http://nnpa.org/black-unemployment-rises-to-12-1-percent-by-freddie-allen/
http://nnpa.org/u-s-voting-hurdles-remain-by-freddie-allen/
WHY REV. CHAVIS' BID FOR
NCDP DIRECTOR WAS BLOCKED
By Cash Michaels
An analysis
The fallout
from the badly mishandled nomination of the Rev. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. to
the post of executive director of the North Carolina Democratic Party this
week, is still unknown.
But the behind-the-scenes movement among
Democratic rank-and-file members to ensure that Dr. Chavis, a veteran civil
rights leader and member of the Wilmington Ten, was stopped, is something that
may give African-American voters pause come the critical 2014 mid-term
elections.
As in 2010, when the Republicans
dominated the congressional and state legislative races to claim a solid hold
on both the US House and the NC General Assembly, NC Democrats have their work
cut out for them this fall convincing black voters that they deserve to return
to power. With a lack of fundraising and little energy on their side, state
Democrats are almost wholly dependent on outside nonpartisan movements like the
NCNAACP’s “Moral Monday” and “Historic Thousands on Jones Street”
demonstrations.
The Chavis episode, as it played
out this week, will not help those efforts.
It all started when NCDP Executive
Director Robert Dempsey, who had joined the state party last spring, was
summarily fired last weekend by NCDP Chairman Randolph Voller. Sources say
Voller had become disappointed in Dempsey, and felt it was time for a change.
An offer to Dr. Chavis to take the
position, given that the civil rights leader had been planning to return to his home
state after years away, was tendered by Voller, and after much thought,
accepted by Chavis. Voller, the former mayor of Pittsboro, became acquainted
with Chavis during the 2012 Black Press-led campaign to gain pardons of
innocence for the Wilmington Ten.
Over the weekend Chavis tweeted that
he was coming back to North Carolina to help the Democrats in 2014, without
saying how, or in what capacity. It was not the first time Dr. Chavis has
mentioned intentions of being involved in North Carolina politics, having
contemplated, just a few years ago, a run for a state House seat from his
native Granville County.
Voller retweeted Chavis’ message,
and once word of Dempsey’s dismissal went public, the frenzy among local media
and NC rank-and-file Democrats began. It didn’t take long for adversaries of
Chairman Voller in the party, of which there are many since the liberal leader
edged out moderate competition in 2013, to begin drumbeats of discontent about
Dr. Chavis.
Local media began reporting
negative stories about Chavis’ past membership in the Nation of Islam in 1995 –
fueling immediate allegations of anti-Semitism; and rehashing old stories of
sexual harassment allegations against Chavis in 1994 when he helmed the NAACP
as executive director.
In virtually every false local
media report on Monday and Tuesday, there was no mention that in court papers, Chavis
has never admitted any guilt in the NAACP sexual harassment case, even though
he tried to settle it quietly for fear that it would hurt the civil rights
organization.
Nor was there any reporting that
Chavis left the Nation of Islam in the late 1990’s, and has been an ordained Christian
minister, and member of Oak Level United Church of Christ in Manson, NC for
many years.
And there was certainly no
reporting about what Dr. Chavis’ productive activities since 1994-95 have been,
namely:
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serving as president of the Education Online
Services Corporation, an online provider of higher education materials for
HBCUs.
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President/CEO and cofounder of the Hip-Hop
Summit Action Summit
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Cofounder of the Diamond Empowerment Fund which
supports scholarships in Africa.
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Syndicated columnist for the National Newspaper
Publishers Association, read by 20 million readers
Nothing was reported about his ministerial
doctorates or other degrees from
schools like Duke, UNC- Charlotte and Howard University, and the question was never even raised if Dr. Chavis had the requisite experience to even function well in the position of NCDP executive director.
schools like Duke, UNC- Charlotte and Howard University, and the question was never even raised if Dr. Chavis had the requisite experience to even function well in the position of NCDP executive director.
Instead, as Republican officials
watched in glee, as the media focused primarily on any negative allegations
they could dig up, Democrats took to social media to quickly stir up opposition
among the moderate base.
Gary Pearce, who served as press
secretary to Gov. Jim Hunt in 1978 when Hunt denied pardons to Chavis and the
rest of the Wilmington Ten, took to his “Talking About Politics” online blog
and, strongly referring to Dr. Chavis without ever using his name, chided
Chairman Voller for wanting to appoint “…the most divisive, controversial
figure he can find.”
Pearce, who is a loyalist of the
so-called moderate “Hunt faction” of the Democratic Party which has reportedly
vehemently opposed Voller’s administration, later did make direct reference to
Chavis by name, writing, “And maybe Republicans will get so fixated on making
Chavis and William Barber the faces of the Democratic Party that they’ll forget
about education.”
By email, Democratic moderates were
sending out patently negative narratives about Chavis.
“What are your gut feelings re: Dempsey's
dismissal w/o just cause and about Voller's plan to announce tomorrow that he's
hiring Ben (formerly Chavis) Muhammad as Ex. Dir. despite Ben's NAACP
termination/lawsuit?” later asking, “WTH is going on in Raleigh.”
When the person who confirmed sending the email
was asked why was Chavis’ former Muslim surname used since he hasn’t gone by it
in many years, the person replied that they meant no disrespect. When pressed
further, the person claimed to feel “threatened” being questioned about
needless reason to refer to Dr. Chavis in the email by a name he no longer
uses.
Emails were sent out by members of the Democratic
Women of NC, too.
They were not supportive.
“If you have not seen any of the articles, I suggest you
Google Ben Chavis,” one DWNC member, who admittedly got her information from
biased local media reports, wrote Tuesday evening prior to the NCDP Executive
Council voting on Chavis’ nomination.
“I will be honest with you,” she continued, “ I am not
inclined to support Ben Chavis for ED for two reasons: (a) lack of ED
experience and (b) his history of sexual (sic) harassment. That said, if
a majority of you feel otherwise, that is the way I will vote.”
On the liberal “Blue NC” blogsite,
reader comments after a story where Chairman Voller denied media reports that
he and Chavis were old friends, and dismissed charges that past allegations and
associations were primarily material to Chavis’ qualifications for the post,
were negative.
“What really got under my skin were Chavis' attitudes toward my fellow
Jews,” posted Mike Radionchecnko under the title, “An Anti-Semite Running the
NCDP.” “When he was fired by the NAACP,
he claimed that a Jewish conspiracy brought him down [1]. Chavis' speech at the
University of Oklahoma was laced with anti-Semitic dog-whistles and innuendo
[2]. He served as the right-hand-man to the Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan,
who has a prolific record of anti-Semitic and homophobic rhetoric, but Chavis'
words speak for themselves.”
Two posts down, under the title “This Would Be Wrong for the Party,”
someone identified as “chambers1” wrote, “If Chavis is no longer a member of
NOI, this would be the first time that has ever been stated in the media.
Frankly, I want to hear him say it. The NOI has done a lot of good work for the
black community but nothing can excuse the fact that the NOI is a virulently anti-Semitic
organization whose rhetoric about Jews is almost indecipherable from hate
groups like the KKK and the Aryan Nation, etc. Having an Executive Director of
the NCDP that was still a member of the NOI would be hugely problematic.”
On Facebook, other self-described Jewish Democrats actively compounded
the anti-Semitic charges against Chavis, ignoring documented stories by the New
York Times and Baltimore Sun from the mid-1990s of then NAACP Executive
Director Ben Chavis denouncing fiery anti-Semitic remarks by Nation of Islam
spokesman Khalid Muhammad.
And when Chavis was forced to leave the NAACP in 1994, it is documented
that it was under pressure from several Jewish donors to the civil rights organization
who were concerned about charges of alleged financial mismanagement amid the
sexual harassment scandal.
And even in a 1997 edition of The Jewish Week, the then Min. Benjamin
Chavis Muhammad, under the leadership of NOI leader Min. Louis Farrakhan, told
the paper that one of his missions was to improve relations with the Jewish
community, given previous tensions between them and Farrakhan because of fiery
remarks made by the Muslim leader.
For his part, Dr. Chavis, who arrived in Raleigh Tuesday in preparation
for an announced press conference Wednesday, was certainly aware of internal
opposition to his nomination, which had to be accepted by the NCDP Executive
Council.
Facing difficult, challenging odds was part of Chavis' trademark, and he
had prayed about Voller’s offer, and accepted it, deciding to leave its fate in
God’s hands.
But the level to which the opposition had risen, accompanied by a
seemingly united front between the media and a committed Democratic opposition to
Chairman Voller, soon became concerning to even Chavis, sources say.
Among the major local media in Raleigh, only one, WNCN-TV, conducted an
interview with Dr. Chavis, giving him something no one else would even offer –
a chance to answer his critics.
In that interview he denied guilt per the sexual harassment
allegations, and made clear that he had left the Nation of Islam years earlier.
He said he was eager to come back home to North Carolina to use his skills as a
charismatic civil rights leader to help Democrats win in the fall of 2014.
But before that singular interview ever aired, it was too late.
Tuesday evening, during a
reportedly raucous, contentious NCDP Executive Council teleconference to decide
on Dr. Chavis’ hiring, the nomination was pulled by Chairman Voller because of
the growing firestorm among moderates, and an interim E.D. was designated for
the next 30 days.
Whether it will ever be
reintroduced is doubtful, given the high level of vitriol that remains in the
party for its chairman.
The next day, triumphant members of
a state party which had its own alleged sexual harassment scandal two years
ago; handed the Republican Party control of state government for at least the
next six years, and until recently, annually gathered for a dinner named after
two white supremacist governors, slapped themselves on the back.
They admitted, as much, that Ben
Chavis deserved at least due process to defend himself against allegations. But
they vehemently opposed him, they said, to protect themselves from further
Republican attacks.
They called what they did to Dr.
Chavis, “political street smarts.”
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HUGE "MORAL MARCH" - An estimated 80,000 participants from around the state and the nation marched in Raleigh Saturday as part of the HK on J/Moral March on Raleigh, sponsored by the NC NAACP and its over 150 coalition partners. Rev. William Barber, president of the NCNAACP (second photo, center) called on North Carolinians to come together as "brothers and sisters" to oppose the "regressive" policies of the Republicans who are controlling state government [pictures courtesy of The Carolina Peacemaker)
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GOP FEARS NCNAACP’S
“MORAL MARCH”
By Cash Michaels
Editor
The NC
Republican Party has tried every trick in the book, including employing the
conservative Fox News to weigh-in, but thus far, none of its efforts to stop or
deflate the NCNAACP’s momentum towards building strong social justice
coalitions has worked.
The civil
rights organization’s latest effort – last Saturday’s successful Moral March on
Raleigh/Eighth Annual Historic Thousands on Jones Street People’s Assembly – is
solid evidence of the NCGOP’s failed efforts to stop it. An estimated 80,000
people from across the state and nation marched and rallied in downtown
Raleigh, maintaining the energy and vision of last summer’s weekly Moral Monday
demonstrations at the NC Legislature.
The night
before, NC Republican Party Chairman Claude Pope, refusing to refer to the Rev.
William Barber, president of the NCNAACP and convener of the march, as
“reverend,” blasted the media for giving the civil rights leader so much
coverage, and suggested that Barber was the de facto head of the NC Democratic
Party.
Indeed
Chairman Pope seemed to want to provoke a verbal fight with Rev. Barber
publicly in hopes of casting a shadow on the eve of the event.
When that
wouldn’t work, a stringer for the conservative Fox News reportedly tried to
corner Rev. Barber the day of the march, in an attempt to conduct an
embarrassing television interview.
But with
diverse groups representing education, medicine, social services, youth, those
in poverty, and other issues in attendance, Rev. Barber and other spokespeople
delivered speech after speech about how those negatively impacted by the
policies of Gov. Pat McCrory and the Republican-led NC General Assembly must be
heard during the 2014 fall elections.
Joined by
spokespeople representing Latinos, Jews, Muslims and LGBT communities, the
message was loud and clear that when state government refuses to extend
Medicaid coverage to over 500,000 poor North Carolinians; or provide unemployment
benefits to over 170,000 out-of-work citizens who are still trying to find
work; or slashes to the public education budget drastically, that that’s when
the people should rise up, declare they’ve had enough, and prepare to go to the
polls this November.
"We are
black, white, Latino, Native American," Rev. Barber told the thousands
gathered in front of the State Capitol. "We are Democrat, Republican,
independent. We are people of all faiths, and people not of faith but who
believe in a moral universe. We are natives and immigrants, business leaders
and workers and unemployed, doctors and the uninsured, gay and straight,
students and parents and retirees. We stand here--a quilt of many colors,
faiths, and creeds."
The NC NAACP
has designed a "5-M" grassroots mobilization plan to motivate every
citizen to fight against these extremist policies; meet every challenge to
suppress the right to vote; mobilize all North Carolinians to the polls
regardless of party affiliation; make every effort to fight in the courts
against voter suppression and for the restoration of the Voting Rights Act; and
move every obstacle that could keep people from voting.
Rev. Barber
also called for the first North Carolina Moral Freedom Summer in 2014. In honor
of the historic Mississippi Freedom Summer 50 years ago, and in recognition of
the General Assembly's efforts to block access to the ballot, the NC NAACP, its
Youth & College Division and a coalition of groups from the Forward
Together Moral Movement will place young organizers in counties across the
state to engage in voter mobilization and education.
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CASH IN THE APPLE 2-13-14
By Cash Michaels
HAPPY
BIRTHDAY, KALA – Happy eleventh birthday to my youngest daughter, KaLa, who
turns the magic one-one on Friday, Feb. 14th, Valentine’s Day.
Happy
Birthday, young lady. I’m very, very proud of you, and love you very much!
POSTPONEMENT
– Due to unforeseen factors, once again we must announce that the Saturday,
Feb. 15th activities this weekend surrounding the world premiere of
the NNPA – CashWorks HD Productions
documentary, “Pardons of Innocence: The
Wilmington Ten” have been postponed. A tentative date for April is being
identified, but we’re awaiting confirmation from various participants before
officially announcing, which we hope will be soon.
We
apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused with the postponement, thank
our many supporters across the state who intended to be in Wilmington next week
with us, and invite them to stay tuned for when we announce the confirmed date
for sometime in April.
We promise
you the delay will be worth it.
And no, I’m
not happy about having to delay the premiere of this film we’ve worked so hard
for all of you to see, but I promise, when you finally do see it, the wait will
have been worth it!
Promise!
EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR BEN CHAVIS – At press time on Monday evening, the Rev. Dr. Benjamin
Chavis confirmed to me that he would be announced Wednesday morning, as NC
Democratic Party Chairman Randy Voller’s choice to become the new Executive
Director of the NCDP.
The
previous ED, Robert Dempsey, has been fired over the weekend by Voller.
Needless to say, there were many moderate Dems who weren’t pleased with either
development.
For the
record, by the time I got direct confirmation from Dr. Chavis, the news had
already leaked out to the local media. So my denials to the many who emailed me
were indeed genuine – I did not know until Ben himself confirmed later that
day.
Needless to
say, this is another extraordinary chapter in the life of Benjamin Franklin
Chavis, Jr. The Oxford, NC native has worn many hats – from community organizer
for the United Church of Christ’s Commission for Racial Justice, to the
executive director of the NAACP, to a convener of the historic Million Man
March, to now a business man and veteran civil rights leader.
Certainly
here in North Carolina, Ben is best known as the leader of what would become
the Wilmington Ten.
So what do
I think of the choice? Certainly a good one in that the party needs a
charismatic leader to add some excitement to the mix this election year. The
executive director also has to raise money, and bring the various factions of
the NC Democratic Party together in a manner that builds a strong foundation
for winning in the fall during the crucial midterm elections.
This is a
moment of truth for the NC Democratic Party. Can it go where Executive Director
Ben Chavis wants to take them? Indeed, is it willing?
We will
certainly see.
Ben Chavis
and Clay Aiken. No question that this is going to be a very interesting
election season in North Carolina this year.
CLAY AIKEN
– I has a chance to interview entertainer Clay Aiken last week, and found him
to be a great young man who has a passion for making sure that the voiceless
have a shot in life. Aiken, whose singing voice is legend from his days as the
first runnerup on “American Idol” (remember that Rubin Studdard defeated Aiken
in what was a tossup during the 2003 competition), had announced the day before
that he was running for the Second Congressional District seat currently held
by Republican incumbent Renee Ellmers for the past two years.
The 2nd
District is drawn to lean conservative, but if Aiken can win the Democratic
primary, he seems to have a knowledgeable team behind him to make a good race
of it, if not eek out a victory in November.
The nation
will be watching that race, and it will have particular interest since Aiken,
as a gay man, will be going up against a stone cold conservative in Ellmers,
whose camp is already trying to frame Aikens has having “San Francisco values,”
code word for “he’s gay.”
I say
Aikens’ sexual preference is his business. The question is does he know the
issues, and can he serve his district in Congress? Those are the questions
voters in the Second Congressional District want to hear.
Let’s see
what answers they get from both Aikens and Ellmers.
THE MORAL
MARCH – Congratulations to our friend and brother, the Rev. Dr. William Barber,
president of the NCNAACP, and convener of last Saturday’s HK on J/Moral March
on Raleigh. According to USA Today, upwards of 80,000 people from all over the
state and nation attended.
I did as
well, and it was an impressive display of diversity and humanity. And it
definitely sent a message to Gov. Pat McCrory and the Republican-led NC
General Assembly that people want change, and intend to stand up and be counted
to get it.
What’s
become very clear is that Rev. Barber, because of his successful Moral Mondays
movement, is now a solid target for Fox News, which is trying awfully hard to
portray as an enemy of America, or something. In fact, they can’t even get his
title right.
Fox keeps
calling Rev. Barber the North Carolina “director.”
He’s the
president of the NCNAACP, geniuses, not to mention the chair of the national
NAACP’s Political Action Committee.
If you’re
going to label someone a public enemy, at least get their name and title right.
So
congratulations to Rev. Barber, and all of his staff and coalition partners, in
making last Saturday’s “Moral March in Raleigh” an historic event, indeed.
PAT’S
SHAKEUPS – People have been leaving Gov. McCrory’s administration like rats off
a sinking ship lately. At least five or six in recent weeks have decided, “this
gig is NOT for me,” and have gone for greener pastures.
One of the
more significant ones is Kim Gernado, the governor’s communications director.
Kim used to be a fine newswoman and weekend anchor with WNCN-TV news in
Raleigh, until she joined McCrory in 2013 at the start of his administration.
But after a year in the hot seat having to defend the governor’s ignorance
about the way state government works, and having to cover for the complete mess
at the NC Dept. of Health and Human Services, apparently Kim has had enough,
and has transferred the state Dept. of Commerce to be their spokes person,
while their spokesperson, Josh Ellis, a former radio reporter for WPTF-AM, is
now fronting for McCrory.
Apparently
Kim has her limits. Good for you, girl. I knew you still had some conscience
left in you.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH – Take your
child to a library this month (it should be every month), and discover the
riches of your history together. It’s fun, and rewarding!
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 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.
And coming in April, 2014, the
NNPA-CashWorks HD Productions documentary presentation of, “Pardons of
Innocence: The Wilmington Ten.”
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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