IN JIMI HENDRIX PARK, which is the former Coleman School parking lot and planned future land re-annex of the the African American Heritage Museum and Cultural Center. Since 1985!
Category: Community Celebration
ALL CHARGES DROPPED. EARL RESUMES PAINTING.
On Friday the 13th of January, before the Martin Luther King Jr holiday weekend, the Prosecutor for the City of Seattle dropped all charges against Earl Debnam for painting while sitting on the African American Heritage Museum & Cultural Center’s property — but “without prejudice”, which means that the Prosecutor may resume charging Earl at any time up to the statute of limitations.
This outcome was not the result of negotiations. Earl is grateful for the renewed attention on his and Omari’s struggle for a real world class African American Heritage Museum & Cultural Center. Earl was looking forward to submitting evidence at trial and to demanding records from the City through the trial discovery process.
Was the city trying to keep Earl’s and the AAHMCC’s evidence from being circulated widely? Or is the City concerned about this amazingly embarrassing body cam video of Earl’s arrest getting out?
Below are the exhibits that Earl had submitted to his attorney to be introduced into evidence before the City Prosecutor indicated that the City would be dropping all charges. Note the evidence below that the NAAM Scam continues to outright lie on its webpage to this day!
For what it’s worth, Earl’s Public Defender predicted that all charges would be dropped as soon as he saw the body cam footage. On the video multiple SPD officers insist that Earl Debnam is Omari Tahir, even as Earl repeatedly states his name and points to his name on the list of Board of Directors for the REAL African American Heritage Museum & Cultural Center, founded in 1985 and which lives on to this day.
Even after the cops’ own superior officer arrived to the scene and said, “That’s not Omari”— officers pulled up a photo of Omari online and continued insisting that Earl is actually Omari!!
Clearly the City didn’t have a case and was wasting taxpayer dollars to try to harass Earl into silence and for the AAHMCC to give up their rightful claims to the Colman School building.
Here, let’s go through Earl’s evidence together.
Exhibits A & B: These photos are from the police report of Earl’s arrest on June 3, 2022 which shows the front and back sides of a magnified and laminated copy of the African American Heritage Museum and Cultural Center’s 2021 annual report filed with and stamped by the Washington State Secretary of State, which he was holding when SPD arrested him outside the Colman School building, currently occupied by the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle and the Northwest African American Museum or NAAM Scam.
Exhibit C. Screenshot from NAAM’s website honoring Earl Debnam by name in the legacy of the NAAM
Exhibit D. Screenshot from NAAM’s website discussing the relationship between the AAHMCC, the ULMS and NAAM
Exhibit E. Signed Purchase & Sale Agreement between AAHMCC and the Seattle School District No 1 dated 1-16-1998
Exhibit F. AAHMCC’s proof of availability of funds dated 10-20-1999
Notice how the NAAM Scam still falsely claims on their website that the African American Heritage Museum & Cultural Center was founded as a non-profit organization in 1993, but the official stamped report from the WA State Secretary of State in Exhibit A shows that the AAHMCC has been formally registered since 1985.
The NAAM Scam goes on to claim that the “Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle .. takes [over] the project” of the African American Heritage Museum & Cultural Center, but as you can see, the African American Heritage Museum & Cultural Center is still alive and well and registered to a Board of Directors that includes Omari Tahir, Earl Debnam, Wyking Garrett, Gabriel Prawl and others.
How shameless of NAAM to name Earl and Omari on their website as part of the legacy of winning the Colman School building, but then contract with Allied Security Services and make agreements with the SPD to arrest them on site, endangering the lives of our Black elders.
To this date, the Seattle School Board has never engaged in a formal process for terminating the signed Purchase & Sale Agreement with the AAHMCC.
The fact is that the AAHMCC beat the City and the settler courts at their own game. They won. The Washington State Secretary of State says that Omari is the President of the organization that had a signed purchase and sale agreement with the Seattle School District.
But the establishment united behind the Black bourgeoisie to steal the Colman School right out from under the feet of the activists who occupied the building without water and electricity for 13 long years, and the courts refuse to consider the evidence of this ongoing wrongdoing.
Our elders are getting old. Will they anoint respected movement leaders with the fearless revolutionary spirit to continue this struggle? Will the longest occupation of a public building in US history really end with the building triple mortgaged and defaulted by the corrupt Urban League? Time will tell. One thing is for sure: Earl is not done painting yet. Come visit Earl outside the Colman School building where he enjoys painting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and sometimes Saturdays.
The actual speeches of Malcolm X (May 19, 1921 – February 21, 1965) are significantly different than the imaginary movie script speeches Denzel Washington spoke into Spike Lee’s camera for the 1992 entertainment film.
It could be said (and are saying it), that the fiction version of Malcolm X begins that movie acting more hostile toward white people than real-life Malcolm ever acted, and ends the movie being more conciliatory toward them than real-life Malcolm ever was.
The AAHM&CC urges you to listen to these essential speeches, so you can compare and contrast the real and the fiction versions for yourself, drawing your own conclusions.
“Our Problems Are Your Problems”
Ballot Or Bullet, Cleveland OH version, April 3, 1964
MALCOLM X SPEAKS (full pdf of the book)
AS OF SATURDAY, JUNE 19TH, 2021, BABA OMARI TAHIR’S RE-OCCUPATION TO LIBERATE THE AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE MUSEUM’S BUILDING FROM IMPERIALISM’S NEO-COLONIAL APARTHEID HAS BEEN ONGOING FOR A FULL YEAR!
IN SOLIDARITY WITH AAHM&CC, BABA OMARI, BABA EARL DEBNAM, AND THE SPIRIT OF THE LATE MICHAEL GREENWOOD AND ISAIAH EDWARDS, THE PEOPLE OF HISTORIC AFRICATOWN HAVE RECLAIMED THE FULL EASTERN COURTYARD OF THE AAHM&CC PROPERTY, FROM THE MAIN BUILDING’S FRONT DOOR TO THE EAST BOUNDARY OF JIMI HENDRIX PARK (WHICH WAS ONCE COLEMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL’S PARKING LOT)!
THE CELEBRATION OF THIS MAGNIFICENT JUNETEENTH ANNIVERSARY WAS, ONCE AGAIN A TREMENDOUS SUCCESS!
AS ALWAYS, LET THE RECORD SPEAK FOR ITSELF!
PHOTO ESSAY: ‘Honoring Our Black Wall Streets’ Commemorates Tulsa Massacre
by Ronnie Estoque and Susan Fried
Almost 200 Black-owned businesses participated in “Honoring Our Black Wall Streets” on Memorial Day, in the Central District, to honor Black Wall Street on the 100th anniversary of its tragic destruction. The memorial event was organized by King County Equity Now, Black Dot, and Africatown community organizers and celebrated the resilience of the local Black business community.
In May of 1921, a white mob in Tulsa, Oklahoma attacked the predominantly Black neighborhood of Greenwood, which was known as “Black Wall Street.” The Tulsa Massacre claimed the lives of around 300 Black people living in the community, with many of their businesses and homes burnt to the ground in the riot. Activism in recent years has shed more light on this horrendous event, and those in the Black community in Seattle are continuing to honor the legacy of Black Wall Street through continuing their demands of anti-gentrification measures and reinvestment into historically Black neighborhoods.
In addition to all kinds of businesses including clothing, book, jewelry and food vendors, numerous artists were also represented on Monday. The event was kicked off by the singing of the Black National Anthem and an honoring of Black people who have passed away. The day also included live performances and a community “Electric Slide” for over 20 minutes. Although the day acknowledged a terrible moment in American history, the people gathered paid tribute to the Black community of Tulsa, Oklahoma by supporting Seattle’s many Black-owned businesses and artists.
Ronnie Estoque is a Seattle-based storyteller and aspiring documentarian. He is driven to uplift marginalized voices in the South Seattle community through his writing, photography, and videography. You can keep up with his work by following his Twitter and Instagram.
Susan Fried is a 40-year veteran photographer. In addition to weddings, portraits, and commercial work she did early in her career, she has been the Skanner Newspaper’s Seattle photographer for nearly 25 years. Her images have appeared in a variety of publications including the University of Washington Daily, the Seattle Globalist, Crosscut, and more. She’s been an Emerald contributor since 2015. Follow her on Instagram @fried.susan.
SUNDAY, MAY 2ND, 2021, 2PM-6PM, JIMI HENDRIX PARK!
75th Birthday Community Appreciation Celebration for Baba Omari Tahir-Garrett
Join family, friends and community to honor a Central District native son, visionary and Seattle’s #1 fighter for freedom, justice and equality! This Sunday May 2nd, 2pm-6pm at Jimi Hendrix Park.
Come and share your personal stories or memories of impact. If Omari has blessed or positively impacted your life as a family member, a friend, a coach, a teacher, a mentor, by giving your words of wisdom, fought alongside you or for you, provided an open door or helping hand, please come out and return the love as we celebrate 75 years of life and still going strong!
There is an old saying “Give me my flowers while I can still smell them”.
For info on how to support the event call 206.569.8329.
If you are unable to attend but would like to make contribution you can do so online at African American Heritage Museum gofundme page.
The Annual Holiday Trees For Peace Fundraiser is a community tradition that has been co-sponsored by the AAHM&CC and the Umojafest Peace Center for over a decade!
Started in 2008, this tree sale for the defense of Black lives has been organized each year ever since (with the one exception of 2019, when it was rudely and illegally interrupted by the gentrification firm known as “Lake Union Partners”, who chose to breach their contract with the African American community that year).
In 2020, starting on our 35th Annual Founders Day! (November 23rd), the African American Heritage Museum & Cultural Center is proudly hosting this community function at OUR OWN LAND AND BUILDING, rightfully purchased by us in 1998!
We are very thankful for all of the participants in this year’s George Floyd peoples democratic uprising against lynching and apartheid, who are enforcing Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights so that we can finally use our own land!
Our affordably price trees are right to fit YOUR budget.
Tell all your family, friends, church and other groups about this opportunity to continue being part of the change.
Trees are available for pick up daily at 2300 S Massachusetts St, Seattle, WA 98144.
To place your order today, please call 206 717-1685
If you do not want a tree but would like to support by making a contribution please do so at https://gf.me/u/ypksuc.
Thank you for your consideration and we hope that you can help us make the promise of change a reality.
Thank you.
The African American Heritage Museum & Cultural Center
Categories
BLACK INSTITUTIONS MATTER!
AAHM&CC 35TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION!
CLICK HERE TO WATCH A NARRATED PRESENTATION OF THE SLIDESHOW BELOW
On November 23rd, 2020, the African American Heritage Museum & Cultural Center literally celebrated 12,784 continuous days of protest against the overfunding of police and the underfunding of positive community institutions!
On that day, from 1-6pm, the people gathered for a safe socially distanced celebration of our Founder’s Day!
Watch our video of the event to learn about the true history of the occupation of the Colman School from the freedom fighters who began the struggle over three decades ago.
The people enjoyed free screen printing, live performances, light refreshments, and HOLIDAY TREES FOR PEACE!https://africanamericanheritagemuseumandculturalcenter.org/2020/11/23/african-aamerican-heritage-museum-and-cultural-center-to-host-the-annual-trees-for-peace-fundraiser-opening-on-the-35th-founders-day-november-23d/
We also revealed our NEW HISTORY EXHIBIT! and discussed how to support the ongoing struggle for a world-class Black institution that will fight against displacement and gentrification here in Seattle!
Alongside our HISTORY EXHIBIT!, we also proudly unveiled our latest traveling art exhibition: a photography display by renowned local artist Inye Wokoma!
We live streamed our event via our IG and FB! #FreeTheLand#PayTheFee#BlackInstituitionsMatter
The African American Heritage Museum & Cultural Center 