Never a dull moment lately within the ranks of the Greater Bridgeport NAACP. Monday night’s reorganization of the local chapter included the arrest of one of its members Wayne Winston. OIB background story here.
From CT Post reporter Keila Torres Ocasio:
Twenty minutes into the state NAACP chapter’s takeover Monday of the civil rights organization’s Bridgeport branch–meant to bring order back to a severely divided branch–one of the local members was arrested on an outstanding warrant.
Minutes after expressing hope that intervention by the state chapter would put the local group back on track, Wayne Winston was taken into custody by a state marshal and city sheriff. “We’ve been trying to get in touch with you for two years,” State Marshal Charles Valentino told Winston outside the meeting hall at the Messiah Baptist Church. “You’ve been dodging us.”
Read more: here.
Amazing.
I read the story in the Post. One person claimed Carolyn Vermont tipped off the cops that Winston was there in order to “get rid of him” or some such nonsense. Sounds to my untrained eye Mr. Winston had an outstanding warrent and the authorities finally caught up with hs deadbeat ass.
The moral of the story: SUPPORT YOUR CHILDREN. It ain’t their fault you’re a scumbag deadbeat …
I renewed my membership with the NAACP. The fact the state leadership has stepped in is a good sign. I’m confident the organization will start to turn around as soon as the reorganizing is complete. To those who haven’t been able to withstand the heat, get out of the kitchen! There are plenty of other folks who can and deserve an opportunity to address the real issues affecting the community.
Lock up Winston and throw away the key. Even Carolyn shouldn’t be able to bail his sorry ass out of jail.
As being the person “pinched,” I would like to thank everyone for their comments, whether good or bad. Like many people in this country I ran into some financial hardships and the mother of my children had to use the state for help early in their lives.
My children are now over 24 and that arrest was because of arrearages that didn’t get paid. Not through a bunch of new babies.
Throughout the years with the cost of living so high the child support fell off my radar screen. I have no issue with the state of CT or the Marshall who arrested me because I owe what I owed and I take full responsibility for that. They all have a job to do and I let it get by me. I think many people are critical of the timing though of the arrest.
I am not sure why I couldn’t be found because I am always around in very visible places.
In fact the two marshals were very respectful to me and treated me with dignity. But this is truly a cautionary tale. There are many people who owe child support and let this be a reminder to pay it.
In the end being branded the ultimate deadbeat dad by the media is far from true and what my biggest issue is. Clearly there are people who owe much more than I ever have or ever will but we live in a time where this is more about the drama than truth.
I do not think this one man’s failure to pay child support somehow negates or overshadows the fact the Bridgeport NAACP has been reset and it is an opportunity to have new branch leadership and the very reason it was done was because of what the members of the organization like myself have said all along. The proper financial procedures weren’t filed and funds received.
When you make your next comments ask yourself who amongst us is perfect and has not made mistakes. That’s what our system is about. Innocent until proven guilty and every person has a chance to correct whatever errors they may make.
For the people who know me my commitment to my the community has been steadfast and I never asked for a dime. My service on numerous community boards, fund raising for toy drives, educational avocation, etc. speak for themselves.
I love Bridgeport and its people and in the words of Cornell West, if you don’t love your people, you can’t serve your people. We are hoping the new Bridgeport NAACP will do that and we need everyone who is concerned to help.
God Bless.
‘Throughout the years with the cost of living so high the child support fell off my radar screen.’
Throughout the years when child support “fell off of your radar,” did your children stop needing to eat?
You are a worthless piece of shit.
Complete loser.
Your children had the civil right to reasonably expect their father would provide basic elements of shelter, sustenance, clothing and competent medical care. You dress well. You look well fed. You don’t appear to be without shelter. While you were suffering financial embarrassments, who paid to make sure your kids were taken care of even minimally? The answer is the State of Connecticut sent the check. You claim passion for civil rights. You claim passion to protect the rights of others. Where is the passion that would ensure you could get and keep a job so you could pay to support your children? You are a phony. A fraud. You disgust me. If you are still in the clink, the state is still providing for you. What a bum you are.
Some of you are so naïve. First ask yourself have you ever seen a front-page article on child support? Some of you are still playing in the sandbox. When was the last time you saw someone’s face on the front page of the CT Post for child support? Do you really think I am that important? Child support cases are civil cases not criminal ones and are supposed to be dealt with in a private manner.
The “children” in question are 24 and 25 years old and it’s all arrears money owed. There are people out there who owe over $100,000 or have 10 kids with 7 or 8 mothers and they aren’t in the newspaper let alone with coverage like this.
That call was made from within the branch to the Marshals within 10 minutes of the meeting starting and was a setup.
The question is not was it owed, it was the timing of the arrest. As for me and what I did for my children you did not live at my house so you have no idea what I did or did not do.
The real story is the Bridgeport branch NAACP was shut down by the National Office because the Bridgeport branch fired President Vermont because they didn’t get their share of the money as was stated by the suspended officers to begin with.