WILMINGTON JOURNAL EDITORIAL
W-ed
- WE’LL GET IT DONE, CONNIE
It
is truly sad, indeed, that Connie Tindall, 62, will be laid to rest tomorrow, never
seeing what he wanted more than anything else - having his name cleared by the
state of North Carolina for crimes he did not commit as a member of the
Wilmington Ten.
As
he told The Journal last May, right
before the legal petition asking Governor Beverly Perdue to grant individual
pardons of innocence to all ten of the falsely convicted activists had been
filed, knowing that one day, no matter how long it took, he and the rest of the
ten would be vindicated, is what kept him alive behind prison walls for almost
five years.
The
one request Connie made in that interview was, “Don’t let it be too late.”
He
wanted to live to see the pardons.
Connie
wanted to live to see his name cleared.
He
couldn’t get his life back, and the rich dreams he had as a New Hanover County
high school football champion of one day playing on Sunday afternoons in the
NFL.
But
the effort mounted by the National Newspaper Publishers Association through its
Wilmington Journal spearheaded “Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence Project,”
brought real hope to Connie Tindall that finally, he just might hear, see, feel
and smell his long awaited justice.
Folk
were filing papers and printing petitions and having press conferences and
holding rallies and writing national stories and producing videos and creating
websites and talking about the Wilmington Ten on radio talk shows and on and on
and on.
The
effort to gain those pardons of innocence, and clear the names of Anne Shepard,
William Joe Wright, Jerry Jacobs, Wayne Moore, Marvin “Chili” Patrick, James
“Bun” McKoy, Willie Earl Vereen, Reginald Epps, Dr. Benjamin Chavis Jr…. and,
of course, Connie Tindall, was real, and it was building up steam.
Young
people who had never heard of the Wilmington Ten, were being drawn to the
movement to clear their names, just like young people were over thirty years
ago to free the Ten from prison.
Stories
in both newspapers and on television stations worldwide were once again
reporting how the federal appellate court in 1980 overturned the Wilmington Ten
convictions because of prosecutorial misconduct, and witnesses for the state
who were lying through their collective teeth.
Over
200 supporters in Wilmington - black and white - rallied around the Ten at
Stephen’s A.M.E. Church last June chanting, “Pardon the Wilmington Ten.”
Connie
Tindall took to the podium that night, and humbly thanked everyone for their
hard work and good wishes.
Connie
knew this could work. He knew that a pardon of innocence was in his grasp.
His
smile that could light up a room, and laugh that could definitely fill it, would
be on constant display.
But
there was also a constant boiling, just under the surface, that spoken to 40
years of unmitigated anger at a state and criminal justice system that Connie
firmly believed wanted to destroy him, just because he, like so many other
courageous black students over 40 years ago, who stood up for an equal
opportunity for a good education, dared to challenge the power structure.
“They
wanted to destroy me,” Connie said in his last newspaper interview. “But I
wouldn’t let them!”
He
wouldn’t, and he didn’t.
Indeed,
it was Connie’s intention to live long enough to see his day of vindication.
But
GOD apparently had other plans.
A
week ago, Connie Tindall died unexpectedly. But in his death, came greater
awareness of the Wilmington Ten Pardons cause.
Since
last Friday, almost a hundred more people went online to sign the pardon
petition. Over 200 have watched a special tribute video to Connie on YouTube,
deeply moved by seeing and hearing his last public statements.
In
death, Connie Tindall is inspiring the world to learn more about the Wilmington
Ten, and stand up strong for their justice.
In
death, Connie’s spirit has made us all seeking that justice, to recommit
ourselves to the cause, and redouble our efforts.
So,
we will never forget our brother, nor the courage he always
displayed. Connie will not get his day of vindication on Earth, but he will
rejoice in Heaven, and smile bright for all to see.
We
make this promise, dear Bro. Connie…we’ll get it done.
Your
pardon of innocence…we’ll get it done.
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TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS
US ARMY CPL. DARRION HICKS, 21, BURIED WITH HONORS
He was a 2009 Broughton High School graduate who
loved his community, and joined the US Army to serve his nation. And that’s
what Cpl. Darrion Hicks, a vehicle mounted mine operator, was doing, when his
young life was stopped by a roadside bomb that detonated in Afghanistan on July
19. Cpl. Hicks was laid to rest in Raleigh National Cemetery on August 1, his
mother, Tracy Hicks, receiving the flag that draped her son’s coffin.
WAKE MAKES GOOD ACADEMIC GAINS IN HIGH POVERTY SCHOOLS
All
four Renaissance schools in Wake County, plus Walnut Creek Elementary School,
all saw significant gains in academic achievement per the end of grade test
results. Barwell Road Elementary, one of the Renaissance Schools supported per
a federal Race to the Top grant, saw a 9.7 percent rise in its passing rate to
74.1 percent. ED students throughout the system did better. Wake graduation
rate did drop, however, from 80.9 to 80.8 percent.
RALEIGH FIFTH GREENEST CITY IN THE NATION
When
it comes to being an eco-friendly city, count Raleigh as fifth in the nation,
says the service website, Thumbtack. Cities that provide energy efficient
services such as solar heating, bike repairs, electronics recycling and chemical-free
cleaning products, ae listed. San Francisco rate number one, followed Oakland,
San Jose and Las Vegas, then Raleigh.
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STATE NEWS BRIEFS
WHITE SUPREMACIST WITH NC TIES KILLS SIX AT SIKH TEMPLE
[OAK
CREEK, WISCONSIN] An avowed white
supremacist who once served six years in the US Army at Fort Bragg in
Fayetteville, allegedly stormed a Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, firing
his weapon, killing six people, including an 84-year-old woman. The gunman,
identified as Wade Michael Page, 40, was fatally gunned down by a police
officer after he repeatedly shot another officer, who is in critical condition.
Page reportedly performed in several racist skinhead bands in North Carolina,
and he also foresaw a race war, authorities say.
GOP LAWMAKER CALLS PLANNED PARENTHOOD “MURDER FOR HIRE”
[CONCORD]
At least one North Carolina lawmaker has made it very clear that he’ll never
support Planned Parenthood. State Rep. Larry Pittman [R-Cabarrus County]
reportedly wrote in a May 24 email that the family planning group is “murder
for hire,” and thus, he would never vote to fund it. "Never
will I agree to give that bloody, indecent, immoral organization one penny. I
will not be satisfied until it is outlawed.” Pittman, who objects to Planned
Parenthood’s abortion services, is a member of the House Health and Human
Services Appropriations Committee.
OFFICIALS HAIL NC 80 PERCENT
HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATE
[CHARLOTTE]
The 80.2 percent graduation rate for North Carolina high school students must
have really been good, because everyone from the old General Assembly to the
new General Assembly wants to take credit for it. The state’s grad rate has
consistently risen by nearly 12 points in the past six years. Gov. Perdue
called the progress, “ A great way forward for North Carolina.” However,
despite claims by Republican House Speaker Thom Tillis that cutting funding has
“helped” school districts make better choices, others say the cuts to public
education could stop the progress.
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CASH IN THE APPLE
By Cash Michaels
FOOD
FOR THOUGHT - Saw a picture on Facebook of a long line of folks outside of
Chick-fil-a last week responding to the same-sex marriage controversy. The
caption read, “Imagine a world where Christians lined up to feed the hungry,
instead of themselves, as a symbol of their religion.”
On
point, for sure. The anger and energy it took for these “Christians” to support
the owner of this chicken sandwich company after his anti-same sex marriage
remarks, could have been better used to actually feed a few helpless people.
Yes, they are entitled to their beliefs, just as the other side is. I would have been more impressed if
they bought those sandwiches, and then took them to a homeless shelter. Now
THAT would have been saying something. Otherwise, all that Chick-fil-a lineup
was was a cheap stunt.
One
that doesn’t qualify for any biblical blessing
GOODBYE,
CONNIE - On Friday, the Wilmington community comes together to say goodbye to a
passionate warrior who, for the past 40 years, endured the cruelty and
indignities of living falsely accused of serious crimes he never committed.
Connie
L. Tindall, one of the Wilmington
Ten, died last week, reportedly due to
complications from a blood clot.
He
was 62.
I
didn’t know Mr. Tindall long. I met him last April, as coordinator of the
Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence Project, when surviving members of the Ten,
and the families of the deceased members, came together to discuss the pending
petition for individual pardons of innocence that would soon be submitted to
the Governor’s Office.
I
could tell that he was a man of good humor and a straight talker. Mr. Tindall
loved to laugh, and was someone who would make his own party.
But
I could also tell that he was a man constantly boiling inside, the fury and
struggle of the past forty years always present. The indignity of being falsely
tried, convicted and imprisoned for something he did not do, was like a cloud
that was always with Connie Tindall.
And
understandably so.
When
he and I finally had a chance to sit and interview, I saw evidence of it first
hand, as Connie went through a range of emotions as he traveled back through
his memories of being a high school football star; spokesman for the protesting
black students; and finally arrested and convicted, just because he stood up
for what he believed in.
And
Connie was resolute about being “vindicated” by being proven innocent. It was
something he was dearly waiting for, something he knew in his heart would
happen.
His
last words during our interview were, “Don’t let it be too late,” a message to
Gov. Perdue not to wait to long to grant pardons of innocence for him, and the
other surviving members of the Wilmington Ten.
So
there is great sadness among those of us who knew Connie Tindall, cared about
him, and even loved the guy. He will not see that day. He will not see his name
cleared by the state of North Carolina.
He
will not know what it truly feels like again, to be free.
Our
deepest prayers and condolences go out to the family of Connie L. Tindall.
We
thank those of you who responded to news of his death by watching the tribute
video the Pardon Project produced at http://youtu.be/W5oH3Y9DHqc.
And please, if you haven’t, go to the Change.Org petition page setup to support
the pardons of innocence for the Wilmington Ten at https://www.change.org/petitions/nc-governor-bev-perdue-pardon-the-wilmington-ten.
MARS,
“SMARS” - I am proud that our nation’s space program successfully landed the
“Curiosity” space rover on Mars. It was a great achievement, and speaks to our
technological capabilities, and national will.
But
I am saddened that in the midst of this great accomplishment, we can’t find the
decency, know-how, and yes, national will to wipe out poverty in our land. It
can be done. We can do it.
But
do we want to?
I
had a little debate about this on Facebook with someone who will remain
nameless. His take was that in order to address poverty, we would have to
change our capitalistic system.
I
think, given that we have the talent and know-how to land on Mars, we could
indeed address poverty in our nation in a way where folks can still make money,
but just not off of poor people’s misery, as we have it now.
He
didn’t think we could do that, and insisted that our people living in poverty
didn’t have it so bad compared to the poor in other countries.
That’s
like saying a wife being beaten in a mansion is better off than the wife being
beaten in the ‘hood. What’s the real difference if both are being abused?
That
tells me that as a nation, we give lip service to doing something about
poverty, but we really have no intention that anything meaningful be done. And
that’s both a crime AND a sin, in my opinion.
How
we treat the least of us, is how GOD will judge us in the end, my Bible tells
me.
If
we saw it as in our best interest a nation, we would do something about
poverty.
Well, it is. When do we start?
FIRST LADY ROCKS - Last week,
courtesy of the Obama campaign, I got to ride in First Lady Michelle Obama’s motorcade from RDU International Airport, and watch
as Raleigh police officers on motorcycles shut down I-40 as we cruised into the
Capital City. What was even more cool was watching Michelle Obama surprise the
campaign staff at the 130 Morgan Street headquarters. She took the time to
speak, and hug, and laugh with each one of them.
Like I’ve said before, I don’t know
what’s going to happen in November, but Michelle Obama will go down in history
as one of the great First Ladies of all time.
GABBY’S TIME - The story of Gabby
Douglas, US women’s gymnastics Olympic
gold medalist and our newest star, is now legend. This 16-year-old black
teenager is a miracle to see in action, and she carries herself with dignity,
poise and so much joy.
And let’s not leave out her mother
and coach, father serving his country in Afghanistan, and surrogate family in
Iowa. All of them contributed in powerful ways to make this young lady an
Olympic legend.
So why are some people hatin’ on
Gabby.
Fox News doesn’t think she’s
patriotic enough, even though Douglas has plenty of red-white and blue
pictures, and even appears on the newest Kellogg’s Corn Flakes box, for goodness sakes. How American can you get?
And there are trash organizations
like TMZ that have dug up Gabby’s mother’s financial records, making her answer
questions about her struggles as a single mother.
And then there are some of us, yes
US, black folks, who couldn’t let the child win a gold medal for her country
without raggin’ about her hair.
There was nothing wrong with
Gabby’s hair, and given what I’ve seen in black hairstyles for women lately,
Gabby’s was a cut above for sure. And yet, that crabs-in-a-barrel mentality the
just governs some people had to come out online, throwing water on what should
have been a great moment of collective pride for our nation and community.
It was a disgrace, and many of us
who know better had no problem beating back the morons.
So let this be a lesson, Gabby.
You’re a star now, but with that comes a lot of baggage. You and your family
are going to have to learn how to deal with this, and it’s already proving to
be beyond easy.
Just keep GOD close everyday,
homegirl! All of us (at least those with some sense) are proud of you!
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.
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FIRST LADY'S SURPRISE RALEIGH VISIT - First Lady Michelle Obama gives a big hug to an Obama campaign coordinator during a surprise visit to the Morgan Street headquarters last week. The workers greeted her with cheers, and thanked her for taking the time to say "Thank you" to them. The Democratic National Convention comes to Charlotte Sept. 3rd [Cash Michaels Photo]
http://www.nnpa.org/news/lead/economy-continues-sluggish-recovery-–-but-not-for-blacks-by-freddie-allen/
NCNAACP HOLDS TRUTH AND HOPE
POVERTY SUMMIT SATURDAY
By Cash Michaels
Editor
It
has been over seven months since the first buses rolled in the Truth and Hope
Putting a Face on Poverty Tour Through North Carolina last January. Led by the
NC NAACP, a coalition of progressive nonprofit groups traveled over 2000 miles,
on four tours, to 27 cities; towns and counties across the state, listening to
hundreds of North Carolinians tell their heartfelt stories of struggle and
survival.
Now
that the fact-finding is over, organizers say, it is time to find solutions,
solutions the politicians, clergy and business community can embrace.
That’s
the mission when activists, social workers, elected officials and others gather
this Saturday in Rocky Mount for the Truth and Hope Poverty Tour Summit.
Sponsored
by the NC NAACP, the
UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity, the NC Justice Center, the
Institute for Civic Engagement and Social Change at NCCU, and the AARP of NC, the
summit is planned to explore, “…through personal testimonies, a compelling original film
documentary, newly assembled economic data, and frank community discourse – the
scourge of poverty, amidst plenty, in the Tar Heel State,”
Rev.
William Barber, president of the NCNAACP; and Prof. Gene Nichol, director of
the UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity said in an open letter earlier
this week.
“The
truth is, government and the private sector have not adequately addressed the
historical and structural causes of deep poverty,” Barber and Nichol continued.
“Long before the Great Depression and the recent Great Recession, hundreds of
thousands of God’s children of all colors lived on the edge” of survival.
Recent economic storms “have made this structural” injustice even worse. The
tour, we argued, “would not solve the problem, but will expose it, force us to
see the faces, the people, and the real conditions behind the (appalling)
statistics ... and move us to (undertake) the hard, necessary and righteous
work of addressing it.”
Rev.
Barber and Prof. Nichol went on, “Having traveled over two thousand miles,
visited 27 communities, and met with thousands of vocal and energized North
Carolinians, we can attest that the challenge of pervasive and debilitating
poverty is the greatest wound, the largest transgression, the most potent
public policy test that we face as a people. It violates both our foundational
constitutional commitments and our defining and civilizing religious commands.
Its injustices are visited most heavily, as has been the case for generations,
on persons of color – with African-Americans, Latinos and Native Americans
suffering poverty and unemployment rates dramatically higher than their white
counterparts. And our poorest are, too frequently, our children – the youngest
and most vulnerable among us. If we are to be the people we claim, we must move
to address the stunning, betraying plague of poverty. And we must address it
now.”
“The
Truth and Hope Poverty Tour Summit will explore our challenges, our priorities
and our possibilities. It will further a
movement – launched and pressed forward by the NC NAACP and a massive HK on J
coalition – to put North Carolina poverty center stage in our political
deliberation.”
The Truth & Hope Poverty Tour Report, Mass Meeting
and Summit is on Saturday, August 11 in Rocky Mount, NC at Opportunities
Industrialization Center (OIC), 402 E.
Virginia Street, Rocky Mount, NC 27801.
Registration begins at 8:30 am; the program begins at 9:30 am and ends at 3:00
pm.
-30-
FUNERAL FOR CONNIE TINDALL, WILMINGTON TEN MEMBER, FRIDAY
By Cash Michaels
editor
[WILMINGTON, NC] Last May, just before papers were
filed with the NC Governor’s Office petitioning for pardons of innocence,
Connie Tindall was defiant.
The
former Wilmington high school football champion - who had dreams in his youth
of playing pro for the NFL one day - felt that the state of North Carolina owed
him for destroying that dream with its false prosecution and imprisonment of
him as a member of the Wilmington Ten.
After
four decades of being denied, Tindall declared that now is the time to right
the wrong.
“Don’t
let it be too late for the rest,” Tindall said, noting that he was among the
seven surviving Wilmington Ten members left.
“Don’t
let it be too late for the rest.”
But
last Friday, August 3, it indeed became “too late” for Connie Tindall. After
having minor surgery for a blood clot several weeks ago, Tindall, who was
recovering at home, reportedly suffered unforeseen complications, and died.
He
was 62.
The
news came as a shock to Tindall’s family, friends, and members of the
Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence Project (a special effort of the National
Newspaper Publishers Association), which has been working hard to build
national support for individual pardons of innocence to Tindall, and the other
nine civil rights activists.
Led by Rev. Benjamin Chavis, the
nine African-American males - ages 17 - 24 - and one white female, 34, were
falsely convicted of conspiracy 40 years ago in the February 1971 firebombing of
a white-owned grocery store, amid heightened racial tensions about school
desegregation in Wilmington, NC.
The Wilmington Ten were sentenced
to a total 282 years in prison, and served some of that time until Amnesty
International; CBS’ “60 Minutes”; the US Justice Dept., and fifty-five members
of Congress, all investigated, declaring the convictions were fraudulent.
All three of the state’s
prosecution witnesses recanted their testimony, revealing that they had been
paid to lie. And in December 1980, the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
unanimously ruled to overturn all ten convictions.
But the state of North Carolina
refused to follow the federal courts, and to this day, has not cleared the
names of Connie Tindall, Anne Shepard, Jerry Jacobs, William Joe Wright - all
of whom have deceased - James “Bun” McKoy. Marvin Patrick, Reginald Epps,
Willie Earl Vereen, Wayne Moore and Dr. Benjamin Chavis.
The whole ordeal took its toll on
Tindall and the rest of the ten. Their futures shattered, many found themselves
rejected and ostracized by the very community they fought for.
In that exclusive interview with
the Wilmington Journal last May, Tindall
said he made it through the four-and-a-half years in prison he spent by knowing
that one day he would be “vindicated” and proven innocent of the trumped up
charges.
“It’s the scar that doesn’t show,
but you’ve got to wear it,” Tindall said about how he has lived day-to-day ever
since leaving prison over 30 years ago. “But I don’t wear it with my head hung
down. I wear it with my head held high, because everything [that happened] was
meant to destroy me. But here I am…looking at you…laughing!”
The federal courts indeed deemed
Connie Tindall innocent; but now that he’s gone, he’ll never see the day that
his home state clears his name.
In
reaction to Tindall’s death, one Wilmington Ten member said he believe that
Tindall, “died way too soon from poverty and deprivation, brought on by the
stigma and psychological burden he carried for years after being tried and
convicted for crimes he never committed.”
Another
Wilmington Ten member, Reginald Epps, said, “He will be missed.”
Rev.
William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP, and strong supporter of
the Pardons of Innocence Project, paid tribute to Tindall, saying, “In Latin,
the name “Connie” means steadfast. As our brother not only lived out his name,
but let us do likewise as we fight for truth and justice.”
Attorney
Irving Joyner, law professor at North Carolina Central University School of
Law, and co-chair of the Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence Project, said he
was “deeply distressed” by Connie Tindall’s passing.
“He
was always so strong and on point with everything. He was a joy to be around,
and had a great sense of humor, even though he was passionate about the plight
of the Wilmington Ten,” attorney Joyner said, joining others in sending prayers
and thoughts to the Tindall family.
“Long
live the spirit and memory of Connie Tindall,” Dr. Benjamin Chavis said in
reaction. “God bless the Tindall family. Rest in Peace, Connie.”
Funeral
services for Connie Tindall will be conducted Friday, August 10, starting at 12
noon at Union Missionary Baptist Church, 2711 Princess Place Drive in
Wilmington.
A wake for family, friends and
supporters has been scheduled for this this evening, August 9, from 6 - 8 p.m.
at Davis Funeral Home, 901 S. Fifth Ave. in Wilmington.
Tindall had no life insurance.
Because he was falsely convicted of a felony 40 years ago, getting insurance
would be prohibitive at best, and more expensive than standard rates.
The community, led by Mary Alice
Thatch, publisher of The Wilmington Journal,
is doing what it can to ensure a proper burial. A contribution fund has been
setup to help with the costs of the service and burial.
The family asks that checks be made
out to THE CONNIE TINDALL FUND, c/o FIRST CITIZENS BANK, P.O. BOX 1619
WILMINGTON, NC, 28402. Contributions to the fund can be dropped off at any
First Citizens Bank branch.
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