http://nnpa.org/black-men-show-job-gain-by-freddie-allen/
NOTE - PLEASE ADD THAT DALLAS EBOLA PATIENT THOMAS ERIC DUNCAN DIED WEDNESDAY AT TEXAS HEALTH PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL, WHERE HE HAD BEEN TREATED SINCE SEPT. 28TH.
http://nnpa.org/ebola-lands-in-dallas-by-akwasi-evans/
CASH IN THE APPLE
10-9-14
By Cash Michaels
“PARDONS” AT NC NAACP STATE
CONVENTION – Two weeks ago, “Pardons of
Innocence: The Wilmington Ten,” made its national debut in Washington, DC
during the Congressional Black Caucus
Foundation Annual Legislative Conference.
This week,
the NNPA – CashWorks HD Productions
presentation about one of the most notorious cases of judicial injustice in the
history of North Carolina makes its way to the NC NAACP State Convention in Fayetteville this Saturday, October 11th,
9:30 p.m. right after the Freedom Funs
Banquet keynoted by former national NAACP Chairman Julian Bond.
So if
you’re attending the state NAACP Convention in Fayetteville this week, make
sure you don’t leave without seeing “Pardons of Innocence: The Wilmington Ten.”
Everyone who has seen it says it’s an important film, especially for our young
people to see.
FINISHED WITH “BLACK-ISH” – Last week I gave
you my impressions of the pilot episode of ABC’s new situation comedy, “Black-ish” starring Anthony Anderson, Tracee Ellis Ross and
Lawrence Fishburne, who is also a
producer of the show.
I wrote that my normal rule is to give new
shows at least three episodes to straighten themselves out before I decide if
they’re worth my time of not In the case of “Black-ish,” I’ve given it
one-and-a-half shows before deciding that I’ve seen enough, and there’s little
redemption.
“Black-ish” is turning out to be just a rude,
unfunny cartoon show, and I do not like it. I’m not sure if I would like the
show if the cast were white. As I’ve said before, I know what the producers are
trying to do – namely trying to show the humor in a middle-class black family
trying to maintain some sense of African-American culture – but so far it’s not
working for me.
The writing is not sharp; the characters are
too, too silly; and the pace is warp speed.
Oh, and did I say the show isn’t funny.
Now last week, “Black-ish” lost a whopping 24
percent of its premiere episode audience from the week before, which is not a
good sign at all. I suspect that ABC will give it two more outings (if that
many) before yanking the chord on this turkey.
Sorry folks, I wanted so badly to support
this show, but the cooks in the kitchen simply don’t have the right recipe yet,
and may not get the chance to come up with one.
“HOW TO GET AWAY WITH…” – But alas, no matter
how interesting “How to Get Away With
Murder,” the latest show in the Shonda
Rhimes – ABC-TV empire to darken out screens is, it still crosses the line,
just like “Scandal.”
I understand wholeheartedly that shows, in an
effort to reach a younger demographic, are trying hard to compete with the
sexual freedom that you find on cable channels like HBO and Showtime. But on
broadcast television, when I tune in to watch anything, I do not expect to see
two young men buck-naked kissing and rolling around in bed. I get it that there
are people like that, and power to them in what they do behind closed doors…but
that does NOT mean that I have to see it in my home without warning.
Thus, being smacked in the face with it on
“How to Get Away With Murder” last week was most unpleasant. Mind you, I don’t
mind that it’s in the show, but I just don’t want to see it.
Otherwise, I’ve seen the first two episodes
thus far, and as expected, Viola Davis
as the lead character Annalise Keating is holding everything together with a
strong performance. I’m just wondering how long a superb and versatile actress
like Davis is going to stay on a TV series, which she should tire of in at
least two years. Let’s see how the series unfolds.
PAULA
DEEN AND STEVE – Don’t ask me what’s going on with comedian Steve Harvey all of a sudden embracing
former Food Network star Paula Deen,
even enlisting her to give cooking lessons to black children at his summer camp.
Yes, I believe in redemption, but to be more precise, I believe in PROVEN
redemption, and thus far, I haven’t seen it from Deen in the aftermath of the
lawsuit last year which revealed her racist comments and attitudes towards some
of her black employees.
I know that she’s been making the rounds on
“The Today Show” and other outlets professing that she’s turned a new leaf, but
thus far I’ve seen no evidence of it.
But then I have a question for Steve Harvey,
who seems to be doing quite well with his national radio program, TV talk show and
hosting “Family Feud” – you couldn’t find a popular black cook to mentor black
children, someone who could role model success for them so that they could see
themselves and their potential. Instead, you recruit a woman who, if you Google
her name, you get things like Deen admitting to using the n-word, and wanting
black men to portray slaves at her restaurants like in the old days of the
South.
Yes, I believe in forgiveness but only after
I’ve seen some sorrow and REAL redemption. This woman is about money. What has
she contributed to the cause to help the needy? Or is this just a stunt to help
her regain her empire and endorsements?
Sorry, Steve, but your word is not good
enough for me to forgive Paula Deen. Put some real redemption on the table, and
then we can talk.
But not before.
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.waug-network.com.
And read more about my thoughts and opinions exclusively at my blog, ‘The Cash
Roc” (http://thecashroc.blogspot.com/2011/01/cash-roc-begins.html).
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.
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CSI DIRECTOR DENNIS GADDY
Supreme Court Blocks Appeals Court Order, Obstructs Access to Ballot by Reinstating Restrictive Voting Measures
A Statement from the North Carolina NAACP and Advancement Project
WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, the Supreme Court blocked the mandate issued by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to instate a preliminary injunction on key provisions of North Carolina’s H.B. 589, a massive voter suppression law. By granting a stay on the injunction, the Supreme Court’s ruling means that voters will no longer be able to benefit from same-day registration and out-of-precinct provisional voting this election cycle. The North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP and Advancement Project, which challenged H.B. 589, along with the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and North Carolina lawyers Adam Stein and Irving Joyner, issued the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling:
“We are disappointed with the Supreme Court’s ruling,” said Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, president of the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP. “Tens of thousands of North Carolina voters, especially African-American voters, have relied on same-day registration, as well as the counting of ballots that were cast out of precinct, for years. As the appeals court correctly concluded, eliminating these measures will cause irreparable harm of denying citizens their right to vote in the November election – a right that, once lost, can never be recovered. The Forward Together Moral Movement will continue our fight for voting rights, making sure that, county by county, as many votes as possible are counted despite the barriers posed by the Supreme Court’s ruling. We will also charge onward in court, in the full trial next summer, to ensure that this restrictive and discriminatory law is permanently overturned.”
“North Carolina lost vital tools for expanding the franchise,” said Advancement Project Co-Director Penda D. Hair. “Abridging the voting rights of African Americans by eliminating same-day registration and out-of-precinct voting is a far greater burden than any administrative changes that the State would have had to make by simply preserving those measures— which tens of thousands of North Carolina voters have already been using for the past three general elections. Same-day registration had provided a safety net for voters who go to the polls during early voting but find there is a problem with their registration. Out-of-precinct voting provided the same assurance for voters who did everything necessary to participate, but mistakenly voted at the wrong location within their county. With the Supreme Court’s decision blocking the injunction ordered by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, voters of color, who used these measures at significantly higher rates than White voters, will face higher barriers to the ballot box this November. And as Justice Ginsburg indicated in her dissent, North Carolina’s H.B. 589 would have never passed under the federal pre-clearance of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. We will continue working to restore the rights of North Carolina voters and to ensure that elections are free, fair and accessible for all.”
NCNAACP WANTS AUTOPSY
ON HANGING VICTIM
By Cash Michaels
Editor
The state
NAACP is seeking a private autopsy on the body of 17-year-old Lennon Lee Lacy
of Bladenboro to determine evidence surrounding his hanging death. Authorities
have told Lacy’s family that the young man committed suicide. However, neither
the family, nor any of Lacy’s friends believe it, and point to various
scratches and bruises found on his body that cause them doubt.
Attorney
Irving Joyner, chairman of the NCNAACP Legal Redress Committee, told The Carolinian that the NCNAACP is
asking with information on the case to come forward and help put the pieces
together.
“Right now
we are seeking to get additional information,” attorney Joyner told The
Carolinian. “There will be an effort to get an autopsy performed by an
independent examiner, as well as collecting information from anybody else that
might have information to share about this.”
Joyner
continued, “We’re in the investigative mode. We’re trying to find out, and make
sure that the family is satisfied with the information that comes forward.”
Even though
scant media reports indicated that the body of Lennon Lee Lacy was found in a
local Bladenboro mobile home park on the morning of Friday, August 29th,
it wasn’t until The Carolinian and Wilmington Journal newspapers, responding to
calls from the community to investigate, published an interview with Lacy’s
mother Claudia, where she detailed how her son was found hung from a swingset
at the mobile home park.
“What hurts
me [most] is not knowing,” she told The
Carolinian during a telephone interview three weeks ago, indicating that
she was not pleased with how the case was being handled by the Bladenboro
police or the State Bureau of Investigation.
“I just
want to get to the bottom of it.”
According
to Ms. Lacy, on Friday, August 29th, the local police chief came to
her home, “ …and informed me that I needed to follow him to the crime scene. At
that point they told me that one of the neighbors found [Lennon] hanging, which
she thought was someone standing. As she approached, she saw he was hanging.
She cut him down, and tried administering CPR or whatever to revive him, but
she was unsuccessful. She called the police dept.”
Claudia Lacy says Lennon – the youngest
of four sons and a junior attending West Bladen High School
where he starred on the football team - was at home the night before, but left
to go out. She says his friends have told the family that Lennon visited a girl
he was dating, then walked over to a friend’s house to talk. Lennon was last
seen between 1-1:30 a.m. that night.
Ms. Lacy
says authorities told her that Lennon was hung with “a nylon rope-type
material.” But she says the SBI also told her something else that she and her
family find very hard to believe.
She says
that on Sept. 2nd, they told her Lennon’s death looked like a
suicide, and that a preliminary autopsy had been performed, but not completed.
It was last week when Rev. Dr.
William Barber, president of the NCNAACP, went to Bladenboro and held a
community rally and memorial service on behalf of Lennon Lacy. He said that he
met with Bladen County District Attorney Jon David about the case, and asked
the community for any tips it may have to prove that Lacy was murdered.
On another front, The NC NAACP and
its coalition partners were celebrating a major victory when a three-judge panel
of the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals last week granted an emergency preliminary
injunction to stop at least two provisions of North Carolina’s new voter
restriction laws prior to the Nov. 4th General Election. But on Wednesday, the US Supreme Court overturned the ruling, meaning that 2013 voter restrictions passed by the Republican-led General Assembly will now be in force for the Nov. 4th elections.
The Lennon Lacy case, along with
the US Supreme Court ruling, are just two of many issues to be discussed
during this weekend’s 71st Annual NC NAACP State Convention in
Fayetteville starting today through Saturday, October 11th.
The
convention will be held at the Embassy Suites Fort Bragg 4760 Lake Valley Drive
in Fayetteville.
According
to a NC NAACP statement, “At
the convention, various committees within the NC NAACP will discuss its Get Out
the Vote strategies, its battles against voter suppression, and the progress of
the HKonJ coalition among other agenda items. On the last day, Rev. Dr. Barber
will give an analysis on the state of civil rights in North Carolina and across
the country, and candidates for U.S. Senate will give 15-minute-long
presentations on their plans to represent the people of North Carolina.”
Former national NAACP Chairman
Julian Bond is scheduled to be the keynote speaker for the Freedom Fund Banquet
Saturday evening.
After the banquet, the NC NAACP is
sponsoring a screening of the NNPA-Cashworks HD Productions presentation of
“Pardons of Innocence: The Wilmington Ten,” the story of how the NC NAACP joined
with the Black Press and other groups to champion the exoneration of ten
falsely convicted civil rights activists.
-30-
CSI RE-ENTRY PROGRAM
CELEBRATES TEN YEARS
By Cash Michaels
Editor
Editor’s
note – On Saturday, October 18th, Community Success Initiative, a
nonprofit reentry program for the formerly incarcerated, will celebrate its
tenth anniversary with its “I’m for Second Chances” Luncheon at St. Matthews
AME Church Fellowship Hall, 1629 Bennett Place (located beside Lions Park)
Raleigh, 27610. For more information email inquiry@communitysuccess.org.
----------------
It was 2004 when a man named Dennis
Gaddy saw the need to help those being released from prison to develop skills,
find work, and start families in order to divorce themselves from a life of
crime.
Gaddy knew this firsthand. He spent
five-and-a-half years incarcerated for “some poor choices I made in the
mid-nineties,” but survived his imprisonment through the help of caring family
and friends that helped him hit the ground running upon his release.
“I come to this work kind of by
obligation,” the CSI executive director recently told a gathering on re-entry
issues at UNC’s Friday Center. “I had to be in prison, but prison didn’t have
to be in me.”
So with the
help of others, Gaddy started Community Success Initiative, a pioneering
nonprofit group devoted to assisting the formerly incarcerated.
Indeed,
eighty percent of the staff at CSI are formerly incarcerated men and women who
skillfully counsel the just released, helping them to cope, readjust, and
develop the skills and confidence to find a new job amid a marketplace that is
hostile to the formerly incarcerated.
In the past ten years, “CSI” has
not only changed the lives of at least 1200 men and women, but it has also
championed public policy changes that have helped to reduce crime, and rebuild
hope.
‘There are
more people coming home from jail in the next ten years than in any time in our
history,” Gaddy told The Carolinian. “We began to just bring people together to
cross-pollinate ideas to find out who’s involved and who needed help.”
A look at
the numbers illustrates that the need is definitely there.
According
to the April 2014 report from the US Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2005, an
estimated two-thirds of those released from prison in thirty states committed a
crime within three years. In addition, three out of four released inmates
committed crimes within five years.
In many
cases, re-entry advocates say, there is no employment, no home, and certainly
no hope waiting for these inmates after their release from prison.
“Anytime,
when a person gets out of jail or gets down on their luck, and can’t find work,
he’s going to find a way – whether it’s stealing or something – to get a dollar
to make sure he can live,” says Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison.
“[CSI] puts
that person out there and [shows] him the value of making the dollar himself…in
getting that job and feeling secure that he’s earned an honest dollar.”
Without
groups like CSI in North Carolina, Gaddy has no doubt that the crime rate would
explode as an estimated 750,000 formally imprisoned re-enter society nationally,
many without the necessary skills or foundation to become productive, or access
to jobs, housing and human services.
Members of
the North Carolina General Assembly agree.
“Dennis and
CSI are pioneers in working on ex-offender and re-entry issues,” State Sen.
Angela Bryant (D-Vance) told The
Carolinian. “No other organization in the state has taken such a
comprehensive approach.”
Sen. Bryant
credits Gaddy with pushing for her and other lawmakers to start a legislative
study commission on legal and statutory public policy changes needed to help
the formerly incarcerated transition back into society as smoothly as possible.
Many prospective employers were
resistant initially in hiring those they had determined had spent time in
prison. Thanks to CSI and it’s statewide partners’ efforts, job applications
were banned from having questions about previous felony convictions in
Charlotte city government, Durham city and county governments, Cumberland
County government, and Carrboro town government, questions that automatically
disqualified the formerly incarcerated from gainful employment.
Gaddy says that CSI and its
partners are now working on getting the Legislature to pass a state law
mandating “banning the box” for state employment applications.
In 2011, thanks to those CSI
legislative efforts, the annual “Second Chance” Lobby Days began at the NC
General Assembly to bring re-entry advocates and the formerly incarcerated,
otherwise known as the statewide re-entry network, together with state
lawmakers to press for reforms.
“It really makes a difference to
those young men and young women who are coming back home,” says state Rep.
Garland Pierce (D-Scotland), who also worked closely with Gaddy on the study
commission. “He’s been in my district and other districts, traveling the state
of North Carolina, spreading his message, and he’s been doing a great job.”
Over the past ten years, CSI has
turned the re-entry effort into an art form, with a development director tasked
with securing commitments from the private sector for jobs and support; partnerships
with sponsors like PNC Bank and Wake Technical College – both of whom conduct
self-development classes to help clients become better prepared for
opportunities; an adult case manager to help guide clients through the
challenges; classes in everything from money management to how to apply for and
keep a job; and legal assistance to advocate for clients with residual issues.
Wayne Eaton
is one of CSI’s reentry success stories. He readily admits to being a
troublesome felon who was headed full speed down a path of
self-destruction…until Dennis Gaddy and CSI came along, and helped Eaton take a
hard, serious look at himself and his future.
“There’s a
big difference in my life now,” says Eaton, who is attending college and has
welcomed a new baby to his marriage. “I’m still pinching my arm. This is
reality. It’s just a whole 360 in my life.”
Gaddy says
the statistics are clear – if a formerly incarcerated person hasn’t committed a
crime in seven or more years after release, chances are they never will. So
moving quickly after release to help that person access the tools needed to
turn his or her life around is imperative, and every bit of community support
CSI can muster towards that end is appreciated.
“Our
prisons are filled with people that don’t know how to get up, that every time
they did, someone just smacked them back down, and they think that is where
they belong,” attorney Lynn Burke, a CSI volunteer and formerly incarcerated
person, told The Carolinian. “And
over 60-70 percent don’t belong [in prison]. Some of them do, but most of them
don’t.”
State
government also sees CSI as an essential partner, says Myra Beatty, Special
Project manager with the NC Division of Workforce Solutions. The agency has
partnered with CSI to reach hundreds of people with criminal records who need a
special chance to become part of the social fabric.
“I have
never seen anything like what goes on [at CSI],” Beatty said. “I believe in
CSI, Dennis Gaddy, and the things that they do.”
Indeed
Gaddy is very proud of his CSI team, CSI’s Board headed by Lemuel Thornton, their
accomplishments, the partnerships that they’ve forged, and the many
once-crippled lives that they changed for the better.
“Dennis
Gaddy is a modern-day Joseph,” said Rev. Dr. William Barber, pastor of
Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro and president of the NCNAACP, when he
introduced Gaddy to his congregation. Rev. Barber aid if ever he thinks of
giving up, he remembers the courage of CSI and Gaddy.
So what’s
on Dennis Gaddy’s wish list as CSI enters it’s next ten years? More community
volunteers to mentor the formerly incarcerated. More private sector companies
supporting the effort and providing job opportunities. And more donations to
the cause.
“With
limited resources we’re able to do some pretty good things, ” Gaddy said.
“Imagine what we could do with the public’s help.”
-30-
STATE NEWS BRIEFS 10-9-14
HAGAN FAILS AGAIN TO
ADDRESS VOTING RIGHTS DURING SECOND DEBATE
[RALEIGH]
For the second straight US senatorial debate, Democratic incumbent Sen. Kay
Hagan failed to say anything about Republican opponent House Speaker Thom Tillis’
role in the passage of laws that critics see as suppressing black and young
voters at the polls. In fact, it was Tillis, not Hagan, who brought up the
voter ID issue Tuesday evening during the televised face-off. Observers note
that Sen. Hagan had no problem raising unequal pay for women, fighting for
veterans and making college more affordable for students, but stayed far away
from supporting the voting rights of a base constituency, namely black voters,
that she cannot win re-election without. The first-term Democrat currently
holds a 4-point led over Tillis in the polls four weeks out from the November 4th
general election.
FEDERAL JUDGE ISSUES
TEN-DAY STAY TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGES IN NC
[GREENSBORO] Thanks to the US Supreme
Court’s refusal to rule on the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals
overturning Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage, a federal judge in North
Carolina has issued a ten-day stay on same-sex marriages until October 16th,
giving all sides a chance to file arguments in court. Because North Carolina
falls under the jurisdiction of the 4th Circuit, the appellate’s
Virginia ruling automatically cancels out the state’s 2012 constitutional
amendment making same-gender marriage illegal. Though Gov. McCrory says North
Carolina will ultimately abide by the law, state Republicans counter that they
will continue to fight to maintain marriage being between one man and one
woman.
NEW ECSU CHANCELLOR
“UP TO THE TASK,” SAYS UNC SYSTEM PRESIDENT
[RALEIGH]
The new chancellor for Elizabeth City State University, Stacey Franklin Jones,
met with a joint legislative committee earlier this week, and vowed to turn the
embattled HBCU around from its falling enrollment and challenged academic
programs. Jones, who has over thirty years of computer and math science
experience, promised that changes at ECSU would be data-driven, and that the
school would be rebranded within four years into a competitive, affordable
academic institution that will emphasize interdisciplinary sciences. UNC System
President Tom Ross praised Chancellor Jones as being up to the task, and the
right choice for ECSU now.
-30-
TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS 10-9-14
LAST DAY TO REGISTER
TO VOTE FRIDAY OCT. 10TH
Despite recent court rulings,
observers suggest that those who have not registered to vote yet for the Nov. 4th
general election, do so by Friday, October 10th. That includes those
who are already registered, but want to make certain that they are properly
registered in their assigned precinct. A recent 4th US Circuit Court
of Appeals ruling allowing same-day registration for early voting between Oct.
23rd and Nov. 1st still stands, but could be overturned
if the US Supreme Court agrees with attorneys for the Republican-led
Legislature.
BY YEAR’S END,
CAPITAL AREA TRANSIT CHANGES TO “GO RALEIGH.”
In an
effort to reduce regional confusion, the Raleigh City Council on Tuesday voted to
rename the Capital Area Transit system as “Go Raleigh” by the end of this year.
That means that CAT buses will look differently as well. The renaming falls in
line with both Durham and the Triangle Transit Authority renaming their systems
“Go Durham” and “Go Transit” respectively. Cary and Chapel Hill have yet to
follow suit.
SECOND DRAFT OF
STUDENT ASSIGNMENT PLAN MORE PARENT-FRIENDLY
Administrators
with the Wake County Public School System apparently listened intently to
criticisms from parents concerning the first draft of a proposed student
assignment plan for 2015-16, and came back on Tuesday with 14 changes in the
second draft that are more parent-friendly. Many of the changes include dropping
many of the reassignments that moved some students from their current schools.
The system currently serves 155,000 students, and is trying to manage explosive
growth of at least 2,000 pupils per year.
-30-
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