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posted 08-06-08 Community Home Makeover Saturday, August 9 @ 10:00 am Scope of work Volunteers and Material Donations To make monetary donations click here: Donations or drop off at FWBC. posted 02-26-08 Rally on Racism in Arlington Friday, February 29, 2008 @ 12 noon The E. R. A. Movement is asking everyone to wear the color Black on February 29, 2008 in support of the Rally on Racism in Arlington, Texas on the steps of City Hall @ 12:00 noon. Location: Arlington City Hall 101 W. Abram Street Arlington, Texas 76010 E.R.A. Spokesperson: Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, III - Senior Pastor Click here for Rally on Racism in Arlington ( Press Release) Meeting at FWBC at 10am and will be leaving all other locations at 11am. Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, III - Senior Pastor Friendship-West Baptist Church 2020 W. Wheatland Rd. Dallas, Texas 75232 (972) 228-5200 church (972) 228-5201 fax directions to FWBC Meeting places to Caravan to E.R.A. Rally on Racism in Arlington Bishop R. Jordan Inspiring Temple of Praise 2012 E Lancaster Ave. Fort Worth , TX 76103 (817) 870-9828 |
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View related links CBS 11 Dallas News WFAA Lubbock Online TXCN Outside.In Topix Cheat-Seeking Missiles NBC 5 |
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| News in the Community CBS 11 Arlington In Uproar Over Racially Motivated ARLINGTON (CBS 11 News) ― Silk Littlejohn and her fiancé Broderick Gamble are in the process of building a home in Arlington's Timberview housing addition. Their home is on Ross Trail. "We want to build with the community. That's one reason we moved over here, to be a part of the community," said Gamble. But on December 19, police say Silk Littlejohn was attacked by her soon-to-be neighbor, Grace Head. The 66-year-old was arrested for assault and charged with a hate crime. She was also arrested for jumping on the couple's car and throwing trash in their yard. Prosecutors are expected to ask for enhanced hate crime penalties against Head. Two days later, a racial slur along with the words "kill" and "die" were spray-painted in large red letters on the couple's garage doors. Police have yet to arrest anyone for the crime. The couple decided to leave up the graffiti. They said paint alone would not remove the words from the doors, and they plan on replacing them. "Why would they want to cover it up when the reminder is there? People can come out and see what's going on in the world," said Tina Allen, Arlington resident. Thursday morning, City of Arlington officials and the Arlington branch of the NAACP addressed local media about the incidents. City leaders said this type of crime will not be tolerated. "This crime against Mr. Gamble and Miss Littlejohn was also against every person in Arlington; 370,000 people had this crime committed against them," said Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck. Officials from the City of Arlington and the police department held a town hall meeting at W. Ross Wimbish Elementary School Thursday night. "Here's a lady that was hit by a two-by-four across the face. This is different than high weeds. This is different than routine graffiti in our city, and as long as I'm mayor in the City of Arlington, we will help victims," Mayor Cluck said at the meeting. "The city should've given him a citation," said one neighborhood resident. While many other residents may have agreed, their shoots were met by a crowd of others who were there to support the couple. Also at the meeting, a radio personality announced that he was able to raise enough money to get a new set of garage doors for the home. Gamble said he is ready to move on and learn from the experience. Dallas News Racial hatred comes calling at family's new home Are racist acts isolated incidents or sign of deeper tensions? 09:24 PM CST on Wednesday, January 2, 2008 ARLINGTON – This is a rather troubling tale. A black couple moves into a neighborhood. It's the summer of 2005. Their house catches fire two days after they move in, but it's ruled an accidental blaze caused by an iron that was left on. Fast-forward to Dec. 19. The same couple is accosted by an elderly white neighbor who pelts them with racial slurs. Two days later, the new house they're building is defiled with the N-word. And now the couple is publicly questioning whether the 2005 fire really was an accident. Those incendiary incidents have caused a backlash stretching from Tarrant County to Dallas County and beyond: Demonstrations are in the works. The city has organized a neighborhood meeting for tonight to quell concerns. And the mayor has hastily called a news conference to publicly address the matter. All involved are trying to figure out exactly what kind of problem Arlington has. Is it a racially tinged misunderstanding involving one couple? Or is there more sinister underlying racial tension in the North Arlington neighborhood? The uproar began about two weeks ago when Broderick Gamble and his fiancée, Silk Littlejohn, found the words "KILL" and "DIE [N-word]" spray-painted on their garage. Police still don't know who did it. The graffiti surfaced, police say, two days after Grace Snowden Head, an elderly white neighbor who lives a few blocks away, struck Ms. Littlejohn in the face with a two-by-four. Ms. Head was charged with assault, criminal trespass and failure to identify herself to a police officer. After she was released, she was arrested again three days later on a warrant for felony criminal mischief for "jumping up and down on these folks' car and sitting on it," said police spokesman Lt. Blake Miller. That also happened Dec. 19, but police waited for a damage estimate before filing charges, Lt. Miller said. The charges against Ms. Head were referred to the Tarrant County district attorney's office as a hate crime because Ms. Head was using racial invectives in front of police, Lt. Miller said. "It was clearly a racial tirade [that] Ms. Head went on," Lt. Miller said, adding that Ms. Head refused to leave the couple's property after an officer ordered her to do so. Ms. Head was out of jail on bail but could not be reached for comment yesterday. Now comes the question posed earlier: Do one woman's actions signal a deeper racial problem in the once-quiet, tree-lined neighborhood? Apparently so. Plus, Mr. Gamble said there have been other problems such as dead animals and trash being thrown in his yard. "It's not just her," Mr. Gamble said of Ms. Head. "They've been trying to push us out of this neighborhood for a while." Others see it differently.
"She's African," he said. "I don't mean African-American." Duly noted. "I consider them friends," Mr. Cantrell, 51, said of Mr. Gamble and Ms. Littlejohn. "But I'm real disappointed that they haven't taken that [racial slur] off their door. If they really want to ease the tension that would help."
Broderick then told Willie to leave his property and never return. Willie then called 911 and told the police Broderick told him to leave his property….. The next day the couple found the demonic picture on the right of this article next to their home. Later that day, Willie told Broderick, “You see that picture? That’s how we really feel! WFAA New offers to remove racist graffiti ARLINGTON — Arlington city leaders said Thursday they hope a couple will allow a radio station to replace a garage door spray-painted red with "Kill" and "Die" N-word. The racial slurs appeared on Broderick Gamble's garage door on Dec. 21, two days after a neighbor assaulted his fiancée, Silk Littlejohn, striking her in the face with a two-by-four and shouting racial slurs. It is not clear whether Gamble, a contractor who has been building his dream home for two years, has accepted the offer to replace the garage. Gamble could not be reached for comment. The city had offered to remove the graffiti either by painting over it by sand-blasting it away, Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck said. However, Gamble declined the city's offer, saying he wanted the grafitti to stand as a symbol of the racial prejudice he and Littlejohn have endured. Mayor Cluck vowed Thursday that the city will stand by the couple and vigorously investigate the incident. "There is no room in Arlington for people who perpetuate hate crimes, particularly those based on race," the mayor said. "Arlington has a long history of being a diverse community." Rita Sibert, president of the Arlington branch of the NAACP, called the act "heinous." Arlington police Chief Theron Bowman said he has asked that the charges against Head be upgraded to include hate crime enhancements. Officers have gone door-to-door looking for information, Chief Bowman said. A meeting is set for 7 p.m. Thursday night at Wimbish Elementary School to let members of the community ask questions about the incident, police said. The school is located at 1601 Wright Street. Lubbock Online Fiance of beating victim agrees to remove graffiti
Broderick Gamble, who is black, rejected some of his neighbors' requests and the city's offer to remove the racist graffiti. He said he wanted people to see the stark symbol of hatred, which appeared two days after his fiancee was allegedly beaten with a 2-by-4 board by one of their white neighbors. But Thursday, Gamble said he is ready to put the incident behind him, now that people are aware that racism remains a problem in today's society. Cheat-Seeking Missiles Outrage In Arlington Over Hate Crime There's outrage in Arlington following an attack on a black woman and racist graffiti spray painted on a garage door. About two weeks ago, Broderick Gamble and Silk Littlejohn found racial slurs spray painted on the garage of their home. Just two days prior to that, Littlejohn was allegedly hit with a two-by-four by a 66 year-old neighbor. She now faces hate crime charges. Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck joined the police chief and the president of the NAACP to ease racial tension in the upscale neighborhood and across the city saying Arlington will not tolerate these types of crimes. After at first refusing, Gamble announced here on KRLD that he now plans to accept and install new garage doors. Mayor Cluck will join the NAACP at a meeting at Wimbish Elementary tonight to discuss the issue. NBC 5 Prosecutors To Charge Arlington Woman, 66, With Hate Crime ARLINGTON, Texas -- Prosecutors said they will charge a 66-year-old Arlington woman with a hate crime in connection with the beating of a black neighbor. Officers said Grace Head beat Silk Littlejohn with a 2-by-4 in the front lawn of Littlejohn's home near Fielder Road and Sanford Street, which is under construction, on Dec. 19. Racist graffiti was sprayed on the house a few days later, police said. NAACP Press Conference |
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Upon the announcement of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. cities across America reacted in different ways. In Atlanta Georgia an FBI agent yelled with joy, “they finally got the s.o.b!” In Arlington Texas a milk man argued “he got what he preached” and white students in a dormitory of the University of Texas as Arlington cheered when they heard the news.” From the book Let the Trumpet Sound-A Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by Stephen B. Oates page 494. In March an all-white jury convicted Christopher Brosky of murder in the 1991 drive-by shotgun slaying of Donald Thomas, 32, outside his home in Arlington, a Fort Worth suburb. Mr. Brosky was in a car with two other teen-age skinheads but did not fire the shotgun that killed Mr. Thomas. The jury recommended 5 years in prison to be followed by 10 years' probation. But the trial judge, Everett Young of Tarrant County District Court, imposed only the probation, adding an 180-day term in jail as a condition for it. Mac Watson, a bailiff in Judge Young's court, said that under Texas law a jury may not recommend probation if it is also recommending a prison sentence of less than 10 years. And if the jury makes such an errant recommendation, he said, the judge must then impose probation. Both of the other teen-agers in the car pleaded guilty to murder and testified against Mr. Brosky. George (Trey) Roberts 3d, who fired the shots, was sentenced to 40 years in prison; the driver, Joshua Hendry, 15 years. Mr. Brosky's probation sentence led to protests in both Fort Worth and Dallas and received national attention at a time when the second trial was under way in the Rodney G. King beating case in Los Angeles. Attorney General Janet Reno has ordered a Justice Department investigation to determine whether Federal civil rights laws were broken in the killing of Mr. Thomas. Mr. Brosky is now serving his jail term. New York Times newspaper published May 19, 1993. |
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And what do we make of the racial slur on the garage? Does it lend enough to the mix to warrant the mayor and civil rights leaders jumping into the fray? (A group of Dallas-Fort Worth pastors is organizing a march.) 
Mr. Gamble's next-door neighbor, William Cantrell, said that Mr. Gamble is a nice guy but that he's giving the neighborhood a bad rap. To underscore that he is not prejudiced, Mr. Cantrell, who is white, pointed out that he's married to an African woman. (The Cantrell’s are now divorced)
Later in 2009; On May 13 th, 2009 Broderick Gamble witnessed Willie Cantrell in Grace Head’s garage laughing and talking with her. Later that day Willie went to Broderick and Silk’s home, Broderick then asked Willie why was he at Grace Head’s home, if he claims he didn’t know her and was appalled about the hate crime she had committed? Willie stated he had talked to Grace Head’s Attorney and that he would believe a white man any day over a black man.
The neighbor implicated in the assault, Grace Head, 66, was arrested on charges of assault with bodily injury, criminal trespass and failure to identify herself to a police officer. Head, who lives about four blocks away, did not respond to in-person requests for an interview. 
ARLINGTON - For the past two weeks, hate-filled words sprayed with bright red paint have remained on a home's white garage doors: "Kill." "Die (N-word)."