http://nnpa.org/supreme-courts-shelby-ruling-makes-selma-a-footnote-by-freddie-allen/
http://nnpa.org/president-meets-with-black-civil-rights-political-and-religious-leaders/
http://nnpa.org/americas-record-of-black-lynchings-worse-than-previously-thought/
CASH IN THE APPLE FOR 3-5-15
By Cash Michaels
This will
be the second North Carolina film festival this year to feature “Pardons…”, and
we hope that there will be more. Of course we will continue to screen the film
in the community throughout the state. We’ll keep you posted.
LEONARD NIMOY – There was certainly
a collective sense of sadness and gratitude last week when word came that Leonard Nimoy, whose portrayal of the
legendary “Mr. Spock” on the old “Star Trek” TV series made him a cultural
icon, had died. He was 83.
Sadness because Nimoy has been a
fixture in our lives since most of us were kids, having grown up with “Star
Trek” on television for so many years. Who didn’t know who Spock. Capt. Kirk,
Lt. Uhura or Scotty were?
And gratitude because Nimoy has
been one of the most enduring actors on stage, screen and TV for the past 50
years, also appearing in “Mission: Impossible,” four Star Trek movies
(directing four of them), and directing the comedy hit, “Three Men and Baby” with Tom Selleck.
Nimoy was perhaps our culture’s
first popular nerd, giving a nod and a wink to many a college student that the
pursuit of knowledge was a worthy pursuit indeed.
But Nimoy was also someone who
believed in diversity and equal treatment, taking time to give his celebrity to
many causes, supporting the work of Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr., and writing a published 1968 letter to a mixed race
child to be the very best that she can be, despite the odds.
So we’re certainly sorry to see
Leonard Nimoy go, but we are thankful for all of the great moments he’s given
us, and the many causes for humanity that he supported.
“EMPIRE” – If you haven’t seen me
right anything about the hit Fox TV show “Empire,” there’s good reason. It’s
not because I don’t like it, but because I’ve never seen it. That’s right, the
hottest show of television right now, and I have not taken the time to watch
even one episode. One of the reasons why is because I’m not really interested
in the subject matter, namely a dysfunctional black family which owns a record
company, and the things they deal with to stay on top.
Thanks, but no thanks.
Mind, I don’t have quibble with the actors involved. Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson are two of the best,
and famed Hollywood director-producer Lee Hamilton is in charge, so I have no
qualms about the production values.
I’m just tired of seeing stuff like
that, an have no real interest. Probably the same reason why I turn my nose up
on watching “Scandal” and “How to Get Away With Murder” on ABC. That crap will
rot your brain if you watch enough of it.
So thanks, but no thanks. A lot of
folks say this is a golden age with so many black shows and so many black
characters on television doing well (especially black actresses) And “Empire”
is special because it is literally increasing audience every week that it’s on,
which is an historic feat.
Well GOD bless ‘em, but that’s not
enough for me to watch.
Sorry.
MO’NIQUE – Yes, yes I’ve also been
following actress Mo’Nique’s sorry
“I’ve been blackballed from Hollywood” tour
in the aftermath of the Academy Awards. Remember the former comedienne
won a Best Supporting actress Oscar for her turn in the Lee Daniels’ film, “Precious” in 2010, but strangely disappeared
from the scene shortly afterwards. She did have a nightly talk show on BET for
a short while, but that didn’t last long.
Mo’Nique says Lee Daniels, her
“dear friend” told her that she wasn’t working because she had been
blackballed. Apparently Mo’Nique refused to help promote “Precious” at the
Cannes Film Festival in France because she wanted some down time with her
family, she says. Yet when the studio pressed her to make time, she asked for
money, which they refused (studios pay all promotional expenses, but never
fees). So the woman got branded hard to
deal with, and has been blackballed ever since.
To be clear, Mo’Nique tried to act
as if she was someone the studio needed to bow down to, and it blew up in her
face. Now that she’s paid the price, she’s trying to make like she’s the
victim. No sympathy here. When you decide to become part of production, you show your worth by showing
you’re a team player. When that happens, people want to work with you more
because they know they can count on you. Give folks attitude, and they get the
message, and find ways to work around you.
Mo’Nique did this to herself, and
from what I hear, her manager husband didn’t help matters any with the manner
in which he allegedly tried to push everyone’s button.
The girl just has to learn.
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.waug-network.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.
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UNC SYSTEM BOARD
ELIMINATES THREE CAMPUS CENTERS
[CHARLOTTE]
As expected, the UNC Board of Governors Feb. 27th voted to
discontinue three campus centers it deemed
to be unnecessary, amid criticism that the Republican-led board did so
out of political retribution. Acting on a recommendation from its committee,
the board eliminated the UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at Chapel
Hill, the NC Center for Biodiversity at East Carolina University in Greenville,
and the Institute for Civic Engagement and Social Change at North Carolina
Central University in Durham. The centers, none of which receive any state
funding, are slated to close by Sept. 1st. Prof. Gene Nichol,
director of the UNC Poverty Center, is a known critic of Republican Gov. Pat
McCrory and GOP-led NC General Assembly. NCCU Prof. Jarvis Hall is the director
of the Institute. Both have strong ties to NCNAACP President Rev. William
Barber, who is a devout critic of Republican leadership.
DEATH PENALTY SOUGHT
IN TRIPLE MURDER CASE
[CHAPEL
HILL] The suspect in the triple murder of a three Chapel Hill Muslim students
will now face the death penalty, says Durham District Attorney Roger Echols.
Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, has been charged with three counts of first-degree
murder in the Feb. 10th execution-style slayings of Deah Shaddy
Barakat, 23; his wife, Yusor Mohammad, 21; as her young sister Razan Mohammad
Abu-Salha, 19. Investigators say Hicks allegedly killed the three college
students over parking spaces at their condominium complex. Federal authorities
are still trying to determine if Hicks killed them because of their Islamic
faith. Hicks’ wife, who says she is now divorcing him, insists that the Muslim faith
of the victims had nothing to do with their murders.
MCCRORY DEFENDS NCDOT
SEC. TATA’S DAY OFF DURING SNOWSTORM
[RALEIGH]
The last place most North Carolinians would expect the secretary of the North
Carolina Department of Transportation to be during a snowstorm crippling the
state would be in Chicago promoting his new book. But that’s exactly where
NCDOT Sec. Tony Tata was last Tuesday as snow six to ten inches in some places
snarled traffic and cancelled several school systems. Tata’s boss, Gov. Pat
McCrory, says he has no problem with Tata’s absence, adding that Tata “did an
outstanding job” overseeing statewide road clearing operations throughout the
day from Illinois. The governor said his employees are expected to handle their
jobs on their days off when needed, and adapt to “changing conditions.”
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TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 3-5-15
DID RACE PLAY A ROLE
WHEN THREE BLACK TEENS WERE MADE TO LEAVE CRABTREE MALL?
Last
Saturday, Jordan Bowden, 17, did what other shoppers at Crabtree Valley Mall do
after they make a purchase – namely sitdown at the Food Court. But apparently
Crabtree security felt Bowden, his brother, 11, and his two friends, ages 15
and 14, were doing more, and escorted the four young black males from the
premises, accused of loitering. Their parents want to know why. So does the
Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children, which joined the
parents in telling reporters this week raced was a factor in what mall security
did, and they want answers. Bowden has a dated receipt proving that he shopped.
He and his friends say they were embarrassed. Crabtree counters that the four
were violating posted policies by occupying table for an extended time without
shopping or eating. The parents want to meet with officials.
DUKE STUDENT
NEWSPAPER REPORTS SEXUAL ALLEGATIONS AGAINST FORMER PLAYER
Was Rasheed
Sulaimon drummed off the Duke Blue Devil Basketball team in January because of
sexual assault allegations against him? Duke University’s student newspaper, The Chronicle, reported Monday that
sources alleged that Sulaimon, a junior, was involved in two sexual assaults on
two females, even though no criminal complaint was ever filed with police or
the school. An attorney representing Suliamon says the accusations are false. The Chronicle report alleges that Blue
Devil Coach Mike Krzyzewski and his staff knew about the allegations as early
as March 2014, even though he refused to comment to reporters on Monday.
BILL CAMPBELL TO
SPEAK AT TRAILBLAZERS CELEBRATION
A major
figure in Raleigh’s black history is coming back home to speak. Former Atlanta
Mayor Bill Campbell, who was the first black student to integrate the Raleigh
Public School System in 1960, will be the keynote speaker for the 2015 Black
History Trailblazers Celebration, sponsored by the Wake County Board of
Education, on Friday, March 13th . 6 p.m. at Marbles Kids Museum,
201 E. Hargett Street in Raleigh. The
purpose of the event is to honor community members that played a pivotal role
in desegregating Wake County public schools.
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JUSTICE DEPT REPORT
CITES
FERGUSON POLICE
RACISM
By Cash Michaels
Editor
In the
aftermath of the fatal August 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown in
Ferguson, Mo. that touched off weeks of national debate and demonstrations, the
US Justice Dept. has concluded that even before that fateful incident, the
police department there demonstrated clear patterns of racial bias towards its
black citizens.
According
to published reports this week, a Justice Dept. review, that The New York Times called “scathing,”
found that the Ferguson Police Dept. routinely acted on racial stereotypes to
make a disproportionate number of unwarranted traffic stops, arrests and to employ
the use of excessive force.
The report
stated flatly that the constitutional rights of African Americans were
repeatedly violated.
And the
racism wasn’t limited to just Ferguson police officers. Emails secured during
the exhaustive federal review of some 35,000 pages of the small city’s records,
in addition to hundreds of interviews, revealed racist emails from municipal court
officials about black people on official documents.
A 2008
Ferguson official email joked that President Obama couldn’t be president for
very long because “what black man holds a steady job for four years.” Another
racist email from a Ferguson public official citied a local black woman
receiving a check from Crimestoppers two weeks after she had had an abortion.
The Justice
Dept. is expected to now force the Ferguson Police Dept. to make substantial
changes in both policies and practices, if not personnel, under the threat of a
federal court order if an agreement cannot be reached.
Published
reports say Ferguson officials are cooperating.
The Justice
Dept. report confirmed what many black longtime citizens of Ferguson have been
saying ever since the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by Officer
Darren Wilson last year. Even though Ferguson is 67 percent black, African
Americans historically shared little of the power and control over their town,
or their lives.
Whites
literally dominate all areas of city government, particularly the police force,
where there are only three black officers. As a result from 2012 to 2014, the
Justice report says, African Americans made up 85 percent of all traffic stops,
90 percent of all citations, 93 percent of all arrests, and an astonishing 88
percent of cases where police used force.
Given those
numbers, the Justice report cited an even more astonishing statistic – even
though blacks were at least twice as likely as whites to be stopped in traffic
and searched, whites were found more than blacks to be carrying illegal drugs and
weapons.
The report
makes clear that the majority of the black traffic stops and arrests were
without reasonable suspicion or probable cause. And part of the motivation for
the traffic stops was charging fines and fees to the mostly low-income blacks that
were forced to go to court repeatedly.
The
resulting revenues, the second largest source
behind sales taxes, literally helped to balance the Ferguson city budget, the
Justice report says.
Darren Wilson, the now former Ferguson police
officer who fatally shot unarmed black teenager Michael Brown last August, will
not be charged with a civil rights violation in the matter, published reports
say. Outgoing US Attorney General Eric Holder says he’d like to see the
threshold for making civil rights charges stick in police shooting cases
lowered.
-30-
CONCERN ABOUT THE
LYNCH CONFIRMATION
By Cash Michaels
Editor
If
published reports are to be believed, US Attorney Loretta Lynch has the US
Senate votes to be confirmed the next Attorney General of the United States, succeeding
the outgoing Eric Holder.
But
supporters are growing more and more concerned that the longer the Senate takes
to hold a confirmation vote on the North Carolina native’s nomination, the more
time those who oppose her have to cause problems, and make that vote a lot
closer than many believe it should be.
According
to the Washington Post this week,
Senate Republicans “…aren’t talking to Democrats about when they will” hold the
vote.
“Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch has
passed her senatorial job interview. She answered questions for eight hours
during her confirmation hearing, submitted detailed responses to almost 900
written questions, and met individually with at least 59 senators. She has
earned the support of members of both parties, top law enforcement groups and
25 former U.S. attorneys from Republican and Democratic administrations,” wrote
Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D-Minn] this week in a Politico
Magazine op-ed titled “Immediately Confirm Loretta Lynch.”
“So why has her nomination
languished for nearly four months — longer than any nominee for attorney general
in recent memory?’ the Minnesota senator continued. “And why have senators like
my colleague Ted Cruz [R-Arizona] insisted that she is somehow lawless? Why
have they gone to such lengths to torpedo her confirmation?”
“Loretta
Lynch is supremely qualified to be our nation’s top cop,” Sen. Klobuchar
concluded, “and she should be confirmed immediately.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee
voted 12-8 last month to send Lynch’s nomination to the full Senate for
confirmation.
Three Republicans – senators Orrin
Hatch of Utah, Lindsay Graham of South Carolina and Jeff Flake of Arizona –
voted with the committee’s Democrats in support.
But the
rest of the panel’s Republicans, most notably Sen. Thom Tillis of North
Carolina, voted against Lynch, primarily because of her seeming support for
President Obama’s executive action on immigration.
“I think she’s probably a pretty fine
person,” Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain told Politico. “But when she said she thought that the president’s
executive orders were ‘reasonable,’ I can’t support her. I can’t support her.”
For Tillis,
there was one additional bone of contention with Loretta Lynch – her refusal to
commit to ending the federal lawsuit against North Carolina over its new voter
ID laws if she’s confirmed. Tillis was the North Carolina speaker of the House that
helped to push what many say are some of the most restrictive voter
identification laws in the nation. He’s named in that lawsuit, and asked Lynch
during the Judiciary Committee hearings if it was the “best use” of ten Justice
Dept. attorneys.
“I look forward to learning
more about it should I be confirmed, and I believe the matter will proceed to
court and we will await the results there,” the nominee replied, to Sen. Tillis’
dissatisfaction.
Tillis also didn’t like that Lynch
had directly referenced the Justice Dept.’s voter ID litigation during a speech
she made in January 2014 in Long Beach, NY, months before Pres. Obama nominated
her for Attorney General.
“We
stand in this country, at a time when we see people trying to take back so much
of what Dr. King fought for. We stand in this country. People try and take over
the statehouse and reverse the goals that have been made in voting in this
country,” a tape of Lynch’s remarks show her saying.
“But
I’m proud to tell you that the Department of Justice has looked at these laws
and looked at what’s happening in the Deep South, and in my home state of North
Carolina, has brought lawsuits against those voting rights changes that seek to
limit our ability to stand up and exercise our rights as citizens. And those
lawsuits will continue.”
The
junior Republican senator from North Carolina was not pleased.
“By
all indications, Ms. Lynch would continue to pursue the costly and frivolous
lawsuit against the state of North Carolina to overturn a common sense and constitutionally
sound voter ID law,” Sen. Tillis said. “That same law is supported by the vast
majority of North Carolinians, and the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that
similar state photo ID laws are in fact constitutional.”
“In light of the testimony at her confirmation hearing and
her subsequent refusal to provide straightforward answers to written questions
from myself and other senators, it appears that she would represent little, if
any, tangible policy or management difference from Attorney General Eric
Holder,” Tillis said. “I cannot vote to confirm a nominee who will not make a
firm and explicit commitment to reverse the partisan politicization that
presently exists at the Department of Justice.”
North Carolina’ other Republican
senator, Richard Burr, joined Tillis in his opposition.
“I am unable to support her
nomination due to her advocacy for continuing federal lawsuits against states
like North Carolina who seek to uphold the integrity of their elections. I believe
states have an obligation to ensure the fairness and accuracy of their
elections, but unfortunately this hyperpartisan Justice Department has
challenged voter ID laws for political advantage. I wish Ms. Lynch the best in
her future endeavors, but she is not the right choice for Attorney General.”
North Carolina Congressman
and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, G. K. Butterfield, wasted no time
blasting Tillis for his no-vote on Lynch.
“I am deeply disappointed, as I’m
sure many North Carolinians are, in Senator Thom Tillis’ vote this morning in
the Senate Judiciary Committee,” Rep. Butterfield said Feb. 26th.
“Senator Tillis voted against the nomination of North Carolina’s own, Loretta
Lynch, for Attorney General of the United States, despite a successful 30-year
legal career as a lawyer, prosecutor, and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern
District of New York. Senator Tillis had an opportunity today to be on
the right side of history in supporting the nomination of Ms. Lynch, who would
be the first African-American woman to serve as Attorney General.”
“The politics that Republicans have
played with Ms. Lynch’s nomination is deplorable. Ms. Lynch’s nomination
has been pending for more than 100 days. During this time she has been
open and transparent, answering hundreds of questions requested by members of
the Senate Judiciary Committee. Opposition to her nomination is nothing
more than a political ploy by Republicans to once again use any means necessary
to show their disdain for the President.”
“It is disturbing that Senator
Tillis is beginning his tenure in the Senate by casting such a misguided and
politically calculated vote,” Rep. Butterfield added. “However, I’m confident
that the full Senate will confirm Loretta Lynch, a daughter of North Carolina,
as the next Attorney General of the United States.”
In a published interview,
Butterfield said that he was also concerned that 51 House Republicans had sent
a letter over to the Senate Judiciary Committee prior to its vote, urging members
not to sign-off on Lynch. North Carolina congressmen Mark Meadows and Richard
Hudson were among them.
"We appreciate Ms. Lynch for her many years of outstanding
service to our nation,” the House GOP letter said in part. “Nonetheless, having
observed her nomination hearing testimony, we can only conclude that she has no
intention of departing in any meaningful way from the policies of Attorney
General Eric Holder, who has politicized the Department of Justice and done
considerable harm to the administration of justice. Our larger concern is with
Ms. Lynch's apparent unwillingness to stand up to the President and his
unconstitutional efforts to circumvent Congress and enlarge the powers of his
office."
The civil rights community has
joined the Congressional Black Caucus and Senate Democrats in pushing back
against Republican opposition to Loretta Lynch, and pushing for an immediate vote
for her confirmation.
“Now, just as the long nomination process is about to draw
to a close, a last minute ad feminam attack has been launched against
her by Congressional Tea Party members, who apparently have no shame,” wrote
NCNAACP Pres. Rev. William Barber and Executive Director Rev. Michelle Laws in
a recent letter to Sen. Tillis. “We respectfully ask you to disassociate
yourself from this attack that only dishonors Ms. Lynch, the Senate, and the
high office she will soon hold.”
Other statements of support for
Lynch have come from the Washington, D.C. based Advancement Project, and the
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
If Loretta Lynch is eventually
confirmed, she would become the first African American woman ever to serve as
US Attorney General. Born in Greensboro and raised in Durham by Rev. Lorenzo
Lynch Sr. and his wife, a librarian, Lynch is currently the US attorney for the
Eastern District of New York, where she has prosecuted numerous terrorist,
organized crime and civil rights cases successfully.
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