Monday, September 23, 2013

A BROKEN LANGUISH "THAT ENDED WITH YOU"

YOU CAN'T GIVE WHAT YOU DON'T HAVE FOR YOUR SELF!

E. L. PLEASANT

A BROKEN LANGUISH

You have heard, in order to receive respect, you have to give it.

But how can one give what he or she has not been taught?

How does a five year old know that he or she is to respect their elders

who have earned it long before they were born, if there is no one

In the home to teach them?

We use to greet a person with the salutation, "Hello, how are you," and the reply would be,

"Hello, I'm fine, thank you and how are you?" Today, the hello has been replaced with an insincere faded smile or just, "How are you?" "I'm fine, thanks and you," with no reply.

Today asking a person how they are doing holds no meaning, because no one really cares

to know like so long ago, when people had time or made time to listen.

We use to say, "Thank you," to express our appreciation and could expect, "You're welcome," with a genuine smile, because it was a give and take experience. The giver enjoyed giving or doing it and the receiver appreciated their gesture. Today thank you are seldom spoken and if one does remember the words and find themselves using them, they are left to wonder if they are welcome because that part of the dialogue might be skipped.

When is the last time that you have heard the words "please" or "excuse me" come from the mouth of the youth? To simply covering one's mouth when coughing or yawning. This is what today's culture has evolved into and is known as a disrespectful society that no longer displays or uses common manners. Like refraining from using languishes that would be viewed as not proper in front of or around children or in the present of one's elders.

Aretha Franklin sung the song about RESPECT, sighting, find out what it means to me as she spelled the word out. It doesn't matter how old you are, your race, gender or religious back ground, everyone deserves it. To the Staple Singers demanding the same attributes, Respect yourself in 1971. The song was written by Stax Records singer Luther Ingram and Stax house songwriter Mack Rice. Ingram, who was frustrated with the state of the world at the time, told Rice, "Black folk need to learn to respect themselves." Rice liked the comment so much so that he built a funk groove around it, and then gave the song to the Staples, who were also signed to Stax. It’s 2013 and we still haven't learned to respect each other, for they also say actions speak louder than our words.

From one black person to another, you can address him or her, young or old today with hello and they look at you as though you are out of your mind or the words are foreign.

With the absence of respect leads to the lost of morals, for without morals there's no need for a conscious, because you no longer have the ability to distinguish between what is right or wrong.

Maybe if we showed each other a bit of respect and take the time to really listen to each other, we would be well equip to take a moral stand when it comes to making a conscious decision when taking a life without giving it a single thought. Just maybe there wouldn't be so many senseless shootings.

THE UNWRITTEN RULES

THE UNWRITTEN RULES

EP. 1 "FIRST DAY"

Racey's Arrives At Her Job And Discovers She Is The Only Black Employee.

INKSPOTENTERTAIMENT

Written By: Kim Williams
Directed By: Robert Mora
Executive Producers: Kim Williams and Robert Mora
Producer: Aasha Davis

WHITE TEACHER CALLS BLACK STUDENT "MONKEY"

WHAT'S MY NAME

DEBORAH PERKINS

White Brooklyn Teacher Calls Black Student 'Monkey,' Says Student's Mother (VIDEO)

A teacher at JHS 234 in Brooklyn is under fire for allegedly asking a black student if she was a "monkey."

PIX11 reports Deborah Perkins was alarmed to receive a phone call from her 12-year-old daughter in which the young girl described her teacher's attempts to stop her and other students from talking while the morning announcements were taking place.

Perkins said, "She told me, ‘My teacher called me and asked me if I was a monkey.’ She was, humiliated."

The Department of Education said the incident is under investigation.

On Friday, a high school English teacher in Albany was put on leave after giving his students a persuasive writing assignment, in which they had to argue that "Jews are evil."

THEIR COMMENTS:

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5 months ago

so tired of blacks crying over every little thing, way to touchy!

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5 months ago

Truth be told, that monkey shit is being way over blown. If the child is being hardheaded and all over the place, can't stay still for shit like a monkey then that's what u portray yourselves as. Stop using that shit as an excuse.

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WHAT COME OUT OF THE MOUTH COMES FROM THE HEART

1 week ago

I go to this school…

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oh I guess if a teacher called your daughter a Bitch, you would totally overlook it, right? Gotcha!

They know they're monkeys. They act like wild animals.

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no one has more bywords and derogatory names all over the world then the niggers, coons, spades,monkeys,shines,pourch monkeys,BLKS,coloured, African AND Americans! Oh and ah who opresessed the irish? Some more whites! Get OVER THAT! The irish plight and the "blks" plight thruin amerikka is?was not the same. So yeah stop cying!

1 month ago

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yeah ok lmao you cant even make a proper sentence you black bitch

(do they same thing) it's (do the same thing) stay in school dont jump around like a monkey.

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so were the irish . stop crying get over it.

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The teacher probably meant cheeky monkey. Monkey's, albeit very cute, are wild animals that do not know how to behave. I know that when my child's behaviour is disrespectful and naughty, i ask her if she's a wild animal: "Are you a wild animal? " implying that we don't behave like that. Btw we're white.

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HOW DO YOU FIGHT IGNORANCE?

4 months ago

"Monkey is a racial word"

um no its not, its an animal

ESTHER IRENE STOKES "DOESN'T TOUCH BLACK KIDS"

THE TRUTH WILL NOT SET YOU FREE!

ESTHER IRENE STOKES

Esther Irene Stokes, 'Racist' Teacher, Denies Molestation Charge, Claims She Doesn't Touch Black Kids

The Huffington Post | By Meredith Bennett-Smith Posted: 04/17/2013 1:50 pm EDT | Updated: 04/18/2013 1:05 pm EDT

Well, this is different.

In a legal strategy that seems dubious at best, a Texas first-grade teacher is claiming she can't have molested one of her students because she is racist and doesn't like touching black children.

Esther Irene Stokes, 61, is accused of fondling a 7-year-old female student in March, according to the Houston Chronicle. Stokes, a teacher at Northwest Preparatory Academy in Humble, Texas, allegedly touched the girl on her "private parts" outside of her clothes, reports the Chronicle.

“The victim said that she was in the classroom alone with the teacher and that the teacher touched her on the outside of her clothes, on what she called her ‘private part,’ her vaginal area,” Humble Police Department Detective J. Blanchard told Houston television station KHOU 11 News.

But Stokes has denied the allegations, claiming that her racist tendencies would prevent her from ever fondling a black student.

“She (said she) doesn’t like to even touch the black children on their hand, she shies away when they try to hug her -- she admitted to being prejudice [sic],” Blanchard told KHOU 11 News.

Stokes is being charged with a felony in the case, according to the Harris Country Sheriff's Department. She is due to be arraigned May 21.

"This type of accusation has never been made against this woman," Stokes' defense attorney Patty Maginnis told local ABC affiliate KTRK. "She's completely not guilty of this charge."

The child's mother, Shawntel Reace, has vowed to pursue justice in the case. Reace told KTRK that she would be transferring all four of her children out of Northwest Preparatory Academy, and that she now regrets sending them in the first place.

As of Wednesday morning, Stokes was still listed on the faculty page of Northwest Preparatory Academy, although statements obtained by both the Chronicle and KHOU claimed she had been fired.

Neither Stokes nor officials at Northwest Preparatory Academy responded immediately to requests for comment.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

FOR COLORED BOY SE1 EP 4 AND 5

FOR COLORED BOYS

FOR COLORED BOYS, REDEMPTION EPISODE 4 OF 8
"JUST LET IT GO"

Published on Sep 15, 2013

Season 1, Episode 4 of 8 For Colored Boys, REDEMPTION.
A soul-stirring dramatic series about a father's attempt to repair his broken family after being released from prison, starring Rob Morgan and Julito McCullum with Tim Reid and Jacinto Taras Riddick.
with Lauren Hooper, Nashawn Kearse, Kai Muhammad, Jas Anderson, Ryan Stephenson, and Brittany Chance.

Created, Written and Directed by Stacey Muhammad for Wildseed Films
Executive Produced by Isaiah Washington
Executive Produced by Marc Lamont Hill
Produced by Michael Boogie Pinckney (Black Noise Media)
Produced by Lisa Cynical Smith (Bucktown USA) and The NY Frequency.
Starring: Rob Morgan and Julito McCullum with Tim Reid and Jacinto Taras Riddick
Cast: Lauren Hooper, Nashawn Kearse, Jas Anderson, Lamar K. Cheston, Ephriam Fetti Benton, Brittany Chance, Kai Muhammad, Tekomin Wiliams, Brandhyze Stanley, Ryan Stephenson, Krystal Farris.
Guest appearances by Stephen Hill, Corey Roberts and Prince Po.

Director of Photography: J Anders Urmacher
Edited by: Max Papadop
Casting Director: Tiandra Gayle
Art Direction: Phillip Shung
Music Director: General Steele of Bucktown, USA
Unit Production Manager: Oveta Clinton
Wardrobe Supervisor: Danielle Miller
Hair and Makeup: Jewel Whinfield

FOR COLORED BOYS, REDEPTION EPISODE 5 OF 8
"I'M SORRY"

Uploaded on Sep 22, 2013

Season 1, Episode 5 of 8 For Colored Boys, REDEMPTION.
A soul-stirring dramatic series about a father's attempt to repair his broken family after being released from prison, starring Rob Morgan and Julito McCullum with Tim Reid and Jacinto Taras Riddick.
with Lauren Hooper, Nashawn Kearse, Kai Muhammad, Jas Anderson, Ryan Stephenson, and Brittany Chance.

Created, Written and Directed by Stacey Muhammad for Wildseed Films
Executive Produced by Isaiah Washington
Executive Produced by Marc Lamont Hill
Produced by Michael Boogie Pinckney (Black Noise Media)
Produced by Lisa Cynical Smith (Bucktown USA) and The NY Frequency.
Starring: Rob Morgan and Julito McCullum with Tim Reid and Jacinto Taras Riddick
Cast: Lauren Hooper, Nashawn Kearse, Jas Anderson, Lamar K. Cheston, Ephriam Fetti Benton, Brittany Chance, Kai Muhammad, Tekomin Wiliams, Brandhyze Stanley, Ryan Stephenson, Krystal Farris.
Guest appearances by Stephen Hill, Corey Roberts and Prince Po.

Director of Photography: J Anders Urmacher
Edited by: Max Papadop
Casting Director: Tiandra Gayle
Art Direction: Phillip Shung
Music Director: General Steele of Bucktown, USA
Unit Production Manager: Oveta Clinton
Wardrobe Supervisor: Danielle Miller
Hair and Makeup: Jewel Whinfield

"WHITE AMERICA DOES THE CRIME, BLACKS GETS THE TIME"

CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THAT WHITE BITCH!

Saki KnafoBecome a fan
saki.knafo@huffingtonpost.com

When It Comes To Illegal Drug Use, White America Does The Crime, Black America Gets The Time
Huffington Post| Updated: 09/22/2013 3:23 pm EDT

White Americans are more likely than black Americans to have used most kinds of illegal drugs, including cocaine, marijuana and LSD. Yet blacks are far more likely to go to prison for drug offenses.

This discrepancy forms the backdrop of a new legislative proposal in California, which aims to reduce the disproportionate incarceration of black people in the state. Supporters of the bill, SB 649, point to some striking national data.

Nearly 20 percent of whites have used cocaine, compared with 10 percent of blacks and Latinos, according to a 2011 survey from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration -- the most recent data available.

Higher percentages of whites have also tried hallucinogens, marijuana, pain relievers like OxyContin, and stimulants like methamphetamine, according to the survey. Crack is more popular among blacks than whites, but not by much.

Still, blacks are arrested for drug possession more than three times as often as whites, according to a 2009 report from the advocacy group Human Rights Watch.

Of the 225,242 people who were serving time in state prisons for drug offenses in 2011, blacks made up 45 percent and whites comprised just 30 percent, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Jamie Fellner, author of the Human Rights Watch report, offered an explanation for this discrepancy.

"The race issue isn't just that the judge is going, 'Oh, black man, I'm gonna sentence you higher,'" she said. "The police go into low-income minority neighborhoods and that's where they make most of their drug arrests. If they arrest you, now you have a 'prior,' so if you plead or get arrested again, you're gonna have a higher sentence. There's a kind of cumulative effect."

Lawmakers in California hope to blunt that effect. Last week, both houses of the state legislature passed SB 649, which would give judges and prosecutors the option of charging people convicted of drug offenses with misdemeanors instead of felonies. Those offenders could then be sent to substance abuse treatment centers instead of prison or jail.

Supporters of the bill, including its author, state Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), note that black adults represent one-quarter of all felony drug arrests in California, despite comprising just 5 percent of the state population.

"One can take it to conspiratorial or racist theories or not," Leno told HuffPost. "The motivation I don't think needs to be determined. The results are the same: Our policy and lawmaking perpetuate a chronic underclass of citizens."

Former prisoners who were convicted of felonies often face steep official barriers to "the very things that are needed to keep one successful in recovery," he added -- namely, education, housing and employment.

The federal government can deny public housing assistance to anyone who has been convicted of a felony drug offense. Students who have been convicted of drug possession are barred from receiving federal financial aid and substantial education tax credits. And employers often require applicants to disclose their criminal histories, despite a growing nationwide movement to ban that practice.

Not all drug offenses in California automatically result in felony charges. Methamphetamine, LSD and certain other drugs are known as "wobblers," meaning that possession of those drugs can be charged as a felony or a misdemeanor. The new bill would basically extend this "wobbler" approach to heroin, cocaine and most other drugs. Blacks use heroin and cocaine more than they use meth and LSD, which are primarily used by whites.

In recent years, states from New York to Texas have adopted reforms that resemble SB 649, and leaders across the political spectrum have pushed for changes to the country's drug sentencing policies. In August, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Justice Department would no longer pursue mandatory minimum sentences for certain low-level drug offenders, citing "shameful" racial disparities in the criminal justice system.

Yet some drug reform advocates worry that Gov. Jerry Brown (D) might not sign the California measure, noting that he has often seemed reluctant to embrace progressive criminal justice policies.

Like other reforms aimed at reducing California's prison population, SB 649 could help relieve the state's budgetary woes, supporters say. Drug sentencing policies are widely blamed for the enormous size and costs of the country's prison systems. And few prison systems are bigger or more expensive than California's.

At the height of America’s war on drugs, from the 1980s through the mid-2000s, more than 20 prisons opened in California, compared with just 12 between 1852 and 1984. California’s prison population increased more than fivefold in the later decades, and prisons now cost the state's taxpayers close to $10 billion a year.

All Rights Are Reserved By Their Respective Owners ©2013

BLACK STUDENTS AT WHITE COLLEGES FEAR THEY'LL LOSE THEIR IDENTITY:

WHEN YOU NOT PROUD TO BE WHO YOU ARE, YOU WILL CHANGE FOR THEM!

Black Students At White Colleges Fear They'll Lose Their Cultural Identity: Study
HUFFINGTON POST | Updated: 09/22/2013 11:22 pm EDT

"[Black students] feel tension between integrating into the dominant culture while honoring their own culture and black pride,” study author Jake Simmons, assistant professor of communication studies at Angelo State University concluded.

Though their sample was small -- just 67 students -- Simmons and his team says that the consensus among the African Americans surveyed was that "they could not survive in the white world without altering their language or culture."

“As a group, African-American students wanted to assimilate into their respective universities, but at the same time they expressed a need to maintain cultural independence by segregating from them,” the authors wrote. “The need to segregate was born out of a fear that the African-American culture would become less independent and more similar to the dominant culture.”

Simmons' findings are no surprise given what four decades of research has shown about diversity on college campuses across the U.S.

"In 1968, something like 60 percent of black students attended an HBCU, but now that number is down to 20 percent," said Georgetown University professor Peter Hinrichs in explaining a report he authored earlier this year on how college campuses are not keeping pace with the country's growing diversity trend.

At the Midwest and Southwest schools in Simmons' research, black students made up only 4.5 to 8 percent of the population.

Students reported feeling different from their white peers in thought, language, dress, and socializing, as well as in the classroom, where they said a lack of understanding about their own culture led to feelings of being singled out. They also noted feelings of frustration about being solely responsible for educating whites about African-American issues and being asked to share their thoughts on African-American topics exclusively.

YOU CAN TOUCH MY HAIR, CALL ME OUT OF MY NAME, DO WHAT EVER YOU LIKE TO ME!

WE ARE ALWAYS ON DISPLAY

If you've read or seen anything about the "You Can Touch My Hair" exhibition, which happened in New York City on June 6 and 8, then you have most likely seen this picture:

That's me and an over zealous white woman touching my hair. And while I completely understand how this image could be shocking and conjure up thoughts of objectification, there is more to the story.

As the Style and Beauty editor for The Huffington Post BlackVoices, I attended the interactive art exhibit's Thursday showing in order to write about the event. Antonia Opiah, founder of the website Un'Ruly and the event's organizer, wrote a blog for The Huffington Post explaining why she created the event. Opiah, like countless other women of color, has been asked the question "can I touch your hair?" or has simply been touched without permission. So her mission in the exhibition was to "take one for the team and further explore the tactile fascination with black hair" by allowing anyone the opportunity to touch a black woman's hair.

Cue millions of jaws dropping. Mine did too. Why would anyone want to open the flood gates for perfect strangers -- white, black or otherwise -- to touch their hair? Not I. However, I realized after fully digesting Opiah's blog about the event, speaking to her and then attending the exhibition this was truly a social experiment and NOT a movement.

What I witnessed was a highly provocative approach to starting a conversation. Having three black women stand in one of New York City's busiest areas holding signs that read "You can touch may hair" is going to get people talking, a lot.

Although I wasn't a part of the exhibition and I definitely didn't have a sign inviting anyone to touch my hair, the white woman in the picture approached me and said: "You have really beautiful hair! Can I touch it?" I explained to her that I normally don't allow people to touch my hair, however for the sake of the demonstration it was ok.

She gently touched my hair and gleefully exclaimed "it's so soft!" While that was a sweet sentiment, I was left feeling uncomfortable and awkward-- even though I allowed the touching. However, I loved the fact that opening myself to this opportunity in turn invited a very real and honest conversation with the woman. I asked her why she wanted to touch my hair. Her response: "It looked so beautiful and I wanted to see if it felt beautiful too. And it does." I thanked her but then explained how it made me feel. She was receptive and apologetic. We continued to talk for awhile about how many black women feel dehumanized and other-ed when people touch their hair without permission or even when they are asked. Long story short, I doubt this woman will ask to touch another black woman's hair.

That was the essence of most of the interactions I observed for the two hours between the black women with the signs and the people that approached them. It wasn't simply a petting zoo where strangers walked up, touched and walked away. There were real, powerful, heartfelt conversations happening.

But that was Thursday. By the time Saturday rolled around and news about the exhibition got out (including my photo) and people were pissed. Protesters ascended on Union Square and a real debate had ensued. I personally think that's wonderful. The point was to get a conversation going and both sides of the issue were definitely being heard.

A group of women opposing the exhibit held signs reading "you can't touch my hair but you can kiss my ass" and "touch my hair with your hand & I'll touch your face with my fist." Feisty!

One protester explained that "people with kinky hair are not a monolith and unfortunately in mainstream society when one black person speaks it becomes the voice of many," and that she was not ok with the message of "touching" being presented.

To her point, I agree that black women with natural hair (and black women in general) are not a monolith, which is why I'm glad she voiced her views (although I'm not sure threatening violence is the best way to get your point across). Furthermore, I hope she took the time to listen to the conversations the "touchers" were having because she may have found that the "You Can Touch My Hair" exhibitors were in fact imparting the same message she was.

In the end, I understand the confusion that my photograph incited -- and I'm grateful for this platform to explain it. I'm glad I enjoy the free will that momentarily indulged the white woman's request, which in turn indulged my pointed questioning. Again, what I experienced was a creative and stirring social experiment NOT a movement inviting the world to touch black women's hair.

I leave you with an excerpt from Opiah's blog, which I believe further supports my views of the exhibition.

And if that effort means asking someone if you can touch their hair so it's not something that's foreign to you anymore, ask it. Ask the question. But ask it only when you've earned the right to do so. Ask it when you've taken the time to Google some of the basic questions about black hair. Ask this five-word request when you understand that it carries the weight of hundreds of years of being told our hair is unacceptable and now being told that it's a curiosity. Ask it when you understand that enlightening you about our hair is a responsibility no one individual wants to bare. Ask it when you've actually developed a relationship with a person to the point where you don't have to doubt their response to the request. Because if you're actually friends with a person, "Can I touch your hair?" is a question you don't have to ask because you know that you can either just do it or know to steer clear. And if you don't know any black people that well enough, maybe you should be asking yourself a different question.
Word up.

All Rights Are Reserved By Their Respective Owners (c) 2013

LACK OF SLEEP LINKED WITH INCREASED HEALTH PROBLEMS AMONG BLACKS

WHEN YOUR 9-5 NO LONGER PAY THE BILLS

Lack Of Sleep Linked With Increased Health Problems Among Blacks, And More Health News This Week
The Huffington Post | By Jessica Cumberbatch Anderson
Updated: 09/22/2013 10:47 am EDT

The consequences of not getting enough shut-eye may be more serious than you think, especially if you're African American, a study published this week in the American Journal of Epidemiology shows.

Previous research has linked poor sleep habits -- a risk factor that's more likely to occur among professional and management-level African-American adults -- to weight gain, low libido and less attractive facial features, but according to this latest report, insufficient sleep may even kill you.

Read more on what researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found, and more notes on the black health chart this week.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

THE CAUSE AND THE EFFECT

WE KNOW WHO THE ENEMY IS!

E. L. PLEASANT

The Cause and Effect!

The media is the greatest evil known today, for it has always dictated and influenced the behavior of blacks and whites culture. It stocked their fears with hate and misleads or guided their trust among the ranks telling you just what you wanted to hear and see. They love to profile and parade the images of blacks’ crime and punishments. Which only lead to more self hatred from both side of being black. They have you say things like, black on black crime to the point of disdaining each other and never thinking twice of the effect that this have had on us as a race believing it. While pointing the finger misdirecting the real cause of our problem back to us and once again blacks will say, don't blame the white man for our problems when in fact they are the only one that the blame should rest and not us but them. Still they have you believing that they are not the, blame because the blacks had said so, ignorant as they are even they can see and know that much. When whites kill, they kill the whole family and the dog. When they shoot up an entire high school or shopping mail to Movie Theater and these are white people killing white people. You want hear a single white person say one word about white on white killings need to stop, but you will her them say it's a tragedy. They want plaster their picture up as quickly as ours nor will they seek out an illiterate person to comment on it to embarrass their race.
As Don Lemon and some of us keep saying and trying to get your attention, "It is time to wake up."

After the shooting that took place yesterday,the suspected gunman was identified by the FBI as Aaron Alexis, a 34-year-old civilian contractor from Queens, N.Y. The pictured posted by the white media is of him smiling and the one that Huffpost Black Voices used, tell a different story. See the difference when it comes to our image. FOR THINKING OUT LOUD, I'M E. L. PLEASANT

AARON ALEXIS

AARON ALEXIS: SICK AND TIRED

WE ARE SICK AND TIRED

AARON ALEXIS - TOP LEFT

Chris Moody and Dylan Stableford

WASHINGTON — The FBI is asking the public for help in determining why a former Navy reservist opened fire early Monday at the Washington Navy Yard, killing at least 12 people before he was shot dead by police. Police said they also are seeking another possible shooter.

The suspected gunman was identified by the FBI as Aaron Alexis, a 34-year-old civilian contractor from Queens, N.Y., who most recently resided in Fort Worth, Texas. The FBI asked the public to contact the bureau with any tips related to the shooter. "This investigation is still very active," Valerie Parlave, the FBI's assistant director-in-charge, said at a news conference. "No piece of information is too small."

According to a bio released by the U.S. Navy, Alexis was a full-time reservist from 2007 to 2011. He left the Navy on Jan. 31, 2011, as a petty officer 3rd class and had been working for the fleet logistics support squadron No. 46 in Fort Worth.

Washington Mayor Vincent Gray said Alexis was shot during a gun battle with officers.

Alexis was arrested in Fort Worth in 2010 for discharging a firearm in city limits, police records show. Alexis told police he had fired the gun accidentally when he was cleaning it, according to a police report filed with the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's Office. Charges were never filed.

Alexis was also arrested in Seattle in 2004, according to the Seattle Police Department, for "shooting out the tires of another man’s vehicle in what Alexis later described as an anger-fueled 'blackout.'"

A Navy official told Reuters Alexis received a general discharge from the Navy in 2011 "after a series of misconduct issues."

The Navy Yard was placed on lockdown after shots were fired inside a building on the base, the Navy said. A Metro police officer and naval base officer were among those injured in the shooting, according to the D.C. Metro Police.

"As far as we know, it's an isolated incident," Gray said. "We don't have any known motive at this juncture."

The mayor said there was "no reason at this stage" to believe it was terrorism, but would not rule it out.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said authorities were seeking a potential second suspect, described as a black male, approximately 40 to 50 years old, 5 foot 10, 180 pounds, medium complexion with gray sideburns, wearing an olive military-style uniform and carrying "a long gun."

Before a scheduled economic speech at the White House, President Barack Obama deplored "yet another mass shooting" — this one targeting military and civilian personnel.

“These are men and women who were going to work, doing their job, protecting all of us," Obama said. "They’re patriots, and they know the dangers of serving abroad. But today they faced the unimaginable: violence that they wouldn’t have expected here at home."

"We will do everything in our power to make sure that whoever carried out this cowardly act is held responsible," the president added. "I want the investigation to be seamless."

Janis Orlowski, chief medical officer at Washington Hospital Center, said one Metropolitan Police officer and two civilians are being treated there. All three arrived in critical condition, Orlowski said, but are expected to make a full recovery.

One was shot in the legs, another in the shoulder. Those victims were in surgery, Orlowski said. A woman who was shot in the head and hand would not need surgery because the bullet did not penetrate her skull.

The Navy said shots were fired at the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters building on the base at 8:20 a.m., and a "shelter in place" order was issued for Navy Yard personnel.

Rick Mason, a program management specialist, told Yahoo News he was on the fourth floor when he saw someone with a gun aiming down into the atrium. The gunman, Mason said, was targeting people who walked into the cafeteria.

Other employees described a chaotic scene.

"We heard two shots and started wondering if that was the sound of someone dropping something or if they were really shots," Omar Grant, a civilian employee at the Navy Yard who was on the first floor of the atrium, said. "We heard three more shots, and that's when people started running out of the building and getting the hell out of there."

Grant then led a blind colleague to safety.

Approximately 3,000 people work in the building, the Navy said, though it's unclear how many people were inside at the time of the shooting.

The U.S. Senate complex was locked down "in light of the uncertainty surrounding the shooting at the Navy Yard this morning and particularly the possibility of suspects remaining at large," the Senate said in an alert to staffers. "You may move about the building; however, for the next two hours you may not leave nor can anyone enter the building."

A White House official said the president had been briefed several times throughout the morning about the unfolding situation at the Navy Yard by assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism Lisa Monaco and deputy chief of staff Alyssa Mastromanaco.

A heavy SWAT and police presence could be seen around the Navy Yard. Outside the base, employees sat huddled, crying and holding each other. At least one of the victims was airlifted from the scene, as helicopters circled overhead.

A temporary ground stop was ordered at Reagan National Airport, and schools in the area were placed on temporary lockdown.

The 41-acre Navy Yard, located five blocks from Nationals Stadium and a mile and a half from the Capitol, is home to the chief of naval operations and headquarters for the Naval Historical Center and numerous naval commands.

COMMENTS:

Hey Al Sharpton. Waiting for you to come and say AMEN and defend them you turd

Duker99 2 hours ago

Is this another one of obama's sons if he had one? Bet you hear zero from the race baiters such as al sharpton and jessie jackson. Please note that the use of small letters to start all of these names was on purpose.

Master 2 hours ago

If I had a son...

peggy 14 minutes ago

racist #$%$ commenters ^^^^^ n down

Jumong 43 minutes ago

They are searching him at the wrong place. How to find? Why not just dig his grave at night. Maybe his spirit or ghost will appear.

Monday, September 23, 2013

White Brooklyn Teacher Calls Black Student 'Monkey,' Says Student's Mother (VIDEO)

Esther Irene Stokes, 'Racist' Teacher, Denies Molestation Charge, Claims She Doesn't Touch Black Kids

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

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