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‘Hands Up! Don’t Shoot!’ Activist Says Ferguson Struggle Far from Over

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Anthony Shahid, in black, marches with Michael Brown, Sr. in t-shirt and Akbar Muhammad to the left to Shadid’s right is activist Zaki Baruti in yellow shirt. Photo: D.L. Phillips

by Richard B. Muhammad
Special to the NNPA from The Final Call

(FinalCall.com) – Anthony Shahid has a 30-year history in the St. Louis-area and for the last six months the activist has been focused on the killing of Michael Brown, Jr., and demands for justice in a struggle that has had a global impact. The outspoken Muslim has become a friend and supporter of Michael Brown, Sr., and has stood with the mother, Lesley McSpadden, and the family since the first day the 18-year-old was killed and lay in the street in Ferguson, Mo.

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Video capture from news broadcast the day Michael Brown, Jr. was killed. Anthony Shahid is in the background.

His face and garb may be familiar whether wearing chains or a KKK-style robe, carrying whips or holding stuffed dogs to dramatize deadly serious points and concerns—even if his name is unfamiliar. He also started the chant, “Hands Up! Don’t Shoot!” that has captivated America and other countries and illustrates an unarmed Brown being shot to death by Officer Darren Wilson in the eyes of many.

The struggle and the fight isn’t over, said Mr. Shahid, 59, in a telephone interview, where he shared memories of the struggle from day one, talked about all those who were there from the beginning and his unshakable respect and regard for young people. He doesn’t take credit for everything, he isn’t a one-man show and he doesn’t seek praise. What he wants is justice for Black people, a cause that has fueled his life and made him unpopular with many of the powerful but loved by many of those who suffer.

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Anthony Shahid leads protest in Clayton, Mo. demanding justice for Miichael Brown, Jr. Photo: DL Phillips

If the young people had not done what was done, if a convenience store had not been burned, if the young people had not faced off with the racist police, this would have been forgotten, he stressed. Young people have been there from the beginning, are tired of injustice and tired of being shot down like dogs, Mr. Shahid said. He relates fully to their anger and their outrage and wants to make sure they remain engaged and at the forefront of the struggle. He has directly confronted armed officers and led protests and marchers, facing riot gear and inhaling tear gas.

He plans to go to Selma the weekend of March 7 with young people as part of what he calls the “Selma to Ferguson struggle.” Fifty years ago Blacks had to fight for voting rights and today voting rights are under assault and 50 years ago the killing of Jimmy Lee Jackson ignited a movement and the killing of Mike Brown, Jr., ignited a movement, he said. There is also tension between older leaders today and young people who are demanding change now and Blacks have the potential to vote out Whites in power April 7 in Ferguson, Mo., Mr. Shahid added.

Then the weekend of March 20-21, there are plans for mass demonstrations in the St. Louis area, in Clayton, Mo., the seat of government and power on March 20 and in Ferguson, Mo., on March 21, he said. The movement isn’t over, none of our demands—which included the indictment of Off. Wilson, removal of county prosecutor Bob McCullough and ouster of Ferguson’s mayor and police chief, have happened, Mr. Shahid said.

He vividly remembers the day Ferguson resident David Royal called him about the shooting of young Brown. He had already heard about problems in the St. Louis suburb and was trying to set up a meeting about concerns over discrimination, 53 police officers and only three Blacks, and targeting of Blacks with traffic stops. He ended up on the scene watching a grieving mother, pained residents, angry youth, heavily armed officers and a phalanx of snarling police dogs. The fight was on from there and Anthony Shahid is not known for backing down from a fight, he is known for going straight at the opposition.

Looking into the faces of officers, some with hands on their guns, he told the crowd to put their hands in the air, just as Michael Brown did, and chanted, “Hands Up! Don’t Shoot! Don’t shoot us in the back!”

“Our people were crazy mad knowing we have been being killed for a century, this just didn’t start happening,” he said. “If those young people had not erupted like a volcano, nobody would have known about Ferguson because it would have been silenced by now.” He wants masses of young people to come back for the March protest to signal the fight isn’t over.

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Arts and Culture

In ‘Affrilachia: Testimonies,’ Puts Blacks in Appalacia on the Map

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Author Chris Aluka. Photo courtesy of Chris Aluka.
Author Chris Aluka. Photo courtesy of Chris Aluka.

By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez

An average oak tree is bigger around than two people together can reach.

That mighty tree starts out with an acorn the size of a nickel, ultimately growing to some 80 feet tall, with a canopy of a hundred feet or more across.

And like the new book, “Affrilachia” by Chris Aluka Berry (with Kelly Elaine Navies and Maia A. Surdam), its roots spread wide and wider.

Affriclachia is a term a Kentucky poet coined in the 1990s referring to the Black communities in Appalachia who are similarly referred to as Affrilachians.

In 2016, “on a foggy Sunday morning in March,” Berry visited Affrilachia for the first time by going the Mount Zion AME Zion Church in Cullowhee, North Carolina. The congregation was tiny; just a handful of people were there that day, but a pair of siblings stood out to him.

According to Berry, Ann Rogers and Mae Louise Allen lived on opposite sides of town, and neither had a driver’s license. He surmised that church was the only time the elderly sisters were together then, but their devotion to one another was clear.

As the service ended, he asked Allen if he could visit her. Was she willing to talk about her life in the Appalachians, her parents, her town?

She was, and arrangements were made, but before Barry could get back to Cullowhee, he learned that Allen had died. Saddened, he wondered how many stories are lost each day in mountain communities where African Americans have lived for more than a century.

“I couldn’t make photographs of the past,” he says, “but I could document the people and places living now.”

In doing so he also offers photographs that he collected from people he met in ‘Affrilachia,’ in North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, at a rustic “camp” that was likely created by enslaved people, at churches, and in modest houses along highways.

The people he interviewed recalled family tales and community stories of support, hardship, and home.

Says coauthor Navies, “These images shout without making a sound.”

If it’s true what they say about a picture being worth 1,000 words, then “Affrilachia,” as packed with photos as it is, is worth a million.

With that in mind, there’s not a lot of narrative inside this book, just a few poems, a small number of very brief interviews, a handful of memories passed down, and some background stories from author Berry and his co-authors. The tales are interesting but scant.

For most readers, though, that lack of narrative isn’t going to matter much. The photographs are the reason why you’d have this book.

Here are pictures of life as it was 50 years or a century ago: group photos, pictures taken of proud moments, worn pews, and happy children. Some of the modern pictures may make you wonder why they’re included, but they set a tone and tell a tale.

This is the kind of book you’ll take off the shelf, and notice something different every time you do. “Affrilachia” doesn’t contain a lot of words, but it’s a good choice when it’s time to branch out in your reading.

“Affrilachia: Testimonies,” by Chris Aluka Berry with Kelly Elaine Navies and Maia A. Surdam

c.2024, University of Kentucky Press, $50.00.

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Black History

Alice Parker: The Innovator Behind the Modern Gas Furnace

Born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1895, Alice Parker lived during a time when women, especially African American women, faced significant social and systemic barriers. Despite these challenges, her contributions to home heating technology have had a lasting impact.

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In 1919, Alice Parker patented the design for a gas-powered central heating system, a groundbreaking invention. Image courtesy of U.S. Patent Office.
In 1919, Alice Parker patented the design for a gas-powered central heating system, a groundbreaking invention. Image courtesy of U.S. Patent Office.

By Tamara Shiloh

Alice Parker was a trailblazing African American inventor whose innovative ideas forever changed how we heat our homes.

Born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1895, Parker lived during a time when women, especially African American women, faced significant social and systemic barriers. Despite these challenges, her contributions to home heating technology have had a lasting impact.

Parker grew up in New Jersey, where winters could be brutally cold. Although little is documented about her personal life, her education played a crucial role in shaping her inventive spirit. She attended Howard University, a historically Black university in Washington, D.C., where she may have developed her interest in practical solutions to everyday challenges.

Before Parker’s invention, most homes were heated using wood or coal-burning stoves. These methods were labor-intensive, inefficient, and posed fire hazards. Furthermore, they failed to provide even heating throughout a home, leaving many rooms cold while others were uncomfortably warm.

Parker recognized the inefficiency of these heating methods and imagined a solution that would make homes more comfortable and energy-efficient during winter.

In 1919, she patented her design for a gas-powered central heating system, a groundbreaking invention. Her design used natural gas as a fuel source to distribute heat throughout a building, replacing the need for wood or coal. The system allowed for thermostatic control, enabling homeowners to regulate the temperature in their homes efficiently.

What made her invention particularly innovative was its use of ductwork, which channeled warm air to different parts of the house. This concept is a precursor to the modern central heating systems we use today.

While Parker’s design was never fully developed or mass-produced during her lifetime, her idea laid the groundwork for modern central heating systems. Her invention was ahead of its time and highlighted the potential of natural gas as a cleaner, more efficient alternative to traditional heating methods.

Parker’s patent is remarkable not only for its technical innovation but also because it was granted at a time when African Americans and women faced severe limitations in accessing patent protections and recognition for their work. Her success as an inventor during this period is a testament to her ingenuity and determination.

Parker’s legacy lives on in numerous awards and grants – most noticeably in the annual Alice H. Parker Women Leaders in Innovation Award. That distinction is given out by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce to celebrate outstanding women innovators in Parker’s home state.

The details of Parker’s later years are as sketchy as the ones about her early life. The specific date of her death, along with the cause, are also largely unknown.

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Activism

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Speaks on Democracy at Commonwealth Club

Based on his first speech as House minority leader, “The ABCs of Democracy” by Grand Central Publishing is an illustrated children’s book for people of all ages. Each letter contrasts what democracy is and isn’t, as in: “American Values over Autocracy”, “Benevolence over Bigotry” and “The Constitution over the Cult.”

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: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at the Commonwealth Club World Affairs Council on Dec. 2. Photo by Johnnie Burrell. Book cover: "The ABCs of Democracy" by Hakeem Jeffries.
: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at the Commonwealth Club World Affairs Council on Dec. 2. Photo by Johnnie Burrell. Book cover: "The ABCs of Democracy" by Hakeem Jeffries.

By Linda Parker Pennington
Special to The Post

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries addressed an enthusiastic overflow audience on Monday at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club, launching his first book, “The ABCs of Democracy.”

Based on his first speech as House minority leader, “The ABCs of Democracy” by Grand Central Publishing is an illustrated children’s book for people of all ages.

Each letter contrasts what democracy is and isn’t, as in: “American Values over Autocracy”, “Benevolence over Bigotry” and “The Constitution over the Cult.”

Less than a month after the election that will return Donald Trump to the White House, Rep. Jeffries also gave a sobering assessment of what the Democrats learned.

“Our message just wasn’t connecting with the real struggles of the American people,” Jeffries said. “The party in power is the one that will always pay the price.”

On dealing with Trump, Jeffries warned, “We can’t fall into the trap of being outraged every day at what Trump does. That’s just part of his strategy. Remaining calm in the face of turmoil is a choice.”

He pointed out that the razor-thin margin that Republicans now hold in the House is the lowest since the Civil War.

Asked what the public can do, Jeffries spoke about the importance of being “appropriately engaged. Democracy is not on autopilot. It takes a citizenry to hold politicians accountable and a new generation of young people to come forward and serve in public office.”

With a Republican-led White House, Senate, House and Supreme Court, Democrats must “work to find bi-partisan common ground and push back against far-right extremism.”

He also described how he is shaping his own leadership style while his mentor, Speaker-Emeritus Nancy Pelosi, continues to represent San Francisco in Congress. “She says she is not hanging around to be like the mother-in-law in the kitchen, saying ‘my son likes his spaghetti sauce this way, not that way.’”

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