VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS: A PORTENT OF THINGS TO COME

Minister Cornell Lewis has spent many years fighting for justice for all oppressed people. Most recently, he has been facing a battle that is both political and personal. He has been fighting with his (former) employer, the Department of Children and Families (DCF),  regarding treatment of Black and Latino employees. He has planned protests in front of DCF offices, he has urged residents of Hartford’s North End  to learn their rights and deny DCF workers admittance to their homes without just cause. He has written articles and letters regarding the treatment of Black and Latino employees and the lack of representation in the managerial ranks. He has also filed a suit against DCF, along with some of his co-workers from the Connecticut Juvenile Training School (CJTS), due to the disparate treatment of Black and Latino males.

As a result of his fight for justice within DCF, Minister Cornell Lewis has lost his job. DCF fired him over and incident they CLAIMED put children in danger. In reality, he was fired because he was considered a rabble rouser. In fact, DCF used various methods to try to get him to resign. But that is not the type of person Minister Cornell Lewis has ever been  or will ever be. Although he is no longer employed by DCF, he vows to continue to fight for fair treatment for Black and Latino employees.

It is unprecedented for a state employee to be dismissed unless there is proof of gross incompetence. That is not evident in this case. Minister Lewis has been a positive influence in the lives of the children he has been working with, and should be seen as an asset to DCF and CJTS. Instead, he has been targeting unjustly simply for fighting for his rights and for the rights of other people of color in the employ of DCF.

DCF involved two fellow employees of CJTS in their disciplinary action against Minister Lewis. Although they have not been terminated, and probably will not be, this was a transparent ploy of the part of the CJTS administration to cause friction between Cornell Lewis and his co-workers. Minister Cornell Lewis has refused to allow this sort of injustice to continue simply for fear of “making waves”. He may be despised, dismissed and turned against by former allies, but he WILL continue to fight.

Joanna Iovino, Editor, the Hart Monitor

ARE STORM CLOUDS GATHERING OVER THE PLANTATION?

I helped organize a rally in Lozada Park -Hartford, CT- recently to give neighborhood people a chance to vent about Trayvon Martin. People are upset about George Zimmerman being acquitted of Trayvon's death. While 300 plus people gathered at Lozada Park another dynamic took me by complete surprise. During and after several speeches, comments were made about my recent firing by the Department of Children and Families and Connecticut Juvenile Training School. The media reported my position " the termination is due to my activism and use of free speech rights in pointing out bias--injustice." In the Northend of Hartford and other areas people see DCF as having been punitive in their handling of me. At the rally most conversation revolved around how to answer the bold action toward me from a state agency.

Let it be known there are people in the community planning demonstrations toward CJTS/DCF in the near future. I want to be clear it is not Cornell Lewis who will be out there in front of these agencies but other people. It is not Cornell planning this but the mixed rabble. When people commit certain actions, the ramifications of those deeds take on a life of their own. In this case dark clouds- of community distrust and anger- are gathering over the DCF Plantation which might morph into something else.
In closing let me state it is my hope the community does not go buck wild and demonstrate etc, yet the situation is not being controlled by me.
I just wanted to inform the public about what is happening in Hartford's Northend.

NOW THEY CLEAN IT UP: CJTS CHECKING COMPUTER USE

The concept of leading from the rear is nothing new within administrative circles on DCFplantation. Since FOIA documents revealed { on this website} how DCF leaders abuse state computers while working, a new policy is quietly taking place. At Connecticut Juvenile Training School administrators are investigating employee computer use.However, it took DCFplantation documentation to make this new policy happen.Like the old KeyStone Cops characters CJTS leaders are always a day late and dollar short: the abuse of state computers is nothing new,winked at especially if maanagement was involved. There are rumors CJTS leaders now seek to go back at least 5 years to ascertain who  unlawfully used computers. Hey, how come leaders were not out in front of such an issue earlier? Now through the process of leading from the rear ( only acting on an issue after it is problematic) CJTS leaders are gung ho for something.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST: POLICY AND PROCEDURE LYNCHING

This video cartoon is meant to convey a social justice message. The video is not intended to promote violence toward any person or institution.

"AP News Break: Outspoken Conn. DCF critic fired"

APNewsBreak: Outspoken Conn. DCF critic fired

By SUSAN HAIGH / Associated Press / July 11, 2013

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — An activist minister and Department of Children and Families employee who has long been critical of his employer over racial issues, has been fired from his job as a youth service officer at the agency’s Connecticut Juvenile Training School in Middletown.

A DCF spokesman confirmed Thursday for The Associated Press that Cornell Lewis, a six-year employee at the state’s only secure facility for delinquent teenage boys, was terminated on July 3 following an incident last October when he failed to supervise youth under his care.

Gary Kleeblatt said Lewis was found on a computer with two other officers looking at non-work related content when a youth ‘‘received a serious injury.’’

Lewis and another officer were looking at the computer for approximately 25 minutes, while the third was watching for about four minutes, DCF said.

Kleeblatt said Lewis had failed ‘‘his most important duty and responsibility.’’

Lewis, 63, contends his firing, which he plans to challenge, is retaliation for his years of activism and public criticism of DCF and CJTS.

‘‘The incident is being used as an excuse to get to me,’’ he told the AP. ‘‘I've been targeted for the six years that I've been at DCF. I've been targeted as a black man who exercises his free speech and DCF has a bad record of disproportionately disciplining black men.’’

Lewis has been involved in a number of protests over the years, attempting to draw attention to what he claims is a racist attitude at both DCF and the training school. In 2009 he went so far as to encourage residents to refuse services from DCF because he said it lacked sufficient minority staff. Click here to keep reading.

MYTH OF DIVERSITY AND BLACK MALES: ARE BLACK MALES ENDANGERED SPECIES?

The myth of diversity in hiring by State agencies must be looked at in light of reality and not a gypsy pipe dream.White males and females are certainly hired equally as the chart shows. However, men and women of color are not hired equally; we find in the graph black females are hired more than males; there is a 18% gap  between the two: by the way 29% of all black males working for the State are employees of the Department of Corrections. And by comparison only 2% of black males work for Department of Education.While the only other place black males are hired in abundance is the Department of Transportation-as road crew labor. In slavery times in the South, slave owners hired more black females for work in the plantation houses; now in this modern  state plantation system, black females abound. In the future we will have more analysis on this issue.

We used 2009 report because according to CHRO website, 2010-2012 has not been published, but we do not expect the data to change. Click here to read the entire report.

Misleading the Public. "Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics"

DCF spokesman Gary Kleeblatt said…  more than 45 percent of DCF's staff are minorities, with more than 50 percent at the Connecticut Juvenile TrainingSchool.

DCF spokesman Gary Klebatt said that more than 50 percent of CJTS staff are minorities as you can see in the first chart, apparently his statement is true, but misleading without looking at the details, but lets look at the second chart.

Chart One

If you look at the CJTS staff in detail and by departments as you can see in "Chart Two", you will find that Youth Services Officers "CJTS Custody" represent almost all the minorities employed at CJTS, and that Whites occupy all other positions in very high percentages, including all the "Administration positions".

Chart Two

Chart three shows that when you exclude the Youth Services Officers, then only 19% of the staff are Black and 73% of the staff are Whites.

Chart Three

Furthermore when you dig down, the  percentages of Whites who hold high level positions are even higher than the chart above. Below is a chart that I excluded the following positions,Youth Services Officers, Barber, Substitute Teachers and Instruction Assistant, then the percentage of the staff who are black are only 13.75%, and the percentage of staff who are White are 80%. We already know there are very high percentages of adjudicated residents in CJTS who are Black / Hispanic, and I will have more data about this in the near future.

Chart Four

DCF DISCIPLINARY 2011: HARSHER PENALTIES FOR PEOPLE OF COLOR

Chart one shows that 52% of employees at DCF are white and 48% are people of color.

Chart two shows that the majority of disciplinary actions within DCF are against employees of color.

Chart three shows that harsher disciplinary actions are taken against employees of color, and not whites.

More information about this unequal treatment towards employees of color will be coming soon.

THE THREATENING BLACK MALE AS CONTINUAL THEME

The story you are about to read was submitted to Inquiring News publications last week of June. It was printed July 3 on page 4.Since then certain facts have occurred to change my situation a little but this story is still relevant.

While growing up in Detroit, Michigan as a youth one day my gaze focused on a Jet Magazine picture. The grotesque face on the page was that of a human being, Emmett Till. This fifteen year old black male was brutally murdered in the 1950s by white terrorists in Money, Mississippi for “whistling at a white woman.” Till was a threat in the thinking of whites because of attitudes he brought from Chicago that did not fit into a Southern worldview that declared blacks act [obsequious] a certain way. Trayvon Martin died by gun shot on February 26, 2012 in Sanford, Florida. The shooter George Zimmerman described a black male that appeared threatening due to the way he was acting. Martin did not have a weapon (unless you count a bag of Skittles or soft drink as lethal).

There is a theme of black males as threatening which permeates the American psyche.

We can find the same theme of threatening black males (at least in the consciousness of some caucasians) inside the Department of Children and Families/ Connecticut Juvenile Training School. In both institutions there are more disciplinary actions directed toward black and Latino males than other ethnic groups. If you peruse the website dcfplantation.org or dcfplantation.blogspot.com you find all data needed to bolster my argument that 66% of DCF disciplines are geared toward males of color. The question in my mind revolves around why males of color are seen as threatening in America? We read that Emmett Till brought different thought patterns from Chicago to Money, Mississippi and white males said this could not be tolerated. Till died. Then Trayvon’s threatening manner entailed walking through a housing complex with a hood over his head. Trayvon died. Sherlock Holmes obvious question to Dr. Watson would be what are males of color doing, within the DCF plantation that causes such fear?  Let me offer you a sample case.

I have worked at DCF/ CJTS for six years and during this time period many males of color departed due to management chicanery. Hell, in my case management considered me a threat simply because of pointing out perceived biases and injustices. Now if thinking in a linear fashion or being educated makes me threatening to white management then that is their issue.

 Let me break this down like an organic compound.

Within the DCF plantation worldview black males are usually tethered in some form. A watchful management will always find policy or procedure to either use in 1. disciplining males of color, 2. placing a muzzle on any male who speaks out (this comes through supervision meetings or calculated plans to discipline the talkative male), 3. using other people of color as a Judas goat to lure black males of color into a position where management can deal with them-and then point to someone else as villain. All of these methods described are used to deal with threatening black males. I have not only organized protests about DCF/CJTS biases, but went on a hunger strike plus joined in a five person class action lawsuit against DCF/CJTS. But before any of those things occurred management had me targeted as threatening black male: the items in my possession to be deemed as threat, education and verbal skills.

In conclusion being a black male in America has been a risky thing since days of slavery. No longer are we lynched or castrated as punishment for perceived slights. Today the criteria used for punishing males of color within DCF/CJTS and America have changed.  It is clear there is the concept of threatening black male as continual theme in America.

                    

STORY DATED JULY 2ND

It has come to our attention that the story posted on July 2 [ The Cross Hairs Focus On The Religious ] contained some language that could be considered threatening. It is not the intention of this blog to threaten anyone nor incite violence against anyone.

AND WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?

People in America will celebrate the July 4th holiday engaging in mirth or eating food. However an activist friend of mine asked a question about commitment to struggle involving issues. Her comment revolved around the toll taken on activists in many ways. I print below what she said.

"Well, in truth a lot of folks I know who have been active in many change and resistance movements over the past few years are starting to feel very burned out and dejected. The tides are against us these day, in increasing strength, perhaps from fear of what is to come and how to keep "control" over the masses. But everywhere you turn there is something to worry or fight back about."
  I responded to the activist in words below.

"Most activists in change and resistance movements over the years might be feeling dejected or burned out as you say. However, if people stop fighting then does that concede victory to others? The tides are always against fighters,whether in ancient Rome (Plebs vs. Patrican ), France during the Great Terror, those who fought against the abolition of the slave trade in Britain (and won after many years), or Mandela's struggles against Apartheid.

Some where in those epic struggles I suspect people grew tired of fighting against tides of resistance. Then you read how Elizabeth C.Stanton and Susan B.Anthony fought for decades to get women the right to vote. In the book Not For Ourselves Alone these two women grew tired but kept fighting.

I guess it depends on what worldview drives you and commitment.

Medgar Evers fought for 6 years just to present black people's views on segregated television in Mississippi. One day he got his wish-first black to ever do so. I guess he to grew tired. 

THE TIDES HINDERING PROGRESS HAVE BEEN IN PLACE SINCE ANTIQUITY."

THE CROSS HAIRS FOCUS ON THE RELIGIOUS

The angst displaying itself at Connecticut Juvenile Training is threatening a racial conflict of epic proportions. A Youth Service Officer of color seems to be targeted by "the usual suspects" at CJTS and it goes ignored. While working one day at CJTS a YSO of color wore a shirt displaying verses or a saying from the Bible. This religious person of color ( if asked) will talk about his faith in Jesus or the Bible-i'm okay with that. However, one day another YSO saw the shirt with Biblical verses on it and complained to Human Resources that as a non believer any reference to Biblical scripture on public display was deemed offensive. Human Resources made the christian man of color take off the shirt or risk disciplinary action. Now the story should end here except for 1. YSOs of color complained months ago to HR about  being targeted by a white employee, 2. a concentrated effort is now put out to ensare all types of non whites in a net ( by a white employee).
If a white employee of any business complained consistently about people of color harassing them a siren would go off and the Key Stone Cops would come screeching around corners-clubs in hand. At CJTS people of color are not only misused by management but those attack dogs utilized to keeping " those people in their places."  Yet when you let any attack dog randomly roam free it loses perspective and challenges anyone ( old master too)---- whether the dog is provoked or not. Let the record show how in the past CJTS management skillfully used this caucasian YSO as lead attack person but now sit by idily as the dog turns rabid. Daily personal slights at CJTS by caucasians towards people of color increase daily: lines outside HR by people of color to lodge racial complaints rival the number of Hebrews Moses led from Egypt. At this juncture management either cannot or will not leash that rabid canine. Hell, do what works in the West with rabid canines-shoot them.
the reference in the last line was merely metaphorical, and not intended to advocate violence of any form.