http://www.nnpa.org/news/lead/what-would-king-think/
http://www.nnpa.org/news/lead/breaking-the-school-to-prison-pipeline-by-freddie-allen/
-30-
TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS
CHILDREN’S HEALTH
WORKSHOP JAN. 25 AND 26TH
Voices into Action: The Families, Food, and Health
Project is holding a special
workshop for valued partners on January 25th and 26th. This workshop explores the issue of children’s
health through assets and networks available in Southeast Raleigh around food
access and access to places to be active. There will be input from
community members, community leaders, and organizations that serve the
community, and a chance to develop action plans and partnerships. It
starts Friday, Jan. 25th, 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon at Martin Street
Baptist Church – the Johnson Building, 101 East Martin Street in Raleigh.
LIGHTNER RETIRES AS HEAD OF MLK HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES
Local
businessman Bruce Lightner has announced that after leading the Martin Luther
King Celebration Committee since its inception over 30 years ago, he is
officially stepping down. Lightner will be honored during this Monday’s King
Day festivities, both at the prayer breakfast, and at the noon service. No word
on who will succeed Lightner.
RALEIGH CITY COUNCIL LOOKING TO SLOW DOWN SPEEDERS
The
Raleigh City Council has decided to tackle the problem of speeding drivers
through residential neighborhoods. The decision came after a UNC –Chapel Hill public
relations class conducted a survey, which indicated 34 percent of the city’s
residents consider speeding a major problem on the streets. Apparently speeding
tickets are doing the job, so the council has decided to mount an anti-speeding
campaign throughout the city.
-30-
STATE NEWS BRIEFS
DMV REVOKES DRIVER’S LICENSES FOR YOUNG IMMIGRANTS
[GREENSBORO]
North Carolina’s Division of Motor Vehicles has sent letters to young illegal
immigrants who qualify for a federal amnesty program, revoking their driver’s
licenses. Immigrants who came to America as children, and are still under 30,
were given a two-year deportation reprieve under a federal program. But North
Carolina authorities say that doesn’t qualify them to have driver licenses in
the state, and sent letters to those who had received them revoking their
privileges until their residency status is legal. The state Attorney General’s
Office is supposed to issue a ruling soon.
GOV. MCCRORY’S
APPROVAL RATING TAKES A HIT
[CHARLOTTE]
Looks like honeymoon between new Gov. Pat McCrory and the public is wearing off
fast. According to Public Policy Polling, McCrory is down already by eight
points, and he just took office Jan. 5th. Part of the reason may be
some of the controversial official he’s appointed to his administration, like
conservative businessman Art Pope as assistant budget director, and former Wake
Schools Supt. Anthony Tata as secretary of Transportation. McCrory’s polling is
a 45 percent, two points higher than former Gov. Beverly Perdue when she took
office in Jan. 2009.
CHAPEL HILL COUNCIL
REFUSES TO REPEAL CELLPHONE BAN
Despite
the efforts of Councilmember Matt Czajkowski, the Chapel Hill Town Council this
week, by a 5-2 vote, refused to repeal its controversial cellphone ban. A Superior
Court judge has already voided the ban in answer to a lawsuit from a tow truck
company that said it would hurt its business. The town has appealed the ruling.
The ban would prohibit the use of cellphones while driving through the town.
Critics says the ban was unconstitutional.
-30-
The
President’s Plan to Protect our Children and our Communities by Reducing Gun
Violence
Special to The Carolinian from the White House
Our nation has suffered too much at the hands of dangerous
people who use guns to commit horrific acts of violence. As President Obama
said following the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, “We won’t be able to
stop every violent act, but if there is even one thing that we can do to
prevent any of these events, we have a deep obligation, all of us, to try.”
Most gun owners are responsible and law-abiding, and they use
their guns safely. The President strongly believes that the Second Amendment
guarantees an individual right to bear arms. But to better protect our children
and our communities from tragic mass shootings like those in Newtown, Aurora,
Oak Creek, and Tucson, there are four common-sense steps we can take right now.
The President’s plan includes:
1. Closing background
check loopholes to keep guns out of dangerous hands;
2. Banning
military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and taking other
common-sense steps to reduce gun violence;
3. Making schools
safer; and
4. Increasing access to mental health services.
While no law or set of laws will end gun violence, it is
clear that the American people want action. If even one child’s life can be
saved, then we need to act. Now is the time to do the right thing for our
children, our communities, and the country we love.
Gun Violence Reduction Executive Actions
On January 16th,
Pres. Barack Obama, in an effort to curb the onslaught of gun violence in the
nation, announced that he and the Administration will:
1.
Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant
data available to the federal background check system.
2.
Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from
making information available to the background check system.
3.
Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check
system.
4.
Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from
having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.
5.
Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background
check on an individual before returning a seized gun.
6.
Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance
on how to run background checks for private sellers.
7.
Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.
8.
Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety
Commission).
9.
Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace
guns recovered in criminal investigations.
10.
Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it
widely available to law enforcement.
11.
Nominate an ATF director.
12.
Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper
training for active shooter situations.
13.
Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.
14.
Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to
research the causes and prevention of gun violence.
15.
Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most
effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector
to develop innovative technologies.
16.
Clarify that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) does not prohibit doctors asking
their patients about guns in their homes.
17.
Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law
prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement
authorities.
18. Provide incentives for
schools to hire school resource officers.
19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools,
houses of worship and institutions of higher education.
20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the
scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.
21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits
and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.
22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.
23. Launch a
national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.
2013 KING HOLIDAY EVENTS SPONSORED BY MLK CELEBRATION COMMITTEE
All events are free and open to the public
NCNAACP CHALLENGES
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
TO FOCUS ON NC
POVERTY
By Cash Michaels
Editor
Invoking
the mission of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for economic and social justice, the
NCNAACP Tuesday challenged Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and the GOP-led
Legislature to address issues of poverty in North Carolina as the long session
of the NC General Assembly begins.
“Dr.
King always understood poverty as a moral, economic and civil rights issue,” Rev.
Dr. William Barber, president of the NCNAACP, told reporters at the Legislative
Building. Rev. Barber used Jan. 15th,
Dr. King’s actually birth date prior to Monday’s national holiday, to bring
NAACP members and activists with the Historic Thousands on Jones Street to the
legislature to lobby lawmakers.
“The
Bible they put their hands on (when they were sworn-in last week) says ‘Woe
unto those who make unjust laws that steal and destroy the rights of the poor,’
Rev. Barber said, adding that the constitutional oath state lawmakers took
obligates them to ensure that the poor also benefit from policy decisions that
are made.
Poverty,
according to federal standards, is a family of four surviving on just over
$22,000 a year.
Rev. Barber said over 1.7 million
North Carolinians live in poverty – a full 25 percent of the state’s population.
Forty-four percent of that 1.7 million are African-Americans.
Over 700,000 are in “deep” poverty
in North Carolina, Rev. Barber continued, and 600,000 children statewide are
considered poor. Over 10 counties in North Carolina where poverty has been over
20 percent for 30 years.
“We cannot ignore this issue. We
cannot just say (poverty) is just someone’s moral failings that they are not
willing to work. Many of the poor are white women and working,” Barber
maintained.
The civil rights leader added that
lawmakers took oaths not to be good Democrats or Republicans, but servants of
the people.
Five necessary components need to
be addressed in order at adequately eradicate poverty, Rev. Barber said –
economic sustainability, educational equality, affordable healthcare for all,
inequalities in the criminal justice system, and protect and expand voting
rights for all people.
Rev. Barber told reporters that
after his legislative briefing, the NCNAACP/HK on J anti-poverty agenda would
be delivered to the offices of Gov. Pat McCrory, and legislators in the both
the state House and Senate.
He added that preparations are
underway for the February 9th Seventh Annual HK on J People’s
Assembly, where people and activists from all over the state come to the Capital
City to further raise the issues of social justice.
Barber said he found it disturbing
that one of the first issues the General Assembly will address is voter ID,
disturbing because with the economy still struggling and North Carolinians
needing jobs, there are other, more important issues that should be addressed
now.
“We are ever hopeful that the
leaders of our state will hear our pleas,” Rev. Barber said,” and ever vigilant
to see this cause through.”
-30-
CASH IN THE APPLE
By Cash Michaels
DR.
KING’S DAY – As always this time of year, all of us are preparing to honor the
work and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on his national holiday
this Monday, Jan. 21st.
During
these pivotal and historic times in our nation and world, keeping Dr. King’s
prophetic voice of freedom, justice and equality ringing true, and ringing
strong, is essential to upholding the values that have blessed us as a people,
and should bless us as a society.
So
we thank Dr. King, once again, for his wisdom, strength, love and ultimate
sacrifice. Personally, he is one of my greatest examples. He continues to
inspire me, and I pray that he always will.
THE
SECOND TIME AROUND – History will be made again as President Barack Obama is
inaugurated for a second time on Monday.
It
is clear that the president has been embraced by the American people, and that
he is working hard to get our economy, and quality of life back on track.
We
have lived through a lot of history with this president through his election,
his re-election, and now his second inauguration. We pray that GOD continues to
bless our president, and his beautiful family.
And
of course, our nation, ‘cause Lord knows we need all of the blessings that we
can get.
THE GUN VIOLENCE DEBATE – There’s
no question, especially in the aftermath of the Newtown, Conn. tragedy that saw
26 people shot to death – 20 of whom were school children – that our nation
must do something to curb gun violence.
The president made it clear that
his administration, without waiting for Congress, is doing something to
restrict the scourge of semi-automatic weapons and the ammo those weapons of
mass destruction use. Specifically, cutting that number bullets in a clip from
30 to ten, and implementing stronger gun background checks to keep dangerous
firearms out of the hands of the deranged.
There should be no argument about
the need to have this done.
But there does seems to be some
argument about the influence of Hollywood violence on our society. Folks from
Samuel L. Jackson to Quentin Tarantino (director of “Django Unchained”) to
Arnold Schwarzenegger, all say that the blood and guts shoot ‘em’ gore that we
see, even on our TV screens, is in no way connected to the carnage that we’re
witnessing in real life.
Why are they saying this? Because
if government begins to clamp down on entertainment violence, moviemakers will
lose an awful lot of money, and they, quite frankly, don’t want that.
So they deny it.
But what they won’t admit is that
the plethora of violent acts we see and hear portrayed creates the toxic
atmosphere in our nation that allows us to be more tolerant of violence as a
way of life. Our entertainment has turned scenes of violence into candy. We
attend certain movies and watch certain shows, not because we enjoy great
performances, but because we expect to see spectacular acts of violence which
give us a thrill.
Yes, I confess, I’m a junkie for it
too, so I speak with some authority.
I love action movies and shows. I
love to see the bad guys beat up. I love to see explosions rock.
So why don’t I grab a gun and kill
everybody if my love for fake violence is so real? Because, thanks to a good
upbringing by the best Mom in the world, I’m able to put that stuff in its
proper prospective. I was brought up that morality plays with good guys and bad
guys will always display some degree of violence, so understand what it all
means.
But not everyone was brought up the
same way. They were never given a balance for understanding, never taught that
violence should never be the automatic answer in real life.
Indeed, many folks today were the
victims of violence when they were young, so that’s, unfortunately, what they
respond to. It’s all they know.
Violence, just like sex, is cheap
entertainment, which is why there’s so much of it. And we teach our children,
from the moment we purchase that G.I. Joe to allowing them to play their first
wartime video game, that killing and destruction is cool, without any balance
to keep it all in prospective.
So there is a connection. Whether
it be a young, ignorant mind; or someone who loves the “power” he feels
imitating Sylvester Stallone wiping out a complete village singlehanded, the
environment we’re in, one where we’re all two seconds from threatening to kick
each other’s behind over something stupid, is triggered by the fake violence we
all CONSUME, but don’t know how to manage.
So Hollywood, come off it. You have
your share of blame in all of this too.
COLIN POWELL – Why can’t there be
more Republicans, let alone more black Republicans like Colin Powell? The
former Secretary of State and head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff once again got
on NBC’s “Meet the Press” last Sunday, and called his own party out for it
racism, accusing it of a “vein of intolerance.” Clowns like Rush Limbaugh and
Newt Gingrich don’t like that kind of truth.
Tough!
I’ll stand with Colin Powell and
Republicans of any stripe like him any day!
ZERO DARK THIRTY – After all the
hub-bub, I finally saw “Zero Dark Thirty,” the acclaimed film by director
Kathryn Bigelow about the ten-year hunt for terrorist Osama bin Laden.
Actress Jessica Chastain plays
“Maya,” the CIA intelligence officer whose work is credited with tracking down
bin Laden to his stronghold in Pakistan, where he was killed May 1, 2011.
Chastain’s Golden Globe-winning performance is strong, and she definitely
deserves her Oscar Best Actress nomination.
It’s a long flick, but it’s well
made. And the actor who absolutely deserved an Oscar nomination, though he
didn’t get one, is the actor who is being tortured at the beginning of the
film. He had me believing, I’ll tell you that.
CAN’T STOP SMILING – It’s been two
weeks now since Gov. Beverly Perdue granted pardons of innocence to the
Wilmington Ten. Folks want to know how are the surviving members doing now?
Willie Earl Vereen and his wife,
Gail, tell me that he can’t stop smiling now. Well to GOD be the glory! After
forty years of struggle and pain, if that smile just loves its new home,
there’s nothing wrong with that! Smile on, Willie Earl, smile on.
AT NNPA CONVENTION IN FLORIDA NEXT
WEEK – I’ll be in Fort Lauderdale, Florida next week for the National Newspaper
Publishers Association’s Mid-Winter Conference. Along with attorney Irv Joyner,
attorney James Ferguson and Dr. Benjamin Chavis, we’ll be talking about our
recent success with the Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence Project.
NNPA and the Wilmington Journal
sponsored the effort, so it will be a pleasure to share our stories and
insights with black newspaper publishers from across the nation who supported
us.
We’ll give you a report next week.
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.
Until next week, keep a smile on your face, GOD in your
heart, and The Carolinian in your life. Bye, bye.
-30-
No comments:
Post a Comment