~rainbow assgrab junction~

sonofbaldwin:

This story is not being covered by the mainstream media.

http://justiceformarissa.blogspot.com/2012/04/lincoln-b.html

Lincoln B. Alexander Jr on behalf of Marissa Alexander

Case No: 2010-CF-8579

Division: CR-G

April 3, 2012

Dear Supporters:

On August 1 2010, my premature baby girl, born nine days earlier, was in the Baptist South N.I.C.U. fighting for her life and I would too be fighting for my life in my own home against an attack from my husband.

My name is Marissa Alexander, I am a mother of three children, but at the present time, I am not able to be with them due to the following circumstances. I am currently sitting in the Pretrial Detention Facility in Jacksonville FL, Duval County awaiting a sentence for three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon with no intent to harm. Before my life changed drastically on that August afternoon, I was in the perilous position of leaving an abusive relationship with my husband who has history of violence and documented domestic abuse towards women. 

Our history included one which required me to place an injunction for protection against violence and was active during the month of August 2010. In an unprovoked jealous rage, my husband violently confronted me while using the restroom.  He assaulted me, shoving, strangling and holding me against my will, preventing me from fleeing all while I begged for him to leave.  After a minute or two of trying to escape, I was able to make it to the garage where my truck was parked, but in my haste to leave I realized my keys were missing.  I tried to open the garage but there was a mechanical failure. I was unable to leave, trapped in the dark with no way out.  For protection against further assault I retrieved my weapon; which is registered and I have a concealed weapon permit. 

Trapped, no phone, I entered back into my home to either leave through another exit or obtain my cell phone. He and my two stepsons were supposed to be exiting the house thru the front door, but he didn’t leave.  Instead he came into the kitchen that leads to the garage and realized I was unable to leave.  Instead of leaving thru the front door where his vehicle was parked outside of the garage, he came into the kitchen by himself.  I was terrified from the first encounter and feared he came to do as he had threatened.  The weapon was in my right hand down by my side and he yelled, “Bitch I will kill you!”, and charged toward me.  In fear and desperate attempt, I lifted my weapon up, turned away and discharged a single shot in the wall up in the ceiling. 

As I stood my ground it prevented him from doing what he threatened and he ran out of the home.  Outside of the home, he contacted the police and falsely reported that I shot at him and his sons.  The police arrived and I was taken into custody. I was devastated and would continue to be for months following the incident.  I had to appear in court all the way up until trial as I plead not guilty and know that I acted in self-defense.  I believe my actions saved my life or prevented further harm, but preserved that of my husband who was completely irrational, extremely violent, and unpredictable that day. Florida has a self-defense law and it includes the right to stand your ground. 

Below are the facts of my concern with the incorrect way the law was applied and ultimately the injustice in my case.

• The alleged victim, my husband, under sworn statement in November 2010, admitted he was the aggressor, threatened my life and was so enraged he didn’t know what he would do.
• The alleged victim, my husband, was arrested for domestic violence two times, once for abuse against me.  The attack against me was so violent; I ended up in the hospital.
• Prior to my arrest, I told the office I was in fear for my life due to the prior violence against me.  I also told the officer there was a domestic injunction in place to protect me against abuse from the alleged victim.  This information was written in detail by the officer in my arrest report, but ignored for some unknown reason.
• In July of 2011, a hearing was held, where I along with the alleged victims testified as it relates to the stand your ground law and its immunity from prosecution.
• After the hearing, Judge Elizabeth Senterfitt denied my motion, citing that I could have exited the house thru the master bedroom window, front door, and/or sliding glass back door.  The law specifically states: No duty to retreat. My attorney entered a standing objection on the record to the ruling and we proceeded to trial.
• During that time, Angela Corey, our State Attorney met with the alleged victims.  I also along with my attorney met with Angela Corey, John Guy, and then prosecutor Christen Luikart. 
• I justified my actions to them and the truth as I have told it has remained the same. Knowing our prior domestic abuse history, Angela Corey was hard pressed for the minimum mandatory, which provisions allow for prosecution to wave those stipulations. 
• I was not guilty, nor did I believe that was fair and just under the circumstances.  She also allowed for those same provisions in the State vs. Vonda Parker, same charges different circumstances which did not include self-defense.
• Florida uses a law commonly known as 10-20-life as a sentencing guideline when a felony takes place with the use of a weapon.  Under this statute, my felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to harm carries a twenty year mandatory sentence.
• Stand your ground law has been applied in multiple recent incidents, the following is just a couple of incidents.  Carl Kroppman Jr was allowed to use this law to avoid being arrested/charged during a road rage incident on the Buckman Bridge in Jacksonville, FL in August of 2011.  Marqualle Woolbright of Ocala, FL avoided murder charges due to the stand your ground law when he shoot and killed someone.

I am a law abiding citizen and I take great pride in my liberty, rights, and privileges as one.  I have vehemently proclaimed my innocence and my actions that day.  The enigma I face since that fateful day I was charged through trial, does the law cover and apply to me too?

A step further and more importantly is in light of recent news, is justice for all include everyone, regardless of gender, race or aristocratic dichotomies.  I simply want my story heard, reviewed and the egregious way in which my case was handled from start to finish serve as an eye opener for all and especially those responsible for upholding judicial affairs.

The threat that day was very real, imminent, and the battery on me occurred minutes before the decision I made to protect myself.  That decision was a last resort, necessary and a reaction to the continued threat on my life.  I am a believer that grace allowed for my response to be carried out in a non-lethal manner.  This prevented the imminent threat and harm a non-fatal tactic, but not against an unknown attacker, rather my very own husband. 

That was by far the most difficult position to be in nine days after giving birth to a six week premature infant.  My heart goes out for my two stepsons and always has had a hurt and sincere empathy for them being subjected innocently to that trauma. The law states that I was justified in standing my ground and meeting force with force up to including deadly force, but political views and concerns states otherwise in the fourth circuit court.

So my last questions and valid concerns are what was I supposed to do that day and the stand your ground law who is it for?

Sincerely, Lincoln B. Alexander Jr on behalf of Marissa Alexander

ladyatheist:

olivia’s gladiator: Anonymous asked: K BUT U RONG DOE, [n-word redacted].

alexandraerin:

world-wide-webby:

ok this is going to sound incredibly racist at first but i feel a need to add my 2 cents.

*snip

(Trigger Warning: Dehumanization, genocidal violence, white person trying to describe what the n-word means.)

Imagine there’s a word that refers to a certain type of person, but it doesn’t just mean “a member of this group”… it’s a special word with a special meaning, and that meaning, broadly, can be summed up as:

“I could kill you. I could kill you and your death would not even be considered a crime. People will say that you got what’s coming to you. They will invent reasons why you deserved it, and if they can’t think of any it won’t matter because you’re just a [that word]. I could kill you, and maybe I will.”

Imagine that people have died horribly… humiliated and mutilated in ways you couldn’t even imagine… with this word ringing in their ears. Imagine they’ve been hunted like animals for sport or out of existential anger or injured pride while that word is shouted all around them. Imagine they’ve been kept out of communities with lethal violence by people using that word as warning and justification, imagine they’ve had their own communities invaded and destroyed by people using that word.

And then imagine somebody who’s never had to fear that word comes along and says that it’s just a word, or that it’s just a slur like any other slur, or that nobody ever has any reason to fear it if they don’t give it any power.

This is a word that still gets shouted out of passing cars, still gets muttered under breaths, still gets said to people’s faces and it’s not always the last thing that someone hears but it always could be because that’s what the word means, that’s what it’s for, and some jackass comes along shouting it and saying that any harm the word could do is in the past and equality and freedom of speech means we can all sing it like it’s a happy song if we want to.

In the United States, in the English language, we actually constructed a word like this. White folks created it and imbued it with its meaning, because our economic system required us to have a word that would not just describe a group of people but strip them of their humanity and designate them as expendable. We have used this word to terrify, to terrorize, to oppress and destroy and murder for centuries.

I’m tempted to say something like “it doesn’t matter how most of us mean it, as long as there are some few people who are using it to harass and intimidate, as long as some people are saying it with murder in their hearts, it still retains its power.”… but really, that lets us off the hook too easily. Because one of us using the word “innocently” as a joke, or even as a slur with no intent of physical violence behind us, or to show that we can in some misguided display of how very defiantly free our speech is… well, we’re part of the system. We’re administering and reinforcing the lesson that the word is supposed to teach.

And the more we defend our “right” to say it, the more we ignore the fear and pain of the people the word was created to enslave and destroy, the bigger a part we’re playing.

You’re right. Language was created to allow human beings to communicate. In this case, it was created so white (and other non-Black) people could communicate that it’s open season on Black people. 

You’re right about where the word came from, but you’re wrong in thinking that the bastardized slur is just a mangled version of the original word, meaning the same thing. It’s not. It was custom engineered. It’s not a bastard; it was sired for a purpose.

There’s a great post floating around about the journey for how a word that just meant “black” (a noun only when referring to itself as a color, an adjective when referring to other nouns) came to be a noun, and what this signifies. I wish I could find it now. I would have linked to it at the beginning of this post. 

In our mouths, the word will always be a threat.

In our mouths, the word will always be a weapon.

So why would you want to use it? And if you don’t want to use it (despite doing so repeatedly in your post), why would you care if Black people choose to?

joshishollywood:

Last night, I was up past midnight cleaning chocolate off of my duvet cover. This morning, I crashed headlong into a wall trying to go to the bathroom at work. I am turning 23 years old on sunday. I have had slightly more than two decades to get this shit figured out.

At least you know what a duvet is. 

face-down-asgard-up:

coelacanthteeth:

imagine an entire room and it’s all bed

no floor, just bed

you roll too far to one side? don’t worry, bed’s still there

all is bed

thiscakeisnotalie:

School President:

Honor Students:

hnngggg