http://www.nnpa.org/news/lead/blacks-key-to-obama’s-victory-by-freddie-allen/
http://www.nnpa.org/news/lead/supreme-court-to-hear-voting-rights-act-challenge-by-george-e-curry/
DEADLINE LOOMS FOR GOV. PERDUE’S
WILMINGTON TEN PARDON DECISION
By Cash Michaels
editor
Now
that the 2012 presidential and gubernatorial elections are history, supporters
for Gov. Beverly Perdue to grant individual pardons of innocence for the
Wilmington Ten are focused to building more overwhelming public support for the
cause before she leaves office on Dec. 31st.
Churches,
fraternities, sororities, community and civic organizations are being asked to
meaningfully support the cause of justice by sending letters to Gov. Perdue, or
signing the online petition at
https://www.change.org/petitions/nc-governor-bev-perdue-pardon-the-wilmington-ten.
This
week, the Final Call, the national
newspaper of the Nation of Islam, published a story about the Wilmington Ten
pardons effort, as did the Associated Press in many major newspapers across the nation on Oct.
28th. At least one national television network has expressed
interest in looking into the story as well.
Thousands
of signatures in hard copy and online petitions have been collected, but
organizers with the Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence Project - an outreach
effort by the National Newspaper Publishers Association - say that still many
more are needed by December 1st.
The
next two-and-a-half weeks are critical, they say, towards garnering more
petition signatures and letters of support in order to document that there is
widespread sentiment across the state and nation that the false prosecution of
nine African-American males and one white female forty years ago, was wrong,
and the state needs to correct.
Add
to that the most recent and explosive revelation that James “Jay” Stroud, the
state prosecutor who had the Wilmington Ten falsely convicted and sentenced to
282 years in prison collectively for crimes they did not commit, not only
sought to gerrymander the jury of the first June 1972 trial to include “KKK”
and “Uncle Tom” types, but also, documented evidence from his own handwritten
notes show, succeeded in having that first trial aborted because it had a jury
of ten blacks and two whites.
The
second trial, in Sept. 1972, had a Pender County jury of ten whites and two
blacks, in addition to a judge that history shows was more favorable to the
prosecution.
“The prosecutor’s notes are clear and convincing evidence
that race was not just a factor in his selection of the ten whites and
two blacks on the Pender jury that convicted the Wilmington Ten,” veteran civil
rights attorney Al McSurely says. “Race was the only
factor. Forty years later, we know his real motives. I believe when
the governor studies this evidence, she will do the right thing and sign the
pardons.”
"I
can barely contain my outrage at the blatant racism of an officer of the
court,” attorney McSurely added.
UNC - Chapel Hill law Professor
Gene Nichol agreed.
“This intense abuse of governmental
authority, prosecutorial misconduct -- both professional and racial -- casts a
long shadow over the North Carolina system of justice, Prof. Nichol says. “It
also, of course, worked massive and unforgivable constitutional injury on the
lives of ten North Carolinians.”
“The prosecutor made mockery of his high office by knowingly,
intentionally, and purposefully placing perjured testimony at the heart of the
trial. It is also clear now, in ways not demonstrated by documentary evidence
before, that he tainted the trial initiation process and vital jury selection
through patent, overt, and outcome-determinative racism.”
“It is crucial that North Carolina
act to admit and concede such a potent and defining abuse of power,” Prof.
Nichol maintains. “To allow public servants to behave in such a fashion,
without remedy, is literally intolerable.”
Attorneys for the pardons effort
met with Governor Perdue’s staff several weeks ago, presenting their case,
based on the Dec. 1980 US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling which
overturned all ten of the convictions, based on prosecutorial misconduct, and
the fact that not only was exculpatory evidence was hidden by prosecutor, but
three witnesses for the state admitted they were enticed to lie.
Despite all, however, the state of
North Carolina, in the 32 years since, has refused to grant pardons of
innocence to the Wilmington Ten, thus maintaining their false felony
convictions.
In the six months since the pardons
effort campaign publicly kicked off, support for Gov. Perdue to grant pardons
of innocence to the Ten have come from North Carolina congressmen G. K.
Butterfield, David Price and Brad Miller; the NC Legislative Black Caucus and
Rep. Deborah Ross of Raleigh.
The 2012 NC Democratic Party
platform also adopted a plank supporting the Wilmington Ten pardon effort last
summer.
In terms of grassroots support, the
NC NAACP has led the way, followed by a unanimous resolution last May by the
national NAACP Board of Directors, and most recently, the NC chapter of the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
In each case, supporters have said
that Gov. Perdue, given her record of advocacy for the original 2009 NC Racial
Justice Act; her push for reparations for the victims of North Carolina’s
forced sterilization program; and the governor’s veto of the Republican
legislature’s voter ID bill; is well positioned, before she leaves office, to
add to her legacy pardons of innocence for the Wilmington Ten.
And unlike the legislature’s
gutting to the Racial Justice Act, or their refusal to pay reparations to the
eugenics victims, and the certainty that the Republicans will institute voter
ID when they go into session, they can’t touch pardons of innocence for the Wilmington
Ten.
-30-
COLEMAN HOPES FOR FAVORABLE VOTE COUNT
By Cash Michaels
editor
There
are 46,700 provisional ballots that could decide whether North Carolina’s next
Lieutenant Governor is Democrat or Republican.
Those
ballots are expected to be counted by 5 p.m. this afternoon, and certified by
the NC Board of Elections Friday. Depending on what the final count is, a
recount could be requested.
Democrat
Linda Coleman, a former state personnel director and NC House member, is hoping
that the final count not only wins the race outright for her, but also puts it
beyond the recount threshold.
She’s
asked her supporters to help her raise $10,000 by this afternoon so that her
campaign can afford to call for a recount if warranted.
“Thousands of provisional voters in North Carolina need to
bring identification to their local board of elections to make sure their vote
is counted—which is the same time we need at least $10,000 in order to fund our
provisional outreach program,” wrote Randy Johnston, senior advisor to the
Coleman campaign legal team, to supporters this week.
“The
campaign is working around the clock to make sure that every vote is counted
and every citizen’s voice is heard but we need $10,000 by Thursday at 5pm in order to reach out to provisional voters.”
Coleman’s Republican opponent,
businessman and Tea Party activist Dan Forest, has already claimed victory in
the tight race. The unofficial results had Forest with a 50.13 percent win over
Coleman’s 49.87 percent.
11,370
votes separate them out of 4.4 million cast statewide.
When
Coleman refused to concede, especially since there were more outstanding
ballots yet to be counted that could easily decide the race, Forest warned his
supporters that the race could be taken from them.
If Coleman can overcome the vote
deficit between she and Forrest, and be sworn in as the state’s next Lt.
Governor, she would become the most visible Democrat in the state, and be
tasked with influencing Republican Gov. Pat McCrory to build bridges to the
Democratic minority in the state Legislature, and also to be more moderate in
his policymaking.
It
is expected that McCrory, a former Charlotte mayor who says he likes to take a
“team approach” to governing, will be pushed to be on the same page with the NC
General Assembly’s Republican leadership when it comes to issues as voter ID
(which McCrory says he intends to implement), educational reform and cutting
social service programs in order to cut taxes.
Coleman’s
leverage on McCrory, if she becomes Lt. Governor? The apparent large number of
Democrats who voted for the Charlotte Republican over Democrat Lt. Gov. Walton
Dalton. Arguably McCrory wouldn’t have been elected without significant
Democratic Party voter crossover, most observers note. That means governing
without Democrats having a seat at the table would only bring about
divisiveness.
Couple
that with McCrory jockeying for power with State House Speaker Thom Tillis
(R-Mecklenburg) and State Senate Speaker Pro tem Sen. Phil Berger to see whose
agenda comes first, and some observers suggest the first few months of the
McCrory Administration could prove difficult.
Last
week, McCrory introduced his transition team, which included conservative
businessman Art Pope, and Republican former Lt. Gov. Jim Gardner.
The
23-member transition team is headed by attorney Thomas Stith, a black
Republican who once served on the Durham City Council, and worked in Republican
Gov. Jim Martin’s administration.
McCrory
has said he wants to take office directly on January 1, 2013.
-30-
STATE NEWS BRIEFS
NC EDUCATION LOTTERY GROSSED $1.5 BILLION IN FISCAL 2012
[GREENSBORO]
Despite all of the controversy surrounding it, the NC Education Lottery brought
in $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2012, an audit of the lottery books reveals. In
fact, the lottery actually sold over $135 million more lottery tickets than in
fiscal year 2011, the State Auditor’s office says in a new report. The number
of retailers was expanded by 2.7 percent, and over 45 new instant scratch-off
games generated over $960 million in sales. Over the lottery’s history, the $1
million prize has been awarded 110 times.
AT LEAST 10,000 IN NC PETITON TO SECEDE FROM THE UNITED
STATES
[CHARLOTTE]
In the aftermath of President Barack Obama’s dramatic re-election last week,
tens of thousands of disgruntled voters in at least 30 states are now
petitioning the White House to have their states secede from the nation, and be
independent. In North Carolina, an estimated 10,000 people have gone to the
White House website to sign the “We the People” North Carolina petition started
by a Pittsboro man. At press time, over 200,000 signatures had been registered,
with Texas leading the way with over 80,000. Thus far, the White House has not
responded to the petitions.
FBI RAIDS HOME OF FORMER CIA DIRECTOR’S MISTRESS
[CHARLOTTE]
Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the home Monday of
author Paula Broadwell, the married woman embroiled in the reported sex scandal
that ultimately forced CIA Director David Petraeus to resign last week. Agents
were seen taking computers, printers and other personal items from the
Broadwell residence. Reportedly, beyond the affair, Broadwell is accused of
having classified information that she may have gotten from Petraeus, though
authorities say thus far, they’ve seen nothing that threatens national
security.
-30-
TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS
NEW ASSIGNMENT PLAN FOR WAKE SCHOOLS DRAW PRAISE
A new student assignment to replace the cumbersome
and expensive school choice plan was unveiled Tuesday at the Wake Board of
Education meeting. The new plan is considered temporary, and will affect 1,500
initially because of three new schools that are online to open next year. The
majority of Wake’s 150,000 students will essentially stay where they are. A new
base school assignment plan is still in the works. The board, which welcomed the
temporary plan, will vote on it in mid-December. Meanwhile, Republican board
member Chris Malone is expected to leave the school board soon in the aftermath
of his election to the NC House. He will likely be replaced by a Democrat.
ATTORNEY WHO CAUSED JUDGE RUTH TO RESIGN, PLEADS GUILTY
The
Raleigh attorney who embroiled former Wake District Court Judge Kristin Ruth in
a DWI backdating scheme, ultimately forcing her to resign from the bench, pled
guilty this week to breaking the law. Attorney James Crouch pleaded guilty to
two counts of obstruction of justice, one count of altering documents, and one
count of conspiracy with his legal aide. Crouch and his aide slipped backdated
DWI cases in papers for Judge Ruth’s signature, thus altering the final judgments
in those cases. Ruth testified that she didn’t realize that Crouch was using
her because she never read the documents she signed.
DURHAM ACTION NC TASK FORCE MEETING FRIDAY
Action NC, an affordable housing advocacy group in
Durham, will hold a task force meeting Friday, Nov. 16th to help the
tenants of Lincoln Apartments who are being evicted Dec. 31st work
on a plan. Then on Monday, Nov. 19th, those tenants will picket, and
on Tuesday, Nov. 20th, attend a press conference about the
conditions they were living under. Offices are located at John O’Daniel
Exchange. 801 Gilbert St. Suite 102 in Durham. For more information call
919-794-8210
-30-
MEDIA
CASH IN THE APPLE
By Cash Michaels
THE WILMINGTON TEN PARDON EFFORT - As you may know,
besides being editor/chief reporter for The Carolinian Newspaper in Raleigh, and a staff writer at
The Wilmington Journal in Wilmington, I am also coordinator for The
Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence Project - sponsored by the National Newspaper
Publishers Association (of which The
Carolinian and Wilmington Journal are member newspapers) working to have Gov. Beverly Perdue
grant pardons of innocence to the Wilmington Ten before she leaves office on Dec. 31st.
The Wilmington Ten, as you know, were nine black
males and one white female who, forty years ago, were falsely convicted and
sentenced to 282 years in prison - some of which they all served - for crimes
they did not commit in connection to racial violence in Wilmington in 1971.
History shows that the three witnesses who testified
against the Ten later admitted they committed perjury. In Dec. 1980, the US
Fourth Circuit of Appeals overturned the Ten’s convictions based on
prosecutorial misconduct. But the state of North Carolina never followed suit.
Since then, four of the Wilmington Ten have died,
never seeing the day when their names could be cleared.
We have been working hard since January of this year
to change that.
Dec. 1st is
our deadline for getting in all of our petition signatures for the Wilmington
Ten Pardons of Innocence Project, so we're trying to get as many signatures as
possible before then.
Please, go to our Change.Org petition link at https://www.change.org/petitions/nc-governor-bev-perdue-pardon-the-wilmington-ten,
sign it, and then send out the link via
your own email tree, asking everyone you contact to also sign it, and
then share the link with their contacts BEFORE Dec. 1st.
The governor will be making her decision in December,
and we want to have at least 1,000 online signatures. Currently we have over
680, so you see we're hustling for the goal.
We are also asking, for those individuals, churches
or institutions who wish to beyond just signing the petition, to send letters
to Gov. Perdue asking her to grant pardons of innocence to the Wilmington Ten
by Dec. 1st.
Here is that address:
Hon.
Beverly Eaves Perdue
Governor of North Carolina
20301
Mail Service Center
Raleigh,
NC 27699-0301
If
you want more information about the Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence
Project, you can go to www.wilmingtonjournal.com
or on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/TheWilmingtonTenPardonOfInnocenceProject
Please, as we enter this holy season of Thanksgiving
and Christmas, let us deliver peace and justice to those who have been forty
years denied.
As a black journalist, and a proud member of the
community, after forty long years, I’d like to see justice done for the
Wilmington Ten.
I sincerely hope that you do too.
POST-ELECTION - Last week
we had to write this column before the elections because of scheduling. So we
couldn’t do any real analysis.
This week, a full week
after the extraordinary election results, is much different.
Indeed, in many ways,
much, MUCH different.
A bitterly divided nation
made history last week by re-electing the first African-American president in
our nation, and we were all alive to see it. And now, even the wayward
Republican Party, embarrassed to the nth degree, is questioning whether it can
ever win a national campaign based on racism, classism and sexism
But we saw something else
in the 2012 elections that made us all very proud.
Millions of voters of all
colors, from North Carolina to Florida to Ohio, stayed on their respective
lines for hours, making the point that they will NOT allow anyone, especially
the Republicans, to suppress their vote. No matter how long it took, or how
arduous state officials made it, these bold Americans simply refused to be
denied their franchise.
Damn near brought tears
to many a dry eye, including my own. Dr. King would be proud of ALL of them!
As for here in North
Carolina, it’s well known by now that President Obama lost the state. But make
no mistake, the Obama campaign operation helped to register tens of thousands
of voters in this state, and those voters went on to vote in other races that
made a difference. So history will smile wide on the 2012 Obama campaign in
this state.
So now we have a
Republican governor and Republican-led NC General Assembly, and we will have
both certainly for the next four years (if not eight), and the Legislature may
remain GOP for the next ten years because of their redistricting maps (unless
the courts rule against the maps).
We know that issues like
voter ID and the elimination (if not limitation) of One Stop Early Voting will
be on the agenda. We also know that the GOP philosophy of education is a lot
different than many of ours. They’d rather destroy education, instead of
improve it.
So the next couple of
years are going to be dramatic, indeed.
The question is, how
engaged are we going to be to make sure that our voices shape public policy?
We’ll find out, won’t we?
I’M TAKING MY STATE AND
LEAVING! - Just because Pres. Barack Obama won re-election, apparently crushing
the notion of supremacy that many Tea party right-wingers harbored, tens of
thousands of these nuts in at least 30 states, including North Carolina, have
petitioned the White House online to be granted secession from the United
States.
In case you don’t know
what that means…they don’t want to be in a country with a black president
anymore. They can’t handle it. According to them, America was never meant to be
run by one of “them.” Egged on by “carnival barkers” like Donald Trump, who has
pushed the birther nonsense; and Fox News comedian Bill O’Reilly, who said
after the election that the “traditional…white establishment” was now in the
minority, there are people out there who feel America isn’t really America
unless there is someone who looks and talks just like them in the White House.
This is the sickness that
we’ve all had to deal with for the past four years. And it seems that it is
about to get worse.
Even if the president and
the Republicans in Congress come together and hash out a debt reduction plan to
solve the fiscal cliff problem and get the nation’s economy back on its feet,
there will always be haters and pure idiots out there, no question.
Just do your job, Mr.
President. Pay these idiots no mind.
WHAT IN THE WORLD? -
First the Secret Service is caught messing around with prostitutes in foreign
countries ahead of presidential visits.
Then we hear of
documented evidence of young Boy Scouts being molested for years all over the
country, but the deeds are covered up to protect the “upstanding” citizens who
allegedly did the molesting.
And now, this week, the
sex scandal of them all - CIA Director David Petraeus having to step down
because of an alleged affair with married Charlotte author Paula Broadwell.
Then we learn that Gen.
John Allen, the head of US forces in Afghanistan, was allegedly sending
“flirtatious” emails - some 20,000 of them, to a married woman in Florida, who
originally complained about Broadwell threatening her by email.
And then there’s the FBI
agent who sent a shirtless picture to the same married woman in Florida
because…Lord only knows.
Meanwhile the nutty
righties are trying hard to connect Pres. Obama to all of this, which they
can’t.
Boy, am I glad I’m in the
news business!
Make sure you tune in every
Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. for my talk radio show, ''Make It Happen'' on
Power 750 WAUG-AM, or online at www.myWAUG.com. And read more about my thoughts and opinions
exclusively at my new blog, ‘The Cash Roc” (http://thecashroc.blogspot.com/2011/01/cash-roc-begins.html). I promise it will be interesting.
Cash in the Apple -
honored as the Best Column Writing of 2006 by the National Newspaper Publishers
Association. Columnist Cash Michaels was also honored by the NNPA for Best
Feature Story Journalist of 2009, and was the recipient of the Raleigh-Apex
NAACP’s President’s Award for Media Excellence in Sept. 2011.
Until next week, keep
a smile on your face, GOD in your heart, and The Carolinian in your life. Bye,
bye.
-30-
TUSKEGEE AIRMEN HERBERT CARTER DEAD AT 95
by Teri Sumbry
Tuskegee University Press
TUSKEGEE, Ala. — Retired Col. Herbert E. Carter died Nov. 8th at East Alabama Medical Center. He was 95. Carter was a university alumnus and member of the original cadre of the 99th Fighter Squadron of the famed Tuskegee Airmen. He flew combat missions during the North African, Sicilian, Italian and European campaigns of World War II.
“Col. Carter's entire life was an inspiration to generations of students not only at Tuskegee University but also to youth and adults throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia,” said Tuskegee University president, Gilbert L. Rochon. “He fought for freedom from tyranny internationally and for freedom from discrimination at home in America. His commitment to excellence and determination to succeed will set the standard for the next generations of Tuskegee Airmen.”
Carter also served as a professor of air science and commander of the Air Force ROTC Detachment 15 at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) from 1950 to 1955 and professor of aerospace studies from 1965 to 1969.
Carter earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1955 and a master’s degree in education in 1969 from Tuskegee Institute. After his retirement from the United States Air Force, he served at Tuskegee as assistant dean for student services and associate dean for admissions and recruiting.
“Col. Carter has left a great legacy not only for Tuskegee University’s AFROTC detachment, but the United States Air Force. The Air Force’s core values of integrity first; service before self; and excellence in all we do are the values the Tuskegee Airmen portrayed in winning a victory against fascism abroad and racism at home,” said Kelly Primus, commander of the Tuskegee University Air Force ROTC.
Carter was one of several original Tuskegee Airmen who returned to Tuskegee University to celebrate the film premiere of “Red Tails” in January. Produced by George Lucas, the movie mogul behind “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones,” “Red Tails” portrayed the experience of the airmen during World War II. Primus said Carter remained a familiar figure on campus, even during his later years.
“He had spoken to our cadets numerous times about the Tuskegee Airmen’s plight and how they became the “best of the best.” He also reminded them that, as future officers, they must portray the core values and continue to keep airmen’s legacy alive,” Primus said.
Among Carter’s prestigious military decorations are: the Air Medal, four Clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal, Distinguished Unit Citation, European Theater Medal, five Bronze Stars, National Defense Medal, one Bronze Star and the Air Force Longevity Award, five Oak Leaf Clusters.
On June 6, 2004, the president of the French Republic, Jacque Chirac, announced that Carter had been chosen for the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest civilian award. The award was for “outstanding service rendered France during the second World War.”
In February, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the 18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, paid tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen during a visit to the university. He presented Carter with the Outstanding Leadership Award.
“Who will put their lives at risk? Who will work to help others? Col. Carter did that for his generation,” Dempsey said during the presentation.
Some of Carter’s professional affiliations include the Presidential Scholars Review Committee, American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. He was a former member of the Board of Trustees of St. Andrews School (St. Andrews, Tenn.) Since 1984, Carter had served as a consultant for Student Recruitment and Admissions, College Board, Educational Testing Service. He also served as the president of the Tuskegee chapter of Tuskegee Airmen Inc.
Carter was married for more than 60 years to Mildred L. Hemmons Carter, a pilot who was also counted among the Tuskegee Airmen. Mildred Carter died in October 2011.
In remembrance of Carter, the American flag near the Gen. Daniel “Chappie” James Center for Aerospace Science and Health Education will be lowered to half-mast.
His funeral was held today.
His funeral was held today.
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