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| William Davis National Action Network, President |
I was scrolling through my Facebook page
and saw a woman holding a sign in a post. I could tell that she was in a forum.
I had seen similar post over the last few months. I had said to myself, “Self,
you don’t need those kinds of problems”. One day, out of curiosity, I stopped scrolling
and listened. The audio was of poor quality.
This woman, Sonjia Simpson-Gardner, had her phone number all over
Facebook, because she was asking for help for her and her daughter. She claimed
that the Southfield Police Department was harassing her. She alleges that her
next-door neighbor got his daughter pregnant, and one of her certifications
made it her business to report crimes of this nature. After reporting the
crime, she claims that he got some friends, on Southfield’s Police Department,
to begin a harassment crusade that caused her harm.
Based on what she told me, she couldn’t
work. When she did find a job, she would be fired without cause. We had just
met, and I didn’t understand how she could continue living in her home in
Southfield. She has a beautiful home, and I know the taxes there must be quite
a bit, and I asked how she was surviving. She told me that she got welfare, worked
odd jobs “here and there” and had “friends” that would help. What she said was,
“And you know I have my little friends that help me out”. I took that to mean
she had a couple of men that helped her out. I have one man that helps me out.
So, the “s” was kinda interesting, but I still didn’t judge her. “Tough times
call for tough measures” that is, until you cross me. Then I must tell my
story.
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| Sonjia Simpson-Gardner |
Sonjia told me that she had been going to
Southfield City Council Meeting trying to get help. It was there that she found
“the others” who had been going through it with Southfield’s administration.
Many of its residents were being “unfairly” thrown out their homes. It seems
that the Black people of Southfield are being targeted for their homes. Except,
they are being evicted for failure to pay their taxes. How can someone set you
up, for something that you failed to do? I could see if people of Southfield
were being kicked-out their homes and had paid their taxes. It’s contrary to
that. If you don’t pay your taxes, your home is taken, and you are evicted. It’s
like the residents are stealing, or squatting. You pay your taxes you stay, but
you don’t pay: an eviction notice is placed on your front door.
What makes it so bad, some of these home
owners had paid for their homes. The way it was explained is that the city wasn’t
informing the residents and selling the homes to organizations like “Habitat for
Humanity” and other organizations. Another argument is the city is buying the
homes themselves and selling them, after the fix them up, for top price. The man
who was telling the story, said that they were selling to Whites and stealing
the homes from Black owners, because they don’t notify them and sell the homes
out from under them. He says that he wants to buy some of the homes to sell. He
says that he keeps going to the Treasurer’s office to collect a list of the
properties up for sell, due to delinquent taxes and he keeps being denied. So,
they claim a conspiracy to make Southfield White, again. My friend, whose
father worked for Ford lived in Southfield. Her family moved there in 1984 or
so. It was around that time that many middle-class Black people were moving
into Southfield from Detroit.
Now, some of them weren’t middle-class folk.
Some of them were drug dealers looking to invest their illegal funds in a new
home or one of the high-rises in Southfield. Because of that, I feel that
Southfield is corrupt. I wrote a blog about a year ago about their old Chief of
Police, Eric Hawkins. He was very crooked in my opinion. He was involved with a
theft ring at my job at Sears, where his mother worked. In that blog, I wrote
of his affiliation with Community Network Services (CNS). Ironically, he left
Southfield in August of last year. Hawkins is a Black man, and up until he left,
Sonjia and her friends couldn’t claim racism. She claims that all her woes
started two years ago. There were no claims of a racist system by these people,
until Hawkins left or after the woman running for Mayor, who was
African-American, lost. Now everything is Black and White, when I say that
everything is corrupt; period. I don’t care what color you are. She created a
flyer to bring attention to the racial inequality in Southfield. It is posted
below. She picked all the Whites out, but there are African-Americans in the Southfield administration and on their City Council.
I’m not saying these people are lying, but
what I’m saying is that people not paying their taxes is not the fault of the
city government. What they should do, instead of attacking an obviously
vulnerable government, is raise money for those unable to pay their taxes. A
system that has a majority White administration and a predominately Black citizenry,
will always be marked racist. Ms. Simpson-Gardner has a good platform, but a lascivious
way of going about it. If the man wants to buy these homes, he should find who
needs help and help them, instead of screaming racism. I stood, in what was the
first Oakland County Meeting of the National Action Network (NAN) and
proclaimed that all White people aren’t bad people. After that, the entire room
turned on me. Their leader, a minister called Reverend Charles Williams II, had
just said it was important to keep the district, infamously governed by John
Conyers, Black. As I listened, I heard remarks about how the young men in the
streets of Southfield were being victim to “Stop and Frisk” in the
neighborhoods. I disagreed with the police doing that but, what else?
When I spoke to Sonjia over the weeks, she
told me about people who didn’t believe her stories. She told me one that I
found to be unbelievable. She claimed lots of things, like rat poison in her walls,
break-ins and job loss. She claims that police came and picked her up and took
her to the mental ward at Beaumont Hospital. The man she had accused of child
molestation had claimed the she had told him that she wanted to end her life. She
also claimed that contrary to my experience of being jailed for long periods of
time and committed three times, none of that had been done to her. Even if I’d
been battling the police for the last 20+ years, it would be up to her to run
the Oakland County Chapter of NAN. I told her that was fine, I never wanted to
run anything, and only wanted someone to help me with my situation. Only she
had seen my Facebook profile picture and felt that I would be competition,
because her situation was so that looks and prowess was essential to be a part
of this “organization”.
She and her players were all there. They
had their meeting before the meeting and had decided on several issues. The
first being that Sonjia would be president and four men stood up and said that
was their wishes. A woman, I was suspicious if that was true or not, also
stood up to support her. I just sat back and laughed to myself. I had seen this
kind of behavior in the Baptist church 20 years before. I was kicked-off the
serving committee at church in a secret meeting. One day there was a funeral, and
I was informed that I no longer was a server, but a clean-up committee person. The
head of the clean-up committee took me by the shoulders and whispered, “It’s
okay, we get to have all the leftover food”. The Pastor, the reason I was
kicked off, because I got to serve him, called me to him. Handing me his empty
cup he asked for another cup of juice. I informed him that I couldn’t wait on
him, because I was no longer a server. He simply replied, “Who told you that?” He
practically placed the cup in my fist and order, “Girl, if you don’t get me
some punch!”
It has always been that way with me and
women. I am always nice to everyone, but they just don’t like me and feel
threatened. It was an honor to serve our Pastor. I wasn’t allowed that honor,
and the woman in charge of the servers had asked, in the secret meeting, “Who
told her she could be on the serving committee.” Mrs. Arnett had taken up for
me and had digressed but found that Ms. Jefferson was being mean. I had only
started serving, because no one else was there to help. In fact, Ms. Liza was
never at any of the events, funerals or afternoon services, but I was always
there. But this was all about money now. Sonjia had a mortgage and a young
daughter and no job. I’m sure she was tired of her “friends” and wanted a
chance to get her own money. Everyone joining the group had to pay $25 to join.
I couldn’t stand it! She also sat and told
Reverend Williams the President, William Davis, of the entire State of Michigan that she wasn’t
going to spend all her time and money on starting the chapter and not be
president. He just laughed and told her that they needed to elect committees
before they started voting. Plus, he needed more members from Oakland County to
participate, before electing officers. It’s not just a Southfield thing and all
cities in Oakland County had to be represented. I left, because I saw where it
was all going. I didn’t like her hug and I didn’t like her “people”. She was
race baiting, along with the “other things” that she was doing to get control.
I wrote to Pastor Charles Williams II, afterwards and he is so messy. Messy,
just like I remembered the Baptist church being when I was placed on the
clean-up committee. When I attended his meeting in Detroit yesterday, it was
clear that there is an underline sexual content to his organization and women
like me, didn’t get help, unless we could “come” for the male members.
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| Charles Williams II (left), Sam Riddle (center) and the President, William Davis of the Detroit Chapter (right, w/ hands in pocket) |
In fact, the President, William Davis, of the Detroit
Chapter told me just that. I asked for a ticket to the “MLK Brunch” on Monday
January 21. He asked me if I had some money. I told him I did not. He then
asked me, “Will you come?” Oblivious to the sexual tone of his question at the
time, I smiled and said, “Yeah, I’ll come. I asked for a ticket, didn’t I?” Seeing
my oblivion, he looked at me with an unkind face, and the Pastor pointed at me
and said, “You can give her a ticket.” Davis, turned and walked away. I
guess I’m not invited, unless I come or pay. Sonjia stood at a short distance pouting,
like a child whose bike had been stolen. It’s not surprising the founder and
leader is Al Sharpton was married at one time. Once he lost weight, he divorced
his wife and got a younger woman. It trickles down from the top. Plus, his debacle
with Tawana Bradley. I was weary about this group, because that was so shameful
and he never quit.
I was looking for the address to National
Action Network on Google. I got the number of this man named Thomas Brown. I
asked him if he was a NAN representative. He told me, he was a member, but that
some police had put his number on the internet as NAN. I talked to that man for
three hours. He wouldn’t shut up! Then he got a call, took too long coming back
and I hung up. He called me back with another man on the phone. Tommy that
lives in Pontiac. We ended up talking for another hour. The other Tommy found
it interesting that I liked the Reverend Charles Williams. I understand why,
now. I don’t like him, because he plays church games. He had one of his members
walk around the church, after the meeting, to warn them about me. I have no
idea why. I just wrote to let him know that I don’t want anything to do with
having sex with people for help. I’m not a whore. My mother never raised me to
solve my problems with sex. I’d do day-work, if I needed help. My body is not a
tool used for barter in any situation.
I know that Southfield has its problems,
but coochie ain’t going to solve them. Plus, Southfield is 71% African-African.
In the last election, the two contenders were both City Council members. Siver
who won, was a long time resident. If the woman, who is Black, should have won
by a landslide, if everyone in Southfield thought that Siver was a racist and
out to displace Black people in Southfield. In the midterm elections, only 12%
of the African-American Community voted. Instead of making flyers making Siver
out as a racist, maybe they should organize a “Get Out and Vote” initiative for
the elections in 2020. Because racism and race-based recruiting, promotion and
propaganda is so obvious. It must make sense, however, and Simpson-Gardner’s
platform is the same ole mess. Like I told Ms. Simpson-Gardner, the police know
all about her. They aren’t threatened by her at all. They know how she picks it
up and lays it down. I don’t know how I’m going to get out of this drama I’m in.
Since I’m not welcome to the brunch, I guess I’m not welcome in the
organization, because my pants stay on and my knees stay clean…
This reminds me of my time at the Oakland
County Jail. The attempts on my peace of mind, through harassment. I don’t
prescribe to police, because I don’t know who to trust. For Gardner-Simpson to
have had problems with the Southfield Police. I don’t understand her zeal for an
organization that holds appreciation parties for the Police. The “Blue Wall” is
real and it protects it own. I’m not sure what her motivation is, anymore!
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| Police Appreciation Flyer |
I was handed this flyer, after the meeting at the Historical King Solomon Church in Detroit...
