings, metal, exploded near the finish line during the Boston Marathon on Monday, 15 April 2013. The explosion left three people dead, one of which included an 8-year-old boy, and over 140 people injured. Authorities do not know who is responsible for the blast at this time, however, speculations suggest terrorist are responsible.

The two blasts sent the city of Boston into chaos. A third explosion was reported at JFK Library, however, the incidents were not tied together. According to the Huffington Post, the explosion occurred in Copley Square just before 3:00 PM. Commissioner Ed Davis reported there have been no arrests made or person of interest at this time.

The Associated Press reported the bombs went off at two separate time, and only seconds apart.  The streets were blood stained and people were frantic.  Although speculations suggest a terrorist attack, President Obama was careful to refrain from using the actual word “terror” or “terrorist.” According to the AP, the Pakistani Taliban denied having any parts in the bombing. The FBI are attempting to obtain all spectators videos, photos, and any audio from the event.

Two additional bombs were found near the end of the course and were disarmed once located.

The 8-year-old boy killed in the blast was identified as Martin Richard, the Boston Globe reported. The boy was attending the race in support of his father. Richard’s mother and younger sister were also in attendance, and were injured by the blast. CNN reported Richard’s mother had emergency surgery due to brain injuries, and his 6-year-old sister lost a leg.

Supporters of the victims from the Newtown shooting which occurred in December 2012 were in attendance and all were counted as safe. Authorities asked for people in the city to remain indoors and out of the streets. There was no prior knowledge of the attack, according to police officials.

Follow Patrice Ellerbe on Twitter
Twitter: @nahmias_report Staff Writer: @PatriceEllerbe