Like many of you I continue to feel the bullets of injustice
fired from the automatic weapon into the temple of the children in the Hamilton
County juvenile court system. Some facts:
About 70% of detained juveniles in Hamilton County are
black, though the county’s population is 25% black.
Judge Hunter ran her campaign on a platform of
Rehabilitation, Education, Application, and Restoration
What’s that mean?
It means that she is a “tough but fair” judge that refuses to be part of
the good ole’ boy network of the school to prison pipeline treating children as
commodity.
Last week when I
heard the news that Juvenile Court Judge Tracie Hunter was indicted by a
Hamilton County grand jury on eight felony counts, I cried for our children.
After the tears over this 21st century hightech lynching, came the action plan. I’m not just going to talk or write about
it, I’m going to be about it and do something.
If you feel the same way, here are - 4 easy steps that take less than 10 minutes
each - to help Judge Hunter. These
actionable steps that I present aren’t necessarily new, nor will they work if
you don’t use them. Use them and share them.
Define
the problem
This is such a simple piece of advice that is so easy to
do, so why then do some of us not get it right? Perhaps because the pain we feel
prevents us from clearly defining and then articulating the problem. Take a couple of minutes and define the
problem. Here is how I will define the
problem. Judge Tracie Hunter is being singled out by the prosecutor’s office,
the media and she is receiving lackadaisical support from the Democratic Party
and getting her head bitten off by the Republican Party. Take a few more
minutes to practice defining the problem.
Being able to clearly define and then articulate the
problem enables you to contact people who you want to take action without
giving a long speech, rambling and talking more from feeling than fact. Maybe
you are great with speaking off the cuff, still consider having a prepared
script. You don’t have to stick to it word by word but the better you are able
to articulate yourself, the more likely you will see results.
Standing in support of Judge Tracie Hunter (and don’t ever
stop referring to her as judge), does not speak to her guilt or innocence,
although I believe she is 100% innocent. Instead it speaks to your support of
stopping of the unfair treatment.
Make
contact
Support Judge Hunter by making contact with people for
various reasons regarding her situation.
For instance, you might contact the news outlets and ask for more
balanced coverage regarding news stories that pertain to her. You might contact
the head of the Democratic Party Tim Burke and request that he step up the
party efforts to support Judge Hunter. Contact Burke at 513.421.0495. Below, I list a couple of people off the top
of my head that you might also contact regarding Judge Hunter. Before reaching out to anyone be sure to clearly
articulate why you are contacting them and how you feel they can help, or you
can express to them what they are doing that is hurting our children and
Cincinnatians. As an example you might
contact the Hamilton County Republican Party chairman and ask why, under his
leadership Hamilton County has wasted 2 million tax payer dollars. You can reach Alex Triantafilou at 513.381.5454. You might contact Hamilton County Prosecutor
Joe Deters and express to him how his actions affect the community. Contact Deters at 513.
946-3000
Triantafilou and Deters responses
might be disheartening and downright rude, but that’s OK, remember your goal is
to help Judge Hunter and expressing your concerns helps her and especially if
enough people do it.
Here is a list of other possible sources to contact.
1. Politicians
2. National Media
3. Both parties
4. US Attorney General, Eric Holder
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
202-514-2000 Public comment line 202-353-1555
5. Streetcar people
Recruit
When the big streetcar debate was taking place I was
repeatedly contacted on social media by a number of people that I consider
acquaintances that I know from attending various political events. Each time I
got on Facebook, I had a request from someone working to save the Street car
asking for my help. They asked me to attend meetings and to contact
politicians, etc. in support of the streetcar. They expressed to me how important
the streetcar was to Cincinnatians as it would bring jobs and would serve as
the first leg of light rail. Much of what they told me I knew and wholeheartedly
believed, but with my busy schedule I couldn’t put a big dog in the fight, but
I eventually put a little one. I posted
my support of the streetcar on my social media sites and reached out to two politicians
(David Mann and Kevin Flynn). What I did
didn’t take much time. Lessons learned:
Be persistent, ask different people/groups for help and convince them why the
Judge Hunter issue should matter to them.
Here’s an idea invite them to the MLK March on January 20
as their will be thousands walking to support her. Later, I’ll provide the contact information
of Bishop Bobby Hilton of the National Action Network (the Cincinnati Chapter).
I encourage you to recruit people outside of your comfort
zone and ask them to join the fight. We need all of our brothers and sisters on
board - red and yellow black and brown, gay and straight, etc. In addition to
recruiting people out of our comfort zone recruit family and friends who may
not be “activist” to lend a helping
hand.
I have a lot of young people in my family (under 20) that
I’m going to educate on the Judge Hunter situation. I going to ask them to give a donation $1 or $100. Their investment will be the reason that I
each time I see them to give them an update on the situation.
Donate
Donate and donate as often as you can and what you
can. There are 300,000 people in
Cincinnati. Over 100,000 people voted for Judge Hunter. If each voter gave $1.00 we could raise the 100,000 for the defense fund.
Judge Tracie Hunter Defense Fund
C/0 Jennifer Branch, Trustee
432 Walnut street #400
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
REMEMBER it takes less than10 minutes to reach out to
someone. Whomever you decide to contact remember to be thoughtful, yet firm and
convey a sense of urgency. Don’t just blow off steam, you can look up at the
ceiling and do that. Remember also, if
you do nothing, nothing will happen, but if we stick together and do something
– change can happen.
Please take a few minutes out of your busy day and take
these actionable steps to support Judge Hunter and spread the word. Consider signing your initials in the comment
section below after you take some action.
Here
is the number to contact Bishop Bobby Hilton
Greater Cincinnati Chapter National Action Network
P. O. Box 40142
Cincinnati, Ohio 45240
513.858.8131
Got
more than 10 minutes?
Become a precinct executive. Rob Richardson, Jr is organizing Precinct
Execs, contact him at 513.372.6362
Got
just one minute?
Change you social media avatar.
Below, I have provided contact information for the local
media. Perhaps changing the negative media narrative directed at Judge Hunter
is a great place to start.
WLWT-TV
1700 Young Street Cinti, Ohio 45202 513.412.5010
Business Courier
101 W. Seventh Street Cinti,
Ohio 45202 513.621.6665
Cincinnati Enquirer 312 Elm St. Cinti, Oh 45202 513.721.2700 513.768.8000
Fox 19 (19 Broadcast Plaza) 635 W. 7th Street Cinti,
Oh 45205 513.421.1919
WCPO
WCPO TV 1720 Gilbert
Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
513-852-4071
