Black Birdseye View - Commentary by Robin Ess

Black Ex-RPD cop indicted of obstruction of justice for his part in framing over a dozen black men who were charged with selling or trafficking heroin. The questions still remains....What about the other 7 cops? What about the black people who are still looked up on bogus charges? Indictment is not a victory.....it's a crumb.

P.2 Attorney Dawn Blagrove Talks Law.

Jackal: Robin I am only about one thing and that’s forgiving and forgiveness.

Me: You would be because you need forgiveness.

Jackal: I’m only about forgiving and being forgiven. I can’t undo what I have done. I can’t make history all over. I done wrong. I’m sorry, and that’s all I can do.

• If you forgive me you forgive me.

• If Stone forgive me she forgive me.

• If Stormy forgive me she forgive me

• If your mama forgive me she forgive me.

I can’t undo the past. I have to just let it go.

Me: I forgive you.

Jackal: Because if I live in the past, I will be a dead man tomorrow.

Me: I forgive you.

Jackal: I’ll be a dead man tomorrow….You gone be a dead man tomorrow.

Me: Do you hear me? I needed to say that to you because the last forgiveness was based off missing information.

Jackal: Like I say, we gon just have to let it go and ask the Lord to forgive us. I spent a lifetime trying not to repeat my sins. I just can’t…I can’t keep living in the past.

Me: I agree.

Jackal: It can only destroy me, Bunk, and everybody. Crystal and all of them, they decided to move on and just let it go. Cause they know you can’t change the past. We all made mistakes. We all have done terrible terrible things. Me, you…all of us done terrible things in our lives.

Me: I aint did no terrible things.

Jackal: Thank God you haven’t, but it’s a lot of us. I’m not the only one…I have done terrible things and I am thankful that the Lord forgave me for those things, and I was able to forgive myself and the people I done to. I haven’t been a saint. I’m…I’m sorry.

Mama: Robin you look good.

Jackal: and I’m hoping you can get past all this.

Me: Me too.

Mama: I look terrible. I mean thank you, I feel like I look bad.

I am writing a book called Maternaless Instinct. It's a true story that shines the light on how common it is for a woman to pick a child predator over the child. The first half of its episode reflects my thoughts at the beginning of the year in January. The last part of this episode reflects my thoughts this month. It’s a mad backward world we live in where the child molester is not punished and still has access to the Family…where the wronged get stoned and the silent treatment for telling the truth.

I took the time to speak with Martin Abdullah to get his perspective on what it means to be Black in America.

· Attorney Watsi M. Sutton graduated from Washington High School in 1994 with highest honors and then obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in 1997, graduating summa cum laude after only 3 years of college.

· Attorney Sutton pursued and obtained her law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law in 2000 and was licensed to practice law by the North Carolina State Bar in August 2000.

· Before opening the office of Watsi M. Sutton, P.A., Attorney Sutton served as an Assistant District Attorney for the Honorable Seth H. Edwards, District Attorney for the Second Judicial District of North Carolina, comprising Beaufort, Hyde, Martin, Tyrrell, and Washington County.

· Attorney Sutton is the former Managing Attorney for the New Bern office of Legal Aid of North Carolina, a nonprofit law firm serving 80,000 low-income citizens in northeastern North Carolina, facing foreclosure, domestic violence, family disputes, unemployment, and tenant evictions.

· Prior to returning home to eastern North Carolina, Attorney Sutton worked in large and mid-sized Raleigh area firms, handling civil disputes on behalf of large corporate clients.

· Endorsed by the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys, Attorney Sutton was a nominee for District Court Judge in 2010, winning the May 2010 primary.

· Though she did not prevail in the general election, Attorney Sutton's candidacy helped to expand the local electorate by engaging first-time, young and diverse voters across five counties around the cause for justice for all.  Attorney Sutton was again nominated for District Court Judge in February 2018 by her attorney peers.

· As a solo practicing attorney since 2006, Attorney Sutton has concentrated her practice primarily in the criminal and civil District Courts, representing clients in traffic, criminal and domestic matters. Among her colleagues and court personnel, Watsi is an astute attorney who is well respected for her diligence and passionate advocacy on behalf of her clients.

· She is a member of Koinonia Christian Center Church, in Greenville, N.C., where she serves in outreach ministries and the church bookstore.

· Watsi is the proud mother of a son in college, Cameron.

It Makes no Sense

Written and recited by Robin Mills

I took the time to speak with Mr. Martin Abdullah. He is a Black Man, A Father of two Sons and two Daughters, He is a Muslim, and was once a police officer. I was most interested in his perspectives on the current climate surrounding police brutality against Black people in America. 

I had the pleasure of sitting down with TraVon McDougal, a resident of Raleigh, NC. I sought him out to interview specifically because I saw a photograph of him that was taken during the protests that followed the killing of George Floyd. The photograph was charged with so much energy that I had to reach out to this young man to get his take on the current climate surrounding police brutality. After doing my due diligence, I discovered that Mr. McDougal was the brother of Akiel Denkins, a Black man who was shot and killed by the RPD in 2016. Unbeknownst to me, this young man had a story. He arrived at my home on time and was prepared to sit with me and let me pick his mind. My first impression was that he seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulder. Be on the lookout for July's Black Bird's Eye View in the Carolina Call Newspaper when I will give perspectives of police brutality from various perspectives.

Interview with "Freeway" Ricky Ross