OUR ENDORSEMENTS [wilmington journal]
Early
voting is underway from now through Saturday, March 12 at 1 p.m. for the
Tuesday, March 15th primaries. Hours of early voting are Monday
through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, March 5 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.,
Sunday, March 6 from 12 noon to 8 p.m. and Saturday, March 12 from 8 a.m. to 1
p.m. at the Government Center – 230 Government Center Drive, Suite 34. Please check www.elections.nhcgoc.com for
additional locations and their hours, or call 910-798-7330.
If you are
not registered to vote during this early voting period, you may do so the same
day that you cast your ballot. Please bring an official document like your
utility bill for proof of address for identification. You can only do same-day
registration until March 12. You will not be allowed to register to vote on
March 15th, Primary Day.
You must
also show a photo identification in order to vote, but if you don’t have one,
you will b e required to fill out a form explaining why, and then be allowed to
cast a provisional ballot.
There will
be a second primary for just congressional candidates on Tuesday, June 7th
because the prior 13-district congressional map was ruled unconstitutional, and
the NC General Assembly redrew the map and pushed back the date pending
approval of a federal court.
GOVERNOR – KEN SPAULDING
In the Democratic primary race
on March 15th, the newspaper wholehearted endorses the candidacy of
Durham attorney and former state lawmaker Kenneth Spaulding. To put it bluntly, we like Ken
because he has a fire in his belly for serving not just the black community,
but all communities regardless of color. Spaulding has an abhorrence for
injustice, and has been traveling the length and breath of this state for the
past two years talking with, and listening to North Carolinians as they cry out
for economic and social justice. For over 30 years, Spaulding has been an
attorney, and has helped to bring hundreds of millions of dollars in business
development and jobs to the state so that many can feed their families and
build productive lives for themselves. As a state lawmaker, he was right there
sponsoring laws to bring about a greater justice and equality for all.
After the
unmitigated disaster that has been the Pat McCrory years, North Carolina needs
a fighter for the common man who knows in his bones what real justice and
fairness for all is all about.
In the March
15 Democratic primary, vote Ken Spaulding for governor.
LT. GOV.
LINDA COLEMAN
Four years ago, Linda Coleman
fell just a handful of votes short of being elected lt. governor of North
Carolina. Courageously, and facing even more primary challengers, Coleman is
vying for the office again, promising to be that strong, forceful yet positive voice
for North Carolina families when it comes to the critical issues that affect
them the most.
Coleman is
a former educator, county commissioner, state lawmaker and state personnel
director, so she is uniquely experienced to represent everyday people on the
issues of improving public education, economic development, greater access to
affordable health care and expanding job opportunities. Coleman has raised and
educated her own children here in North Carolina, so she knows firsthand the
struggles of parents who only want the best for their children, and need that
voice to fight for them.
Linda
Coleman is the complete package, and would be the perfect team member to a
Governor Ken Spaulding.
In the
March 15 Democratic primary, vote Linda Coleman for lt. governor.
US SENATE – CHRIS REY
We
must admit, we are quite impressed with the energy and vision of Spring Lake
Mayor Chris Rey. This three-term public servant is about positive action for
the people, and his record of accomplishments from getting body cameras for his
police officers to having “ban the box” as an official city policy, are proof
that this young man is both progressive and visionary. And that’s why Mayor Rey
wants to be elected as North Carolina’s next US senator, replacing one-term
Republican incumbent Richard Burr. Chris Rey believes the families of North
Carolina deserve a voice that knows their struggles, hopes and dreams. He wants
them to know that if no one else is listening in Washington, D.C., that he will
be, and that they can count on Chris Rey to both sponsor, and support the kind
of common sense legislation that speaks to improving their collective quality
of life.
Mayor
Rey has proudly served his country in the military, is a strong believer in
national security, but is an even stronger believer family security – people being
able to support their families by bringing home bigger paychecks, and he promises
to fight to make that happen if elected.
In
the March 15th Democratic primary, vote Chris Rey for US Senate.
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TRICEWIRE.COM -
CASH IN THE APPLE FOR
3-3-16
By Cash Michaels
MELISSA
HARRIS PERRY – Last weekend, MSNBC
commentator Melissa Harris Perry
refused to do her weekend morning show on the network, protesting the fact that
she felt her bosses had been disrespectful to her and her program. In effect,
MHP drew a line in the sand and said “Enough.” Two days later, MSNBC, obviously
stung by the public rebuke of one of its brightest, young stars, made it known
that the relationship was irreparable, and that it was indeed parting ways with
her.
There are
several ways to look at this, and quite frankly, if MHP wasn’t an informative
television commentator whose show could always be counted on to deal honestly
with black community issues I wouldn’t be dealing with it all. But first, here
are some excerpts from MHP to her staff. Her show had been preempted for the
two weekends prior because of the primaries, so MHP was not pleased with her
on-air situation. Again, she was scheduled to go on, but was now refusing to:
Some unknown decision-maker, presumably [NBC News Pres.] Andy
Lack or [MSNBC Pres.] Phil Griffin, has added my name to this spreadsheet, but
nothing has changed in the posture of the MSNBC leadership team toward me or
toward our show. Putting me on air seems to be a decision being made solely to
save face because there is a growing chorus of questions from our viewers about
my notable absence from MSNBC coverage… However, I am not willing to appear on
air in order to quell concerns about the disappearance of our show and our voice.
Here is the reality: our show was taken—without comment
or discussion or notice—in the midst of an election season. After four years of
building an audience, developing a brand, and developing trust with our
viewers, we were effectively and utterly silenced. Now, MSNBC would like me to
appear for four inconsequential hours to read news that they deem relevant
without returning to our team any of the editorial control and authority that
makes MHP Show distinctive.
The purpose of this decision seems to be to provide cover
for MSNBC, not to provide voice for MHP Show. I will not be used as a tool for
their purposes. I am not a token, mammy, or little brown bobble head. I am not
owned by Lack, Griffin, or MSNBC. I love our show. I want it back. I have wept
more tears than I can count and I find this deeply painful, but I don’t want
back on air at any cost. I am only willing to return when that return happens
under certain terms.
Undoubtedly, television nurtures the egos of those of us who
find ourselves in front of bright lights and big cameras. I am sure ego is
informing my own pain in this moment, but there is a level of professional
decency, respect, and communication that has been denied this show for years.
And the utter insulting absurdity of the past few weeks exceeds anything I can
countenance.
I have stayed in the same hotels where MSNBC has been
broadcasting in Iowa, in New Hampshire, and in South Carolina, yet I have been
shut out from coverage. I have a PhD in political science and have taught
American voting and elections at some of the nation’s top universities for
nearly two decades, yet I have been deemed less worthy to weigh in than
relative novices and certified liars. I have hosted a weekly program on this
network for four years and contributed to election coverage on this network for
nearly eight years, but no one on the third floor has even returned an email,
called me, or initiated or responded to any communication of any kind from me
for nearly a month. It is profoundly hurtful to realize that I work for people
who find my considerable expertise and editorial judgment valueless to the
coverage they are creating.
While MSNBC may believe that I am worthless, I know
better. I know who I am. I know why MHP Show is unique and valuable. I will not
sell short myself or this show. I am not hungry for empty airtime. I care only
about substantive, meaningful, and autonomous work. When we can do that, I will
return—not a moment earlier. I am deeply sorry for the ways that this decision
makes life harder for all of you. You mean more to me than you can imagine.
My
thoughts? First of all, this email clearly indicates that there has been a
steady diet of either miscommunication, or no communication at all between MHP
and the brass at MSNBC for some time, and the recent change of direction at the
liberal-leaning cable network only made it worse.
Some facts
you may not like – the MHP show on MSNBC was owned by MSNBC, not MHP. She did
not produce it under a separate production company. It was produced under the
auspices of MSNBC/NBC News, so while she hosted it and apparently had editorial
control, MHP did not own it.
I don’t
present that to excuse MSNBC’s behavior, but rather shed light on it. As far as
they were concerned, MHP gave them four hours of programming on Saturday and
Sunday mornings targeted specifically, but not exclusively, to its
African-American audience. They were four hours they could spare, as far as
MSNBC was concerned, until they needed them back for something they considered
more important.
The
presidential election was considered more important.
Now, beyond the tone of MHP’s email, I have no idea what the true gist of her relationship with MSNBC brass was. I suspect it was not bad – bad, but wasn’t all that healthy either. That tells me that when it came to important decisions, MHP was really not seen as part of the team. Her show, beyond whatever cursory value it apparently had to the network given its weekend status, really wasn’t seen as something MSNBC considered important.
Now, beyond the tone of MHP’s email, I have no idea what the true gist of her relationship with MSNBC brass was. I suspect it was not bad – bad, but wasn’t all that healthy either. That tells me that when it came to important decisions, MHP was really not seen as part of the team. Her show, beyond whatever cursory value it apparently had to the network given its weekend status, really wasn’t seen as something MSNBC considered important.
That’s not
a message you want to send to someone like MHP. She is an extraordinarily
gifted black intellectual. She is an accomplished professor of political
science at Wake Forest University, a
published author and in-demand lecturer.
Indeed, she is considered part of black leadership, and respected as
such.
So MHP
isn’t just another weekend TV personality. She IS somebody who used her weekend
show to help inform and enlighten her audience, giving them important
perspectives they really couldn’t get elsewhere.
MHP is a
professional, and expected to be treated as such. Television is a business of
egos, so this should not have been anything new for the suits at MSNBC to deal
with. But apparently, in their quest to improve ratings at any cost, the suits
there saw MHP as a lower priority than some of their stars like Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews or Chris
Hayes.
Part of
this is natural in the TV business, but it’s also quite stupid. Recognizing
your network’s talent, and giving them opportunities to shine and contribute,
should be basic common sense.
Now MSNBC
has egg on its face. MHP is gone and MSNBC is hard-pressed to explain it. It is
a loss, and we so hope that MHP is able to find another weekly avenue to share
her unique black perspective. Lord knows that she will be missed.
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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COMMUNITY SEEKS
ANSWERS
IN FATAL POLICE
SHOOTING
By Cash Michaels
Editor
Raleigh
Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown’s internal report to the city manager and
City Council is due no later than Monday.
There is no
word on when the State Bureau of Investigation will render the findings of its
independent criminal investigation to Wake District Attorney Lorrin Freeman, or
if those findings will be immediately made public.
And yet,
the questions in the aftermath of the fatal Raleigh police shooting Monday in Southeast
Raleigh continue to grow, leaving a community shaken that compared to a
Chicago, New York, or even Ferguson, Mo., such a thing could happen in Raleigh.
What is
known is that shortly after 12 noon on Monday, Feb. 29th, Raleigh
Senior Police Officer D. C. Twiddy, 29, shot and killed Akiel Rakim Lakeith
Denkins, 24, during a foot chase at Bragg and East streets while attempting to
serve a felony arrest warrant. Several witnesses say they saw the chase, saw
Denkins run behind P.J.’s Grill and Groceries, climb over a chain-linked fence
and was attempting to climb another, when Officer Twiddy, who had fallen after
climbing the first fence, drew his weapon and fired repeatedly, fatally
striking Denkins.
Some
eyewitnesses say they heard as many as six to seven shots, and that Denkins was
struck in the back.
Several
have alleged that Denkins was unarmed, even though Raleigh Police Chief
Cassandra Deck-Brown later told reporters that a gun was found near Denkins’
body.
Assuming
the events as described by some witnesses are true, it will only be until after
an autopsy and forensic evidence are released that it will be known exactly how
many times Denkins was struck, and exactly where.
Long before
conclusive evidence is known, however, the community and its leaders have
peacefully, but forcefully taken to the streets, demanding the truth, demanding
justice, and claiming their right to the painful declaration that has been
uttered in numerous other American cities since the police killing of Michael
Brown in Ferguson, Mo. in August 2014.
“Black
Lives Matter.”
Again,
until a final public accounting is made by either the Raleigh Police
Department, or the Wake County District Attorney’s Office based on the SBI
independent criminal investigation, based on what little about the fatal
shooting has been reported, there are mounting questions.
THE GUN – In her statement to the media
Monday afternoon post incident, Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown said,
“Initially it is known that a firearm was located in close proximity to the
deceased suspect. That weapon, along with all other elements available at the
scene will be processed.”
Are Akiel
Denkins’ fingerprints on that gun? Who does the gun legally belong to? Was the
gun fired on that day, and was it fired by Denkins? Is the officer alleging
that Denkins brandished the weapon towards him during the pursuit? If the
officer fired his weapon six – seven times, why do so towards someone running
away from him, instead of towards him in a threatening manner? Why didn’t any
of the witnesses who spoke to the media say anything about seeing Denkins with
a weapon, or pointing the weapon towards the officer?
Was Akiel
Denkins known to have carried a firearm? If so, was he ever arrested and
charged with a firearms violation before? If he was ever charged with carrying
an illegal weapon, then was only one officer sent to find him to serve a felony
drug warrant, and if so, why only one? If there were other officers, what were
their actions before, during and after Denkins allegedly ran.
THE OFFICER – Senior Officer D.C.
Twiddy has been employed with the Raleigh Police Department since November 2009
and is assigned to the Field Operations Division. He is currently on
administrative duty pending completion of the SBI criminal investigation.
What is his
history while serving on the RPD? Has he ever had any prior incidents of
citizen complaints, firing his weapon on the job, or have been accused of using
undue force while on duty? Did Officer Twiddy come to the RPD from either
service in the military or from another law enforcement agency?
How long
has Officer Twiddy been patrolling that Southeast Raleigh neighborhood since
he’s been on the force? What was his reputation in that neighborhood? Did he
and Akiel Denkins ever have contact before, and if so, what was the nature of
that contact?
According to published reports, Akiel Denkins
was well-known and liked in the Bragg Street community. He was the father of
two young children, and even though he had a criminal record (arrested 16 times
over the past five years reportedly) dealing mainly with illegal drugs, Denkins
was studying to improve himself and become a carpenter.
“He was a father's son and
a mother's son! I heard that his daughter was asking for him the night he was
killed! He was a father who turned 24 on February 8th! I heard he was loved by
people on Bragg Street and he did what he could to help them in any way! That was
his home! He wanted to be a carpenter!,” stated Southeast Raleigh activist Aaliyah
Blaylock on her Facebook page tribute to Denkins.
Hundreds of
people have held a vigil at the site of the shooting, marched through the
streets of Raleigh blocking traffic downtown, and speaking out demanding
justice. Ministers of churches in the community have called for calm and
patience for the truth to come out, but have also called for justice if the
facts determine that the officer was in the wrong.
Raleigh
Mayor Nancy McFarlane, along with Chief Deck-Brown and other city leaders, has
expressed condolences to Denkins’ family, and also asked for calm, hoping not
to see a repeat of violent street clashes that have marred cities like
Baltimore in the aftermath of previous alleged police abuse cases.
The Raleigh
Police Protective Association has come out in full support of Officer Twiddy
and his actions.
The NCNAACP
has also urged community calm while demanding honest answers. NCNAACP Pres.
Rev. William Barber, during a Tuesday press conference with Akiel Denkins’
mother onhand, said the community “can handle the truth.”
“Just be
honest and forthright,” Rev. Barber insisted.
Tonight
during a community town hall meeting at Martin Street Baptist Church at 6:30
p.m. sponsored by State Sen. Dan Blue, and House representatives Rosa Gill and
Yvonne Holley, all three Southeast Raleigh leaders are expected to address the
events of this week with the community.
-30-
PUSH FOR OBAMA TO
NOMINATE
LORETTA LYNCH TO HIGH
COURT
By Cash Michaels
editor
When Pres.
Obama, Republican Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell [Ky.] and others briefly
met at the White House Tuesday to discuss the political logjam casting a shadow
on the president nominating a replacement for the late US Supreme Court Justice
Antonin Scalia, one thing was made very clear – Obama intends to carry out his
constitutional duty to nominate a qualified candidate before he leaves office
next January, whether McConnell and the Senate take up that nomination or not.
The
Republicans present reaffirmed their vow not to even consider it before the
next president takes office, hoping that it will be a Republican.
If the
president nominated either a moderate or progressive to fill the
ultra-conservative Scalia’s shoes, it would tip the ideological balance of the
SCOTUS to the left, thus breaking the current four-four liberal to conservative
tie, something that Republicans do not want. Justice Scalia’s right-wing leanings
assured conservatives that they had at least one solid champion on the court.
In the wake of his death several weeks ago, they do not want to hand Obama any
advantages.
Among black
leadership, though, the growing consensus of who the president should nominate
to the High Court is clear – US Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
“I would love to see him appoint Loretta
Lynch,” US. Rep. Elijah Cummings [D-MD], senior member of the Congressional
Black Caucus, told The Hill Newspaper.
“She’s already been vetted. She meets the criteria that he’s laid out. She
would certainly be my recommendation.”
Even North Carolina’s black
leadership agrees.
She would be a powerful nominee,” says NCNAACP Pres. Rev.
William Barber. “Her credentials are phenomenal. She is from the South, a
black woman, and someone who has already been confirmed.”
The
Greensboro native, 56, endured a prolonged five-month confirmation battle in
2015 before McConnell and his Republican US Senate majority finally confirmed
her last April. Observers say in the likelihood that Senate Republicans stick
to their promise to not even give Pres. Obama’s nominee a hearing, they would
run a tremendous political risk of not only besmirching Atty. Gen. Lynch two
years in a row, but also angering the black Democratic voting base during a
presidential election year.
Indeed
black female Democrats, the party’s most active base, would certainly be fired
up about supporting one of their own to again make history.
Given how
business tycoon Donald Trump is emerging as the likely GOP presidential
nominee, observers say McConnell and Senate Republicans would not only run the
risk of a black voter backlash when they would least afford it, but could also
cripple their goal of holding onto their Senate majority in November, putting
vulnerable GOP senators at risk in states where Obama won in 2008.
Even
veteran SCOTUS watchers, like Tom Goldstein, who writes the widely read
SCOTUSBlog.com, actually changed his earlier prediction of another likely Obama
High Court candidate, and recently ruminated on the considerable political
benefit a Loretta Lynch nomination would bring.
“The stakes could not be
higher: the appointment could flip the Supreme Court’s ideological
balance for decades,” Goldstein wrote recently. “Second, gain as much
political benefit as possible and exact as heavy a political toll as possible
on Republicans, particularly in the presidential election. Precisely
because of the seat’s importance, this is the rare time that a material number
of voters may seriously think about the Court in deciding whether to vote at
all and who to vote for.”
Other observers believe that while
Lynch would certainly be the best known SCOTUS nominee Pres. Obama could
forward to the US Senate, there are other black female judicial candidates
whose stellar records of accomplishment would also produce an outstanding and
history-making first African-American female associate justice of the US
Supreme Court.
But given her exemplary record as US
attorney general thus far, observers say Loretta Lynch would be the president’s
most powerful choice.
“The United States Supreme Court and our nation would be well served
with a nomination of Attorney General Loretta Lynch to replace Justice Scalia
on that court,” says attorney Irving Joyner, law professor at the North
Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham. “Her credentials are
outstanding and she has been an outstanding attorney general during the time
that she has been in that position.”
Born in Greensboro, Lynch was raised
in Durham by retired pastor Rev. Lorenzo Lynch Sr. and his wife during the
height of the civil rights movement. Lynch graduated Harvard Law School, and
successfully served as US attorney for the Eastern District of New York for
several years before being nominated to succeed US Attorney General Eric Holder
in 2014.
“Given her past outstanding service, her demonstrated knowledge of the
law and excellent judicial temperament, she will make an outstanding Justice on
the Supreme Court and be a intellectual force similar to the late Associate
Justice Thurgood Marshall,” continued Professor Joyner. “I would strongly urge
President Obama to nominate this outstanding African American for service on
the U.S. Supreme Court.”
-30-
-30-
TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS 03-04-16
COMMUNITY TOWN HALL
MEETING TONIGHT
A Community
Town Hall meeting, hosted by State Sen. Dan Blue [Dist. 14], and state House
representatives Rosa Gill [Dist. 33] and Yvonne Holley [Dist. 38] will b e held
tonight. 6:30 p.m – 8 p.m. at Martin Street Baptist Church Family Enrichment
Center, 1001 E. Martin Street in Southeast Raleigh. The community is invited to
come, ask questions and share its views.
CHAPEL HILL REMOVES
MARKER TO DECEASED SLAVES
Workers for
the town of Chapel Hill removed a recently installed granite marker that
honored over 350 deceased, nameless slaves and “free people of color” that are
buried in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery. Mayor Pam Hemminger said while marker
was a “fabulous idea,” it did not go through the normal “community process” of
approval, and as a result, the inscription offended some in the community. The
marker will be stored until the inscription is changed.
AFTER 20 YEARS, NC
STATE STUDENT CONVICTED OF SHAW STUDENT’S MURDER
In
1996, the remains of Shaw University student LaCoy McQueen were found in the
woods near Kittrell after she was missing for several weeks. Police immediately
suspected her boyfriend, Edwin Christopher Lawing, an NC State student, for her
murder, but couldn’t prove it. But this week, A Wake County jury convicted
Lawing of first-degree murder in the crime, and he was sentenced to life in
prison. Prosecutors say Lawing strangled McQueen to death after she told him
she was pregnant. He then dumped the body in the woods off US 1 in Vance
County. Lawing couldn’t be prosecuted because there was no way to prove that
the murder took place in Wake. Finally, after many years, it was determined
that small rocks found in his shoes matched ones found at the crime.-30-
STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 03-04-16
EARLY VOTING BEGINS
MARCH 3 – 12 FOR MARCH 15TH PRIMARIES
[RALEIGH] For
the next two weeks, early voting for the March 15th primaries are
underway in North Carolina for all slated races except congressional, which
have been postponed until June 7 pending federal court approval of NC’s redrawn
redistricting maps. Same-day registration is allowed during the early voting
period. If you’re not registered on Tuesday, March 15th, you will
not be allowed to cast a ballot. To find where to early vote, go to http://vt.ncsbe.gov/pollingplace_search/.
Voter
photo ID is required, but if you don’t have any, you’ll be required to fill out
a form and then be allowed to cast a provisional ballot.
PROTESTERS GREET UNC SYSTEM
PRES. SPELLINGS ON FIRST DAY
[CHAPEL HILL] If new UNC System
Pres. Margaret Spellings thought her first day on the job March 1st
was going to be uneventful, she was in for a rude awakening. Students and
faculty members came together on the UNC – Chapel Hill campus Tuesday loudly
protesting against Spellings, saying that she was wrong for the post.
Spellings, who was selected by the all-Republican UNC Board last year,
previously served as US Secretary of Education under Pres. George Bush.
Protesters say they are concerned, based on Spellings past history and how she
was chosen, about what new restrictive policies she might impose on the
17-campus system.
FEDERAL JUDGE UPHOLDS NEW WAKESCHOOL BOARD
AND COUNTY COMMISSION MAPS
[RALEIGH] Saying that plaintiffs failed to prove that
new redistricting maps governing Wake School Board and County Commission
elections “failed” to prove a violation of the constitutionally protected “one-person,
one vote requirement, US District Court Judge James C. Dever III dismissed a
lawsuit seeking to throw the new maps out. The judge also ruled that the
Republican –led NC General Assembly did not racially gerrymander the district
lines for Southeast Raleigh. Plaintiffs say they may appeal the ruling.
-30-
