Black Child Left at Wal-Mart by Mother of 15; Time for the Michael Oher Act Now!

Wal-mart is in the news again. Sad that but a few days before the 2010 edition of Mother’s Day, Wal-mart would play host to a tragic story that few can comprehend as a real-life Home Alone moment was reenacted in a town near Cincinnati.

Regrettably, the Black mother of 15 children in this sordid affair left her three-year-old child at Wal-mart overnight and failed to notice the child’s whereabouts (or that she had even vanished) until the next morning:

Police charged a Northside woman with endangering children after she left her 3-year-old in a Walmart store Thursday night and didn’t realize the girl was missing until Friday morning, when a relative told her she had seen the child on the news, according to the official complaint filed Friday in Hamilton County court.

The little girl, who told authorities her name is Binah, apparently followed several shoppers around the store on Ferguson Road in Westwood after being left there. At one point she followed a man, woman and two boys to the checkout area. Walmart security got involved when the group left the store without her, according to a sworn statement by a social worker. The group told security they didn’t know Binah.

Security made a series of announcements over the loudspeaker before calling police around 7 p.m.

Binah’s mother, who authorities say has 15 children, is 43-year-old Moriyyah Israel.

Hamilton County Job and Family Services was granted temporary custody of the little girl and her 10 minor siblings Friday.

Their mother was arrested Friday, charged with one count of child endangering.

Several of Israel’s family members attended her custody hearing Friday. They told the local media that Israel’s husband, Michael Israel, died in 2008, leaving his wife to care for all the children.

According to court documents Israel was served an eviction notice less than two weeks ago.

Brian Gregg, spokesman for the Department of Job and Family Services, said two children were placed with an adult sibling, and three aunts took three children each.

Police said a Crime Stoppers tip led them to Israel. The county social worker said in her statement that Israel contacted family services Friday morning and claimed she was the mother of the child.

This is not the first time the county has investigated the family, Gregg said; however, none of the previous abuse or neglect complaints were substantiated, so the investigations were closed.

Israel will be arraigned on the first-degree misdemeanor charge of endangering children at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Hamilton County Justice Center.

This story of a Black mother’s inability to properly care for her brood illustrates the extreme importance of the implementation of the Michael Oher Act immediately. Any further delay on passing this important piece of legislation will endanger hundreds, thousands – potentially hundreds of thousands – of innocent Black children in this country born into situations that are completely out of their control.

The high rates of incarceration for Black males obviously correlates to a lack of a positive family role-model early in life and relying on a mother to infuse and reinforce values that will propel them to a productive life is misguided.

Take the story of recently drafted NFL receiver Demaryius Thomas, who had the liability of drug traffickers for a mother and grandmother. His athletic ability ensured he wouldn’t live a life of misery and despair, but how many other Black children were trapped in a never-ending storm of perpetual troubles? :

His grandmother trafficked cocaine when he grew up in Georgia, and his mother was a sort of bag lady with the proceeds. When they were caught, the mom wouldn't rat on the grandmother, and Thomas's grandmother got 40 years in prison and his mother 20. He was 12 when it happened, and he was shuttled from family member to family member before finally landing three years later with an uncle who was a preacher. That set him on the right track.

Some Black kids grow up to be outstanding Black athletes and are able to muster grades sufficient to stay in eligible for college football and then a lucrative contract in the NFL, but many fade away as casualties to the harsh system of Black indifference as epitomized in the story above of Moriyyah Israel, who forgot about her daughter and left her overnight at Walmart.

Again, another NFL caliber receiver grew up in similar conditions. We can only speculate to how his life would have turned out differently had the Michael Oher Act been passed and Dez Bryant been removed from his broken home into a domicile populated by white parents:

Here's what we learned from the controversy over whether Dez Bryant actually said his father is a pimp and that his mother worked for his father and whether Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland had the right to ask Bryant if his mother was a prostitute: Roger Goodell must step in and create a standardized list of what is fair game in these pre-draft interviews.Bryant's mother, Angela, was 15 when he was born and had three children by the time she was 18. She spent 18 months in prison from 1997-98 for selling crack cocaine. "The reason my mother sold drugs and went to jail is so we could live," Bryant recently told the Dallas Morning News. "She paid a hard price for it."Ireland asked Bryant what is now the most famous player interview question of all time. "They asked me if my mom's a prostitute," Bryant, the wide receiver taken 24th overall by Dallas, revealed to Yahoo. "No, my mom is not a prostitute."

Tragedy will continue to befall Black children not blessed with world class speed like Bryant or Thomas, unless the Michael Oher Act is passed. Indeed, the ultimate manifestation of child endangerment might be leaving Black children permanently in the homes of their progenitor. We will begin lobbying on behalf of Black children who face long term difficulties by being raised in decrepit conditions unsuitable for a proper upbringing.

Once again, the intersection of madness and reality apparently is Wal-mart and a Black mother incapable of caring for her brood.

Hopefully, no one had the temerity to tell “All Black people please leave the store” while poor Binah was roaming the aisles of the Wal-mart all by her lonesome on that cold, dreary night in May of 2010. More importantly, we thank the gods above that Easter candy had long since sold out.

Is it by chance that McDonald’s restaurants are commonly found in Wal-mart’s across the nation? An inspiring alliance between the company that purports to be 365 Black and Wal-mart makes absolute corporate sense. In light of the continual stories that originate from both companies, we can only surmise that eventually the ultimate SBPDL will transpire from one of the McDonald's located in a Wal-mart.

Until then, pass the Michael Oher Act. So many Hollywood celebrities are in need of catching up to Sandra Bullock.

A story about the mother who left her daughter at Wal-mart is available at Youtube here. WLWT.com reports on it here. Most inspiring, is a story of her family defending her absent-minded maneuver here.