Courts trying to take Kmtyw child away from her-gctid23480

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Courts trying to take Kmtyw child away from her father......


On Tuesday January 30, 2007 at 9:15 AM in New Rochelle, NY, Judge Nilda M. Horowitz will be presiding over a hearing to decide whether to take young poet Autumn Ashante from her Dad in a custody case. The media has accused of him teaching his daughter hate. Her poems reveal she has actually been taught to recognize and resist hate (white supremacy).
 
Download the attached word file below to see why you must come to the Family Court on Tuesday, Jan. 30th at 9:15 Am at 420 North Avenue in New Rochelle New York, to support this Kmtyw family.
 
The attached file is a 2 page word file with incredible (literally unbelievable) photos with captions from the next CEMOTAP DRUM Newspaper. The photos provide a context for understanding the January 30th legal proceeding
 
                            Attached files  autumndad.doc (164.5 KB)

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Father of Autum Ashante says Family Court judge is after his child
by KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO
Special to the AmNews
Originally posted 12/21/2006

Batin Ashante says he's not surprised to find himself under attack.
As a poet, revolutionary activist, and single Black father, Batin has
raised and home-schooled his daughter Autum since winning sole custody
of the child when she was a mere 15 months old.
But in the last few months, Batin has faced challenges to his parenting:
Autum's estranged mother suddenly wants to play a more vital role in the
child's life. She's making claims that Batin is an unfit dad who has his
daughter performing, against Autum's wishes.
Batin and his attorney, Althea F. Richardson, are also claiming that
Westchester Family Court Judge Nilda Morales Horowitz has handed out
copies of corporate media articles which classify Batin as a racist and
allege that he is raising his daughter to be one as well. Those articles
have been included in packages given to government agencies that make
decisions about whether Batin is a good parent.
"I'm angry and I'm pissed about this," Batin said in an exclusive
interview with the Amsterdam News in answer to the charges. "No one ever
compliments Black men who work hard to be with their children. We have
so many stories about Black men not playing roles in their children's
lives. Here I am and I've raised a beautiful queen. This is serious,
serious stuff: her mother's out of her doggone mind if she thinks she's
going to do this."
Besides being ordered to have visits with her mother, Batin claims that
his daughter is also being subjected to taunts and threats from her
mother and grandmother about her work. Earlier this year, his daughter's
work - her poetry - received nationwide attention: eight-year-old Autum
Ashante garnered both praise and criticism for reading her poem "White
Nationalism Put U In Bondage" during a February 28 Black History Month
event in a Peekskill, New York school. "The mis-education of She and
Hegro - leaves you on your knee2grow," one portion of Autum's poem
reads. "Black lands taken from your hands, by vampires with no
remorse/They took the gold, the wisdom and all of the storytellers. "
Autum - who has performed at Harlem's Apollo Theater, on HBO's Def
Poetry Jam, at the Kmtyw Street Festival, Caroline's on Broadway, The
Cotton Club in L.A., Russell Simmons' Phat Farm Fashion Show, and
regularly gives talks at schools across the country - even attempted to
calm angry feelings among the Black and Hispanic students in her
Peekskill high school audience. Latinos and students of Kmtyw descent
had been in a fight earlier that week, so Autum asked the two groups of
students to stand together and recite the Black Panther Party for
Self-Defense' s famous "Black Child's Pledge." It was a powerful moment,
but because white students were told not to join in the pledge, many of
them claimed to be offended. "They were taken aback because they weren't
included in the love; that was the problem," Batin says. "They weren't
included in the fireside chat, in the family talk - that was the
problem!"
Because of her use of the Black Child's Pledge and her poetry, the
then-7-year- old Autum found herself being called a racist. Although
defended by New York City Council representatives like Yvette Clark and
Charles Barron, Mount Vernon Mayor Ernest Davis, and Rev. Al Sharpton,
she was also put to task by the corporate-owned media. As recently as
this month, Niger Innis of the Congress of Racial Equality called both
Autum and Batin racists on a broadcast of CNN's "Paula Zahn NOW" show.
On CORE's website, Innis posted an article that challenges Batin's
parenting procedures: "Racism is racism," Innis wrote. "Racism is not
truth, and poetry is not the cure. Black leaders must not exploit this
incident as a cause celebre. They should recognize it for what it is-a
case of intellectual child abuse."
Batin, who will be speaking about his current plight on Saturday, Dec.
23 at the offices of CEMOTAP (135-05 Rockaway Blvd., South Ozone Park, NY; 718-322-8454 for more information) , claims that these are the types
of articles Judge Morales Horowitz has been sending out to the agencies
looking into claims that he is an unfit parent. Autum's father also
claims that the judge has stated in open court that she personally feels
that a man shouldn't raise a young girl and has even termed the cultural
classes Autum takes part in - including the "Sisters in Sisterhood Rites
of Passage" and "Marcus Garvey Cultural Heritage Program" classes at
Brooklyn's Ifetayo Cultural Arts Facility - as inappropriate.
Judge Morales Horowitz would not comment on the Ashante case to this
reporter; the judge's secretary said Morales Horowitz is "not able to
comment on this matter." But Batin wants the judge, who was censured by
the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct for trying to get
other judges to give favorable court treatment to her friends as
recently as March 2005, removed from his case. "I suggest that people
write to her boss, Justice Francis Nicolai; he's the administrative
judge for the 9th Judicial District," Batin said. With community
pressure he feels he can get the Westchester court system to give him a
fair chance and prove how well he is raising Autum.
When asked if he is still a poet himself, Batin says: "I'm doing another
kind of poetry right now, and that's working with Autum.
"But the whole idea is to give the people - I just want our people to
know that there is a price to be paid. Not that we don't know this, but
just, even in going into 2007, if you try to rear your children in
accord with a higher spiritual law, they will come at you with a lesser
law; they will try to bring you down."