Indiana

Second Day Stories

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

My original plan for the day was to finish up the Abdul version of Ramadan, by having a martini and cigar after 30 days of abstaining, but the Baptist Ministers Alliance of Indianapolis and Indianapolis Public Schools found a way to end up on my radar screen one more time.   So before I go indulge myself, I have to quickly post the latest concerning those two organizations which have turned out to be the gifts that keep on giving.

First, the BMA.  Following my earlier blog post and radio show this week, I got a call from Brandon Johnson’s mother Shantay Chandler.  She called to thank me for telling her story, which I graciously accepted.  I asked her if there was any follow-up regarding her situation.  She told me she did receive a call from the BMA, but it wasn’t to apologize for not helping her family, but to chastise her for speaking to me.   Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but if I was caught pimping someone’s child and I was going to call them, I’d definitely say I was sorry and try to make things right.  Apparently, the BMA is sorry, just sorry it got caught.

And now on to IPS.  I told you about a study that showed IPS spending up to $300,000 on cell phone usage.   IPS told one of my brothers in the media that most of the cell phone usage is not due to administrators, but janitors, police and bus drivers.  They also attributed the high bills to its GPS tracking system.  So how does that explain a $19,000 cell phone bill from December 16, 2009 through January 15, 2010;  a good chunk of that was winter break.  The district really needs to get a good spokesperson.

There’s nothing like ending Ramadan on an upbeat note.  Time to go work on the perfect martini, six parts gin to one part vermouth and two olives.

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on September 10, 2010 (boomark / email).