On the first anniversary of his imprisonment, Bill Cosby received a visit from Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., civil rights leader and lead-member of the famed political prisoner group known as the Wilmington 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chavis, who is the president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the trade organization that represents the Black Press of America, joined Cosby\u2019s longtime crisis manager Andrew Wyatt for a visit with the entertainer. It was Chavis\u2019 third visit with the fallen icon, who has refused to meet or speak with representatives from any other news organization. The meeting took place at the request of Cosby, who in 2018, received a three-to-10-year prison sentence following his conviction on charges of aggravated indecent assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe saw a strong Bill Cosby today,\u201d Chavis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the visit, Chavis said he prayed with Cosby and discussed a range of topics from health and family, to his conviction and the pending appeal. While Chavis said details of what he and Cosby discussed are personal, the visit reminded him of the near decade he and the other members of the Wilmington 10 spent behind bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe conditions inside all prisons in America are architecturally designed and standardly built to breakdown and suppress the spirit and emotions of those in prison,\u201d Chavis stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SCI-Phoenix stands behind what Chavis called internationally outlawed, life-threatening razor-sharp barbed wire fences that are fortified by 20-foot electrified concrete walls. The jail contains nine-by-five-foot solid steel cages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked why it was important that he visit Cosby, Chavis said the issue is more significant than Cosby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Black Press of America maintains a proud tradition of not only exposing the various injustices that are done to Black America but also it is our tradition to be an advocate for those who have been unjustly labeled as outcasts,\u201d Chavis stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the visit, Wyatt and Cosby both praised the Black Press for its coverage of Cosby\u2019s trials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMr. Cosby said that he appreciates that the Black Press was the only African-American media at both trials every single day,\u201d Wyatt stated. \u201cMr. Cosby never asked for favors, and he only asked that the media would treat him fairly and look at the facts. Thanks to Dr. Chavis who sent his reporter there, Mr. Cosby remains grateful to the Black Press for its fairness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chavis has long held an interest in the Cosby case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a civil rights activist, Chavis was concerned about numerous unconstitutional rulings by the trial judge in the case. Further, tactics used by prosecutors during jury selection, opening and closing statements, and throughout the trial proved troublesome for most courtroom observers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before the start of the second trial last year, one juror who\u2019d just been selected to serve on the panel told other potential jurors, \u201cWe can all go home, he\u2019s guilty.\u201d That should have disqualified the juror, but the trial Judge Steven T. O\u2019Neill rejected defense arguments to remove him. Another juror admitted that she was friends and neighbors with the court reporter, who serves as an employee to the judge. O\u2019Neill refused to recuse that juror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One other juror said he had a \u201cpersonal relationship\u201d with one of the detectives who investigated Cosby, and he too remained on the panel despite defense objections. Additionally, Assistant District Attorney Stuart Ryan shouted out in court that he was \u201ctired of this Black sh*t,\u201d which set the tone for the racially-charged trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ryan\u2019s colleague, Kristen Feden, also lashed out at Cosby\u2019s team during jury selection. Feden said the Cosby team already had their token Black juror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey already have their one. What more do they want,\u201d Feden stated within earshot of the judge, lawyers, and media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chavis noted that mainstream media\u2019s coverage of the trial lacked facts, and the racially and politically-charged atmosphere inside and around the Pennsylvania courthouse may have deprived Cosby of a fair trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cosby is appealing his prison sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s currently awaiting a ruling from the state Superior Court, which heard oral arguments from Cosby\u2019s attorneys, prosecutors, and the state attorney general in August. Meanwhile, Chavis said Cosby is using his time in prison to help others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs the Wilmington 10 discovered, Bill Cosby is not serving time. He is making time serve the liberation of the minds and consciousness of his fellow inmates through mentorship, spiritual, personal, and collective development sessions,\u201d Chavis said. \u201cHis spirit, mind, body, and soul are strong and getting stronger each day. The fact that he is blind has not handicapped him or prevented him from maintaining his integrity, self-worth, value, and intellectual genius.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When asked what makes Cosby a political prisoner, Chavis said the answer is similar to what caused the Wilmington 10 political prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe systematic injustice of his racially-motivated and orchestrated charges, trials, conviction, and imprisonment pending his appeal,\u201d Chavis stated. \u201cI know this from firsthand experience with the unjust incarceration of the Wilmington Ten political prisoner group in North Carolina during the 1970s. The Wilmington 10 were officially declared political prisoners by Amnesty International and by the United Nations. The Pennsylvania prison that Bill Cosby is now unjustly imprisoned exemplifies the prisons that are designed to break the spirit of those in there. It is important for Black America to know that mass incarceration is not the end. Bill Cosby is showing that you can promote personal and collaborative transformation inter-generationally.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On the first anniversary of his imprisonment, Bill Cosby received a visit from Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., civil rights leader and lead-member of the famed political prisoner group known as the Wilmington 10. Chavis, who is the president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the trade organization that represents the Black Press […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1652,1425,1653],"class_list":["post-2633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-bill-cosby","tag-dr-benjamin-f-chavis-jr","tag-national-newspaper-publishers-association","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2633"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2634,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633\/revisions\/2634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}