THE CASH STUFF FOR JAN. 17, 2013

NNPA STORIES -
http://www.nnpa.org/news/lead/what-would-king-think/

http://www.nnpa.org/news/lead/breaking-the-school-to-prison-pipeline-by-freddie-allen/
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TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS

CHILDREN’S HEALTH WORKSHOP JAN. 25 AND 26TH

            Voices into Action: The Families, Food, and Health Project is holding a special workshop for valued partners on January 25^th and 26^th. This workshop explores the issue of children’s health through assets and networks available in Southeast Raleigh around food access and access to places to be active.  There will be input from community members, community leaders, and organizations that serve the community, and a chance to develop action plans and partnerships. It starts Friday, Jan. 25^th, 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon at Martin Street Baptist Church – the Johnson Building, 101 East Martin Street in Raleigh.

LIGHTNER RETIRES AS HEAD OF MLK HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES

            Local businessman Bruce Lightner has announced that after leading the Martin Luther King Celebration Committee since its inception over 30 years ago, he is officially stepping down. Lightner will be honored during this Monday’s King Day festivities, both at the prayer breakfast, and at the noon service. No word on who will succeed Lightner.

RALEIGH CITY COUNCIL LOOKING TO SLOW DOWN SPEEDERS

            The Raleigh City Council has decided to tackle the problem of speeding drivers through residential neighborhoods. The decision came after a UNC –Chapel Hill public relations class conducted a survey, which indicated 34 percent of the city’s residents consider speeding a major problem on the streets. Apparently speeding tickets are doing the job, so the council has decided to mount an anti-speeding campaign throughout the city.

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STATE NEWS BRIEFS

DMV REVOKES DRIVER’S LICENSES FOR YOUNG IMMIGRANTS

            [GREENSBORO] North Carolina’s Division of Motor Vehicles has sent letters to young illegal immigrants who qualify for a federal amnesty program, revoking their driver’s licenses. Immigrants who came to America as children, and are still under 30, were given a two-year deportation reprieve under a federal program. But North Carolina authorities say that doesn’t qualify them to have driver licenses in the state, and sent letters to those who had received them revoking their privileges until their residency status is legal. The state Attorney General’s Office is supposed to issue a ruling soon.

GOV. MCCRORY’S APPROVAL RATING TAKES A HIT

            [CHARLOTTE] Looks like honeymoon between new Gov. Pat McCrory and the public is wearing off fast. According to Public Policy Polling, McCrory is down already by eight points, and he just took office Jan. 5^th. Part of the reason may be some of the controversial official he’s appointed to his administration, like conservative businessman Art Pope as assistant budget director, and former Wake Schools Supt. Anthony Tata as secretary of Transportation. McCrory’s polling is a 45 percent, two points higher than former Gov. Beverly Perdue when she took office in Jan. 2009.

CHAPEL HILL COUNCIL REFUSES TO REPEAL CELLPHONE BAN

            Despite the efforts of Councilmember Matt Czajkowski, the Chapel Hill Town Council this week, by a 5-2 vote, refused to repeal its controversial cellphone ban. A Superior Court judge has already voided the ban in answer to a lawsuit from a tow truck company that said it would hurt its business. The town has appealed the ruling. The ban would prohibit the use of cellphones while driving through the town. Critics says the ban was unconstitutional.

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 The President’s Plan to Protect our Children and our Communities by Reducing Gun Violence

Special to The Carolinian from the White House

Our nation has suffered too much at the hands of dangerous people who use guns to commit horrific acts of violence. As President Obama said following the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, “We won’t be able to stop every violent act, but if there is even one thing that we can do to prevent any of these events, we have a deep obligation, all of us, to try.”

Most gun owners are responsible and law-abiding, and they use their guns safely. The President strongly believes that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms. But to better protect our children and our communities from tragic mass shootings like those in Newtown, Aurora, Oak Creek, and Tucson, there are four common-sense steps we can take right now.

The President’s plan includes:

1. Closing background check loopholes to keep guns out of dangerous hands;

2. Banning military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and taking other common-sense steps to reduce gun violence;

3. Making schools safer; and

4. Increasing access to mental health services.

While no law or set of laws will end gun violence, it is clear that the American people want action. If even one child’s life can be saved, then we need to act. Now is the time to do the right thing for our children, our communities, and the country we love.

 Gun Violence Reduction Executive Actions

On January 16^th, Pres. Barack Obama, in an effort to curb the onslaught of gun violence in the nation, announced that he and the Administration will:

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.

2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.

3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.

4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.

5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.

6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.

7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.

8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).

9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.

10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.

11. Nominate an ATF director.

12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.

13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.

14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.

15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies.

16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.

17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.

18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.

19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.

20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.

21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.

22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.

23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.

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2013 KING HOLIDAY EVENTS SPONSORED BY MLK CELEBRATION COMMITTEE
                               All events are free and open to the public

BRAD'S RETIREMENT  - Former Raleigh City Councilman Brad Thompson is seen above with his wife Dorothy, imitating Charlie Wilson of the Gap Band at his recent retirement party. Thompson, who has also served in various other public service capacities, says it's time to enjoy (photo courtesy of Brad Thompson).

NCNAACP CHALLENGES GENERAL ASSEMBLY

TO FOCUS ON NC POVERTY

By Cash Michaels

Editor

            Invoking the mission of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for economic and social justice, the NCNAACP Tuesday challenged Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and the GOP-led Legislature to address issues of poverty in North Carolina as the long session of the NC General Assembly begins.

            “Dr. King always understood poverty as a moral, economic and civil rights issue,” Rev. Dr. William Barber, president of the NCNAACP, told reporters at the Legislative Building.  Rev. Barber used Jan. 15^th, Dr. King’s actually birth date prior to Monday’s national holiday, to bring NAACP members and activists with the Historic Thousands on Jones Street to the legislature to lobby lawmakers.

            “The Bible they put their hands on (when they were sworn-in last week) says ‘Woe unto those who make unjust laws that steal and destroy the rights of the poor,’ Rev. Barber said, adding that the constitutional oath state lawmakers took obligates them to ensure that the poor also benefit from policy decisions that are made.

            Poverty, according to federal standards, is a family of four surviving on just over $22,000 a year.

Rev. Barber said over 1.7 million North Carolinians live in poverty – a full 25 percent of the state’s population. Forty-four percent of that 1.7 million are African-Americans.

Over 700,000 are in “deep” poverty in North Carolina, Rev. Barber continued, and 600,000 children statewide are considered poor. Over 10 counties in North Carolina where poverty has been over 20 percent for 30 years.

“We cannot ignore this issue. We cannot just say (poverty) is just someone’s moral failings that they are not willing to work. Many of the poor are white women and working,” Barber maintained.

The civil rights leader added that lawmakers took oaths not to be good Democrats or Republicans, but servants of the people.

Five necessary components need to be addressed in order at adequately eradicate poverty, Rev. Barber said – economic sustainability, educational equality, affordable healthcare for all, inequalities in the criminal justice system, and protect and expand voting rights for all people.

Rev. Barber told reporters that after his legislative briefing, the NCNAACP/HK on J anti-poverty agenda would be delivered to the offices of Gov. Pat McCrory, and legislators in the both the state House and Senate.

He added that preparations are underway for the February 9^th Seventh Annual HK on J People’s Assembly, where people and activists from all over the state come to the Capital City to further raise the issues of social justice.

Barber said he found it disturbing that one of the first issues the General Assembly will address is voter ID, disturbing because with the economy still struggling and North Carolinians needing jobs, there are other, more important issues that should be addressed now.

“We are ever hopeful that the leaders of our state will hear our pleas,” Rev. Barber said,” and ever vigilant to see this cause through.”

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CASH IN THE APPLE

By Cash Michaels

            DR. KING’S DAY – As always this time of year, all of us are preparing to honor the work and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on his national holiday this Monday, Jan. 21^st.

            During these pivotal and historic times in our nation and world, keeping Dr. King’s prophetic voice of freedom, justice and equality ringing true, and ringing strong, is essential to upholding the values that have blessed us as a people, and should bless us as a society.

            So we thank Dr. King, once again, for his wisdom, strength, love and ultimate sacrifice. Personally, he is one of my greatest examples. He continues to inspire me, and I pray that he always will.

            THE SECOND TIME AROUND – History will be made again as President Barack Obama is inaugurated for a second time on Monday.

            It is clear that the president has been embraced by the American people, and that he is working hard to get our economy, and quality of life back on track.

            We have lived through a lot of history with this president through his election, his re-election, and now his second inauguration. We pray that GOD continues to bless our president, and his beautiful family.

            And of course, our nation, ‘cause Lord knows we need all of the blessings that we can get.

THE GUN VIOLENCE DEBATE – There’s no question, especially in the aftermath of the Newtown, Conn. tragedy that saw 26 people shot to death – 20 of whom were school children – that our nation must do something to curb gun violence.

The president made it clear that his administration, without waiting for Congress, is doing something to restrict the scourge of semi-automatic weapons and the ammo those weapons of mass destruction use. Specifically, cutting that number bullets in a clip from 30 to ten, and implementing stronger gun background checks to keep dangerous firearms out of the hands of the deranged.

There should be no argument about the need to have this done.

But there does seems to be some argument about the influence of Hollywood violence on our society. Folks from Samuel L. Jackson to Quentin Tarantino (director of “Django Unchained”) to Arnold Schwarzenegger, all say that the blood and guts shoot ‘em’ gore that we see, even on our TV screens, is in no way connected to the carnage that we’re witnessing in real life.

Why are they saying this? Because if government begins to clamp down on entertainment violence, moviemakers will lose an awful lot of money, and they, quite frankly, don’t want that.

So they deny it.

But what they won’t admit is that the plethora of violent acts we see and hear portrayed creates the toxic atmosphere in our nation that allows us to be more tolerant of violence as a way of life. Our entertainment has turned scenes of violence into candy. We attend certain movies and watch certain shows, not because we enjoy great performances, but because we expect to see spectacular acts of violence which give us a thrill.

Yes, I confess, I’m a junkie for it too, so I speak with some authority.

I love action movies and shows. I love to see the bad guys beat up. I love to see explosions rock.

So why don’t I grab a gun and kill everybody if my love for fake violence is so real? Because, thanks to a good upbringing by the best Mom in the world, I’m able to put that stuff in its proper prospective. I was brought up that morality plays with good guys and bad guys will always display some degree of violence, so understand what it all means.

But not everyone was brought up the same way. They were never given a balance for understanding, never taught that violence should never be the automatic answer in real life.

Indeed, many folks today were the victims of violence when they were young, so that’s, unfortunately, what they respond to. It’s all they know.

Violence, just like sex, is cheap entertainment, which is why there’s so much of it. And we teach our children, from the moment we purchase that G.I. Joe to allowing them to play their first wartime video game, that killing and destruction is cool, without any balance to keep it all in prospective.

So there is a connection. Whether it be a young, ignorant mind; or someone who loves the “power” he feels imitating Sylvester Stallone wiping out a complete village singlehanded, the environment we’re in, one where we’re all two seconds from threatening to kick each other’s behind over something stupid, is triggered by the fake violence we all CONSUME, but don’t know how to manage.

So Hollywood, come off it. You have your share of blame in all of this too.

COLIN POWELL – Why can’t there be more Republicans, let alone more black Republicans like Colin Powell? The former Secretary of State and head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff once again got on NBC’s “Meet the Press” last Sunday, and called his own party out for it racism, accusing it of a “vein of intolerance.” Clowns like Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich don’t like that kind of truth.

Tough!

I’ll stand with Colin Powell and Republicans of any stripe like him any day!

ZERO DARK THIRTY – After all the hub-bub, I finally saw “Zero Dark Thirty,” the acclaimed film by director Kathryn Bigelow about the ten-year hunt for terrorist Osama bin Laden.

Actress Jessica Chastain plays “Maya,” the CIA intelligence officer whose work is credited with tracking down bin Laden to his stronghold in Pakistan, where he was killed May 1, 2011. Chastain’s Golden Globe-winning performance is strong, and she definitely deserves her Oscar Best Actress nomination.

It’s a long flick, but it’s well made. And the actor who absolutely deserved an Oscar nomination, though he didn’t get one, is the actor who is being tortured at the beginning of the film. He had me believing, I’ll tell you that.

CAN’T STOP SMILING – It’s been two weeks now since Gov. Beverly Perdue granted pardons of innocence to the Wilmington Ten. Folks want to know how are the surviving members doing now?

Willie Earl Vereen and his wife, Gail, tell me that he can’t stop smiling now. Well to GOD be the glory! After forty years of struggle and pain, if that smile just loves its new home, there’s nothing wrong with that! Smile on, Willie Earl, smile on.

AT NNPA CONVENTION IN FLORIDA NEXT WEEK – I’ll be in Fort Lauderdale, Florida next week for the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s Mid-Winter Conference. Along with attorney Irv Joyner, attorney James Ferguson and Dr. Benjamin Chavis, we’ll be talking about our recent success with the Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence Project.

NNPA and the Wilmington Journal sponsored the effort, so it will be a pleasure to share our stories and insights with black newspaper publishers from across the nation who supported us.

We’ll give you a report next week.

Make sure you tune in every Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. for my talk radio show, ''Make It Happen'' on Power 750 WAUG-AM, or online at www.myWAUG.com. And read more about my thoughts and opinions exclusively at my blog, ‘The Cash Roc” (http://thecashroc.blogspot.com/2011/01/cash-roc-begins.html). I promise it will be interesting.

Cash in the Apple - honored as the Best Column Writing of 2006 by the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Columnist Cash Michaels was also honored by the NNPA for Best Feature Story Journalist of 2009, and was the recipient of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP’s President’s Award for Media Excellence in Sept. 2011.

Until next week, keep a smile on your face, GOD in your heart, and The Carolinian in your life. Bye, bye.

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The CASH STUFF FOR JAN. 10, 2013

NNPA STORIES -

           http://www.nnpa.org/news/lead/next-budget-showdown-could-lead-to-more-cuts-by-george-e-curry/

           http://www.nnpa.org/news/lead/substance-abuse-fuels-incarceration-rates-for-black-men-by-freddie-allen/

TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS – 01-10-13

WAKE SCHOOL BOARD HIRES SEARCH FIRM FOR NEXT SUPT.

             The Wake County Board of Education this week voted to hire a Nebraska search firm to vet candidates for the next superintendent. By a 7 to 1 vote, the board chose McPherson and Jacobson to conduct the search. School Board Chair Keith Sutton said he wants the entire board to be part of the search process, which he maintains will be open. The firm will be paid $47,030 for its services.

WAKE, NC HAVE THE MOST BOARD CERTIFIED TEACHERS

            The Wake County Public School System continues to have more nationally board certified teachers than any other school district in the nation, according to the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. Wake has 2,299. That number contributes to North Carolina having almost 20 percent of all board certified teachers in the nation, which is 19,799m out of 102,237 nationally.

EIGHT PEOPLE VIE FOR WAKE SCHOOL BOARD SEAT

            Now that District 1 Wake School Board member Chris Malone has left to join the NC House, eight candidates have filed to fill his open seat, published reports say. All but one of the eight are Democrats, including Don Mial, who unsuccessfully ran for the Wake County Commission Board. Wake School Board Chair Keith Sutton says he’d like to see a new board member chosen by the end of this month.

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STATE NEWS BRIEFS

  OVER 612,000 NC VOTERS HAVE NO DMV ID

            [RALEIGH] According to a new report by the NC Board of Elections, 612,955 registered voters in North Carolina do not have identification issued by the NC Division of Motor Vehicles, an d the majority of them are Democrats. The finding is important because the Republican-led NC General Assembly and Gov. Pat McCrory have vowed to make voter identification their top priority as the new legislative session begins. Reportedly, 6,624,672 voters are eligible to vote in the state, with 5,007,790 having a valid DMV or state-issued ID. Of the over 612,000 without official ID, 324,997 are Democrats. Half of voters who don’t have state-issued IDs are white.

MCCRORY GREETS STATE LAWMAKERS AS SESSION STARTS

            [RALEIGH] As state lawmakers came to Raleigh with their families Wednesday to be sworn-in for the start of the new two-year term and long session, Gov. Pat McCrory, who was just sworn-in last weekend, greeted many, in an effort to begin forging new relationships as his term in office begins. For the first time in 140 years, North Carolina has a Republican governor and Lt. governor to work alongside a Republican-led state House and Senate. McCrory said he’s forward to “a team effort” with the GOP Legislature.

NCDOT CHIEF TATA WAS “HEARTBROKEN” TO BE FIRED FROM WAKE SCHOOLS

            [RALEIGH] Gov. Pat McCrory’s new state secretary of Transportation, Anthony Tata, told WRAL-TV News this week that he was “heartbroken” when he was fired by the Wake County School Board four months ago as schools superintendent. Because of friction with Democratic members of the school board, plus big problems with school bus scheduling at the beginning of the school year, Tata was shown the door amid controversy. He’s says he’s confident that his past military training will make him successful on his new position.

                                           GOV. PAT MCCRORY

THE GOV. MCCRORY ERA BEGINS

By Cash Michaels

An analysis

            This Saturday, North Carolina’s first Republican governor in 20 years, Pat McCrory, will be ceremonially sworn into office.

            The formality is largely symbolic, since McCrory officially took the reins of power last weekend when he was officially sworn in January 5^th. He wanted to take the job over from outgoing Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue prior to the NC General Assembly – which is also majority Republican – gaveling into session this week.

            For many Democrats, the prospect of not ruling the governor’s office, or either house of the state Legislature (or the Congressional delegation, for that matter) is disturbing.  McCrory, a former longtime mayor of Charlotte, will serve for at least four years, unless he’s later re-elected.

            And though state lawmakers serve only for two years, Republican-drawn redistricting maps, in the likelihood that they’re upheld by the courts, pretty much guarantee that the GOP will control the General Assembly for the next decade.

            What North Carolina will look like in the areas of education, economic prosperity, access to affordable healthcare and housing, and the social safety net to the poor in ten years, is up for debate. And political observers are already predicting a bloodbath of change once McCrory and GOP legislative leaders begin carrying out their conservative agendas for the state.

            McCrory has already made it clear that he fully intends to sign some sort of voter identification into law, though published reports suggest he may opt to broaden the requirements beyond just photo ID.

            The NCNAACP, with whom McCrory met with recently, has started a petition, asking him and the GOP legislative leadership to govern as moderates.

            “We, the undersigned, urge you as esteemed leaders of the state of North Carolina to reject efforts by extremists on the far right to govern only for the good of a few and instead, that you remain moderate, do what the North Carolina Constitution requires, and govern for the good of the whole,” the NCNAACP petition reads. “The Republican Party now has a super majority in this state and as all of us believe, with great power and influence comes great responsibility. We are praying for your courage to act as leaders in this new year and always for the good of the whole.”

            McCrory, however, has made no public pronouncements to comply.

            The governor also has signaled that big oil and gas companies will see a “welcome” sign from his administration, with McCrory touting the many jobs he believes will come with fracking for natural gas, and opening up North Carolina’s coastline for oil exploration.

            It should be no surprise to anyone that Gov. McCrory will seek major education and tax reforms during his first term in office, believing that North Carolina is long overdue for both.

            McCrory’s choice of administrative officials has already drawn concern in progressive circles. Arch-conservative businessman Art Pope, known for his Tea Party associations, and bankrolling the 2009 of the Wake County School Board, and the 2010 Republican takeover of the General Assembly, has been appointed by McCrory to be assistant budget director, meaning that Pope will have enormous sway over the governor’s budget decisions.

Attorney Kiernan Shanahan, the tough-talking conservative former federal prosecutor whose law firm’s motto is, “Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight,” is now McCrory’s Secretary of Public Safety, encompassing the State Bureau of Investigation among other state law enforcement and emergency agency services.

And then there’s perhaps Gov. McCrory’s most controversial appointment, failed Wake County Schools Supt. Anthony Tata, who was fired four months ago after botching school bus scheduling, and starting partisan fights with Democratic board members.

Tata, a retired US Army brigadier general and former Fox News commentator who once wrote that Sarah Palin would make a better president than Pres. Barack Obama, is now McCrory’s new Secretary of Transportation, in charge of the enormous NC Dept. of Transportation. Similar to when he took over as Wake Schools superintendent, Tata has virtually no experience with statewide transportation issues, but the governor assures all that Tata’s wartime experience in Afghanistan will more than make up for what he lacks for his new post, even though that’s yet to be seen.

What is yet to seen in the power relationship between Gov. McCrory and state GOP legislative leaders is who will lead, and who will follow.

The governor prides himself on being a take-charge, results-driven administrator. McCrory’s drive to get things down may run up against the political ambitions of House Speaker Thom Tillis [R-Mecklenburg] and Senate President Pro Tem Leader Phil Berger [R-Guilford].

Both Tillis and Berger, who have been in power for the past two years, are not likely to follow the Republican governor. They don’t have to. The state House and Senate are veto-proof, so neither has to negotiate with the governor over measures they disagree with.

And neither is likely to wait for McCrory to learn the ins and outs of state government. Both have their own agendas for the state – agendas that have crunched up against each from time to time, and now that they have complete power, the likelihood of occasional philosophical brushups and overreaches is enhanced depending on the degree of control each Republican leader believes he should have.

Time will tell how Gov. McCrory will measure up in his control of state government, and just how much of that control he will really have.

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REMEMBERING JERRY - Mrs. Margaret Jacobs proudly receives the Certificate of Pardon, and the pen Gov. Beverly Perdue signed it with, for her late son Jerry from attorney Irving Joyner (center) last Saturday at Gregory Congregational UCC, as Wilmington Ten leader Dr. Benjamin Chavis looks on. Jerry Jacobs is one of four deceased Wilmington Ten members Gov. Perdue granted pardons of innocence to on Dec. 31st [John Davis photo]

WILMINGTON TEN HONORED WITH

PARDONS, AND PRAISE

By Cash Michaels

            [WILMINGTON, NC] For Mary Alice Thatch, publisher of the Wilmington Journal, it was a sight she wasn‘t sure she’d ever see. But it was because of her efforts, and the team that she put together through the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), that made this day of justice for the Wilmington Ten possible.

            “We knew that we would not stop fighting,” Ms. Thatch, who co-chaired the Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence Project – an NNPA justice outreach effort – triumphantly told the joyful crowd at historic Gregory Congregational United Church of Christ last Saturday.

            Indeed, many of the hundreds of people who jammed into the small black church to see members of the Wilmington Ten honored with the certificates of pardon, signed by Gov. Beverly Perdue, declaring them innocent, agreed.

            The forty-year long injustice was finally, and officially, coming to an end.

            “God demands justice for all of us,” NCNAACP Pres. Rev. William Barber, who presided over the one-of-a-kind pardons worship ceremony, preached from the pulpit.

            “And we must demand it for each other,” he continued.

            Five surviving members of the Ten – Dr. Benjamin Chavis; Wayne Moore; Marvin Patrick; James McKoy; and Willie Earl Vereen; were joined by the families of deceased members William Joe Wright; Anne Sheppard; Jerry Jacobs and Connie Tindall, to receive both the certificates, and the pens with which Gov. Perdue – whose term in office ended Saturday just two-hours before the worship ceremony –

signed on December 31^st.

            The tenth member, Reginald Epps, lives in Raleigh, but has shied away from all Wilmington Ten gatherings as he has struggled to rebuild his life over the years.

            Each member, now forty years older from when they were framed and convicted as young civil rights activists in 1972 by, as Gov. Perdue stated, the “naked racism” of a corrupt prosecutor, proudly received their honors with a handshake and a hug from Pardons Project attorney Irving Joyner, as ecstatic onlookers in the church wildly cheered.

            Gregory Church was once where white supremacists drove by in pickup trucks in 1971, firing their weapons, hoping to kill, if not terrorize, Rev. Chavis, and as many of the black students who had taken sanctuary there a possible.

Wilmington then was a small southern town that exploded in racial violence after black students boycotted the racist schools of the New Hanover County Public School System. Rev. Chavis, eight other young black males, and a white female social worker named Anne Sheppard, would later be arrested, convicted and sentenced to 282 years in association with that violence, though there was never a shred of evidence that they were connected in any way.

But on Saturday, Gregory Church became a place of overwhelming joy and pride. What citizens, black and white, had known for forty years was now reality before their very eyes.

The Wilmington Ten always were innocent!

“This is a great moment, a great moment in the history of North Carolina,” proclaimed James Ferguson, who served as Wilmington Ten lead defense attorney forty years ago.

Under North Carolina law, each member of the Wilmington Ten is entitled to apply for up to $50,000 in compensation from the state for each year of false incarceration, not exceeding a total of $750,000.

Though all of the Wilmington Ten did spend some time in prison, they all had their individual sentences commuted in 1978 by then former Gov. James B. Hunt.

However, after the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned all ten convictions, based on gross prosecutorial misconduct, it directed North Carolina authorities either to retry the Ten, or dismiss all charges.

For thirty-two years, North Carolina did neither, effectively leaving the Wilmington Ten in legal limbo. Most of the defendants had trouble getting work, or keeping a job. Many were shunned by their communities.

And at least two members – Jerry Jacobs and William Joe Wright – died directly because of diseases they contracted directly from their imprisonment.

But none of that was being debated at Gregory Church last Saturday.

Indeed, Dr. Benjamin Chavis vowed that “pieces of silver” would not come between the Wilmington Ten after all they’d been through.

“This is a great day for the movement,” Chavis said happily. “A great day.”

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CASH IN THE APPLE FOR 01-10-13

By Cash Michaels

            JOY IN WILMINGTON – If you were not at Gregory Congregational Church in Wilmington last Saturday, you missed a truly unique moment in history.

            Five of the six surviving members of the Wilmington Ten, and the families of the four deceased members, all receiving their official certificates pardons of innocence, signed by Gov. Beverly Perdue, along with the pens she signed them with on Dec. 31^st, 2012, in a worship ceremony that will never be forgotten.

            It was a fitting end to an extraordinary campaign to seek the legal freedom of ten civil rights activists who were falsely convicted of conspiracy in 1972, in connection with racial violence a year earlier in the port city.

            Rev. Dr. William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP – who has been a powerful partner in our efforts - presided over the ceremony, and delivered his stirring keynote remarks to a jammed-pack, standing room only overflow crowd that saw people literally lined up out the church doors.

            Among those chosen to speak on the program by the NCNAACP, was yours truly.

            I graciously declined.

            Why? Right behind me on program was my intrepid boss at the Wilmington Journal, Ms. Mary Alice Thatch, the dynamic leader who started this all.

            True, as coordinator of the Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence Project, I naturally would be expected to say something at such a gathering.

            But something from inside told me, “No, this is Mary Alice’s time. She has sacrificed so much for this effort, has gone through so many challenges, and even had to live through the loss of her mother, Wilmington Journal Publisher Emeritus Willy E. Jervay last year.”

            Mary Alice deserved, in my opinion, at least one day of complete happiness. This project was her baby from the very beginning.

            In my bones, I wanted my Wilmington Journal boss to take the total spotlight, and allow the community to give her all of the love and applause she deserved.

            And guess what? I was right, and it was heartwarming to see Mary Alice bask in the well-earned glory, and thrust her happy fist in the air in victory.

            What I had to say was not needed. She said it all.

            But perhaps the most powerful moments for me were watching each member of the Wilmington Ten receive their certificates of pardon, and their pens from attorneys James Ferguson and Irving Joyner – two of the best litigators on this, or any planet.

            To see the people of Wilmington hail each of them  - Willie Earl Vereen, Marvin “Chili” Patrick, James “Bun” McKoy, Wayne Moore and the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis - as righteous heroes, was a sight to see…and feel.

            This was a REAL victory after years of struggle. Ten American citizens, getting their full rights back after they were viciously ripped away.

            The families of the four deceased Wilmington Ten members – William Joe Wright, Anne Sheppard, Jerry Jacobs and Connie Tindall – proudly stepping forward to also receive the official vindication they always knew were due.

            It was history, delightful God-sent history.

            A day I’ll never forget.

            I was asked a few days later how being coordinator of the Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence Project has changed my life. I couldn’t answer that because it’s still too fresh, too new. Plus, my responsibilities have immediately shifted to now producing a documentary about what we did, and the challenges we faced (more about that in later columns).

            But how this experience changed my life is not at all important. I know, for a fact, that what our coalition of the willing did was to change the lives and legacies of ten courageous people, who took the blows forty years ago so that all children could get an equal, quality education, free of racial bias.

            That’s what we set out to do, and GOD blessed us by leading us to the Promised Land of our goals. What we did has now made North Carolina history, and civil rights history.

            We have now, like the Greensboro Four, and the Little Rock Nine, completed the book on the Wilmington Ten.

            And one more thing – at his funeral last August, I promised Connie Tindall, as he laid in his casket, that we would get those pardons of innocence.

            Promise kept, Connie. Promise kept.

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 new blog, ‘The Cash Roc” (http://thecashroc.blogspot.com/2011/01/cash-roc-begins.html). I promise it will be interesting.

Cash in the Apple - honored as the Best Column Writing of 2006 by the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Columnist Cash Michaels was also honored by the NNPA for Best Feature Story Journalist of 2009, and was the recipient of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP’s President’s Award for Media Excellence in Sept. 2011.

Until next week, keep a smile on your face, GOD in your heart, and The Carolinian in your life. Bye, bye.

                                    -30-

The Cash Stuff for 1-3-13

WORSHIP SERVICE FOR WILMINGTON TEN SATURDAY

The North Carolina NAACP, in association with the New Hanover NAACP, and the Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence Project, is sponsoring an historic Ecumenical Celebration of the Pardon of Innocence for the Wilmington 10, Saturday, January 5, 2013, at 2:00 pm at Gregory Congregational United Church of Christ, 609 Nun Street and Seventh Street in Wilmington.

At this event, the Certificates of Pardon, signed by Gov. Beverly Perdue, will be formally bestowed upon surviving members of the Wilmington Ten, and family members of the four deceased members.

The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber Jr., president of the North Carolina Conference of NAACP Branches, will preside.

This historic service is open to the public.

                                    -30-

EXCLUSIVE

PARDON OPPONENTS TRIED

TO STOP PERDUE

By Cash Michaels

            Right up to the deadline when she was to decide whether or not to grant pardons of innocence to the Wilmington Ten on Monday, Gov. Beverly Perdue, in an exclusive interview Wednesday with The Carolinian Newspaper, confirmed that those who were convinced that the Ten were “guilty of something” tried to stop her.

            “There were those that said that a late as Sunday afternoon before I made the ultimate decision on Monday,” Perdue, who officially steps down from one-term in office Jan. 5th, told The Carolinian.

            “It was a hardly discussed decision. I sought the opinions and the advice of many, many people - the folks who were for pardons of innocence, may of the advocacy groups who were so powerful. I also spoke to many of North Carolina’s leading jurists, and talked to people of all persuasions, and interestingly enough, there will always be, as there are in many cases, those who think one should never rethink the outcome of a jury trial. And I actually believe that because of what we’ve seen happen in North Carolina this decade, not from the ‘70’s.”

            “In some cases, justice is not the fair barometer of the court system we would hope.”

            Perdue maintains, after studying the case of the falsely accused ten civil rights activists, that granting them all ten individual pardons of innocence from their 1972 convictions, “Was the right thing to do.”

            “I spent six or seven months, off and on, picking up the documents, and reading about the testimony, and the circumstances, if you will, of the time when the Wilmington Ten were prosecuted and convicted,” Perdue said.

            “That era of North Carolina was a hard one, one that was shameful in my mind. There was just rampant racism, there was a reluctance to embrace folks of all backgrounds and all ethnicities and all races.”

            “It wasn’t a North Carolina that looks anything at all like our North Carolina today,” Perdue said.

            “I believe the Wilmington Ten were victims of the times, and victims of a deep-seeded prejudice and racism that circumvented any kind of likelihood that their trial was fair.”

            The governor continued, “ That, for me, was the ultimate testing ground for the righteousness of our justice system. It’s what we all believe in. If you’re going to be prosecuted and convicted, it should be done in a fair and equitable way – where justice will literally mean justice.”

            Members of the Wilmington Ten, and civil rights leadership across the nation, have hailed Gov. Perdue for her courage, not only in the Wilmington Ten pardons, but also her advocacy for victims of forced sterilization, signing the 2009 NC Racial Justice Act, vetoing the Legislature’s voter ID law, and pushing hard to improve education for poor children statewide.

                                                            -30-

SPECIAL NOTE - Because of historic Wilmington Ten pardons coverage, no Triangle or State briefs this week.

Also, i'm awaiting a call from the Governor. As soon as I get it, that will be the last story.

For The Carolinian, i'd like to 2 COLUMN grey box the Governor's statement on the front, to run along with the story.  I'd also like the statement from the Pardons Project to at least be on page 2 in  a grey box as well.

The John Davis photo of Connie Tindall's sister holding his picture could be page 1 bottomfold.

Paul, we rarely four column a picture on the front, but I think the historic nature of this story warrants it. And as for a top headline, i'll let you and Mr. b handle that, but it has to have punch!

As soon as I get the governor's interview, i'll turn it around.

Cash 

NNPA STORIES -

http://www.nnpa.org/news/lead/black-homicides-remain-at-unacceptably-high-rate-by-george-e-curry/

STATEMENT BY THE NNPA'S WILMINGTON TEN PARDONS OF INNOCENCE PROJECT ABOUT GOV. PERDUE’S PARDONING OF THE WILMINGTON TEN

On behalf of the Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence Project – a justice outreach effort of the National Newspaper Publishers Association and the Wilmington Journal newspaper – we are all very proud of North Carolina today, and extraordinarily grateful to our Governor, Beverly Perdue, for having the tremendous courage and wisdom to grant all members of the Wilmington Ten, pardons of actual innocence.

Gov. Perdue’s historic action today doesn’t remove the past forty years of injustice against ten innocent American citizens – North Carolinians who stood up for equal treatment under the law in our public education system. But it does correct the historical record, that Connie Tindall, Jerry Jacobs, William Joe Wright, Anne Sheppard, Wayne Moore, Marvin Patrick, James McKoy, Willie Earl Vereen, Reginald Epps and the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis, were indeed innocent of all charges falsely assessed to them by a corrupt prosecutor who, to this day, has not answered for what he did.

We sincerely hope that now, at long last, a certain peace can be restored to the shattered lives of the surviving members of the Wilmington Ten, and to the family members Jerry Jacobs, William Joe Wright, Anne Sheppard and Connie Tindall all of whom are deceased.

And we also hope, and pray, that the state of North Carolina, and the nation, have learned from this great tragedy of racial injustice. If America is to live up to the true meaning of its creed, that all men and women are created equal before the eyes of GOD, then we must fight, and fight hard for the integrity of our criminal justice system.

For if we don’t, then none of us are safe from those who would seek to destroy the fundamental liberties of citizens who work only to make this nation the land of promise and freedom that many before us sacrificed so much for future generations to enjoy.

On behalf of the Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence Project and the NNPA, thank you to the NAACP, Change.org, and all who assisted us in this vital quest for justice.

                                                            -30-

BITTERSWEET - Ms. Ophelia Tindall-Dixon, holds up a picture of her late brother, Wilmington Ten member Connie Tindall, during press conference Monday after Gov. Perdue granted pardons of innocence. Ms. Dixon said she wished her brother had lived to see it [John Davis photo]

MEDIA

CASH IN THE APPLE

By Cash Michaels

            HISTORY IS MADE – It was around 1:45 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 31^st, the last day of the 2012.

            I, like many others with the Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence Project, had been waiting since early that morning for Governor Beverly Perdue to announce her decision about possibly granting pardons of innocence to the Wilmington Ten, the cause that so many of us had worked so hard for, for the past seven months.

            We had been thrown a curve a few days earlier. During the Thursday, Dec. 27^th taping of the WRAL-TV public affairs program, “On the Record,” Gov. Perdue, in reference to what she may decide about the pardons before she left office January 5^th, told WRAL-TV reporter Laura Leslie:

            "There's nobody in America – I don't believe there's anybody in the judicial system in the world – who could say that trial was fair or that there wasn't some kind of undercurrent or overt racism involved in the jury selection," she said. "I don't know if that necessarily makes them innocent. I don't know that, but I do know it's weighed heavily on my heart."

            The governor’s statement was shocking because, until then, neither she nor her staff had uttered a word about the pending pardon, other than it was still a pending pardon, which is what they are supposed to do.

            So these explicit remarks were very much a surprise to all of us.

            But the part about not knowing whether the racial corruption of the Wilmington Ten prosecutor indeed meant that they were innocent of the charges they were ultimately convicted of, had really alarmed us. We weren’t sure why that would be said at all, and because it was coming from the lips of the governor – the one person on the face of the Earth who could make the pardon decision – it alarmed us even more.

            We had been hearing through our sources close to the governor that there were powerful people doing their best to steer her away from pardons at all. Some of these were old hands in state government who, for some reason, relished in the fact that the Wilmington Ten were made to suffer because they somehow represented a kind of militancy that the power structure would not tolerate back in 1971, and had no stomach for now.

            They are the reason why the Pardon Project poured on the juice with our successful petition campaigns with Change.org and the NAACP.

            It wasn’t long before we were hearing that because of our activism, and because of our uncovering the now infamous Stroud files – which clearly documented the sordid, racist shenanigans of prosecutor Jay Stroud in framing the Wilmington Ten – these forces were now telling the governor that the Wilmington Ten were certainly guilty of something, so instead of risking her credibility, why not grant pardons of forgiveness instead of pardons of innocence.

            So hearing the governor say that she didn’t know whether the Wilmington Ten were innocent or not, seemed to play right into that mindset, and it frightened us that that’s what she would ultimately do.

            We couldn’t understand why, after seeing how Jay Stroud had so corrupted the criminal justice system to frame the Wilmington ten, anyone could believe that they would be guilty of ANY crime? If good prosecutors have the evidence of guilt, then, per our system of justice, they are supposed to present it to jury, and await a verdict.

            What we were hearing, we thought, was that no matter what was done to them, the Wilmington Ten were not innocent until proven guilty, but guilty until they proved themselves innocent.

            We made clear in press statements prior to the governor’s decision that could not be the standard. There was no credible evidence of any guilt, or any crime by any Wilmington Ten today, or forty years ago. That was the standard we also expected from the governor.

            So early Monday morning, I woke up with a knot in my stomach. I hate not knowing what is going to happen, especially when it deeply affects other people’s lives.

            In this case, six surviving members of the Wilmington Ten, and the family members of the four deceased members. They had all been through forty years of hell and heartache. I couldn’t bear for them to have come so close, closer than at anytime since their unjust convictions in 1972, only to fall short because there were still those who believed that our criminal justice system was a tool used solely to punish perceived political adversaries.

            As my wife and daughter did their thing elsewhere in the house, I stayed by my computer in the bedroom, monitoring my latest emails, hoping to see something from the governor’s office about either a press conference (unlikely), or an announcement of the governor’s decision.

            I knew that the governor’s staff had still been working on the issue on Sunday. If it were coming in the morning, I was preparing our team members on the pardon project as to how we were going to respond.

            Whichever way it went.

            Reporters were already calling me (since I was listed as the project coordinator), asking if I had heard anything from the governor’s office. I asked them to call me in case they hear anything.

            I was so hoping that some intrepid legislative reporter would come across a leak, and let the world know. That’s how anxious I was.

            But nothing came that morning, until just after 12 noon, when the governor’s office sent out a press advisory about four judicial appointments she made.

            I noticed one of the appointments was for Mark Davis, the governor’s General Counsel. It was his job to advise the governor on the Wilmington Ten pardons. We had been told that he was a pretty good guy, and he was always professional in my dealings with him.

            But his appointment to the NC Appeals Court told me that his role in advising the governor was definitely over now.

            That meant a decision on the Wilmington Ten could come at any minute.

            I was not a happy camper as the early afternoon wore on. It had been dark and cloudy all morning, and that didn’t help the mood. Yes I had been praying, and praying and praying…and yes, I had faith that GOD would deliver. The truth was that clear.

            But I also realized that I couldn’t fake being concerned. As if I were waiting for the surgeon to come out and tell me how the surgery went for my loved one, I couldn’t hide my concern from anyone.

            Then suddenly, just after 1 p.m., a strong, powerful beam of sunlight burst through the clouds, coming through our bedroom window, and landing on the bed beside me. If I had been looking directly into the beam, it would have blinded me.

            Instead, the beam of light seemed to comfort me, bring me peace.

            Indeed, it seemed to be talking to me.

            It made me smile. It reassured me.

            It gave me a semblance of peace.

            I still wasn’t certain about what would happen, but I all of a sudden felt strengthened to deal with it, whatever it was.

            Then at around 1:45 p.m., the phone rang, and the area code was “336,” which is usually from the Greensboro area. I answered it, sure that it was perhaps a Greensboro TV station.

            It was the governor’s press secretary, Chris Mackey.

            “Cash, the governor would like to speak with you.”

            “Sure. Of course,” I recall saying, with the thought that Gov. Perdue was about to not only tell me personally what her decision was, but also felt obligated to explain it to me.

            This isn’t going to be good, I thought to myself.

            “Cash, how are you?

            “I’m fine Governor. Happy New Year to you. I hope you had a good holiday.”

            “I did. I wanted to let you know that I will be granting pardons of innocence to the Wilmington Ten.”

            My fat old heart stopped, and my weak old eyes began to water.

            Did I hear what I just heard from the governor of this state?

            Gov. Perdue went on to tell me how the racist actions of prosecutor Stroud deeply disturbed her, and there really wasn’t any other decision she could make, in the name of justice.

            It gets foggy now, but I remember saying, “Thank you, Governor. You are a great governor.”

            I put down the phone, and started to walk towards the bedroom door so that I could tell my wife, Markita. Before I got there, the phone rang again. The same “336” area code number.

            It was Chris again, asking me to give them 10 to 15 minutes to get the governor’s official announcement out before I tell people.

            I agreed, but I also knew that if I didn’t tell my wife, I would explode in tears.

            So just as I got to the door to open it, Markita opened it from the living room.

            I’m not known to mutter, but when our eyes locked, my eyes watered some more as I said that the governor just called, and she’s going to grant parsons of innocent.

            My wife smiled, grabbed me, and held me.

            I cried. The happiness was deep and real.

            After forty years, the Wilmington Ten had their names and dignity back.

            The mighty struggle was over.

            After we called my daughter KaLa into the room to tell her, Markita made sure I kept my word to Chris, and not tell anyone on our pardon project team. I really, really wanted to, but all Markita would allow me to do (because she refused to leave my side) was to email our team, telling them that I had just spoken with the governor, but by agreement, I couldn‘t tell them what was said because she would be releasing her statement in ten minutes.

            Fifteen minutes later, WRAL-TV broke the news on television, and the governor’s historic announcement was out.

            The world now knew what I was first told. No need to advise the team.

            I didn’t have the strength, I was so thankful.

            For the next hour, I fielded reporters’ phone calls from both Raleigh and Wilmington, looking for reaction. Luckily the team and I had earlier setup Martin Street Baptist Church in Raleigh, and Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Wilmington for simultaneous press conferences. Then I did a phone interview with WPTF-AM.

            The family and I then went to our Raleigh presser, where there were happy faces and moist eyes just like mine.

            After eating dinner, the family went to Watch Night Service at Watts Missionary Baptist Church. I needed badly to hear the Word of GOD, so I could properly put all that had just happened into proper perspective.

            At midnight, my family and I welcomed the New Year in. it was now Jan. 1, 2013

            December 31^st was now history…in more ways than one.

            This weekend, the pardon project team and the Wilmington Ten family will all come back together one last time for a worship service in Wilmington, and then a celebration of our great, historic, GOD-given triumph.

            And then, after seven long, challenging, but rewarding months, life will return to normal for me.

            Thank you, Lord, for allowing me to be a vessel for your good work. I will be forever proud, grateful, and humbled.

            Happy New Year, everyone!

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 new blog, ‘The Cash Roc” (http://thecashroc.blogspot.com/2011/01/cash-roc-begins.html). I promise it will be interesting.

Cash in the Apple - honored as the Best Column Writing of 2006 by the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Columnist Cash Michaels was also honored by the NNPA for Best Feature Story Journalist of 2009, and was the recipient of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP’s President’s Award for Media Excellence in Sept. 2011.

Until next week, keep a smile on your face, GOD in your heart, and The Carolinian in your life. Bye, bye.

                                    -30-

Gov. Perdue Issues Pardon of Innocence for Wilmington 10

On Monday, Dec. 31, 2012, North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue signed a     

Pardon of Innocence for the Wilmington 10 and issued the following

statement:

“I have spent a great deal of time over the past seven months reviewing the pardon of innocence requests of the persons collectively known as the Wilmington Ten. This topic evokes strong opinions from many North Carolinians as it hearkens back to a very difficult time in our state’s past, a period of racial tensions and violence that represents a dark chapter in North Carolina’s history. These cases generate a great deal of emotion from people who lived through these traumatic events.

In evaluating these petitions for clemency, it is important to separate fact from rumor and innuendo. I have decided to grant these pardons because the more facts I have learned about the Wilmington Ten, the more appalled I have become about the manner in which their convictions were obtained.

In 1980, a federal appeals court overturned the convictions in a written decision that highlighted the gross improprieties that occurred during the trial. The federal court determined as a matter of law that numerous instances of prosecutorial misconduct and other constitutional violations took place. Among other things, the court ruled that with regard to the testimony of the prosecution’s key witness – upon whose credibility the case depended entirely -- “the conclusion is inescapable that [he] perjured himself” and that “this fact was bound to be known to the prosecutor . . .” The court also declared that it was undisputed that key documents had repeatedly been withheld from defense lawyers. It also found numerous errors by the trial judge that had the effect of unconstitutionally prejudicing the defendants’ ability to receive a fair trial.

Since the trial ended, the prosecution’s key witness and two supporting witnesses all independently recanted their testimony incriminating the defendants. Furthermore, last month, new evidence was made available to me in the form of handwritten notes from the prosecutor who picked the jury at trial. These notes show with disturbing clarity the dominant role that racism played in jury selection. The notes reveal that certain white jurors believed to be Ku Klux Klan members were described by the prosecutor as “good” and that at least one African American juror was noted to be an “Uncle Tom type.”

This conduct is disgraceful. It is utterly incompatible with basic notions of fairness and with every ideal that North Carolina holds dear. The legitimacy of our criminal justice system hinges on it operating in a fair and equitable manner with justice being dispensed based on innocence or guilt – not based on race or other forms of prejudice. That did not happen here. Instead, these convictions were tainted by naked racism and represent an ugly stain on North Carolina’s criminal justice system that cannot be allowed to stand any longer.

Justice demands that this stain finally be removed. The process in which this case was tried was fundamentally flawed. Therefore, as Governor, I am issuing these pardons of innocence to right this longstanding wrong.”

                                                            -30-                                                

NC GOVERNOR PARDONS THE WILMINGTON TEN

By Cash Michaels

editor

            [RALEIGH, NC] In what civil rights leaders across the nation are calling a “significant” moment in the civil rights movement, North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue has granted individual pardons of actual innocence to members of the Wilmington Ten.

            “I have decided to grant these pardons because the more facts I have learned about the Wilmington Ten, the more appalled I have become about the manner in which their convictions were obtained,” Perdue, a Democrat who steps down on Jan. 5^th,  said in her Dec. 31^st statement.

            “Justice demands that this stain finally be removed. The process in which this case was tried was fundamentally flawed. Therefore, as Governor, I am issuing these pardons of innocence to right this longstanding wrong.”

            The Wilmington Ten - nine black males and one white female – were activists who, along with hundreds of black students in the New Hanover County Public School System, protested rampant racial discrimination there in 1971.

            In February 1971, after the arrival of Rev. Benjamin Chavis to help lead the protests, racial violence erupted, with white supremacist driving through Wilmington’s black community, fatally shooting people and committing arson.

            A white-owned grocery store in the black community was firebombed, and firemen came under sniper fire. It wasn’t until a year later that Rev. Chavis and the others were round up and charged with conspiracy in connection with the firebombing and shootings.

            The Ten were falsely convicted, and sentenced to 282 years in prison, some of which they all served.

            It wouldn’t be until 1977, after years of failed appeals in North Carolina courts, that the three state’s witnesses all recanted their testimonies, admitting that they perjured themselves.

            Amnesty International issued a blistering report declaring the Wilmington Ten “political prisoners of conscience.” The CBS News program “60 Minutes” did a one-hour expose’ proving that the evidence against the Wilmington Ten had been fabricated by the prosecution.

            And after then NC Gov. James B. Hunt refused to pardon the Ten, but did commute their sentences in 1978, two years later, the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned all of the convictions, based on gross prosecutorial misconduct and various violations of constitutional rights.

            The appeals court directed North Carolina to either retry the defendants, or dismiss all charges, but the state did nothing for the past 32 years.

            In March 2011, the National Newspaper Publishers Association, at the urging of Wilmington Journal publisher Mary Alice Thatch, voted to pursue pardons of innocence for the Wilmington Ten. That effort got underway in earnest in January 2012, and after a series of NNPA stories based on an investigation that revealed never-before-seen court records proving prosecutorial corruption, the mainstream media – including The New York Times, The News and Observer, The Wilmington StarNews and MSNBC’s Prof. Melissa Harris-Perry - caught on, and began editorially pushing for pardoning the Wilmington Ten.

            Change.org, the NAACP and The Wilmington Journal garnered over 144,000 petition signatures for the cause.

            Gov. Perdue’s pardons legally mean that the accused did not commit the crimes they were convicted of.

            The governor’s decision was roundly hailed.

            “Gov. Perdue’s historic action today doesn’t remove the past forty years of injustice against ten innocent American citizens - North Carolinians who stood up for equal treatment under the law in our public education system,” the Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence Project, a justice outreach effort of the National Newspaper Publishers Association and the Wilmington Journal newspaper, said in a statement.

“But [the governor’s pardon] does correct the historical record, that Connie Tindall, Jerry Jacobs, William Joe Wright, Anne Sheppard, Wayne Moore, Marvin Patrick, James McKoy, Willie Earl Vereen, Reginald Epps and the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis, were indeed innocent of all charges falsely assessed to them by a corrupt prosecutor who, to this day, has not answered for what he did.”

Governor Perdue agreed that revelations of the racist and illegal trial tactics of Wilmington Ten prosecutor Jay Stroud – which included documented handwritten evidence of seeking “KKK and Uncle Tom-type” jurors; bribing witnesses to commit perjury; hiding exculpatory evidence of a witness’s mental illness from the defense; and deliberately forcing a mistrial so that he could get both the judge and jury that would guarantee convictions – corrupt the criminal justice system, and shamed the state.

Perdue called it “naked racism.”

“This conduct is disgraceful,” the governor said in her statement. “It is utterly incompatible with basic notions of fairness, and with every ideal that North Carolina holds dear. The legitimacy of our criminal justice system hinges on it operating in a fair and equitable manner, with justice being dispensed based on innocence or guilt – not based on race or other forms of prejudice.”

 “That did not happen here,” Perdue continued. “Instead, these convictions were tainted by naked racism and represent an ugly stain on North Carolina’s criminal justice system that cannot be allowed to stand any longer.”

“This is a great day for the people, and the movement,” Dr. Benjamin Chavis, leader of the Wilmington Ten, told the Wilmington Journal Monday. “This is a very rare victory.”

            Civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton agreed.

            “It was a significant victory and all of you should be commended,” Sharpton, who pushed the pardon effort on both of his radio programs last weekend, said in congratulations.

            National NAACP Pres./CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous, the first national civil rights leader to support the cause, was effusive.

            “This pardon brings closure to a case marred by racism and injustice,” Jealous said. “I applaud Gov. Beverly Perdue for her leadership in righting this disgraceful wrong and congratulate the NAACP North Carolina State Conference, NAACP members, and activists around the country for their work to raise awareness about this case.”

            NC NAACP Pres. Rev. William Barber, who partnered with the Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence, noted the history.

            “Not only will the civil rights and human rights communities honor this act, but history itself will record this day as groundbreaking,” Barber told reporters in Raleigh Monday. “On the eve of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, Governor Perdue has proclaimed a contemporary emancipation for these freedom fighters.”

            “These pardons are not only for North Carolina but also for the nation and for the world,” Barber continued. “We honor the Governor's noble, courageous and righteous decision today and we commend her heart's steadfast commitment to justice.”

            For his part, former prosecutor Jay Stroud, who was disbarred in 2008, and has been arrested more than twelve times in the past six years according to the Associated Press, says that Gov. Perdue has “made a mistake.” Though he has admitted that the handwritten notes in the Wilmington Ten prosecution files are his, Stroud is now suggesting that some of them may have been forged.

            “…[H]is son told The Gaston Gazette in 2011 that his father suffers from bipolar disease and that [Stroud] was diagnosed about the same time he graduated from law school,” the AP reported.

            New Hanover County District Attorney Ben David, who originally found the box containing the Stroud files in a closet at his office, and turned them over to historian Duke Prof. Tim Tyson, also issued a statement.

            "As prosecutors, the truth is our only client,” D.A. David wrote. “For guilty defendants, the truth hurts. For the innocent, the truth will set them free.”

             “Sometimes the truth remains elusive. Where, as here, the process that was in place to search for the truth is determined to be so fundamentally flawed that we cannot know it, the verdict cannot stand the test of time. My job, as District Attorney, is to make sure that this does not happen again."

                                                -30-