Post by Auset on May 4, 2004 15:09:02 GMT -5
This is a message i'm copying and pasting from a member on the floetry site's message (Flow) it's important and recent.
The families of these victims have to remain in Mississippi and are probably scared to death. We have to make noise for them. We have to call the media and demand an investigation, and not let the "locals" write this off as another suicide. Thats what they want. Thats what they depend on. Im currently in b'ham alabama, so I am also in the path of their wrath.
people if their is nothing more u can do please spread the word, make a phone call, send an email, pray for Ray Veal's, family, but please dont turn the other cheek. WE CANT CONTINUE TO THINK THIS IS JUST ONE INCIDENT. IT'S NOT! THIS HAS HAPPENED TO A RACE OF PEOPLE. NOT JUST ONE FAMILY. HE DIDNT GET LYNCHED BECAUSE HE WAS A VEAL BUT BECAUSE HE WAS
BLACK AND SO R U.
RESEARCH RAYNARD JOHNSON, JUNE 16, 2000
olice in Kokomo, Miss., were too quick to label the June 16 death of 17-year-old Raynard Johnson a suicide, say local organizers, including United Methodists, who are seeking investigation of what they say looks like a lynching.
The organizers, accompanied by United Methodist Bishop Jack Meadors of the Mississippi Area and two representatives of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, held a six-mile prayer-and-justice march July 7 in near 100-degree weather in an effort to bring the teen’s death to national attention and to give the boy’s family an opportunity to tell their story.
While official reports have focused on autopsy results and a statement from one young woman who said she ended a relationship with Raynard Johnson the day of his death, the dead teen’s family and neighbors say events leading up to his death need attention. Those events include:
* June 14: Two white girls who were friends of Raynard Johnson were dropped off at the Johnson’s house by someone from the deputy sheriff’s office. Raynard took the girls home.
* Also June 14: Raynard’s brother Roger Johnson heard dogs barking because someone or something was outside the family’s house. Roger said it was a dark night. He turned off all lights in the house then went outside, gun in hand and fired gun shots into the air.
* June 15: The next night, another disturbance set the dogs barking. Neighbors reported seeing pickup trucks with only parking lights on driving slowly past the Johnsons’ house.
* June 16: Just after 9 p.m., Raynard Johnson went outside. It was 9:30 p.m. when his father pulled up to the house to find his son’s body hanging from a pecan tree in the front yard. The boy’s knees were slightly bent and his feet were touching the ground because the tree branch was not high enough off the ground for his six-foot, one-inch frame.
* Before the first autopsy was complete, the coroner ruled Raynard Johnson's death a suicide.
* The belt by which Raynard was hanging was not his. The family said he owned only one belt, which was in his closet when he died.
* Kokomo and the neighboring community of Columbia, Miss., have been areas of white-supremacist hate-group activities. Those who joined the prayer-and-justice march walked past a bridge where the words, "Kill All N________" had been spray painted. The words remained faintly visible though law-enforcement officials had had them painted over.
Suicide ruling questioned
While law-enforcement officials have described Raynard Johnson’s last day as one in which he may have been despondent over the end of a relationship, family members describe him as excited because he had just bought a computer and was showing his brother and sisters how to use it. He made plans to travel to neighboring Hattiesburg the next day for a picnic, and he and his brother had plans to work together over the summer.
Raynard Johnson’s mother, Maria Johnson, speaks of her son with joy and love. She tells how playful and full of life he was and how close he was to his siblings.
"He was like a burst of sunshine," she said. "All of the children loved each other so much, they were so close. If he were here right now while I am on the phone, he would playing to get my attention."
Someone told Ms. Johnson that her son was now sitting, looking down.
"No, Raynard would never be sitting," she said. "He would be up and running around."
Those who joined the prayer-and-justice march also found it difficult to believe Raynard Johnson’s death was a suicide. Neighbors and friends spoke of Raynard as a promising young man who had everything to live for, a young athlete who loved to laugh, was playful and full of life.
As marchers stood in the Johnsons’ front yard next to the pecan tree, they could see a small birdhouse hanging down. Small lights were wrapped around the tree’s lower branches. Marchers agreed the tree’s branches were too low and too frail for Raynard Johnson to have hung himself from them.
One after another, those who knew Raynard Johnson repeated,"there is no way" this boy would take his own life.
Roger Johnson said he and his brother spent hours talking, and he would have known if something was troubling Raynard.
Charlotte Keys, founder and executive director of Jesus People Against Pollution, was primarily responsible for organizing the march. Asked about her interpretation of the hanging, she said:
"My true feeling is that our community has been torn apart both mentally and physically by the whole situation of Raynard’s death. It is heartbreaking to see a family and a community pressured by leadership that is disrespectful. I hope that much prayer is rendered for the Johnson family with hope for the Lord to reveal Raynard’s killers."
Next steps according to Ms. Keys and supporter, Jaribu Hill of the Center for Constitutional Rights Southern Office include calls for further investigation, more marches and demonstrations, a legal strategy, and planning a Mississippi hate-crimes hearing later this year.
"We must work to help pull the cover off this situation for the truth to be revealed about what is going on in Mississippi," Ms. Keys pledged. "We will not stop praying, and we will not stop marching -- the prayer will lead to action."
The families of these victims have to remain in Mississippi and are probably scared to death. We have to make noise for them. We have to call the media and demand an investigation, and not let the "locals" write this off as another suicide. Thats what they want. Thats what they depend on. Im currently in b'ham alabama, so I am also in the path of their wrath.
people if their is nothing more u can do please spread the word, make a phone call, send an email, pray for Ray Veal's, family, but please dont turn the other cheek. WE CANT CONTINUE TO THINK THIS IS JUST ONE INCIDENT. IT'S NOT! THIS HAS HAPPENED TO A RACE OF PEOPLE. NOT JUST ONE FAMILY. HE DIDNT GET LYNCHED BECAUSE HE WAS A VEAL BUT BECAUSE HE WAS
BLACK AND SO R U.
RESEARCH RAYNARD JOHNSON, JUNE 16, 2000
olice in Kokomo, Miss., were too quick to label the June 16 death of 17-year-old Raynard Johnson a suicide, say local organizers, including United Methodists, who are seeking investigation of what they say looks like a lynching.
The organizers, accompanied by United Methodist Bishop Jack Meadors of the Mississippi Area and two representatives of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, held a six-mile prayer-and-justice march July 7 in near 100-degree weather in an effort to bring the teen’s death to national attention and to give the boy’s family an opportunity to tell their story.
While official reports have focused on autopsy results and a statement from one young woman who said she ended a relationship with Raynard Johnson the day of his death, the dead teen’s family and neighbors say events leading up to his death need attention. Those events include:
* June 14: Two white girls who were friends of Raynard Johnson were dropped off at the Johnson’s house by someone from the deputy sheriff’s office. Raynard took the girls home.
* Also June 14: Raynard’s brother Roger Johnson heard dogs barking because someone or something was outside the family’s house. Roger said it was a dark night. He turned off all lights in the house then went outside, gun in hand and fired gun shots into the air.
* June 15: The next night, another disturbance set the dogs barking. Neighbors reported seeing pickup trucks with only parking lights on driving slowly past the Johnsons’ house.
* June 16: Just after 9 p.m., Raynard Johnson went outside. It was 9:30 p.m. when his father pulled up to the house to find his son’s body hanging from a pecan tree in the front yard. The boy’s knees were slightly bent and his feet were touching the ground because the tree branch was not high enough off the ground for his six-foot, one-inch frame.
* Before the first autopsy was complete, the coroner ruled Raynard Johnson's death a suicide.
* The belt by which Raynard was hanging was not his. The family said he owned only one belt, which was in his closet when he died.
* Kokomo and the neighboring community of Columbia, Miss., have been areas of white-supremacist hate-group activities. Those who joined the prayer-and-justice march walked past a bridge where the words, "Kill All N________" had been spray painted. The words remained faintly visible though law-enforcement officials had had them painted over.
Suicide ruling questioned
While law-enforcement officials have described Raynard Johnson’s last day as one in which he may have been despondent over the end of a relationship, family members describe him as excited because he had just bought a computer and was showing his brother and sisters how to use it. He made plans to travel to neighboring Hattiesburg the next day for a picnic, and he and his brother had plans to work together over the summer.
Raynard Johnson’s mother, Maria Johnson, speaks of her son with joy and love. She tells how playful and full of life he was and how close he was to his siblings.
"He was like a burst of sunshine," she said. "All of the children loved each other so much, they were so close. If he were here right now while I am on the phone, he would playing to get my attention."
Someone told Ms. Johnson that her son was now sitting, looking down.
"No, Raynard would never be sitting," she said. "He would be up and running around."
Those who joined the prayer-and-justice march also found it difficult to believe Raynard Johnson’s death was a suicide. Neighbors and friends spoke of Raynard as a promising young man who had everything to live for, a young athlete who loved to laugh, was playful and full of life.
As marchers stood in the Johnsons’ front yard next to the pecan tree, they could see a small birdhouse hanging down. Small lights were wrapped around the tree’s lower branches. Marchers agreed the tree’s branches were too low and too frail for Raynard Johnson to have hung himself from them.
One after another, those who knew Raynard Johnson repeated,"there is no way" this boy would take his own life.
Roger Johnson said he and his brother spent hours talking, and he would have known if something was troubling Raynard.
Charlotte Keys, founder and executive director of Jesus People Against Pollution, was primarily responsible for organizing the march. Asked about her interpretation of the hanging, she said:
"My true feeling is that our community has been torn apart both mentally and physically by the whole situation of Raynard’s death. It is heartbreaking to see a family and a community pressured by leadership that is disrespectful. I hope that much prayer is rendered for the Johnson family with hope for the Lord to reveal Raynard’s killers."
Next steps according to Ms. Keys and supporter, Jaribu Hill of the Center for Constitutional Rights Southern Office include calls for further investigation, more marches and demonstrations, a legal strategy, and planning a Mississippi hate-crimes hearing later this year.
"We must work to help pull the cover off this situation for the truth to be revealed about what is going on in Mississippi," Ms. Keys pledged. "We will not stop praying, and we will not stop marching -- the prayer will lead to action."
