Florida Sentinel Bulletin

After causing an international uproar by sending what many deem to be racist imagery down their runway, Dolce & Gabanna have responded indirectly to the firestorm through their style blog Swide.

The Spring 2013 collection of the beloved fashion house included ‘Blackamoor’ or ‘Moorish’ symbolism in the form of the heads of black women used in dangling earrings and on the printed fabrics of dresses. For many observers, these iconic emblems of colonialism and slavery were reminiscent of an era of Western history most people are trying to forget. Despite this, Dolce & Gabanna tried to explain that for Sicilians these colorful echoes of Blackamoor decorative arts are merely part of the culture of their native land.

Despite this, the relationship between this use of black people in decorative arts and stereotypes such as Mammy, Sambo, and the dehumanizing Golliwogg doll cannot be denied. The use of people of African decent as fashionable accents is seen by most to be demeaning, particularly because the practice originated during an age when such people were considered inferior.

ATLANTA, GA – An African American man from Kennesaw, Ga. who has been in prison for the last six years for killing a white contractor may get out soon.

A Georgia Superior Court Judge granted John McNeil’s petition for habeas corpus in the case.

McNeil was convicted of killing Brian Epp despite evidence that he was defending himself and his family on his own property. The court’s decision said that McNeil received ineffective counsel during his trial when his attorney,“failed to request charges based on the theories of self defense.”

Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens has 30 days to appeal the court’s decision. If he does not appeal it McNeil could be released in 30 days.

McNeil’s case caught the attention of national and local civil rights leaders who met with him recently.

A former TSA agent who was fired for stealing more than $800,000 in items from passenger’s bags at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey told ABC News that thievery was common in the agency during his employment.

Pythias Brown says that a culture of indifference lead to a widespread culture of stealing everything in sight. Brown is speaking for the first time after being released from prison for stealing on the job. His four-year stealing spree came to an end when he tried to sell a camera he stole from the luggage of a CNN producer on E-bay. He forgot to take off the network’s identifying tags and markers.

“It became so easy, I got complacent,” Brown admitted.

He says that he learned to read the X-Ray scanners to determine which items were best to steal. Brown says even the TSA locks sold for luggage could not deter him because he and his colleagues eventually learned how to pick them.

During the time of his arrest, the ex-TSA agent was selling some 80 cameras, video games and computers on eBay.

Brown is one of almost 400 TSA officers who have been given pink slips for stealing in the past decade. TSA, reports that 381 officers have been canned for theft between 2003 and 2012, including 11 so far in this year.

BRONX, NY – Three-year-old Gabriel Estevez desperately screamed for help as he dangled from a fourth story window at Morrisania Apartments in the Bronx on Saturday, but none of his neighbors were able to save him and they watched in horror as he plummeted to his death.

“He was screaming for help. By the time we got across the street he had already fell,” said neighbor Frank White, 33, who jumped a fence to reach the child.

Bystanders rushed to Gabriel’s aid after he landed in a grassy area.

White said he pulled grass from the boy’s mouth and gave him CPR, inducing only a single breath from the dying boy before another person tried CPR and an ambulance arrived.

For the first time in his presidency, Barack Obama can call himself a job creator.

There are now more U.S. jobs than when he took office. Not by much, but they’ve moved out of negative territory, according to a Labor Department revision.

It probably won’t help Pres. Obama much in his race for re-election. The economy is still a long way from firing on all cylinders.

But the revision — showing employers added 386,000 more jobs than had previously been estimated in the 12 months ended in March — was clearly good news for the White House as Pres. Obama heads into a crucial week.

The focus of next Wednesday’s first presidential debate will be the economy. On Friday, the September employment report comes out.

Economists don’t expect much change in the jobless figures from August’s 8.1 percent unemployment rate.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.  — What first appeared to be an isolated problem in one Florida county has now spread statewide, with election officials in nine counties informing prosecutors or state election officials about questionable voter registration forms filled out on behalf of the Republican Party of Florida.

State Republican officials already have fired the vendor it had hired to register voters, and took the additional step of filing an election fraud complaint against the company, Strategic Allied Consulting, with state officials. That complaint was handed over Friday to state law-enforcement authorities.

A spokesman for Florida’s GOP said the matter was being treated seriously.

“We are doing what we can to find out how broad the scope is,” said Brian Burgess, the spokesman.

Florida is the battleground state where past election problems led to the chaotic recount that followed the 2000 presidential election.

The Florida Democratic Party called on the state to “revoke” the ability of state Republicans to continue to register voters while the investigation continues. Oct. 9 is the deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 6 presidential election.

“It is clear that the Republican Party of Florida does not have the institutional controls in place to be trusted as a third-party, voter registration organization,” said Scott Arceneaux, executive director of the Florida Democratic Party.

The Republican Party of Florida has paid Strategic Allied Consulting more than $1.3 million, and the Republican National Committee used the group for work in Nevada, North Carolina, Colorado and Virginia.

The company said earlier this week that it was cooperating with elections officials in Florida. It initially said the suspect forms were turned in by one person, who has been fired.

Jordan Allen, left, helps student Casey Eirhstaedt, right, register to vote at the University of Central Florida.

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – A 60-year-old Oklahoma City, OK woman was mauled to death by a family pit bull on Wednesday night.

Nellie Davis, moved into her granddaughter’s home where the attack took place after receiving a heart transplant and recovering from a subsequent illness. A thunderstorm in the area may have made the dog turn violent.

“She had a long illness, from Mother’s Day until a month ago, and finally she had a chance to come home,” the victim’s husband, Cleveland Davis, Sr., said.

“You know, I have a heavy heart. She’s always been there for me.”

When police arrived at the scene, they struggled to contain the dog. Unfortunately, they put it down. “You have to understand, the scene was quite gruesome, OKC Police Capt. Dexter Nelson said. “The lady died a horrific death.”

“Pit bulls need to be in the right setting; they can’t be kept in a cramped little bitty apartment,” neighbor Kenny Reeves said.

PHILADELPHIA – A group of girls beat up a woman in Delaware County, videotaped it and posted the attack on Facebook, according to Chester police.

A group of six girls approach the woman, who was out on her stoop. Police say all of the suspects are between 16 and 17 years of age.

One of the attackers starts punching the 48-year-old woman who also has a mental disability. The attack then moves inside the home.

All six girls accused of beating woman in custody. A local parent saw the video on Facebook Thursday morning and tipped off police.

NEW YORK – A 16-year-old Bronx boy has been arrested after cops say the teen raped a woman while he was delivering a pizza to her building on Saturday morning.

Cesar Lucas was delivering a pizza to a tenth-floor apartment at the victim’s building just blocks away from New York Sal’s Pizza where he is employed. He allegedly noticed the woman’s door slightly cracked around 12:30 a.m., according to sources.

Lucas then allegedly entered the woman’s apartment and raped her while she was sleeping in her bed. He then fled the apartment and the woman called the cops soon after.