MARY FOSTER (AP)
- A judge threw out murder and attempted murder charges Wednesday against seven New Orleans police officers accused of gunning down two men on a bridge in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
In quashing the indictments, District Judge Raymond Bigelow agreed with defense arguments that prosecutors violated state law by divulging secret grand jury testimony to a police officer who was a witness in the case.
“The violation is clear,” Bigelow said in making the ruling.
Survivors of the Sept. 4, 2005, shootings have said the officers fired at unarmed people crossing the Danziger Bridge to get food at a grocery store. Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally disabled man, and James Brissette, 19, were shot and killed by police; four other people were wounded.
The officers acknowledged shooting at people on the bridge, but said they did so only after taking fire.
Katrina struck on Aug. 29, 2005. In its aftermath, levees broke, flooding 80 percent of New Orleans. Chaos gripped the city, and looting was reported in some areas. Rescuers said they thought gunfire was directed at them.
Later investigation revealed at least some of the shooting was by residents trapped by floodwater trying to attract the attention of rescue parties.
Survivors of the shooting said in civil suits that they were unarmed and ambushed by the officers, who jumped out of the back of a rental truck and started shooting.
Police officials have acknowledged the officers shot people from both sides of the bridge, but said they were shot at first.
Sgt. Kenneth Bowen, Sgt. Robert Gisevius Jr., Officer Anthony Villavaso II and former Officer Robert Faulcon Jr. each faced first-degree murder and attempted murder charges in the case. Bigelow also threw out attempted first-degree murder charges against Officer Mike Hunter Jr. and Officer Robert Barrios and attempted second-degree murder charges against Officer Ignatius Hills.
Faulcon resigned from the police force; the other officers were assigned to desk duty after their indictment.
Bigelow also said Wednesday that prosecutors had wrongly instructed the grand jury, and that grand jury testimony by three of the officers was used against them improperly.
“It bordered on deliberate misuse of the law,” Bigelow said. He gave the district attorney’s office until Sept. 18 to decide if it would appeal.
Assistant District Attorney Robert White said his office would analyze the rulings and consider appealing. The office could also convene another grand jury to consider new charges against the officers.
“The ruling was not a total surprise,” White said.
The officers sat quietly on one side of the court room and did not visibly react to Bigelow’s ruling.
“We are very pleased for all the officers,” said Bruce Whittaker, the attorney for Hills. “Now these men can get back to doing the work they love.”
Madison’s brother said the family hoped the Justice Department would investigate the matter. Keva Landrum-Johnson, the interim district attorney, asked U.S. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey to have his civil rights division investigate case, according to a letter dated Aug. 8 that the family provided reporters.
“Our family today still feels that the ruling just proves again that the justice system here in New Orleans is still flawed,” said Dr. Romell Madison.
A message left after hours seeking comment on the letter wasn’t immediately returned by Justice Department staff in Washington.
U.S. Attorney Jim Letten in New Orleans said he hadn’t been formally notified of Bigelow’s ruling and wouldn’t comment on it. Letten said he has told the Madison family that his office would not intervene while the district attorney’s office had an “active case ongoing.”
Bigelow ordered bracelets used to track the officers’ whereabouts removed but did not remove the bail each paid until the district attorney decides what to do.
Police spokesman Bob Young said the officers would return to regular jobs quickly, but he was not sure where they would be placed.
Members of the group Safe Streets, Strong Communities attended the hearing and demonstrated outside the courthouse after the ruling.
“The Danziger case is yet another example of a police department in crisis and a criminal justice system unwilling to keep them in check,” said Norris Henderson, co-director of the group.
The case was the latest in a series of high-profile, emotional criminal prosecutions tied to Katrina that have fizzled.
Last year a grand jury refused to charge a doctor and two nurses in connection with the deaths of four patients at a New Orleans hospital after the storm. A jury also returned a not-guilty verdict against the operators of a St. Bernard Parish nursing home where more than 30 residents died in the storm’s flooding.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Russia: Poland risks attack because of US missiles
JIM HEINTZ (AP)
- A top Russian general said Friday that Poland’s agreement to accept a U.S. missile interceptor base exposes the ex-communist nation to attack, possibly by nuclear weapons, the Interfax news agency reported.
The statement by Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn is the strongest threat that Russia has issued against the plans to put missile defense elements in former Soviet satellite nations.
Poland and the United States on Thursday signed a deal for Poland to accept a missile interceptor base as part of a system the United States says is aimed at blocking attacks by rogue nations. Moscow, however, feels it is aimed at Russia’s missile force.
“Poland, by deploying (the system) is exposing itself to a strike — 100 percent,” Nogovitsyn, the deputy chief of staff, was quoted as saying.
He added, in clear reference to the agreement, that Russia’s military doctrine sanctions the use of nuclear weapons “against the allies of countries having nuclear weapons if they in some way help them.” Nogovitsyn that would include elements of strategic deterrence systems, he said, according to Interfax.
At a news conference earlier Friday, Nogovitsyn had reiterated Russia’s frequently stated warning that placing missile-defense elements in Poland and the Czech Republic would bring an unspecified military response. But his subsequent reported statement substantially stepped up a war of words.
U.S. officials have said the timing of the deal was not meant to antagonize Russian leaders at a time when relations already are strained over the recent fighting between Russia and Georgia over the separatist Georgian region of South Ossetia.
Russian forces went deep into Georgia in the fighting, raising wide concerns that Russia could be seeking to occupy parts of its small, pro-U.S. neighbor, which has vigorously lobbied to join NATO, or even to force its government to collapse.
Under the agreement that Warsaw and Washington reached Thursday, Poland will accept an American missile interceptor base.
“We have crossed the Rubicon,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said, referring to U.S. consent to Poland’s demands after more than 18 months of negotiations.
Washington says the planned system, which is not yet operational, is needed to protect the U.S. and Europe from possible attacks by missile-armed “rogue states” like Iran. The Kremlin, however, feels it is aimed at Russia’s missile force and warns it will worsen tensions.
In an interview on Poland’s news channel TVN24, Tusk said the United States agreed to help augment Poland’s defenses with Patriot missiles in exchange for placing 10 missile defense interceptors in the Eastern European country.
He said the deal also includes a “mutual commitment” between the two nations to come to each other’s assistance “in case of trouble.”
That clause appeared to be a direct reference to Russia.
Poland has all along been guided by fears of a newly resurgent Russia, an anxiety that has intensified with Russia’s offensive in Georgia. In past days, Polish leaders said that fighting justified Poland’s demands that it get additional security guarantees from Washington in exchange for allowing the anti-missile base on its soil.
- A top Russian general said Friday that Poland’s agreement to accept a U.S. missile interceptor base exposes the ex-communist nation to attack, possibly by nuclear weapons, the Interfax news agency reported.
The statement by Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn is the strongest threat that Russia has issued against the plans to put missile defense elements in former Soviet satellite nations.
Poland and the United States on Thursday signed a deal for Poland to accept a missile interceptor base as part of a system the United States says is aimed at blocking attacks by rogue nations. Moscow, however, feels it is aimed at Russia’s missile force.
“Poland, by deploying (the system) is exposing itself to a strike — 100 percent,” Nogovitsyn, the deputy chief of staff, was quoted as saying.
He added, in clear reference to the agreement, that Russia’s military doctrine sanctions the use of nuclear weapons “against the allies of countries having nuclear weapons if they in some way help them.” Nogovitsyn that would include elements of strategic deterrence systems, he said, according to Interfax.
At a news conference earlier Friday, Nogovitsyn had reiterated Russia’s frequently stated warning that placing missile-defense elements in Poland and the Czech Republic would bring an unspecified military response. But his subsequent reported statement substantially stepped up a war of words.
U.S. officials have said the timing of the deal was not meant to antagonize Russian leaders at a time when relations already are strained over the recent fighting between Russia and Georgia over the separatist Georgian region of South Ossetia.
Russian forces went deep into Georgia in the fighting, raising wide concerns that Russia could be seeking to occupy parts of its small, pro-U.S. neighbor, which has vigorously lobbied to join NATO, or even to force its government to collapse.
Under the agreement that Warsaw and Washington reached Thursday, Poland will accept an American missile interceptor base.
“We have crossed the Rubicon,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said, referring to U.S. consent to Poland’s demands after more than 18 months of negotiations.
Washington says the planned system, which is not yet operational, is needed to protect the U.S. and Europe from possible attacks by missile-armed “rogue states” like Iran. The Kremlin, however, feels it is aimed at Russia’s missile force and warns it will worsen tensions.
In an interview on Poland’s news channel TVN24, Tusk said the United States agreed to help augment Poland’s defenses with Patriot missiles in exchange for placing 10 missile defense interceptors in the Eastern European country.
He said the deal also includes a “mutual commitment” between the two nations to come to each other’s assistance “in case of trouble.”
That clause appeared to be a direct reference to Russia.
Poland has all along been guided by fears of a newly resurgent Russia, an anxiety that has intensified with Russia’s offensive in Georgia. In past days, Polish leaders said that fighting justified Poland’s demands that it get additional security guarantees from Washington in exchange for allowing the anti-missile base on its soil.
Money, Black Power and radio
U-Savior, Workers World
- The August 2008 issue of Black Enterprise featured an article entitled “Money, Power & Black Radio: How Steve Harvey and Tom Joyner Capture Your Ears and Dollars” written by George Alexander. In the article Alexander points out the viability of Black radio in today’s market—despite the seemingly obvious challenges.
As is the case with the approach to many of the problems affecting Black people in America today, the article addresses the “symptoms” and treats them as the focus rather than reaching deeper to present an accurate analysis of the problems facing a medium that has always been under siege.
The article cites “a rapidly changing industry” and ‘brutal competition” as some of the major obstacles facing Black radio today. It claims that the medium “can survive through syndicated programming and bold entrepreneurial moves.”
But what causes these inequities? There are stations that are doing well despite the market’s overall slump. So why is it that with all the sound business models they could emulate, Black radio still struggles? Why has it historically had difficulty competing despite the fact that Black music (or urban, as it is called today) is one of the most popular genres in the world?
The article makes no mention of the historically inequitable treatment that Black radio station owners receive at the hands of Arbitron, the radio ratings system which discounts Black-owned and -programmed radio stations through inaccurate, outdated and racially biased measurement systems. Nor does it mention the Madison Avenue executives who render Black radio unprofitable by refusing to pay premium advertising rates, even though these stations enjoy the largest audience across the board.
Alexander points out that Black radio suffers because a Beyonce, for example, can be heard on many mainstream stations and that listeners need not tune in to exclusively Black-programmed stations to hear her music. But it neglects to deal with the aspects that historically set Black radio apart from all other radio in the first place and that are now nonexistent: serious Black talk and personality radio.
During its golden age Black radio was exciting because it allowed listeners to hear new music; it made listeners enthusiastic about the listening experience because the jocks viewed their uniqueness as a strength. Now we’re forced to hear the same ten songs by the same five artists over and over, played by disc jockeys who promise not to talk too much.
Today’s mainstream Black radio does not deal with Black issues in the unapologetic manner that helped it make a connection with the community. Bob Law’s show, Night Talk, was popular not solely because it was syndicated. It was popular because Bob Law’s approach to politics and culture was relevant, and the show’s content was potent. Comparing the availability of a Black crossover pop artist to the availability of the kind of political content and local coverage offered from the 1960s through the 1980s does us a disservice.
As pointed out in the Black Waxx Multimedia, Inc. film “Disappearing Voices: The Decline of Black Radio,” it is not simply the artists or the jocks who are disappearing. Nor is it simply their absence that renders Black radio impotent. It is the fact that the voice of the community they represent has no forum.
Racism and inequality
The Alexander article sought to treat the predicament of Black radio as merely an economic one, when in fact politics and America’s inherent racism are to blame. Even from an economic standpoint we must go back to the beginning of Black people’s presence in this country. While whites owned businesses and set up institutions, Blacks were forced to work for free. Even at the point of the emancipation of the enslaved there were no programs set up so Blacks could “catch up.”
The disparities grew exponentially as time passed. When radio spectrum licenses were first given out, Blacks were excluded. We can’t imagine there is a level playing field in the radio industry today when there is still a need for affirmative action in the workplaces and educational institutions across the nation.
The answer to conglomeration and racism is not an updated business model. The National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters complains about the monopoly that conglomerates like Clear Channel enjoy, but there is more to the story than that. Arbitron and Madison Avenue work to keep Black radio poor, patronizing it with substandard rates to maintain their false face of diversity. White-owned media enjoy proliferation while Black-owned radio struggles to stay afloat. Meanwhile NABOB members won’t go for the jugular because they need the crumbs the ad execs dangle in front of them in order to survive.
How can the station owners be sure of their audience when they can’t trust the people measuring them? And if Arbitron’s numbers can’t be trusted, how many times will station owners continue to change their format without questioning the fact that no matter what they play they get paid the same substandard rates for airtime?
Another factor that isn’t taken into consideration is the role the Federal Communications Commission plays–or doesn’t play. The FCC is supposed to protect the interests of the public by seeing to it that radio station owners operate with some level of responsibility to the public, which includes offering programming that serves the community as well as protecting station owners from being forced out of business by monopolies. Clear Channel and Infinity Broadcasting are stark evidence that the FCC is not doing that job. In the article there is no mention of holding this government body accountable.
The fact is most people may not listen to the radio anymore because they sense a lack of loyalty on the part of these owners. A huge sector of the Black population wants more from Black radio than relationship guidance, gossip, comedy and Jesus. They want to be taken seriously from a political perspective. They want radio that reflects their local issues.
They don’t want Black-faced radio that furthers a white-business/political/cultural agenda. They want Black radio that reflects what is best and brightest about their community. You can’t have that if a guy who’s never been to their town and who doesn’t know about the young boy who was killed by police that week is on the radio during all the prime times. Meanwhile coverage of local activists who make positive changes in the community is replaced by gossip jocks whose sole contribution to the airwaves is “who’s sleeping with who, who’s gay, and whose breasts are fake.”
We need to make room for our best and brightest. There are too many charismatic and informed individuals who need access to the microphone. Regardless of the success of a few chosen ones, if we settle for anything less, we can’t really call it Black radio with a clear conscience.
By U-Savior
workers.org
- The August 2008 issue of Black Enterprise featured an article entitled “Money, Power & Black Radio: How Steve Harvey and Tom Joyner Capture Your Ears and Dollars” written by George Alexander. In the article Alexander points out the viability of Black radio in today’s market—despite the seemingly obvious challenges.
As is the case with the approach to many of the problems affecting Black people in America today, the article addresses the “symptoms” and treats them as the focus rather than reaching deeper to present an accurate analysis of the problems facing a medium that has always been under siege.
The article cites “a rapidly changing industry” and ‘brutal competition” as some of the major obstacles facing Black radio today. It claims that the medium “can survive through syndicated programming and bold entrepreneurial moves.”
But what causes these inequities? There are stations that are doing well despite the market’s overall slump. So why is it that with all the sound business models they could emulate, Black radio still struggles? Why has it historically had difficulty competing despite the fact that Black music (or urban, as it is called today) is one of the most popular genres in the world?
The article makes no mention of the historically inequitable treatment that Black radio station owners receive at the hands of Arbitron, the radio ratings system which discounts Black-owned and -programmed radio stations through inaccurate, outdated and racially biased measurement systems. Nor does it mention the Madison Avenue executives who render Black radio unprofitable by refusing to pay premium advertising rates, even though these stations enjoy the largest audience across the board.
Alexander points out that Black radio suffers because a Beyonce, for example, can be heard on many mainstream stations and that listeners need not tune in to exclusively Black-programmed stations to hear her music. But it neglects to deal with the aspects that historically set Black radio apart from all other radio in the first place and that are now nonexistent: serious Black talk and personality radio.
During its golden age Black radio was exciting because it allowed listeners to hear new music; it made listeners enthusiastic about the listening experience because the jocks viewed their uniqueness as a strength. Now we’re forced to hear the same ten songs by the same five artists over and over, played by disc jockeys who promise not to talk too much.
Today’s mainstream Black radio does not deal with Black issues in the unapologetic manner that helped it make a connection with the community. Bob Law’s show, Night Talk, was popular not solely because it was syndicated. It was popular because Bob Law’s approach to politics and culture was relevant, and the show’s content was potent. Comparing the availability of a Black crossover pop artist to the availability of the kind of political content and local coverage offered from the 1960s through the 1980s does us a disservice.
As pointed out in the Black Waxx Multimedia, Inc. film “Disappearing Voices: The Decline of Black Radio,” it is not simply the artists or the jocks who are disappearing. Nor is it simply their absence that renders Black radio impotent. It is the fact that the voice of the community they represent has no forum.
Racism and inequality
The Alexander article sought to treat the predicament of Black radio as merely an economic one, when in fact politics and America’s inherent racism are to blame. Even from an economic standpoint we must go back to the beginning of Black people’s presence in this country. While whites owned businesses and set up institutions, Blacks were forced to work for free. Even at the point of the emancipation of the enslaved there were no programs set up so Blacks could “catch up.”
The disparities grew exponentially as time passed. When radio spectrum licenses were first given out, Blacks were excluded. We can’t imagine there is a level playing field in the radio industry today when there is still a need for affirmative action in the workplaces and educational institutions across the nation.
The answer to conglomeration and racism is not an updated business model. The National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters complains about the monopoly that conglomerates like Clear Channel enjoy, but there is more to the story than that. Arbitron and Madison Avenue work to keep Black radio poor, patronizing it with substandard rates to maintain their false face of diversity. White-owned media enjoy proliferation while Black-owned radio struggles to stay afloat. Meanwhile NABOB members won’t go for the jugular because they need the crumbs the ad execs dangle in front of them in order to survive.
How can the station owners be sure of their audience when they can’t trust the people measuring them? And if Arbitron’s numbers can’t be trusted, how many times will station owners continue to change their format without questioning the fact that no matter what they play they get paid the same substandard rates for airtime?
Another factor that isn’t taken into consideration is the role the Federal Communications Commission plays–or doesn’t play. The FCC is supposed to protect the interests of the public by seeing to it that radio station owners operate with some level of responsibility to the public, which includes offering programming that serves the community as well as protecting station owners from being forced out of business by monopolies. Clear Channel and Infinity Broadcasting are stark evidence that the FCC is not doing that job. In the article there is no mention of holding this government body accountable.
The fact is most people may not listen to the radio anymore because they sense a lack of loyalty on the part of these owners. A huge sector of the Black population wants more from Black radio than relationship guidance, gossip, comedy and Jesus. They want to be taken seriously from a political perspective. They want radio that reflects their local issues.
They don’t want Black-faced radio that furthers a white-business/political/cultural agenda. They want Black radio that reflects what is best and brightest about their community. You can’t have that if a guy who’s never been to their town and who doesn’t know about the young boy who was killed by police that week is on the radio during all the prime times. Meanwhile coverage of local activists who make positive changes in the community is replaced by gossip jocks whose sole contribution to the airwaves is “who’s sleeping with who, who’s gay, and whose breasts are fake.”
We need to make room for our best and brightest. There are too many charismatic and informed individuals who need access to the microphone. Regardless of the success of a few chosen ones, if we settle for anything less, we can’t really call it Black radio with a clear conscience.
By U-Savior
workers.org
Percy Miller Unveils New Cable Network
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Hip-hop entrepreneur Percy Miller, a.k.a. Master P, is launching a family-friendly cable network, Better Black Television.
The network will provide "positive content for a black and brown culture," according to a company statement.
BBTV, set to launch in 2009, will be a general entertainment channel running a wide range of scripted, unscripted and news programming, including drama and comedy series, movies, animation, reality, politics, sports and entertainment news, children's educational and teen programming, as well as "responsible hip-hop music and videos."
BBTV advisory board members include Oscar winner Denzel Washington; Vault Load Films president Jim Finkl; NAACP executive director Vicangelo Bullock; NBA player Derek Anderson; cable industry veteran Prof. Sal Martino; hip-hop pioneer DJ Kool Herc; entrepreneur Olatokunbo Betiku; and real estate mogul Curtis Oakes.
BBTV chairman and CEO Miller said he's had the vision for BBTV for several years.
"I believe that there is a market in our community for a new diverse network that provides a new brand of superior programming that caters to all aspects of television, from reality to original programming," he said.
The new channel is taking on the black-oriented cable channel BET.
Miller stressed that he has "a great relationship with BET and MTV" and that he and his son, Lil' Romeo, "will continue to do work with them and support their networks."
He also acknowledged BET founder Bob Johnson.
"I remember him telling me back in the day that if you wanted to know real estate, you've got to hang out with real estate investors. If you wanted to know sports, you've got to hang out with athletes. I wanted to know TV, so I hung out with Bob and learned the TV game from one of the best in the business."
Production on BBTV's programs has begun in California, New York, Louisiana and Florida.
The cable channel is in the process of purchasing local cable channel affiliates across the country.
BBTV's programming in the works:
* "Sunset and Vine": Video show hosted by Vyshonn Miller and Brittany Phillips that will showcase the top hip-hop and R&B acts as well as play classic videos.
* "One Shot Comedy Show": Comedy show hosted by Gary Johnson (a.k.a. G-Thing) featuring established and upcoming comedians.
* "Gee Gee the Giraffe": Children's educational show (will air Saturday morning on BBTV Kids).
* "Manage Your Money": Featuring financially successful people lending tips to promote financial literacy.
* "Close to the Starz": A behind-the-scenes show that takes the viewers up close and personal to their favorite celebrities.
* "Karma TV Show": Bilingual soap opera with an African-American and Latino cast.
* "What's Cooking TV Show": Talk show that covers wide aspects of entertainment and current events while cooking healthy, budget-conscious meals.
* "The Black List Movies": Film showcase featuring classic and contemporary movies, as well as original BBTV productions.
* "Hip-Hop Garage Show": Saturday show that will play new and upcoming music.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
The network will provide "positive content for a black and brown culture," according to a company statement.
BBTV, set to launch in 2009, will be a general entertainment channel running a wide range of scripted, unscripted and news programming, including drama and comedy series, movies, animation, reality, politics, sports and entertainment news, children's educational and teen programming, as well as "responsible hip-hop music and videos."
BBTV advisory board members include Oscar winner Denzel Washington; Vault Load Films president Jim Finkl; NAACP executive director Vicangelo Bullock; NBA player Derek Anderson; cable industry veteran Prof. Sal Martino; hip-hop pioneer DJ Kool Herc; entrepreneur Olatokunbo Betiku; and real estate mogul Curtis Oakes.
BBTV chairman and CEO Miller said he's had the vision for BBTV for several years.
"I believe that there is a market in our community for a new diverse network that provides a new brand of superior programming that caters to all aspects of television, from reality to original programming," he said.
The new channel is taking on the black-oriented cable channel BET.
Miller stressed that he has "a great relationship with BET and MTV" and that he and his son, Lil' Romeo, "will continue to do work with them and support their networks."
He also acknowledged BET founder Bob Johnson.
"I remember him telling me back in the day that if you wanted to know real estate, you've got to hang out with real estate investors. If you wanted to know sports, you've got to hang out with athletes. I wanted to know TV, so I hung out with Bob and learned the TV game from one of the best in the business."
Production on BBTV's programs has begun in California, New York, Louisiana and Florida.
The cable channel is in the process of purchasing local cable channel affiliates across the country.
BBTV's programming in the works:
* "Sunset and Vine": Video show hosted by Vyshonn Miller and Brittany Phillips that will showcase the top hip-hop and R&B acts as well as play classic videos.
* "One Shot Comedy Show": Comedy show hosted by Gary Johnson (a.k.a. G-Thing) featuring established and upcoming comedians.
* "Gee Gee the Giraffe": Children's educational show (will air Saturday morning on BBTV Kids).
* "Manage Your Money": Featuring financially successful people lending tips to promote financial literacy.
* "Close to the Starz": A behind-the-scenes show that takes the viewers up close and personal to their favorite celebrities.
* "Karma TV Show": Bilingual soap opera with an African-American and Latino cast.
* "What's Cooking TV Show": Talk show that covers wide aspects of entertainment and current events while cooking healthy, budget-conscious meals.
* "The Black List Movies": Film showcase featuring classic and contemporary movies, as well as original BBTV productions.
* "Hip-Hop Garage Show": Saturday show that will play new and upcoming music.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Questions as to Pace of Probe Into Inmate's Death
The head of the Prince George's County chapter of the NAACP yesterday criticized what she said was a lack of progress in investigating the death in June of an inmate accused of killing a county police officer.
"While this investigation is taking so long, people are losing the trust that they had in the county government, and it is a very big, heavy cloud not only on the correctional officers . . . but on the county," chapter President June White Dillard said. "The longer it takes, people will begin to suspect that . . . the county government is trying to do a coverup, and that is not what we want to happen."
Dillard's comments drew a rebuke yesterday from county Public Safety Director Vernon R. Herron, who said county officials are no longer in charge of the investigation. He said they turned it over to state and federal authorities June 30, the day after Ronnie L. White was found strangled in his jail cell.
"We're awaiting the results of the investigation like everyone else," Herron said. "I think it's unfair for Ms. Dillard to criticize and to indicate that the county government is involved in any coverup. Nothing could be further from the truth."
Dillard's comments came nearly six weeks after the last significant public update on the case from law enforcement. White, 19, was found unresponsive and with no detectable pulse in his cell in the Prince George's County Corrections Center on June 29. That was less than two days after he was charged with killing a veteran county police officer, Cpl. Richard S. Findley, by striking him while driving a stolen truck.
The day after White died, county officials said the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had preliminarily ruled his death a homicide by asphyxiation and strangulation. At the request of county officials, the Maryland State Police and the civil rights division of the FBI took over the investigation.
Suspicion fell on correctional officers after County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) said that only a few guards, and no other inmates, were believed to have had access to White's maximum-security cell. Some correctional officers also initially declined to meet with investigators.
In mid-July, an attorney for the correctional officers disputed that union members had been uncooperative and predicted that investigators would find that White had committed suicide.
Spokesmen for the state police and the FBI declined to comment about the case yesterday. Law enforcement officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said interviews with most guards were completed weeks ago.
At the NAACP news conference, Dillard also called on county State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey (D) to expedite the investigation by demanding that the state's medical examiner issue his final report on White's death. Ivey has said he will take the findings of the investigation before a grand jury, but first needs to receive the final medical examiner's report.
Dillard's complaints about the pace of the investigation were echoed by Bobby Henry, an attorney for White's family.
"The White family is very disappointed in the progress of the investigation at this point," he said. "We want there to be a thorough and detailed investigation, but we believe it could be done in a much more expeditious manner. It has become painfully obvious that this investigation and the prosecution of these wrongdoers are well beyond those charged with those responsibilities at this time."
Cindy Feldstein, a spokeswoman for the Maryland medical examiner's office, said doctors are striving to complete their report on White's death by the end of the month. She said examiners are waiting for results from a final portion of the autopsy: tests on White's brain and nervous system.
Ivey said he would rather be "fair than fast" in receiving evidence and prosecuting the case.
"If the question is, 'Am I going to pressure the medical examiner to do something faster?' The answer is no. I think it's important to let the medical examiner take the time he needs," Ivey said. "This case is too important."
By Aaron C. Davis and Avis Thomas-Lester
Washington Post Staff Writers
"While this investigation is taking so long, people are losing the trust that they had in the county government, and it is a very big, heavy cloud not only on the correctional officers . . . but on the county," chapter President June White Dillard said. "The longer it takes, people will begin to suspect that . . . the county government is trying to do a coverup, and that is not what we want to happen."
Dillard's comments drew a rebuke yesterday from county Public Safety Director Vernon R. Herron, who said county officials are no longer in charge of the investigation. He said they turned it over to state and federal authorities June 30, the day after Ronnie L. White was found strangled in his jail cell.
"We're awaiting the results of the investigation like everyone else," Herron said. "I think it's unfair for Ms. Dillard to criticize and to indicate that the county government is involved in any coverup. Nothing could be further from the truth."
Dillard's comments came nearly six weeks after the last significant public update on the case from law enforcement. White, 19, was found unresponsive and with no detectable pulse in his cell in the Prince George's County Corrections Center on June 29. That was less than two days after he was charged with killing a veteran county police officer, Cpl. Richard S. Findley, by striking him while driving a stolen truck.
The day after White died, county officials said the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had preliminarily ruled his death a homicide by asphyxiation and strangulation. At the request of county officials, the Maryland State Police and the civil rights division of the FBI took over the investigation.
Suspicion fell on correctional officers after County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) said that only a few guards, and no other inmates, were believed to have had access to White's maximum-security cell. Some correctional officers also initially declined to meet with investigators.
In mid-July, an attorney for the correctional officers disputed that union members had been uncooperative and predicted that investigators would find that White had committed suicide.
Spokesmen for the state police and the FBI declined to comment about the case yesterday. Law enforcement officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said interviews with most guards were completed weeks ago.
At the NAACP news conference, Dillard also called on county State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey (D) to expedite the investigation by demanding that the state's medical examiner issue his final report on White's death. Ivey has said he will take the findings of the investigation before a grand jury, but first needs to receive the final medical examiner's report.
Dillard's complaints about the pace of the investigation were echoed by Bobby Henry, an attorney for White's family.
"The White family is very disappointed in the progress of the investigation at this point," he said. "We want there to be a thorough and detailed investigation, but we believe it could be done in a much more expeditious manner. It has become painfully obvious that this investigation and the prosecution of these wrongdoers are well beyond those charged with those responsibilities at this time."
Cindy Feldstein, a spokeswoman for the Maryland medical examiner's office, said doctors are striving to complete their report on White's death by the end of the month. She said examiners are waiting for results from a final portion of the autopsy: tests on White's brain and nervous system.
Ivey said he would rather be "fair than fast" in receiving evidence and prosecuting the case.
"If the question is, 'Am I going to pressure the medical examiner to do something faster?' The answer is no. I think it's important to let the medical examiner take the time he needs," Ivey said. "This case is too important."
By Aaron C. Davis and Avis Thomas-Lester
Washington Post Staff Writers
Southern Africa to Launch Free Trade Zone
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Fourteen Southern African countries will formally launch a free trade zone at a summit on Saturday, South Africa said on Tuesday, hoping to boost the region's economic muscle.
The Free Trade Area (FTA) will exempt 85 percent of trade from tariffs and the aim is to fully liberalise by 2012.
South African Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa said while that was a realistic target, greater efforts were needed to develop and integrate the region.
"The launch of the FTA is not an end in itself but a beginning of a process we need to embark on to build both productive and trade capacity, improve competitiveness of our industries...," Mpahlwa said in a statement.
The 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) needed to focus more on strengthening its agricultural industries and improving infrastructure.
"The lack of infrastructure is a major barrier to regional integration and development," the minister said.
SADC first mooted the idea of a free-trade zone in 1996 but progress has been slow and some economies continue to lag behind in developing infrastructure and policies crucial for integration.
reuters
The Free Trade Area (FTA) will exempt 85 percent of trade from tariffs and the aim is to fully liberalise by 2012.
South African Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa said while that was a realistic target, greater efforts were needed to develop and integrate the region.
"The launch of the FTA is not an end in itself but a beginning of a process we need to embark on to build both productive and trade capacity, improve competitiveness of our industries...," Mpahlwa said in a statement.
The 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) needed to focus more on strengthening its agricultural industries and improving infrastructure.
"The lack of infrastructure is a major barrier to regional integration and development," the minister said.
SADC first mooted the idea of a free-trade zone in 1996 but progress has been slow and some economies continue to lag behind in developing infrastructure and policies crucial for integration.
reuters
Mbeki Leaves Zimbabwe without Power-Sharing Deal
HARARE (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki left Zimbabwe on Wednesday after failing to secure a power-sharing deal between its main rivals during marathon talks, adding to doubts over chances of an agreement.
Mbeki brokered three days of negotiations between President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on ending a post-election crisis that has worsened Zimbabwe's spiral of decline.
Mbeki said negotiations had not broken down, but Mugabe had only reached a deal with the leader of a breakaway opposition faction and he was unsure even that had been signed.
Mbeki said Tsvangirai was still looking at his options.
Negotiations followed Mugabe's unopposed re-election in June in a poll from which Tsvangirai withdrew because of attacks on his supporters and which was condemned around the world.
Mbeki headed to Angola to meet President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, head of the political department of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which is worried about the impact of a possible meltdown in Zimbabwe.
Mbeki, the region's chief negotiator in Zimbabwe, is expected to brief a weekend SADC summit in Johannesburg on the situation in Zimbabwe, a once promising African country whose economy is in ruins.
Without a comprehensive breakthrough in negotiations, Mbeki may come under renewed pressure to take a tough line with Mugabe, a policy he says would only aggravate political tensions in Zimbabwe.
Mbeki was confident a solution to the crisis was possible. "I have no doubt that's what will happen," he said after talks ended on Tuesday night. "If it means staying in this country for six months, I will do that."
There was uncertainty over where talks had got to.
A senior official of Mugabe's ZANU-PF told Reuters a deal had already been signed with Arthur Mutambara's breakaway faction of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, but a spokesman for that group said it was untrue.
If such a deal sidelined Tsvangirai, it could make it even harder to end the crisis and ease the hardship of Zimbabweans suffering 2 million percent inflation and shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency.
Mugabe is expected to convene parliament next week and plans to form a national unity government with Mutambara.
Mutambara's 10 seats would give the coalition the majority in parliament that ZANU-PF lost in March elections for the first time since independence, but excluding Tsvangirai would be unlikely to heal the deep rift in the southern African country.
By Nelson Banya for reuters
Mbeki brokered three days of negotiations between President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on ending a post-election crisis that has worsened Zimbabwe's spiral of decline.
Mbeki said negotiations had not broken down, but Mugabe had only reached a deal with the leader of a breakaway opposition faction and he was unsure even that had been signed.
Mbeki said Tsvangirai was still looking at his options.
Negotiations followed Mugabe's unopposed re-election in June in a poll from which Tsvangirai withdrew because of attacks on his supporters and which was condemned around the world.
Mbeki headed to Angola to meet President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, head of the political department of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which is worried about the impact of a possible meltdown in Zimbabwe.
Mbeki, the region's chief negotiator in Zimbabwe, is expected to brief a weekend SADC summit in Johannesburg on the situation in Zimbabwe, a once promising African country whose economy is in ruins.
Without a comprehensive breakthrough in negotiations, Mbeki may come under renewed pressure to take a tough line with Mugabe, a policy he says would only aggravate political tensions in Zimbabwe.
Mbeki was confident a solution to the crisis was possible. "I have no doubt that's what will happen," he said after talks ended on Tuesday night. "If it means staying in this country for six months, I will do that."
There was uncertainty over where talks had got to.
A senior official of Mugabe's ZANU-PF told Reuters a deal had already been signed with Arthur Mutambara's breakaway faction of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, but a spokesman for that group said it was untrue.
If such a deal sidelined Tsvangirai, it could make it even harder to end the crisis and ease the hardship of Zimbabweans suffering 2 million percent inflation and shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency.
Mugabe is expected to convene parliament next week and plans to form a national unity government with Mutambara.
Mutambara's 10 seats would give the coalition the majority in parliament that ZANU-PF lost in March elections for the first time since independence, but excluding Tsvangirai would be unlikely to heal the deep rift in the southern African country.
By Nelson Banya for reuters
BET Premieres New Talk Show 'The Truth' With Jeff Johnson
Through "THE TRUTH," BET Host and Political Correspondent Jeff Johnson Tackles Today's Top Stories and Delivers a Keen and Powerful Analysis of the Issues Facing the Black Community
New York, NY (BlackNews.com) - In the weeks leading up to the Democratic Convention in August, when the first African American will accept the Democratic nomination for President of the United States of America, BET News will unveil a new and timely weekly talk show, THE TRUTH WITH JEFF JOHNSON, premiering on Friday, August 15 at 11:00 P.M.* Hosted by political correspondent Jeff Johnson, the half-hour show will take a frank look at news, trends, pop culture, current events and politics from an unapologetically Black point of view.
This provocative half-hour program will use a mix of investigative reporting and one-on-one interviews with leading experts to review the week's events and examine exactly what the top headlines mean for the Black community. Known for his in-depth analysis of political, social, and economic problems affecting African Americans, host Jeff Johnson will leave no issue unaddressed. From unique coverage of the 2008 elections to the increase of heart failure in the Black population, THE TRUTH WITH JEFF JOHNSON will go behind the issues and deliver the African American side of the news.
During a special 2008 election report, THE TRUTH will travel to Denver for the 45th Democratic National Convention. Broadcasting live from inside the Pepsi Center and Invesco Field, Johnson will provide context and analysis of all of the latest developments of the Democratic National Convention. Leading media figures such as political strategist and BET J host Keith Boykin and political pundits Jamal Simmons, Keli Goff and Angela McGlowan will act as onsite correspondents at the Convention for a two-hour special featuring Senator Barack Obama's speech on Thursday, August 28.
"With the launch of The Truth With Jeff Johnson, along with all of our other in-depth political coverage, we are providing a unique and necessary perspective on the issues important to the Black community," said Debra L. Lee, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BET Networks. "BET News is committed to informing our audience with the news they can't get anywhere else, with a diversity of voices and opinions that our audience demands."
After the Democratic Convention, THE TRUTH WITH JEFF JOHNSON will resume its regular weekly schedule through the 2008 presidential election and will review key events from the campaign trail and beyond.
For more on THE TRUTH WITH JEFF JOHNSON, please visit www.BET.com. All of BET Networks' presidential election coverage can be found on BET's DECISION '08 site: www.bet.com/news/decision08
blacknews.com
New York, NY (BlackNews.com) - In the weeks leading up to the Democratic Convention in August, when the first African American will accept the Democratic nomination for President of the United States of America, BET News will unveil a new and timely weekly talk show, THE TRUTH WITH JEFF JOHNSON, premiering on Friday, August 15 at 11:00 P.M.* Hosted by political correspondent Jeff Johnson, the half-hour show will take a frank look at news, trends, pop culture, current events and politics from an unapologetically Black point of view.
This provocative half-hour program will use a mix of investigative reporting and one-on-one interviews with leading experts to review the week's events and examine exactly what the top headlines mean for the Black community. Known for his in-depth analysis of political, social, and economic problems affecting African Americans, host Jeff Johnson will leave no issue unaddressed. From unique coverage of the 2008 elections to the increase of heart failure in the Black population, THE TRUTH WITH JEFF JOHNSON will go behind the issues and deliver the African American side of the news.
During a special 2008 election report, THE TRUTH will travel to Denver for the 45th Democratic National Convention. Broadcasting live from inside the Pepsi Center and Invesco Field, Johnson will provide context and analysis of all of the latest developments of the Democratic National Convention. Leading media figures such as political strategist and BET J host Keith Boykin and political pundits Jamal Simmons, Keli Goff and Angela McGlowan will act as onsite correspondents at the Convention for a two-hour special featuring Senator Barack Obama's speech on Thursday, August 28.
"With the launch of The Truth With Jeff Johnson, along with all of our other in-depth political coverage, we are providing a unique and necessary perspective on the issues important to the Black community," said Debra L. Lee, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BET Networks. "BET News is committed to informing our audience with the news they can't get anywhere else, with a diversity of voices and opinions that our audience demands."
After the Democratic Convention, THE TRUTH WITH JEFF JOHNSON will resume its regular weekly schedule through the 2008 presidential election and will review key events from the campaign trail and beyond.
For more on THE TRUTH WITH JEFF JOHNSON, please visit www.BET.com. All of BET Networks' presidential election coverage can be found on BET's DECISION '08 site: www.bet.com/news/decision08
blacknews.com
Monday, August 11, 2008
New Generation of Black Politicians Look to Lead
Barack Obama's success reflects the rise of 'post-racial' black politicians who distance themselves from the old politics and civil rights of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. But many fear this new generation fails to understand the
concerns of some black Americans, reports Paul Harris in Newark
Cory Booker's message was clear. Unveiling a plaque to commemorate deadly race riots in his city 41 years ago, the young black Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, was thinking of the future as much as the past. Though 26 people died in the troubles and the city turned into a byword for racial tensions and crime, Booker was determined not to make the event about America's past racism and segregation.
'I am of a different generation,' he told a crowd of onlookers in the stifling heat of a Newark summer's day. 'I have never in my life seen a sign, but in a museum, that says "Whites only". I am from a generation that came about in a different era.'
Such honest words, wilfully breaking free from the Sixties civil rights struggle, would once have been unthinkable from a leading black politician, especially when speaking to a mostly black audience. But now, as Barack Obama runs to be America's first black President, a new cadre of so-called 'post-racial' black politicians have moved to the fore. They are changing the face of black American politics.
Shaking off the traditional black power structures of civil rights groups and the black church, they have distanced themselves from figures such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. They have also posed a challenge to established black politicians with roots in the old civil rights era, such as South Carolina congressman Jim Clyburn and Georgia congressman John Lewis. The new politicians have based their appeal on anything but race. They have forged voter coalitions across racial boundaries, including whites and Hispanics. And it has worked.
Booker is a hugely popular mayor in Newark. He is not alone. Deval Patrick has become the first black governor of heavily white Massachusetts. David Paterson is the first black governor of New York. Adrian Fenty, aged just 37, is the young black mayor of Washington DC, and a world away from the black politicians that came before him. In Atlanta the black mayor, Shirley Franklin, is hugely popular with the powerful white business community.
All of them - like Obama - have won electoral success by seeking to move beyond racial identity. They could be the first trickles of a coming flood. 'This surge of black politicians running post-racial campaigns is new. But if Obama wins the White House we are going to see a major shift towards them,' said Caroline Heldman, a political scientist at California's Occidental College.
Booker looks every inch the new black politician. He is handsome and young and wears dapper suits. He has an impressive educational background: a degree from Stanford and a Rhodes Scholar. He grew up in a mostly white town in New Jersey, the son of IBM executives.
Yet here he is as the mayor of Newark, a city that, for much of America, has come to mean rampant crime and sprawling black ghettos. He is now turning it around. Booker has substantially reduced violent crime. He has reformed the police force and brought high-profile companies to the city. He is a relentlessly upbeat advocate for the city despite its reputation.
That reputation was largely born in 1967. After rumours spread that white police had beaten a black taxi driver, riots broke out that cost 26 lives, injured more than 700 and saw the National Guard brought onto the streets. It resulted in the flight of the white middle class, leaving behind an impoverished black populace. Memories run deep here. Watching the plaque being unveiled was Atno Smith, who grew up near where the riot started. 'You call it a riot,' he said 'We call it a rebellion. You can call it a police riot if you like. Or a National Guard riot.'
Such sentiments have been common in black American politics for a generation; defined by a sense of injustice and the notion that street protest was the best way to address black concerns. The TV image of Sharpton and Jackson leading a march to protest at a police shooting or a racially motivated murder has become a cultural signpost for modern American life. But Obama, Booker and others are seeking to change that.
In his memorial speech, Booker outlined a post-racial future for black Americans and his constant theme was to move on from the civil rights era. 'We do not want these stories or these memories to overcome us and undermine us; to trap us in our history,' he said.
That echoes the themes of Obama, who only openly addressed the issue of race when his pastor, the Rev Jeremiah Wright, became a damaging campaign issue after making comments including blaming America for the 11 September attacks and claiming the government had secretly invented HIV 'as a means of genocide against people of colour'.
Indeed, Obama has been frequently at pains to call on black Americans to take responsibility for their lives. He has spoken at black churches and aggressively pushed the need for individual blacks, especially young fathers, to look after their families better. That theme has earned the ire of older figures such as Jackson, whose fury at Obama recently spilled out when a microphone in a TV studio picked up Jackson admitting he wanted to '... cut his nuts out'.
The new generation of black politicians has forged on regardless and, to some extent, they have succeeded in removing race from their campaigns. When Paterson replaced Eliot Spitzer as New York's governor, much was made of the fact Paterson was blind. His race was rarely mentioned. Patrick and Franklin's paths to power unfolded in similar ways, with race playing little overt role.
In many ways, these politicians reflect the emergence of a black middle class that has moved to the same suburbs as their white counterparts and works in the same professional jobs. A recent study for Radio One, a black broadcasting company, found huge generational discrepancies among black Americans. It found younger blacks in their thirties and forties were twice as likely to say society focused too much on black oppression as their parents' generation. They were also markedly more optimistic about the future.
That attitude can be found even on the streets of Newark where the riots began. William Steele, who is black, said Booker had the right message: 'Cory Booker is just laying it out there. That what we need to do is just stand up. He is giving people a sense of responsibility that if you want some money, then you have to get out there and get a job. It does not matter if you are black or white.'
It is not as easy as that. The truth is far more complex than a flood of newspaper headlines greeting the premature dawn of a non-racial future.
It is certainly easy to find dissenting Newark voices, who believe the new black politicians are abandoning the real concerns of black people. Opposite the police station on which the memorial plaque now hangs, a large estate of new housing has been built. The area used to be a notorious 'project' but is now full of smart, tidy homes. To many that is a sign of progress, but not for Theresa Manning. She says Booker - and black politicians like him - have forgotten the poorest of the poor in her city in favour of embryonic gentrification.
'They knock down a project where we live and then build these new houses. But we can't afford to live in them,' she said 'They are trying to [push] us out of Newark. But where we gonna go?'
There is a fear that the declining influence of old-style black protest politics will mean the new black politicians will be able to ignore disadvantaged black communities or blame them for their own situation. But the fact is that black America is a very different world from the rest of the US.
On average, black American men live seven years less than other racial groups. They are five times more likely to die of Aids. More than three times as many blacks live in prison cells than live in university halls. Many experts fear that electing Obama - or other political leaders - on a 'non-racial' basis would allow these issues to be swept under the carpet. 'There is a sense that this might be the potential downside of the triumph of tokenism,' said Devin Fergus, a political scientist at Vanderbilt University.
Given the nature of the problems still facing black America, many black commentators believe there is still a justification for the confrontational, race-based politics of old hands such as Sharpton and Jackson. Indeed, it was noticeable in Obama's epic nomination battle with Hillary Clinton that establishment black politicians were far cooler about Obama than the black Democratic electorate. Many older black mayors, congressmen and senators ended up firmly in the Clinton camp or stayed on the sidelines until near the very end. 'People are worried that these post-racial politicians will not be able to forcibly address real black issues,' said Andra Gillespie, a political scientist at Emory University who is writing a book on Booker.
On the streets of America's inner cities, that same sentiment can be found, albeit expressed in simpler language. It often takes the form of a resentment of the education of the new black politicians and a belief that they do not understand what it means to be black in America. Obama has come under sustained criticism for his Hawaiian upbringing and his Kenyan - not black American - family background. Even in Newark, Booker is not immune. Manning is not shy about attacking what she sees as Booker's privileged upbringing in a wealthy white suburb. The vehemence of her words, delivered on a street corner as Booker prepared to get back in his SUV, jarred starkly with the positive post-racial rhetoric of the mayor's speech. 'Cory Booker did not know what it means to be black. He had to learn how to be black,' Manning said.
Her words perhaps deliberately echoed a famous campaign taunt used by Booker's predecessor as mayor, Sharpe James. James, who ran Newark for two decades as a classic old-school black politician, once said of Booker: 'You have to learn how to be African-American and we don't have time to train you.' But how times have changed. Booker is now mayor and James has been jailed on corruption charges.
In many black intellectual circles there is now a fierce argument over whether the new 'post-racial' campaigns are simply a means to an end - that sacrificing black identity politics will allow black leaders to better tackle racial injustice. Or are they, paradoxically, a bad thing for many poor black communities whose concerns could be abandoned.
The jury is out. Critics say politicians such as Booker and Obama, by raising issues such as absent black fathers, are pandering to the racism of the white majority in order to win office. 'Some think the election of Obama could be a double-edged sword. Some of what he has said could give strength to those who falsely argue black Americans are marginalised by their own choices,' Fergus said.
But others say the opposite. They say the new generation of black politicians simply want to make all their constituents' lives better and move beyond race. Getting elected first is key, they argue, because only then can they push for social change. 'It's only in office that black leaders can then begin to legislate,' Gillespie said.
Perhaps an answer will emerge only if Obama wins the White House. That is a real possibility, undreamed of even two decades ago. But then America's racial politics are changing. Certainly few people 41 years ago, during the race riots in Newark, would have imagined that the first mayor to produce a memorial to them would be like Cory Booker: young, black, popular with whites and loved by the police. There are even whispers of much bigger things ahead in his political future. Even Manning had good words for the impact the mayor has had on a city that desperately needed help: 'I'll say this for Cory Booker. There isn't drugs being sold outside my house any more. I appreciate that.'
Paul Harris The Observer (UK)
concerns of some black Americans, reports Paul Harris in Newark
Cory Booker's message was clear. Unveiling a plaque to commemorate deadly race riots in his city 41 years ago, the young black Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, was thinking of the future as much as the past. Though 26 people died in the troubles and the city turned into a byword for racial tensions and crime, Booker was determined not to make the event about America's past racism and segregation.
'I am of a different generation,' he told a crowd of onlookers in the stifling heat of a Newark summer's day. 'I have never in my life seen a sign, but in a museum, that says "Whites only". I am from a generation that came about in a different era.'
Such honest words, wilfully breaking free from the Sixties civil rights struggle, would once have been unthinkable from a leading black politician, especially when speaking to a mostly black audience. But now, as Barack Obama runs to be America's first black President, a new cadre of so-called 'post-racial' black politicians have moved to the fore. They are changing the face of black American politics.
Shaking off the traditional black power structures of civil rights groups and the black church, they have distanced themselves from figures such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. They have also posed a challenge to established black politicians with roots in the old civil rights era, such as South Carolina congressman Jim Clyburn and Georgia congressman John Lewis. The new politicians have based their appeal on anything but race. They have forged voter coalitions across racial boundaries, including whites and Hispanics. And it has worked.
Booker is a hugely popular mayor in Newark. He is not alone. Deval Patrick has become the first black governor of heavily white Massachusetts. David Paterson is the first black governor of New York. Adrian Fenty, aged just 37, is the young black mayor of Washington DC, and a world away from the black politicians that came before him. In Atlanta the black mayor, Shirley Franklin, is hugely popular with the powerful white business community.
All of them - like Obama - have won electoral success by seeking to move beyond racial identity. They could be the first trickles of a coming flood. 'This surge of black politicians running post-racial campaigns is new. But if Obama wins the White House we are going to see a major shift towards them,' said Caroline Heldman, a political scientist at California's Occidental College.
Booker looks every inch the new black politician. He is handsome and young and wears dapper suits. He has an impressive educational background: a degree from Stanford and a Rhodes Scholar. He grew up in a mostly white town in New Jersey, the son of IBM executives.
Yet here he is as the mayor of Newark, a city that, for much of America, has come to mean rampant crime and sprawling black ghettos. He is now turning it around. Booker has substantially reduced violent crime. He has reformed the police force and brought high-profile companies to the city. He is a relentlessly upbeat advocate for the city despite its reputation.
That reputation was largely born in 1967. After rumours spread that white police had beaten a black taxi driver, riots broke out that cost 26 lives, injured more than 700 and saw the National Guard brought onto the streets. It resulted in the flight of the white middle class, leaving behind an impoverished black populace. Memories run deep here. Watching the plaque being unveiled was Atno Smith, who grew up near where the riot started. 'You call it a riot,' he said 'We call it a rebellion. You can call it a police riot if you like. Or a National Guard riot.'
Such sentiments have been common in black American politics for a generation; defined by a sense of injustice and the notion that street protest was the best way to address black concerns. The TV image of Sharpton and Jackson leading a march to protest at a police shooting or a racially motivated murder has become a cultural signpost for modern American life. But Obama, Booker and others are seeking to change that.
In his memorial speech, Booker outlined a post-racial future for black Americans and his constant theme was to move on from the civil rights era. 'We do not want these stories or these memories to overcome us and undermine us; to trap us in our history,' he said.
That echoes the themes of Obama, who only openly addressed the issue of race when his pastor, the Rev Jeremiah Wright, became a damaging campaign issue after making comments including blaming America for the 11 September attacks and claiming the government had secretly invented HIV 'as a means of genocide against people of colour'.
Indeed, Obama has been frequently at pains to call on black Americans to take responsibility for their lives. He has spoken at black churches and aggressively pushed the need for individual blacks, especially young fathers, to look after their families better. That theme has earned the ire of older figures such as Jackson, whose fury at Obama recently spilled out when a microphone in a TV studio picked up Jackson admitting he wanted to '... cut his nuts out'.
The new generation of black politicians has forged on regardless and, to some extent, they have succeeded in removing race from their campaigns. When Paterson replaced Eliot Spitzer as New York's governor, much was made of the fact Paterson was blind. His race was rarely mentioned. Patrick and Franklin's paths to power unfolded in similar ways, with race playing little overt role.
In many ways, these politicians reflect the emergence of a black middle class that has moved to the same suburbs as their white counterparts and works in the same professional jobs. A recent study for Radio One, a black broadcasting company, found huge generational discrepancies among black Americans. It found younger blacks in their thirties and forties were twice as likely to say society focused too much on black oppression as their parents' generation. They were also markedly more optimistic about the future.
That attitude can be found even on the streets of Newark where the riots began. William Steele, who is black, said Booker had the right message: 'Cory Booker is just laying it out there. That what we need to do is just stand up. He is giving people a sense of responsibility that if you want some money, then you have to get out there and get a job. It does not matter if you are black or white.'
It is not as easy as that. The truth is far more complex than a flood of newspaper headlines greeting the premature dawn of a non-racial future.
It is certainly easy to find dissenting Newark voices, who believe the new black politicians are abandoning the real concerns of black people. Opposite the police station on which the memorial plaque now hangs, a large estate of new housing has been built. The area used to be a notorious 'project' but is now full of smart, tidy homes. To many that is a sign of progress, but not for Theresa Manning. She says Booker - and black politicians like him - have forgotten the poorest of the poor in her city in favour of embryonic gentrification.
'They knock down a project where we live and then build these new houses. But we can't afford to live in them,' she said 'They are trying to [push] us out of Newark. But where we gonna go?'
There is a fear that the declining influence of old-style black protest politics will mean the new black politicians will be able to ignore disadvantaged black communities or blame them for their own situation. But the fact is that black America is a very different world from the rest of the US.
On average, black American men live seven years less than other racial groups. They are five times more likely to die of Aids. More than three times as many blacks live in prison cells than live in university halls. Many experts fear that electing Obama - or other political leaders - on a 'non-racial' basis would allow these issues to be swept under the carpet. 'There is a sense that this might be the potential downside of the triumph of tokenism,' said Devin Fergus, a political scientist at Vanderbilt University.
Given the nature of the problems still facing black America, many black commentators believe there is still a justification for the confrontational, race-based politics of old hands such as Sharpton and Jackson. Indeed, it was noticeable in Obama's epic nomination battle with Hillary Clinton that establishment black politicians were far cooler about Obama than the black Democratic electorate. Many older black mayors, congressmen and senators ended up firmly in the Clinton camp or stayed on the sidelines until near the very end. 'People are worried that these post-racial politicians will not be able to forcibly address real black issues,' said Andra Gillespie, a political scientist at Emory University who is writing a book on Booker.
On the streets of America's inner cities, that same sentiment can be found, albeit expressed in simpler language. It often takes the form of a resentment of the education of the new black politicians and a belief that they do not understand what it means to be black in America. Obama has come under sustained criticism for his Hawaiian upbringing and his Kenyan - not black American - family background. Even in Newark, Booker is not immune. Manning is not shy about attacking what she sees as Booker's privileged upbringing in a wealthy white suburb. The vehemence of her words, delivered on a street corner as Booker prepared to get back in his SUV, jarred starkly with the positive post-racial rhetoric of the mayor's speech. 'Cory Booker did not know what it means to be black. He had to learn how to be black,' Manning said.
Her words perhaps deliberately echoed a famous campaign taunt used by Booker's predecessor as mayor, Sharpe James. James, who ran Newark for two decades as a classic old-school black politician, once said of Booker: 'You have to learn how to be African-American and we don't have time to train you.' But how times have changed. Booker is now mayor and James has been jailed on corruption charges.
In many black intellectual circles there is now a fierce argument over whether the new 'post-racial' campaigns are simply a means to an end - that sacrificing black identity politics will allow black leaders to better tackle racial injustice. Or are they, paradoxically, a bad thing for many poor black communities whose concerns could be abandoned.
The jury is out. Critics say politicians such as Booker and Obama, by raising issues such as absent black fathers, are pandering to the racism of the white majority in order to win office. 'Some think the election of Obama could be a double-edged sword. Some of what he has said could give strength to those who falsely argue black Americans are marginalised by their own choices,' Fergus said.
But others say the opposite. They say the new generation of black politicians simply want to make all their constituents' lives better and move beyond race. Getting elected first is key, they argue, because only then can they push for social change. 'It's only in office that black leaders can then begin to legislate,' Gillespie said.
Perhaps an answer will emerge only if Obama wins the White House. That is a real possibility, undreamed of even two decades ago. But then America's racial politics are changing. Certainly few people 41 years ago, during the race riots in Newark, would have imagined that the first mayor to produce a memorial to them would be like Cory Booker: young, black, popular with whites and loved by the police. There are even whispers of much bigger things ahead in his political future. Even Manning had good words for the impact the mayor has had on a city that desperately needed help: 'I'll say this for Cory Booker. There isn't drugs being sold outside my house any more. I appreciate that.'
Paul Harris The Observer (UK)
More Than 'Shaft': Hayes was Goldmine of Influence
With its riveting orchestration, definitive guitar play and signature sensual baritone vocals, Isaac Hayes' theme song for the 1971 movie "Shaft" not only became one of pop music's iconic songs, but also the defining work of Hayes' career.
Yet the "Theme from Shaft," which would earn both Grammys and an Oscar, was just a snippet of the groundbreaking music for which Hayes — who died Sunday at age 65 — was responsible.
He penned soul classics like "Hold On I'm Comin'" for Sam & Dave, helped usher in the era of disco and was a goldmine for countless hip-hop and R&B artists who used his illustrious arrangements as the focal point for their songs decades later.
"Isaac Hayes embodies everything that's soul music," Collin Stanback, an A&R executive at Stax, told The Associated Press on Sunday. "When you think of soul music you think of Isaac Hayes — the expression ... the sound and the creativity that goes along with it."
His influence also extended beyond music. His trademarked bald head, full beard and muscular frame, often adorned with a multitude of gold chains, made him a fashion trendsetter at a time when most of his contemporaries were sporting blowout Afros. He was also a symbol of black pride, and an activist for civil rights.
The Rev. Al Sharpton called Hayes a "creative genius" and added, "even in his later years he never hesitated to appear for a cause or endorse something that he felt was for the good of mankind. He will be sorely missed."
Hayes also acted in movies including "Tough Guys," "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka" and "Hustle & Flow." He had recently completed the movie "Soul Men," in which he played himself; the film also starred Samuel Jackson and Bernie Mac, who died on Saturday after a bout with pneumonia. And a new generation of fans discovered the man behind "Shaft" when, in 1997, he became the voice of Chef on the Comedy Central show "South Park."
Hayes, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was pronounced dead at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis in Memphis, Tenn., after collapsing Sunday afternoon near a treadmill in his home nearby.
Steve Shular, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, said authorities received a 911 call after Hayes' wife and young son and his wife's cousin returned home from the grocery store and found him collapsed in a downstairs bedroom. A sheriff's deputy administered CPR until paramedics arrived.
Stanback said he was shocked to learn of the death of the singer, who was about to start work on a new record for Stax, the label Hayes helped make legendary.
In an industry filled with colorful and dynamic figures, Hayes was a standout on several levels, from his smooth baritone to his flamboyant style: It was almost as if he was made to be a musical god.
But Hayes spent the early part of his career firmly in the musical background. A self-taught musician from Covington, Tenn., he made a name for himself playing with various bands around Memphis. In 1964, he was hired by Stax Records to be a backup pianist, working as a session musician for Otis Redding and others. He also played saxophone.
He began writing songs, establishing a songwriting partnership with David Porter, and in the 1960s they wrote classic hits for Sam and Dave such as "Hold On, I'm Coming," "Soul Man," and "When Something is Wrong With My Baby." They also wrote for other Stax artists including Carla Thomas.
Hayes' work as a composer helped him secure a deal as a solo artist. His first album, "Presenting Isaac Hayes," was a poor seller, the result of an impromptu jam session. But after getting creative control, he delivered his next album, "Hot Buttered Soul" in 1969, and it made him a star.
Hayes offered something completely different to the musical world. In an era of straightened hair or Afros, Hayes was bald: "His look was just so profound," Stanback said. "He was like a superhero."
Whereas other soul crooners showed their passion through wails, Hayes delivery was calm, cool — almost subdued. He prefaced songs with "raps," and they ran longer than typical standard of three minutes: One song, a cover of Glen Campbell's "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," ran 18 minutes.
"(Radio) jocks would play it at night," Hayes recalled of his songs in a 1999 Associated Press interview. "They could go to the bathroom, they could get a sandwich, or whatever."
Next came "Theme From Shaft," a No. 1 hit from the blaxploitation film "Shaft" starring Richard Roundtree.
"That was like the shot heard round the world," Hayes said in the 1999 interview.
At the Oscar ceremony in 1972, Hayes performed the song wearing an eye-popping amount of gold and received a standing ovation. TV Guide later chose it as No. 18 in its list of television's 25 most memorable moments. He won an Academy Award for the song and was nominated for another one for the score. The song and score also won him two Grammys.
In 1972, he won another Grammy for his album "Black Moses" and earned a nickname he reluctantly embraced. He was also part of the historic "Wattstax" concert in riot-ravaged Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles.
Besides "Shaft," Hayes composed film scores for "Tough Guys" and "Truck Turner." He also did the song "Two Cool Guys" on the "Beavis and Butt-Head Do America" movie soundtrack in 1996.
Additionally, he was the voice of Nickelodeon's "Nick at Nite" and had radio shows in New York City (1996 to 2002) and then in Memphis.
Though his last big hits on the charts ended in the 1980s, Hayes' presence in contemporary music continued as his songs were sampled on numerous hits by rap and R&B performers, ranging from Ashanti to Public Enemy to Jay-Z.
"The rappers have gone in and created a lot of hit music based upon my influence," he said. "And they'll tell you if you ask."
Stanback said: "A lot of artists owe Isaac his career because a lot of music was based on his foundation."
He garnered another audience and cult following with his work on "South Park." A school cook, Chef was in many ways the voice of reason in the otherwise outrageous animated social commentary, unwittingly imparting pearls of wisdom on the schoolboys who often came to him with their dilemmas; this, in spite of the fact that his foremost devotion was — true to Hayes' music and persona — being a ladies' man.
In the 1999 interview, Hayes described the character as "a person that speaks his mind; he's sensitive enough to care for children; he's wise enough to not be put into the 'wack' category like everybody else in town — and he l-o-o-o-o-ves the ladies."
But Hayes angrily quit the show in 2006 after an episode mocked his Scientology religion. "There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs of others begins," he said.
Co-creator creators Matt Stone responded that Hayes "has no problem — and he's cashed plenty of checks — with our show making fun of Christians." A subsequent episode of the show seemingly killed off the Chef character.
Hayes remained active in entertainment, even as he became a senior citizen. His Web site listed upcoming appearances and he was making plans for his Stax album. Stanback said it was to include Hayes' work on vintage tracks that he had left unfinished over the years.
"We were actually getting ready to schedule a trip to Memphis to talk to Isaac," he said.
Stanback called his death a tragedy.
"Isaac Hayes was a wonderful human begin and his spirit will live long in the form of his music," he said.
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY for AP
Yet the "Theme from Shaft," which would earn both Grammys and an Oscar, was just a snippet of the groundbreaking music for which Hayes — who died Sunday at age 65 — was responsible.
He penned soul classics like "Hold On I'm Comin'" for Sam & Dave, helped usher in the era of disco and was a goldmine for countless hip-hop and R&B artists who used his illustrious arrangements as the focal point for their songs decades later.
"Isaac Hayes embodies everything that's soul music," Collin Stanback, an A&R executive at Stax, told The Associated Press on Sunday. "When you think of soul music you think of Isaac Hayes — the expression ... the sound and the creativity that goes along with it."
His influence also extended beyond music. His trademarked bald head, full beard and muscular frame, often adorned with a multitude of gold chains, made him a fashion trendsetter at a time when most of his contemporaries were sporting blowout Afros. He was also a symbol of black pride, and an activist for civil rights.
The Rev. Al Sharpton called Hayes a "creative genius" and added, "even in his later years he never hesitated to appear for a cause or endorse something that he felt was for the good of mankind. He will be sorely missed."
Hayes also acted in movies including "Tough Guys," "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka" and "Hustle & Flow." He had recently completed the movie "Soul Men," in which he played himself; the film also starred Samuel Jackson and Bernie Mac, who died on Saturday after a bout with pneumonia. And a new generation of fans discovered the man behind "Shaft" when, in 1997, he became the voice of Chef on the Comedy Central show "South Park."
Hayes, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was pronounced dead at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis in Memphis, Tenn., after collapsing Sunday afternoon near a treadmill in his home nearby.
Steve Shular, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, said authorities received a 911 call after Hayes' wife and young son and his wife's cousin returned home from the grocery store and found him collapsed in a downstairs bedroom. A sheriff's deputy administered CPR until paramedics arrived.
Stanback said he was shocked to learn of the death of the singer, who was about to start work on a new record for Stax, the label Hayes helped make legendary.
In an industry filled with colorful and dynamic figures, Hayes was a standout on several levels, from his smooth baritone to his flamboyant style: It was almost as if he was made to be a musical god.
But Hayes spent the early part of his career firmly in the musical background. A self-taught musician from Covington, Tenn., he made a name for himself playing with various bands around Memphis. In 1964, he was hired by Stax Records to be a backup pianist, working as a session musician for Otis Redding and others. He also played saxophone.
He began writing songs, establishing a songwriting partnership with David Porter, and in the 1960s they wrote classic hits for Sam and Dave such as "Hold On, I'm Coming," "Soul Man," and "When Something is Wrong With My Baby." They also wrote for other Stax artists including Carla Thomas.
Hayes' work as a composer helped him secure a deal as a solo artist. His first album, "Presenting Isaac Hayes," was a poor seller, the result of an impromptu jam session. But after getting creative control, he delivered his next album, "Hot Buttered Soul" in 1969, and it made him a star.
Hayes offered something completely different to the musical world. In an era of straightened hair or Afros, Hayes was bald: "His look was just so profound," Stanback said. "He was like a superhero."
Whereas other soul crooners showed their passion through wails, Hayes delivery was calm, cool — almost subdued. He prefaced songs with "raps," and they ran longer than typical standard of three minutes: One song, a cover of Glen Campbell's "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," ran 18 minutes.
"(Radio) jocks would play it at night," Hayes recalled of his songs in a 1999 Associated Press interview. "They could go to the bathroom, they could get a sandwich, or whatever."
Next came "Theme From Shaft," a No. 1 hit from the blaxploitation film "Shaft" starring Richard Roundtree.
"That was like the shot heard round the world," Hayes said in the 1999 interview.
At the Oscar ceremony in 1972, Hayes performed the song wearing an eye-popping amount of gold and received a standing ovation. TV Guide later chose it as No. 18 in its list of television's 25 most memorable moments. He won an Academy Award for the song and was nominated for another one for the score. The song and score also won him two Grammys.
In 1972, he won another Grammy for his album "Black Moses" and earned a nickname he reluctantly embraced. He was also part of the historic "Wattstax" concert in riot-ravaged Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles.
Besides "Shaft," Hayes composed film scores for "Tough Guys" and "Truck Turner." He also did the song "Two Cool Guys" on the "Beavis and Butt-Head Do America" movie soundtrack in 1996.
Additionally, he was the voice of Nickelodeon's "Nick at Nite" and had radio shows in New York City (1996 to 2002) and then in Memphis.
Though his last big hits on the charts ended in the 1980s, Hayes' presence in contemporary music continued as his songs were sampled on numerous hits by rap and R&B performers, ranging from Ashanti to Public Enemy to Jay-Z.
"The rappers have gone in and created a lot of hit music based upon my influence," he said. "And they'll tell you if you ask."
Stanback said: "A lot of artists owe Isaac his career because a lot of music was based on his foundation."
He garnered another audience and cult following with his work on "South Park." A school cook, Chef was in many ways the voice of reason in the otherwise outrageous animated social commentary, unwittingly imparting pearls of wisdom on the schoolboys who often came to him with their dilemmas; this, in spite of the fact that his foremost devotion was — true to Hayes' music and persona — being a ladies' man.
In the 1999 interview, Hayes described the character as "a person that speaks his mind; he's sensitive enough to care for children; he's wise enough to not be put into the 'wack' category like everybody else in town — and he l-o-o-o-o-ves the ladies."
But Hayes angrily quit the show in 2006 after an episode mocked his Scientology religion. "There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs of others begins," he said.
Co-creator creators Matt Stone responded that Hayes "has no problem — and he's cashed plenty of checks — with our show making fun of Christians." A subsequent episode of the show seemingly killed off the Chef character.
Hayes remained active in entertainment, even as he became a senior citizen. His Web site listed upcoming appearances and he was making plans for his Stax album. Stanback said it was to include Hayes' work on vintage tracks that he had left unfinished over the years.
"We were actually getting ready to schedule a trip to Memphis to talk to Isaac," he said.
Stanback called his death a tragedy.
"Isaac Hayes was a wonderful human begin and his spirit will live long in the form of his music," he said.
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY for AP
50 Year Anniversary of Drug Store Sit-In Celebrated
50 years ago, a group of Wichita teenagers decided they wanted the same rights as everyone else. They staged a sit-in at the old Dockum Drug Store. It prompted similar movements across the country. Saturday those teenagers, now adults were recognized for their influence on the Civil Rights Movement.
"It's a blessing to be recognized. It's something I never dreamed of," sit-in participant Joyce Glass said.
She and her friends staged a sit in 50 years ago. Saturday about two hundred people thanked them for demanding equal rights. The sit-in is now recognized as the first of its kind in the country. The national NAACP didn't recognize it until this year.
"We simply wanted to make a change and we did," sit-in participant Carol Parks Hahn said.
The sit-in lasted three weeks. Each day, the teens sat at the lunch counter but were not served. "The owner came in one morning and said serve them I'm losing too much money. I happened to be there that day. That's how simple it was to get rid of a long history of discrimination."
Before the sit-in, African American had to ring a bell and stand at the end of the counter. "We changed the policy of the largest drug chain in Kansas, others in Wichita followed suit. We were very pleased we were successful."
Now 50 years later, as they're honored for the steps they took, they urge young people to also step it up and make a difference.
It helped bring about change for racial equality 50 years ago. Saturday morning, about 200 Kansans marched through downtown Wichita residents to commemorate the Dockum Drug Store Sit-In.
On July 19th, a half-century ago, two dozen young African-Americans successfully sat at the drug store's lunch counter meant for whites only. Less than a month later on August 11th they had desegregated the counter, along with the rest of the state's Rexall Drug Stores.
Wichita NAACP President Kevin Myles says it was the first successful sit-in in the nation, but it went unnoticed because the NAACP national chapter didn't recognize the acts of civil disobedience just yet.
A year later the organization gave the local branch its Thalheimer Award, but none of the students could attend the ceremony.
This weekend, that will change. Myles says at least a dozen of the participants will meet with other supporters and march to the same building where they protested in 1958. Also scheduled to make an appearance, the activists' youth leader at the time, Rosie Hughes. She's in her 80's now and won't be able to march.
by Kim Hynes for kwch.com
"It's a blessing to be recognized. It's something I never dreamed of," sit-in participant Joyce Glass said.
She and her friends staged a sit in 50 years ago. Saturday about two hundred people thanked them for demanding equal rights. The sit-in is now recognized as the first of its kind in the country. The national NAACP didn't recognize it until this year.
"We simply wanted to make a change and we did," sit-in participant Carol Parks Hahn said.
The sit-in lasted three weeks. Each day, the teens sat at the lunch counter but were not served. "The owner came in one morning and said serve them I'm losing too much money. I happened to be there that day. That's how simple it was to get rid of a long history of discrimination."
Before the sit-in, African American had to ring a bell and stand at the end of the counter. "We changed the policy of the largest drug chain in Kansas, others in Wichita followed suit. We were very pleased we were successful."
Now 50 years later, as they're honored for the steps they took, they urge young people to also step it up and make a difference.
It helped bring about change for racial equality 50 years ago. Saturday morning, about 200 Kansans marched through downtown Wichita residents to commemorate the Dockum Drug Store Sit-In.
On July 19th, a half-century ago, two dozen young African-Americans successfully sat at the drug store's lunch counter meant for whites only. Less than a month later on August 11th they had desegregated the counter, along with the rest of the state's Rexall Drug Stores.
Wichita NAACP President Kevin Myles says it was the first successful sit-in in the nation, but it went unnoticed because the NAACP national chapter didn't recognize the acts of civil disobedience just yet.
A year later the organization gave the local branch its Thalheimer Award, but none of the students could attend the ceremony.
This weekend, that will change. Myles says at least a dozen of the participants will meet with other supporters and march to the same building where they protested in 1958. Also scheduled to make an appearance, the activists' youth leader at the time, Rosie Hughes. She's in her 80's now and won't be able to march.
by Kim Hynes for kwch.com
Ethiopian Americans May Swing the Vote in Virginia
New York (Tadias) - The U.S. State of Virginia, which is home to one of the largest Ethiopian American communities in the country, hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in four decades, but some say it might turn blue come November.
“I really believe for the first time in 44 years that we have a great chance of getting the electoral votes in a blue column for Sen. Obama this Fall,” Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine recently told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
And, if the predictions hold true, the Ethiopian American vote could become the deciding factor in November that would deliver Virginia to the Democrats in a close general election.
“In states like Virginia, Ethiopians are in a unique position to swing the vote”, says Selam Mulugeta, a Field Organizer with Obama for America campaign in Northern Virginia. “If all of us who are eligible to vote do so, then we could potentially win the state.”
Obama himself is not taking any chances. “Ethiopian Americans have contributed so much to
our country and our culture, and it is an honor to have so much support from your community,” he said in a recent letter directly appealing to Ethiopian American voters. “We are working to break all records for voter participation in this election, and I hope you’ll become a part of that effort by registering and voting.”
“I read and reread the letter Barack Obama wrote to the Ethiopian American community. I am delighted that Obama clearly acknowledged the contributions of the community to the country and to the culture,” said Ayele Bekerie, Assistant Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies at the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University.
“He also hinted that, if elected, he is going to have an active foreign policy with the intent of helping people in Africa. That means we should exert even more efforts to make sure that he is elected. By supporting his candidacy and by actively participating in the political process, we are empowering ourselves.”
Of course, not all Ethiopian Americans are crazy about Obama. “What bothers me about him is his extreme leftist position on almost all issues,” writes one person with the alias Aris Tatalis on the Tadias blog. “He was rated the most liberal Senator in the year 2007 by the trend of his vote in the senate. For some reason, I don’t trust these leftists that keep on endorsing him.”
“The brother is doomed,” writes another reader. “There is no way that this country will elect a black man to take over the White House.”
But, most agree that registering to vote is the key.
“Why should Ethiopians register and vote this November?”, asks Meron Wondwosen, a lawyer who lives in Washington, DC, and a member of Ethiopians for Obama (E40).
“The vote determines who gets what, when, where and how. Quite simply, your vote is your voice in a democratic society. While it is not a panacea, it is one of the many strategies we must employ in order to organize ourselves and ensure that our needs are met.”
Computer Programmer Mike Endale, 26, from Maryland, another member of E4O, says voting is not only a right, but also a responsibility.
“Voting is the ultimate expression of an idea. Many Ethiopians who have migrated to the United States never had a chance to vote once in their life time,” he says. “This is their opportunity to redeem themselves for the lost time.”
Emebet Bekele of Alexandria, Virginia, an insurance agent who works for a family owned agency, says the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and the current economic downturn are good enough reasons why Ethiopian Americans should vote in November.
“We are in a war and yes there are a number of young Ethiopian-Americans serving in Iraq & Afghanistan. We need them to come home before they die or get injured. There are a lot of Ethiopian-Americans losing their homes in foreclosures, there are a lot of Ethiopian Americans uninsured because they cannot afford it, there a lot of Ethiopian Americans who cannot send their children to college because it is too expensive,” she said. “The only way we can overcome these obstacles is if we get involved in the political system and get our voices heard. Voting is a right given to us, but it is also a responsibility, we need to exercise that right to protect our community and the larger society.”
Lulit Mesfin, a small business owner who lives in Portland, Oregon, agrees:
“We cannot afford to remain silent. We must make our voices heard this year. We must vote, and make our votes count. Let’s all remember that African adage it takes a village to raise a child, and it takes a whole village to elect a president.”
Mistella Mekonnen, a Licensed Professional Counselor and a member of Ethiopians for Obama adds:
“American citizens of Ethiopian descent are invited to exercise their right to vote as it will enhance our ability to fully participate in this Democracy and voice our concerns in our new home. Voting is a precious right that was bestowed on us citizens through a lot of struggle and we owe it to ourselves to register and to vote in order to participate in the decisions being made that will affect our lives, our families, and our communities at large.”
“Ethiopians for Obama has been active for the past 12 months working hard to ensure that Ethiopian-American turn-out in record numbers for Senator Obama. We have seen an overwhelming enthusiasm for the Senator; however, we have to turn this enthusiasm into action”, says Teddy Fikre, a business consultant who lives in Alexandria, Virginia, and a member of Ethiopians for Obama.
“In battleground states such as Virginia, Minnesota, and Georgia, a large turnout of Ethiopian-American votes could be decisive. It is for this reason that we have been conducting registration drives on a weekly basis for the past three months and registering hundreds of Ethiopians. Our vote is precious, Senator Obama says that this campaign is more about us than it is about him. Now is our time to act, we have to register and vote in order to help elect Obama our next president.”
Team Obama has gotten the message. The campaign has hired an Ethiopian American as a Field Organizer in Virginia, which coupled with the letter from the Candidate, is a clear sign that the Democrats are taking the Ethiopian American factor in the state seriously.
“The letter is historic. This is the first time that the community has received a letter from a presidential candidate”, Professor Bekerie reminds us. “It is indeed a great achievement for the community to be recognized in such a manner. I think we should take his advice seriously regarding voting. We should stand up and ‘be counted as Americans demanding change’, as he puts it. That means those of us who have not registered to vote should immediately register to vote in the coming crucial presidential election. Our voices are being heard and that indeed is good news.”
tadias.com
“I really believe for the first time in 44 years that we have a great chance of getting the electoral votes in a blue column for Sen. Obama this Fall,” Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine recently told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
And, if the predictions hold true, the Ethiopian American vote could become the deciding factor in November that would deliver Virginia to the Democrats in a close general election.
“In states like Virginia, Ethiopians are in a unique position to swing the vote”, says Selam Mulugeta, a Field Organizer with Obama for America campaign in Northern Virginia. “If all of us who are eligible to vote do so, then we could potentially win the state.”
Obama himself is not taking any chances. “Ethiopian Americans have contributed so much to
our country and our culture, and it is an honor to have so much support from your community,” he said in a recent letter directly appealing to Ethiopian American voters. “We are working to break all records for voter participation in this election, and I hope you’ll become a part of that effort by registering and voting.”
“I read and reread the letter Barack Obama wrote to the Ethiopian American community. I am delighted that Obama clearly acknowledged the contributions of the community to the country and to the culture,” said Ayele Bekerie, Assistant Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies at the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University.
“He also hinted that, if elected, he is going to have an active foreign policy with the intent of helping people in Africa. That means we should exert even more efforts to make sure that he is elected. By supporting his candidacy and by actively participating in the political process, we are empowering ourselves.”
Of course, not all Ethiopian Americans are crazy about Obama. “What bothers me about him is his extreme leftist position on almost all issues,” writes one person with the alias Aris Tatalis on the Tadias blog. “He was rated the most liberal Senator in the year 2007 by the trend of his vote in the senate. For some reason, I don’t trust these leftists that keep on endorsing him.”
“The brother is doomed,” writes another reader. “There is no way that this country will elect a black man to take over the White House.”
But, most agree that registering to vote is the key.
“Why should Ethiopians register and vote this November?”, asks Meron Wondwosen, a lawyer who lives in Washington, DC, and a member of Ethiopians for Obama (E40).
“The vote determines who gets what, when, where and how. Quite simply, your vote is your voice in a democratic society. While it is not a panacea, it is one of the many strategies we must employ in order to organize ourselves and ensure that our needs are met.”
Computer Programmer Mike Endale, 26, from Maryland, another member of E4O, says voting is not only a right, but also a responsibility.
“Voting is the ultimate expression of an idea. Many Ethiopians who have migrated to the United States never had a chance to vote once in their life time,” he says. “This is their opportunity to redeem themselves for the lost time.”
Emebet Bekele of Alexandria, Virginia, an insurance agent who works for a family owned agency, says the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and the current economic downturn are good enough reasons why Ethiopian Americans should vote in November.
“We are in a war and yes there are a number of young Ethiopian-Americans serving in Iraq & Afghanistan. We need them to come home before they die or get injured. There are a lot of Ethiopian-Americans losing their homes in foreclosures, there are a lot of Ethiopian Americans uninsured because they cannot afford it, there a lot of Ethiopian Americans who cannot send their children to college because it is too expensive,” she said. “The only way we can overcome these obstacles is if we get involved in the political system and get our voices heard. Voting is a right given to us, but it is also a responsibility, we need to exercise that right to protect our community and the larger society.”
Lulit Mesfin, a small business owner who lives in Portland, Oregon, agrees:
“We cannot afford to remain silent. We must make our voices heard this year. We must vote, and make our votes count. Let’s all remember that African adage it takes a village to raise a child, and it takes a whole village to elect a president.”
Mistella Mekonnen, a Licensed Professional Counselor and a member of Ethiopians for Obama adds:
“American citizens of Ethiopian descent are invited to exercise their right to vote as it will enhance our ability to fully participate in this Democracy and voice our concerns in our new home. Voting is a precious right that was bestowed on us citizens through a lot of struggle and we owe it to ourselves to register and to vote in order to participate in the decisions being made that will affect our lives, our families, and our communities at large.”
“Ethiopians for Obama has been active for the past 12 months working hard to ensure that Ethiopian-American turn-out in record numbers for Senator Obama. We have seen an overwhelming enthusiasm for the Senator; however, we have to turn this enthusiasm into action”, says Teddy Fikre, a business consultant who lives in Alexandria, Virginia, and a member of Ethiopians for Obama.
“In battleground states such as Virginia, Minnesota, and Georgia, a large turnout of Ethiopian-American votes could be decisive. It is for this reason that we have been conducting registration drives on a weekly basis for the past three months and registering hundreds of Ethiopians. Our vote is precious, Senator Obama says that this campaign is more about us than it is about him. Now is our time to act, we have to register and vote in order to help elect Obama our next president.”
Team Obama has gotten the message. The campaign has hired an Ethiopian American as a Field Organizer in Virginia, which coupled with the letter from the Candidate, is a clear sign that the Democrats are taking the Ethiopian American factor in the state seriously.
“The letter is historic. This is the first time that the community has received a letter from a presidential candidate”, Professor Bekerie reminds us. “It is indeed a great achievement for the community to be recognized in such a manner. I think we should take his advice seriously regarding voting. We should stand up and ‘be counted as Americans demanding change’, as he puts it. That means those of us who have not registered to vote should immediately register to vote in the coming crucial presidential election. Our voices are being heard and that indeed is good news.”
tadias.com
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Hip Hop Caucus: Connecting the Local to Global.
The Hip Hop Caucus has always seen the Hip Hop Generation, those born after 1964, as representative of what we like to call the “Dream Generation,” or the generation Dr. King prophesized, in which all people regardless of race, economic level, religion, or sexual preference, stood together to stand for Justice and Peace.
Throughout the world we find young people from diverse backgrounds who identify with Hip Hop culture and have similar local-to-global issues yet feel alienated or disenfranchised by political systems who do not address their issues.
As we move forward a progressive agenda, it is paramount that we are able to recognize the potential for a global movement around similar issues people face using an inside out approach. We must 1) address local issues that fit into a larger global context and 2) educate (Hip) people on the similarities and affects between local and global issues, and 3) mobilize and move (Hop) people to action so they are active civic participants and hold their elected officials accountable. By working an inside-out approach we have the ability to engage new segments of our democracy, who have not traditionally been engaged in matters concerning US global engagement into this process.
This upcoming presidential election is a unique and timely opportunity to engage new segments of our population into the political process and educate them on foreign policy. We recently launched our voter registration, education and mobilization campaign, “Respect My Vote!” to capture the energy surrounding this election. We are engaging 18-29 year olds--targeting those that did not attend college-- in the political process and ensuring we can maintain contact with them beyond the presidential elections, and mobilize them to the polls. Our campaign is unique because we place equal emphasis on election and post election work. We have chosen this group because 67% of people in this age group feel they cannot make an impact on their communities and we want to show them they can have an impact on their communities as well as the world.
As part of our voter education campaign we have selected urgent foreign policy issues that we want to see addressed
Climate Change, Food Shortages, and a Green Economy
Our incoming President must address climate change in a very real and urgent manner. No longer can we ignore or thumb our noses at international policy, we must work with the international community to aggressively address climate change because if we do not act now in the 21st century, there might not be a 22nd century for Humanity on this planet.
Without drastic cutbacks in emissions of greenhouse gases, we will continue to see shifts in rain patterns and temperatures which will deepen the food shortages and drought which we are already beginning to see, especially in parts of Africa. We are also beginning to see a rise in food prices here in the US which have acute impacts on disadvantaged communities
To curb climate change and oil dependence we must find new and creative ways to embrace the green movement, and build a broader social base for our movement. There is also vast economic potential in a green economy which would make way for new technology and industry which can provide new “green collar” jobs. The Hip Hop Caucus is working with organizations such as Green for All to ensure that disadvantaged communities are at the forefront of the emerging green economy, allowing us to fight both poverty and pollution at the same time.
Proliferation of poverty, Iraq war, and the Iraqi refugee crisis
We must recognize the Iraqi refugee Crisis as both a humanitarian issue and a national security issue. While we hemorrhage resources to the war in Iraq, a October 2007 CRS Report cited that 2.2 million people have been Internally Displaced in Iraq and there are now 2 million refugees in Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon. We spend upwards of $12 billion per month on this war which has caused a humanitarian crisis and proliferated poverty onto millions of people in Iraq, while our communities in the US continue to suffer from inadequate resources. Anti-US sentiment created by poverty, instability, and our treatment of people combine to provide a great environment for potential threats to US National Security.
Yes, there are policies which need to be addressed the incoming president and 111th Congress but without an engaged citizenry to hold the accountable for their words and rhetoric there will be little change. This is why it is so important to engage our citizenry in meaningful ways. This is why we must make the connections between spending in Iraq and spending in our communities, or the effects of climate change and soaring prices of food as well as the opportunity for our communities to be at the forefront of the Green Collar job movement.
Throughout the world we find young people from diverse backgrounds who identify with Hip Hop culture and have similar local-to-global issues yet feel alienated or disenfranchised by political systems who do not address their issues.
As we move forward a progressive agenda, it is paramount that we are able to recognize the potential for a global movement around similar issues people face using an inside out approach. We must 1) address local issues that fit into a larger global context and 2) educate (Hip) people on the similarities and affects between local and global issues, and 3) mobilize and move (Hop) people to action so they are active civic participants and hold their elected officials accountable. By working an inside-out approach we have the ability to engage new segments of our democracy, who have not traditionally been engaged in matters concerning US global engagement into this process.
This upcoming presidential election is a unique and timely opportunity to engage new segments of our population into the political process and educate them on foreign policy. We recently launched our voter registration, education and mobilization campaign, “Respect My Vote!” to capture the energy surrounding this election. We are engaging 18-29 year olds--targeting those that did not attend college-- in the political process and ensuring we can maintain contact with them beyond the presidential elections, and mobilize them to the polls. Our campaign is unique because we place equal emphasis on election and post election work. We have chosen this group because 67% of people in this age group feel they cannot make an impact on their communities and we want to show them they can have an impact on their communities as well as the world.
As part of our voter education campaign we have selected urgent foreign policy issues that we want to see addressed
Climate Change, Food Shortages, and a Green Economy
Our incoming President must address climate change in a very real and urgent manner. No longer can we ignore or thumb our noses at international policy, we must work with the international community to aggressively address climate change because if we do not act now in the 21st century, there might not be a 22nd century for Humanity on this planet.
Without drastic cutbacks in emissions of greenhouse gases, we will continue to see shifts in rain patterns and temperatures which will deepen the food shortages and drought which we are already beginning to see, especially in parts of Africa. We are also beginning to see a rise in food prices here in the US which have acute impacts on disadvantaged communities
To curb climate change and oil dependence we must find new and creative ways to embrace the green movement, and build a broader social base for our movement. There is also vast economic potential in a green economy which would make way for new technology and industry which can provide new “green collar” jobs. The Hip Hop Caucus is working with organizations such as Green for All to ensure that disadvantaged communities are at the forefront of the emerging green economy, allowing us to fight both poverty and pollution at the same time.
Proliferation of poverty, Iraq war, and the Iraqi refugee crisis
We must recognize the Iraqi refugee Crisis as both a humanitarian issue and a national security issue. While we hemorrhage resources to the war in Iraq, a October 2007 CRS Report cited that 2.2 million people have been Internally Displaced in Iraq and there are now 2 million refugees in Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon. We spend upwards of $12 billion per month on this war which has caused a humanitarian crisis and proliferated poverty onto millions of people in Iraq, while our communities in the US continue to suffer from inadequate resources. Anti-US sentiment created by poverty, instability, and our treatment of people combine to provide a great environment for potential threats to US National Security.
Yes, there are policies which need to be addressed the incoming president and 111th Congress but without an engaged citizenry to hold the accountable for their words and rhetoric there will be little change. This is why it is so important to engage our citizenry in meaningful ways. This is why we must make the connections between spending in Iraq and spending in our communities, or the effects of climate change and soaring prices of food as well as the opportunity for our communities to be at the forefront of the Green Collar job movement.
Actor and comedian Bernie Mac dies at age 50
- Bernie Mac, the Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actor and comedian who worked his way to Hollywood success from an impoverished upbringing on Chicago’s South Side, died Saturday at age 50.
“Actor/comedian Bernie Mac passed away this morning from complications due to pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital,” his publicist, Danica Smith, said in a statement from Los Angeles.
She said no other details were available and asked that his family’s privacy be respected.
The comedian suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body’s organs, but had said the condition went into remission in 2005. He recently was hospitalized and treated for pneumonia, which his publicist said was not related to the disease.
Recently, Mac’s brand of comedy caught him flack when he was heckled during a surprise appearance at a July fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate and fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama.
Toward the end of a 10-minute standup routine, Mac joked about menopause, sexual infidelity and promiscuity, and used occasional crude language. The performance earned him a rebuke from Obama’s campaign.
But despite controversy or difficulties, in his words, Mac was always a performer.
“Wherever I am, I have to play,” he said in 2002. “I have to put on a good show.”
Mac started his comedy career at age 8, with a standup performance at a church dinner. In 1977, at age 20, he took that act to comedy clubs in Chicago.
His film career started with a small role as a club doorman in the Damon Wayans movie “Mo’ Money” in 1992. Mac went on to star in the “Ocean’s Eleven” franchise with Brad Pitt and George Clooney and his turn with Ashton Kutcher in 2005’s “Guess Who?”—a remake of the Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn 1967 classic “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?”—topped the box office.
Mac also had starring roles in “Bad Santa,” “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” and “Transformers.”
The comedian drew critical and popular acclaim with his Fox television series “The Bernie Mac Show,” which aired more than 100 episodes from 2001 to 2006.
The series about a man’s adventures raising his sister’s three children, won a Peabody Award in 2002. At the time, judges wrote they chose the sitcom for transcending “race and class while lifting viewers with laughter, compassion—and cool.”
The show garnered Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for Mac. He also was nominated for a Grammy award for best comedy album in 2001 along with his “The Original Kings of Comedy” co-stars, Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley and Cedric The Entertainer.
In 2007, Mac told David Letterman on CBS’ “Late Show” that he planned to retire soon.
“I’m going to still do my producing, my films, but I want to enjoy my life a little bit,” Mac told Letterman. “I missed a lot of things, you know. I was a street performer for two years. I went into clubs in 1977.”
Mac was born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough on Oct. 5, 1957, in Chicago. He grew up on the city’s South Side, living with his mother and grandparents. His grandfather was the deacon of a Baptist church.
In his 2004 memoir, “Maybe You Never Cry Again,” Mac wrote about having a poor childhood—eating bologna for dinner—and a strict, no-nonsense upbringing.
Mac’s mother died of cancer when he was 16. In his book, Mac said she was a support for him and told him he would surprise everyone when he grew up.
“Woman believed in me,” he wrote. “She believed in me long before I believed.”
F.N. D’ALESSIO, Associated Press
“Actor/comedian Bernie Mac passed away this morning from complications due to pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital,” his publicist, Danica Smith, said in a statement from Los Angeles.
She said no other details were available and asked that his family’s privacy be respected.
The comedian suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body’s organs, but had said the condition went into remission in 2005. He recently was hospitalized and treated for pneumonia, which his publicist said was not related to the disease.
Recently, Mac’s brand of comedy caught him flack when he was heckled during a surprise appearance at a July fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate and fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama.
Toward the end of a 10-minute standup routine, Mac joked about menopause, sexual infidelity and promiscuity, and used occasional crude language. The performance earned him a rebuke from Obama’s campaign.
But despite controversy or difficulties, in his words, Mac was always a performer.
“Wherever I am, I have to play,” he said in 2002. “I have to put on a good show.”
Mac started his comedy career at age 8, with a standup performance at a church dinner. In 1977, at age 20, he took that act to comedy clubs in Chicago.
His film career started with a small role as a club doorman in the Damon Wayans movie “Mo’ Money” in 1992. Mac went on to star in the “Ocean’s Eleven” franchise with Brad Pitt and George Clooney and his turn with Ashton Kutcher in 2005’s “Guess Who?”—a remake of the Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn 1967 classic “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?”—topped the box office.
Mac also had starring roles in “Bad Santa,” “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” and “Transformers.”
The comedian drew critical and popular acclaim with his Fox television series “The Bernie Mac Show,” which aired more than 100 episodes from 2001 to 2006.
The series about a man’s adventures raising his sister’s three children, won a Peabody Award in 2002. At the time, judges wrote they chose the sitcom for transcending “race and class while lifting viewers with laughter, compassion—and cool.”
The show garnered Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for Mac. He also was nominated for a Grammy award for best comedy album in 2001 along with his “The Original Kings of Comedy” co-stars, Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley and Cedric The Entertainer.
In 2007, Mac told David Letterman on CBS’ “Late Show” that he planned to retire soon.
“I’m going to still do my producing, my films, but I want to enjoy my life a little bit,” Mac told Letterman. “I missed a lot of things, you know. I was a street performer for two years. I went into clubs in 1977.”
Mac was born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough on Oct. 5, 1957, in Chicago. He grew up on the city’s South Side, living with his mother and grandparents. His grandfather was the deacon of a Baptist church.
In his 2004 memoir, “Maybe You Never Cry Again,” Mac wrote about having a poor childhood—eating bologna for dinner—and a strict, no-nonsense upbringing.
Mac’s mother died of cancer when he was 16. In his book, Mac said she was a support for him and told him he would surprise everyone when he grew up.
“Woman believed in me,” he wrote. “She believed in me long before I believed.”
F.N. D’ALESSIO, Associated Press
IT Needs More 'Brothers and Sisters'
Technology is an international language, but looking around vendor conferences and IT events often shows one major group relatively underrepresented: the black IT professional. ComputerWorld Canada spoke to a variety of black members of the Canadian (and American) IT professional community in search of an answer as to why this is, and whether it's changing.
All the interviewees love their jobs, and have had a positive experience all along the way, but being a black IT manager meant going against the grain from the very beginning.
"There's no doubt about it - the black community has been sluggish in adapting to new technologies," said Darryl Philip, TD Bank system infrastructure manager. This came from computers being a luxury for a while, which led to what Philip calls the "intimidation factor" filtering down.
This is, of course, changing, now that technology has gone so mainstream, but economic factors still can play a part. IBM Canada lead architect for the mainframe center of competency Mike Edwards said that high-school drop-out rates among black youths are still prevalent, along with a high number of single-parent families, which can make it difficult to provide the funds and time for math and science tutoring or college studies.
Even things like access to broadband Internet can hamper someone's IT literacy and interest, said CATA president John Reid.
Parents play into it, too, said founding president of the defunct Black Information Technology e-Professionals (BITePRO) Leesa Barnes, who now runs Caprica Interactive Marketing. Many push their kids toward other high-paying professions because they might not be as aware of the potential to make a lot of money in IT.
Dave Forde, CEO of technology communications Web site Profectio and the chair of the IT event Tech Week, said that he's always noticed the lack of fellow black people in IT. "IT and engineers tend to be predominantly European and Asian. You don't see a lot of brothers and sisters in there," he said.
Getting them interested sooner rather than later is important, and the onus for this often falls on black IT professionals working in the more visible IT companies, said Carin Taylor, senior manager of inclusion and diversity for Cisco Systems Inc. of San Jose, Calif.
"The African-American community needs to come to the math and engineering sciences in general, and we need to get them a lot earlier, like in elementary school," she said.
Citing black role models in the engineering and IT fields is one of Edwards' tactics when addressing youth.
"I ask them, 'Do you know what a SuperSoaker is?' And then when they say, 'Yeah...', I tell them that it was invented by a black NASA scientist."
Another way to win them over is to emphasize the business utility of IT. Ian Grant, general manager of engineering and architecture for Toronto Pearson International Airport's IT division, said this might prove more attractive to possible applicants, plus it can give those with business acumen a better chance at eventually busting into management.
Outreach efforts could include advertising in the local community papers; mentoring those who express interest in computer science, math, or engineering; partnering with black associations to spread the word; and job-shadowing and internships. "It's important to go back to the community and mentor, and be an active and visible representation (of the black IT community)," said Barnes.
This visibility is important, as it will give younger people concrete evidence of black success stories in IT and hopefully swell the ranks of those entering IT and, eventually, reaching the management suite. "You hear these companies saying how diverse they are, but they are the ones staffing the help desk and the call centre," Forde said. "You need to have more black IT professionals at the management level to truly enable diversity."
"Mentorship (from those at the management level) is really important, as IT moves so quickly," said Aldin Jno-Baptiste, a program manager of tools and telephony for end-user services at IBM Canada. "Teachers might not know what is going on in the industry right now."
Involvement with senior pros clearly is important. The long-running American Black Data Processing Associates organization has benefitted from the States' larger black population (and thus a larger pool of black IT professionals) and a few decades of experience, but also through a chapter structure that uses both local and centralized leadership, a diverse membership (including IT professionals at all stages of their career, including students and entrepreneurs), and offering a variety of resources, from conferences and professional programs to job-seeker tools and student scholarships.
This model has flourished, spawning 55 chapters and thousands of members, but Canada has not been as successful - BITePRO was only functional for several years before it shut down in 2005 as a result of a lack of senior IT exec involvement, said Forde, along with funding issues and the management team moving on to other projects.
But, once a fledgling black IT professional enters the field, more and more companies have internal groups to support them. This includes IBM Canada's Black IBM Network Group, and Cisco, with its Black Employee Network. IT manager Jeneen Baret of Cisco headquarters said that the purpose of the Cisco Black Employee Network isn't to isolate or segregate the company's black community. She said, "It's open to everybody, so that people can understand different cultures by bringing people together."
The future is not-so-white
Slowly yet surely, said our interviewees, more black people are entering the IT field. And, while progress is gradual and requires more community interaction, advocacy, and recruitment efforts, they have seen some changes, and are optimistic about the future. To help speed things up, said Forde, companies should start seeing diversity as an advantage, rather than an obligation.
"Canada is one of the most diverse countries, so there has to be an advantage there," he said, suggesting that companies' black IT staffers can be an asset in giving insight into new and foreign markets.
And, in a time of skills shortage, the black community should also be seen as a somewhat untapped asset for the IT industry. "Minority groups have traditionally gained the most when there was a market shortage, and with a tighter and tighter environment, employers are encouraged to spread a wider net when it comes to recruitment," said Reid.
Hopefully, more and more black people will not only enter the industry and rise through the ranks, but will be visible IT advocates to those of the black community looking for a fulfilling, lucrative career choice. "(Black IT managers and executives) don't get profiled enough, so people don't know about them," said Forde
Briony Smith (ComputerWorld Canada)
All the interviewees love their jobs, and have had a positive experience all along the way, but being a black IT manager meant going against the grain from the very beginning.
"There's no doubt about it - the black community has been sluggish in adapting to new technologies," said Darryl Philip, TD Bank system infrastructure manager. This came from computers being a luxury for a while, which led to what Philip calls the "intimidation factor" filtering down.
This is, of course, changing, now that technology has gone so mainstream, but economic factors still can play a part. IBM Canada lead architect for the mainframe center of competency Mike Edwards said that high-school drop-out rates among black youths are still prevalent, along with a high number of single-parent families, which can make it difficult to provide the funds and time for math and science tutoring or college studies.
Even things like access to broadband Internet can hamper someone's IT literacy and interest, said CATA president John Reid.
Parents play into it, too, said founding president of the defunct Black Information Technology e-Professionals (BITePRO) Leesa Barnes, who now runs Caprica Interactive Marketing. Many push their kids toward other high-paying professions because they might not be as aware of the potential to make a lot of money in IT.
Dave Forde, CEO of technology communications Web site Profectio and the chair of the IT event Tech Week, said that he's always noticed the lack of fellow black people in IT. "IT and engineers tend to be predominantly European and Asian. You don't see a lot of brothers and sisters in there," he said.
Getting them interested sooner rather than later is important, and the onus for this often falls on black IT professionals working in the more visible IT companies, said Carin Taylor, senior manager of inclusion and diversity for Cisco Systems Inc. of San Jose, Calif.
"The African-American community needs to come to the math and engineering sciences in general, and we need to get them a lot earlier, like in elementary school," she said.
Citing black role models in the engineering and IT fields is one of Edwards' tactics when addressing youth.
"I ask them, 'Do you know what a SuperSoaker is?' And then when they say, 'Yeah...', I tell them that it was invented by a black NASA scientist."
Another way to win them over is to emphasize the business utility of IT. Ian Grant, general manager of engineering and architecture for Toronto Pearson International Airport's IT division, said this might prove more attractive to possible applicants, plus it can give those with business acumen a better chance at eventually busting into management.
Outreach efforts could include advertising in the local community papers; mentoring those who express interest in computer science, math, or engineering; partnering with black associations to spread the word; and job-shadowing and internships. "It's important to go back to the community and mentor, and be an active and visible representation (of the black IT community)," said Barnes.
This visibility is important, as it will give younger people concrete evidence of black success stories in IT and hopefully swell the ranks of those entering IT and, eventually, reaching the management suite. "You hear these companies saying how diverse they are, but they are the ones staffing the help desk and the call centre," Forde said. "You need to have more black IT professionals at the management level to truly enable diversity."
"Mentorship (from those at the management level) is really important, as IT moves so quickly," said Aldin Jno-Baptiste, a program manager of tools and telephony for end-user services at IBM Canada. "Teachers might not know what is going on in the industry right now."
Involvement with senior pros clearly is important. The long-running American Black Data Processing Associates organization has benefitted from the States' larger black population (and thus a larger pool of black IT professionals) and a few decades of experience, but also through a chapter structure that uses both local and centralized leadership, a diverse membership (including IT professionals at all stages of their career, including students and entrepreneurs), and offering a variety of resources, from conferences and professional programs to job-seeker tools and student scholarships.
This model has flourished, spawning 55 chapters and thousands of members, but Canada has not been as successful - BITePRO was only functional for several years before it shut down in 2005 as a result of a lack of senior IT exec involvement, said Forde, along with funding issues and the management team moving on to other projects.
But, once a fledgling black IT professional enters the field, more and more companies have internal groups to support them. This includes IBM Canada's Black IBM Network Group, and Cisco, with its Black Employee Network. IT manager Jeneen Baret of Cisco headquarters said that the purpose of the Cisco Black Employee Network isn't to isolate or segregate the company's black community. She said, "It's open to everybody, so that people can understand different cultures by bringing people together."
The future is not-so-white
Slowly yet surely, said our interviewees, more black people are entering the IT field. And, while progress is gradual and requires more community interaction, advocacy, and recruitment efforts, they have seen some changes, and are optimistic about the future. To help speed things up, said Forde, companies should start seeing diversity as an advantage, rather than an obligation.
"Canada is one of the most diverse countries, so there has to be an advantage there," he said, suggesting that companies' black IT staffers can be an asset in giving insight into new and foreign markets.
And, in a time of skills shortage, the black community should also be seen as a somewhat untapped asset for the IT industry. "Minority groups have traditionally gained the most when there was a market shortage, and with a tighter and tighter environment, employers are encouraged to spread a wider net when it comes to recruitment," said Reid.
Hopefully, more and more black people will not only enter the industry and rise through the ranks, but will be visible IT advocates to those of the black community looking for a fulfilling, lucrative career choice. "(Black IT managers and executives) don't get profiled enough, so people don't know about them," said Forde
Briony Smith (ComputerWorld Canada)
1908 Race Riot Led to NAACP
CHICAGO - Two days of bloody race riots that shook Abraham Lincoln's hometown a century ago led to a critical development in the struggle for racial equality: the creation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
While racially motivated crimes were common in the South, the 1908 riots stood out because they happened in Springfield, Ill. -- a northern city and Lincoln's resting place.
"It wasn't in Mississippi, it was in Illinois. That jarred people," said Roger Wilkins, publisher of the NAACP's The Crisis magazine. "Add the fact that it's where Lincoln is buried. You have a lot of symbolism. Lincoln was a live memory to a lot of people."
The NAACP, which formed in 1909, has played a role in nearly every major civil rights victory including the Brown v. Board of Education desegregation case of 1954, the Montgomery bus boycotts and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The organization also has fought lesser-known battles against lynchings, police brutality and discrimination in the military.
"The NAACP really made the civil rights movement, as we know it, possible," said Patricia Sullivan, a professor at the University of South Carolina who is writing a history of the organization. "It creates the infrastructure through organization, through branches, through litigation, education, through Washington and the talent of extraordinary people."
The organization, which claims around 300,000 members and has branches in every state, started with a meeting of three people in New York, months after the Springfield riots.
At the time, there was little opposition in Springfield to the violence and city leaders essentially ignored the riots.
"It was swept under the rug for many many years," said Kathryn Harris, a director at The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, which has a major exhibit on the riots.
But for activists, both black and white, outside of Springfield, the Illinois riot was the final straw.
"It wasn't new that blacks were lynched in America. That was not uncommon," said Kenneth Page, head of the NAACP branch in Springfield. "But it happened in Abraham Lincoln's hometown, that's what made the headlines."
After all, it's Lincoln's image and signature that grace the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves.
"A gasp runs through the important power holders in the North and the realization that what had been said to be largely a Southern problem was now in fact being nationalized," said historian David Levering Lewis, who won a 2001 Pulitzer Prize for his biography on W.E.B. Du Bois.
Following the riots, journalist William English Walling penned an article for The Independent deeming the violence the "Race War of The North." He challenged people of all races to do something about it. The article prompted activist Mary White Ovington to meet with two other activists to discuss solutions.
The NAACP grew out of that first meeting.
And on Feb. 12, 1909, the anniversary of Lincoln's 100th birthday, journalist and activist Oswald Garrison Villard drafted "a call," signed by an interracial coalition.
It appealed to "all believers in democracy to join in a national conference for the discussion of the present evils the voicing of protests and the renewal of the struggle for civil and political liberty."
The next year Du Bois launched The Crisis magazine, which rallied people nationwide. From his first article on school segregation to those that followed on lynchings, police brutality and voting, the organization became what an NAACP secretary described as "a mirror on America."
Today's leaders say that mirror should reflect on the successes too.
"We have made enormous progress, if you think in 1909, there were parts of the country where people could not vote. Literally blacks had no rights as citizens," said NAACP chairman Julian Bond. "All that has changed and changed dramatically."
But there is still a long way to go, he said.
By SOPHIA TAREEN | Associated Press Writer
While racially motivated crimes were common in the South, the 1908 riots stood out because they happened in Springfield, Ill. -- a northern city and Lincoln's resting place.
"It wasn't in Mississippi, it was in Illinois. That jarred people," said Roger Wilkins, publisher of the NAACP's The Crisis magazine. "Add the fact that it's where Lincoln is buried. You have a lot of symbolism. Lincoln was a live memory to a lot of people."
The NAACP, which formed in 1909, has played a role in nearly every major civil rights victory including the Brown v. Board of Education desegregation case of 1954, the Montgomery bus boycotts and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The organization also has fought lesser-known battles against lynchings, police brutality and discrimination in the military.
"The NAACP really made the civil rights movement, as we know it, possible," said Patricia Sullivan, a professor at the University of South Carolina who is writing a history of the organization. "It creates the infrastructure through organization, through branches, through litigation, education, through Washington and the talent of extraordinary people."
The organization, which claims around 300,000 members and has branches in every state, started with a meeting of three people in New York, months after the Springfield riots.
At the time, there was little opposition in Springfield to the violence and city leaders essentially ignored the riots.
"It was swept under the rug for many many years," said Kathryn Harris, a director at The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, which has a major exhibit on the riots.
But for activists, both black and white, outside of Springfield, the Illinois riot was the final straw.
"It wasn't new that blacks were lynched in America. That was not uncommon," said Kenneth Page, head of the NAACP branch in Springfield. "But it happened in Abraham Lincoln's hometown, that's what made the headlines."
After all, it's Lincoln's image and signature that grace the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves.
"A gasp runs through the important power holders in the North and the realization that what had been said to be largely a Southern problem was now in fact being nationalized," said historian David Levering Lewis, who won a 2001 Pulitzer Prize for his biography on W.E.B. Du Bois.
Following the riots, journalist William English Walling penned an article for The Independent deeming the violence the "Race War of The North." He challenged people of all races to do something about it. The article prompted activist Mary White Ovington to meet with two other activists to discuss solutions.
The NAACP grew out of that first meeting.
And on Feb. 12, 1909, the anniversary of Lincoln's 100th birthday, journalist and activist Oswald Garrison Villard drafted "a call," signed by an interracial coalition.
It appealed to "all believers in democracy to join in a national conference for the discussion of the present evils the voicing of protests and the renewal of the struggle for civil and political liberty."
The next year Du Bois launched The Crisis magazine, which rallied people nationwide. From his first article on school segregation to those that followed on lynchings, police brutality and voting, the organization became what an NAACP secretary described as "a mirror on America."
Today's leaders say that mirror should reflect on the successes too.
"We have made enormous progress, if you think in 1909, there were parts of the country where people could not vote. Literally blacks had no rights as citizens," said NAACP chairman Julian Bond. "All that has changed and changed dramatically."
But there is still a long way to go, he said.
By SOPHIA TAREEN | Associated Press Writer
Friday, August 8, 2008
Black Conservatives Push for Expanded Energy Production
Avery Palmer, CQ Politics
The launch of a new commission designed to engage African Americans on climate change has sparked a backlash from black conservatives.
Niger Innis, co-chairman of the Alliance to Stop the War on the Poor, described the commission as “patronizing and insulting,” calling it “a sham effort by environmental extremists” that would raise energy costs for black Americans.
The alliance — launched last month at a Capitol Hill rally with several Republican members of Congress in attendance — describes itself as a coalition of African American, civil rights, and faith-based leaders pushing for more domestic energy production in an effort to bring down energy prices.
Critics say the group is too focused on business interests.
Avery Palmer, CQ Politics
The launch of a new commission designed to engage African Americans on climate change has sparked a backlash from black conservatives.
Niger Innis, co-chairman of the Alliance to Stop the War on the Poor, described the commission as “patronizing and insulting,” calling it “a sham effort by environmental extremists” that would raise energy costs for black Americans.
The alliance — launched last month at a Capitol Hill rally with several Republican members of Congress in attendance — describes itself as a coalition of African American, civil rights, and faith-based leaders pushing for more domestic energy production in an effort to bring down energy prices.
Critics say the group is too focused on business interests.
Avery Palmer, CQ Politics
Census Bureau to Ramp up Partnerships with Ethnic Media
When it comes to under-20-year-olds, minorities are the majority in one in four American counties. That’s according to census figures released Thursday.
Minorities might very well become the majority far earlier than 2050, as predicted by census demographers.
This is why the U.S. Census Bureau – charged with counting America's population – has decided that the successful execution of that awesome task can only be achieved through collaboration with local communities and the media that serve them.
This was the message that Arnold Jackson, associate director for the Decennial Census, and other Bureau staff brought to a New America Media-sponsored convening of Washington, D.C., area ethnic media on July 30.
Jackson explained that Census data is used by the federal government to determine the allocation of $300 billion annually to state, local, and tribal governments, money that assists in funding the construction of schools and roads, for example.
While there are other critical uses for the data, among their most important applications is in the determination of congressional and other legislative districts.
Jackson said the $13 to $14 billion that will be spent on the 2010 Census "is in no way trivial" and that it was his and the bureau's responsibility "to make sure that investment yields the highest return."
A portion of the money will be directed toward hiring the local management and community data collection teams. Fernando Armstrong, regional director of the Philadelphia Regional Office, noted that, for the first time, hand-held computers with GPS capability will be used by census workers in order to confirm and download addresses into the bureau's database. There are already 130 million addresses to which the bureau's short form will be mailed in the spring of 2010. The response to this form and the follow-up work by thousands of temporary workers hired to canvass non-responding addresses yield the Census
count.
Armstrong's region includes Delaware, Maryland, the greater portion of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., geographic areas representing the media which attended the meeting, with the exception of some media who hailed from nearby northern Virginia. The questions put to Armstrong and Jackson could be generally characterized as dealing with three themes: concerns about the confidentiality of information collected by the U.S. government; still lingering issues about how various ethnic groups are classified, and, lastly, whether the bureau will be making significant ad buys in ethnic media to promote the 2010 Census.
To the first issue, Armstrong said the bureau is aware that,especially among some immigrant groups, the collection of personal data "might have other connotations in countries from where they emigrated." Addressing the reluctance to respond is one of the crucial reasons for an alliance with ethnic media, to explain, among other things, that Census data is not shared with other federal agencies, not even with law enforcement. The Department of Housing and Urban Development, for example, would not be privy to information about an address reporting a higher number of residents in a facility than allowed by local ordinances. The media also could be useful in alleviating similar concerns among undocumented immigrants, roughly estimated at 12 million. "We are a not a policymaking organization," Jackson stated. "Our job is to count everybody."
The issue of "race' remains a sticking point for certain populations. Emmanuel Okocha, publisher of America Mi Dream Magazine, a publication with a primarily Nigerian readership, said there is still discomfort and confusion among African immigrants about how to self–identity on the form. He explained that recent African immigrants do not see themselves as African American, typically defined as descendants from Africans held in captivity in the United States, nor does "black" resonate as a category. One representative of Caribbean media also expressed disappointment with what his community views as the Census form's awkward definition of race. Mohammed Ali, the publisher of Iranian Weekly that serves the Iranian community in the D.C., region, said he had worked with the bureau during the 2000 Census.
Yet, he said, Iranians, being "olive skinned and not Middle Easterners" also sometimes find themselves confounded as to which box to check to explain their "race."
As to the disbursement of revenue among ethnic media to promote and explain the Census, the meeting included representatives from advertising, public relations and marketing firms that have been contracted by the bureau specifically because of their expertise in working with ethnic populations. Bureau representatives said the 2000 Census count is now regarded as having been the best to date, in part due to significant efforts at providing language assistance to an ever-expanding universe of mother tongues in the United States.
Stephen Buckner, from the bureau's public information office, noted,however, that there now exist multiple streams of bureau information that could greatly enhance the capacity of ethnic media. "There are ways we can work with you," Buckner said, urging media attendees to sign up for media notification releases, but especially citing the American Community Survey, which provides a wealth of information useful to reporters.
Another key component for a successful 2010 count will be the utilization of Complete Count Committees comprised of individuals with intimate familiarity of their communities. Sandy Close, New America Media's executive director, encouraged the media present to consider actively participating on those committees. "Maybe that's a message we need to carry to ethnic media across the country," Close said, concurring with the bureau representatives that the census count is ultimately far more than just a function of government.
Khalil Abdullah, New America Media
Minorities might very well become the majority far earlier than 2050, as predicted by census demographers.
This is why the U.S. Census Bureau – charged with counting America's population – has decided that the successful execution of that awesome task can only be achieved through collaboration with local communities and the media that serve them.
This was the message that Arnold Jackson, associate director for the Decennial Census, and other Bureau staff brought to a New America Media-sponsored convening of Washington, D.C., area ethnic media on July 30.
Jackson explained that Census data is used by the federal government to determine the allocation of $300 billion annually to state, local, and tribal governments, money that assists in funding the construction of schools and roads, for example.
While there are other critical uses for the data, among their most important applications is in the determination of congressional and other legislative districts.
Jackson said the $13 to $14 billion that will be spent on the 2010 Census "is in no way trivial" and that it was his and the bureau's responsibility "to make sure that investment yields the highest return."
A portion of the money will be directed toward hiring the local management and community data collection teams. Fernando Armstrong, regional director of the Philadelphia Regional Office, noted that, for the first time, hand-held computers with GPS capability will be used by census workers in order to confirm and download addresses into the bureau's database. There are already 130 million addresses to which the bureau's short form will be mailed in the spring of 2010. The response to this form and the follow-up work by thousands of temporary workers hired to canvass non-responding addresses yield the Census
count.
Armstrong's region includes Delaware, Maryland, the greater portion of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., geographic areas representing the media which attended the meeting, with the exception of some media who hailed from nearby northern Virginia. The questions put to Armstrong and Jackson could be generally characterized as dealing with three themes: concerns about the confidentiality of information collected by the U.S. government; still lingering issues about how various ethnic groups are classified, and, lastly, whether the bureau will be making significant ad buys in ethnic media to promote the 2010 Census.
To the first issue, Armstrong said the bureau is aware that,especially among some immigrant groups, the collection of personal data "might have other connotations in countries from where they emigrated." Addressing the reluctance to respond is one of the crucial reasons for an alliance with ethnic media, to explain, among other things, that Census data is not shared with other federal agencies, not even with law enforcement. The Department of Housing and Urban Development, for example, would not be privy to information about an address reporting a higher number of residents in a facility than allowed by local ordinances. The media also could be useful in alleviating similar concerns among undocumented immigrants, roughly estimated at 12 million. "We are a not a policymaking organization," Jackson stated. "Our job is to count everybody."
The issue of "race' remains a sticking point for certain populations. Emmanuel Okocha, publisher of America Mi Dream Magazine, a publication with a primarily Nigerian readership, said there is still discomfort and confusion among African immigrants about how to self–identity on the form. He explained that recent African immigrants do not see themselves as African American, typically defined as descendants from Africans held in captivity in the United States, nor does "black" resonate as a category. One representative of Caribbean media also expressed disappointment with what his community views as the Census form's awkward definition of race. Mohammed Ali, the publisher of Iranian Weekly that serves the Iranian community in the D.C., region, said he had worked with the bureau during the 2000 Census.
Yet, he said, Iranians, being "olive skinned and not Middle Easterners" also sometimes find themselves confounded as to which box to check to explain their "race."
As to the disbursement of revenue among ethnic media to promote and explain the Census, the meeting included representatives from advertising, public relations and marketing firms that have been contracted by the bureau specifically because of their expertise in working with ethnic populations. Bureau representatives said the 2000 Census count is now regarded as having been the best to date, in part due to significant efforts at providing language assistance to an ever-expanding universe of mother tongues in the United States.
Stephen Buckner, from the bureau's public information office, noted,however, that there now exist multiple streams of bureau information that could greatly enhance the capacity of ethnic media. "There are ways we can work with you," Buckner said, urging media attendees to sign up for media notification releases, but especially citing the American Community Survey, which provides a wealth of information useful to reporters.
Another key component for a successful 2010 count will be the utilization of Complete Count Committees comprised of individuals with intimate familiarity of their communities. Sandy Close, New America Media's executive director, encouraged the media present to consider actively participating on those committees. "Maybe that's a message we need to carry to ethnic media across the country," Close said, concurring with the bureau representatives that the census count is ultimately far more than just a function of government.
Khalil Abdullah, New America Media
Nigeria Overtakes Venezuela in Oil Exports to US
WASHINGTON: Nigeria surpassed Venezuela as the fourth largest foreign supplier of crude oil to the United States for the first five months of 2008, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude oil imports from Nigeria averaged 1.05 million barrels per day from January to May, virtually unchanged from the same period last year. Nigeria accounted for 10.8 percent of all US imports of crude oil for that period, the EIA said in its weekly review of the oil market.
However, Venezuelan exports have fallen sharply to an average of 990,000 bpd to the United States through May, down 10 percent from the same period in 2007. For years, Venezuela had been the fourth biggest oil exporter to the US market.
But increased oil shipments to other countries or lagging domestic production may account for Venezuela's market share of US oil imports falling to 10.2 percent this year. Overall, US oil imports were down by 3 percent through the first five months of this year because of lower demand due to higher energy prices and a slowing economy.
Imports in May alone were down more than 6 percent from a year earlier. While total imports were down, the major suppliers accounted for a bigger share of US oil imports. About 75 percent of US oil imports come from six countries: Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Nigeria, Venezuela and Iraq.
Reuters
Crude oil imports from Nigeria averaged 1.05 million barrels per day from January to May, virtually unchanged from the same period last year. Nigeria accounted for 10.8 percent of all US imports of crude oil for that period, the EIA said in its weekly review of the oil market.
However, Venezuelan exports have fallen sharply to an average of 990,000 bpd to the United States through May, down 10 percent from the same period in 2007. For years, Venezuela had been the fourth biggest oil exporter to the US market.
But increased oil shipments to other countries or lagging domestic production may account for Venezuela's market share of US oil imports falling to 10.2 percent this year. Overall, US oil imports were down by 3 percent through the first five months of this year because of lower demand due to higher energy prices and a slowing economy.
Imports in May alone were down more than 6 percent from a year earlier. While total imports were down, the major suppliers accounted for a bigger share of US oil imports. About 75 percent of US oil imports come from six countries: Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Nigeria, Venezuela and Iraq.
Reuters
Documents Outline US Actions to Block Funds to Haiti
WASHINGTON, USA: The Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights and Zamni Lasante has released internal US Treasury Department documents exposing politically motivated, behind-the-scenes interventions by the United States and other members of the international community to stop the dispersal of $146 million in loans that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved for Haiti.
The IDB originally approved the loans in July 1998, including $54 million for urgently-needed water and sanitation projects. However, documents show that members of the US Executive Director’s office at the IDB and US Department of Treasury (DOT) staff sought ways to tie the loans’ release to unrelated political benchmarks that the US government wanted the Haitian government to reach.
This intervention, and its political basis, was in direct violation of the IDB’s charter, which bars the Bank and its officers from interfering in or basing decisions upon the political affairs of member states.
The documents include:
References from DOT staff to the US Ambassador to Haiti’s plans to propose to President Aristide that “the US would not oppose the gradual disbursement of the loans” if Haiti acted on US demands regarding a Haitian political situation.
Statements from the US Executive Director’s legal counsel at the IDB indicating that though the loans faced no legitimate technical obstacles, the United States could achieve the effect of blocking them by “slowing” the disbursement process. The legal counsel stated, “While this is not a 'bullet proof' way to stop IDB disbursements, it certainly will put a few more large rocks in the road.”
Letters that the US Executive Director sent to the IDB’s president in his attempts to carry out the US strategy of “slowing” disbursement.
Emails revealing panic at the US Treasury Department following public statements made by the US Ambassador to Haiti that linked the withholding of the loans to Haiti’s political situation which directly violated the IDB charter.
“After several years of investigating the withholding of these loans, we now have clear and detailed evidence of egregious intervention by the US government and the IDB to stop life-saving funds to Haiti,” said Monika Kalra Varma, Director of the RFK Center. “With their transgressions now public, they must heed the call for monitoring and transparency. We urge them to implement the necessary oversight mechanisms to prevent a reoccurrence of behind-the-scenes malfeasance, and above all, to fulfill their obligations to the Haitian people.”
Haiti is not only the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere, it also has some of the worst water in the world, ranking 147th out of 147 countries in the Water Poverty Index.
A recently released study, “Woch nan Soley: The Denial of the Right to Water in Haiti”, co-authored by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, Partners In Health, the RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights, and Zanmi Lasante, showed the deadly consequences the lack of access to clean and safe water has had on the coastal city of Port-de-Paix.
Like the majority of the Haitian people, the population of Port-de-Paix lacks accessible, affordable, and safe potable water. Port-de-Paix was chosen by the IDB as a project site because its water situation was particularly deplorable.
A 1997 IDB study found the town’s system “functionally incapable of meeting the basic water requirements of the population,” and that the water was bacterially contaminated above World Health Organization guidelines.
Despite this and the fact that Port-de-Paix was slotted as the first project site, to date the water infrastructure projects first destined to be funded by the IDB loans have not been implemented.
“We are seeking assurances that such actions will not be repeated and that the IDB finally fulfills its commitments to the Haitian people. It is time to move forward so that these communities will finally have their human rights to water, health and education realized,” said Loune Viaud, Director of Operations at Zamni Lasante and recipient of the 2002 RFK Human Rights Award.
The documents were obtained by the RFK Center through an initially unfulfilled Freedom of Information Act request first filed in August 2003, and a subsequent lawsuit in August 2006 against the US Treasury Department for not releasing the requested documents. The RFK Center was represented in the lawsuit by the Washington, DC law firm of Garvey Schubert Barer.
caribbeannetnews.com
The IDB originally approved the loans in July 1998, including $54 million for urgently-needed water and sanitation projects. However, documents show that members of the US Executive Director’s office at the IDB and US Department of Treasury (DOT) staff sought ways to tie the loans’ release to unrelated political benchmarks that the US government wanted the Haitian government to reach.
This intervention, and its political basis, was in direct violation of the IDB’s charter, which bars the Bank and its officers from interfering in or basing decisions upon the political affairs of member states.
The documents include:
References from DOT staff to the US Ambassador to Haiti’s plans to propose to President Aristide that “the US would not oppose the gradual disbursement of the loans” if Haiti acted on US demands regarding a Haitian political situation.
Statements from the US Executive Director’s legal counsel at the IDB indicating that though the loans faced no legitimate technical obstacles, the United States could achieve the effect of blocking them by “slowing” the disbursement process. The legal counsel stated, “While this is not a 'bullet proof' way to stop IDB disbursements, it certainly will put a few more large rocks in the road.”
Letters that the US Executive Director sent to the IDB’s president in his attempts to carry out the US strategy of “slowing” disbursement.
Emails revealing panic at the US Treasury Department following public statements made by the US Ambassador to Haiti that linked the withholding of the loans to Haiti’s political situation which directly violated the IDB charter.
“After several years of investigating the withholding of these loans, we now have clear and detailed evidence of egregious intervention by the US government and the IDB to stop life-saving funds to Haiti,” said Monika Kalra Varma, Director of the RFK Center. “With their transgressions now public, they must heed the call for monitoring and transparency. We urge them to implement the necessary oversight mechanisms to prevent a reoccurrence of behind-the-scenes malfeasance, and above all, to fulfill their obligations to the Haitian people.”
Haiti is not only the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere, it also has some of the worst water in the world, ranking 147th out of 147 countries in the Water Poverty Index.
A recently released study, “Woch nan Soley: The Denial of the Right to Water in Haiti”, co-authored by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, Partners In Health, the RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights, and Zanmi Lasante, showed the deadly consequences the lack of access to clean and safe water has had on the coastal city of Port-de-Paix.
Like the majority of the Haitian people, the population of Port-de-Paix lacks accessible, affordable, and safe potable water. Port-de-Paix was chosen by the IDB as a project site because its water situation was particularly deplorable.
A 1997 IDB study found the town’s system “functionally incapable of meeting the basic water requirements of the population,” and that the water was bacterially contaminated above World Health Organization guidelines.
Despite this and the fact that Port-de-Paix was slotted as the first project site, to date the water infrastructure projects first destined to be funded by the IDB loans have not been implemented.
“We are seeking assurances that such actions will not be repeated and that the IDB finally fulfills its commitments to the Haitian people. It is time to move forward so that these communities will finally have their human rights to water, health and education realized,” said Loune Viaud, Director of Operations at Zamni Lasante and recipient of the 2002 RFK Human Rights Award.
The documents were obtained by the RFK Center through an initially unfulfilled Freedom of Information Act request first filed in August 2003, and a subsequent lawsuit in August 2006 against the US Treasury Department for not releasing the requested documents. The RFK Center was represented in the lawsuit by the Washington, DC law firm of Garvey Schubert Barer.
caribbeannetnews.com
Documents Outline US Actions to Block Funds to Haiti
WASHINGTON, USA: The Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights and Zamni Lasante has released internal US Treasury Department documents exposing politically motivated, behind-the-scenes interventions by the United States and other members of the international community to stop the dispersal of $146 million in loans that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved for Haiti.
The IDB originally approved the loans in July 1998, including $54 million for urgently-needed water and sanitation projects. However, documents show that members of the US Executive Director’s office at the IDB and US Department of Treasury (DOT) staff sought ways to tie the loans’ release to unrelated political benchmarks that the US government wanted the Haitian government to reach.
This intervention, and its political basis, was in direct violation of the IDB’s charter, which bars the Bank and its officers from interfering in or basing decisions upon the political affairs of member states.
The documents include:
References from DOT staff to the US Ambassador to Haiti’s plans to propose to President Aristide that “the US would not oppose the gradual disbursement of the loans” if Haiti acted on US demands regarding a Haitian political situation.
Statements from the US Executive Director’s legal counsel at the IDB indicating that though the loans faced no legitimate technical obstacles, the United States could achieve the effect of blocking them by “slowing” the disbursement process. The legal counsel stated, “While this is not a 'bullet proof' way to stop IDB disbursements, it certainly will put a few more large rocks in the road.”
Letters that the US Executive Director sent to the IDB’s president in his attempts to carry out the US strategy of “slowing” disbursement.
Emails revealing panic at the US Treasury Department following public statements made by the US Ambassador to Haiti that linked the withholding of the loans to Haiti’s political situation which directly violated the IDB charter.
“After several years of investigating the withholding of these loans, we now have clear and detailed evidence of egregious intervention by the US government and the IDB to stop life-saving funds to Haiti,” said Monika Kalra Varma, Director of the RFK Center. “With their transgressions now public, they must heed the call for monitoring and transparency. We urge them to implement the necessary oversight mechanisms to prevent a reoccurrence of behind-the-scenes malfeasance, and above all, to fulfill their obligations to the Haitian people.”
Haiti is not only the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere, it also has some of the worst water in the world, ranking 147th out of 147 countries in the Water Poverty Index.
A recently released study, “Woch nan Soley: The Denial of the Right to Water in Haiti”, co-authored by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, Partners In Health, the RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights, and Zanmi Lasante, showed the deadly consequences the lack of access to clean and safe water has had on the coastal city of Port-de-Paix.
Like the majority of the Haitian people, the population of Port-de-Paix lacks accessible, affordable, and safe potable water. Port-de-Paix was chosen by the IDB as a project site because its water situation was particularly deplorable.
A 1997 IDB study found the town’s system “functionally incapable of meeting the basic water requirements of the population,” and that the water was bacterially contaminated above World Health Organization guidelines.
Despite this and the fact that Port-de-Paix was slotted as the first project site, to date the water infrastructure projects first destined to be funded by the IDB loans have not been implemented.
“We are seeking assurances that such actions will not be repeated and that the IDB finally fulfills its commitments to the Haitian people. It is time to move forward so that these communities will finally have their human rights to water, health and education realized,” said Loune Viaud, Director of Operations at Zamni Lasante and recipient of the 2002 RFK Human Rights Award.
The documents were obtained by the RFK Center through an initially unfulfilled Freedom of Information Act request first filed in August 2003, and a subsequent lawsuit in August 2006 against the US Treasury Department for not releasing the requested documents. The RFK Center was represented in the lawsuit by the Washington, DC law firm of Garvey Schubert Barer.
caribbeannetnews.com
The IDB originally approved the loans in July 1998, including $54 million for urgently-needed water and sanitation projects. However, documents show that members of the US Executive Director’s office at the IDB and US Department of Treasury (DOT) staff sought ways to tie the loans’ release to unrelated political benchmarks that the US government wanted the Haitian government to reach.
This intervention, and its political basis, was in direct violation of the IDB’s charter, which bars the Bank and its officers from interfering in or basing decisions upon the political affairs of member states.
The documents include:
References from DOT staff to the US Ambassador to Haiti’s plans to propose to President Aristide that “the US would not oppose the gradual disbursement of the loans” if Haiti acted on US demands regarding a Haitian political situation.
Statements from the US Executive Director’s legal counsel at the IDB indicating that though the loans faced no legitimate technical obstacles, the United States could achieve the effect of blocking them by “slowing” the disbursement process. The legal counsel stated, “While this is not a 'bullet proof' way to stop IDB disbursements, it certainly will put a few more large rocks in the road.”
Letters that the US Executive Director sent to the IDB’s president in his attempts to carry out the US strategy of “slowing” disbursement.
Emails revealing panic at the US Treasury Department following public statements made by the US Ambassador to Haiti that linked the withholding of the loans to Haiti’s political situation which directly violated the IDB charter.
“After several years of investigating the withholding of these loans, we now have clear and detailed evidence of egregious intervention by the US government and the IDB to stop life-saving funds to Haiti,” said Monika Kalra Varma, Director of the RFK Center. “With their transgressions now public, they must heed the call for monitoring and transparency. We urge them to implement the necessary oversight mechanisms to prevent a reoccurrence of behind-the-scenes malfeasance, and above all, to fulfill their obligations to the Haitian people.”
Haiti is not only the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere, it also has some of the worst water in the world, ranking 147th out of 147 countries in the Water Poverty Index.
A recently released study, “Woch nan Soley: The Denial of the Right to Water in Haiti”, co-authored by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, Partners In Health, the RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights, and Zanmi Lasante, showed the deadly consequences the lack of access to clean and safe water has had on the coastal city of Port-de-Paix.
Like the majority of the Haitian people, the population of Port-de-Paix lacks accessible, affordable, and safe potable water. Port-de-Paix was chosen by the IDB as a project site because its water situation was particularly deplorable.
A 1997 IDB study found the town’s system “functionally incapable of meeting the basic water requirements of the population,” and that the water was bacterially contaminated above World Health Organization guidelines.
Despite this and the fact that Port-de-Paix was slotted as the first project site, to date the water infrastructure projects first destined to be funded by the IDB loans have not been implemented.
“We are seeking assurances that such actions will not be repeated and that the IDB finally fulfills its commitments to the Haitian people. It is time to move forward so that these communities will finally have their human rights to water, health and education realized,” said Loune Viaud, Director of Operations at Zamni Lasante and recipient of the 2002 RFK Human Rights Award.
The documents were obtained by the RFK Center through an initially unfulfilled Freedom of Information Act request first filed in August 2003, and a subsequent lawsuit in August 2006 against the US Treasury Department for not releasing the requested documents. The RFK Center was represented in the lawsuit by the Washington, DC law firm of Garvey Schubert Barer.
caribbeannetnews.com
Thursday, August 7, 2008
FCC Hearing Broaches Media Ownership for Minorities
When the FCC approved a controversial bid by Sirius Satellite Radio to acquire XM Satellite Radio for a reported $3.5 million in July, many in the broadcasting industry saw the approval as giving big media an advantage to form monopolies and shut out small minority-owned operations.
At a hearing at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem after the merger was approved, the five FCC commissioners were taken to task for that decision and others when minority broadcast owners, media brokers and investors gathered to discuss the barriers to communications financing for women and minority-owned broadcasting companies. The commissioners had scheduled the hearing to learn why those barriers exist and what options might be available to tear them down.
“The tsunami of media consolidation this country has been through over the past decade and more has been bad -- very bad -- for minority and female ownership,” said FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps who along with Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein dissented on the decision to approve the Sirius-XM merger. “But as we all know, the commission has taken a very different approach, actually pushing for more media consolidation rather than attempting to stem the tide.” He explained that the nation is approaching a minority population of one-third, but people of color own 3% of full-power commercial television stations.
“These numbers are disturbing to me as a woman, as mother of a daughter, as a policymaker, and as a consumer,” said Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate, one of the three Republicans who voted for the Sirius XM merger.
Panelists identified certain solutions that could help increase access to financing to improve minority ownership. They ranged from repealing FCC rules and regulations that discourage investors, holding Arbitron, an audience radio research company, accountable for discrepancies when measuring young black and Hispanic audiences, and reinstating the Minority Tax Credit Policy, which initially ushered minorities into media ownership.
An FCC order promoting diversification of ownership in the broadcasting services adopted in December 2007 is expected to help minorities and women obtain access to capital but only minimally since the FCC didn’t adopt definitions other than “small business” to explain who can take advantage of these measures.
The December diversity order also planned to modify the equity-debt plus attribution rule and allow an interest holder to exceed the 33% ownership limit without triggering attribution. The Equity-Debt Plus attribution rule too often “caused potential investors to cautiously avoid investments that might be combined to approach the ownership limit,” says Tate, a supporter of that modification.
“There is a lot of capital in the market place,” says Anita Graham, general partner with Opportunity Capital Partners. “Without the rules and regulations the capital will flow.”
Restoration of the tax credit is an issue panelists said would increase access to ownership. The passage of the Minority Tax Certificate in 1978 led to an increase of African American ownership. However, when a Republican-run Congress repealed it in 1995 and replaced it with the 1996 Telecommunications Act the number of minority-owned broadcast facilities decreased by 40%. African American ownership decreased by 70% and there has been no female ownership since 1998.
“I am overcome by an ironic sense of Déjà vu,” says Frank Washington, owner of KBTV in Sacramento who played a critical role in the creation of the Minority Tax Certificate. “The minority tax certificate was only possible because of overwhelmingly positive public, industry, government and press support, if not outright pressure [on congress]. The impact of the certificate on minority ownership was unprecedented and undeniable.”
Finally, several panelists accused the “Portable People Meter”, the newest audience measurement technology by Arbitron as critically flawed and having a clear bias against the reporting of minority audiences. Arbitron is the company most used by advertisers to determine which stations they will advertise with.
“Radio stations live and die according to the audience ratings and market ranks reported by Arbitron,” said Winston as he prodded the FCC commissioners to investigate Arbitron. “Initial results from the PPM measurements have shown such huge rating declines for stations serving Black and Hispanic audiences that the financial survival of these stations will be at stake if Arbitron continues to implement PPM across the nation in the form it has been initially introduced.”
In a statement, Arbitron CEO Steve Morris initially said “PPM panels exceeds their sample targets for Blacks and Hispanics.” Later Morris acknowledged that at the suggestion of a the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters Inc. member, Arbitron plans to review their recruitment and compliance methodology aimed at Black and Hispanic households.
By Marcia A. Wade for BlackEnterprise.com
At a hearing at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem after the merger was approved, the five FCC commissioners were taken to task for that decision and others when minority broadcast owners, media brokers and investors gathered to discuss the barriers to communications financing for women and minority-owned broadcasting companies. The commissioners had scheduled the hearing to learn why those barriers exist and what options might be available to tear them down.
“The tsunami of media consolidation this country has been through over the past decade and more has been bad -- very bad -- for minority and female ownership,” said FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps who along with Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein dissented on the decision to approve the Sirius-XM merger. “But as we all know, the commission has taken a very different approach, actually pushing for more media consolidation rather than attempting to stem the tide.” He explained that the nation is approaching a minority population of one-third, but people of color own 3% of full-power commercial television stations.
“These numbers are disturbing to me as a woman, as mother of a daughter, as a policymaker, and as a consumer,” said Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate, one of the three Republicans who voted for the Sirius XM merger.
Panelists identified certain solutions that could help increase access to financing to improve minority ownership. They ranged from repealing FCC rules and regulations that discourage investors, holding Arbitron, an audience radio research company, accountable for discrepancies when measuring young black and Hispanic audiences, and reinstating the Minority Tax Credit Policy, which initially ushered minorities into media ownership.
An FCC order promoting diversification of ownership in the broadcasting services adopted in December 2007 is expected to help minorities and women obtain access to capital but only minimally since the FCC didn’t adopt definitions other than “small business” to explain who can take advantage of these measures.
The December diversity order also planned to modify the equity-debt plus attribution rule and allow an interest holder to exceed the 33% ownership limit without triggering attribution. The Equity-Debt Plus attribution rule too often “caused potential investors to cautiously avoid investments that might be combined to approach the ownership limit,” says Tate, a supporter of that modification.
“There is a lot of capital in the market place,” says Anita Graham, general partner with Opportunity Capital Partners. “Without the rules and regulations the capital will flow.”
Restoration of the tax credit is an issue panelists said would increase access to ownership. The passage of the Minority Tax Certificate in 1978 led to an increase of African American ownership. However, when a Republican-run Congress repealed it in 1995 and replaced it with the 1996 Telecommunications Act the number of minority-owned broadcast facilities decreased by 40%. African American ownership decreased by 70% and there has been no female ownership since 1998.
“I am overcome by an ironic sense of Déjà vu,” says Frank Washington, owner of KBTV in Sacramento who played a critical role in the creation of the Minority Tax Certificate. “The minority tax certificate was only possible because of overwhelmingly positive public, industry, government and press support, if not outright pressure [on congress]. The impact of the certificate on minority ownership was unprecedented and undeniable.”
Finally, several panelists accused the “Portable People Meter”, the newest audience measurement technology by Arbitron as critically flawed and having a clear bias against the reporting of minority audiences. Arbitron is the company most used by advertisers to determine which stations they will advertise with.
“Radio stations live and die according to the audience ratings and market ranks reported by Arbitron,” said Winston as he prodded the FCC commissioners to investigate Arbitron. “Initial results from the PPM measurements have shown such huge rating declines for stations serving Black and Hispanic audiences that the financial survival of these stations will be at stake if Arbitron continues to implement PPM across the nation in the form it has been initially introduced.”
In a statement, Arbitron CEO Steve Morris initially said “PPM panels exceeds their sample targets for Blacks and Hispanics.” Later Morris acknowledged that at the suggestion of a the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters Inc. member, Arbitron plans to review their recruitment and compliance methodology aimed at Black and Hispanic households.
By Marcia A. Wade for BlackEnterprise.com
Back-to-School Father March Sends Message
Education has become a matter of national security. Because we cannot control our schools, we cannot control our economy. And because we cannot control our economy, we cannot control and protect our quality of life in America,” says Phillip Jackson, executive director of The Black Star Project, U.S.A.
The Black Star Project is sponsoring the Million Father March 2008 on the first day of school in nearly 300 cities across America. Because of the dynamic presence at their child’s school, the Million Father March has become a special day that fathers and other men use to make a commitment to their children, their families, their communities and their country. Jackson says, “The real Fathers Day is the Million Father March!”
The Million Father March 2008 will play out at thousands of schools across America and in other parts of the world. About 300,000 men from 127 cities participated in the 2006 Million Father March. An estimated 400,000 men in 238 cities participated in 2007. This year, an estimated 500,000 men from 300 cities are expected to participate.
The Million Father March also provides an escort of safety, support and encouragement to children of all ages on their first day of school. Jackson says, “Gang recruitment, bullying and random violence go way down on any day that a group of men are at a school.”
Research shows that children whose fathers take an active role in their educational lives earn better grades, get better test scores, enjoy school more and are more likely to graduate from high school and attend college. Additionally, children have fewer behavior problems when fathers listen to and talk with them regularly and are active in their lives.
A good father is part of a good parent team and is critical to creating a strong family structure. Strong family structures produce children who are more academically proficient, socially developed and self-assured. Such children become adults who are valuable assets to their communities.
“Better parents produce better communities, better schools, and better students with higher academic achievements,” Jackson says.
Participants in the Million Father March include fathers, grandfathers, foster fathers, stepfathers, uncles, cousins, big brothers, significant male caregivers and friends of the family. Although the Million Father March was created by black men, women and men of all races are also encouraged to take their children to school on their first day.
Businesses are being asked to give fathers and men two hours off that morning to take their children to school. Men will also be encouraged to volunteer at schools throughout the year.
Since schools across America and the world start the new school year on different days and months, the 2008 March will be a rolling event that takes place on the first day of this school year in cities, villages and towns between Aug. 7 and Oct. 13.
Whether the marches here are one lone father, dozens, even hundreds, participation is encouraged. It will send a real message.
timesanddemocrat.com
The Black Star Project is sponsoring the Million Father March 2008 on the first day of school in nearly 300 cities across America. Because of the dynamic presence at their child’s school, the Million Father March has become a special day that fathers and other men use to make a commitment to their children, their families, their communities and their country. Jackson says, “The real Fathers Day is the Million Father March!”
The Million Father March 2008 will play out at thousands of schools across America and in other parts of the world. About 300,000 men from 127 cities participated in the 2006 Million Father March. An estimated 400,000 men in 238 cities participated in 2007. This year, an estimated 500,000 men from 300 cities are expected to participate.
The Million Father March also provides an escort of safety, support and encouragement to children of all ages on their first day of school. Jackson says, “Gang recruitment, bullying and random violence go way down on any day that a group of men are at a school.”
Research shows that children whose fathers take an active role in their educational lives earn better grades, get better test scores, enjoy school more and are more likely to graduate from high school and attend college. Additionally, children have fewer behavior problems when fathers listen to and talk with them regularly and are active in their lives.
A good father is part of a good parent team and is critical to creating a strong family structure. Strong family structures produce children who are more academically proficient, socially developed and self-assured. Such children become adults who are valuable assets to their communities.
“Better parents produce better communities, better schools, and better students with higher academic achievements,” Jackson says.
Participants in the Million Father March include fathers, grandfathers, foster fathers, stepfathers, uncles, cousins, big brothers, significant male caregivers and friends of the family. Although the Million Father March was created by black men, women and men of all races are also encouraged to take their children to school on their first day.
Businesses are being asked to give fathers and men two hours off that morning to take their children to school. Men will also be encouraged to volunteer at schools throughout the year.
Since schools across America and the world start the new school year on different days and months, the 2008 March will be a rolling event that takes place on the first day of this school year in cities, villages and towns between Aug. 7 and Oct. 13.
Whether the marches here are one lone father, dozens, even hundreds, participation is encouraged. It will send a real message.
timesanddemocrat.com
South Africa Sees Good Progress in Zimbabwe Talks
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's power-sharing talks are making good progress but no meeting has been set between President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, Mugabe's spokesman said on Thursday.
Zimbabwean media had said earlier that the two were expected to hold their first meeting since agreeing to the talks last month, and that South African President Thabo Mbeki, chief mediator in the talks, was also due in Harare.
Mugabe's spokesman, George Charamba, told Reuters the talks were "going on very well," but there would be no meeting of leaders on Thursday and Mbeki was not expected in town.
There was no comment from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, but South Africa also said earlier that the talks were making good progress.
The two sides began talking over two weeks ago to defuse a crisis caused by the re-election of Mugabe in a poll boycotted by the opposition and widely condemned internationally.
"Government as the mediator will not be giving any details
of the talks except to say that they are progressing extremely well," a South African spokesman said.
Zimbabwean political analyst Eldred Masunungure said the fact that the teams were still at the table suggested the negotiations were on course.
"I think we are only going to get a meeting of the principal leaders either to clear hurdles over any serious disagreements or to seal an agreement," Masunungure said.
Johannesburg's daily Star said South African mediators had met Zimbabwean security chiefs, seen as key to any resolution to the crisis which has ruined the once prosperous economy and flooded neighboring states with millions of refugees.
The Star, citing unnamed sources, said the officials "wanted to ensure that their interests are catered for in any agreement reached."
The powerful security officials are unlikely to accept any power-sharing deal unless they are given protection from international justice, analysts say.
Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF and the MDC, under heavy international pressure to resolve the crisis, called on their supporters on Wednesday to end political violence, the clearest sign of progress in the talks to date.
Under a draft settlement reported in the Star on Wednesday, Tsvangirai would run the country as executive prime minister for a transitional period, with one deputy from each party, while Mugabe would become ceremonial president.
But The Star said the MDC wants a 24-30 month transitional period, while ZANU-PF wants a five-year transition.
By Cris Chinaka for AP
Zimbabwean media had said earlier that the two were expected to hold their first meeting since agreeing to the talks last month, and that South African President Thabo Mbeki, chief mediator in the talks, was also due in Harare.
Mugabe's spokesman, George Charamba, told Reuters the talks were "going on very well," but there would be no meeting of leaders on Thursday and Mbeki was not expected in town.
There was no comment from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, but South Africa also said earlier that the talks were making good progress.
The two sides began talking over two weeks ago to defuse a crisis caused by the re-election of Mugabe in a poll boycotted by the opposition and widely condemned internationally.
"Government as the mediator will not be giving any details
of the talks except to say that they are progressing extremely well," a South African spokesman said.
Zimbabwean political analyst Eldred Masunungure said the fact that the teams were still at the table suggested the negotiations were on course.
"I think we are only going to get a meeting of the principal leaders either to clear hurdles over any serious disagreements or to seal an agreement," Masunungure said.
Johannesburg's daily Star said South African mediators had met Zimbabwean security chiefs, seen as key to any resolution to the crisis which has ruined the once prosperous economy and flooded neighboring states with millions of refugees.
The Star, citing unnamed sources, said the officials "wanted to ensure that their interests are catered for in any agreement reached."
The powerful security officials are unlikely to accept any power-sharing deal unless they are given protection from international justice, analysts say.
Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF and the MDC, under heavy international pressure to resolve the crisis, called on their supporters on Wednesday to end political violence, the clearest sign of progress in the talks to date.
Under a draft settlement reported in the Star on Wednesday, Tsvangirai would run the country as executive prime minister for a transitional period, with one deputy from each party, while Mugabe would become ceremonial president.
But The Star said the MDC wants a 24-30 month transitional period, while ZANU-PF wants a five-year transition.
By Cris Chinaka for AP
Ohio Officer Acquitted in Killing of Unarmed Black Woman
LIMA, Ohio - A white police officer was acquitted Monday in the drug-raid shooting death of an unarmed black woman that set off protests about how police treat minorities in a city where one in four residents is black.
The all-white jury found Sgt. Joseph Chavalia not guilty of misdemeanor charges of negligent homicide and negligent assault. He had faced up to eight months in jail if convicted of both counts.
Chavalia shot 26-year-old Tarika Wilson and her year-old son she was holding, killing her and hitting him in the shoulder and hand, during a Jan. 4 SWAT raid on her house. One of the child’s fingers had to be amputated.
Officers had been looking for Wilson’s boyfriend, a suspected drug dealer.
Chavalia left the courthouse with his family and declined to comment to reporters. Jurors also left the court without commenting, escorted by sheriff’s deputies.
Wilson’s family members stormed out of Allen County Common Pleas Court before visiting Judge Richard Knepper finished dismissing the jury.
Prosecution: Officer was reckless
Outside the courthouse, Wilson’s brother, Ivory Austin said he wasn’t surprised by the verdict.
“Now he (Chavalia) gets to get back on with his life,” he said. “He took my sister’s life.”
He said he was hoping someone from the police department would at least admit a mistake was made.
“I’m not saying he went up there to kill her,” Austin said.
Prosecutors said Chavalia recklessly fired three shots into a bedroom where Wilson and her six children were gathered, even though he could not clearly see her or whether she had a weapon.
“He couldn’t tell Tarika had a child in her arms,” Prosecutor Jeffrey Strausbaugh said during closing arguments Monday.
Chavalia, an officer of 32-years, had testified that he thought his life was in danger when he fired the shots. He said he saw a shadow coming from behind a partially open bedroom door and heard gunshots that he thought were aimed at him. It turned out the gunfire he heard was coming from downstairs, where officers shot two charging pit bulls.
Lima Police Chief Greg Garlock said the jury made the right decision.
“They confirmed what our sense was and our belief was in this,” he said.
Following the shooting, many residents accused the police department of being hostile and abusive toward minorities. One group led a series of marches through the city to protest what they said was mistreatment by police.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson visited the city and demanded that the officer who fired the fatal shots and those who planned the raid be held accountable. Chavalia was the only person charged.
'Low value on black lives'
Local black leaders had criticized the two misdemeanor charges as too lenient.
“It’s another example that there’s very low value on black lives in this community,” said Jason Upthegrove, president of the Lima National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He said he was sickened but not surprised by the verdict and he hopes it won’t reflect poorly on the city.
Arnold Manley, pastor of Pilgrim Rescue Missionary Baptist Church, said he and other black clergy leaders have been trying to work with police and city officials since the shooting, but that he was unsure whether that would continue.
“I’m hurting deeply,” he said. “The message I got out of all this is that it’s OK for police to go and kill in a drug raid,” he said.
Defense attorney Bill Kluge told jurors Monday that Chavalia should not be judged on what wasn’t known until after shooting, including the fact that Wilson did not have a gun or pose a threat.
“It’s Monday morning quarterbacking,” he told jurors. “Put yourself in Joe’s shoes that night.”
The jury’s decision, he said in closing statements, will affect officers across Ohio.
“What kind of world would it be if we didn’t have police officers,” Kluge said. “Joe was doing his duty.”
Wilson’s boyfriend, Anthony Terry, was arrested and pleaded guilty in March to charges of drug trafficking.
AP
The all-white jury found Sgt. Joseph Chavalia not guilty of misdemeanor charges of negligent homicide and negligent assault. He had faced up to eight months in jail if convicted of both counts.
Chavalia shot 26-year-old Tarika Wilson and her year-old son she was holding, killing her and hitting him in the shoulder and hand, during a Jan. 4 SWAT raid on her house. One of the child’s fingers had to be amputated.
Officers had been looking for Wilson’s boyfriend, a suspected drug dealer.
Chavalia left the courthouse with his family and declined to comment to reporters. Jurors also left the court without commenting, escorted by sheriff’s deputies.
Wilson’s family members stormed out of Allen County Common Pleas Court before visiting Judge Richard Knepper finished dismissing the jury.
Prosecution: Officer was reckless
Outside the courthouse, Wilson’s brother, Ivory Austin said he wasn’t surprised by the verdict.
“Now he (Chavalia) gets to get back on with his life,” he said. “He took my sister’s life.”
He said he was hoping someone from the police department would at least admit a mistake was made.
“I’m not saying he went up there to kill her,” Austin said.
Prosecutors said Chavalia recklessly fired three shots into a bedroom where Wilson and her six children were gathered, even though he could not clearly see her or whether she had a weapon.
“He couldn’t tell Tarika had a child in her arms,” Prosecutor Jeffrey Strausbaugh said during closing arguments Monday.
Chavalia, an officer of 32-years, had testified that he thought his life was in danger when he fired the shots. He said he saw a shadow coming from behind a partially open bedroom door and heard gunshots that he thought were aimed at him. It turned out the gunfire he heard was coming from downstairs, where officers shot two charging pit bulls.
Lima Police Chief Greg Garlock said the jury made the right decision.
“They confirmed what our sense was and our belief was in this,” he said.
Following the shooting, many residents accused the police department of being hostile and abusive toward minorities. One group led a series of marches through the city to protest what they said was mistreatment by police.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson visited the city and demanded that the officer who fired the fatal shots and those who planned the raid be held accountable. Chavalia was the only person charged.
'Low value on black lives'
Local black leaders had criticized the two misdemeanor charges as too lenient.
“It’s another example that there’s very low value on black lives in this community,” said Jason Upthegrove, president of the Lima National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He said he was sickened but not surprised by the verdict and he hopes it won’t reflect poorly on the city.
Arnold Manley, pastor of Pilgrim Rescue Missionary Baptist Church, said he and other black clergy leaders have been trying to work with police and city officials since the shooting, but that he was unsure whether that would continue.
“I’m hurting deeply,” he said. “The message I got out of all this is that it’s OK for police to go and kill in a drug raid,” he said.
Defense attorney Bill Kluge told jurors Monday that Chavalia should not be judged on what wasn’t known until after shooting, including the fact that Wilson did not have a gun or pose a threat.
“It’s Monday morning quarterbacking,” he told jurors. “Put yourself in Joe’s shoes that night.”
The jury’s decision, he said in closing statements, will affect officers across Ohio.
“What kind of world would it be if we didn’t have police officers,” Kluge said. “Joe was doing his duty.”
Wilson’s boyfriend, Anthony Terry, was arrested and pleaded guilty in March to charges of drug trafficking.
AP
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
National Minority AIDS Council Calls for Comprehensive Health Response to Increase in HIV Incidence
- Re-evaluation of HIV incidence data at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed that over 55,500 new HIV cases occurred each year from 2003-2006, with 56,300 cases in 2006 alone. These numbers are approximately 40% higher than the CDC’s previous estimate of 40,000 new HIV cases annually, an estimate that had remained the same for over ten years.
“We applaud the CDC’s efforts to provide a clearer picture of the AIDS epidemic,” says Paul Kawata, Executive Director of the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC). “While the Federal government’s focus in recent years on testing, care and treatment has saved the lives of many people living with HIV/AIDS, these new numbers clearly indicate that this approach has done little to prevent new infections.”
NMAC supports the formation of a comprehensive national strategy to address HIV/AIDS in this country that includes input from all people vested in the fight against AIDS – from elected officials and health care workers, to vaccine researchers and people living with HIV/AIDS. Ravinia Hayes-Cozier, NMAC’s Director of Government Relations and Public Policy explains, “These numbers are unacceptable for all of America. At NMAC, we consider HIV/AIDS just one symptom of an overall health emergency in this country – particularly in communities of color, which have been disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS since the epidemic began three decades ago.
“Ethnicity is not a risk factor for HIV/AIDS, which, of course, can impact anyone, regardless of age, gender or race. However, the limited access to support services – such as education and health care – and high rates of homelessness, malnutrition, substance use, incarceration and poverty – unfortunately found in many minority communities has left their members immuno-suppressed and more susceptible to HIV/AIDS and its co-morbidities, like diabetes, tuberculosis, heart disease, hypertension and hepatitis A, B and C.”
Indeed, the distribution of HIV in communities of color has remained relatively the same, despite the new numbers from the CDC. Nearly half – 45% - of all new HIV cases occur among African Americans, followed by Latinos at 17%; Asian and Pacific Islanders at 2%, and Native Americans at 1%. African American women and men who have sex with men (MSM) of color also are testing positive for HIV in shockingly high numbers.
In addition to a comprehensive, national health strategy that includes HIV/AIDS prevention, testing, treatment and care, NMAC calls on federal and state government agencies, faith- and community-based organizations, AIDS service organizations and other stakeholders in the epidemic to increase their support for the following:
Comprehensive sex education for all young people – and their families. We need to ensure that all generations in this country can protect themselves and others from HIV transmission, and can serve as peer educators for others.
HIV vaccine research. We must support the development of an HIV vaccine that works for everyone – and the only way any viral epidemic has been stopped in recent history is through the development of a vaccine.
Expanded programs for low-income housing, utility bill relief and food stamp initiatives for those living with HIV/AIDS and its co-morbidities. We cannot build the health of a nation without ensuring access to the basic necessities of life.
Programs addressing the unique health needs of girls and women. In many families, the primary caretakers are women, many of whom sacrifice their health for their children and are not aware of their own susceptibility to HIV and other diseases.
Initiatives addressing stigma around HIV and homosexuality. These will empower young MSM of color to learn and experience their sexuality safely, in a society that understands and accepts them.
Expansion of harm reduction and substance use programs. Harm reduction offers many people access to drug rehabilitation and care. These programs, however, must not only treat addicts, but their families as well, particularly when children may be separated from their parents/guardians entering care.
Providing incarcerated persons living with HIV/AIDS access to discharge planning and treatment, as well as delivering comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention education in correctional facilities. Prisoners who have access to condoms, voluntary testing and comprehensive health care will be less likely to contract or transmit HIV while incarcerated and when returning to their communities.
Programs that support, and increase the visibility of, HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care programs at the grassroots level. We need to continue to build the infrastructure of faith- and community-based organizations delivering services to those hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic.
“We cannot worry about assigning blame around HIV/AIDS, nor should any elected U.S. official claim ignorance about, and remain complacent on, the AIDS epidemic in this country,” says Kawata. “Having a clearer picture of HIV incidence in the U.S. offers us yet another opportunity to work and speak out together in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The very future of our communities depends on it.”
“We applaud the CDC’s efforts to provide a clearer picture of the AIDS epidemic,” says Paul Kawata, Executive Director of the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC). “While the Federal government’s focus in recent years on testing, care and treatment has saved the lives of many people living with HIV/AIDS, these new numbers clearly indicate that this approach has done little to prevent new infections.”
NMAC supports the formation of a comprehensive national strategy to address HIV/AIDS in this country that includes input from all people vested in the fight against AIDS – from elected officials and health care workers, to vaccine researchers and people living with HIV/AIDS. Ravinia Hayes-Cozier, NMAC’s Director of Government Relations and Public Policy explains, “These numbers are unacceptable for all of America. At NMAC, we consider HIV/AIDS just one symptom of an overall health emergency in this country – particularly in communities of color, which have been disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS since the epidemic began three decades ago.
“Ethnicity is not a risk factor for HIV/AIDS, which, of course, can impact anyone, regardless of age, gender or race. However, the limited access to support services – such as education and health care – and high rates of homelessness, malnutrition, substance use, incarceration and poverty – unfortunately found in many minority communities has left their members immuno-suppressed and more susceptible to HIV/AIDS and its co-morbidities, like diabetes, tuberculosis, heart disease, hypertension and hepatitis A, B and C.”
Indeed, the distribution of HIV in communities of color has remained relatively the same, despite the new numbers from the CDC. Nearly half – 45% - of all new HIV cases occur among African Americans, followed by Latinos at 17%; Asian and Pacific Islanders at 2%, and Native Americans at 1%. African American women and men who have sex with men (MSM) of color also are testing positive for HIV in shockingly high numbers.
In addition to a comprehensive, national health strategy that includes HIV/AIDS prevention, testing, treatment and care, NMAC calls on federal and state government agencies, faith- and community-based organizations, AIDS service organizations and other stakeholders in the epidemic to increase their support for the following:
Comprehensive sex education for all young people – and their families. We need to ensure that all generations in this country can protect themselves and others from HIV transmission, and can serve as peer educators for others.
HIV vaccine research. We must support the development of an HIV vaccine that works for everyone – and the only way any viral epidemic has been stopped in recent history is through the development of a vaccine.
Expanded programs for low-income housing, utility bill relief and food stamp initiatives for those living with HIV/AIDS and its co-morbidities. We cannot build the health of a nation without ensuring access to the basic necessities of life.
Programs addressing the unique health needs of girls and women. In many families, the primary caretakers are women, many of whom sacrifice their health for their children and are not aware of their own susceptibility to HIV and other diseases.
Initiatives addressing stigma around HIV and homosexuality. These will empower young MSM of color to learn and experience their sexuality safely, in a society that understands and accepts them.
Expansion of harm reduction and substance use programs. Harm reduction offers many people access to drug rehabilitation and care. These programs, however, must not only treat addicts, but their families as well, particularly when children may be separated from their parents/guardians entering care.
Providing incarcerated persons living with HIV/AIDS access to discharge planning and treatment, as well as delivering comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention education in correctional facilities. Prisoners who have access to condoms, voluntary testing and comprehensive health care will be less likely to contract or transmit HIV while incarcerated and when returning to their communities.
Programs that support, and increase the visibility of, HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care programs at the grassroots level. We need to continue to build the infrastructure of faith- and community-based organizations delivering services to those hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic.
“We cannot worry about assigning blame around HIV/AIDS, nor should any elected U.S. official claim ignorance about, and remain complacent on, the AIDS epidemic in this country,” says Kawata. “Having a clearer picture of HIV incidence in the U.S. offers us yet another opportunity to work and speak out together in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The very future of our communities depends on it.”
Power-Sharing Deal Close in Zimbabwe: Report
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's ruling party and the opposition are close to a power-sharing deal that would turn Robert Mugabe into a ceremonial president, a South African newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The report came as Zimbabwean state media reported ZANU-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change had agreed to expand their negotiating teams in a move the ruling party called a "good omen."
The report in The Star newspaper cited unnamed sources close to the negotiations as saying the agreement would make MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai executive prime minister.
Zimbabwean government and MDC officials were not immediately available for comment.
"They are down to detail now," the newspaper quoted one source as saying. "Although how long that will take is still unclear. But a deal is not far off. Not at all."
Mugabe's ZANU-PF began power-sharing talks with the MDC two weeks ago in South Africa after Mugabe was re-elected in a widely condemned poll boycotted by the opposition.
The two sides are under heavy international pressure, including from within Africa, to resolve a crisis that has ruined the once prosperous economy and flooded neighboring states with millions of refugees.
The opposition says only Tsvangirai can lead a new government because he won a first-round presidential vote in March before pulling out of the June 27 run-off because of violence he says killed 122 of his supporters.
ZANU-PF has said it will not accept any deal that fails to recognize Mugabe's re-election.
FLEXIBLE DEADLINE
Zimbabwe's official Herald newspaper reported on Tuesday that ZANU-PF and the MDC had agreed to expand their negotiating teams after the parties adjourned last week before resuming talks in South Africa on Sunday.
They had originally set themselves a deadline of Monday to reach a deal, but both sides have said the timeline is flexible.
Commenting on the extension of the talks, Christopher Mutsvangwa of ZANU-PF's information and publicity committee told the Herald: "That shows progress. The extension is aimed at overcoming all the issues on the agenda. The omen is very good."
University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer John Makumbe had a cautious interpretation of the expansion of the negotiating teams.
"If a breakthrough is near, it might not necessarily be because more people are now involved. If anything, I think the more the people, the more difficult it might be to reach an agreement," he said.
"But nothing is obvious in politics. Remember, the original six negotiators have been at it for over a year now and have grown familiar, which could cloud their views on certain issues and impinge on their efficiency."
South African President Thabo Mbeki has been mediating between the rival Zimbabwean parties since last year.
The parties have also disagreed over how long a national unity government should remain in power.
The MDC wants new elections held as soon as possible while Mugabe, who has ruled since 1980, wants to carry on with his new five-year mandate.
Reporting by Michael Georgy from reuters
The report came as Zimbabwean state media reported ZANU-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change had agreed to expand their negotiating teams in a move the ruling party called a "good omen."
The report in The Star newspaper cited unnamed sources close to the negotiations as saying the agreement would make MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai executive prime minister.
Zimbabwean government and MDC officials were not immediately available for comment.
"They are down to detail now," the newspaper quoted one source as saying. "Although how long that will take is still unclear. But a deal is not far off. Not at all."
Mugabe's ZANU-PF began power-sharing talks with the MDC two weeks ago in South Africa after Mugabe was re-elected in a widely condemned poll boycotted by the opposition.
The two sides are under heavy international pressure, including from within Africa, to resolve a crisis that has ruined the once prosperous economy and flooded neighboring states with millions of refugees.
The opposition says only Tsvangirai can lead a new government because he won a first-round presidential vote in March before pulling out of the June 27 run-off because of violence he says killed 122 of his supporters.
ZANU-PF has said it will not accept any deal that fails to recognize Mugabe's re-election.
FLEXIBLE DEADLINE
Zimbabwe's official Herald newspaper reported on Tuesday that ZANU-PF and the MDC had agreed to expand their negotiating teams after the parties adjourned last week before resuming talks in South Africa on Sunday.
They had originally set themselves a deadline of Monday to reach a deal, but both sides have said the timeline is flexible.
Commenting on the extension of the talks, Christopher Mutsvangwa of ZANU-PF's information and publicity committee told the Herald: "That shows progress. The extension is aimed at overcoming all the issues on the agenda. The omen is very good."
University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer John Makumbe had a cautious interpretation of the expansion of the negotiating teams.
"If a breakthrough is near, it might not necessarily be because more people are now involved. If anything, I think the more the people, the more difficult it might be to reach an agreement," he said.
"But nothing is obvious in politics. Remember, the original six negotiators have been at it for over a year now and have grown familiar, which could cloud their views on certain issues and impinge on their efficiency."
South African President Thabo Mbeki has been mediating between the rival Zimbabwean parties since last year.
The parties have also disagreed over how long a national unity government should remain in power.
The MDC wants new elections held as soon as possible while Mugabe, who has ruled since 1980, wants to carry on with his new five-year mandate.
Reporting by Michael Georgy from reuters
Black Students Showing Strong Gains, Charter Schools Research
WASHINGTON, Aug 04, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Alliance Issue Brief Finds Achievement Levels Rising in Charters
Results from four studies show Black students in public charter schools making important gains and outperforming their counterparts in traditional schools on standard academic tests. The studies are summarized in a new issue brief "The Color of Success: Black Student Achievement in Public Charter Schools," released by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
The issue brief is located at http://www.publiccharters.org/files/publications/NAPCS_ShadesofSuccessIB.pdf
"Taken together, these reports provide encouraging news about public charter schools' effectiveness in helping raise the academic achievement of Black students who too frequently have been poorly served by traditional public schools," said Nelson Smith, president of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools." Closing the achievement gap is a long process, but charter schools are clearly helping lead the way toward that goal."
The issue brief highlights the following four studies:
-- A national comparison of student achievement on 4th grade reading and math state tests conducted by Stanford University Professor Caroline Hoxby found that, on average, public charter schools serving a high percentage of Black students have more students earning proficient scores than traditional public schools serving a similar student population
-- A Florida Department of Education study shows public charter schools closing the achievement gap between Black and White students at a faster rate than traditional public schools in key subjects and grade levels.
-- Black students in Massachusetts charter schools are overtaking peers in non-charters on state reading and math tests, according to a study by the Massachusetts Department of Education.
-- A 2008 survey of Chicago charter schools reveals that Black students who attend a charter high school have an average composite ACT score half a point higher than Black students in a traditional district school. This increases their chances of graduating from high school by seven percentage points, and increases the likelihood that student will in enroll in college by 11 percentage points.
Additionally, some of the highest performing charters in the nation primarily serve Black students, including KIPP West Atlanta Young Scholars Academy, The Chicago International Charter School, Boston Preparatory Charter Public School, Roxbury Preparatory Charter School, The Sisulu-Walker Charter School of Harlem, Memphis Academy for Health Sciences, Milwaukee College Preparatory School, each of which is profiled in the issue brief.
The authors of issue brief, Gerard Robinson, President of the Black Alliance for Educational Options and Edwin Chan, Director of Strategic Initiatives at KIPP WAYS Academy, offer several recommendations for sustaining the results shown in these studies, including:
-- Founders and operators of public charter schools serving Black students should create a foundation of high expectations at their school that is focused around a mission-driven curriculum and quality teaching.
-- Founders and operators should engage their surrounding communities for opportunities to partner with long-established and highly credible community organizations.
-- Public charter high schools should examine the possibility of expanding to serve additional grades, such as middle school grades.
-- Policymakers, foundations, and others should invest in creating the next generation of founders and operators of public charter schools serving Black students, particularly from those communities where public charter schools are having the greatest impact.
Public Charter Schools Growing
More than 4,300 public charter schools teach 1.2 million public school students in 40 states and Washington D.C. The movement continues to grow as 350 new public charter schools opened in fall 2007, enrolling 115,000 public school students.
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools ( www.publiccharters.org) is the national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the charter school movement. The Alliance works to increase the number of high performing charter schools available to all families, particularly low-income and minority families who currently do not have access to quality public schools. The Alliance provides assistance to state charter school associations and resource centers, develops and advocates for improved public policies, and serves as the united voice for this large and diverse movement.
SOURCE National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
marketwatch.com and publiccharters.org
Results from four studies show Black students in public charter schools making important gains and outperforming their counterparts in traditional schools on standard academic tests. The studies are summarized in a new issue brief "The Color of Success: Black Student Achievement in Public Charter Schools," released by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
The issue brief is located at http://www.publiccharters.org/files/publications/NAPCS_ShadesofSuccessIB.pdf
"Taken together, these reports provide encouraging news about public charter schools' effectiveness in helping raise the academic achievement of Black students who too frequently have been poorly served by traditional public schools," said Nelson Smith, president of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools." Closing the achievement gap is a long process, but charter schools are clearly helping lead the way toward that goal."
The issue brief highlights the following four studies:
-- A national comparison of student achievement on 4th grade reading and math state tests conducted by Stanford University Professor Caroline Hoxby found that, on average, public charter schools serving a high percentage of Black students have more students earning proficient scores than traditional public schools serving a similar student population
-- A Florida Department of Education study shows public charter schools closing the achievement gap between Black and White students at a faster rate than traditional public schools in key subjects and grade levels.
-- Black students in Massachusetts charter schools are overtaking peers in non-charters on state reading and math tests, according to a study by the Massachusetts Department of Education.
-- A 2008 survey of Chicago charter schools reveals that Black students who attend a charter high school have an average composite ACT score half a point higher than Black students in a traditional district school. This increases their chances of graduating from high school by seven percentage points, and increases the likelihood that student will in enroll in college by 11 percentage points.
Additionally, some of the highest performing charters in the nation primarily serve Black students, including KIPP West Atlanta Young Scholars Academy, The Chicago International Charter School, Boston Preparatory Charter Public School, Roxbury Preparatory Charter School, The Sisulu-Walker Charter School of Harlem, Memphis Academy for Health Sciences, Milwaukee College Preparatory School, each of which is profiled in the issue brief.
The authors of issue brief, Gerard Robinson, President of the Black Alliance for Educational Options and Edwin Chan, Director of Strategic Initiatives at KIPP WAYS Academy, offer several recommendations for sustaining the results shown in these studies, including:
-- Founders and operators of public charter schools serving Black students should create a foundation of high expectations at their school that is focused around a mission-driven curriculum and quality teaching.
-- Founders and operators should engage their surrounding communities for opportunities to partner with long-established and highly credible community organizations.
-- Public charter high schools should examine the possibility of expanding to serve additional grades, such as middle school grades.
-- Policymakers, foundations, and others should invest in creating the next generation of founders and operators of public charter schools serving Black students, particularly from those communities where public charter schools are having the greatest impact.
Public Charter Schools Growing
More than 4,300 public charter schools teach 1.2 million public school students in 40 states and Washington D.C. The movement continues to grow as 350 new public charter schools opened in fall 2007, enrolling 115,000 public school students.
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools ( www.publiccharters.org) is the national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the charter school movement. The Alliance works to increase the number of high performing charter schools available to all families, particularly low-income and minority families who currently do not have access to quality public schools. The Alliance provides assistance to state charter school associations and resource centers, develops and advocates for improved public policies, and serves as the united voice for this large and diverse movement.
SOURCE National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
marketwatch.com and publiccharters.org
New Clark Atlanta President Brown Takes Helm
ATLANTA --When Carlton Brown arrived at Clark Atlanta University last summer, the institution was clawing out of a $25 million deficit and its administration had a reputation for intimidating faculty and students.
On Friday, Brown takes the helm of Clark Atlanta, a historically black college where he will grapple with the tangible problems of modernizing Clark Atlanta's infrastructure and raising money, and intangibles like restoring its reputation among its students, faculty and alumni.
He spent much of the past school year as executive vice president and provost, and became one of the administration's most visible faces around campus, meeting and talking with students - many of whom were frustrated over long lines at the financial aid office and a housing crisis after the school welcomed a record number of incoming freshmen. In February, Brown became Clark Atlanta's interim president when its second president, Walter Broadnax, stepped down after six years in office.
The end of Broadnax's tenure was marked by massive debt, which he addressed by making controversial cuts to several programs.
It was a climate ripe for Brown's style of leadership.
"I resigned myself a long time ago to the idea that this is what I do," Brown said in an interview this week with The Associated Press. "I grow stuff."
Such challenges have become a calling for Brown, who worked at Hampton University in Virginia and Savannah State University - both black colleges that faced similar challenges to Clark Atlanta.
And like those schools, Brown said Clark had a strong foundation to build on. The decision to merge Clark College and Atlanta University, both founded in the 1860s, to form Clark Atlanta in 1988 only strengthened that foundation.
"The idea of building a stronger, bigger, more comprehensive institution with this new set of capabilities was one of the best thing that could happen," Brown said. "I even have more fond regard for that decision now than I did then."
Atlanta University was the nation's oldest graduate institution for blacks and counted W.E.B. DuBois among its most distinguished faculty. Today, Clark Atlanta is the largest of the United Negro College Fund institutions, with more than 4,200 students and more than 25,000 alumni. It is the only private HBCU classified as a doctoral or research-intensive institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Fundraising is a top priority for Brown, who said he also plans to seek federal legislation to make college more affordable.
"Being the largest also means that an awful lot of people think we have what we need, which is far from the truth," Brown said.
Clark Atlanta's $40 million endowment is dwarfed by those of its fellow Atlanta University Center institutions. Spelman College boasts an endowment of more than $291 million, and Morehouse College's stands at more than $117 million.
"I would think private fundraising is an important part of the work that he's going to be doing," said UNCF President Michael Lomax.
Noran Moffett, a professor of education at Clark Atlanta, said Brown's balance of humility and humanity should serve him well in his new role.
"I see Dr. Brown as being able to take on the challenge of being able to communicate with potential donors, and at the same time, communicate with the hip-hop generation of students that we have," Moffett said.
Student Government Association President La'Vonn Brown was impressed with the new president, who has participated in new student orientation sessions and eaten lunch with students in the cafeteria.
"New students coming in know who he is," La'Vonn Brown said.
Outgoing SGA President Janelle Jackson said under the previous administration, students could go their entire campus careers without recognizing their school's president. Brown's visibility is likely to go a long way, especially among alumni.
"When they ask us for money, it won't be the first time we're seeing their faces," she said.
Brown is also determined to upgrade Clark Atlanta's infrastructure and is committed to restoring the school's reputation and boosting morale.
"We need to re-establish an ethos for the institution, from the level of the student, up through the faculty and the alumni," Brown said.
Lomax saw the challenge as an opportunity to tell Clark Atlanta's story.
"Some of the tough decisions and choices that had to be made ... meant that the local and national community heard a little disharmony in the Clark Atlanta University community," Lomax said. "I think that his opportunity is really to ensure that the entire Clark Atlanta University community is speaking with one very positive voice about (its) extraordinary resources and tradition and record."
By ERRIN HAINES - Associated Press Writer
On Friday, Brown takes the helm of Clark Atlanta, a historically black college where he will grapple with the tangible problems of modernizing Clark Atlanta's infrastructure and raising money, and intangibles like restoring its reputation among its students, faculty and alumni.
He spent much of the past school year as executive vice president and provost, and became one of the administration's most visible faces around campus, meeting and talking with students - many of whom were frustrated over long lines at the financial aid office and a housing crisis after the school welcomed a record number of incoming freshmen. In February, Brown became Clark Atlanta's interim president when its second president, Walter Broadnax, stepped down after six years in office.
The end of Broadnax's tenure was marked by massive debt, which he addressed by making controversial cuts to several programs.
It was a climate ripe for Brown's style of leadership.
"I resigned myself a long time ago to the idea that this is what I do," Brown said in an interview this week with The Associated Press. "I grow stuff."
Such challenges have become a calling for Brown, who worked at Hampton University in Virginia and Savannah State University - both black colleges that faced similar challenges to Clark Atlanta.
And like those schools, Brown said Clark had a strong foundation to build on. The decision to merge Clark College and Atlanta University, both founded in the 1860s, to form Clark Atlanta in 1988 only strengthened that foundation.
"The idea of building a stronger, bigger, more comprehensive institution with this new set of capabilities was one of the best thing that could happen," Brown said. "I even have more fond regard for that decision now than I did then."
Atlanta University was the nation's oldest graduate institution for blacks and counted W.E.B. DuBois among its most distinguished faculty. Today, Clark Atlanta is the largest of the United Negro College Fund institutions, with more than 4,200 students and more than 25,000 alumni. It is the only private HBCU classified as a doctoral or research-intensive institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Fundraising is a top priority for Brown, who said he also plans to seek federal legislation to make college more affordable.
"Being the largest also means that an awful lot of people think we have what we need, which is far from the truth," Brown said.
Clark Atlanta's $40 million endowment is dwarfed by those of its fellow Atlanta University Center institutions. Spelman College boasts an endowment of more than $291 million, and Morehouse College's stands at more than $117 million.
"I would think private fundraising is an important part of the work that he's going to be doing," said UNCF President Michael Lomax.
Noran Moffett, a professor of education at Clark Atlanta, said Brown's balance of humility and humanity should serve him well in his new role.
"I see Dr. Brown as being able to take on the challenge of being able to communicate with potential donors, and at the same time, communicate with the hip-hop generation of students that we have," Moffett said.
Student Government Association President La'Vonn Brown was impressed with the new president, who has participated in new student orientation sessions and eaten lunch with students in the cafeteria.
"New students coming in know who he is," La'Vonn Brown said.
Outgoing SGA President Janelle Jackson said under the previous administration, students could go their entire campus careers without recognizing their school's president. Brown's visibility is likely to go a long way, especially among alumni.
"When they ask us for money, it won't be the first time we're seeing their faces," she said.
Brown is also determined to upgrade Clark Atlanta's infrastructure and is committed to restoring the school's reputation and boosting morale.
"We need to re-establish an ethos for the institution, from the level of the student, up through the faculty and the alumni," Brown said.
Lomax saw the challenge as an opportunity to tell Clark Atlanta's story.
"Some of the tough decisions and choices that had to be made ... meant that the local and national community heard a little disharmony in the Clark Atlanta University community," Lomax said. "I think that his opportunity is really to ensure that the entire Clark Atlanta University community is speaking with one very positive voice about (its) extraordinary resources and tradition and record."
By ERRIN HAINES - Associated Press Writer
Monday, August 4, 2008
Congressional Black Caucus gives high mark to higher education legislation
Education is literally the difference between surviving and thriving for working class Americans. Congress’ adoption today of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act will ensure that access to education is a reality for all,” remarked Congresswoman Carolyn C. Kilpatrick (D-MI), Chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) on today’s passage of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. The CBC joined an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives to approve final legislation that expands access to college to working families and the disabled, makes textbooks more affordable, and increases college aid to veterans and their families. It will also simplify the federal student aid application process.
“This historic bill will:
Expand access to college and provides1 unprecedented financial support for working class families, the disabled and historically black colleges and universities;
Strengthen counseling services that focus on helping low-income and minority students remain in school and graduate;
Increase college aid and support for veterans and military families, and
Support the renovation of campuses in need of improvement,”
“Today we have made an invaluable investment in our future. This bill will help our children and grand children excel in the world community. Our universities and colleges have produced some of the brightest minds and pragmatic leaders. The CBC will continue to work with them and fight for them, ” stated Chairwoman Kilpatrick.
“HBCUs have played and continue to play an integral role in furthering the education of Black students in America,” said U.S. Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA), the Co-Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Education Taskforce. “Unfortunately, these institutions face increasing challenges and have limited resources. I am very pleased with the historical investment to HBCUs that the College Cost Reduction and Access Act will provide. It is a much-needed step in the right direction and will go a long way toward helping HBCUs continue to provide a quality education to our nation’s youth.”
“As a graduate of the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, I and my brothers, sisters, nephews, cousins and friends know firsthand the opportunities provided by HBCUs, especially to low-income African American students,” said U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-IL), the Co-Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Education Taskforce. “Chairman George Miller and the Committee on Education and Labor are to be commended for this outstanding bill.”
“This historic bill will:
Expand access to college and provides1 unprecedented financial support for working class families, the disabled and historically black colleges and universities;
Strengthen counseling services that focus on helping low-income and minority students remain in school and graduate;
Increase college aid and support for veterans and military families, and
Support the renovation of campuses in need of improvement,”
“Today we have made an invaluable investment in our future. This bill will help our children and grand children excel in the world community. Our universities and colleges have produced some of the brightest minds and pragmatic leaders. The CBC will continue to work with them and fight for them, ” stated Chairwoman Kilpatrick.
“HBCUs have played and continue to play an integral role in furthering the education of Black students in America,” said U.S. Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA), the Co-Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Education Taskforce. “Unfortunately, these institutions face increasing challenges and have limited resources. I am very pleased with the historical investment to HBCUs that the College Cost Reduction and Access Act will provide. It is a much-needed step in the right direction and will go a long way toward helping HBCUs continue to provide a quality education to our nation’s youth.”
“As a graduate of the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, I and my brothers, sisters, nephews, cousins and friends know firsthand the opportunities provided by HBCUs, especially to low-income African American students,” said U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-IL), the Co-Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Education Taskforce. “Chairman George Miller and the Committee on Education and Labor are to be commended for this outstanding bill.”
U.S. Infant Mortality Rate Decline Stalls, Racial Disparities Remain, CDC Data Indicate
The nearly 10-year decline in U.S. infant mortality rates has stalled and disparities between black and white infant mortality persist, according to CDC data, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the data, black infants are 2.4 times more likely to die before age one than white infants.
In 2005, 13.26 black infants died per 1,000 live births, which is similar to the rate in some developing nations, the Journal reports. Among white infants, the mortality rate increased slightly to 5.73 deaths per 1,000 live births, up from 5.66 deaths in 2004, according to the data. Overall, the U.S. infant mortality rate increased from 6.78 deaths per 1,000 births in 2004 to 6.86 deaths per 1,000 births in 2005. According to the Journal, infant mortality rates had “steady declines” in the 1990s and early 2000s, particularly among white infants.
CDC officials say the higher rates in large part can be attributed to low birthweights, shorter gestation periods and premature births. Experts say that it is difficult to identify a link between race and higher infant mortality but noted that higher rates of poverty, limited access to health care and dietary differences are possible contributors (Abkowitz, Wall Street Journal, 7/30).
Kaiser Network
In 2005, 13.26 black infants died per 1,000 live births, which is similar to the rate in some developing nations, the Journal reports. Among white infants, the mortality rate increased slightly to 5.73 deaths per 1,000 live births, up from 5.66 deaths in 2004, according to the data. Overall, the U.S. infant mortality rate increased from 6.78 deaths per 1,000 births in 2004 to 6.86 deaths per 1,000 births in 2005. According to the Journal, infant mortality rates had “steady declines” in the 1990s and early 2000s, particularly among white infants.
CDC officials say the higher rates in large part can be attributed to low birthweights, shorter gestation periods and premature births. Experts say that it is difficult to identify a link between race and higher infant mortality but noted that higher rates of poverty, limited access to health care and dietary differences are possible contributors (Abkowitz, Wall Street Journal, 7/30).
Kaiser Network
Support grows for national parks named after Harriet Tubman
There is more support for two national parks for Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman.
Four senators from Maryland and New York have sponsored bills setting aside more than $18 million for national parks in Tubman’s birth state of Maryland and in Auburn, N.Y., where Tubman spent most of her life.
The Maryland tract would include a former Eastern Shore plantation where Tubman escaped slavery in 1849. In New York, the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park would include Tubman’s home, church and grave.
Associated Press
Four senators from Maryland and New York have sponsored bills setting aside more than $18 million for national parks in Tubman’s birth state of Maryland and in Auburn, N.Y., where Tubman spent most of her life.
The Maryland tract would include a former Eastern Shore plantation where Tubman escaped slavery in 1849. In New York, the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park would include Tubman’s home, church and grave.
Associated Press
The Drop Out Rate for Black Students in California: A Crisis
Hardy Brown, Inglewood Today
Last week the Department of Education released their new definition of a “Drop Out” and the tracking system that will have cost us taxpayers over $33 million dollars when complete. The new system requires each student to be assigned a special number that follows them throughout their school life. This is necessary in order to know when a student is not showing up in any of our schools.? However, that’s not what really got my attention.
Instead, I was struck by the emphasis the report placed on the statewide average of 24.2% of our students dropping out of school.? Believe me, it is bad to hear that 3 out of every 10 students will not complete high school, especially in our society today. But then I looked much closer and saw that African American students are? dropping out at a 41.6% rate as compared to 15.2% of White students throughout the state of California. We more than double their drop out rate and nobody knows why the kids are leaving.
Last week the Department of Education released their new definition of a “Drop Out” and the tracking system that will have cost us taxpayers over $33 million dollars when complete. The new system requires each student to be assigned a special number that follows them throughout their school life. This is necessary in order to know when a student is not showing up in any of our schools.? However, that’s not what really got my attention.
Instead, I was struck by the emphasis the report placed on the statewide average of 24.2% of our students dropping out of school.? Believe me, it is bad to hear that 3 out of every 10 students will not complete high school, especially in our society today. But then I looked much closer and saw that African American students are? dropping out at a 41.6% rate as compared to 15.2% of White students throughout the state of California. We more than double their drop out rate and nobody knows why the kids are leaving.
Ghana to Benefit from Africa's Largest Technology Park
The nonprofit group Life for Africa will establish the continent's largest technology park in Ghana.
Stakeholders in the technology industry from around the world met at a conference in Accra, "Africa NOW: Building Technology for the Future Generations," from July 14 to 18 to design a plan for the park, which will be situated near the Tema seaport and free zone enclave.
The project, spearheaded by Life for Africa Founder Dr. Kingsley Fletcher, aims to integrate technology into the development process of Ghana and other countries in the West African sub-region.
Life for Africa recognizes the importance of technology as a major contributor to globalization and is ready to contribute to ensure that Ghana and the West African subregion are not left out, said Dr. Sandra Johnson, vice president of Life for Africa and a senior technical staff member at IBM.
The long term objective of the park is to improve the standard of living in Ghana and West Africa as a whole.
Several other African countries, including Kenya, have initiated plans for technology parks in order to encourage the application of technology in business development and industry.
Emily Aggrey, IDG News Service
Stakeholders in the technology industry from around the world met at a conference in Accra, "Africa NOW: Building Technology for the Future Generations," from July 14 to 18 to design a plan for the park, which will be situated near the Tema seaport and free zone enclave.
The project, spearheaded by Life for Africa Founder Dr. Kingsley Fletcher, aims to integrate technology into the development process of Ghana and other countries in the West African sub-region.
Life for Africa recognizes the importance of technology as a major contributor to globalization and is ready to contribute to ensure that Ghana and the West African subregion are not left out, said Dr. Sandra Johnson, vice president of Life for Africa and a senior technical staff member at IBM.
The long term objective of the park is to improve the standard of living in Ghana and West Africa as a whole.
Several other African countries, including Kenya, have initiated plans for technology parks in order to encourage the application of technology in business development and industry.
Emily Aggrey, IDG News Service
Clear Channel to Air Radiothon for King Memorial
The group working to build a Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington is planning a radio fundraising drive on Clear Channel Radio stations across the country.
The monthlong campaign on more than 25 radio stations will begin in August and will feature celebrities including Aretha Franklin and Samuel L. Jackson talking about the significance of the memorial. It coincides with the 45th anniversary of King's March on Washington and his "I Have a Dream" speech.
The effort announced Thursday will culminate in a radiothon on Aug. 28 to help complete fundraising for the memorial.
The King Memorial foundation already has raised $94.8 million of the initial $100 million goal.
The radio campaign is set to air in Baltimore, Chicago, New York, New Orleans and other cities.
news8.net
The monthlong campaign on more than 25 radio stations will begin in August and will feature celebrities including Aretha Franklin and Samuel L. Jackson talking about the significance of the memorial. It coincides with the 45th anniversary of King's March on Washington and his "I Have a Dream" speech.
The effort announced Thursday will culminate in a radiothon on Aug. 28 to help complete fundraising for the memorial.
The King Memorial foundation already has raised $94.8 million of the initial $100 million goal.
The radio campaign is set to air in Baltimore, Chicago, New York, New Orleans and other cities.
news8.net
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Judge Removed from Cases Against 'Jena Six' Teens
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The judge overseeing the criminal cases for the remaining Jena Six defendants was removed against his will Friday for making questionable remarks about the teenagers.
Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr. had acknowledged calling the teens "trouble makers" and "a violent bunch" but insisted he could be impartial. Defense attorneys disagreed and asked that he be removed.
Judge Thomas M. Yeager, who was appointed by the state Supreme Court to decide whether Mauffray should be taken off the case, found there was an appearance of impropriety.
"The right to a fair and impartial judge is of particular importance in the present cases," Yeager wrote.
Six black teens were arrested and initially charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with a December 4, 2006, attack on fellow Jena High School student Justin Barker, who is white. The charges were later reduced.
Jesse Ray Beard, Robert Bailey Jr., Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis and Theo Shaw now face aggravated second-degree battery charges. Beard is charged as a juvenile.
Mychal Bell is the only member of the group that has been tried. He was originally charged as an adult with attempted murder. The charge was reduced before a jury convicted him last June of aggravated second-degree battery.
In September, an appeals court overturned the verdict and ordered Bell tried as a juvenile. He pleaded guilty to a juvenile charge of second-degree battery. He now lives in Monroe, La., with a foster family and is attending school.
Bell's attorney Louis Scott said he would also ask to have Mauffray removed from Bell's case. Although Bell's plea will remain unchanged, Scott said he did not want Mauffray to oversee the teen's probation.
The case aggravated racial tensions in the tiny, central Louisiana town, and led to a massive civil rights demonstration last September.
Mauffray was out of town, court officials said, and would not comment on the ruling.
District Attorney Reed Walters said he may appeal the decision.
"Whatever ultimately happens concerning the judge, this does not mean these cases go away," he said. "It will just take longer to get them to trial. However, I may seek to have the decision overturned."
An attorney for Beard said he hoped it the Louisiana Supreme Court would quickly appoint a new judge to hear the remaining cases.
"Everyone is entitled to a fair judge, not the judge they want," attorney David Utter said. "It mystifies me why the district attorney would fight this."
By Mary Forster for AP
Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr. had acknowledged calling the teens "trouble makers" and "a violent bunch" but insisted he could be impartial. Defense attorneys disagreed and asked that he be removed.
Judge Thomas M. Yeager, who was appointed by the state Supreme Court to decide whether Mauffray should be taken off the case, found there was an appearance of impropriety.
"The right to a fair and impartial judge is of particular importance in the present cases," Yeager wrote.
Six black teens were arrested and initially charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with a December 4, 2006, attack on fellow Jena High School student Justin Barker, who is white. The charges were later reduced.
Jesse Ray Beard, Robert Bailey Jr., Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis and Theo Shaw now face aggravated second-degree battery charges. Beard is charged as a juvenile.
Mychal Bell is the only member of the group that has been tried. He was originally charged as an adult with attempted murder. The charge was reduced before a jury convicted him last June of aggravated second-degree battery.
In September, an appeals court overturned the verdict and ordered Bell tried as a juvenile. He pleaded guilty to a juvenile charge of second-degree battery. He now lives in Monroe, La., with a foster family and is attending school.
Bell's attorney Louis Scott said he would also ask to have Mauffray removed from Bell's case. Although Bell's plea will remain unchanged, Scott said he did not want Mauffray to oversee the teen's probation.
The case aggravated racial tensions in the tiny, central Louisiana town, and led to a massive civil rights demonstration last September.
Mauffray was out of town, court officials said, and would not comment on the ruling.
District Attorney Reed Walters said he may appeal the decision.
"Whatever ultimately happens concerning the judge, this does not mean these cases go away," he said. "It will just take longer to get them to trial. However, I may seek to have the decision overturned."
An attorney for Beard said he hoped it the Louisiana Supreme Court would quickly appoint a new judge to hear the remaining cases.
"Everyone is entitled to a fair judge, not the judge they want," attorney David Utter said. "It mystifies me why the district attorney would fight this."
By Mary Forster for AP
AT&T Loses Lawsuit Filed by Black Employee
AT&T, named one of the 40 "best diversified" companies by Black Enterprise magazine, has been ordered to pay $411,339 to a Fort Worth woman who was one of three African-American employees to file suit accusing the company of racial discrimination at its Arlington call center.
LaKecious Edwards received the award from a Dallas jury this week, her lawyer said Friday.
Another of the trio, manager Vincent Hall, 49, of DeSoto, settled for an undisclosed amount in February and retired after 26 years with the company, AT&T confirmed. Eighteen years ago, Hall co-founded Dallas’ KwanzaaFest, whose major corporate sponsors include the telecommunications giant.
The third case, filed by Sonia Hackley of North Richland Hills, is awaiting trial.
Dallas attorney Stephen Drinnon said six other mi- nority employees with simi- lar complaints could not file lawsuits because the statute of limitations ran out while they waited for responses from AT&T’s legal department to internally lodged grievances.
Edwards’ case
On Monday, a jury sided with the 32-year-old Edwards, who filed internal grievances as well as taking her case to state court. She complained that three white co-workers, including two under disciplinary review, were promoted to first-line management positions for which she had applied despite her superior sales performance record and greater seniority, Drinnon said.
AT&T denies any wrongdoing and says it will appeal.
"We are confident that we have done nothing wrong, and we are exploring our options regarding a possible appeal," said a company statement released through the public-relations firm Fleischman-Hillard. "AT&T has an excellent track record when it comes to the company’s fair treatment of minority employees. For AT&T, diversity and inclusion will always be top priorities."
Edwards was a shop steward for the Communications Workers of America union. The harassment and discrimination against her were not in retaliation for her labor activism because she would have had to leave the union upon promotion to management, Drinnon said.
Promotions denied
One manager said in a deposition that Edwards was not promoted because she spoke so fast that men couldn’t understand her and because she was too emotional. Edwards had cried after approaching the manager about a co-worker who had been disciplined.
In another instance, the manager told people considering candidates for a submanagement position that Edwards was not interested in the job when in fact she was, an AT&T diversity officer testified.
The higher-paying position was given to a white co-worker with less seniority, the suit alleged. After Edwards complained, she was given the job but was told soon afterward that it was being dissolved. Three days after she moved into a lower position, the job was filled by the same white worker.
Edwards was promoted to manager-coach several months after the manager was voluntarily transferred to Austin last year, and gave up her union position.
"I just take it day by day and I stay prayed up," Edwards said, when asked how she is now treated on the job.
Hall sued after being relieved of responsibilities when he complained that a black worker was discriminated against. He is looking for work, Drinnon said.
AT&T’s response
AT&T strenuously denied being anything other than an exemplary employer with a proven track record for fair and equal treatment of minority employees.
"And we will continue to place a great emphasis on diversity and inclusion," its statement said.
It noted that 28 percent of AT&T managers are "people of color," compared with 12 percent in management nationwide. Moreover, women compose 42 percent of its managers, above the average of most Fortune 500 companies, the company said.
By BARRY SHLACHTER for star-ledger
LaKecious Edwards received the award from a Dallas jury this week, her lawyer said Friday.
Another of the trio, manager Vincent Hall, 49, of DeSoto, settled for an undisclosed amount in February and retired after 26 years with the company, AT&T confirmed. Eighteen years ago, Hall co-founded Dallas’ KwanzaaFest, whose major corporate sponsors include the telecommunications giant.
The third case, filed by Sonia Hackley of North Richland Hills, is awaiting trial.
Dallas attorney Stephen Drinnon said six other mi- nority employees with simi- lar complaints could not file lawsuits because the statute of limitations ran out while they waited for responses from AT&T’s legal department to internally lodged grievances.
Edwards’ case
On Monday, a jury sided with the 32-year-old Edwards, who filed internal grievances as well as taking her case to state court. She complained that three white co-workers, including two under disciplinary review, were promoted to first-line management positions for which she had applied despite her superior sales performance record and greater seniority, Drinnon said.
AT&T denies any wrongdoing and says it will appeal.
"We are confident that we have done nothing wrong, and we are exploring our options regarding a possible appeal," said a company statement released through the public-relations firm Fleischman-Hillard. "AT&T has an excellent track record when it comes to the company’s fair treatment of minority employees. For AT&T, diversity and inclusion will always be top priorities."
Edwards was a shop steward for the Communications Workers of America union. The harassment and discrimination against her were not in retaliation for her labor activism because she would have had to leave the union upon promotion to management, Drinnon said.
Promotions denied
One manager said in a deposition that Edwards was not promoted because she spoke so fast that men couldn’t understand her and because she was too emotional. Edwards had cried after approaching the manager about a co-worker who had been disciplined.
In another instance, the manager told people considering candidates for a submanagement position that Edwards was not interested in the job when in fact she was, an AT&T diversity officer testified.
The higher-paying position was given to a white co-worker with less seniority, the suit alleged. After Edwards complained, she was given the job but was told soon afterward that it was being dissolved. Three days after she moved into a lower position, the job was filled by the same white worker.
Edwards was promoted to manager-coach several months after the manager was voluntarily transferred to Austin last year, and gave up her union position.
"I just take it day by day and I stay prayed up," Edwards said, when asked how she is now treated on the job.
Hall sued after being relieved of responsibilities when he complained that a black worker was discriminated against. He is looking for work, Drinnon said.
AT&T’s response
AT&T strenuously denied being anything other than an exemplary employer with a proven track record for fair and equal treatment of minority employees.
"And we will continue to place a great emphasis on diversity and inclusion," its statement said.
It noted that 28 percent of AT&T managers are "people of color," compared with 12 percent in management nationwide. Moreover, women compose 42 percent of its managers, above the average of most Fortune 500 companies, the company said.
By BARRY SHLACHTER for star-ledger
Obsolete Coins Cause Chaos at Zimbabwe Tills
HARARE, Zimbabwe - Zimbabweans dug out coins squirreled away years ago in jars and cupboards and headed for the shops, where lines built up as overburdened tellers more accustomed to counting mounds of hyper-inflated dollar notes instead were juggling silver.
The central bank, overwhelmed by stratospheric inflation, this week cut 10 zeros from the currency and reintroduced coins made obsolete in 2002 when they became worthless.
A $1 coin now is worth 10 billion of the old dollars.
On Friday, about 20 $1-coins — or 200 billion Zimbabwe dollars — could buy a loaf of scarce bread if it could be found in a downtown supermarket. That's about $5 at the official rate and $2 at the black market rate that better reflects the value of the currency.
"It has been a chaotic day," said Farayi Chikomba, a teller filling plastic banking bags with coins at a small supermarket at closing time. "Customers have been digging out their old coins."
Lines built up as staff counted the coins.
"It's a bonus for anyone like me who didn't know what to do with coins and didn't throw them away," said businessman Frank Takavara, who carried a cookie jar full that bought him a small sachet of powdered milk.
Chikomba said he received a few new $10 and $20 notes issued by banks Friday. But most purchasers still used coins, old notes or checks. The old currency remains effective until December, being used alongside new bills in the "revalued" currency rate introduced Friday.
The biggest new bill is $500, equivalent to 5 trillion in the old denominations. Two weeks ago, the bank had introduced a $100 billion-dollar note.
Bank executives said many branches still were waiting for deliveries of new currency from the central bank late Friday, the first day of issue.
In setting prices on its menu, a downtown cafe mistakenly slashed nine zeros from its prices instead of the required 10. Until December, prices must be quoted in both new dollars and old dollars, according to a central bank directive.
"Everyone is totally confused. Maybe things will settle down in a few days. It's farcical at the moment," said the cafe manager, who asked not to be identified for fear of repercussions.
Embattled President Robert Mugabe blamed profiteers and Western sanctions for the economic chaos in the southern African nation and this week warned that if businesses tried to cash in on the mess, he would impose a state of emergency.
There were fears he could use emergency laws to punish rivals should power-sharing talks with the opposition not resolve in his favor.
Both Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai say they won elections this year. Talks being held in a secret location in South Africa under an agreed media blackout were due to resume Sunday. Mugabe has ruled since a guerrilla war forced an end to white minority rule in 1980, in recent years even overcoming opposition within his own party.
Zimbabwe's woes began when Mugabe nearly 10 years ago sent supporters to violently invade white-owned commercial farms that drove the economy, saying he was reclaiming the land for poor black peasants.
Instead, he gave the farms to his Cabinet minister, generals and other cronies. Most were left untended and today Zimbabwe, which once exported food, suffers chronic shortages of everything from food and medication to fuel and electricity.
The lines to which Zimbabweans have become accustomed also grew Friday at banks, where officials said a government notice allows checks to be written in both new and old denominations.
Central bank governor Gideon Gono said he acted this week because inflation was hampering the country's computer systems. Computers, electronic calculators and automated teller machines could not handle basic transactions in billions and trillions of dollars.
Inflation, the highest in the world, is officially running at 2.2 million percent in Zimbabwe but independent economists say it is closer to 12.5 million percent.
Analysts say the slashing of the 10 zeros and the issue of new lower denomination notes failed to address the root causes of inflation, and in real terms zeros will soon return unless inflation is slowed.
By ANGUS SHAW, Associated Press Writer
The central bank, overwhelmed by stratospheric inflation, this week cut 10 zeros from the currency and reintroduced coins made obsolete in 2002 when they became worthless.
A $1 coin now is worth 10 billion of the old dollars.
On Friday, about 20 $1-coins — or 200 billion Zimbabwe dollars — could buy a loaf of scarce bread if it could be found in a downtown supermarket. That's about $5 at the official rate and $2 at the black market rate that better reflects the value of the currency.
"It has been a chaotic day," said Farayi Chikomba, a teller filling plastic banking bags with coins at a small supermarket at closing time. "Customers have been digging out their old coins."
Lines built up as staff counted the coins.
"It's a bonus for anyone like me who didn't know what to do with coins and didn't throw them away," said businessman Frank Takavara, who carried a cookie jar full that bought him a small sachet of powdered milk.
Chikomba said he received a few new $10 and $20 notes issued by banks Friday. But most purchasers still used coins, old notes or checks. The old currency remains effective until December, being used alongside new bills in the "revalued" currency rate introduced Friday.
The biggest new bill is $500, equivalent to 5 trillion in the old denominations. Two weeks ago, the bank had introduced a $100 billion-dollar note.
Bank executives said many branches still were waiting for deliveries of new currency from the central bank late Friday, the first day of issue.
In setting prices on its menu, a downtown cafe mistakenly slashed nine zeros from its prices instead of the required 10. Until December, prices must be quoted in both new dollars and old dollars, according to a central bank directive.
"Everyone is totally confused. Maybe things will settle down in a few days. It's farcical at the moment," said the cafe manager, who asked not to be identified for fear of repercussions.
Embattled President Robert Mugabe blamed profiteers and Western sanctions for the economic chaos in the southern African nation and this week warned that if businesses tried to cash in on the mess, he would impose a state of emergency.
There were fears he could use emergency laws to punish rivals should power-sharing talks with the opposition not resolve in his favor.
Both Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai say they won elections this year. Talks being held in a secret location in South Africa under an agreed media blackout were due to resume Sunday. Mugabe has ruled since a guerrilla war forced an end to white minority rule in 1980, in recent years even overcoming opposition within his own party.
Zimbabwe's woes began when Mugabe nearly 10 years ago sent supporters to violently invade white-owned commercial farms that drove the economy, saying he was reclaiming the land for poor black peasants.
Instead, he gave the farms to his Cabinet minister, generals and other cronies. Most were left untended and today Zimbabwe, which once exported food, suffers chronic shortages of everything from food and medication to fuel and electricity.
The lines to which Zimbabweans have become accustomed also grew Friday at banks, where officials said a government notice allows checks to be written in both new and old denominations.
Central bank governor Gideon Gono said he acted this week because inflation was hampering the country's computer systems. Computers, electronic calculators and automated teller machines could not handle basic transactions in billions and trillions of dollars.
Inflation, the highest in the world, is officially running at 2.2 million percent in Zimbabwe but independent economists say it is closer to 12.5 million percent.
Analysts say the slashing of the 10 zeros and the issue of new lower denomination notes failed to address the root causes of inflation, and in real terms zeros will soon return unless inflation is slowed.
By ANGUS SHAW, Associated Press Writer
Friday, August 1, 2008
Black Voter Registration Climbing in Alabama
Black voter registration is climbing in Alabama, a trend political science experts attribute to excitement surrounding Barack Obama's presidential bid.
Since the last presidential election, the percentage of active registered voters who are black has risen from 24 percent to 25 percent. That is nearing the proportion of Alabama's black population, slightly more than 26 percent according to the U.S. Census.
As of June 30, 641,815 black voters had active registration. That number is up by about 14,500 from 2004 and expected to increase even more by November, according to secretary of state data.
"I think you have to assume that Barack Obama is playing a very important role here," said David Lanoue, chairman of the political science department at the University of Alabama. "Not only because he is the first African-American nominee of a major party. His campaign also worked so hard to organize Alabama during the primary season, and that is paying off with registration now."
Voter registration in general has been climbing throughout the year, but it's climbing quicker among blacks. White active registration has not met its 2004 level, falling short by about 31,000 voters.
Voters are moved to the inactive rolls if they have not voted in the past four years or have no confirmed address. They still have voting rights but must update their information.
Alabama's total active voter registration climbed from 2.55 million at the end of January to 2.6 million at the end of in June.
"You are getting to a point where African-American voters will be, at the very least, proportionally represented," Lanoue said. "I have heard the biggest hurdle is to get people to register. If you get them to register, there is a good chance you will get them to vote."
Lanoue does not believe Obama will win Alabama in November, but an increase in black voters could help the Democratic Party in other races.
"If you have a strong increase in African-American voters and that persists after the 2008 election, that will begin to make Democratic candidates more competitive at the state level," Lanoue said. "Senate races, gubernatorial, particularly the looming 2010 gubernatorial race. (U.S. Rep.) Artur Davis will be very interested to see what happens in the 2008 race. If you are an Alabama Democrat, one of your fondest wishes is significant African-American turnout."
Davis, a Democrat from Birmingham, is considering a gubernatorial run in 2010.
Nationally, the number of young voters has been climbing as well as the number of minority voters, with both trends attributed to Obama. Although Alabama election data does not break down recent registration by age, a number of larger registration drives have taken place on college campuses and other places young people gather.
Tremele Perry, a recent graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has been helping young people and minorities register to vote on the campuses of UAB and Miles College. He was part of an effort that registered 500 young people in two weeks, he said
With other registration drives planned in the coming months, he predicts voter registration of minorities and young people will continue to climb.
"It's not just about now, it is about the future," Perry said. "Young people and African-Americans tend to think our vote does not count so we tend not to vote. We are letting people know their vote does count. We are going to be doing these registration drives every year."
The Greater Birmingham Ministries, Catalyst Birmingham and Empower Alabama will hold a voter registration kickoff party at Workplay Theater tonight starting at 8 p.m. Other registration drives are planned for college campuses and downtown Birmingham in the coming weeks.
On the campus of historically black Tuskegee University, Erick Harris, president of the Student Government Association, is not surprised to hear black voter registration is climbing in Alabama. During the primary season, he saw more students participate than ever before.
"I have never seen students register to vote like that, in mass number," he said. "We have a precinct on campus and there would just be lines all around the corner of students waiting to vote on Super Tuesday. Senator Obama is someone who inspired that."
Harris, who will participate in more voter registration drives when students return to campus, predicts more of the same for coming months.
"There is going to be a mass increase of voters, particularly African-Americans and college students," he said. "I believe also that high school students who have just graduated, they will register to vote for the first time just to vote for Senator Obama."
LISA OSBURN for Birmingham News
Since the last presidential election, the percentage of active registered voters who are black has risen from 24 percent to 25 percent. That is nearing the proportion of Alabama's black population, slightly more than 26 percent according to the U.S. Census.
As of June 30, 641,815 black voters had active registration. That number is up by about 14,500 from 2004 and expected to increase even more by November, according to secretary of state data.
"I think you have to assume that Barack Obama is playing a very important role here," said David Lanoue, chairman of the political science department at the University of Alabama. "Not only because he is the first African-American nominee of a major party. His campaign also worked so hard to organize Alabama during the primary season, and that is paying off with registration now."
Voter registration in general has been climbing throughout the year, but it's climbing quicker among blacks. White active registration has not met its 2004 level, falling short by about 31,000 voters.
Voters are moved to the inactive rolls if they have not voted in the past four years or have no confirmed address. They still have voting rights but must update their information.
Alabama's total active voter registration climbed from 2.55 million at the end of January to 2.6 million at the end of in June.
"You are getting to a point where African-American voters will be, at the very least, proportionally represented," Lanoue said. "I have heard the biggest hurdle is to get people to register. If you get them to register, there is a good chance you will get them to vote."
Lanoue does not believe Obama will win Alabama in November, but an increase in black voters could help the Democratic Party in other races.
"If you have a strong increase in African-American voters and that persists after the 2008 election, that will begin to make Democratic candidates more competitive at the state level," Lanoue said. "Senate races, gubernatorial, particularly the looming 2010 gubernatorial race. (U.S. Rep.) Artur Davis will be very interested to see what happens in the 2008 race. If you are an Alabama Democrat, one of your fondest wishes is significant African-American turnout."
Davis, a Democrat from Birmingham, is considering a gubernatorial run in 2010.
Nationally, the number of young voters has been climbing as well as the number of minority voters, with both trends attributed to Obama. Although Alabama election data does not break down recent registration by age, a number of larger registration drives have taken place on college campuses and other places young people gather.
Tremele Perry, a recent graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has been helping young people and minorities register to vote on the campuses of UAB and Miles College. He was part of an effort that registered 500 young people in two weeks, he said
With other registration drives planned in the coming months, he predicts voter registration of minorities and young people will continue to climb.
"It's not just about now, it is about the future," Perry said. "Young people and African-Americans tend to think our vote does not count so we tend not to vote. We are letting people know their vote does count. We are going to be doing these registration drives every year."
The Greater Birmingham Ministries, Catalyst Birmingham and Empower Alabama will hold a voter registration kickoff party at Workplay Theater tonight starting at 8 p.m. Other registration drives are planned for college campuses and downtown Birmingham in the coming weeks.
On the campus of historically black Tuskegee University, Erick Harris, president of the Student Government Association, is not surprised to hear black voter registration is climbing in Alabama. During the primary season, he saw more students participate than ever before.
"I have never seen students register to vote like that, in mass number," he said. "We have a precinct on campus and there would just be lines all around the corner of students waiting to vote on Super Tuesday. Senator Obama is someone who inspired that."
Harris, who will participate in more voter registration drives when students return to campus, predicts more of the same for coming months.
"There is going to be a mass increase of voters, particularly African-Americans and college students," he said. "I believe also that high school students who have just graduated, they will register to vote for the first time just to vote for Senator Obama."
LISA OSBURN for Birmingham News
Rappers' Shout-Outs Make Obama Skip a Beat
In the arsenal of the culture wars, rap music remains somewhat radioactive -- and Barack Obama now finds himself exposed.
Avowed Obama supporter Ludacris on Wednesday released a freewheeling song called "Politics" in which he repeatedly praised the candidate -- as well as himself, for having found a home on the senator's iPod. But the Atlanta rapper also used a derogatory term to describe Hillary Clinton; asserted that John McCain should be in a wheelchair, not the White House; and declared that President Bush "is mentally handicapped."
Gee, thanks for the endorsement, Luda!
Some of the Democrat's most vocal (literally) supporters are sticking him with a hip-hop dilemma: how to respond to an art form that has a long history as a cultural wedge issue but whose fans and wildly unpredictable practitioners are a part of his base?
Rappers tend to love him -- or at least the basic idea of a black man in the White House. Pro-Obama rap songs and references are proliferating at a staggering clip, and online video endorsements are arriving just as quickly, from "Yes We Can" splicer Will.I.Am and hip-hop impresario Sean "Diddy" Combs on down.
But Obama can't love them back -- at least not unconditionally, given the music's continuing lightning-rod status. This is a man, after all, who has worked tirelessly to make inroads among older white voters, many of whom have a deep aversion to hip-hop.
Whenever Obama is asked about rap music in interviews, he always tempers his praise.
"I love the art of hip-hop; I don't always love the message of hip-hop," he told BET earlier this year. "There are times where even . . . with the artists I love, you know, there's a message that is not only sometimes degrading to women; not only uses the n-word a little too frequently; but -- also something I'm really concerned about -- it's always talking about material things."
Likewise, the Obama campaign immediately denounced "Politics" and suggested that "while Ludacris is a talented individual, he should be ashamed of these lyrics."
So very Sister Souljah, with echoes of the 1992 presidential campaign, when Bill Clinton put that militant rapper on blast for her controversial remarks about racial violence. Clinton's public chiding was widely viewed as a successful play for centrist hearts and votes.
And yet, so very different. For Obama is the first viable presidential candidate with an acknowledged affinity for hip-hop culture, having spoken fondly of Kanye West, Jay-Z and, yes, Ludacris. He borrowed Jay-Z's dirt-off-my-shoulder gesture to brush off his "haters" during a much-analyzed April speech that was loaded with the sort of swagger that's typical of hip-hop.
Obama's candidacy is like catnip to rappers. Traditionally ambivalent about electoral politics, this time around they are drawn to the senator's rhetoric, the historic nature of his bid, or maybe just the rhyming possibilities of his name, as with a remix of Ice Cube's "Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It," on which Scarface raps: "I hope that Barack could pull the troops from Iraq."
On "Black Republicans," a song from Lil Wayne's mix tape "Da Drought 3," guest Juelz Santana raps: "I'm feelin' like a black Republican/Naw, I can't call it/More like a black Democrat runnin' 'em out of office/Young Barack Obama, I'm all for it."
Three 6 Mafia's "Last 2 Walk" includes the couplet, "There's a whole lotta room in the front of the Range/Like Barack Obama said, yeah it's time for a change." (Never mind that the stanza is about sex.)
Common, a rapper from Obama's home base of Chicago, has invoked the senator's name repeatedly, as in "The People," in which he declares: "My raps ignite the people like Obama." On a remix of the Jadakiss song "Why?," Common wonders: "Why is Bush acting like he trying to get Osama?/Why don't we impeach him and elect Obama?"
In several songs, Obama's election is even treated as a fait accompli.
In "Memories/Letter to Obama," Joell Ortiz raps about a litany of societal problems, then says: "It's time for a change, and that change is Obama/Dear future president, I hope you heard this letter and do some things to make sure the next one I'm writing is better." In the eloquent "Black President," the Brooklyn rapper and Bill O'Reilly foil Nas declares: "America surprised us/And let a black man guide us."
And in a recent freestyle, Jay-Z -- who is always using analogies to cast himself as hip-hop's microphone commander in chief -- concluded: "I'm signing off as the hood's Barack."
Other artists, from Talib Kweli and Lupe Fiasco to Ghostface Killah and Kidz in the Hall, have mentioned Obama in song, possibly making him the third most-popular topic in rap behind drugs and sex, not necessarily in that order. (McCain, on the other hand, barely rates.)
Notably, it's not just black rappers jumping onto the bandwagon with the 24-inch rims. Obama has a rap-style rainbow coalition forming in his corner. A white artist by the name of 6th Sense recently released "Ignite the People (Like Obama)," on which he sampled Common while asking, rhetorically: "You ever think you'd see a white rapper endorse a black president?"
And last summer, the Korean American rapper Jin posted the praise-filled and relatively innocuous "Open Letter 2 Obama" on MySpace. The official Obama response? Hip-hop hooray: The campaign Web site gave away a ring-tone version of the track -- a punchy snippet in which Jin declared "Go! Go! Go! O-bama! O-bama!" -- and even used the song to introduce Obama at a speech.
By J. Freedom du Lac
Washington Post Staff Writer
Avowed Obama supporter Ludacris on Wednesday released a freewheeling song called "Politics" in which he repeatedly praised the candidate -- as well as himself, for having found a home on the senator's iPod. But the Atlanta rapper also used a derogatory term to describe Hillary Clinton; asserted that John McCain should be in a wheelchair, not the White House; and declared that President Bush "is mentally handicapped."
Gee, thanks for the endorsement, Luda!
Some of the Democrat's most vocal (literally) supporters are sticking him with a hip-hop dilemma: how to respond to an art form that has a long history as a cultural wedge issue but whose fans and wildly unpredictable practitioners are a part of his base?
Rappers tend to love him -- or at least the basic idea of a black man in the White House. Pro-Obama rap songs and references are proliferating at a staggering clip, and online video endorsements are arriving just as quickly, from "Yes We Can" splicer Will.I.Am and hip-hop impresario Sean "Diddy" Combs on down.
But Obama can't love them back -- at least not unconditionally, given the music's continuing lightning-rod status. This is a man, after all, who has worked tirelessly to make inroads among older white voters, many of whom have a deep aversion to hip-hop.
Whenever Obama is asked about rap music in interviews, he always tempers his praise.
"I love the art of hip-hop; I don't always love the message of hip-hop," he told BET earlier this year. "There are times where even . . . with the artists I love, you know, there's a message that is not only sometimes degrading to women; not only uses the n-word a little too frequently; but -- also something I'm really concerned about -- it's always talking about material things."
Likewise, the Obama campaign immediately denounced "Politics" and suggested that "while Ludacris is a talented individual, he should be ashamed of these lyrics."
So very Sister Souljah, with echoes of the 1992 presidential campaign, when Bill Clinton put that militant rapper on blast for her controversial remarks about racial violence. Clinton's public chiding was widely viewed as a successful play for centrist hearts and votes.
And yet, so very different. For Obama is the first viable presidential candidate with an acknowledged affinity for hip-hop culture, having spoken fondly of Kanye West, Jay-Z and, yes, Ludacris. He borrowed Jay-Z's dirt-off-my-shoulder gesture to brush off his "haters" during a much-analyzed April speech that was loaded with the sort of swagger that's typical of hip-hop.
Obama's candidacy is like catnip to rappers. Traditionally ambivalent about electoral politics, this time around they are drawn to the senator's rhetoric, the historic nature of his bid, or maybe just the rhyming possibilities of his name, as with a remix of Ice Cube's "Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It," on which Scarface raps: "I hope that Barack could pull the troops from Iraq."
On "Black Republicans," a song from Lil Wayne's mix tape "Da Drought 3," guest Juelz Santana raps: "I'm feelin' like a black Republican/Naw, I can't call it/More like a black Democrat runnin' 'em out of office/Young Barack Obama, I'm all for it."
Three 6 Mafia's "Last 2 Walk" includes the couplet, "There's a whole lotta room in the front of the Range/Like Barack Obama said, yeah it's time for a change." (Never mind that the stanza is about sex.)
Common, a rapper from Obama's home base of Chicago, has invoked the senator's name repeatedly, as in "The People," in which he declares: "My raps ignite the people like Obama." On a remix of the Jadakiss song "Why?," Common wonders: "Why is Bush acting like he trying to get Osama?/Why don't we impeach him and elect Obama?"
In several songs, Obama's election is even treated as a fait accompli.
In "Memories/Letter to Obama," Joell Ortiz raps about a litany of societal problems, then says: "It's time for a change, and that change is Obama/Dear future president, I hope you heard this letter and do some things to make sure the next one I'm writing is better." In the eloquent "Black President," the Brooklyn rapper and Bill O'Reilly foil Nas declares: "America surprised us/And let a black man guide us."
And in a recent freestyle, Jay-Z -- who is always using analogies to cast himself as hip-hop's microphone commander in chief -- concluded: "I'm signing off as the hood's Barack."
Other artists, from Talib Kweli and Lupe Fiasco to Ghostface Killah and Kidz in the Hall, have mentioned Obama in song, possibly making him the third most-popular topic in rap behind drugs and sex, not necessarily in that order. (McCain, on the other hand, barely rates.)
Notably, it's not just black rappers jumping onto the bandwagon with the 24-inch rims. Obama has a rap-style rainbow coalition forming in his corner. A white artist by the name of 6th Sense recently released "Ignite the People (Like Obama)," on which he sampled Common while asking, rhetorically: "You ever think you'd see a white rapper endorse a black president?"
And last summer, the Korean American rapper Jin posted the praise-filled and relatively innocuous "Open Letter 2 Obama" on MySpace. The official Obama response? Hip-hop hooray: The campaign Web site gave away a ring-tone version of the track -- a punchy snippet in which Jin declared "Go! Go! Go! O-bama! O-bama!" -- and even used the song to introduce Obama at a speech.
By J. Freedom du Lac
Washington Post Staff Writer
UN Vote OKs Darfur Peacekeeping, but US Abstains
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council approved another year of peacekeeping in Sudan's bloodied Darfur region Thursday night, but the U.S. abstained from a vote that reflected sharp divisions over genocide charges against the Sudanese president.
The United States, despite support for the struggling peacekeeping mission, did not vote because of its opposition to any delay in efforts to prosecute Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
The resolution that was approved 14-0 carried language that noted an African Union request to freeze the International Criminal Court's prosecution of al-Bashir.
Though the measure does not stop the prosecution, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Alejandro Wolff said that the language "would send the wrong signal" to al-Bashir and "undermine efforts to bring him and others to justice."
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the international court, filed 10 charges against al-Bashir on July 14 related to violence in Darfur that the U.N. says has claimed 300,000 lives and driven 2.5 million people from their homes.
Those who survive are preyed upon by the government-backed janjaweed Arab militia and regular troops, Moreno-Ocampo said. The court could takes months to decide on his request for an arrest warrant.
The resolution — drafted by Britain — also emphasizes "the need to bring to justice the perpetrators of such crimes and urging the government of Sudan to comply with its obligations in this respect, and reiterating its condemnation of all violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Darfur."
In an effort to stem the violence, a joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force took over duties in Darfur in January from a beleaguered AU force. The joint force has about 7,500 troops and less than 2,000 police, out of a total of 26,000 that have been authorized. The U.N. is seeking to boost the force to nearly 21,000 by year end.
Libya and South Africa, backed by Russia and China, which both have council veto power, took the AU's side in pushing for the council to put on hold for a year efforts to prosecute al-Bashir.
Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya said the prosecutor's moves "will seriously undermine" chances for peace in the region and the uncertainty over how the Sudanese government and other forces might react "will have serious implications for stability in that region, but also ... for the U.N. soldiers on the ground."
The U.S., Britain and France — the other three veto-wielding council members — opposed delaying the prosecutor's work.
Unlike the U.S., however, Britain and France were willing to include in the resolution a paragraph "taking note" of the desire by the AU and some council members to have the council freeze the prosecution, and of their intention to revisit the topic later.
"It's very likely ... that we will discuss this again over the coming months," British Ambassador John Sawers said.
The vote on the Darfur mission was preceded by intensive negotiations over the past several weeks. At one point Thursday, council members huddled in an unusual, big circle around Wolff and Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin as they argued.
The final vote came little more than two hours before the mission's mandate was set to expire at midnight.
The last-ditch American effort to remove the language "took everybody by surprise because the African Union is a partner in the Darfur issue," said Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad.
By JOHN HEILPRIN for AP
The United States, despite support for the struggling peacekeeping mission, did not vote because of its opposition to any delay in efforts to prosecute Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
The resolution that was approved 14-0 carried language that noted an African Union request to freeze the International Criminal Court's prosecution of al-Bashir.
Though the measure does not stop the prosecution, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Alejandro Wolff said that the language "would send the wrong signal" to al-Bashir and "undermine efforts to bring him and others to justice."
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the international court, filed 10 charges against al-Bashir on July 14 related to violence in Darfur that the U.N. says has claimed 300,000 lives and driven 2.5 million people from their homes.
Those who survive are preyed upon by the government-backed janjaweed Arab militia and regular troops, Moreno-Ocampo said. The court could takes months to decide on his request for an arrest warrant.
The resolution — drafted by Britain — also emphasizes "the need to bring to justice the perpetrators of such crimes and urging the government of Sudan to comply with its obligations in this respect, and reiterating its condemnation of all violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Darfur."
In an effort to stem the violence, a joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force took over duties in Darfur in January from a beleaguered AU force. The joint force has about 7,500 troops and less than 2,000 police, out of a total of 26,000 that have been authorized. The U.N. is seeking to boost the force to nearly 21,000 by year end.
Libya and South Africa, backed by Russia and China, which both have council veto power, took the AU's side in pushing for the council to put on hold for a year efforts to prosecute al-Bashir.
Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya said the prosecutor's moves "will seriously undermine" chances for peace in the region and the uncertainty over how the Sudanese government and other forces might react "will have serious implications for stability in that region, but also ... for the U.N. soldiers on the ground."
The U.S., Britain and France — the other three veto-wielding council members — opposed delaying the prosecutor's work.
Unlike the U.S., however, Britain and France were willing to include in the resolution a paragraph "taking note" of the desire by the AU and some council members to have the council freeze the prosecution, and of their intention to revisit the topic later.
"It's very likely ... that we will discuss this again over the coming months," British Ambassador John Sawers said.
The vote on the Darfur mission was preceded by intensive negotiations over the past several weeks. At one point Thursday, council members huddled in an unusual, big circle around Wolff and Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin as they argued.
The final vote came little more than two hours before the mission's mandate was set to expire at midnight.
The last-ditch American effort to remove the language "took everybody by surprise because the African Union is a partner in the Darfur issue," said Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad.
By JOHN HEILPRIN for AP
SCLC Chief Blasts Racism in New Orleans
New Orleans' struggles to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina demonstrate the ongoing need to fight for equal opportunities for all Americans, the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference said as the organization's 50th annual convention wrapped up here this week.
"What we've discovered in New Orleans is that it's one of the most racist communities in this country," Charles Steele Jr., president and chief executive officer of the civil rights group, said in an interview Tuesday.
Rampant racial discrimination, few economic opportunities to escape the service industry and violence create a volatile environment in the city, he said.
Hurricane Katrina, Steele said, further exposed racial tensions in the city.
The SCLC, co-founded in New Orleans by Martin Luther King Jr., ended its 50th annual convention Wednesday after grass-roots community activists, business leaders and scholars from around the world discussed race relations and topics of economic and health disparities facing minorities.
In September 2006, Steele and members of the civil rights organization led a march in New Orleans after repeated delays in offering temporary space and a commitment to rebuild the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School for Science and Technology.
The school, which reopened as a charter school for the 2007-08 school year, was the first to reopen in the Lower 9th Ward. "You build communities around schools," Steele said. "After we had that school (Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School) resurrected then the people began to come back. They had hope."
The civil rights group committed Tuesday to an ongoing relationship with the school and to "adopting" all schools named after King across the country.
During the convention Monday, the civil rights group also announced a national initiative to test 10,000 people for HIV/AIDS in African-American communities across the country.
While African-Americans nationally make up about 13 percent of the population, more than 50 percent of all new HIV/AIDS cases are among African-Americans, according to a report released Tuesday by the Black AIDS Institute.
In Louisiana, African-Americans accounted for 68 percent of the new HIV infections in 2006, while making up only 33 percent of the state's population, said Beth Scalco, director of the HIV/AIDS program for the Louisiana Office of Public Health.
The civil rights group will partner with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Let's Talk Let's Test Foundation, an HIV/AIDS organization based in Chicago, to help lobby for federal money for increased testing and prevention among African-Americans.
By Jennifer Evans for Times'Picayune
"What we've discovered in New Orleans is that it's one of the most racist communities in this country," Charles Steele Jr., president and chief executive officer of the civil rights group, said in an interview Tuesday.
Rampant racial discrimination, few economic opportunities to escape the service industry and violence create a volatile environment in the city, he said.
Hurricane Katrina, Steele said, further exposed racial tensions in the city.
The SCLC, co-founded in New Orleans by Martin Luther King Jr., ended its 50th annual convention Wednesday after grass-roots community activists, business leaders and scholars from around the world discussed race relations and topics of economic and health disparities facing minorities.
In September 2006, Steele and members of the civil rights organization led a march in New Orleans after repeated delays in offering temporary space and a commitment to rebuild the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School for Science and Technology.
The school, which reopened as a charter school for the 2007-08 school year, was the first to reopen in the Lower 9th Ward. "You build communities around schools," Steele said. "After we had that school (Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School) resurrected then the people began to come back. They had hope."
The civil rights group committed Tuesday to an ongoing relationship with the school and to "adopting" all schools named after King across the country.
During the convention Monday, the civil rights group also announced a national initiative to test 10,000 people for HIV/AIDS in African-American communities across the country.
While African-Americans nationally make up about 13 percent of the population, more than 50 percent of all new HIV/AIDS cases are among African-Americans, according to a report released Tuesday by the Black AIDS Institute.
In Louisiana, African-Americans accounted for 68 percent of the new HIV infections in 2006, while making up only 33 percent of the state's population, said Beth Scalco, director of the HIV/AIDS program for the Louisiana Office of Public Health.
The civil rights group will partner with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Let's Talk Let's Test Foundation, an HIV/AIDS organization based in Chicago, to help lobby for federal money for increased testing and prevention among African-Americans.
By Jennifer Evans for Times'Picayune
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
