The antics of the artist formerly known as apples in downtown Dallas recently doesn't even come close to rivaling the response of the City of Dallas police department. Charges of disorderly conduct, which carries only a $500 fine, were assigned to the singer after the March 17th public pornographic display in front of unwitting men, women and children.
Not surprisingly,faithful fans defend the singer's actions as pure art. What is surprising is that there weren't charges of lewd behavior, public indecency, nudity or several other charges with much heavier fines assigned to the singer. To be sure, if it were my 18 year old, black, male, son stripping naked downtown he would have been immediately arrested and charged appropriately with public nudity, indecency, and numerous other charges.
Could it be that many of the charges the singer should have been charged with are in fact felonies? Could it be that once the singer attains felony status that she would no longer be a cash cow for the city of Dallas? Perhaps when the police department called this press conference they were thinking as Ms. Badu obviously did...who cares?
Well, I care and I say shame on the city of Dallas for its poor efforts at enforcing laws already on the books for the protection of children and families. Shame on the Mayor of Dallas and members of the Dallas City Council for not openly speaking against the actions of the artist and demanding that appropriate charges be assigned to her. Shame on advocacy agencies that purport to stand for survivors of violence, teen dating, sexual and domestic who, were this anyone else, be crying injustice and demanding she be charged with a felony and jailed. Shame on this city's clergy who have chosen also to hide and be silent.
Finally, shame on Arts Magnet for not openly speaking out and denouncing her as a representative of the school. She should apologize, pull this video and go to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect $500.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Try Again! Tell Oprah Your Story
Friends,
Did Oprah's "sexual abuse" page shut down before you got a chance to tell your story?
Try again!
Use this new link to tell Oprah what you want to see on the show in Season 25.
http://www.oprah.com/ownshow/plug_form.html?plug_id=3749665
Tell Oprah you want to see a show focused specifically on Baptist clergy sex abuse. Give her a short reason, and if you're able and willing, tell her your own story.
Use one of these reasons, if you want: (1) Southern Baptists are the largest Protestant denomination in the land, and unlike most other major faith groups, they have no oversight system for ministers; (2) Southern Baptists have no denominational process for removing a man from ministry, no matter how substantiated and credible a molestation allegation may be, and they don't even warn people in the pews; (3) No one is keeping records on abuse reports made by victims, and so there is no way to know whether a minister may have had a prior report of child molestation . . .or a dozen reports; (4) Insurance company data indicates that clergy child molestation is just as big a problem among Baptists as among Catholics, but Baptists are still staying under the radar, and they haven't yet even begun to systematically address it; (5) Look at StopBaptistPredators.org -- the problem is huge! (6) Baptist clergy perpetrators can easily move church to church and no one stops them; (7) Victims are told they must go to the church of the perpetrator to report him. It's like telling them to go to the den of the wolf -- it doesn't work and it re-injures them.
From the desk of Christa Brown
www.StopBaptistPredators.org
Did Oprah's "sexual abuse" page shut down before you got a chance to tell your story?
Try again!
Use this new link to tell Oprah what you want to see on the show in Season 25.
http://www.oprah.com/ownshow/plug_form.html?plug_id=3749665
Tell Oprah you want to see a show focused specifically on Baptist clergy sex abuse. Give her a short reason, and if you're able and willing, tell her your own story.
Use one of these reasons, if you want: (1) Southern Baptists are the largest Protestant denomination in the land, and unlike most other major faith groups, they have no oversight system for ministers; (2) Southern Baptists have no denominational process for removing a man from ministry, no matter how substantiated and credible a molestation allegation may be, and they don't even warn people in the pews; (3) No one is keeping records on abuse reports made by victims, and so there is no way to know whether a minister may have had a prior report of child molestation . . .or a dozen reports; (4) Insurance company data indicates that clergy child molestation is just as big a problem among Baptists as among Catholics, but Baptists are still staying under the radar, and they haven't yet even begun to systematically address it; (5) Look at StopBaptistPredators.org -- the problem is huge! (6) Baptist clergy perpetrators can easily move church to church and no one stops them; (7) Victims are told they must go to the church of the perpetrator to report him. It's like telling them to go to the den of the wolf -- it doesn't work and it re-injures them.
From the desk of Christa Brown
www.StopBaptistPredators.org
TAASA 2011 Legislative Agenda
Supporting Rape Crisis Centers
Maintain the adult entertainment fee as a future revenue source for sexual assault services in Texas.
Criminal Justice
Permit additional evidence of prior sexual offenses by the defendant to be admissible in sexual assault cases.
Prevention of Sexual Violence
Require school districts to include ‘strategies for preventing sexual violence against children’ in their child sexual abuse policy (this is currently part of their district improvement plan) and to consult or collaborate with an agency with expertise in the primary prevention of sexual violence when developing those strategies.
Victim Safety and Assistance
Allow sexual assault survivors to be eligible for unemployment benefits if they had to leave their job as a result of the assault.
Allow stalking victims to apply for temporary and regular protective orders.
Allow victims not just ‘dependents’ of victims to be eligible for the Crime Victims’ Compensation ‘loss of support’ benefit.
Victoria (Torie) Camp
Deputy Director
Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA)
6200 La Calma, Suite 110
Austin, TX 78752
o: 512 474-7190 x18
m: 512 940-6932
fax: 512 474-6490
Maintain the adult entertainment fee as a future revenue source for sexual assault services in Texas.
Criminal Justice
Permit additional evidence of prior sexual offenses by the defendant to be admissible in sexual assault cases.
Prevention of Sexual Violence
Require school districts to include ‘strategies for preventing sexual violence against children’ in their child sexual abuse policy (this is currently part of their district improvement plan) and to consult or collaborate with an agency with expertise in the primary prevention of sexual violence when developing those strategies.
Victim Safety and Assistance
Allow sexual assault survivors to be eligible for unemployment benefits if they had to leave their job as a result of the assault.
Allow stalking victims to apply for temporary and regular protective orders.
Allow victims not just ‘dependents’ of victims to be eligible for the Crime Victims’ Compensation ‘loss of support’ benefit.
Victoria (Torie) Camp
Deputy Director
Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA)
6200 La Calma, Suite 110
Austin, TX 78752
o: 512 474-7190 x18
m: 512 940-6932
fax: 512 474-6490
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