The Day Innocence Died – A Legacy Of Hope

John F. Kennedy was a forward thinking leader who believed in a simple principle that government’s purpose was to do things for the great good of its people. He was a remarkable man of vision who said, “We chose to go to the moon and do other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard”. He was eloquent and charming, yet ruthless and determined which may have been his demise. It is my view on November 22, 1963, fifty years ago, America’s best hope died.

This man had the courage stand up to mighty powers to save the world, bringing it back from the brink of destruction during the Cuban missile crisis. He was trying to pull the troops out of Vietnam, which I believe had it happened fifty-six thousand Americans killed and the many more wounded would not have happened. Nor the suffering and devastation caused to the families of those Americans.

Kennedy had to deal with issues of ending the cold war and fight the hawks who wanted it to remain under the guise of communism. He was about to break up the CIA and remove Hoover as FBI Director; more significantly he planned to remove Johnson from the 1964 ticket, and remove . This man stood up to the powerful forces within the government with such extreme right wing thinking that was like that of a horror movie.

Then the was the issue of race and Jim Crow that was more prevalent than at anytime since the Civil War.  He took it on with proposing aggressive legislative moves to address equality for those American citizens designated to second class citizenship within the most powerful nation in the world. Not to mention, his struggles with the backward and segregationist called Dixie-crates of the south who were so engrained in opposition to integration that you would have thought they were Klan members, which many were cardholders.

In the interest of fairness, I must say with regard to race; he had no choice because of television. Actually, the race problem in America at the time was worse than the apartheid system in South Africa. Television brought the horrific coverage of Bull Connor putting dogs on peaceful protester down south on American streets into living rooms across the country nightly on the evening news, which was also broadcast around the world. This was a tumultuous year! There was the March on Washington for jobs and freedom. There were also the actions of segregationists like George Wallace who stood in the doorway of an Alabama university to deny blacks, or colors as they were called then, access to higher education. Let’s not forget segregation at all levels of education and housing discrimination.

This was the year that Medar Evers was assassinated and on the very night of a speech given by Kennedy on the topic of race. In Birmingham, Alabama four innocent little black girl were killed in a church by a bomb planted by a racist. Dr. King was arrest and locked up in a Birmingham jail for his work in trying to achieve equality. There was Bloody Sunday a day where peaceful marchers were stampeded as they tried to cross a bridge into Selma, Alabama. These are just a few issues but at the time segregation was the law of the land.

President Kennedy embodied a vision of hope for America that spoke loudly to the heart of a man, as evidence by this remark “Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.” Interrupting that says to me “leaders are not made they are born”. The point here is each of us is born with a purpose, and that is to die. However, a more significant purpose is what it is that do while we live. Could it be that he was born to die so that we could see? As horrible as Nixon was as president, resigning in disgrace ten years later, the world would have surely been much worse if he was elected in 1960.

It weighed heavily on my heart to write this commemorative piece to pay homage to the light that shined bright at a time when America was so dark, from my perspective as an African American. As I wrote this series of articles, I learned so much about the evils within the American body. Having lived through segregation, I witnessed how dangerous these evils were to everyone, particularly to African Americans, and the world.

Those evils remain today; we have the George Zimmerman’s and those who made him a hero. More troubling is the state of political discourse within our government, namely the Republicans and the Tea Party ilk that is not that much different from the Citizens Councils of old.

One thing that really surprised me as I researched the three week series “The Day Innocence Died”; there were countless people that died or were killed who knew too much about the murder of Kennedy. There were also many who benefited significantly that were presumed to be related in some way with or to the cover-up. Did you know that there were four presidents elected after the assassination that were mentioned by some researchers and experts as being connected or possibly involve in the death of Kennedy; Johnson, Ford, Nixon, and Bush that may well be the biggest sin.

I can only imagine if President Kennedy could speak to us today. I believe, he would say:

“Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future… Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable… Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners, and necessity has made us allies… The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.” Actual words spoken by John F. Kennedy

It is my hope that you gained more knowledge about “The Day Innocence Died” because the most profound sin is a tragedy unremembered and the absence of truth. And that’s my thought provoking perspective…

The Day Innocence Died – Who Done It

Today is the sad anniversary, for lack of a better word, of the assassination of President Kennedy 50 years ago in Dallas, Texas. Over the past several weeks, I have written a number of articles concerning the numerous theories, myths, and some untruths regarding what happened leading to the remembrance of this monumental tragic event that occurred November 22, 1963.

In light of the information available most reasonable thinking people could to come to the conclusion that it was the day that innocence died. This event is so mired in intellectual dishonestly that the government sealed and locked away documents for seventy-five years and here we are fifty-years later wondering why. I'll suggest that it is because the media who continues to participate in what most see as a cover-up.

The world surely would have been very different if Mr. Kennedy had lived. Of all of the many theories, evidence, and experts whose research the assassination coming to varying conclusions. Of all of the information I have seen, the conclusion put forth by Professor/Author Jerry Kroth gives a reasonable and logical theory as to what may have happened and who done it.

The video below of Professor Jerry Kroth's giving a presentation that presents the single, most plausible theory of the assassination. It is based on the admissions of grassy knoll gunman, James Files, the deathbed confession of CIA spymaster, E. Howard Hunt, and the most recent scholarship to appear in the last decade. Dr. Kroth proposes that Lyndon Johnson, the CIA, and Mafia, acting in concert, carried off one of the greatest crimes in American history.

This talk comes from his latest book, released just this September, Coup d'etat: The assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It is a concise, well-documented expose of a brazen, as he says, overthrow of the United States government on November 22, 1963.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this series is that of the presenters and does not necessarily reflect the views of the author. It is information that is in the public domain provided for the reader to form an opinion. Whereas, it is the author’s position that the most profound sin is a tragedy unremembered and the absence of truth. And that’s my thought provoking perspective…

The world changed “The Day Innocence Died” and spiraled downward from that day to this…

The Day Innocence Died – Jim Garrison

Jim Garrison is quoted as saying, “telling the truth can be a scary thing sometimes." In 1963, Garrison was the New Orleans District Attorney of Orleans Parrish.Three days after President Kennedy was assassinated he arrested David Ferrie as a possible associate of Lee Harvey Oswald and turned the investigation over to the FBI.

In the fall of 1966, Garrison reopened his investigation into the JFK assassination, after speaking with U.S. Senator Russell Longfrom Louisiana. Long told Garrison that it was his opinion that Oswald could not have acted alone. Garrison soon connected Oswald to Guy Banister, David Ferrie, and Clay Shaw.

During the summer of 1963, Oswald worked in Banister's office and was seen with Clay Shaw and David Ferrie in New Orleans and Clinton, LA. In March of 1967, Jim Garrison arrested and charged New Orleans International Trade Mart director Clay Shaw with complicity in the murder of President Kennedy. To see a brief summary of Clay Shaw's trial and his life, click on the link Clay Shaw.

Oliver Stone's movie JFK mocks the doubtful veracity of the Warren Commission's findings on the Kennedy assassination and summarizes some of the myriad theories that have been proposed. Focusing on the investigation by New Orleans DA Jim Garrison into the activities of the FBI and other government agencies as well as their attempted cover-ups, Stone weaves fact and speculation into a compelling argument for the reopening of the case files.

Jim Garrison died believing the assassination was a conspiracy and authored several books; one being "On The Trail of The Assassins". Garrison was with the FBI, a district attorney, and from 1978-88 he was Judge of the Court of Appeal in New Orleans. Yet, we are told that the man was a paranoid fantasist, a publicity hound and a crooked DA.

Garrison was resurrected in Oliver Stone's “JFK”. In the film, Garrison, played by Kevin Costner, is the archetypal underdog, a hero who sacrifices everything in search of truth. Although there are two contrasting views of the man but I will agree with Garrison in that the truth can be scary, although it is never as frightening as the power of a good lie.

It seems reasonable that the only man to bring anyone to trial for the murder of the president of the United States is a hero and that an error in judgment or otherwise can only be corrected by fixing it by revealing the truth.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this series is that of the presenters and does not necessarily reflect the views of the author. It is information that is in the public domain provided for the reader to form an opinion. Whereas, it is the author’s position that the most profound sin is a tragedy unremembered and the absence of truth. And that’s my thought provoking perspective…

 

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The Day Innocence Died – The Autopsy

All of us have watched CSI and therefore know how important an autopsy is in any death  and is the most significant piece of evidence in a crime. The autopsy of JFK according to experts was, at best, the worst ever recorded. This study of the autopsy photos finds that JFK was shot four times from the right front by at least three different guns none of which were fired from the Sixth Floor School Book Depository. If any one of these bullets occurred as supported by the evidence of the autopsy photos a conspiracy existed.

Some claim that Oswald fired three additional shots one of which struck Connally in the back without hitting JFK thus creating confusion. At least seven bullets were fired November 22, 1963. Expert’s also claim given Oswald’s shooting record and the condition of the Carcano it is clear that Oswald could not have hit anything and was never intended to actually shoot JFK or even hit the car. Oswald was intended as a patsy to divert attention away from the true assassins by blaming Russia or Cuba.

When Kennedy’s body arrived at Bethesda Naval Hospital an autopsy was conducted. The autopsy found the four bullet wounds from the right front as described above. The Kennedy family was informed of the findings as was President Johnson and Hover of the FBI but orders for secrecy were given to all others in the interest of national security. After Oswald’s death Dr. Humes burns the original autopsy report and his notes. A multitude of evidence is destroyed, lost, altered and fabricated. Once commenced the cover up cannot fail.

As a side note to what is known, Jackie Kennedy left some secret papers to be opened only after the death of all her children. Perhaps she will tell us what really happened and why. An error in judgment or otherwise can only be corrected by fixing it and in this case by revealing the truth.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this series is that of the presenters and does not necessarily reflect the views of the author. It is information that is in the public domain provided for the reader to form an opinion. Whereas, it is the author’s position that the most profound sin is a tragedy unremembered and the absence of truth. And that’s my thought provoking perspective…

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The Day Innocence Died – Secrets

Friday November 22, 2013 will mark one of, if not, the most monumental event of modern history – the assassination of an American president. From that day, America changed, which was I suppose was the purpose of the day innocence died. Those involved in perpetrating the crime and some say cover-up, may well have gotten away with the crime of the century.

In the attached video, the author asks a very basic question – after fifty years, why not release the more that fifty-thousand secret documents on the matter so that the truth can be revealed? 

Disclaimer: The information contained in this series is that of the presenters and does not necessarily reflect the views of the author. It is information that is in the public domain provided for the reader to form an opinion. Whereas, it is the author’s position that the most profound sin is a tragedy unremembered and the absence of truth. And that’s my thought provoking perspective…

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The Day Innocence Died – Kennedy and Race

Race relations in American history have been disgraceful and more horrific treatment imposed upon African America’s than any other people ever to walk the earth. People of African descent have been enslaved, segregated, and maligned for all of America’s history, yet have remained supremely devoted and loyal. I can now understand what it must have been like when President Lincoln fought to end slavery and then was assassinated. It must have felt like their last hope was gone. Respectively, when President Kennedy was killed most African America’s relived the pain of their ancestors.  

In the 1960s one would surely find three portraits hung in just about every African American home; Jesus represented unconditional hope, strength and love; Dr. King personified the moral crusade that ended legal segregation, and there was President John F. Kennedy, who holds an important, but complicated place in black history when we look back the time in which he lived.

It’s been fifty-years since the death of Kennedy and as time has passes we're still trying to figure it out what he might have done for civil rights had he not been killed. For sure, African American’s placed hope in this man akin to that invested in Abraham Lincoln in terms of our obtaining the long awaited equality, as they both sympathized with the black struggle like no other president before them.

During Kennedy’s time in office, he did speak eloquently against segregation despite resistance from Southern racists in his own Democratic party. Some even feel that his support for civil rights was one reason he was killed, even though racial motives seldom featured prominently among the many theories about Kennedy's death.

The impact of his death in many African American homes at the time was like that of losing a family member. Its effect was like a big cloud over the whole black community, an aura of hopelessness. Just look back at the pictures of the funeral, you see so many black people out there crying. Mind you, this was at a time when African Americans were barred from most, if not all, public accommodations.

In a speech soon after meeting Dr. King, Kennedy spoke of the "moving examples of moral courage" shown by civil rights protesters. Their peaceful demonstrations, he said, were not "to be lamented, but a great sign of responsibility, of good citizenship, of the American spirit." He went on to reference the growing "sit-in" movement, in which black customers demanded service at white-only restaurants, Kennedy said: "It is in the American tradition to stand up for one's rights even if the new way to stand up for one's rights is to sit down."

Let’s be clear; he was a white man and wanted to steer clear of the issue of race for political reasons. However, he endeared himself to the African American community when Dr. King was in jail. Over the objections of his brother and campaign manager, Robert Kennedy, an aide managed to convince the candidate to place a sympathetic call to King's pregnant wife, Coretta. Soon thereafter, Robert Kennedy called the judge. Suddenly, bail was granted, and King was freed.

The story of the Kennedys' involvement made headlines in black newspapers nationwide. King issued a statement saying he was "deeply indebted to then Senator Kennedy," although he remained nonpartisan. The Kennedy campaign printed tens of thousands of pamphlets describing the episode and distributed them in black churches across the country on the Sunday before the presidential election. He would get 78 percent of the black vote, won the election by one of the narrowest margins in U.S. history.

When Kennedy became president, his top priority was foreign policy. There were enormous Cold War challenges, from the Soviet Union and Vietnam to Cuba the site of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and of the crisis over Soviet missiles that threatened to trigger a nuclear war. At the same time, the civil rights movement was boiling and could not be ignored. "Freedom Riders" seeking to integrate Southern bus lines were mercilessly beaten. Whites rioted to prevent the black student James Meredith from enrolling at the University of Mississippi; two people were killed after Kennedy sent in troops to ensure Meredith's admission.

In Birmingham, Ala., police loosed clubs, dogs and fire hoses on peaceful protesters, and a church bombing killed four black girls. Images of the violence shamed America before the world and as African American blood flowed, Kennedy moved cautiously toward civil rights legislation. Publicly, the Kennedy administration was reluctant to intervene in the Southern violence unless federal law was being flouted. Privately, Kennedy's men urged protest leaders to slow down and avoid confrontation.

In light of foreign policy issues, civil rights simply was not a top priority. It could be said that he allowed J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI, to deal with the Negro problem, which was a bad idea. Hoover believed the growing civil rights movement was under Communist influence and a threat to national security. He closely monitored King and others in the movement with surveillance, informants and wiretaps. He went so far as to refuse to warn King as it routinely warned other potential targets. In spite of Kennedy publicly working with King, even as his FBI tried to tear King down, he paid both sides of the issue.

Kennedy also opposed to the March on Washington using the argument that he wanted success in the Congress for any civil rights legislation. In the end, the peaceful mass march made headlines around the world. Kennedy watched it on television. Immediately afterward, he met with march leaders in the White House, where they discussed civil rights legislation that was finally inching through Congress. The leaders pressed Kennedy to strengthen the legislation; the president listed many obstacles.

During a speech at San Diego State College in June 1963 Kennedy said, "Our goal must be an educational system in the spirit of the declaration of independence — a system in which all are created equal," Kennedy said. "A system in which every child, whether born a banker's son in a Long Island mansion, or a Negro sharecropper's son in an Alabama cotton field, has every opportunity for an education that his abilities and character deserve." This was dangerous for the time and not acceptable language by the dominant culture. This put him on the enemy list not only for political retribution, but for death.

If it were not for the 50^th anniversary of his death few African Americans would mention his name. Young people barely remember him; there are no aging portraits on the walls, and certainly he is not remembered as a civil rights icon. It was his successor, President Johnson, who receives credit for hammering through the monumental Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, which ensured full citizenship for African-Americans.

Whether Kennedy might have achieved anything substantial on civil rights or for black people, we will never know but he was a breath of fresh air, youthful, dynamic, and in my view a new visionary type of leader full of optimism and hope.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this series is that of the presenters and does not necessarily reflect the views of the author. It is information that is in the public domain provided for the reader to form an opinion. Whereas, it is the author’s position that the most profound sin is a tragedy unremembered and the absence of truth. And that’s my thought provoking perspective…

The Day Innocence Died – Oswald Is Shot

Every murder story has its mystery’s and in the case of the JFK assassination the plot continued to thicken. A major development in the case occurred two days after the assassination when the man arrested and charged with the crime was murdered himself on live television – Case Closed.

The man who killed Oswald was Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby known to his gangster friends as "Sparky" had been seen in the hallways of the Dallas Police Headquarters on several occasions after the arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22, 1963. 

Ruby was actually captured on newsreel footage impersonating a newspaper reporter during a press conference at Dallas Police Headquarters on the night of the assassination. He even spoke that night correcting Dallas District Attorney Henry Wade. Some have speculated that Ruby may have hoped to kill Oswald that night at the press conference.

On this Sunday morning, two days after the assassination, at 11:21 am CST, while authorities were escorting Oswald through the police basement to a private car that was to take him to the nearby county jail Ruby stepped out from a crowd of reporters and fired his .38 revolver into Oswald's abdomen, fatally wounding him. The shooting was broadcast live nationally, and millions of television viewers witnessed it. 

When Ruby was arrested immediately after the shooting, he told several witnesses that he helped the city of Dallas "redeem" itself in the eyes of the public, and that Oswald's death would spare "…Mrs. Kennedy the discomfiture of coming back to trial." Ruby's explanation for killing Oswald would be "exposed … as a fabricated legal ploy", according to the House Select Committee on Assassinations.

Another motive was put forth by Frank Sheeran, allegedly a hitman for the Mafia, in a conversation he had with the then-former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa. During the conversation, Hoffa claimed that Ruby was assigned the task of coordinating police officers who were loyal to Ruby to murder Oswald while he was in their custody. As Ruby evidently mismanaged the operation, he was given a choice to either finish the job himself or forfeit his life.

However, as a matter of record told by the Warren Commission they found no evidence linking Ruby's killing of Oswald to be part of a broader conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy. Journalist Seth Kantor published a book Who Was Jack Ruby? In it he wrote: The mob was Ruby's "friend." And Ruby could well have been paying off an IOU the day he was used to kill Lee Harvey Oswald.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this series is that of the presenters and does not necessarily reflect the views of the author. It is information that is in the public domain provided for the reader to form an opinion. Whereas, it is the author’s position that the most profound sin is a tragedy unremembered and the absence of truth. And that’s my thought provoking perspective…

 

Follow the series “The Day The Dream Died”…