http://nnpa.org/beyond-ferguson-time-for-young-black-leaders-by-freddie-allen/
http://nnpa.org/marching-for-national-movement-against-police-brutality/
http://nnpa.org/plus-loan-fix-comes-too-late-for-some-students-by-freddie-allen/
http://nnpa.org/emergency-preparedness-plans-marginalize-blacks-by-jazelle-hunt/
NNPA OP-ED BY FORMER SHAW UNIVERSITY PREWS. IRMA MCLAURIN -
http://nnpa.org/stop-killing-our-black-sons-by-irma-mcclaurin/
-30-
CASH IN THE APPLE
9-4-14
By Cash Michaels
THE TAN
SUIT – If ever the Washington DC press corps has proven beyond a shadow of a
doubt that it wants to bring down this president, Operation Tan Suit is it.
During his
press conference last week while discussing the building threat of the Islamic
terrorist group ISIS, Pres. Obama
apparently stunned reporters by coming out in a tan business suit to take
questions.
The
president of the United States wore a tan business suit to a White House
presser. So what is the big darn deal?
Apparently
it was a very big darn deal to White House reporters, and they wasted
considerable airtime and newspaper/online space focusing on it, while much more
pressing issues burned around them.
“President
Obama Wears Tan Suit, Social Media Explodes” reported ABC News.
“Obama’s
Tan Suit Applauded By Fashion Industry” bellowed The Huffington Post.
“Obama’s
Beige Suit Becomes Talk Of Social Media” exclaimed CBS News.
Oh, I
really like this headline – “Twitter Nation Distracted By the President’s Tan
Suit.”
Now I know
what my colleagues in the press will say – It wasn’t the fact that the
president was wearing a tan suit, but the online reaction to his tan suit that
made news. Fine, I got that, and my response? That online reaction deserved all
of two paragraphs at the most, because this was not real news. I can see this
foolishness making headlines at “Entertainment Tonight” or “Good Morning
America,” but the New York Times and CBS News for goodness sakes? Really?
The fact of
the matter is folks act a if Pres. Obama has broken some kind of cardinal rule
about how a sitting president should dress for a summertime White House press
conference.
It would
surprise them to learn that Obama is the last of a long line of presidents who
have decided to dress in something other than a charcoal coal suit, a blazing
read tie and white suit for an official function. Indeed, if you check Yahoo’s
image results going back to presidents Ronald
Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and now Barack
Obama, you’ll find pictures of every last one of them in a tan suit doing
something publically at the White House.
All of them
looked dapper, businesslike and in charge, and none of them, except Pres.
Obama, according to the written record at the time, caused a major furor in the
beltway because of their choice of attire.
But when it
comes to the tan president in the tan suit, all of a sudden silly headlines by
the major media are in vogue.
We have
been keeping a close eye on how the media have been holding Pres. Obama to a
different standard. Some of it is definitely racist, while some of it is purely
partisan. All of it is grossly unfair.
Indeed, in
the midst of all of this, Pres. Obama is keeping his cool and focus on the
plethora of considerable problems that have inundated his plate. And guess
what? He gets criticized for even being cool under pressure.
The
president just can’t win, can he?
No, we
don’t agree with Pres. Obama on everything he’s done, but we do insist that he
be treated fairly. It’s been over six years now, so this business of America
getting used to having an African-American president is a bit old hat by now.
That means the only reason why we’re still seeing this foolishness about the
nation’s first black president is because there are twisted folks out there who
simply refuse to let their anger and resentment go.
To think
that we have two more years of this. Lord save us!
WOW, 50 – I
spent part of last weekend watching old episodes of the 1960’s TV show, “The Wild,
Wild West” starring Robert Conrad and
Ross Martin. The show made its debut on CBS Television 49 years ago, airing
on Friday nights at 7:30 p.m. (us oldtimers recall when Congress forced the
networks to give local stations back a half-hour for expanded news and
information years later, thus starting network prime time at 8 p.m. from then
on). “TWWW” was a huge hit, as was other groundbreaking TV shows in 1965, Like
“I Spy” starring Robert Culp and Bill
Cosby; “I Dream of Jeannie” starring Larry
Hagman and Barbara Eden, and “Get Smart” starring Don Adams.
And all of
you soap opera fans may recall that “Days of Our Lives” debuted on NBC in ’65
as well.
So what’s
my point? All of these shows mentioned will turn fifty years old in 2015, just
like “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” “Gilligan’s Island,” “The Munsters,” The Addams
Family” and “Gomer Pyle USMC” turned 50 this year.
My further
point? The fact that these shows came on the air when we were kids a
half-century ago is scary. It makes me feel rather old. And yet, to be able to
watch them all again takes me back to my childhood, when my mother didn’t have
to worry about what I watched on TV, and the world seemed to be a simpler
place.
Oh, to be
young again.
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).
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-
TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS 9-4-14
REPUBLICAN WAKE
COMMISISONERS REFUSE TO PARTICIPTE IN
LWV DEBATES
Accusing the League of Women
Voters of a lack of “impartiality,” four Republican members of the Wake County
Commission Board have refused to take part in any scheduled upcoming LWV
candidates forums. Commissioners Paul Coble, Joe Bryant, Rich Gianni and Phil
Matthews jointly issued a letter turning down an LWV invitation to participate,
saying that, “ …we believe your group has a scope tat is too narrow to adequately
preserve the impartiality of the setting need for a full and fair discussion of
local issues.” An LWV spokesperson responded that the nonpartisan group has
sponsored candidates’ forum for the past 15 years, adding that the LWV was “…both
appalled and discouraged” by the “inaccurate accusations” of the four GOP
commissioners. The LWV has forums scheduled for Sept. 17, Oct. 2 and Oct. 9
leading up to the Nov. 4th midterm elections.
DURHAM POLICE OFFICER
CHARGED WITH ASSAULTING FEMALE
More
trouble for the Durham Police Dept., as this time, one of its officers has been
arrested and charged with assaulting a female. Office Michael L. Hodrick Jr.
has been charged with the crime. He is currently on administrative leave with
pay. No details about the alleged assault were available at press time. Hodrick
is scheduled to make a court appearance on Sept. 17th.
MCDOUGALD TERRACE
RESIDENTS MARCH AGAINST CRIME
Residents
of the crime-ridden McDougald Terrace public housing community took to the
streets Aug. 31st, marching and demanding better police protection
for their neighborhoods. They say violent crime in their area is enough to keep
them indoors, even though they could still be victims of driveby shootings.
They say they need to build an even stronger relationship with the police for
increased patrols.
-30-
STATE NEWS BRIEFS 9-4-14
GREENSBORO POLICE
CONSIDERING BODY CAMERAS IN LIGHT OF FERGUSON
[GREENSBORO]
In the aftermath of the tragic police shooting of 18 year-old Michael Brown in
Ferguson, Mo., that midwestern town’s police force is now wearing body cameras.
Apparently what happened there has also influenced the City Council of
Greensboro, which is now scheduled to discuss the need to equip its police
force with small portable video camera on their uniforms so that all encounters
with the public can be recorded, and an accurate record is available in case
further investigation of an incident is needed. Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan
says part of the discussion will be whether video footage from a police body
cam can be considered public record.
FORMER CHARLOTTE
MAYOR TO BE SENTENCED SEPT. 25TH
[CHARLOTTE] Former Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon will be
sentenced on a public corruption charge in federal court on Sept. 25h, court records
say. Cannon, who was just elected to office last November before an FBI bribery
sting netted Cannon in a $50,000 scheme last March, faces a maximum 20 years in
prison and a $250,000 fine. Observers expect that he’ll pull at least 63 months
behind bars. Cannon has promised to help federal investigators with their
ongoing corruption investigation.
SHAW UNIVERSITY
EXTENDS CONTRACT OF ACTING PRES. GADDIS FAULCON
[RALEIGH]
Acting Shaw University Pres. Dr. Gaddis Faulcon has accepted a one-year
contract extension from the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of the
historically black institution while the national search for a permanent president
continues, a university spokesperson says. As of Sept. 1st, Dr. Faulcon’s
title officially changed from acting to interim president, making him eligible
for consideration to be chosen for the permanent position.
-30-
(CROP THIS CLOSE SINCE I GIPPED IT FROM A TV STATION WEBSITE)
MCCOLLUM AND BROWN
MCCOLLUM AND BROWN
JUDGE FREES TWO MEN
UNJUSTLY
CONVICTED FOR CHILD’S
MURDER
By Cash Michaels
Editor
For the
first time in over 30 years, Henry Lee McCollum and Leon Brown are free men, thanks to DNA evidence proving
that they had nothing to do with the brutal rape and murder of an 11-year-old
Robeson County girl in 1983.
Robeson
County District Attorney Johnson Britt says that based on the new evidence, “
…the state does not have a case to prosecute.”
"This case is a tragedy which has
profoundly affected not only the lives of the people involved, but which
profoundly affects our system of justice in North Carolina," said Leon
Brown’s attorney, Ann Kirby, in a statement issued by the Center for Death
Penalty Litigation in Durham.
At press
time early Wednesday, prison officials, acting on Tuesday’s
release order by NC Superior Court Judge Douglass Sasser, opened the prison
gates for half-brothers McCollum, 50, and Brown, 46, allowing them to taste
freedom for the first time in over three decades.
McCollum,
the state’s longest serving death row inmate, has been housed at Central Prison
in Raleigh since 1984, while Brown has been serving his time at Maury
Correctional Institution in Greene County.
The pair were
falsely convicted of the September 1983 rape and murder of 11 year-old Sabrina
Buie, whose naked body was found in a rural Red Springs soybean field with a
bra around her neck, two bloody sticks, and a cigarette butt.
The killer
apparently stuffed the bra down her throat with a stick to suffocate her.
t was that cigarette butt, and the
DNA found on it, that years after McCollum and Brown were forced to confess to
crimes they didn’t commit, pointed to the real perpetrator.
Teenagers
at the time of the rape/murder, both McCollum, who was 19 at the time, and
Brown, who was 15, were said to have the low IQs, and are deemed mentally
disabled. Even though there was never any physical evidence connecting either
one to the crimes, authorities forced them to confess.
Their
forced confessions, made with no attorneys or parents present as they were
being yelled and screamed at by investigators, were the only evidence against
them in the case, their defense attorneys told the court.
Both were initially sentenced to
death, but that was overturned and the state Supreme court ordered new rails in
1988, only to have McCollum convicted again during a later trial and sent to
death row, while his half-brother Brown was tried again and convicted of rape,
being sentenced to life in prison.
The real
alleged culprit, Roscoe Artis, 74, is already in prison serving a life sentence
for the rape and murder of an 16-year-old girl that occurred several miles away
less than a month after Sabrina Buie’s. He is also connected with assaulting
three other females at the time.
In a prison
interview with a defense investigator, Artis cleared the defendants, but denied
killing Buie, even though he admitted coming in contact with her.
Lawyers for McCollum and Brown say
beyond his DNA, his fingerprints were also determined to be on a beer can found
at the Buie crime scene at the time. He also lived in close proximity to the
soybean field.
And in an extraordinary event, just
last month, a box of missing evidence from the case turned up at the Red
Springs police station. That evidence is currently being tested.
On Tuesday
in a Lumberton courtroom, Judge Sasser listened to the daylong evidenciary hearing as attorneys for McCollum
and Brown from the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission presented their
conclusive evidence of their clients’ innocence.
After Judge
Sasser delivered his decision to immediately vacate their convictions, declare
them “in fact innocent,” and free the pair, their families and supporters in
the packed courtroom cried and cheered, and their attorneys said that McCollum
and Brown had to endure extraordinary suffering for the 30 years they unjustly spent in prison.
“We’ve
waited years and years,” Henry McCollum’s jubilant father, James, told
reporters after the judge’s decision. “We’ve kept the faith waiting on God to
make the move.”
He made the
move, and they’re released.”
Leon
Brown’s attorney, Ann Kirby with the Center for Death Penalty Litigation in
Durham, says the new decision is welcomed, but it comes 30 years too late.
"This case highlights in a most
dramatic manner the importance of finding the truth," Kirby said.
"Today, truth has prevailed, but it comes 30 years too late for Sabrina
Buie and her family, and for Leon, Henry, and their families. Their sadness,
grief and loss will remain with them forever."
-30-
No comments:
Post a Comment