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MILWAUKEE, WISCONSINPERMIT NO. 4668

W I S C O N S I N ’ S L A R G E S T A F R I C A N A M E R I C A N N E W S P A P E R

VOL. XLIII Number 3 Aug. 7, 2019

Remembering Toni Morrison•Rebuilding the bridge to the Motherland

THE 2019 FELLOWSHIP OPEN GOLF TOURNAMENTFRIDAYAUGUST 16SILVER SPRINGCOUNTRY CLUBN56W21318 SILVER SPRING DRIVEMENOMONEE FALLS, WI

GREG MARCUSPresident/CEO

Marcus Corporation

JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE

Three-time OlympicGold Medalist

A born salesman who was a goodman and loyal friend; who loved hisfamily, community, the newspaperhe worked for and its staff.

That’s how people rememberedlong time Milwaukee CommunityJournal account executive Jimmy V.Johnson, who passed away suddenlylate Saturday night after a long ill-ness.

Services for Jimmy will be heldTuesday, August 13, at Mt. PilgrimMissionary Baptist Church, 2700 W.Brown St. Public viewing will beginat 10 a.m. followed by the funeral at12 noon.

The news of his death hit thosewho knew and worked with him es-pecially hard, practically stunningmany who got the news early Sun-day morning, hours before the Com-munity Journal held its 43rdanniversary event.

A graduate of Milwaukee JamesMadison High School, where he wasa member of the school’s track team,Jimmy was a ubiquitous figure inthe community.

You could count on Jimmy to beat major community events such asthe MUL Black and White Ball,Juneteenth Day festival, the UNCFMayor’s Ball, the Fellowship Open,the African Arts Festival and Sum-merfest.

He was also a mainstay at com-munity meetings, political eventsand mentoring programs, includingthe Martin Luther King ElementarySchool’s Black Male Teach-in.

Jimmy didn’t own a car. The buswas his major mode of transporta-tion to sales meetings and events. Ifa bus wasn’t available, he’d get aride from friends or his MCJ family.

Jimmy’s family noted Mayor TomBarrett’s office called the family tooffer condolences. The mayor andJimmy were often at the same com-munity events and always greetedeach other warmly. Also contactingthe family was the local 100 BlackMen Inc. organization, which

Long time MCJaccount exec.Jimmy Johnsonpasses

CORRECTION!CORRECTION!In identifying the teen andyoung adult nominees who vol-unteer at community based or-ganizations and agencies, wewrote that Jameelah A. Lovewas with St. Ann’s. She is a vol-unteer with SaintA. We apolo-gize to Jameelah and SaintA forthe misidentification.

“If you’re always trying tobe normal, you will neverknow how amazing youcan be.”—Maya Angelou

2019 Honorees

Speech Thomas

State Sen. Lena Taylor, Mayor Tom Barrettand State Legislator Kalan Haywood

Teen and young adult nominees who were selected by organizations they volunteerwith. Four of the seven teens received a college stipend.

Event MC Shannon Sims Larry Waters

2019 Scholarship recpients

Children’s Author LaToya Watson (center) withhelpers at her booth. Mayor Barrett speaking

More MCJ anniversary photos will be inthis week’s Weekend Edition!

Compiled by MCJ Editorial Staff

(continued on page 2)

Jimmy Johnson holds copy edi-tion saluting Obama’s election atpaper’s anniversary fete 10 yearsago.

The Milwaukee Community Journal•August 7, 2019•

Jimmy was also involved with.Jimmy’s sister, Nikole Johnson,

responding to Facebook posts offer-ing condolences to her and the fam-ily, said her brother fought a goodfight and “stayed sharp” doing it,adding he loved the MilwaukeeCommunity Journal.

Describing Jimmy as a “teamplayer,” MCJ Publisher PatriciaO’Flynn Pattillo said he was a “fo-cused soldier” as it related to issuesaffecting the community.

“The Milwaukee CommunityJournal operates with a small, sup-portive staff and we pride ourselvesin our ability to function as a teamor nothing is accomplished.

“Jimmy was always the cheer-leader, reminding others on the staffthat he was ‘a team player,’ and in-deed he was.

“(Jimmy) was insistent upon re-spect for ‘our community,’” saidPattillo. “Jimmy never hesitated tocall a spade a spade; and he wouldsay: ‘fight for what’s right, Mrs. P.’”

Pattillo revealed that as his hospi-tal visits increased, Jimmy turnedhis client base over to the newspa-per’s sales manager, Colleen New-som, to ensure they were beingserviced—a priority for him, even ashe battled hsi health challenges.

“He cared deeply for his commu-nity, clients, and family,” Pattillocontinued. “He loved being out andabout in the community.

“We will miss Jimmy. His dapperstyle, his love of sports, and hismonitoring of elected officials wereintegral to our MCJ endorsementsand reflections.

“We’ll miss his positivity, deter-mination, and dedication to his pro-fession. He was, indeed, a teamplayer.”

Members of Pattillo’s staff,Jimmy’s “MCJ family,” recalledtheir colleague as an energetic, up-beat individual who pursued hiswork with diligence, dedication,professionalism, and style.

The “style” was what many peo-ple noticed first when meetingJimmy. He was always “dressed toimpress—old school style”: pressedsuit, tie, button-down mono-grammed shirt, shined shoes (of var-ious styles and colors), and hishats—fedoras usually—which weremany in number and type. Jimmyrarely…very rarely…came to the of-fice “dressed-down.”

It was his style which first caughtthe attention of Community JournalEditor Thomas Mitchell when hemet Jimmy at the newspaper’s of-

fices 14 years ago.“I’ll never forget how he intro-

duced himself to me,” Mitchell said.“He introduced himself as Jimmy V.Johnson. He said everybody callshim ‘Jimmy’ or ‘Jammin’,’ notJames. The ‘V’ is for ‘Vincent,’ andonly his mother called him by thatname.

“He had a salesman’s personal-ity,” Mitchell continued. “He wouldtell me how he would approach apotential client and then followthrough with it. Jimmy took pride inhis job, selling the virtues of theMilwaukee Community Journal andthe Black Press to all his clients. Heloved his job. I’ll miss him.”

Remembering him as a good co-worker and a good friend, MCJ As-sociate Publisher Mikel Holt saidJimmy was someone who “gavemore than he received.”

Holt said few people knew of thetime and energy Jimmy put intomentoring “our village children.”

“He was a mainstay at the MartinLuther King Elementary School, es-pecially during its ‘Black maleteach-in day.’ He was always en-couraging other brothers to lead byexample.”

Holt said people called him by hisnickname “Jammin’” not because hewas running the streets, but becausehe never ran out of energy. “Henever owned a car, but everywhereyou looked, there was Jammin’ help-

Jimmy Johnson(continued from front page)

(continued from front page)

Nobel laureate and Pulitzer Prize winning novelist ToniMorrison, a towering literary force whose books“Beloved,” and “Song of Solomon,” examined the chal-lenges, moral conscience, and beauty of Black life andexperiences, died recently at age 88.

Morrison, who enjoyed a 60-year career, wrote 11 nov-els. Aside from “Beloved” and “Song of Solomon,” shewrote other critically acclaimed novels such as “Sula,”“Jazz,” and “The Bluest Eye,” which was her very firstnovel, released in 1970. She also wrote five children’sbooks. She was the first Black woman to win the NobelPrize in literature in 1993.

In 2012, President Barack Obama presented her withthe Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In a statement, the family did not reveal the cause ofdeath, only that she had been suffering from a short ill-ness. She was “the consummate writer who treasured thewritten word, whether her own, her students, or others,she read voraciously and was most at home when writ-ing.”

Her Pulitzer winning book, “Beloved,” was adoptedinto a film starring Oprah Winfrey.

“I can think of few writers in American letters whowrote with more humanity or with more love for lan-guage than Toni,” said Sonny Mehta, the chairman ofKnopf Books, which published Morrison’s work.

“Her narratives and mesmerising prose have made anindelible mark on our culture. Her novels command and

demand our attention. They are canonical works, andmore importantly, they are books that remain beloved byreaders,” Mehta said in a BBC report on the author’spassing.

Born Chloe Anthony Wofford in 1931 in Lorain, Ohio,Morrison was the second of four children from a Blackworking-class family.

She went on to study at both Howard and Cornell Uni-versities and developed a career as one of the first Blackwomen literary critics and editors for book publisher Ran-dom House. While there she was responsible for publish-ing works by Mohammed Ali and Angela Davis.

A voracious reader since childhood, Morrison taughther passion and love of words and books at the collegiatelevel as a professor of writing and literature at HowardUniversity, Yale University, and Princeton University.

Most recently, a new documentary on her life was re-leased. The film, Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am focusedon the legendary author’s career, highly acclaimed nov-els, and life, OprahMag reports.

The documentary also looks back on her childhood, herexperience as an undergraduate student at Howard Uni-versity, and much more.

The biopic, directed by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders,offers fans a better understanding of Morrison’s perspec-tive on topics such as racial identity, prejudice, and the“plight of Black Women.”—Source: TheGrio

Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison passes at 88

“If there is abook you want toread, but ithasn’t been written yet, thenyou must write it.”—Toni Morrison


ing out or dropping off the paper he loved. He can’t be replaced.”The MCJ’s other associate publisher, Robert Thomas, called Jimmy a

“natural born salesman,” adding—humorously—that he can imagine Jimmyin Heaven selling to Jesus.

“I hired Jimmy years ago because I knew his father,” Thomas continued.“I knew Jimmy had the ability to do his job well. He was a good man. Imiss him so much and love him. He is at peace now in God’s loving arms.”

“Jimmy was like a little brother to me,” said fellow MCJ sales represen-tative Colleen Newsom. “I taught him how to sell and he did a wonderfuljob. He will be greatly missed and dearly loved. And as I always said abouthim: ‘Jimmy got soul.’ May he rest in peace.”

MCJ staff photographer Yvonne Kemp took multiple photos of Jimmyover the years since he was often at events Kemp covered for the newspaper.She’d often give him a ride home, talking about issues in the communityon the way.

Jimmy was not camera-shy. The walls and door of Jimmy’s office at theMCJ will attest to that. They’re covered with photos of Jimmy at variousevents around the city and community, posing with national and localcelebrities such as Oscar winning actor Louis Gossett, Jr. and WTMJ 4 newsanchor Carole Meekins.

“Being a photographer, taking photos of Jimmy was not easy,” Kemp said.“Jimmy liked his pictures as well-dressed as he was.

“In other words, he wanted his photos just right.”Teretha Martin, the MCJ’s executive assistant to the publisher, called

Jimmy “a considerate man, who was thoughtful and remembered holidaysand birthdays with a gift or a card.

“It may have been the salesman in him, but he had a good memory fordetails,” Martin recalled. “If he was correct about something he would say:‘I’m positive,’ and usually he would be right.

“He had a good sense of humor and kept you laughing when he wasaround. He will be missed.”

Jimmy Johnson(continued from front page)

Johnson at a Milwaukee public school talking to students aboutthe importance of education...and reading the Milwaukee Com-munity Journal.—Facebook photo


A gospel concert will be held August 11,from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Indaba Bandshell lo-cated on the St. Ann Center for Intergenera-tional Care-Bucyrus Campus, located at 2450W. North Ave.Called the “All of Us Gospel Sunday Cele-

bration,” the event will feature music from:Amazing Grace Chorus, Lyons of Judah, Gen-eral Baptist State Convention of WisconsinChoir, Parklawn Assembly of God SpiritualDancers, and the St. Matthew CME Church

Choir.There will also be the “All of Us Journey

Mobile Exhibit,” to help those attending theconcert learn about “precision medicine” andthe research program it is associated with.There will also be an array of activities for theentire family. The event is free.Guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs

and blankets. Seating is limited. For more in-formation, call 414-219-3810 or email in-quiries to: [email protected].

Gospel concert at St. Ann Center August 11


THETHEMILWAUKEEMILWAUKEECOMMUNITYCOMMUNITYJOURNALJOURNALPublished twice weekly,Wednesday & Friday3612 North Martin LutherKing Drive, Milwaukee, WI 53212Phone: 414-265-5300 (Advertising and Administration) • 414-265-6647 (Editorial) • Website: communityjournal.net • Email: [email protected]/[email protected]

Opinion and comments expressed on the Perspectives page do not necessarilyreflect the views of the publisher or management of the MCJ. Letters and “otherperspectives” are accepted but may be edited for content and length.

Patricia O’Flynn -PattilloFounder, PublisherRobert J. Thomas, Co-FounderAssoc. PublisherTodd Thomas, Vice PresidentMikel Holt, Founding Editor, Associate PublisherThomas E. Mitchell, Jr., EditorTeretha Martin, Terri’s InnovativeComputers: Billing Clerk, Pro-duction assistance, tech-support

Colleen Newsom,Classified Advertising SalesLeaderJimmy V. Johnson, Advertising Sales Mike Mullis, Advertising CoordinationRobin Davis, Circulation ManagerYvonne Kemp, PhotographerKim Robinson, PhotographerBill Tennessen, Photographer

“Books are a form of political action.Books are knowledge. Books are reflec-

tion. Books change your mind.”—Toni Morrison

QUOTE OF THE WEEKPERSPECTIVESPERSPECTIVES

Creating Self Love & Community LoveSome way somehow, we as African Americans are going to

have to take full control over our lives. We must trust in our-selves. We must dig deep and find the respect needed to protect and

defend our mankind. Some statistics are designed to convinceus that we are far behind. We can believe them and accept it or work we can even

harder to change them. We must break the curse of lack of hope and stop being

afraid to stand up and demand that we are allowed to help our-

selves. We must work to become self-sufficient. We must comeout of our own pockets and stop depending on others to rescueus. We must create community love. We must help form dreams

into reality. We must believe so that tomorrow can be prosper-ous for all of our families. Peace.

—Mr.Torre M. Johnson Sr/ XMEN UNITED LLC

URBAN MYDIALOGUE

By Torre “ToeJoe” Johnson

Reconstructing the bridge for my continued African journeySince the early

stages of my man-hood, there hasbeen a deep-seatedyearning to findfrom whence we(my immediatefamily) came.I know how and why we

were brought here. But be-cause of slavery, bigotry andthe methodology of Americanapartheid and institutionalracism, all we know for sure isthat we came from the conti-nent Africa.Few of us know from where

in Africa, and from whosefamily. We don’t remember our orig-

inal language, our “home” re-ligion, or much about ourculture beyond what has sur-vived through nearly four cen-turies of genocide.The students of White Su-

premacy and bigotry intention-ally cut off our bloodlines. Atourniquet was applied, and atransfusion given that weak-ened our cultural essence, sev-ering our link to our creation,and our Creator.My life’s mission—a journey

commenced after discoveringthe why’s, when’s and how’sof our placement and evolutionhere in America—was toreestablish that link.As part of that evolution,

I’ve grown over the decadesfrom Colored, to Negro, toblack, Black, Afro-Americanand finally African American.As I evolved, I felt this need

to take that cultural identifica-tion to the next level, redirect-ing my journey to discover myroots in the Motherland; tolearn of my ancestry, to findmy family, country and tribe.Today, I’m about two-thirds

of the way home; with the endof my journey in sight.I can now see the completion

of the circle, which will come

with the unification of myAfrican American and Afrikanfamilies, reconnecting thebridge dismantled by slaveships and genocide.Some believe we were

cursed by Nyame (God) forour disobedience and havebeen on a 400 sojourn in theAmerican desert.If that’s true, it is appropriate

that I am now using the latesttechnology (DNA testing) toreconstruct the bridge, not justto the west coast of Afrika, butbeyond—some scholars sug-gest back to the Garden ofEden.With new revelations stack-

ing themselves atop the mys-teries of the universe, I amengaged in ongoing researchthat will provide cultural andfamilial peace, a sense of beingand placement.Someday, sooner than later, I

shall emerge as a whole per-son, with proof of my lineageback to the beginnings beforemy ancestor’s settlement onthe Ivory Coast.I have undergone two DNA

tests—23andMe and AfricanAncestry—which have con-firmed some of what I sus-pected, and more than I couldhave imagined.Decades ago, I would have

been content to learn fromwhat country and tribe I wasstolen from. But through con-tinued research, I’ve now ar-rived at a destination that hashelped weave together thethreads of time and circum-stance.Based on those DNA evalu-

ations, I can proudly trace myancestry back to the greatPharaoh Ramesses III, ruler ofthe country Europeans arro-gantly renamed “Egypt,” but tobrothers and sisters throughoutthe Afrikan, diaspora wasknown as Kemet.Translated as “the land of the

Blacks,” Kemet was the epi-center of civilization, an aca-demic laboratory for science,

medicine, and philosophy.Kemet is also the home of

monotheism, a belief systemmany anthropologists believeevolved into Judaism andeventually Christianity. The Bible posits that one of

Kemet’s most famous sons, astudent of Kemetic theology,was a brother named Moses.You can figure out the rest ofthat story if you haven’t readthe Bible or Holy Koran.My DNA tests did not reveal

a relationship with Moses, butit did find a link to RamessesIII, considered one of the mostpowerful and brilliant kings inworld history.The second ruler of the 20th

Dynasty (1186-1155 BC) he

was said to have been the cata-lyst for the unification of all ofKemet and surrounding territo-ries.He created a nation-state that

was strong enough to fight offinvaders—including thePhilistines—and brought newrevenue sources to his king-dom.Ramesses III was the archi-

tect of many of Kemet’s won-ders and engineered a navalforce that fought off invadersfrom the Middle East.He was ultimately murdered

by family members of his vastharem (Poppa was indeed arolling stone), and his deathput the proverbial first nail inthe coffin of the greatest nation

in world history.The shocking discovery of

my bloodline to Ramesses pro-vided a timeline and an origin,and a cultural connection thatbrought a sense of pride andcomfort to my heart and soul.It also filled a critical gap in

my Afrikan journey, providinga launching pad for my ances-tor’s migration to the south-

west reaches of the continent,where they were captured andshipped to American planta-tions.Next week, I’ll reveal the

landscape they looked back atthrough tear-filled eyes, asthey were loaded onto thewaiting slave ships.Hotep.

How Blacks became the unwitting villainsand the victims ofthe War on DrugsOpinion by Blue Telusma, thegrio.com“Wait – you smoke weed?! I’m so sur-

prised. I didn’t think you were that type.”Cannabis has quickly become big business in

America, worth more than an estimated $10 billionand growing. But as white farmers and corporationscontinue to get rich off the drug, when it comes tomarijuana, many people of color, Black peoplespecifically, still find themselves harboring outdatedbeliefs.

It is a shame not only from an economic empowerment standpoint,but also because those little green buds some see as a hobby for low-class “thugs” with no ambition, also represent one of the biggest ex-amples of how corrupt politicians have very directly (and effectively)destroyed our communities — while convincing us to blame each other.

For a multitude of reasons, it’s time that we all re-evaluate and rede-fine our relationship with marijuana. But before I get into all that, let’stake a quick trip back to the 1980’s, which coincidentally, is also thelast time we let a television personality run our country.Nancy Raegan lied to all of usBack in the 80’s, Nancy Reagan launched the “Just Say No” cam-

paign which would eventually became her signature issue and a defin-ing legacy for both her husband, President Ronald Reagan and herself.

In those days, many impressionable children grew up with the imageof a perfectly coifed First Lady staring solemnly into the camera as sherepeated the catchy three-word phrase through our television sets andinto our psyches.

During that same time the D.A.R.E programs – which were foundedby then-Los Angeles police chief Daryl Gates, who believed that “ca-sual drug users should be taken out and shot” — were implemented inschools across the nation, in spite of their glaring failure rates.

And voila!Just like that a whole generation was spoon-fed overgeneralized, mis-

leading, anti-marijuana, propaganda that would set the stage for decadesof (unchecked) racially biased drug arrests focused on the Black com-munity.

But before we get into how the Reagans convinced y’all to judge yourotherwise law abiding cousins for peacefully smoking a joint (as op-posed to the more socially acceptable practice of getting drunk at happyhour to the detriment of their livers) let’s rewind even further back andtalk about to how and why this “war” initially started.The ‘War on Drugs’ was always a smoke screenIn 1971 President Richard Nixon officially started what is now coined

“the war on drugs”, and two years later created the U.S. Drug Enforce-ment Administration (DEA).

While on the surface this may seem like a very well-meaning andpresidential course of action, one of the main architects of Nixon’s drugpolicy, Attorney General John Mitchell, would later come clean andadmit that war on drugs was always meant to be an attack on liberal“hippies” and Black people.

“The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that,had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people,” former Nixon do-mestic policy chief John Ehrlichman told Harper’s writer Dan Baum.

“We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war orBlack, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuanaand Blacks with heroin – and then criminalizing both heavily, we coulddisrupt those communities,” Ehrlichman confessed.

“We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meet-ings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did weknow we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

So there you have it – direct from the horses mouth.The “war on drugs” was quite literally meant to take down Black peo-

ple from day one. While white Americans were being told to fear scarydrugged out Black people, the real bad guy in this was free to gounchecked.

And by “bad guys” I mean the Nixon-era C.I.A.As grandiose as the above statement sounds, it is not a conspiracy

theory. Because the current C.I.A. (thanks to the investigative work ofan incredibly brave — albeit flawed journalist) was eventually forcedto admit that for more than a decade it protected its Nicaraguan alliesfrom being prosecuted for smuggling cocaine into the U.S.Turning a blind eyeIf you’ve ever gone to California and driven past the drug addicted

homeless community on Skid Row, please know that in that momentyou are staring at the legacy of your country’s complete failure to pro-tect Black people from their crooked allies.

“Freeway” Ricky Ross (the former drug kingpin – not the rapper)was able to take his South Central L.A.-based crack businesses nationalthanks to his access to a cheap supply of coke from Nicaraguan suppli-ers who were being protected by the U.S. government.

If you do some research on a U.S. backed and funded Nicaraguanright-wing rebel fighters called the Contras, you’ll quickly see how ourcountry decided to get in bed with a group that was secretly gettingmoney funneled from Iranian arms deals in what later became knownas the Iran-Contra Affair. But which was later revealed to also be linked

SIGNIFYIN’By Mikel Kwaku Oshi Holt

(continued on page 6)


to drug trafficking in urban America.In plain English this means the American government knowingly

turned a blind eye while their allies pumped drugs into Black neigh-borhoods. They literally let hard drugs destroy millions of Black livesas part of their deal with the Contras, and are therefore directly com-plicit in creating the crack-cocaine epidemic that has ravaged urbancommunities for generations.

The evidence for all this is pretty plain these days. But back in the80’s when Reagan was in office, and inherited the blueprint for this sin-ister plot from Nixon — they still had an image to uphold.

So exactly how do you convince the public not to connect the dotsand start asking questions about how so much crack suddenly appearedon our streets out of nowhere?

Simply distract them with a smear campaign against marijuana; theeasily accessible, wonder drug with a host of medicinal benefits thatwas already popular among stressed out Blacks and liberals whocouldn’t afford insurance. Turn that non-deadly and inexpensive alter-native to all the pricey pharmaceuticals on the market into the bad guyinstead. And then get the demure, harmless looking First Lady to be-come the poster child for this smoke screen.

It was an evil plan straight out of a blockbuster film, except this time,the villains ended up getting away with it. And by the 90’s kids and par-ents all over the nation were saying, “Just Say No!” without a clue thatit was all just one big distraction.

I often use the term “systemic racism” as a generalization, but this isa very specific example of how the system has intentionally stacked the

deck against Black people. While then posing disingenuous questionslike, “Why are so many inner city negroes strung out on drugs?” as ifthey had nothing to do with it.

But anyways…. history lesson over. Let’s go back to Nancy Reaganand what happened after she convinced us to see weed as the enemy.Ripping Black families apart when law at a timeOnce Nancy Reagan did her part rebrand marijuana as “the gateway

drug”, that shift in public perception gave President Reagan the mo-mentum he needed to pass oppressive drug laws that hyper focused onspecific communities.

I feel like by this point in the story you can take a wild guess whichcommunities got the brunt of this punishment.

In 1986, Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, establishingmandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes and grouped cannabiswith drugs like heroin.

Today we would intelligently ask, “On what planet do marijuana andheroine ever belong in the same sentence?” Because objectively speak-ing, that’s literally like grouping Tylenol with Meth. But back then, mostAmericans were intentionally kept in the dark on the difference betweenhard and soft drugs.

That same year, Reagan’s Executive Order 12564 also authorizeddrug testing for all Federal employees – even though the president’sown counsel later acknowledged that federal courts had ruled mass test-ing programs are unconstitutional. But the constitutional rights of fed-eral employees were de-prioritized because the corrupt “war on drugs”was considered more important than the civil liberties of individual cit-izens.

And as for all those people living in urban communities plagued by

unchecked, government-affiliated drug dealers? You’d think as somesort of restitution they’d be treated as victims and be provided with as-sistance to get clean right?

Well, unfortunately that sort of reasonable response is only reservedfor white communities where things like “the opioid epidemic ” makethe cover of Time Magazine as we’re asked to show compassion forwhite citizens who fall prey to addiction.

In the 80’s though, Black folks were further victimized by laws liter-ally drafted up to scoop them off the streets and hide any evidence ofthe CIA’s illegal activities. These laws included things like crack sen-tencing guidelines that stipulated that anyone possessing just 5 gramsworth of crack (the size of two sugar packets) could receive an auto-matic 5 years in prison.

Just like that, for decades our prisons became filled with low-leveldrug users; further cementing the narrative that Black people have somesort of moral shortcoming that makes them more prone to being incar-cerated. But we don’t have a moral shortcoming folks — this was alldone by design. We were targeted.

And the biggest irony of all this is that although Black families con-tinued to be torn apart over dime bags, Nancy Reagan’s own daughter,Patti Davis admitted to once being a hard drug user as a teen, yet some-how managed to maintain her freedom.

So yeah, on the April marijuana holiday known as “4/20” (or anyother day of the year to be honest), if you see someone Black lightingup a joint and minding their business – check yourself before rushingto judgment.

After reading this article, and hopefully doing some of your own re-search, you might even find yourself needing a puff too.

(continued from page 5)How Blacks became the unwitting villains/victims of the Drug War


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