http://www.nnpa.org/civil-rights-leaders-meet-with-president-obama-on-voting-rights-by-freddie-allen/
http://www.nnpa.org/trayvons-mother-use-my-broken-heart-to-prevent-future-tragedies-by-george-e-curry/
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STATE NEWS BRIEFS 8-1-13
STATE HEALTH
DIRECTOR, AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN, RESIGNS
[RALEIGH]
NC Health Director Dr. Laura Gerald resigned her position this week with the NC
Dept. of Health and Human Services. Dr. Gerald, an African-American who had
been on the job for the past 18 months, said her in resignation letter, "I acknowledge I have
significant differences and disagreements with many of the policy and
administrative directions I see unfolding in North Carolina and in the
Department of Health and Human Services. These differences are making it
increasingly impossible for me to continue to be effective in my current role.
Nonetheless, I ultimately believe that we all want to see the state continue to
move forward." Dr. Gerald’s resignation was effective immediately. She is
a noted pediatrician from Robeson County, and once chaired the Eugenics
Compensation Board under Gov. Beverly Perdue.
GOV. MCCRORY GIVES COOKIES TO
PROTESTERS; THEY GIVE THEM BACK
[RALEIGH]
It may have started as a goodwill gesture, but it ended with critics of
Republican Gov. Pat McCrory if he’s in full control of his faculties.
Pro-choice advocates were holding a protest vigil across the street from the
Governor’s mansion Tuesday afternoon asking the governor not to sign a
controversial new law that would further restrict access to abortion services
in the state. All of a sudden, from behind the gates of the mansion strides a
jacketless Gov. McCrory with a plate of chocolate chip cookies. As four
security guards stopped traffic and watched closely, McCrory called one of the
protesters over to the middle of the street, handed her the cookies saying,
" These
are for you. God bless you, God bless you, God bless you.' " Stunned, she
took the plate and walked back over to the shocked demonstrators. No one eat
the treats, however, and soon took the plate back over to the gate with a note
chiding McCrory for not being wiling to speak with them. Some said they felt
very insulted by the governor’s gesture.
MORAL MONDAY
IN THE MOUNTAINS AUGUST 5TH
[RALEIGH] After delivering the largest
crowd ever of the 13 Moral Monday demonstrations at the state Legislative
Building this week, organizers say they are suspending the Raleigh rallies
until the NC General Assembly reconvenes next May, and will instead begin a
series of regional Moral Monday demonstrations, the first this Monday in the
North Carolina mountains, and then later to the North Carolina coast. An
estimated 10,000 jammed the streets around the legislature, even though
lawmakers had ended the session last Friday. Demonstrators blasted the
Republican majority and Gov. Pat McCrory for new laws restricting voting and
abortion rights.
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TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS 8-1-13
WAKE SCHOOLS SUPT.
DR. JAMES MERRILL BEGINS TENURE TODAY
Dr.
James Merrill, former the supt. of Virginia Beach City Schools, officially took
over as Wake County Public School System superintendent today. Dr. Merrill
succeeds retired US Army Brigadier Gen. Tony Tata, who was fired by the
Democrat-led board in September of last year after a controversial 18-month
tenure. One of Dr. Merrill’s first tasks will be to push county voters to
support the over $700 million school bond referendum this fall.
TRIANGLE JOBLESS RATE
DIPS IN JUNE
For
the fifth consecutive month, the unemployment rate in Triangle area counties
fell slightly, officials say. According to the NC Dept. of Commerce, the
seasonal adjusted rate notched down from 7.4 percent in May to 7.2 percent in
June. Raleigh and Cary added over 6,000 jobs during the past 12 months,
boosting that total to 529,000 employed. Durham and Chapel Hill have paled by
comparison, adding only 3,400 jobs during that same period, bringing their
total jobs to 286,000.
CARY POLICE OFFICER
RESIGNS AFTER DWI ARREST
A
Cary police officer has resigned her job after she was reportedly arrested
after blowing a .9 blood alcohol level last Thursday. Raleigh police say
Tiffany Dawn Silsbee, who lives in Raleigh, allegedly crashed her car into four
vehicles along Boylan Avenue before being stopped and charged with DWI. A Town of Cary spokesperson says
Officer Silsbee resigned from her job the next day.
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NC ‘GROUND ZERO’ FOR VOTER SUPPRESSION
By Cash Michaels
Editor
If
there was any doubt about Republican confidence in staying in power in the NC
General Assembly, those doubts were dashed last week when the GOP passed what
many observers say is the most restrictive law in the nation governing voter
rights.
The
NC NAACP and others had been fighting the prospect of a voter photo ID
requirement, something that state House Republicans, and Republican Gov. Pat
McCrory, said was needed to maintain the integrity of North Carolina’s election
system, and combat voter fraud, even though voter fraud in the state has
historically been virtually nonexistent.
Black
leaders and Democrats, on the other hand, countered that the bill was just
another GOP attempt at voter suppression, aimed specifically at the traditional
Democratic base – African-Americans, Hispanics, college students, the elderly
and the poor.
But
in an apparent horse trade with House Republicans, the state Senate last week,
during the final four days of the legislative session, shocked everyone by
introducing a 57-page omnibus elections package that not only included a voter
photo ID bill, but also:
•
Eliminates 7 days of early voting,
same-day voter registration, ”Souls to the Polls” Sunday voting, provisional
voting if you’re in the wrong precinct, straight-ticket voting and pre-voter
registration of 16 and 17 year olds;
•
Authorizes
vigilante poll watchers to challenge a citizen's right to vote in any
jurisdiction in the state;
•
Prevents a
county from adding one hour to the time for citizens to vote on
Election Day if lines get long;
•
Eliminates
a requirement that campaign ads must be endorsed by candidates and increases
contribution limits to $5,000;
•
Unlimited
corporate campaign contributions are now allowed
•
Doesn’t allow
college students to use their college ID’s to vote.
Only three of the 57-page omnibus
elections measure actually addressed
voter ID’s.
The
Republican-majority NC Senate passed the bill 33-14, then sending it to the
GOP-led House, where it passed 74, 41. Gov. McCrory indicated in a press
conference afterwards that while he hadn’t read the whole bill, he would sign
it into law.
House Democrats – black and white, were livid.
“I want you to
understand what this bill means to people,” veteran black lawmaker, Rep. H. M.
“Mickey” Michaux, told his GOP colleagues. “We have fought for, died for and
struggled for our right to vote. You can take these 57 pages of abomination and
confine them to the streets of hell for all eternity."
House
Republicans replied that every provision in the elections bill protected
North Carolina voters, and streamlined the system, but Democrats weren’t buying
it.
"What
does [stopping Souls to the Polls Sunday voting] have to do with voter
ID?" asked state Rep. Garland Pierce, chairman of the NC Legislative Black
Caucus, reminding all the black churches traditionally bring their congregants
by vans to vote after service during these early voting periods. “This is not
about voter ID,” Rep. Pierce said. “This is about voter suppression.”
The
state NAACP, which has been leading weekly “Moral Monday” protests attracting
tens of thousands of protesters to the state legislative building since April 29th,
resulting in 926 arrests thus far, agrees.
"This
latest voting rights attack represents the most comprehensive attack on the
right to vote that this state has enacted since the institution of Jim Crow
laws in the 19th Century when federal troops pulled out of the South,"
said North Carolina NAACP President Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II.
"Extremist members of the General Assembly viewed the Supreme Court's
ruling [striking down Section 4 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act] as once again
federal protections being removed, thereby giving them the freedom to undermine
and disenfranchise the poor, African Americans, and all people of color."
The
remarks of US Attorney General Eric Holder last week before the National Urban
League Conference in Philadelphia, where he vowed that despite the High Court’s
crippling of the VRA, the Justice Dept. would still vigorously pursue Texas,
and other states where the voting’s rights of African-Americans have been
hindered, was welcomed by the NC NAACP.
"The
NC NAACP commends the Department of Justice for taking action to address clear
discrimination in Texas,” NC NAACP Pres. Rev. Barber said in a statement. “Just
as in Texas, the omnibus bill awaiting signature by our Governor is based on
nothing but a bare intent to discriminate against African Americans, Latinos,
Asian Americans, Native Americans, women, students, the poor and other
minorities in North Carolina.”
"If
this bill is signed into law, in response to these drastic, immoral, and
race-based enactments, the NC NAACP will use every legal, organizing, and
communications tool available to uphold and defend both the letter and the
spirit of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the North Carolina Constitution, and the
U.S. Constitution,” Rev. Barber continued, “and we will win."
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CASH IN THE APPLE
8-1-13
By Cash Michaels
THE
BIG BLACK EYE – Well, it just took six months to do it in, but the Republicans
can slap themselves on the back for making it happen. With the exception of the
conservative Wall Street Journal, every major newspaper and magazine of note
have officially declared North Carolina dead or dying.
And
it only took six months. Amazing!
From
the regressive new tax policy, to a state budget that unmercifully slashes
education, to a runaway train of an voter suppression law that not only
requires voter photo identification, but literally allows any registered voter
of any given North Carolina county to approach another registered voter of that
same county, an challenge their right to vote, just to look at them.
Democrats,
may I suggest that you do that to Republicans before they do it to you.
The
national media, from the New York Times to MSNBC, simply can’t believe what’s
going on here in North Carolina, and frankly, I don’t blame them. We live here,
and we can’t believe how our Republican-led legislature has turned this state
on its ears in six short months.
So
now, instead proudly being from the state of North Carolina – something that
many of us, despite some problems, were always proud to say – we are literally
embarrassed by the brazen grasp for sheer power by the GOP to manhandle almost
every aspect of our lives.
And
remember, this was supposed to be the party of less government.
One
thing that has been made very clear to me, though, and that is the role that conservatives’
interpretation of Christianity plays in all of this. And I deliberately
emphasize “interpretation of Christianity” because clearly, being a Christian
myself, I don’t agree with their views.
If
there is any sign of “helping your fellow man” in North Carolina Republican
policy, it only applies to helping your fellow rich man get richer.” Which
means if you’re poor and struggling, under the GOP mantra, then there’s
something wrong with you, and you should be punished. Thus the denial of Medicaid
coverage to over 500,000 North Carolinians; the slashing of unemployment
benefits for over 70,000, and the extraordinary restrictions on voting rights
for communities of color, young people and the elderly.
A
woman’s right to choose is also severely curtailed.
All
of this is just the tip of the iceberg of the tremendous backwards direction that
has virtually destroyed the well-earned reputation of a once progressive
Southern state.
This
is why it is so very important for you and yours in the community to continue
to support the Black Press. This
African-American newspaper is deeply committed to not only reporting to our
community, but also standing up strong to speak truth to power in advocating
for our community, without apology.
But
we can’t do it without you, seriously. When the Black Press stands up strong,
we make a lot of enemies who have tried, and continue to try to shut us up, if
not shut us down. Don’t think just because you see a new edition on the newsstands
every week, that that means everything is A-OK. To the contrary, the legacy of
the Black Press, just like the legacy of the black community, is one of
struggle and overcoming. Every day, indeed, every week is a challenge to gather
the news and perspective you and the community need.
Part
of the reason why we continue to fight is because we know we’re needed. We know
what will happen when we’re gone, and there’s little else standing in the
breach to defend our community.
That’s
why we say, while we can say it, “Stand with this black newspaper; stand with
the Black Press.” Next to the black church, no other institution in our
community has the history of standing strong for all of us.
Just
don’t call on us when you need us. Make us part of your lives and families.
Talk about the stories and columns you read in this newspaper. Purchase extra
copies for your friends and neighbors. Submit your pictures and articles for
publications.
Now,
perhaps more than ever before, make this black newspaper part of your life,
support us, and our advertisers, so that we can continue to support, and fight
for you.
VICIOUS
ATTACK – Sybrina Fulton, the mother
of slain teenager Trayvon Martin, has
been the epitome of grace and courage in the aftermath of the murder of her
child. While she has certainly expressed heartfelt outrage in the aftermath of
a Florida jury acquitting the man who took her son from her, she has done so
with a dignity that even the president of the United States had to salute.
And
yet, there are those so vicious on the right-wing who would ruthlessly attack
those grieving mother. And some of these vultures look just like us.
Take
Crystal Wright, better known online
as “Conservative Black Chick.” Just
think of conservative Ann Coulter
with a half-cooked turkey tan and you get the idea. I had never heard of this
woman before, but remarks she’s recently made about Sybrina Fulton have
certainly put her on the map.
After
Trayvon’s mother made remarks last week at the National Urban League Conference in Philly about thanking the
community for its support of her family and how she will continue to advocate
to make sure that what happened her son never happens to anyone else,
Conservative Black Chick takes to Twitter with the following messages:
“Martin
family + media, time to move on from this manufactured race war. Or get on
w/writing your books.”
When
a white male fan tweets to CBC, “didn't care about Trayvon till she copyrighted his name and made
trash cans of money!” a reference to how Ms. Fulton had to legally claim the
rights to her son’s image so that t-shirt makers could stop profiting from the
tragedy, CBC tweeted back, “Boom. That’s it!”
It
doesn’t get much more coldblooded than that. Conservative Black Chick can now
consider herself in the ranks with Sean
Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly.
You
may recall, this follows a pattern that conservatives follow consistently.
Children are shot to death in a shooting
rampage at school, the right-wing attacks the parents and protect the gun
owners.
The families of 9/11 victims lobby Congress for
better legislation, the right-wing accuses them of just wanting money and
public pity (Ann Coulter was especially vicious on that).
An unarmed black teen is shot to death by a
vigilante, and it’s the child’s fault for being a black teen.
They’ll say anything, no matter how hateful,
because the right-wing doesn’t want to deal with any issue that they feel gives
their opposition strength.
Even if it means hatefully attacking a grieving
mother, and dancing on the grave of her murdered son.
I hope one day, when Crystal Wright, aka
“Conservative Black Chick” really looks at herself in the mirror, she’ll see
who she really is.
A political zealot who feeds off the
destruction of others, especially her own.
JAY-Z
AND BELAFONTE –I join with those who have a serious problem with rapper Jay-Z and his criticism of legendary
entertainer/civil rights activist Harry
Belafonte.
Belafonte,
as is his fashion, criticized Jay-Z and his wife, superstar Beyonce’, for not doing more to help
their community.
A
furious Jay-Z struck back in a song on his new CD, calling Mr. Belafonte a
“boy,” later saying that he, Jay-Z, is just like Pres. Obama because his very presence is “charity.”
To
call a legend like Harry Belafonte “boy” is so low and ignorant, I can’t even
begin to comprehend. I get it that J-Z didn’t like being called out. Guess
what? That’s what our elders do in the community when they see us young bucks
either doing wrong, or not doing enough of what we should. Belafonte did the
same thing former US Secretary of State
Colin Powell, and yes, to even Pres. Obama.
Intelligence
and wisdom on Jay-Z’s part would have told him that to get into a rhetorical
fight with Harry Belafonte, a man who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and who has been on the cutting edge of
social consciousness for half-a-century, would be a losing proposition.
To
make matters worse, Belafonte has more courage than ten Jay-Z’s, and has no
fear of speaking his mind. Jay-Z doesn’t realize yet, but the empire he’s built
could all be taken away in manner of months.
I
hope these two get to sit down and talk, as Mr. Belafonte has requested. That
would require Jay-Z to bury his ego, and realize that part of living is
respecting our elders, because they’ve lived the life, and have that wisdom
that we so desperately need.
Wise
up, Jay-Z, and watch that “boy” stuff!
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.
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