Thousands of Graves Found Beneath Philadelphia Playground

Days after archaeologists on Maryland’s eastern shore uncovered what they believe to be the oldest settlement of African-Americans in the United States, another team in Philadelphia unearthed what may be the resting place of nearly 3,000 others under a playground in the city’s Weccecoe Park.
Underneath the swing sets of an urban playground in the Queen Village neighborhood of South Philadelphia are the forgotten remains of an estimated 3,000 African-Americans. Historian Terry Buckalew accidentally stumbled on a mention of the cemetery while researching the 19th century civil rights activist Octavius Catto for a documentary film project. He found a record of family members of Catto’s fiancé buried in something called Bethel Burying Ground, a site he had never heard of.
Buckalew set about gathering as much information as he could, coming up with almost 1,500 names of the interred (and counting), estimating another 1,500 names are still out there. He intended to make all the information publicly accessible on genealogical databases, so African-Americans would be able to track their lineage.
That all changed when the city announced plans to renovate the playground, involving new trees and underground utility lines. Buckalew got in touch with the church, members of the City Council, and neighborhood civic groups to present his research and urge action to preserve the graves. 

The team of archaeologists broke the asphalt in four places at Weccecoe Park, digging to a depth of 3 feet to uncover evidence of the 19th century burial site. On Thursday, Douglas Mooney, senior archaeologist for URS Corporation and his colleagues dug up a single white gravestone belonging to 26-year-old. “Amelia Brown, 1819, Aged 26 years” is clearly carved into the white stone, with this epitaph: “Whosoever lives and believeth in me, though we be dead, yet shall we live.”

“There is no grave shaft associated with that stone, it’s just sitting loose in the fill,” said Mooney. “It was knocked over at some point, long ago, when the cemetery was filled in the mid-19th century. It no longer marks an actual grave. It’s just a loose stone in the ground.” Brown, who was likely a member of the Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, bought the burial site as a private cemetery in 1810 and used it as such until 1864.
Mother Bethel is the oldest African-American church in the country, researchers say. During the late 18th century, cemeteries within Philadelphia’s city limits would not accept black people, which prompted the congregation to purchase the plot near Fourth and Queen Streets.
Also at the time, the property near Fourth and Queen Streets was not within Philadelphia city limits, so Mother Bethel A.M.E. bought it as a private cemetery in 1810 and used it as such until 1864. Then the property languished, was abandoned, was used as a dump. In 1888, the property was sold to the city to pay for a new church that’s still in use today.
The site lay vacant a few more years until the city developed a playground on it. By then the memory of the dead had faded smooth. Mother Bethel Church left nothing behind to mark the burial site.
“It gives us a chance to really do right,” said Rev. Mark Tyler, the current head of Mother Bethel A.M.E. “Unfortunately, like a lot of churches that start cemeteries — because of the pressing financial issues of keeping a church going — it ran on really hard times. It’s not one of our shining examples that we’re proud of. This gives us a chance to redo history a second time.”

This week’s archaeological dig was to determine what exactly is under the asphalt, and where. Next, all parties will set about devising a plan to properly remember what lies beneath.
Mooney and his team found evidence of many grave shafts, and stone walls representing the border of the cemetery. They have been digging to determine exactly where the cemetery limits are, and how far down. The team stopped digging several feet shy of where actual bones could be. “It should leave a nice buffer that will ensure the cemetery will not be disturbed,” said Mooney.

Beyonce 'FLAWED' Photos... IDK What do you think?

Beyonce fans' fury after leaked pictures of her L'Oreal advert claim to show how she looked before she got the Photoshop treatment

Reality star 'Real' Ahmad Givens dead at 33 after cancer battle (Rest In Peace)

Ahmad Givens, known as Real on the VH1 reality show “Real Chance of Love,” is dead after a long battle with cancer. He was 33. Givens’ brother and co-star Kamal Givens, known as Chance, confirmed the sad news on Saturday.
Chance wrote on Instagram, “Bye to my favorite guy in this whole world be in peace we love you forever bro I’ll see you one day soon we shall dance again in God’s kindom forever and ever bro words can’t describe my pain world pray for me!” He and his brother, who comprised the rap group The Stallionaires, were featured for two seasons on the VH1 dating series.
Real was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer in 2013, and recent months were filled with surgery and chemotherapy treatments. In December, he posted an Instagram photo of a huge surgical scar running down his abdomen, which Real referred to as his “battle wound.” At the time, he wrote, “Yesterday they took me off chemo completely cause none of it works anymore… I have about 4 clinical trials to choose from which look really promising… I don’t let this stuff bring me down, I just roll with the punches.”
Last month, things took a turn for the worse, and Real was bedridden in his final weeks. On January 9, he tweeted for the last time, thanking fans for their birthday wishes but admitting he wasn’t feeling well. He shared a heartbreaking of his mother and grandmother comforting him (see below). On Friday, according to Chance, Real began having speech and vision problems as his family visited. He died hours later.

Albinos Murdered For 'Lucky' Body Parts

The mutilated body of a one-year-old albino boy has been discovered in a Tanzanian forest - prompting the United Nations to demand an end to attacks for witchcraft rituals.
Yohana Bahati was snatched by an armed gang on 15 February, and police believe the toddler's arms and legs were hacked off so they could be used in witchcraft rituals.
His mother was slashed with a machete during the abduction and is in a critical condition in hospital, while his two siblings - who also suffer from a lack of pigment in their hair, eyes and skin - are under police protection.
Despite the Tanzanian government introducing a ban on witch doctors, who claim charms and spells made using albino body parts bring wealth and good luck, at least 70 people who suffer from albinism have been murdered in the African country over the past 10 years.
A four-year-old albino girl is still missing after being kidnapped in December.
The UN's human rights chief, Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein, has condemned the "horrific murder and mutilation of Yohana Bahati" - and warned such attacks are on the increase.
According to the organisation, politicians could be behind the spate of killings.
With an election coming up in October, it is thought some candidates may be hiring sorcerers to make charms which will improve their luck before the ballot.
Alvaro Rodriguez, the UN coordinator for Tanzania, said: "Attacks against people with albinism can never be justified - not by culture, tradition or religion.
"When will people in my country realise that organs of persons with albinism will never make one wealthy, successful and win elections?
"This could be a dangerous year for people living with albinism."
Although albinism only affects one in 20,000 people in the West, it is estimated that one in 1,400 Tanzanians suffer from the disorder - often because of inbreeding.
On the Tanzanian black market, the entire corpse of an albino person can sell for £49,000.
Police are continuing their search for Yohana's killers, and have detained his father, who was close by when the abduction took place.

Evidence shows possible intruder, not brother, killed Calif. girl

Calif. - A motion filed Tuesday by an attorney for a 14-year-old Northern California boy accused of stabbing his 8-year-old sister to death says that recently tested DNA found on the victim's body supports the teen's assertion that he is innocent and that an intruder was the perpetrator.
The motion, filed by attorney Steve Plesser, asks that the teen be released from custody pending additional testing, which he says is necessary prior to the case going to trial.
The boy, who CBS News is declining to name because of his young age, has already been incarcerated for nearly two years in connection with the April 2013 stabbing death of his sister, Leila Fowler. A tentative trial date is set for May 18.The boy has pleaded not guilty to juvenile charges of second-degree murder and his mother, father and stepmother have said they believe he is innocent and had no motive to harm his sister.
Police say the boy was home alone with Leila on April 27, 2013, the day the killing took place. The children's father and stepmother left the family's Valley Springs home to go to one of their other children's Little League games.
The motion states that the parents spoke to the boy and Leila multiple times throughout the morning and afternoon. At one point, the boy called to ask his parents if it was alright to give Leila medicine for a headache. Another time, Leila spoke to her parents and said that things were fine and that her brother had made pancakes with blue food dye, just the way she liked them.
But an hour and a half after the phone call about the pancakes, the boy called his parents to tell them an intruder had been in the house. The parents called 911 and in turn, a 911 dispatcher phoned the house and spoke to the sobbing boy, the motion says.
The boy told the dispatcher he was in the bathroom when he heard an unknown male's voice in the house and then heard his sister being attacked in her room across the hall, according to the motion. The boy said he opened the bathroom door and was able to gain a limited view of the intruder, who he said hit Leila very hard before fleeing, leaving her for dead.The brutal crime sparked a manhunt for the killer that spanned days and even drew the attention of the FBI. Eventually, authorities zeroed in on Leila's brother and made an arrest.
In a motion filed this week, however, the defense contends authorities have the wrong man. They point to evidence that they say indicates the boy was telling the truth when he said an intruder was behind the attack.
The motion first points to the autopsy conducted in the case, which found Leila died after being "stabbed and slashed by a knife-like weapon more than twenty times."
Prosecutors have suggested a serrated knife found in the kitchen of the home is the murder weapon, but the motion filed by the defense says the coroner who performed the autopsy excluded the knife, as well as all knives shown to him from the home, as having been capable of being the murder weapon.
Furthermore, the defense says there was no blood on the boy or his clothing, except for a small stain on the rear of his shirt, and no blood visible on the knife believed by the prosecution to be the murder weapon, thus suggesting a clean-up took place.
The motion says law enforcement collected all drains and traps from sinks, showers and tubs in the residence and found no evidence of the victim's blood or any evidence that cleaning products had recently been used on the items or the plumbing in the home.
"Given the implausibility of any perpetrator pulling off such a clean-up without traces of it being detected by the FBI and Department of Justice, it must be emphasized that [the accused] was 12 years old at the time of the offense, i.e. when the prosecution theorizes he must have pulled off just such a feat," the defense writes.
Additionally, the defense says they were made privy to another piece of evidence just last month that they say further helps prove their client's innocence: an unknown male's DNA found on a hair on the victim's body.
They call this "powerful new evidence that there was an intruder in the house" and say it is therefore "fundamentally wrong to continue to detain [the boy] ... while the prosecution struggles to salvage a floundering case against him."
Calls for comment to the Calaveras County District Attorney's Office and the Calaveras County Sheriff's Department were not immediately returned Wednesday.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday, where the boy's attorney is expected to make further arguments for his release.

Ga. College Student killed after responding to Craigslist ad fro iPhone

Ga. - Police in suburban Atlanta say three people have been arrested in the death of a college student who was fatally shot after responding to an ad on the online classified ad service Craigslist.

Marietta Police spokesman David Baldwin says 21-year-old James Jones Jr., a junior chemistry major at Clark Atlanta University and a native of Daytona Beach, Fla., was robbed and gunned down Monday night after responding to an advertisement for an iPhone 6.
Baldwin says 18-year-old Jordan Baker, 19-year-old Jonathon Myles and 21-year-old Kaylnn Ruthenberg have been arrested on felony murder, aggravated assault and armed robbery charges. Baldwin says the three are being held in the Cobb County jail.
This case comes on the heels of another in which a Marietta, Ga. couple looking to buy a classic car through Craigslist drove to Telfair County in South Georgia and was fatally shot. A man was arrested and charged in their deaths. Police have said robbery appears to have been the motive.

He was looking to buy an iPhone from a seller on Craigslist.

Marietta Police spokesman David Baldwin says Jones was robbed and fatally shot Monday night after responding to an ad for an iPhone 6.

Baldwin says 18-year-old Jordan Baker, 19-year-old Jonathon Myles and 21-year-old Kaylnn Ruthenberg are jailed on felony murder, aggravated assault and armed robbery charges.

Clark Atlanta said in an email to students that it's reaching out to family and friends of Jones before finalizing any memorial tributes.

'This is a devastating loss for the Clark Atlanta University family,'' a statement read. 'Mr. Jones was a serious scholar and a kind, engaging spirit whose work and comportment spoke well of the university's core values and those instilled long ago by those contributing to his upbringing. In addition to his studies, he was a UPS scholar at Fickett Elementary School and a science mentor for the HBCU Rising Cares Mentoring program at Brown Middle School. He also was an amateur athlete.

In Order - Kaylnn Ruthenberg, 21,  Jonathon Myles, 19,  Jordan Baker, 18,

Los Angeles Chinese Market Selling... Racoon

Raccoons are considered a delicacy in China, but when they’re packaged whole, frozen, then sold at an LA grocery store, Americans are going to be a little weirded out. Mostly because people are used to seeing meat sold as clean pink slices, completely unidentifiable as the animals they used to be – and also because Americans aren’t familiar with eating meat outside of the basic chicken, pork, and beef spectrum.
Metro Super Market, an Asian grocery store in Los Angeles, was caught selling raccoons in its frozen food section. The raccoons, which still had teeth and fur, cost $9.99 a pound — making an entire raccoon cost $54. The supermarket has been peddling the animals for years, employees said.
Health officials discovered the raccoons and confiscated them after a customer came across them in the frozen food section, then filmed it on her phone and uploaded it on social media. “The way it’s packaged in the store, it’s so real, and it’s so fresh, and you don’t see chickens with their feathers and blood all over them, and their expression, with their tongue hanging out,” she said. She also contacted the LA County Health Department about the incident.
Here’s the thing, though: technically, selling raccoons as meat isn’t illegal, as long as it’s from a legitimate source that’s been approved by the Health Department. The raccoons were removed from the store this week, but it’s still under investigation and has yet to be determined whether the frozen raccoons are from a legitimate source.

Bay Area Rapper Jacka Killed in Oakland CA

Sad news… Bay Area rapper The Jacka of Mob Figaz has been shot dead in Oakland. It’s a shame that you can be Black and well past the age of 25 and STILL get caught with bullets. The Jacka was indeed a legend on the west coast with many artists taking to social media to send their condolences.

OAKLAND (CBS SF) — A Bay Area rapper was killed in a shooting in Oakland Monday night. KPIX 5 Reporter Christin Ayers confirmed that the shooting victim was 37-year-old Dominic Newton, a rapper who went by the name “The Jacka.” Witnesses said they heard several shots fired around 8:45 p.m. on MacArthur Boulevard by 94th. So far no suspects have been identified.

Daughter of Whitney Houston & Bobby Brown, in a medically induced coma

Family member says it doesn't look good...

Bobbi Kristina Brown, daughter of the late singer Whitney Houston, was in a medically induced coma Saturday night after being found unresponsive in a bathtub at her home outside reportedly.
Police in Roswell, Georgia, said Brown's husband, Nick Gordon, and a friend found her face-down in the tub and started CPR.

When police officers arrived on the scene in response to a 911 call at 10:25 a.m., they started life-saving measures until emergency medical services personnel arrived and transported Brown to North Fulton Hospital in Roswell.
"She's still breathing; she is alive," Officer Lisa Holland, a police spokeswoman. Holland had no other information on Brown's condition.
Police executed a search warrant for Brown's home but would not elaborate on the reason. So far, they had found nothing to indicate whether drugs or alcohol were a factor, the station said. It was unclear whether Gordon or anyone else was home when Brown became unresponsive.

"We are interviewing all the family members and friends that were at the house at the time," Holland says. "...We don't know that if it was an accident or what this could be."
Brown, 21, is the daughter of Houston and R&B singer Bobby Brown. A representative for the family did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
A confidential source who had been at the hospital with the family most of the day says Brown was being treated in the intensive care unit where doctors have stabilized her breathing. The source said Brown's father was making his way to the hospital and that while Brown was unconscious, the mood was positive.
Just after midnight Saturday morning, Brown posted two photos of herself to Instagram.

Houston was found dead in a hotel bathtub on Feb. 11, 2012, in Beverly Hills, California. The 48-year-old singer had struggled for years with cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her behavior had become erratic.
Authorities examining Houston's death found a dozen prescription drug bottles in the hotel suite. They concluded that Houston accidentally drowned. Heart disease and cocaine use were listed as contributing factors in Houston's death.
  Houston sold more than 50 million records in the United States alone. Her voice, an ideal blend of power, grace and beauty, made classics out of songs like "Saving All My Love For You," ''I Will Always Love You," ''The Greatest Love of All" and "I'm Every Woman." Her six Grammys were only a fraction of her many awards.
Houston had her first No. 1 hit by the time she was 22, followed by a flurry of No. 1 songs and multiplatinum records.
Houston left her entire estate to her daughter.