February 26 - March 4, 2015
VOL. 64, No. 7
www.tsdmemphis.com
Wrong about Sherra Wright?
75 Cents
TSD exclusive: NBA star Lorenzen Wright’s ex-wife, Part 1
ined this level of pain. Still, before we make it to the stage of “Acceptance,” we’re going to need some questions answered. If we are wrong about Sherra Wright, we need to talk to Sherra Wright.
by Kelvin Cowans
Special to The New Tri-State Defender
As we approach the fifth-year anniversary of the unsolved murder of Lorenzen Wright, one of Memphis’ beloved basketball sons, we are reminded of the blueprint of how a heart breaks. Wright courted us at Booker T. Washington High School by powerfully dunking on opponents with ease then letting out that Memphis roar signaling that “I’m a beast.” We got engaged to him when he decided to play at Memphis State (now the University of Memphis); yeah, we blushed knowing that it would be a local wedding. After being selected seventh overall in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers and later personally choosing to return home to play for the Memphis Grizzlies, our marriage with him was complete. He was a household name around these parts and just as important to the social fabric of the city as the other nationally known beloved sons. With all of his basketball prowess and heart-felt community involvement, he’d often put his money where the people hurt and we concluded that “Happily Ever After” would be the last three words to this story, no matter when it ended. We were wrong! On July 28, 2010, Wright’s decomposed body was found in an East Memphis field. He had been shot at least five times and an autopsy showed just how little was left of
Author Sherra Wright-Robinson the once 6’11” 260-pound manchild weighed a mere 71 pounds when he took his last breath. Since his death, many have turned pointed fingers at Sherra Wright-Robinson. Lorenzen and Sherra dated for 19 years, were married for 12 years and divorced 5 month’s before his murder. Local media, national media, social media and every barbershop and beauty shop and doughnut café visitor in the city knows that she was the last one to seem him alive. However, does that make her a part of his murder? As the community Wright grew up in, we collectively continue through the five stages of grief from this heartbreak because we never imag-
Lorenzen and Sherra dated for 19 years and were married for 12 years. In June of 2006, they renewed their vows. (Courtesy photo)
Kelvin Cowans: You have been perceived as a gold digger. Are you a gold digger and were you out to trap a younger Lorenzen Wright for his fortune and fame? Sherra Wright-Robinson: No, I’m not a gold digger and I wasn’t out to trap Lorenzen for his fame. He had no money or fame when we met. I had blessings on my life as far back as a child. My parents were married and my father was a prominent businessman and my mother didn’t work but took care of the home and the children. I idolized her and I followed that blueprint. My father was a hardworking man who left a legacy behind for his children. So there is nothing further from the truth than me being a gold digger. I’ve always been blessed. I’ve always had what the world would call a lot, and that was one of the things that attracted Lorenzen to me. In my mother’s passing (cancer) I’d been left a house, vehicle, money and an insurance policy. When we met I felt like Lorenzen was in search of something; something that could be grounding for him because he came from absolutely, positively nothing. SEE WRIGHT ON PAGE 2
SPECIAL REPORT: RAPE IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY
Rape and the myth of ‘the strong black woman’ by Jazelle Hunt NNPA News Service
WA S H I N G TON – For 20 years, Sharita J. Lee was numb. She did not cry. She did not love the men she dated. The only emotion she could muster was rage. But she recently caught wind It took Sharita of the storm of J. Lee close to sexual assault al- two decades legations involv- to truly break ing Bill Cosby, her silence America’s favor- about the sexite TV dad. One ual assault that by one, more than turned her life 30 women lodged upside down. charges against the comedian, some dating back 45 years. And one by one, their revelations were met with skepticism, personal attacks on the accusers, and even outright scorn. “Until then, I had thought about (my assault), but I didn’t have any emotion about it,” Lee recalled. “I wouldn’t have felt anything until I read that article,” Lee said. After reading the article about comedian Hannibal Buress’ jab at Bill Cosby, Lee scrolled to the comments section. She couldn’t believe how many people questioned why these women were coming forward decades later. Appalled, she opened her laptop, and penned all the gory details of her rape and its aftermath for the world to see. Her account was published on a blog just before Christmas. The topic of rape has not only been revived by the controversy surrounding Bill Cosby but also by misbehavior in other segments of society. For example, dozens of high-ranking military officers have been fired for rape or having inappropriate sexual affairs with women within and outside their command. Rape on college campuses has received wider coverage following a series of high-profile campus rapes, including one at the United States Military Academy at West Point. The Department of Education announced last May that it is investigating 55 colleges for mishandling complaints of sexual violence, a figure that has since risen to 90. Last month, two Vanderbilt University football players were found
About this series A woman is raped every two minutes in the United States. According to the U.S. Justice Department, nearly one of every five African-American women – 19 percent – are raped each year. Many experts suspect those figures severely understate the problem. For example, research by the Black Women’s Blueprint, Inc., a New York City-based civil and human rights organization of women and men, reports that 60 percent of African-American women have been sexually assaulted by the time they are 18 years old. Whatever the actual number, too often, the victims – including a surprising number of males and young girls – suffer alone. Efforts to discuss the abuse are usually met with disbelief or a feeling that such behavior should be quietly swept under the rug, as though ignoring the problem will magically make it disappear. As a matter of policy, news organizations generally withhold the names of rape victims. But African-American women in particular are beginning to break this silence, bravely coming out of the shadows to publicly reveal their names and faces and share their painful stories in hopes of exposing and ending this all-toocommon violence. This series by NNPA Washington Correspondent Jazelle Hunt examines rape in the African-American community and the long path toward healing. guilty of raping an unconscious fellow co-ed and two more former football players are awaiting trial. And Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, a former Heisman Trophy winner, has been dogged for more than a year amid allegations that he raped a FSU student in December 2012; an attorney for the student announced plans to sue the university. Most Americans do not know as much about rape as they think. According to the Department of Justice: SEE RAPE ON PAGE 2
Assistant Shelby County D.A. Bridgett Stigger makes a point during the Stand Your Ground Panel Discussion that also featured (l-r) MPD Deputy Chief Gerald Perry, National Civil Rights Museum employee William Young, and Rodrequies Thompson, a mentor for Juvenile Intervention Faith-Based Fellowship. (Photo: Brittney Gathen)
Stand-your-ground panel probes #BlackLivesMatter and more by Brittney Gathen
Special to The New Tri-State Defender
In Memphis and various parts of the country, many of the 2015 African American History Month observances have – in myriad forms – dealt with issues associated with the deaths of unarmed African Americans at the hands of police. So it was Tuesday at the University Center on the campus of the University of Memphis.
Billed as a Stand Your Ground Panel Discussion, strict adherence to that topic would have guided participants and attendees along a path examining the controversial legal statutes that remove the duty to retreat before using force in self-defense. Jointly sponsored by the University of Memphis chapters of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and the NAACP, the discussion was moved along a broader course.
Students suspended at ‘alarmingly high’ rate in Memphis, report says by Daarel Burnette Chalkbeat Tennessee
More than 40 percent of all African-American middle and high school students in Memphis were suspended at least once during the 2011-12 school year – an “alarmingly high” rate compared to other districts across the nation, according to a new statistical analysis released Monday by the Center for Civil Rights Remedies. Despite the troubling data, the district made incremental progress in decreasing its number of suspended students and narrowing the gap between the rate of suspended white and African-American students, the study’s researchers note.
In 2011-12, the former Memphis City Schools suspended one out of every 10 elementary school students, a 1.5 percent decline from 2009-10. In middle and high schools, almost 38 percent of students were suspended in 2011-12, a 3 percent decline from 2009-10. While the racial gap in suspensions also narrowed slightly, it remains wide – especially for students who are male, have a disability, and attend a middle or high school. Overall, the analysis shows that African-American students in Memphis were about three times as likely as white students to be suspended in 2011-12. During the same school year in middle and SEE SUSPENDED ON PAGE 3
NABJ president Jasmine Morton said that the purpose of the event was to extend the discussion beyond the stand-your-ground laws, which many first heard of in association with the death of 17-year-old Florida teen Trayvon Martin, who was killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in 2012. “Our topic is mainly about police SEE PROBES ON PAGE 3
MEMPHIS WEEKEND
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
H-47o - L-36o
H-59o - L-44o
H-35o - L-24o
Mostly Sunny
REGIONAL TEMPS LITTLE ROCK NASHVILLE JACKSON, MS
Partly Cloudy
Rain
Friday Saturday Sunday H-36 L-22 H-46 L-35 H-54 L-40 H-33 L-21 H-44 L-31 H-56 L-46 H-49 L-33 H-60 L-48 H-72 L-57