PODCAST: Fort Worth cop charged with murder of Atatiana Jefferson (Black Christian News Network 10.15.19)

This is the Black Christian News Network One podcast. Here are the top stories you need to know about today.

According to the Associated Press, A white former Fort Worth police officer charged with murder after shooting a black woman through a window of her home has been released on bond, and the department told a grieving community that investigators would ensure “no stone is left unturned” in the search for answers. Jail records show Aaron Dean, 34, was out of custody after posting bond Monday night, less than four hours after his arrest in a shooting that began with a call about an open front door. He had been held on $200,000 bond. Earlier in the day he resigned from the force, and the police chief said he would have been fired if he hadn’t. Sgt. Chris Daniels read a statement Monday night after Dean’s arrest in which he pledged that the department’s major case and internal affairs units were working “around the clock” for justice in the case. “To the citizens and residents of our city: We feel and understand your anger and disappointment and we stand by you as we work together to make Fort Worth a better place for all of us,” Daniels said.

According to Black Press USA, Tarana Burke, civil rights activist and founder of the global ‘me too.’ movement for survivors of sexual assault, has been chosen as this year’s recipient of Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership Gleitsman Award. The annual award honors Burke for her leadership of the global fight for survivor justice and her decades-long campaign to heal individuals and communities affected by sexual violence. The Gleitsman Award and $125,000 prize are given annually by the Center for Public Leadership to an individual or team whose leadership in social action has improved the quality of life in the United States and across the globe. Previous Gleitsman recipients include Malala Yousafzai, U.S. Representative John Lewis, Nelson Mandela, and Gloria Steinem. The award will be presented to Burke at a public event at Harvard Kennedy School on Friday, December 6. In addition to the public award ceremony, Boston community organizations and Harvard students and faculty will come together for a day of resource-sharing.

According to Christian Post, Partly inspired by the recent suicide of pastor Jarrid Wilson, a mental health advocate, Wheaton College’s Billy Graham Center is set to host a one-day evangelical summit to address issues of leadership, burnout, and mental health. The college, located in Wheaton, Illinois, will include a discussion billed as “Facing Hard Truths & Challenges in Pastoral Ministry,” under the banner of its GC2 (Great Commission/Great Commandment) Summit on Dec. 6, in partnership with the Wheaton College School of Psychology, Counseling, and Family Therapy. Wilson, 30, was a pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, and founder of Anthem of Hope, a faith-centered organization dedicated to amplifying hope for those battling brokenness, depression, anxiety, self-harm, addiction and suicide, when he took his life on the eve of World Suicide Prevention Day last month. Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, whose son, Matthew, died by suicide at the age of 27, after a long and private struggle with mental illness, is also expected to speak at the summit.

According to Christian Post, Hevrin Khalaf, a female politician who worked to unite Christians, Arabs and Kurds in Syria was among nine individuals executed by a Turkish-backed group in the northeast region of the country, according to a human rights monitor. Khalaf, the 35-year-old Future Syria Party’s secretary-general, was “taken out of her car during a Turkish-backed attack and executed by Turkish-backed mercenary factions,” along with her driver, said the political arm of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, local media reported. “This is a clear evidence that the Turkish state is continuing its criminal policy towards unarmed civilians,” it added. On Twitter, Brett McGurk, the former special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, spoke of Khalaf’s efforts to foster tolerance in Syria and condemned her death as a “war crime.” “Turkish state-backed media hails a ‘successful operation’ to ‘neutralize’ an unarmed 35-year old woman working to unite Arabs, Christians, and Kurds in NE Syria. Ms. Hevrin Khalef was reportedly dragged from a vehicle and shot to death. That’s a war crime,” he tweeted.

According to LA Times, A magnitude 4.5 earthquake was felt widely in the San Francisco Bay Area at 10:33 p.m. Monday, with the epicenter in the Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill areas. Moderate shaking was felt in the Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek and Concord areas, an intensity that can overturn unsecured objects, such as books and picture frames, and is capable of breaking dishes or windows. Weak shaking was felt in San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Close to the epicenter in Walnut Creek, there was strong side-to-side shaking, strong enough to knock CDs off a shelf. The USGS said there was a 2% chance of one or more aftershocks larger than magnitude 4.5 over the next week, and as many as four aftershocks of magnitude 3 or higher. “The number of aftershocks will drop off over time, but a large aftershock can increase the numbers again, temporarily,” the USGS said in its aftershock forecast. Through the morning, there were several small afterschocks; the largest was 2.1 magnitude.

According to Associated Press, The plan for a statue of a Cincinnati civil rights leader is in progress. The Woman’s City Club is behind the effort unveiled Friday to honor civil rights leader Marian Spencer with a statue of her in Cincinnati. Spencer died in July at the age of 99. She was the first African American woman to be elected to City Council and first woman to head the city’s chapter of the NAACP. Committee Chair Alice Schneider says this statue will stand as “a model for adults but especially for children.” Organizers are trying to raise $125,000 for the sculpture and are aiming for an unveiling on what would have been Spencer’s 100th birthday in June 2020.

According to Golf Digest, Tiger Woods is arguably the most-written about athlete in history. But now, the 15-time major champ will finally tell his own story. HarperCollins Publishers announced on Tuesday it has acquired the world rights to the first-ever memoir by Woods. And the title is succinctly perfect: Back. “I’ve been in the spotlight for a long time, and because of that, there have been books and articles and TV shows about me, most filled with errors, speculative and wrong. This book is my definitive story,” Woods said in a statement. “It’s in my words and expresses my thoughts. It describes how I feel and what’s happened in my life. I’ve been working at it steadily, and I’m looking forward to continuing the process and creating a book that people will want to read.”

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In closing, remember, God loves you. He always has and He always will. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you don’t know Jesus as your Saviour, today is a good day to get to know Him. Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose from the dead for you. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart and He will. Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Thanks so much for listening and may God bless your day!