DiMasi guilty in Beacon Hill bid-pushing scandal

DiMasi guilty in Beacon Hill bid-pushing scandal

By Laurel J. Sweet  |   Wednesday, June 15, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage
Photo by Patrick Whittemore (File)

Fallen and disgraced former House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi was found guilty today by a federal jury of conspiracy, mail and wire fraud and extortion in connection with a $17.5 million software deal he tried to shove through Beacon Hill.

In all, the former North End Democrat was found guilty of conspiracy, six of eight counts of honest services mail and wire fraud and one count of extortion.

He will be sentenced on Aug. 18 where he faces up to 25 years in jail.

The jury notified the court it had reached the verdicts shortly before 12:15 p.m. DiMasi glanced back at his wife with a reassuring smile moments before he learned his fate. Once the verdicts were read, the disgraced North End pol stared ahead blankly.

His co-defendant Richard McDonough, 66, was also found guilty of conspiracy and six of eight counts of honest services mail and wire fraud.

A third defendant, Richard Vitale, 66, was cleared of all charges. The judge was told he was free to go. All three men hugged after the verdicts were announced.

“You can’t imagine the emotions that are under the surface when you sit day in and day out with your freedom in peril,” said Vitale’s attorney Martin Weinberg.

Gov. Deval Patrick, who was called to testify in the case, said today: “I hope what it means is the end of a long sad chapter.”

DiMasi breached the public’s trust in his leadership when he exploited a software company’s aggressive pursuit of multimillion-dollar state contracts, a jury of his one-time constituents found today.

On their third day of deliberations at U.S. District Court in Boston, seven women and five men ruled DiMasi was out to line his own pockets.

DiMasi was Massachusetts’ first Italian-American Speaker from 2004 until his pre-indictment resignation in 2009.

DiMasi and McDonough, each potentially facing up to 25 years in federal prison, will be sentenced later by Chief Judge Mark L. Wolf.

Between April 2005 and March 2007, DiMasi was funneled $65,000 in bribes by his unwitting law associate of nearly 20 years, Steven Topazio, through a bogus contract McDonough and Joseph P. Lally Jr., a locally based vice president for a Canadian technology company called Cognos, struck for Topazio to be on call if the firm needed corporate papers reviewed.

Topazio, one of three government witnesses granted court-ordered immunity for their testimony against DiMasi, banked $125,000 never doing a day’s work for Cognos. DiMasi’s cut came from the $4,000 he demanded from Topazio’s monthly $5,000 paycheck and from a $25,000 lump sum he bullied Topazio into handing over.

Prior to becoming Speaker, DiMasi oversaw a $211,000 per-year law practice. But when his attention turned full-time to politics, the cases dried up as he amassed tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt prosecutors said he blew on clothes, fine dining and travel befitting his image as the state’s most powerful politician.

With DiMasi’s help on the Hill, Lally scored millions in commissions selling the state a $4.5 million software license for an education data warehouse for the Department of Education and a $13 million performance management system to permit legislators instant access to agency information.

In return, Lally paid McDonough a total of $300,000 for keeping DiMasi on board with the scheme.

Lally, 50, pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy and honest services fraud in exchange for escaping a money laundering charge and the recommendation of prosecutors that he serve no more than three years behind bars.

Lally, who is still awaiting a sentencing date, was vilified by the defense team as a self-serving liar and generate gambler for turning on the others with his star-witness testimony for the government.

DiMasi, whose annual $59,422 state pension is now in peril, is the Commonwealth’s third consecutive House Speaker to be convicted of criminal wrongdoing, but the first to be headed for the big house.

His predecessor, Thomas M. Finneran, now the host of WRKO’s (680 AM) morning-drive show, pleaded guilty in 2007 in federal court to obstruction of justice for his role in a racially charged redistricting plan. His agreement with the feds enabled him to skate on a perjury charge. Finneran received 18 months’ probation and a $25,000 fine.

Before Finneran, Speaker Charles F. Flaherty Jr. pleaded guilty in 1996 in federal court to tax evasion. Flaherty walked with two years’ probation and a $5,000 fine.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1345698

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Chuck Turner is going to jail, but it's the Feds who should be hanging their heads in shame

Chuck Turner is going to jail, but it's the Feds who should be hanging their heads in shame
Power play


By KYLE SMEALLIE AND HARVEY SILVERGLATE  |  March 23, 2011


Chuck Turner reports to prison Friday. If his sentence sticks, that's where the 70-year-old former Boston city councilor will spend the next three years.

Turner was convicted of attempted extortion, for accepting a bribe from a paid FBI informant, and also of giving false statements to federal officials, for lying about it to investigators. But there is much more to the case. Stepping back, it becomes clear that Turner was targeted by the FBI because he refused to play ball and build the government's case against another Massachusetts politician, former state senator Dianne Wilkerson. This is all about federal power — the power to destroy any who won't cooperate with the government's agenda.

At the beginning, this investigation was about the lucrative business of alcohol; in particular, how the city of Boston doles out coveted liquor licenses. By all indications, Wilkerson was on the take. She accepted multiple cash hand-offs (totaling $23,500) and appeared to initiate legislative action in return.

But in this mess, where does Turner fit?

US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz asserted that investigators "began with Wilkerson and followed the trail to Turner," the Boston Globe reported. But this was a trail blazed by the FBI itself. The connection, FBI agents testified, was a June 2007 e-mail Wilkerson sent to multiple city councilors, including Turner, concerning liquor-license distribution. Without explicitly stating so, her e-mail suggests that the licensing board improperly delayed approval of certain African-American applicants.

The next day, Turner responded to Wilkerson and several other city councilors: "I will send you a proposed hearing order to see if it appropriately frames the issues." Turner wanted to hold a hearing. This is what Turner did all the time. Yet this was evidence enough for the FBI to pay an informant some $29,000 and send him to Turner's Roxbury office to "feel him out."

Of course, the now-infamous video, taken August 3, 2007, in Turner's district office, doesn't lie. Turner took something, and it appears to be cash. The feds say it was $1000; Turner testified that he had no idea of the amount. It's important to note, however, that in a departure from standard procedure, the FBI agents did not search the informant, Ronald Wilburn, after the exchange to be certain that he handed all of the cash to Turner.

The amount given to Turner becomes important because local campaign-finance regulations allow candidates to accept cash contributions up to $50, provided it is duly recorded and reported. If the cash given to Turner was $50 or less, his only violation would have been only a minor fundraising-reporting omission.


GAINING LEVERAGE

Turner's counterattack — that he and Wilkerson were targeted because they are black — was unproductive and unverifiable, an allegation that Ortiz quieted easily. Far more difficult to refute is the more likely motivation: the federal government wanted to gain leverage on Turner, so they could pressure him into cooperating with their plans.

Consider, for instance, the absurd notion that Turner was extorting Wilburn. This may seem like hair-splitting legalese, but it speaks to why the case should never have been brought in the first place. Under existing law, bribery of state officials — payments initiated by the citizen — is not a distinct federal crime. Extortion, however, is. But extortion requires some kind of threat — the public official demanding, for example, payment to refrain from harming the citizen's interests. By all indications, Wilburn didn't fear retaliation if he didn't pay up.

At any rate, Turner would not have made an effective extortionist. His hallmark was holding hearings, not necessarily getting results. There is a role for such officials in public life, of course. As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said, sunlight is the best disinfectant, and Turner specialized in casting sunlight.

Prosecutors, oddly, conceded that Turner had little to sell. "There is substantial doubt," they asserted in a memorandum requesting a heavy prison sentence, "about Turner's effectiveness as a public servant." A strange assertion, for if he could not get approvals from the licensing board, why would any businessman succumb to his supposed extortion demands? This is more than a mere detail, for it weighs heavily toward a conclusion that Turner saw the Wilburn payment as an ordinary campaign contribution, rather than a payoff.

One might think that the news media would pick up on this. But from the moment the feds leaked the grainy photos of the handoff, the reporting angle (with a few exceptions, such as WBUR's David Boeri) was all but set: the press saw red meat. Reporters perhaps lost sight of the fact that, in their role as watchdog over government conduct, the actions of the feds deserved as much, if not more, scrutiny than the likely very minor improprieties of a city pol. If voters don't like Turner, or if they smell a whiff of dishonesty, they can express their displeasure at the ballot box. But if those same citizens dislike what federal prosecutors and FBI agents are doing in the people's name and on their dime, they have little practical recourse.

Which makes all the more revolting the fact that prosecutors, in their memorandum requesting 33 to 41 months in prison for Turner, used the politician's own overheated statements against him — in essence asking the court to punish him for his free speech. By asserting that the investigation was racially motivated, Turner's words "have been corrosive to respect for important public institutions and the rule of law," prosecutors argued to Judge Douglas Woodlock.


THROWING BOULDERS

Coming from the Massachusetts US Attorney's Office, in connection with a case launched by the Boston FBI office, the feds's air of piety was nothing short of stomach-churning. Just last month, a federal appeals court saw fit to deny compensation to the family of an innocent man gunned down as a result of the Boston FBI's office working with the mobster Whitey Bulger. And federal prosecutor Jeffrey Auerhahn, found by another judge to have hidden evidence that could have shown that a man convicted of murder was innocent, continues to serve in the US Attorney's Office.

Even if prosecutors were throwing boulders from their glass house, the onus was ultimately on Woodlock to see through this ruse. In this regard, he utterly failed, seeing fit to hand down a shockingly harsh three-year sentence — only a few months shorter than that of Wilkerson, a repeat offender. Woodlock took specific issue with Turner's testimony, finding it implausible that the 70-year-old couldn't remember meeting the FBI's informant.

But Woodlock, a former corruption prosecutor turned judge, perhaps unsurprisingly didn't see the bigger picture. He didn't see the possibility — indeed, the likelihood — that the feds led Turner into a scenario that appeared far more pernicious than the reality. He didn't see that a local politician was targeted by federal prosecutors for not helping them build their case against Wilkerson.

In the quest for Turner's scalp, neither federal law-enforcement authorities, nor the supposedly independent federal judiciary and news media, properly played the roles assigned to them in our constitutional system — which continues to suffer mightily under the weight of stings and set-ups that too often mask, rather than reveal, the truth.

Kyle Smeallie can be reached at kyle@harveysilverglate.com. Harvey Silverglate can be reached at harvey@harveysilverglate.com.

READ MORE - Chuck Turner is going to jail, but it's the Feds who should be hanging their heads in shame

ALL NEW HD VIDEO: Attack on Black Leadership Forum

BLACKSTONIAN EXCLUSIVE
BOSTON COLOR TV EXCLUSIVE

TRAILER

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Rumored corruption

Rumored corruption

BY: PAUL MCMORROW

March 18, 2011

THE FBI USED Ron Wilburn, and then tossed him aside. The feds got Wilburn, a Roxbury businessman, to wear a wire while passing bribes to Dianne Wilkerson and Chuck Turner. But after snaring the two black Boston politicians, they shut their investigation down, leaving all sorts of white political crooks untouched. That’s Wilburn’s take on his role in the sting that netted Wilkerson and Turner stiff federal prison sentences.

For two years now, Wilburn has been a bitter critic of federal investigators and prosecutors. He stopped cooperating with the feds in February 2009, telling the Globe he was angry that their investigation hadn’t snagged anyone else inside City Hall or the State House. His anger at the prosecution was so great that he considered refusing to testify at Turner’s trial, telling the Globe, “You mean to tell me that the only people investigated in terms of criminal wrongdoing were Dianne and Chuck Turner? There's no way.”

Wilburn is right in that aspect. In their investigation into Wilkerson’s criminality, federal prosecutors looked into a number of Boston politicians and businessmen. Investigators also asked Wilburn for everything he had, and for every lead he could provide. Wilburn failed to provide them with much of anything to work with.

Hundreds of pages of newly unsealed documents in the Wilkerson case shed fresh light on federal investigators’ scrutiny of City Hall and State House officials. Wilburn’s grand jury testimony, in particular, shows federal prosecutors inquiring about several prominent Boston figures.

Wilburn’s testimony shows federal prosecutors inquiring about Daniel Pokaski, the former head of the Boston Licensing Board; Steven Miller, an attorney whose law firm specializes in securing liquor licenses in Boston; Arthur Winn, the real estatedeveloper behind a South End mega-development that was a pet cause of Wilkerson’s; the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, whom Wilkerson met with about casino gambling; developers Edward Zuker and Ed Fish; and contractor and Jay Cashman.

No one other than Turner has been accused of any wrongdoing, let alone charged, in connection with the Wilkerson case. Whether or not there was a bigger case to be built – the investigation officially remains open, but hasn’t shown any public momentum – the questions prosecutors asked Wilburn suggest investigators were certainly trying to build a bigger case. For all his anger at the feds, Wilburn’s grand jury testimony helps explain why Wilkerson and Turner have been the only two public figures to face an indictment.

Wilburn provided the grand jury with extensive testimony about his payments to Wilkerson and Turner, which were captured on tape. They also asked him about anyone else in town – anyone at all – whom he knew to be involved in corruption. He made a number of claims, but offered little in the way of evidence.

Prosecutors asked Wilburn several times about Winn, the Columbus Center developer. Wilburn couldn’t tell them anything they hadn’t already read in the newspaper.

They asked about Fish, long a major contractor and developer in Wilkerson’s district. Wilburn knew nothing.

They asked about Zuker, a developer who loaned Wilkerson $9,000 so the senator could settle an outstanding tax debt; Wilburn didn’t have any information about him. Nor could he reveal anything about Cashman; he simply alleged that anyone who did any construction work in Wilkerson’s district had to pay the senator.

The exchanges regarding Pokaski, the former licensing chairman, and Miller, the licensing attorney, are particularly illustrative. Wilburn had made a number of accusations about Pokaski while he was wearing an FBI wire, but at the grand jury, he testified he wouldn’t be able to prove anything in court.

Prosecutors repeatedly pressed Wilburn for any specifics, in prosecutor John McNeil’s words, “about Steve Miller somehow engaged in nefarious conduct with the licensing board,” and whether “Mr. Miller was somehow passing on any kind of efforts, money, golf, trips anywhere, to anyone on the Licensing Board.”

Wilburn couldn’t offer up anything. The public record is unclear as to whether the FBI enlisted undercover informants to investigate anyone other than Wilkerson or Turner. It appears the FBI pursued Wilkerson based on Wilburn’s claims that he had personally witnessed her taking cash.

Wilburn “doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” says Miller. “He’s delusional.” Miller, whose grand jury testimony has not been made public, said it’s well known that investigators took a hard look at anyone connected to the licensing board. “They looked at everything possible, and there’s nothing there. I’ve been doing this for close to 40 years. People hire us because we know what we’re doing.”

http://www.commonwealthmagazine.org/Voices/Back-Story/2011/Winter/Rumored-corruption.aspx

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Roxbury’s future in the "post-racial" era

Roxbury’s future in the "post-racial" era

by Shirley Kressel
contributing writer South End News
http://www.mysouthend.com/index.php?ch=columnists&sc=city_streets&sc2=&sc3=&id=117456
Wednesday Mar 16, 2011

The race for Chuck Turner’s District 7 City Council seat has been fraught with bitter ironies and troubling questions about the future of Boston’s black community.

As the media have amply reported, Senator Dianne Wilkerson and City Councilor Chuck Turner, long-time black leaders, have recently been sent to prison for accepting money from a paid FBI informant in a liquor-license imbroglio. What does this signify for their fragile community?

The candidates, both black men, represent different visions for the District. Cornell Mills is the son of Wilkerson, who broke the color barrier at the state senate in 1993 and pursued an activist legislative career, while Tito Jackson, son of a labor-rights activist, is endorsed by Turner, an old-school firebrand. Interestingly, Mills echoes Turner’s spirit of fighting to protect the poor and disadvantaged, while Jackson pushes further Wilkerson’s talk about business incentives to attract job creation and developers’ gifts to the community.

Jackson has enjoyed far more funding and voter support. However, his experience is in mainstream politics and his campaign chest is filled heavily by white contributors and business interests outside the district. This has sparked concerns about the dilution of the black community’s power to defend against economic and political exploitation.

Indeed, some suspect a larger strategy to neutralize minority defenses against discriminatory governmental policies.

On March 6, I attended a forum in Roxbury titled, "The Attack on Black Leadership: Is there an ongoing effort by the US Government to destabilize the black community by targeting its leadership?" In impromptu remarks, Wilkerson talked about documents she had read indicating that the FBI had been targeting her and Turner for seven years, looking for reasons to prosecute them. Finding none, she said, the Bureau finally hired a black informant to bait them with money.

If her account is accurate, it is extremely alarming. It is at least suspicious that in the FBI’s lengthy investigation of the license issue, only two black officials were (literally) "caught," leaving unbaited and uncharged seven white officials implicated by FBI documents. Turner accused the US Attorney of racial bias and, because there was no evidence of previous wrongdoing by him to constitute probable cause, entrapment. The FBI informant, a black man, expressed anger at this apparently biased outcome and tried to refuse to testify at Turner’s trial.

This week, I came across a 2003 South End News bit on now-deceased City Councilor Jimmy Kelly, reporting his acceptance of unlawful financial contributions: "Infractions included accepting individual contributions over the $500 limit and accepting corporate contributions, which is not allowed at the city level." The full report (pdf) at the Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) website listed numerous violations. Kelly paid a $1,000 fine and made a charity donation of $7,500, equaling the contributions he got from business corporations, excess contributions, excess cash contributions, and money from a federal PAC. The matter was never sent to the Attorney General for further action.

Kelly was proven to have committed financial violations worth about $11,000. He simply settled up financially, with no criminal prosecution.

Turner was never proven committing any offenses -- before the FBI created one. The informant himself later told the Boston Globe that the money (an amount the FBI said, but never proved, was $1,000) that he handed unbidden to a "naïve" Turner while expressing his "gratitude" (with these words, turning Turner’s scheduling of a hearing on licensing discrimination into a crime, as the FBI instructed), "could have been a gift or a campaign donation." As a contribution reporting error with no criminal intent, a civil fine would have ended the story. Instead: felony conviction and three years in federal prison.

Unlike Kelly, Turner’s case was all over the media, inflaming a wave of public venom. The City Council enacted an ordinance to expel him. The two young new minority Councilors, Felix Arroyo, Jr. and Ayanna Pressley, cited him as their mentor as they voted him out.

Why such disparate fates?

Perhaps the answer lies in a Boston Globe editorial: "Turner... isn’t a venal man. ... But he has spread unreality among his supporters for decades. And that may be his greatest crime. In a Boston neighborhood that so desperately needs sensible leadership to address crime, joblessness, and poor education, Turner has fed his constituents a steady diet of political fantasy." Do our media leaders believe that Turner’s punishment for an unproven bribe was justified by his discomfiting politics? The newspapers endorsed Jackson; is he their "sensible leader" -- bringing practical compromises to counter Turner’s audacity of unbending aspirations?

Selective justice is a great injustice, and one well known to the black community. What really happened here? And what will be the impact on a District ripe for -- or vulnerable to -- radical change?


Shirley Kressel is a landscape architect and urban designer, and one of the founders of the Alliance of Boston Neighborhoods. She can be reached at Shirley.Kressel@verizon.net.

READ MORE - Roxbury’s future in the "post-racial" era

Path cleared by downfall

Blackstonian Editor's Note:
This may be the most offensive article in the entire media coverage of the Wilkerson case. I usually just post things and let the readers draw their own conclusions. In this case however, you must notice the obvious slant here and the sick pleasure received from this tragedy.

(photo by Don West, individual rights)

Path cleared by downfall
By Brian McGrory
Globe Columnist / March 16, 2011

Can you actually send a thank you note to someone in federal prison? If so: Dear Dianne Wilkerson, Inmate, Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury, thank you for clearing the way — unintentionally so — for some real leadership in the minority communities.

I was thinking this as I stood in a crowded second-floor room in a nondescript building in the South End one morning this week where young children and their parents are given the kind of rare helping hand that a frightening number of lawmakers would ax in the name of tax cuts and deficit reduction.

US Senator John F. Kerry was taking a tour. Say what you will about Kerry, he has taken on the Republicans over the federal budget with a vengeance, telling anyone who will listen that we’ve arrived at a moment that will define this country for many years to come.

But before Kerry stepped to the microphones, there was Sonia Chang-Díaz, the state senator who won the office that Dianne Wilkerson was forced to leave. “We used to say ‘women and children first’ in the lifeboats,’’ Chang Diaz said amid a brief speech that was at once firm and fiery. “Now it’s women and children last, and millionaires first.’’

Also present, Ayanna Pressley, the new Boston city councilor at-large who is rapidly becoming the face of the black community in the halls of power. When I asked her how she was doing, she said without flinching, “About as well as a person can be doing when everything they’ve ever believed in is under attack.’’

Felix Arroyo was also there, the same at-large councilor who is often promoted as a likely and formidable mayoral candidate in the future. He listened to parents describe how important the federally funded, ABCD-administered Head Start program was to their families, then slipped out before being given the stage. Imagine that, a politician who doesn’t consider his or her voice the most important one to be heard?

Chang-Díaz, Pressley, and Arroyo could pass for actors on a Fox primetime drama about inner city politics — “Mean Streets,’’ if you will — each of them young, attractive, and well-spoken. But the reality is their collective cause is painfully real and quietly carried forth. “These people live on the planet Earth,’’ the Rev. Eugene Rivers said of them yesterday. Added the Rev. Ray Hammond: “We’re going through a period of generational change, and we’ve got some great people rising up in leadership.’’

So back to Wilkerson for a moment, as well as to Chuck Turner, the ousted city councilor who disgraced himself more with his carpet-bombing reaction to the federal indictment and conviction than the bribe that he pocketed in his self-described “preacher’s handshake.’’

Before heading down I-84 toward Danbury last week, Wilkerson indulged her penchant for accusation rather than contrition. Specifically, she accused Hammond and Bishop Gideon Thompson of working with federal authorities to get her indicted — “doing the damage,’’ in her words. Hammond and Thompson both said they didn’t work with the FBI, and it is absurd to think that their help was even necessary.

“It was a cheap shot at people who’ve made a difference in the city of Boston,’’ Tom Menino said yesterday. Added Rivers: “Why on your way out the door would you trash two of the nicest guys in town, completely honorable men?’’

Because that’s just who Wilkerson is. In a state with a black governor who is close friends with our black president, Wilkerson and Turner lacked the talent and temperament to ever get out of their own way. It’s always easier to blame than achieve, or as Rivers said of the convicted duo, “They were all protest, no programs.’’

Say this for our new frustrated felons, though: At least they were kind enough to show the new generation of minority leaders exactly how not to handle the public trust.

Brian McGrory is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at mcgrory@globe.com.

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VIDEO!!! 3/6/11 Forum "Attack on Black Leadership"

BLACKSTONIAN EXCLUSIVE
in conjunction with Boston Praise Radio

VIDEO!!! 3/6/11 Forum "Attack on Black Leadership"

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TODAY!!! “THE ATTACK ON BLACK LEADERSHIP” Forum Sun. March 6th Hibernian Hall 5-8pm

COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS JOIN FOR ROXBURY FORUM

“THE ATTACK ON BLACK LEADERSHIP”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Jamarhl Crawford
blackstonian@verizon.net   617-297-7721

-Boston, MA- Local activists have joined in order to conduct a community forum which will be an examination into what is widely perceived as a deliberate “Attack on Black Leadership”.  The forum will be held Sunday, March 6th from 5pm – 8pm @Hibernian Hall 184 Dudley St. Roxbury.  Speakers will consist of Prof. Charles Ogletree (who serves as Sen. Dianne Wilkerson’s Attorney), King Downing (formerly of the ACLU, currently Ex. Dir. Human Rights Racial Justice Center), Prof. Robert Johnson (UMass Boston Africana Studies Dept., Author of “Race, Law & Public Policy”) and a presentation on surveillance in Boston by Kade Crockford (ACLU of MA, Privacy Rights Coordinator).

Organizer Jamarhl Crawford said “This forum will seek to answer the very basic question ‘Is there an ongoing effort by the US Government to destabilize the Black Community by targeting its leadership?’ While this question may sound like conspiracy theory to some, we have to examine the fact that the United States government has used its resources *to monitor, frame and in many cases assassinate Black leaders. Now that we have the information on programs like CoIntelPro and **Operation Fruehmenschen which were standard practice in the not so distant past, we must ask and answer this question to determine if the very same thing is happening in our present.”

The forum will discuss historical practices of the government’s targeting of Black leadership and organizations, modern day surveillance and information gathering tactics as well as an open discussion of the recent local federal cases against Chuck Turner and Dianne Wilkerson.

EVENT Sponsors:  New Democracy Coalition, Center for Church & Prisons, Union of Minority Neighborhoods, Human Rights Racial Justice Center, Blackstonian.com, 10,000 Strong Boston, Voices of Liberation, Pastor Bruce Wall, Bishop Filipe Teixeira, ACLU of Massachusetts, National Action Network-Boston

*Individuals & Organizations Targeted by the Government: Adam Clayton Powell, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, W.E.B. DuBois, Elijah Muhammad, Louis Farrakhan, Stokely Carmichael, Fred Hampton, Marcus Garvey, Paul Robeson, NAACP, SNCC, Black Panther Party, Nation of Islam, New Black Panther Party

**Operation Fruehmenschen (launched by no later than 1977) was the FBI's own designation for the Justice Department/FBI campaign to frame-up, jail, & drive from office, hundreds of African-American elected officials, because, in the words of one FBI agent, high ranking officials at the Bureau believed that “black officials were intellectually and socially incapable of governing major governmental organizations and situations.''

###

READ MORE - TODAY!!! “THE ATTACK ON BLACK LEADERSHIP” Forum Sun. March 6th Hibernian Hall 5-8pm

Dianne Wilkerson: ‘You gotta move on’ Ex-senator speaks out

Dianne Wilkerson: ‘You gotta move on’
Ex-senator speaks out
By Colneth Smiley Jr.  |   Saturday, March 5, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Politics

Photo by John Wilcox

Former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, who next week will begin serving 42 months on a federal bribery conviction, yesterday sat down with a Herald reporter to reflect on being “set up” by the feds, the “harsh” sentence she and ex-City Councilor Chuck Turner received and her plans for future public service. Following, for the first time since her indictment, Dianne in her own words.

Q: What’s your message to your constituents?

A: None of us are perfect. My message was and still is not that God expects you to never make a mistake. You’re gonna get judged on how you handle it when you make it. My advice to everyone, and I have to take my own advice, is that if you do, you gotta own up to it. You have to own it, you gotta stand up, you gotta own it, you gotta shake it off and you gotta move on. You gotta move on and that’s where I am. I don’t have any ‘woe is me,’ no bitterness as I start this next phase. . . . I want this piece to be over because I still have things that I want to do. And I want to get back to my family, to my community to resume the public work and try in every way, in every breath that I have and every moment that I have, in every breath that I take, to make up for the lost time and for the disappointment — whatever disappointment that people have.

Q: As far as you know, are you the only political figure to accept money for helping people with liquor licenses, legislation or anything else?

A: It’s a difficult question to answer. . . . I think that the practice in Massachusetts — both the practice and the policy — is fraught with gray areas where I do think there are probably elected officials who are engaging in activity that they even believe to be legal — which in fact it could be under our state law and may not be at all under federal law.

Q: Do you think anyone else should have been indicted? At City Hall? The State House? In the private sector?

A: This was a very purposeful, targeted, specific investigation where the federal government chose the defendants and then created the crime. And that’s a fact. In knowing that, if you’re asking me do I wish they had set somebody else up, my answer is no. . . . There should be little question with a little bit of investigation if this was a purposeful targeting where the FBI and the Boston police went out and hired and recruited informants, brought them from other parts of the country to pose specifically for the purpose and enlisted their full support in collaboration with Ron Wilburn to pose as friends of his for the sole purpose of ensnaring Sen. Diane Wilkerson and City Councilor Chuck Turner in their net. So in giving that, if you’re asking me if I wish they had done it to someone else, the answer is no. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.

Q: Do you think your sentence was unfair compared to U.S. Rep. John F. Tierney’s wife, Patrice Tierney, and former House Speaker Tom Finneran?

A: I think that the sentence imposed was harsh for me and even more harsh for Chuck Turner, given what I know about the facts of the case and how we got here. Yeah, I do. I think that the problem is it creates a whole new level and a bar that suggests if you sentence someone this harshly for a set of circumstances wholly created by the FBI and the U.S. attorneys created to ensnare them, what do you do when you have people who actually devise their own plan and get caught? . . . No. I don’t think it was fair, and I think it’s even more unfair for Chuck because of what I know about it. How the decision and the conversation that got him into this, like I said, was literally, ‘We’ve always suspected he’s been doing something. Let’s throw him in the mix,’ which shouldn’t instill any comfort in a population, in a people, about the justice and the fairness of the legal system. It’s the best one in the world and it works best when it works right and I would say this time it didn’t work right.

Q: Do you have a reading list for prison?

A: Not only do I have a reading list, but I plan to speak fluent Spanish by the time I’m done. That’s No. 1. I’m not going to sit idle. . . . I hope I am able to do some teaching. I can do GED, ESL classes, it doesn’t matter. I’m not sure what will be available but I taught before I came to the Senate so it’s not a new thing for me. I like the idea. . . . It could be an exciting opportunity.

Q: What are your plans for after prison?

A: To immediately re-engage in a process that allows me to serve the public in some way. I have more specific detail, which I’m not going to say, but whatever it is, it’s going to be serving the public because that’s what I enjoy.

Q: What do you think your legacy is?

A: I’m only in about halfway through the book.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1321161

READ MORE - Dianne Wilkerson: ‘You gotta move on’ Ex-senator speaks out

PEOPLE'S REPORT: TITO JACKSON

BLACKSTONIAN EXCLUSIVE


PEOPLE'S REPORT:

TITO JACKSON

By: Jamarhl Crawford Blackstonian Publisher/Editor


Editor’s Note: I was and am a supporter for Tito Jackson as an At-Large Candidate. However, as a resident of Roxbury, I do not think he is right for the District 7 seat. His personality is one that in an At-Large seat would ingratiate himself on the entire city; attending parades and attending to the needs of a diverse group of citizens across the city. Tito can be the Black Councillor who shows up at everything from Juneteenth to St. Patty’s Day and from the West Indian Carnival to the Gay Parade while doing the Tito slide. What may work well city-wide does not serve the very specific needs of District 7.

The Blackstonian has publicly endorsed the candidacy of Cornell Mills for District 7 City Council. However, this report is authored solely by Jamarhl Crawford and is not sanctioned or endorsed by the Mills' Campaign. I want people to be clear that this is an analysis for our community not motivated by hatred or allegiance, as I have done many times in the past and will continue to do in the future.

3/9/2011 UPDATE:

Part 2 of People's Report Here

http://blackstonian.blogspot.com/2011/03/all-new-info-peoples-report-tito.html

PEOPLE'S REPORT:

TITO JACKSON

So What’s The Difference?

Tale of the Tape... comparison and contrast between the two candidates.

Married?

Tito Jackson… NO   |   Cornell Mills… YES

Children?

Tito Jackson… NO   |   Cornell Mills… YES

Business Owner?

Tito Jackson… NO   |   Cornell Mills… YES

Donations?

Tito Jackson… 90% from outside District 7

Cornell Mills… 80% from within District 7

Endorsements?

Tito Jackson… Endorsed by Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Banner, Big Unions, Big Money

Cornell Mills… Endorsed by over 400 residents of District 7, Black, Latino, Cape Verdean, Youth & Elders

The Perfect Candidate…. For Them.
Is Tito’s non-confrontational nature better for District 7?

Frederick Douglass
“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”

A non-confrontational, conformist approach has historically never worked to advance people of color towards freedom, justice & equality. This approach was not used by Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks,  Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Marcus Garvey, The Black Panthers, Ida B. Wells, Frederick Douglass, Stokely Carmichael, Toussaint L’Ouverture, Amilcar Cabral, Kwame Nkrumah and many more who fought tirelessly for our comforts presently enjoyed. The very essence of confrontation is to be embraced when it is based on principle and becomes activism, organization and advocacy for the masses of disenfranchised people.
Unfortunately, for this position of District 7 City Council, Tito’s very nature will make it difficult if not impossible for him to confront the powers that be on our behalf and for our benefit.  Politics in Boston is a full contact sport and I am not confident that Jackson has the ability to aggressively pursue our interest in the face of opposition.


Follow The Money
A look at who’s banking on Tito to win.

Data source: Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Office of Campaign & Political Finance.
http://www.efs.cpf.state.ma.us/SearchContributions.aspx

In Tito’s Last Campaign (2009) for At-Large City Councillor…
In Tito's 2009 candidacy nearly 19% of his funds came from District 7 - even though he was running citywide and District 7 has 10% of Boston’s voters.

In This Campaign (2011) for District 7
Tito Jackson has raised $37,421 for the District 7 race as of his latest Feb. 22 Deposit Report
Only 12.9% ($4,815) of Tito’s donations come from District 7.
Which means 87.1% ($32,606) comes from donors who can’t vote for him.

Of the $32,606 collected outside District 7
$28,281 came from outside Roxbury, Dorchester & Mattapan.
52% ($19,485) of Tito’s donations come from the South End, Jamaica Plain, Beacon Hill, Back Bay & the West End.  (D7 portions not included.) Tito is heavily supported by younger professionals who do not live in District 7, regardless of their racial or ethnic background.

28% of his donations come from non-residential addresses.
These are almost always business owners & unions.

48 donors have given Tito $250 or more. Only 5 are from District 7.

39% of his total raised came from just 30 People and Organizations who have given Tito the maximum $500. Only 4 live in District 7.

15 of the $500 donations - 20% of his total raised
 came from non-residential addresses (i.e. business / unions)

This graphic is visually stunning and indicative of the very heart of this issue.

This image is representative of those who have invested money into Tito's candidacy and is eerily similar to an image of Pac-Man gobbling up our community.

Roxbury For Sale?!?

Tito has received $1,100 from partners at the highly-connected law firm McDermott, Quilty & Miller. Of that, $900 was received since 2/14. As Boston Magazine stated, "Nobody, it turns out, is better at getting a desired outcome from the Boston Licensing Board." Yes, the SAME Licensing Board from Senator Wilkerson & Councilor Turner's cases. http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/the_drinks_are_on_them/page1

Tito received $500 from Daniel Passacantilli on 30 December. It is unclear whether this is the Chief Probation Officer at Essex Juvenile Court, who was highlighted in the Boston Globe series on political corruption at the Probation Dept.; or, an individual with the same name (and also related to late City Councilor Fred Langone) who owns a telecom company. But the Passacantilli family has given over $71K to various Massachusetts candidates since 2002, spread out over 11 addresses and approximately 11 first names. The names and addresses often interchanged in the OCPF history. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/specials/spotlight/probation_list/

Tito’s Donors include a who’s who of Lawyers, Real Estate Developers, Lobbyists, State Policy Makers, Bio-Tech and Pharmaceuticals none of whom are from District 7. We have to ask why would so many outside the district be so concerned and heavily invested in the outcome of this election? In my estimation it is because Roxbury is fertile land with many underdeveloped parcels and they see money to be made and opportunity to be had for their own advantage and they view Tito as the person who will offer up least resistance for their plans of conquest. He may actually unwittingly aid gentrification, misjudging empty promises of economic development and employment.

A few of the notable donors(list still being researched, updated as new information comes in)

Steve Crawford – Deval Patrick Campaign Manager
John Diaz
Paul Donovan – Kierney, Donovan, McGee Lobbyist Real Estate Development
Charles Harjar – Real Estate Development
Mary Beth Hefffernan – Ex. Office of Public Safety (Prisons, etc.)
Phil Herman – Goulston Storrs Real Estate Development Legal
David Abromowitz – Goulston Storrs
Stephanie Anderson – Ofram Sylvania
Keenan Bigby – Trinity financial (run by Pat Lee ‘Affordable Housing’)
Josh Boguer – Vertex Pharmacy (Bio Tech firm came to Seaport from Cambridge)
Ben Clements – Attorney associated with Menino
Mark Derhogopian – Charlesmark Hotel
Coreen Ferguson
Ian Ferguson – Next Street Financial
John Finley – Epiphany School
Richard Glovsky – Mintz, Levin (Legal, Lobbying)
Joan Goldstein – Dept of Labor
Ann Margulies – State Chief Information Officer
Gary Myrad – Lobbyist
Dan O’Connell fmr. State Econ. Development Dir. + wife
Isabel and Frank Pryor – Penny
Connor Yunitz – Lobbyist
Greg Bilucky – State Office of Economic Development
Judy Ann Bigsby – Secretary of Health
Steven Brodsky – Real Estate Development
David Greeny – Synergy Boston
Byron Burns – Microsoft
Thomas McNamara – Silverlink Communications
Stephen Clark – State Department of Energy
Helen Greener – founder, IRobot
John Fish – Suffolk Construction
David Friedman – Atty. Goulston Storrs
Pierce Haley – Lobbyist
Marty Nee – Cushman & wakefield
Parsekkean Family
Doug Rubin – Casinos
Paul Scarpicchio – Mintz, Levin (Legal, Lobbyist)
Kerry Scarlett – Goulston Storrs
David Ballfagger – Lobbyist
Chris Benson – Rubicon Real Estate
Paul Vernon – Rubicon Real Estate
David Vegelfer – Real Estate Lobbyist


Relationships vs. Reality 
Connections or Commitment what works for our Community?

Once you have accepted the support of heavily influential unions and taken major donations from so many varied interests, we would be foolish to think that financial support for Tito comes with no influence. Of course those who donate to his campaign will expect their fair shot at a sweetheart deal or expect his support for a future endeavor probably already in the works.


Fact vs. Fantasy
Take a look at claims made by Tito Jackson during the campaign and see how they measure out.

Tito Jackson: “I created 2500 Jobs”

Fantasy: 2500 jobs were created through the Gov. Patrick Administration, Tito was employed by the Governor and did not create any jobs, these jobs were created by the Patrick Administration and Tito’s job was merely to oversee the dispensing of these jobs.

Tito Jackson: “As long as I am alive there will be no Schuyler St. Gang”

Fantasy: While technically, there is no gang properly named “The Schuyler St. Gang” Tito lives in the middle of heavy Gang activity. The Grove Hall streets of Schuyler, Elm Hill, Maple, Cheney are all hot spots for Criminal Activity, including Gangs, Drugs, Guns, Murder, Robbery, Domestic Violence, etc.

Tito Jackson: “I registered 50,000 People to Vote”

Fantasy: Tito’s cousin, Ron Bell, founder of Dunk The Vote ran this organization which over the course of several years, registered approx. 50,000 people to vote. Tito also worked for the Deval Patrick campaign, a significant part of which was registering voters. While Tito may have volunteered as part of both of these efforts, he is not individually responsible for registering 50k voters.

Ron left Mission Hill Center to become a full-time community organizer.  In 1992, he founded “Dunk the Vote,” a Boston-based, non-partisan, nonprofit organization that allowed him to organize and mobilize thousands of members of the hip-hop generation.  Over the past 14 years, Dunk the Vote has registered over 40,000 new voters.  In July of 2004 alone, during the Hip-Hop Summit, the organization registered over 7,500 people in a matter of weeks.  In October of 2005, as the project director for the Selma March re-enactment, Ron Bell managed to involve 5,000 people and 400 interfaith and multicultural organizations.
http://www.afampointofview.com/POV%20Archives/2007/July%202007/Ron%20Bell.htm

Tito Jackson: “I will use my relationships to deliver for District 7”

Fantasy: We have no evidence or past accomplishments to prove that Tito will be able to use his familiarity  with certain powerful people to deliver anything for District 7 that is not in their best business interests.

Tito Jackson: “A lot of our brothers in our community are on the street corners selling dime bags of illegally grown substances, I would like to see brothers on the corner selling dime bags of Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Collard Greens”

Fantasy: While it sounds nice, Urban Farming as Economic Development is not a feasible or sustainable solution to the unemployment in District 7.  A. Current Farmer's Markets aren't exactly huge money generators and massive employment machines B. Remember this Winter?!?

Tito Jackson: “I told the unions I will support you if you support me. We need some jobs in those unions but I have to talk to my community to make sure Brothers can get up early and be on time to those jobs.”

Fantasy: That statement is reminiscent of those same unions who many times were the chief perpetrators of discrimination in this city. It is eerily similar to the opponents of Affirmative Action who always inferred that somehow Peoples of Color were not deserving of those jobs and that the main reason for our own unemployment is based in laziness and shiftlessness.

Tito Jackson: “I have the Governor on speed dial. I will go to Scott Brown’s office if necessary.”

Fantasy: Any citizen or organization can call or write or schedule a meeting with any Elected Official. The question here is once again, can Tito deliver for District 7 when those people are not in agreement with the position of the community.

Tito Jackson: “The Legacy of My Father, Herb “Kwaku Zulu” Jackson”

Fantasy: We can find no evidence that Tito has ever participated in any of his Father’s organizational efforts. Furthermore, since the unfortunate passing of Community Champion Kwaku Zulu, Tito has not carried on his work or participated in any efforts to enforce the Boston Jobs Policy his Father aggressively monitored often times by protesting sites that were in non-compliance.


Analysis of Media Coverage


Both the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe have been known as no friends of the Black Community. The Herald houses the rantings of both Michelle McPhee and Howie Carr and the Globe, while the more cerebral of the two, still does us no favors in the telling of our story. The endorsement of the media in this town is significant, particularly when the same people who are currently endorsing Tito are the same people who are still in the process of castigating Wilkerson and Turner. The Boston Banner since its bailout by the Menino Administration has been criticized for being compromised and while Menino’s city machine has been supporting Tito it makes sense that a Banner endorsement would eventually follow.


CAUGHT TAKING FALSE CREDIT; DOUBLE TALK

From the Article: “Deval Patrick dances, dines in D.C.”
By Jessica Fargen / Pols & Politics  Sunday, February 27, 2011
A rough job market

District 7 City Council candidates Cornell Mills and Tito Jackson got testy with each other during a forum yesterday morning on 99.7 FM.

Jackson, the front-runner and a former director in the Patrick administration’s economic development department, boasted that he created 2,500 jobs in the state.

Mills refuted that, saying: “When Gov. Patrick campaigned, he said he brought those same 2,500 jobs. Is it realistic for an employee to suggest they are responsible for bringing jobs?” he asked.

“District 7 has the highest unemployment rate in the state. I would have made sure some of them landed in Roxbury or Dorchester and unfortunately, none of them did.”

Jackson responded by saying that the office drew to the state major IT jobs at companies such as Microsoft and Google. Jackson later told the Herald he could not say if any of those jobs were created in the district, but that people from the district have benefited from high-tech company jobs he helped lure to the state.

Further Proof:
As industry director for information technology in the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, Jackson has played a role in the Patrick administration’s efforts to bring more than 2,000 jobs to the Commonwealth by convincing tech companies like Google and Cisco to move business operations here. On the council, he said, he would also work to provide more job training opportunities and year-round positions for young residents.
Baystate Banner
http://www.baystatebanner.com/local11-2009-08-27

CODE WORDS

In the below examples pay attention to the words used to describe Tito, multiple times, by multiple writers, in multiple papers “Affable”, “Amiable” “Earnest”, Upbeat”, “Inclusive” all of which are code words for non-threatening, non-confrontational Black Man, ie; “He’s Pliable” “We can work with him”

Boston Herald “Moving on in District 7”
Tues. Feb. 8 2011
Tito Jackson called “Earnest”

South End Patch “Tito Jackson’s Winning Appeal”
Tues. Feb. 8 2011
Tito Jackson called “Affable” “Earnest”

Boston Globe “Tito Jackson’s upbeat message”
Fri. Feb. 11, 2011
Tito Jackson called “Upbeat” “Honest” “Inclusive”
Tito Jackson called “Amiable”

Boston Globe “Amiable vs. edgy for council”
Sun. Feb. 13, 2011
Tito Jackson called “Amiable”
Tito Jackson “No one would think twice about introducing him to the folks.”
“…stability of a Jackson”

Cornell Mills called “Edgy”
“Mills came across as bolder…”
“…buzz of a Mills."

In the very same articles they express their overwhelming support for Tito but the only explanations they offer are fluffy adjectives rather than qualifications and experience. They refer to work history but never list or cite anything specific. They refer to community ties, but other than where Tito resides, they never refer to specific current examples.  The claims made by the Jackson campaign are not at all fact checked by any media that I have seen, even though misinformation like Tito “created 2500 jobs” or “registered 50,000 people to vote” is so easily verified or debunked.

Tito is continually marginalized by the media and time and time again either he makes himself the butt of a joke or he becomes one unwittingly.

SouthEnd Patch "Tito Jackson's Winning Appeal"
By Christopher Treacy / About Town February 8, 2011
"Meanwhile, keep your eyes peeled for Jackson around town. He has a particularly soft spot for New York Pizza.  “Approximately twenty-five pounds worth of my figure has been generously supported by New York Pizza,” he said with a genuine laugh. “As an avid client for so many years I believe I definitely helped finance those lovely new renovations.”

Consistently there seems to be trouble in actually stating why exactly he is supported. The pattern examined below can be evidenced in all media coverage and endorsements of Tito.


South End News endorses: Tito Jackson for City Council Wednesday Feb 9, 2011
(Blackstonian comments in red)


South End News endorses Tito Jackson, a man with a plan.  (Never say what that plan is) That’s not the only reason to move this candidate to the final election by voting for him on Tuesday. Jackson, a lifelong Boston resident, knows how to make ideas and visions into reality. (Never say how or provide an example)
For example, every candidate wants to bring jobs to the district, but Jackson brings skills. He was an economic development director of the state. (Never show how that translates to delivery of services)
(After all that superficial mention of skills and plans and ideas and visions they can only come up with the following...)
He maintains his connection to lives of everyday people. This connection helps him to understand that the best program will fail without the right support. When asked on the campaign trail what he thought about banning smoking in public housing, Jackson told the Boston Globe "We have to make sure they have some kind of smoking cessation programs for the residents...I understand what they want to do, but it’s hard to quit smoking after 50 years.’’

At the same time that Tito is given the seal of approval and a pass from scrutiny, Cornell Mills is somehow portrayed as tainted, and his so-called criminal record (which is not a record at all) is continually brought up. They mention “arrests” and as an afterthought they show less attention to the fact that all charges were dismissed or Mills was found “not guilty”. The entire justice system is built on the fact that arrests DON’T COUNT. In this instance not only are we supposed to forget about “Innocent until proven guilty” but we are supposed to view Cornell Mills as guilty even after proven innocent.

The Media has even somehow attached a negative connection from Cornell Mills to his Mother Dianne Wilkerson. This is a very cheap and thinly veiled attempt to discredit and sully, as if any Son who is a real man is supposed to disavow his own Mother and have any position other than unconditional love and support.

TITO JACKSON VS. CHUCK TURNER; FIGHT OR FLIGHT?



Although Tito Jackson has the endorsement of Chuck Turner, a few points of clarity need to be distinguished.
Chuck Turner was quoted as saying “I believe Tito will make a fine successor.” This was in October well before any candidate had officially pulled papers. Candidates could sign up for papers on Dec. 16th and the papers were ready on Dec. 22nd. An “endorsement” of Tito in October was premature to say the least.

Jackson, Mills top big field in City Council preliminary
By John M. Guilfoil Globe Staff / February 16, 2011

Jackson emerged as the front-runner well before yesterday’s preliminary. He won major labor endorsements and raised $40,000 in campaign funds, compared to his nearest rival’s $3,500. Turner, who still carries some weight, endorsed him immediately after Turner’s October conviction on federal corruption charges.

Particularly if the endorsement was as it seems, based only on Chuck’s relationship with Tito’s Father Herb “Kwaku Zulu” Jackson. However despite this “endorsement” Turner secured legal counsel to bring a Federal case against the City of Boston for his ouster from City Council and this case in part sought to STOP THE SPECIAL ELECTION TO REPLACE TURNER.  This is a simple question of pure logic. If I recommend you to be the new Director of a Division in my company and at the same time I am seeking to eliminate that entire division, then what is the value of my recommendation?

Judge denies Chuck Turner’s bid to halt Feb. election; Refuses to quash entire suit
Boston Herald By O’Ryan Johnson Tuesday, February 8, 2011
"City Council candidate Tito Jackson’s campaign spokesman — who said Jackson was endorsed by Turner even though the ex-councilor is trying to block the Feb. 15 election — declined to comment directly on Wolf’s decision to strike down the injunction and allow the campaign to proceed."

Even more disheartening is the fact that Tito Jackson is a polar opposite to Chuck Turner and his Father Herb “Kwaku Zulu” Jackson who were both activists, community organizers and fought tirelessly and sometimes literally to ensure justice and fair access to Black/Latino/Women residents.

Tito has been endorsed and funded by IBEW Local 103 – A union that NEVER supported Chuck Turner and fought him tooth and nail because he consistently criticized them over workforce diversity issues.

Tito has been endorsed by Firefighter Local 718 – The firefighters union that consistently battles with Black/Latino Firefighters over diversity in hiring and promotion.

Why do these unions consider Tito so safe to support? Is Tito the legitimate continuation of the legacy of the Greater Roxbury Workers Association?

The media has in fact made it quite clear that they and many forces are truly endorsing Tito for the simple reason that he is the Anti-Chuck. They have successfully removed a constant thorn in their side and want to replace it with the soothing balm of Tito brand complacence. The Globe makes it quite clear.

Boston Globe
CITY COUNCIL ENDORSEMENT | GLOBE EDITORIAL
Tito Jackson’s upbeat message February 11, 2011
"Yet a new generation of leadership is emerging in Boston — one focused more on tackling concrete problems and expanding the economic pie than on refighting the same old battles. Tito Jackson, a 35-year-old economic-development specialist, embodies this shift. He’s the standout among the seven candidates vying for the District 7 seat in a special preliminary election on Tuesday."

"Turner’s antagonistic style lost its effectiveness long ago. Jackson, in contrast, is an especially amiable candidate."

Is This What You Want?

When looking for leadership, particularly here in District 7 so under siege by drugs, gangs, violence, prostitution, gentrification and unemployment our community has to ask itself what we really want. Does it do us any good to place our faith in a leader who is not taken seriously, known for outrageous behavior and who is so supported and endorsed by the very same powers we have been fighting against in order to get even a small sense of justice?

What type of man do you want representing you for District 7? Do you want a leadership that exudes confidence and can stand eye to eye with the powers that be or do you want self-deprecation and buffoonery.

Disclaimer: Many people may ask why would we make the following pictures public? These pictures were already public, proudly posted on Tito Jackson’s Facebook page, so to me it’s fair game. The question is not why would we re-publish such photos, but why would he take them? I do not do this light heartedly or in jest, this is a serious question as to if you will choose leadership that can and will be taken seriously....

Ask yourself, what does leadership look like? 

Does it look like this:

  

       

3/9/2011 UPDATE:
Part 2 of People's Report
http://blackstonian.blogspot.com/2011/03/all-new-info-peoples-report-tito.html

READ MORE - PEOPLE'S REPORT: TITO JACKSON

All Panelists Confirmed!! “THE ATTACK ON BLACK LEADERSHIP” Forum Sun. March 6th Hibernian Hall 5-8pm

COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS JOIN FOR ROXBURY FORUM

“THE ATTACK ON BLACK LEADERSHIP”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 1, 2011

CONTACT:
Jamarhl Crawford
blackstonian@verizon.net   617-297-7721

-Boston, MA- Local activists have joined in order to conduct a community forum which will be an examination into what is widely perceived as a deliberate “Attack on Black Leadership”.  The forum will be held Sunday, March 6th from 5pm – 8pm @Hibernian Hall 184 Dudley St. Roxbury.  Speakers will consist of Prof. Charles Ogletree (who serves as Sen. Dianne Wilkerson’s Attorney), King Downing (formerly of the ACLU, currently Ex. Dir. Human Rights Racial Justice Center), Prof. Robert Johnson (UMass Boston Africana Studies Dept., Author of “Race, Law & Public Policy”) and a presentation on surveillance in Boston by Kade Crockford (ACLU of MA, Privacy Rights Coordinator).

Organizer Jamarhl Crawford said “This forum will seek to answer the very basic question ‘Is there an ongoing effort by the US Government to destabilize the Black Community by targeting its leadership?’ While this question may sound like conspiracy theory to some, we have to examine the fact that the United States government has used its resources *to monitor, frame and in many cases assassinate Black leaders. Now that we have the information on programs like CoIntelPro and **Operation Fruehmenschen which were standard practice in the not so distant past, we must ask and answer this question to determine if the very same thing is happening in our present.”

The forum will discuss historical practices of the government’s targeting of Black leadership and organizations, modern day surveillance and information gathering tactics as well as an open discussion of the recent local federal cases against Chuck Turner and Dianne Wilkerson.

EVENT Sponsors:  New Democracy Coalition, Center for Church & Prisons, Union of Minority Neighborhoods, Human Rights Racial Justice Center, Blackstonian.com, 10,000 Strong Boston, Voices of Liberation, Pastor Bruce Wall, Bishop Filipe Teixeira, ACLU of Massachusetts, National Action Network-Boston

*Individuals & Organizations Targeted by the Government: Adam Clayton Powell, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, W.E.B. DuBois, Elijah Muhammad, Louis Farrakhan, Stokely Carmichael, Fred Hampton, Marcus Garvey, Paul Robeson, NAACP, SNCC, Black Panther Party, Nation of Islam, New Black Panther Party

**Operation Fruehmenschen (launched by no later than 1977) was the FBI's own designation for the Justice Department/FBI campaign to frame-up, jail, & drive from office, hundreds of African-American elected officials, because, in the words of one FBI agent, high ranking officials at the Bureau believed that “black officials were intellectually and socially incapable of governing major governmental organizations and situations.''

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READ MORE - All Panelists Confirmed!! “THE ATTACK ON BLACK LEADERSHIP” Forum Sun. March 6th Hibernian Hall 5-8pm