THE CASH STUFF FOR 7-16-15

NNPA STORIES -

http://nnpa.org/nnpa_newswire/obama-urged-to-appoint-reparations-commission-by-freddie-allen/?_sf_s=lead+story

CASH IN THE APPLE – 7-16-15

By Cash Michaels

            “PARDONS” IN HILLSBOROUGH SATURDAY – Another free screening of the NNPA – CashWorks HD Productions documentary, “Pardons of Innocence: The Wilmington Ten,” this Saturday, July 18^th at the Central Orange Senior Center, in Hillsborough, NC. Doors open at 5:30pm, the screening begins at 6:00pm, and at 8 p.m.

            The documentary recounts the turbulent history surrounding the troubled desegregation of New Hanover County Public School System in NC during the late 1960s through 1971, and the violent incidents that led to the false prosecution of eight black male students, a white female community organizer, and civil rights activist, Rev. Benjamin Chavis, for protesting racial injustice.

            This 119-minute film also traces how the Black Press—initially led by Wilmington Journal publisher Thomas C. Jervay, Sr., and subsequently, over 40 years later, by his daughter, publisher-editor Mary Alice Jervay Thatch, through the NNPA—played a vital role in achieving the official exoneration of the Wilmington Ten in 2012 by then Governor Beverly Perdue.

            The film recently won Second Place for Best Documentary at the 2015 NC Black Film Festival, and is currently screening across the country. Free Spirit Freedom, sponsor of Saturday’s screening in Hillsborough, is a cultural arts initiative dedicated to building bridges of cross-cultural understanding through history and the arts. It is a project of the Hillsborough Arts Council, a 501[c]3 nonprofit organization.

            For more information, contact Free Spirit Freedom co-founders: Renee Price at 919-593-1904 or reneeprice2012@gmail.com, or Thomas Watson at 919-451-1844 or thomaswatson30@yahoo.com. The Central Orange Senior Center is located at 103 Meadowlands Drive, Hillsborough, NC, or call 919-245-2015.

POWER OF SYMBOLS – Watching the Confederate battle flag being taken down last week from in front of the South Carolina State House was eerie, in that just like the election of a black president, it is something many of us thought we’d even see in our lifetime.

            But it happened, and the price was nine innocent, decent Christian lives, taken from a black church in Charleston, SC. Ending tyranny is always going to cost something. That is an inescapable fact.

            However, at the time of the slayings, no one realized that the price would also entail taking down one of the greatest symbols of hate in history – the Southern battle flag raised in defiance to the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Many white Southerners were falsely taught that the flag was a symbol of courage and honor, and pride in heritage, and thus, a vital piece of history that should be maintained.

            Seeing how much some, even now, hold onto to that flag and refuse to accept what it actually was, made me open my eyes even wider to the power of symbols. As much as we’d like to think otherwise, all of us, as humans, operate by the power of symbols. It’s inescapable.  Virtually everything means something beyond what it initially appears to be.

            And it’s not just flags.  Certain kind of smile can mean that you’re in serious trouble. The tone and tenor of someone’s voice could easily mean they mean much, much more than they are only saying with words. The type of clothing you wear, the way you style your hair, the very colors you display yourself in all symbolize who you are, and the way you feel.

            That’s why when some people say bringing down the Confederate battle flag is fine, but we have more important issues to discuss, what they’re trying to do is discount the power of that symbol by effectively instructing everyone to ignore it. Problem is in doing so, they fail to appreciate the decades of pain that that particular symbol of hate represents. The many lynchings, bombings and killings that flag inspired, all in the name of white supremacy.

            Few of us would tolerate the flying of the Nazi symbol over our state capital, and for good reason. It would only be a symbol, and yet, if we know our history, while it may represent a proud and powerful military regime under German dictator Adolf Hitler for some, for those in the Jewish community it also represents the genocide of their people at Nazi hands. They would demand, and rightly so, that any Nazi flags to relegated to the dust bowls of hell, never to be seen again, because of the hate associated with that symbol.

            To the governor of South Carolina, and ultimately the right-thinking lawmakers of the Palmetto State, the Confederate battle flag served as an inspiration for the alleged killer of nine innocent people at Emmanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston on the evening of June 17, 2015. They had welcomed him in to their weekly prayer meeting with love and devotion with prejudice, and paid for it with their lives.

            That singular, hateful act made displaying that historic symbol of hate intolerable, and so the powers-that-be in South Carolina moved with dispatch, and today the flag that flew proudly on their state capital grounds since 1961, flies no more. And while there are many diehard “Southerners” who are outraged by the act, claiming that their beloved flag had nothing to do with racial hate and fear, despite being used by the white supremacist movement since its reemergence over 40 years ago, the majority of South Carolinians today breathe better, and feel better about themselves, and their state, because that symbol no longer represents them.

            So the question now is, what positive symbols of love and progress can come out of this? It will take time, but only time will tell.

            SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT – Saw this post on Facebook the other day, and it made a lot of sense:

            Dear Republicans – when a guy calls Latino immigrants rapists and killers, and then shoots up to #2 in the 2016 Republican polls…you know something is seriously wrong with your party.

            And this is why I question efforts by the Republican Party to, once again, attempt to build bridges to black and other communities of color. Even with an African-American as the chairman of the NC Republican Party, it’s clear to anyone with eyes and a brain that the core of the party is unfriendly to the black community in more ways than I can count.

            Now, am I saying that blacks shouldn’t join the Republican Party? No, I’m not. What I am saying, though, is if you’re going to join the GOP, then work hard to change the GOP. Doesn’t mean it has to turn into a different version of the Democratic Party. Smaller government and limited taxes are still worthy issues to debate. But policies that seek to deny African-Americans their basic right to vote, or remove the social safety net from those who truly need it, should be eliminated from the Republican platform.

            Let’s not forget, white hardcore Republicans were the ones fighting to hold on to the Confederate battle flag in South Carolina last week. Yes, there were many Republicans, like SC Gov. Nikki Haley, who worked to have the flag removed, and we certainly salute them in their efforts.

            But it was just last Sunday when Gov. Haley, appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” confirmed that while she wanted the flag down, and believes that all sides should adopt a more respectful tone from now on, she’s still supportive of voter ID in her state, despite the fact that it denies black people their basic civil rights.

            So while many of us are laughing at the spectacle that is Donald Trump, apparently there are a significant number of Republicans across the nation who see his divisive voice as something that represents them.

            That is a dangerous thing for the GOP, and for the nation.

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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According to this map of Southeast Raleigh supplied by the City of Raleigh, the sections in green are slated for rezoning designation [courtesy of the City of Raleigh]

CONCERN ABOUT REZONING

FOR SOUTHEAST RALEIGH

By Cash Michaels

Editor

            A Southeast Raleigh businessman warns that if residents don’t “slow this rezoning down…” in Raleigh, “…we will regret our laziness for the rest of our lives.”

            Daniel Coleman, a local building contractor, says the new effort to rezone a third of the city by the Raleigh City Council threatens African-American-owned businesses and homes in the downtown area. He’s urging residents to show up for next Tuesday’s second phase public hearing to show their disdain for the new plan.

            “If we do not show up on Tuesday, July 21^st and slow this rezoning down and examine the impact it is going to have on Raleigh and SE Raleigh especially, we will regret our laziness for the rest of our lives,” Coleman wrote in a eblast email this week to his followers.

            “McDonald’s [restaurant] downtown is going to be a casualty, Smith Temple [Church] will be a casualty. The families that live in the downtown area will be [losers]. The working poor that live in downtown Raleigh will be [losers].”

An estimated 1,000 Raleigh citizens from across the city jammed City Council chambers and an upstairs overflow area July 7^th  for a public hearing on the proposed Unified Development Ordinance remapping project (known as Z-27-14) that, if adopted in its current form, would encompass at least 30 percent of the city, affecting one out of three homeowners.

            City officials say the plan is necessary because of Raleigh tremendous growth in population and needed development. They say the current zoning designations are outdated.

            Changes in current zoning designations could allow for high-rise buildings or more commercial sprawl to be developed where there currently isn’t any, or a limited amount.  The result, many residents fear, would be increased traffic and congestion in and around their neighborhoods.

At the hearing, where 120 people had signed up to speak, many of the speakers expressed concerns about targeted areas in historic Oakwood near downtown, North Raleigh, and in Southeast Raleigh for mixed-use development.

Southeast Raleigh activist Octavia Rainey, who lives in College Park, told the Council that the plan would displace many longtime black residents.

“We are under a serious threat,” Rainey told the Council. “This new plan [does] not guarantee that black people are going to be living in historical black areas.”

Dan Coleman, in his eblast, agrees.

“The problem is the upzoning and the impact on housing patterns and the tax rate (not to mention that no one the impact all of this will have on the county’s eight year reassessment that begins in 2016,” he wrote.

“I am bringing this to your attention. What does it take to get you to pay attention? There is a cost for freedom and it starts with your participation and awareness.”

“You have been warned.”

Coleman also suggested that the City Council move to a larger location for “major public hearings.”

Next Tuesday, July 21^st, only 60 people who signed up to speak at the initial July 7^th public hearing will be allowed to address the Council, starting at 6 p.m.. No word yet on when the Council will schedule a vote.

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TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS – 7-16-15

PUBLIC HEARING ON STONE’S WAREHOUSE SALE AUG 4^TH

            The Raleigh City Council will hold a public hearing on the proposed sale of the Stone’s Warehouse property. The public hearing is scheduled for Aug. 4 at 7 p.m. in the Council chamber on the second floor of the Avery C. Upchurch Government Complex, 222 W. Hargett St. Residents who are not able to attend the public hearing have until July 31 to submit comments on the proposed Stone’s Warehouse sale. Comments may be sent to the City of Raleigh Housing and Neighborhoods Department, Community Development Division, P.O. Box 590, Raleigh, N.C., 27602

            The Stone’s Warehouse property is located at 500-510 E. Davie St., 400 Chavis Way and 419 S. East St. The City is considering selling the property to Transfer Development, LLC for $2.02 million. Transfer Development intends to construct a mixed-use development on the site that will consist of townhomes and commercial space.

            The Raleigh City Council has also approved $203,800 to assist Rex Senior Health Center with relocating to a new site on Rock Quarry Road to accommodate the Stone’s Warehouse project. Proceeds from the sale of the Stone’s Warehouse property are pledged to go toward helping Rex Senior Health Center with the relocation and developing affordable housing in southeast Raleigh.

RALEIGH POLICE CHIEF’S SON ARRESTED

            David Brown, the adult son of Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown, turned himself in to authorities Saturday after he allegedly failed to pay for a bar tab three days early at the Ugly Monkey in Raleigh. Brown, 23, was charged with one count of defrauding an innkeeper, a misdemeanor. Chief Deck-Brown issued a statement saying, “"I am concerned and disappointed that my adult child made choices that caused him to be charged. While this is embarrassing for him and for me, it does not alter the love we have for one another. At the same time, I will maintain the confidence I have in the justice system and will let the legal process run its course."

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SOUTH CAROLINA TAKES DOWN CONFEDERATE BATTLE FLAG - SC Gov. Nikki Haley is surrounded by supporters on June 9th when she signs the historic law to officially take the Confederate battle flag which flew outside  the state Capital down, and store it in a museum. The next day, June 10th, thousands gathered as the flag was indeed taken down before the eyes of the world.

"OUR SELMA" - NC NAACP Pres. Rev. William Barber (center), marching arm-in-arm with Rev. Jeremiah Wright (right) and others, leads thousands during a Moral Monday march through downtown Winston-Salem on Monday during the first day of the federal voting rights trial. Rev. Barber says the present-day fight for voting rights in North Carolina is the "Selma" struggle of our times. [Photo courtesy of the NC NAACP]

DID THE GOP TARGET

BLACKS IN VOTING CHANGES?

By Cash Michaels

Editor

            Proving in court that the 2013 Voter Information Verification Act, which imposed new restrictions on North Carolina’s voters, is unconstitutional is one thing.

           But did the Republican-led NC General Assembly know that cutting the early voting period, ending same-day registration and out-of-precinct voting, and eliminating youth pre-registration would specifically suppress the black and Latino vote?

            That is a key burden plaintiffs’ attorneys for the NCNAACP and the Washington, D.C.-based Advancement Project, the US Justice Dept., and the League of Women Voters must prove in federal court in Winston-Salem, beginning this week, if they are to demonstrate not only that House Bill 589 is unconstitutional, but that it also violated the particular voting rights of African-Americans.
            The trial – NCNAACP v McCrory, is expected to span at least four weeks.

            Attorneys for Gov. Pat McCrory and the Republican-led state Legislature have maintained in their opening statements and cross examination thus far that HB 589 is not racially discriminatory, and fair to everyone. To Rev. William Barber, president of the NCNAACP, there is no question race was a factor in devising the voter restrictions.

            “Deliberate, race-based voter suppression laws passed in our state House [and Senate] and signed by our governor… is sin,” Barber told reporters during a June 24^th teleconference with reporters prior to the trial. “It violates our deepest constitutional values, and it violates our deepest moral values which demand equal protection under the law, and the establishment of justice.”

            Rev. Barber went on lay out the case against  McCrory and GOP lawmakers, saying that HB 589, “…targets every, not just one, but every aspect of the voting process – who can vote, where they can vote, when they can vote, and how they can vote. This measure…eliminated the very things that were enacted [earlier by Democrats] to make voting easier for voters of color.”

            Indeed, it was because of strong lobbying efforts by the NCNAACP and other advocacy groups years ago that the then-Democrat-majority NC General Assembly instituted election reforms to allow traditionally politically disenfranchised groups like blacks, Latinos, young people and the poor to better access the electoral process.

            Voter registration was made available at local libraries, churches and even at the county Division of Motor Vehicles office. Same-day registration was instituted during the 17-day early voting period prior to Election Day, allowing people to properly register and vote at the same time, thus alleviating long lines at the polls. “Souls to the Polls” allowed churchgoers to cast their ballots immediately after service on Sunday at a designated early voting location. Youth pre-registration allowed young people, 16 and 17-years-old, interested in taking part in their democracy, to prepare themselves to vote once they turned 18.

            And provisional balloting allowed those who, for some reason on Election Day, could not vote in their assigned precinct, to instead cast their ballots at another poll within that county, and have it counted only after the registration had been checked and verified.

            Barack Obama was able to win North Carolina over Republican opponent Sen. John McCain in 2008 by just 1500 votes out of 4.2 million cast, because he was able to capture the lion’s share of outstanding provisional ballots in a tight election.

            Republicans allegedly saw these voting improvements – successfully used for three election cycles and increasing black voting participation dramatically - along with Democrat-leaning voting districts, as strong advantages they had to get rid of once they took the NC Legislature during the 2010 elections. It took them three years, but once the US Supreme Court gutted Section Five of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in 2013 – thus removing the enforcement criteria for the US Justice Dept.’s Civil Rights Division to monitor the voting process in several states, including North Carolina – NC Republican lawmakers immediately passed what many observers say is the most sweeping and stringent omnibus voting restriction law in the nation – HB 589, targeting those improvements.

            According to the NCNAACP, 70 percent of African-Americans who vote use early voting. Though they’re 22 percent of North Carolina voters, blacks comprised 41 percent of those who used same-day registration. In addition, out-of-precinct or provisional ballots were cast by African-Americans at twice the rate of white voters, statistics show.

            After the restrictions were passed and signed in August 2013, Don Yelton, a state Republican Party precinct chairman in Buncombe Party told Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” "The law is going to kick the Democrats in the butt. If it hurts a bunch of college kids too lazy to get up off their bohonkas and go get a photo ID, so be it. If it hurts the whites, so be it." 
           "[And] if it hurts a bunch of lazy blacks that want the government to give them everything, so be it," Yelton was seen on videotape saying.

            Yelton was made to immediately resign under pressure from the state GOP. He said he “gladly” gave up his position, not wanting to be, “…part of a group that is that mealy-mouthed and that gutless.”
             If there is still any question as to how far some Republican officials in North Carolina would go to remove any perceived Democratic election advantage, one could look no further than the story revealed just this week of Paul Foley, a Republican member of the State Board of Elections, secretly working with local GOP officials in Watauga County to eliminate an early voting site at Appalachian State University, a gross violation of the neutrality state election officials are supposed to maintain, critics say. 
           When seven Watauga County residents filed a lawsuit after the site was closed down, forcing students to travel off-campus to vote, a judge ruled that closing the university site - the only one in that county to vote Democrat during the 2008 and 2012 elections - was clearly to "discourage student voting." Foley never told his fellow election  board members of his actions, which were revealed in emails reviewed by The Associated Press.
           So when the the state Elections Board met to officially consider the request for the shutdown from Watauga County officials, it was not know that one of their own had already colluded to make sure it passed.
           Plaintiffs in the voting rights trial this week say in similar fashion, Republican lawmakers knew that HB 589 was unconstitutional and race-based, but they passed it anyway.
           According to Donita Judge, senior attorney for the Advancement Project – a nonprofit civil rights group litigating the case with the NCNAACP - their task is to prove that HB 589 violated Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which, “…prohibits voting practices or procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or membership in one of the language minority groups…,” as well as the 14th and 15th amendments to the US Constitution.

            Judge told reporters that Republican lawmakers “calculated” their targeting of voting provisions that disproportionately benefitted African-American, Latino and other underserved voters.

            “By targeting the very measures that African-American and Latino voters use at significantly higher rates than white voters, [HB 589] has a disparate impact on voters of color, and abridges the right to vote for people across the state,” attorney Judge said. “This is exactly what the Voting Rights Act was intended to prevent.”

            Judge adds that the Republican-led NC General Assembly, “…knew that this law would discriminate against African-American voters. Lawmakers who were presented with significant evidence that the measure would make it harder for African-American voters to participate in the electoral process, passed it any way.”

            Judge said repealing the previous voting improvements created “a substantial burden,” given that for three election cycles, black voters had come to depend on them.

            As witnesses, the plaintiffs have already presented voters who either had to wait on long lines, along with others whose votes were discounted because they voted at the wrong precincts per changes in the district lines they were unaware of. Other experts include election experts, state lawmakers and others to make the case.

            For their part, attorneys for Gov. McCrory and state lawmakers argue that the voting restrictions were nondiscriminatory, and necessary in order to prevent against voter fraud, though there was little evidence of any. They also say that despite concerns that the restrictions would suppress voting, black voter turnout was strong for the 2014 midterm elections.

            Plaintiffs counter that the 2014 midterms featured the US senatorial race, which spent more money than any other in getting people out to the polls. Plaintiffs say many black voters experienced long lines and other problems associated with the 2013 voting restrictions.

            Thus far in the federal trial which started Monday in Winston-Salem, several witnesses have testified to not having their votes counted when they voted out of precinct, or being forced to re-register because of changes in their voting districts.

            Attorneys for the state have challenged plaintiffs’ witnesses, saying that they could have found alternate ways to ensure that their votes counted.

            Rev. Barber also took the stand, and was challenged by state’s attorneys as to whether he urged NAACP members to deliberately vote out of precinct. He denied the charge.

            The photo identification aspect of the law is being placed on hold for now because the Legislature recently passed measures to soften its requirement, apparently anticipating it would lose in court defending it. Previously a voter had to have a government-issued photo ID. Now, a voter without one can sign a hardship affidavit, and present either a Social Security card or utility bill as proof of identity at the polls.

            The outcome of this case has strong ramifications for at least 30 other states that have passed similar voting restrictions. The civil rights community is watching it closely.

            US District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder will rule at the trial's completion, expected to be sometime in August.

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OBAMA PRISON COMMUTATION

PRAISED, BUT MORE EXPECTED

By Cash Michaels

Editor

            A North Carolina-based nonprofit group committed to “stop the flow of African-Americans to prison” has applauded President Obama’s commutation of the prison sentences of 46 federally convicted drug offenders, but says the president has to do more.

            Dr. Madeline McClenney – Sadler, president and founder of Exodus Foundation.org based near Charlotte, says more nonviolent prisoners should be released immediately, because to hold them further is unconstitutional.

            “Earlier this year, Exodus Foundation.org submitted an application to the White House Office of Pardons requesting the commutation and pardon of all nonviolent federally.convicted persons.  It is a violation of the Eighth Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual punishment to cage human beings who pose little threat to themselves or others,” Dr. McClenney-Sadler said in a statement.

“Few citizens trapped in cages for nonviolent offenses have either the means to hire a lawyer or the understanding necessary to maneuver the clemency process even where legal services are donated.”      

“Exodus Foundation.org commends President Obama for commuting the sentences of 46 federal prisoners, and it condemns the current practice of putting human beings in cages in order to solve social problems.  President Obama must go further and we are available to assist.”

The president’s commutations, the most since President Lyndon Baines Johnson in the 1960s, come as he makes history today, becoming the first president in US history to visit a federal prison.

During a speech delivered at the NAACP National Convention in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Obama demonstrated his concern about the nation’s high incarceration rate, and the need to do something about it.

“The United States is home to 5 percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of the world’s prisoners,” the president told convention attendees. “Think about that.  Our incarceration rate is four times higher than China’s.  We keep more people behind bars than the top 35 European countries combined.  And it hasn’t always been the case -- this huge explosion in incarceration rates.  In 1980, there were 500,000 people behind bars in America -- half a million people in 1980.  I was in college in 1980.  Many of you were not born in 1980.  Today there are 2.2 million.  It has quadrupled since 1980.  Our prison population has doubled in the last two decades alone.”

“Now, we need to be honest,” Pres. Obama continued. “There are a lot of folks who belong in prison. If we’re going to deal with this problem and the inequities involved then we also have to speak honestly.”

“But here’s the thing:  Over the last few decades, we’ve also locked up more and more nonviolent drug offenders than ever before, for longer than ever before.  And that is the real reason our prison population is so high.  In far too many cases, the punishment simply does not fit the crime. If you’re a low-level drug dealer, or you violate your parole, you owe some debt to society.  You have to be held accountable and make amends.  But you don’t owe 20 years.  You don’t owe a life sentence.  That's disproportionate to the price that should be paid.”

The president continued, “And by the way, the taxpayers are picking up the tab for that price. Every year, we spend $80 billion to keep folks incarcerated -- $80 billion.  Now, just to put that in perspective, for $80 billion, we could have universal preschool for every 3-year-old and 4-year-old in America.  That's what $80 billion buys.  For $80 billion, we could double the salary of every high school teacher in America.”

“And then, of course, there are costs that can’t be measured in dollars and cents.  Because the statistics on who gets incarcerated show that by a wide margin, it disproportionately impacts communities of color.  African Americans and Latinos make up 30 percent of our population; they make up 60 percent of our inmates.  About one in every 35 African American men, one in every 88 Latino men is serving time right now.  Among white men, that number is one in 214. “

“A growing body of research shows that people of color are more likely to be stopped, frisked, questioned, charged, detained.,” Pres. Obama said. “African Americans are more likely to be arrested.  They are more likely to be sentenced to more time for the same crime. And one of the consequences of this is, around one million fathers are behind bars.  Around one in nine African American kids has a parent in prison.

“So our criminal justice system isn’t as smart as it should be.  It’s not keeping us as safe as it should be.  It is not as fair as it should be.  Mass incarceration makes our country worse off, and we need to do something about it.” 

The president then cited signs of progress legislatively, with high profile bi-partisan efforts between  Democrats and Republicans to bring about criminal justice reforms to make the system fairer. Regarding his 46 prisoner commutations, Obama said he did so because many were sentenced under the old drug laws “…that we now recognize were unfair.”

“For nonviolent drug crimes, we need to lower long mandatory minimum sentences -- or get rid of them entirely,” the president told the NAACP. “Give judges some discretion around nonviolent crimes so that, potentially, we can steer a young person who has made a mistake in a better direction.”

“So on Thursday, I will be the first sitting President to visit a federal prison.  And I’m going to shine a spotlight on this issue, because while the people in our prisons have made some mistakes -- and sometimes big mistakes -- they are also Americans, and we have to make sure that as they do their time and pay back their debt to society that we are increasing the possibility that they can turn their lives around.” 

 Earlier this year in March, Exodus Foundation.org took a busload of supporters to Washington, D.C. to rally in front of the White House, and call for Pres. Obama to “free the nonviolent.” In their petition to the president, they featured the case of Kevin Washington, who is doing a life sentence after a “third strike” for being convicted having less than 3 oz. of cocaine in his possession when arrested.

The group then held a Congressional symposium on Capital Hill with speakers such as Congressman Danny Davis of Illinois, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, and Congressman Bobby Scott of Virginia speaking out for prison reform.

Dr. McClenney-Sadler of Exodus Foundation.org says the president must follow through with his promise to do more.

“According to data from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, there are at least 40,000 more nonviolent federal prisoners whose sentences should be commuted with all deliberate speed,” McClenney-Sadler says. “They must be released immediately with housing, education and income reentry benefits.   Otherwise, the stars and stripes that adorn the White House flag pole must be taken down.”

 “Under this flag, lynchings, discrimination, segregation, Jim Crow, the New Jim Crow and unspeakable brutality, confinement,  and contempt have been meted out in a network of prison plantations against our most vulnerable youth, adults and immigrants," McClenney-Sadler continued. "We are terrorizing  families and communities with impunity, an evidence-based worst practice and a disgrace to our democracy.”

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STATE NEWS BRIEFS -  7-16-15

WSSU FOOTBALL PLAYER SAVES CHILD IN CAR CRASH

            [LITTLETON]  A freshman football player for Winston-Salem State University rescued a severely injured teenager after a car collision in Warren County Friday night. Kenneth Sharpe Jr., 19, came across the two-car accident on US Highway 158, when he saw Benjamin Rodwell struggling to clime out of a burning vehicle. Sharpe helped him out, carried Rodwell to his car, and took him to the Halifax Regional Medical Center. Young Sharpe hails from a family of firefighters, and says he’d do it again. Rodwell is expected to have surgery.

AFTER EIGHT SHARK ATTACKS, PINE KNOLLS AND EMERALD ISLE ISSUE RESTRICTIONS

            [PINE KNOLL SHORES] The coastal communities of Pine Knoll Shores and Emerald Isle have instituted immediate restrictions on fishing near swimming areas after a record eight shark attacks thus far this year. At least ten beach accesses have been marked for swimmers only in Pine Knoll Shores. In Emerald Isle, shark fishing is banned until mid-September. Experts say fishing lures the dangerous predators closer to shore where swimmers have recently ben attacked.

FORMER MAYOR CHARLES MEEKER TO RUN FOR STATE LABOR COMMISSIONER

            [RALEIGH] The former mayor of Raleigh has announced that he will seek election as the state’s next labor commissioner. Charles Meeker, 61, says he will officially begin his campaign to unseat four-term incumbent Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry for 2016 beginning this September. Meeker served ten years as Raleigh from 2001 to 2011, and is credited with leading the city to unprecedented growth during that period. He says the state Dept. Of Labor should be doing a better job of promoting workplace safety.

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