Advertisement. Advertise with us

Oneonta NAACP Calls

For ‘Positive Energy’

In Response To Death

ONEONTA – Lee Fisher, Oneonta area NAACP president, released a letter this morning calling for citizens to make their communities stronger in the wake of the murder of George Lloyd, the black man who was pinned down and suffocated by Minneapolis police officers.

“When we saw the heinous act of another black man, George Floyd, intentionally being held down by four relaxed policemen and George not resisting arrest, but resisting suffocation and pleading ‘I can’t breathe, please let me stand,’ it makes us return to the actions during the Civil Rights Movement of the ’60s,” Fisher wrote.

“We could go back to Emmett Till in Mississippi, Ronna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, Eric Garner in New York, Trayvon Martin and just a few weeks ago, Ahmaud Arbery, in Georgia shot dead running through a predominately white neighborhood, along with many others too numerous to list or mention. We are not surprised, we are angry.”

He continued, “Yes, again we are shocked when most of these killings we have witnessed, through new technology, except Emmett Till, result usually without immediate arrest. When these incidents happen they continually make your blood pressure spike for weeks, but we are not surprised of the bad police action throughout our nation and time and time again our justice system not resolving cases.”

On Thursday, Fisher and his wife Joanne participated in a national webinar presented by Derrick Johnson, national NAACP CEO/president, with panelist including presidents of the Minneapolis, Georgia, Louisville and New York branches, each explaining the situations happening in their communities, sharing what their communities were doing in the days, weeks and months ahead.

“President Derrick Johnson strongly emphasized that if change is to be made, people must use positive energy,” said Fisher. “Complete the Census, get to the polls on Nov. 4 and make a concerted effort to know your legislators and community leaders.”

“Talk abut it, denounce social injustice, raise awareness and most importantly, join your local NAACP,” Michelle Osterhaudt, NAACP VP, wrote in an email to members. “These are the way that you can make your communities stronger.”

“This moment is calling us to stay strong even though we are outraged,” said Fisher. “And now, more than ever, we must fight and demand justice, and ‘When we fight, we win.'”

Posted

2 Comments

  1. Well said. There are so many of us that walk in this battle battle everyday of discrimination, and it doesn’t matter if it is about color, weight, or disability. Discrimination is just that, the question to people everywhere, is what is in your head? What is in your heart? Are you making a positive impact for all, or are you being fueled with something negative. As only positive atracts positive, and negative just hurts everyone.

  2. I’m with you.
    Zero tolerance for this kind of behavior from our police forces or anyone “we the people “ trust to serve and protect all citizens no matter what color their skin is.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Related Articles

SCOLINOS: It’s All We Need To Know: Home Plate 17 Inches Wide

COLUMN VIEW FROM THE GAME It’s All We Need To Know: Home Plate 17 Inches Wide Editor’s Note:  Tim Mead, incoming Baseball Hall of Fame president, cited John Scolinos, baseball coach at his alma mater, Cal Poly Pomona, as a lifelong inspiration, particularly Scolinos’ famous speech “17 Inches.” Chris Sperry, who published sperrybaseballlife.com, heard Scolinos deliver a version in 1996 at the American Baseball Coaches Association in Nashville, and wrote this reminiscence in 1916 in his “Baseball Thoughts” column. By CHRIS SPERRY • from www.sperrybaseballlife.com In 1996, Coach Scolinos was 78 years old and five years retired from a college coaching…

Sports Can Resume, Superintendents Told

CLICK HERE FOR MEMO TO SCHOOLS Sports Can Resume, Superintendents Told COOPERSTOWN – In a memo released Friday evening, county Public Health Director Heidi Bond advised local school superintendents that sports can resume as early as Monday. “Effective Feb. 1, participants in higher-risk sports may participate in individual or distanced group training and organized no/low-contact group training,” Bond wrote, “…including competitions and tournaments, if permitted by local health authorities.”…

Killer Ricky Knapp Dies In Prison

Killer Knapp Dies In Prison; Guilty In SUNY Coed’s Death ONEONTA – Ricky Knapp, the man convicted of the 1977 death of SUNY Oneonta student, has died in Mohawk Correctional Facility, according to prison records. Knapp, 66, died March 8, having served 40 years of a 25-to-life sentence for a 1978 manslaughter conviction in the death of 18-year-old Linda Velzy, a SUNY student from Long Island. According to reports, Velzy was last seen Dec. 9 1977, hitchhiking in downtown Oneonta.…