News item: “Activists Najee Ali and Earl Ofari Hutchinson accused of working with LAPD to arrest Ferguson Protestors”
My immediate reaction was: Wow.
This was a serious allegation, especially considering both gentlemen’s history of steadfast support of the black community.
I began to research the website. Who would make such a charge? I couldn’t find anything. Most websites have an “About” page that will tell you who is running the site, and their mission. I said, let’s see who wrote the article. No byline. No one who could be held accountable.
To maintain my objectivity, I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe this was just an oversight. I read the story. Then they pimped their hand. The story said, “The Christian Science Monitor reported on Nov. 25 that local community activists met with the Los Angeles Police Dept., weeks prior to the Ferguson grand jury decision, to discuss how to control the impending protests.”
Many leaders do that to head off the possibility of black people being brutalized and killed by overzealous LAPD officers, as has happened in the past.
In the next sentence, the story said, “Activists Najee Ali and Earl Ofari Hutchinson have been accused of planning with LAPD to embed persons into the protests, who would then tip off the LAPD.”
The question: Who accused Mr. Ali and Mr. Hutchinson of conspiring with the LAPD? The name of the person, or persons, who made the accusation should have been conspicuously displayed. A basic tenet of good journalism is to provide the reader with “who, what, when, where, and why.”
In spite of the sloppy journalism, I went directly to the Christian Science Monitor story. I did not find one person accusing either man N of conspiring with the LAPD.
What people have gone to such lengths to conceal their identity? They may be a group financed by the Koch Brothers, or an arm of the Conservative Consortium for the Division and Denigration of Black People for all we know.
We should use this as a teaching moment for the black community. Just because it is in print, does not mean it is true. We are played like that all of the time.
Eric L. Wattree is a writer, poet and musician, born in Los Angeles. A columnist for the Los Angeles Sentinel, the Black Star News, a staff writer for Veterans Today, he is a contributing writer to Your Black World, the Huffington Post, ePluribus Media and other online sites and publications. He also is the author of “A Message From the Hood.” Mr. Wattree may be contacted at Ewattree@Gmail.com http://www.whohub.com/wattree or Http://wattree.blogspot.com or Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)
