Innocence Project

FACTS

Since 1973, 123 people in 25 states have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence.

200 people have now been exonerated by post-conviction DNA testing.

A 2005 study of all exonerations - DNA and non-DNA, death row and non-death row - has found that there have been more than 350 people wrongfully convicted and subsequently exonerated in the US since 1989.

The first DNA exoneration took place in 1989. Exonerations have been won in 31 states; in 2006, there were 18 exonerations.

14 DNA exonerees were at one time sentenced to death or served time on death row.

The average length of time served by those exonerated by DNA testing is 12 years.

The true suspects and/or perpetrators have been identified in more than a third of the DNA exoneration cases.

Since 1989, there have been tens of thousands of cases where prime suspects were arrested or indicted – until DNA testing (prior to trial) proved that they were wrongly accused.

In more than 25% of cases in a National Institute of Justice study, suspects were excluded once DNA testing was conducted during the criminal investigation (the study, conducted in 1995, included 10,060 cases where testing was performed by FBI labs).

21 states, the federal government and the District of Columbia have passed laws to compensate people who have been exonerated. Awards under these statutes vary greatly.

Of the 198 exonerees there are:
119 African Americans
54 Caucasians
19 Latinos
1 Asian American
5 exonerees whose race is unknown






Source: Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project

Love, Truth and Justice

Love, love and treat your neighbor as good as you would love and treat yourself. Truth, to speak too any underlying issue; speaking truth to it, acknowledging it and learning from it. Justice, standing up for way is right; standing up for those being treated unjustly; holding a light in the face of oppression while showing love without conditions.

This is what coming from a jazz and blues people is about. Jazz being the creative expression that covers the underlying oppression. The blues being how one feels, expressed lyrically: this is how I feel and this is why. Being able to reveal the truth through our love for the arts has always been apart of the black folk tradition.

Love and Justice: "Justice in part is what love looks like in piblic; because when you love folk no matter who or what they are, you hate the fact that their being treated unfairly, you loe the fact their being treated unjustly, you got to do something about it, it flows out of you, there;s so much care and love coming out of your heart, mind and soul, you can't stay still. (Dr. Cornel West)" This is what love and justice is about. Having the strength, fortitude, and will to care about the treatment of others in the face of the oppression or supreme majority, at the human level, even if their ideology may differ from yours.

Caring about one another despite religious differences, cultural differences, socio-economic differences, sex-based differences, and race-based differences. Keep it funky. Where there's funk there's truth; and where truth lay, love and justice will sustain itself.

Black Music Month

Black Music Month (June 2009) is a time for all people but especially African Americans to celebrate our music. Music has always been a staple within the African American experience. Its hard to get any two blacks together and not have music involved. Whether its hip hop, rap, gospel, jazz, blues, negro spirituals, rock (among others), the Black oral and written traditions have transcended all these genres.

Music was vital to African Americans during the era of slavery. From the times of the Middle Passage to the violent ways during Reconstruction, music has always been the way to communicate (using tales the slave owners could not understand ), the way to overcome the oppression of white supremacy, the way to love in the face of that oppression, and the encouragement that a new and better day was coming.

Black music continues to make a big influence even today. It changes culture, it engages audiences on a deeper political, and mental level and it makes people, our people, feel good. This is nothing new. Black music has always went deeper than the human level and transcended into something more spiritual (to even alter our fleshy behavior***wink wink***).

I love our music. I may not agree with some of the content that comes from some black artist whom do not show deference to the aesthetic of our ancestry and in return kill one another through useless diction; however, we need those radical forms of expressions to challenge our own belief and value systems.

Black music is not going anywhere no time soon so lets celebrate it, honor it, and enjoy it. We deserve too!

Welcome

Hello Everyone:

Welcome to my blog. Thanks for taking the time to visit, read and leave comments; I greatly appreciate it. I am really excited to share my thoughts on many vital issues, events, people, and anything else that may spark interest. Additionally, I am very eager to hear from you all. Imagine this as a family living room where we all are comfortable, creative, insighful and able to address many things in an intellectual, fun, and interesting way. I really enjoy people who make me think and gain a new perspective on many things. I cannot wait to get started and I hope you all join me and engage me with words.

Word Up!
John John