*An excerpt from Tony Brown’s upcoming and final book:“Walking Between The Raindrops”
President Donald Trump signed a sweeping bipartisan criminal justice measure. The Washington Post reported, “This is the most far-reaching overhaul of the criminal justice system in a generation by a bipartisan effort. Though hailed as a bipartisan achievement, only one Democratic lawmaker was among those who joined Trump at the Oval Office event on Friday.” (“Trump Signs Bipartisan Criminal Justice Bill Amid Partisan Rancor Over Stopgap Spending Measure,” John Wagner, The Washington Post, Dec. 21, 2018)
The Prison Reform Bill – The First Step Act – passed the House by a wide margin (358-36) on Dec. 20, 2018, having passed the Senate by a wide margin earlier in the week, now awaits President Trump’s signature to become law. The First Step Act provides more education and treatment to prisoners and expands early release programs, while shortening some sentences.
This story got lost in the Democrat fight to keep U. S. borders open for the movement to have illegal nationals from South America, who are trapped in poverty and illiteracy and are desperate for the steady jobs that have sustained generations of persecuted, low-income, poorly-educated African Americans, many of whom are still the victims of institutional and socio-economic environmental and psychological racism in the U. S.
Years ago, Edward Douglas decided to sell this death, nicknamed crack cocaine, and he was justly found guilty as a repeat offender. But he was also born to American Black people who were systemically indoctrinated with school books that taught a false doctrine of Caucasian-genetic supremacy that enabled a mental disorder of brain functioning, expressed overtly in poor judgement and reality testing.
On top of that, Douglas was convicted at a time when crack cocaine offenses and laws were handled far more harshly than those involving powder cocaine. According to The New York Times, “The disparity, now widely viewed as scientifically unwarranted and racially discriminatory, prompted mandatory minimum sentences for a far smaller amount of crack, more common in Black communities, than powder, more common among Whites. Even the judge who presided over Mr. Douglas’s case says he believed the mandatory life sentence was unfair.
“The original judge in his case, Michael P. McCuskey, has retired because he had grown weary of mandatory sentences, he said. ‘There is no way I would have sentenced Edward Douglas — and I remember him — to life if I had discretion,’ Mr. McCuskey said. ‘It made me sick.’” (“He Got Life for Selling Crack. A Signature Could Free Him,” Alan Blinder and Jennifer Medina, New York Times, Dec. 21, 2018, p. A 17.)
The cause (or etiology) of Douglas’ behavior is, therefore, not driven solely by his inability to distinguish between life and death, good and bad alone, but by environmental forces in Chicago such as poor family role models and bad choices that landed him in prison – for life.
When combined with a familial environment of a sanctioned crime figure (a grandfather drug pusher), Douglas, the child, emulated criminal behavior as a legitimate behavior model for adaptation as an adult. There is little, if any, moral or ethical morality at work in my model because this socio-pathic behavior or poor character development replaces healthy personality development.
Since good and evil intentions are evenly distributed in all human beings, the child molesters among Roman Catholic priests have also adopted a pattern similar to the Black crack criminal element.
For info on the contents and the release date click: www.tonybrownsjournal.com/upcoming-book
FEATURED on TonyBrownsJournal.com this week: Dr. Chancellor Williams, Benjamin Banneker, Arthur Ashe, Wilma Rudolph, Jackie Robinson, Marcus Haynes and the phenomenal women of the all-Black 6888 WAC unit of WWII
MON., DEC. 24 – TBJ #2811 -- Slavery: America's Main Historical Event. It is estimated that millions of Africans died during the Atlantic slave trade. Historian Anne Bailey has collected oral histories to document the slave trade from both sides of the Atlantic, placing oral records at the center of a historical analysis of slavery.
TUES., DEC. 25 – TBJ #2515 -- Benjamin Banneker: Truth to Power. Imagine being Black and a slave in the 1700s and becoming a self-taught surveyor who played a pivotal role in planning the layout of our nation’s capitol, Washington, DC, and inventing a clock in 1753. In 1791 alone, Benjamin Banneker completed the survey of Washington, DC, published his first almanac and confronted one of the nation’s founders, Thomas Jefferson, about his doctrine of Black inferiority.
WED., DEC. 26 – TBJ #601 -- When The Sisters Came Marching Home. After this profile on the 6888 Black WAC unit was aired, Tony Brown appealed to the Reagan White House to honor the WWII Black WAC unit: “This superb group of women was the only Black WAC unit to serve overseas during WWII. They were cited for doing a job that no one else had succeeded in doing. The 6888th also holds the dubious distinction of being the only all-female unit to serve overseas which did not receive a citation. Do help this administration to recognize and legitimize these victims of racism – and sexism.”
THURS., DEC. 27 – TBJ #2204 -- Slice of Americana. America, an urban mosaic – a gleaning thread of world history woven by the influence of cultures from around the globe. An amalgamation of ethnic talents that produced what is now the richest and the most powerful nation in the free world. And while diversity can be cited as a defining factor in the American experience, no group is more unique than the Black American. U. S. citizens who have contributed tremendously but at the same time have been reviled and revered, heralded and hunted. This program gives a glimpse of the African-American legacy and its role in the creation of these United States.
FRI., DEC. 28 – TBJ #2205 -- The Winning Spirit. Arthur Ashe, Wilma Rudolph, Jackie Robinson and Marcus Haynes are all legends in the sports world. These renowned athletes are among the personalities profiled on this edition for their “winning spirit.”
MON., DEC. 31 – TBJ #505 -- How Black Civilization Was Destroyed. Why did it happen? Dr. Chancellor Williams, widely-acclaimed historian, explains his soundly-researched theory as to why Africans, the first builders of civilization in the cradle of world civilization and the discoverers of mathematics, writing, sciences, engineering, medicine, religion, fine arts and the builders of the great pyramids, were so easily toppled.
