Greene County Democrat

Month: November 2019

  • Newswire : 85 percent of Blacks want Trump Impeached

    57 Percent of Latinos Agree in Poll, Only 41 Percent of Whites
    By Richard Prince

    U. S. Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) was the first member of Congress
    to publically state on May 17,2017 that President Trump should be impeached.


    Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from Journal-isms
    (TriceEdneyWire.com) – Eighty-five percent of African-Americans say President Trump should be impeached, the highest of any ethnic group, according to the latest NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll.
    Fifty-seven percent of Hispanics feel the same way, the poll shows.
    However, only 41 percent of Whites do, according to the survey, meaning that the common conclusion that the country is evenly divided on the impeachment issue is possible only because of the intense anti-Trump feeling among people of color.
    “A year out from the 2020 election, we don’t have 2020 vision, but the general dynamics of the race are coming into focus: a sitting president below 50 percent, who receives credit on the economy,
    speaks his mind for better or worse, but who most Americans do not trust and who is facing an impeachment inquiry that a majority of Americans support,” a summary of the poll said. “Taken together, these suggest a tough road ahead for Donald Trump. . . .”
    Jeff Horwitt, a senior vice president at Hart Research and Associates, which conducted the survey for the two news organizations, told Journal-isms that the sample sizes for Asian Americans and Native Americans were too small to be valid.
    He gave the racial breakdown as follows: Impeach/Not impeach
    • White – 41 percent/54 percent
    • African-American – 85 percent/9 percent
    • Hispanic – 57 percent/40 percent
    •
    “The raw number of interviews among all adults are 117 African Americans and 99 Hispanics,” Horwitt messaged.
    The poll was conducted from Oct. 27 to 30, among 900 adults of all races, with additional interviews to get to 414 interviews among Democratic primary voters, the survey takers said.
    The results for Blacks and Latinos clearly contradict Trump’s frequent boasts that people of color support him.
    Trump made a typical claim in July when he insulted the majority-Black city of Baltimore. “What I’ve done for African Americans, no president, I would say, has done. Now, I’ll say this: they are so happy, because I get the calls,” he told reporters as he left for a speech in Virginia that was boycotted by Black state lawmakers, as Daniel Dale reported July 30 for CNN. “They are so happy at what I’ve been able to do in Baltimore and other Democratic-run, corrupt
    cities.”
    Trump continued later: “The African-American people have been calling the White House. They have never been so happy [at] what a president has done. Not only the lowest unemployment in history for African-Americans, not only opportunity zones for, really, the biggest beneficiary the inner city, and not only criminal justice reform. But they’re so happy that I pointed out the corrupt politics of Baltimore. It’s filthy dirty. It’s so horrible. And they are happy as hell.”
    At a rally in New Mexico in September, Trump claimed, “We are working night and day to deliver a future of limitless opportunities for our nation’s Hispanic-American citizens. . . . Nobody loves the Hispanics more. We love our Hispanics, get out and vote,” Bess Levin reported Sept. 17 for Vanity Fair.
    Trump also said, “At the center of America’s drug crisis, this is where the Hispanics know it better than anybody. People said, ‘Oh, the Hispanics won’t like a wall.’ I said, ‘I think they are going to love it.’ You know why? Because you understand it better than other people, but at the whole center of this crisis is the drugs that are pouring in, and you understand that when other people don’t understand it.’ . . . .”

  • Newswire : As arguments begin, Civil Rights Leaders urge Supreme Court to uphold one of the nation’s oldest anti-discrimination statutes

    Byron Allen, Entrepreneur and Cable Programming Developer

    WASHINGTON – Today, November 13, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments that pit Comcast (CMCSA), America’s biggest cable provider, against National Association of African American-Owned Media and Entertainment Studios Networks, Inc,.,owned by Byron Allen and more importantly one of the Nation’s oldest anti-discimination statutes, Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
    Section 1981 prohibits intentional race discrimination in contracting, and protects African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities from discrimination in the workplace and marketplace. The law applies to all private and public actors and prohibits retaliation. It has been one of the cornerstones of the oldest and most storied pieces of civil rights laws for over 150 years.
    Comcast is asking the Supreme Court to rule that intentional race discrimination claims brought under Section 1981 should be dismissed if plaintiffs are unable to show that race was the reason behind a discriminatory action, as opposed to a reason.
    Civil rights leaders urge the Supreme Court to affirm the lower court’s ruling that intentional race discrimination claims under Section 1981 are viable if the plaintiff is able to show that race played a role in the challenged discriminatory decisions. A ruling by the Supreme Court requiring plaintiffs to prove that race was the but for reason of a discriminatory decision would make it nearly impossible for litigants to prevail in their cases and would result in meritorious cases being dismissed at the earliest stages of litigation.
    Leaders representing the Lawyers’ Committee For Civil Rights Under law, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), NAACP, and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, submitted “friend of the court” briefs in the case pending before the Supreme Court, Comcast v. National Association of African American-Owned Media and Entertainment Studios Networks, Inc.
    “This is the most important racial justice case that will be heard by the Supreme Court this term,” said Kristen Clarke, president & executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “An adverse ruling by the Court stands to impose a burdensome pleading standard in Section 1981 cases that would shut the courthouse door on victims of discrimination all across the country. Section 1981 is one of the oldest civil rights statutes that provides core protection from groups otherwise beyond the reach of civil rights statutes including independent contractors and gig economy workers. The Court should reject this challenge to help ensure that victims of discrimination get their day in court and have the opportunity to be heard.”
    “Section 1981 is one of our nation’s oldest civil rights laws, specifically intended to end racial discrimination in contracting,” said Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “Every person, no matter who they are or what their race, should have fair and equitable access to opportunity and economic mobility. The Supreme Court must not weaken the vital protections of this historic civil rights statute.”
    “All eyes should be on this critical case,” said Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. “An adverse decision by the Supreme Court could imperil the integrity of section 1981 as a tool for protecting the full economic and legal rights of Black people.”
    “The case that sits before the Supreme Court is one of monumental importance to the protection and continuation of Black businesses and contractors, said Derrick Johnson,” President and CEO, NAACP. “The attempt to turn back the clock on one of the most vital civil rights protections is a grave threat to the very fabric of the nation — we will continue to fight so that section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 is preserved for generations to come.

  • Newswire : Federation of Southern Cooperatives/ Land Assistance Fund announces FORWARD 2020: National Heirs’ Property Conference

    East Point, GA – The Federation of Southern Cooperatives/ Land Assistance Fund announces its inaugural FORWARD 2020: NATIONAL HEIRS’ PROPERTY CONFERENCE, in Atlanta, Georgia, December 4-6, 2019, at the Embassy Suites By Hilton Atlanta Airport.
    FORWARD 2020 will be the nation’s largest gathering of heirs’ property owners and passionate land retention practitioners from across the US.
    FORWARD 2020, a “boot camp” style event, will offer Master Classes taught by experts and landowners and one-on-one meetings with resource professionals. This intensive, two day conference will be a one stop shop with everything heirs need to create a path FORWARD!
    The National Heirs Property Conference will feature two educational tracks. Track 1 will focus on how heirs’ property owners can kick start their efforts to resolve their heirs’ property issues and unlock their land’s wealth potential. Track 2 will focus on professionals who work with heirs’ property owners. Track 2 will include train-the-trainer educational sessions and Master Classes to sharpen skills and share peer-to-peer learning. The highlight of Track 2 will be a comprehensive workshop on heirs’ property legislation and regulations from the 2018 Farm Bill.
    “This conference will be a game changer for many farm families with heirs’ property. It is intentionally designed to empower heirs’ property owners with the strategies and resources to clear their title and make their land a wealth building asset,” said Monica Rainge, Director of Land Retention and Advocacy at the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/LAF.
    For over 52 years, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/ Land Assistance Fund has assisted heirs’ property owners in land retention and sustainable development. The Federation’s history of using successful land retention strategies has focused on outreach, education, and technical assistance in resolving heirs property issues, estate planning, and developing alternative ownership models such as corporations, cooperatives, trusts, limited liability companies and intra-family buy-outs.
    For more information, please visit their website at http://www.federation.coop or call 404.765.0991.

  • Alabama New South Coalition holds Fall Convention

    ANSC new state officers: L to R: Debra Foster, President, Everett Wess, First Vice President, Sharon Wheeler, Treasurer and Patricia Lewis Corresponding Secretary
    ANSC Healthcare Panel: Rep. Merika Coleman speaking, Norma Jackson, Sen Malika Sanders Fortier and John Zippert ANSC past president.

    On Saturday, November 2, Alabama New South Coalition held its Fall Convention at the RSA Activity Center on Dexter Avenue in Montgomery.
    More than 200 delegates from around the state attended this 34th. annual convention of the predominately Black and progressive political and social change organization. The theme of the ANSC Fall Convention was “ Lifting our Values, our Voices and our Votes”.
    The convention had three workshops on important voting issues; two mayors – Mayor Gary Richardson of Midfield and newly elected Mayor Tim Ragland of Talladega – addressed the luncheon. U. S. Senator Doug Jones also addressed the group about his service in Washington D. C. and plans for the upcoming 2020 election.
    The members of ANSC approved a report from their Nominating Committee for new state officers for a two-year term beginning at the end of the Convention. Debra Foster of Calhoun County was elected President, Everett Wess of Jefferson County elected First Vice President, Ivan Peebles, Greene County, Second Vice-President (youth), Sharon Wheeler, Montgomery, Treasurer, Matilda Hamilton of Tallapoosa County for Recording Secretary and Patricia Lewis of Mobile for Corresponding Secretary.
    The Healthcare Workshop heard from Rep. Merika Coleman of Jefferson County, Senator Malika Sanders Fortier of Dallas County and Norma Jackson of Macon County.
    Rep. Coleman said, “Working people in Alabama deserve healthcare that is why we have been working to expand Medicaid for those whose income is up to 138% of the poverty level. This impacts over 300,000 people from all parts of Alabama. Governor Ivey promised that after we passed an increase in the gas tax that she and the Republican leadership in the Legislature would revisit the issue of Medicaid Expansion but they have not followed through. This is because they know it would involve an increase in the budget, which would have to be paid for with increase in taxes or some other changes.”
    Senator Fortier, said, “Without Medicaid Expansion, 340,000 people in Alabama face terror in securing health care. They are one medical emergency away from bankruptcy. Our state is 5th worse in the nation, in our rate of infant mortality which is preventable with expanded healthcare coverage.” Fortier says she has been working with other Senators of both parties to find a solution to expand Medicaid. “ We need $158 million for year one and $30 million each year thereafter to fund Medicaid expansion in the state of Alabama. The Federal government provides 90% of the cost, under the Affordable Care Act and the state must match with 10%. We can find this money to cover 340,000 working adults, provide 30,000 new jobs in the healthcare field, keep hospitals, especially rural hospitals open, and improve the general health and wellbeing of our people in Alabama.”
    Norma Jackson, Chair of the Macon County ANSC Chapter said, “We have a sickness-care system in Alabama not a health care system. We need to do more to take care of our own health alongside doctors, hospitals and others.” She suggested five steps: “eat fresh foods, drink clean water, breath fresh air, do exhilarating exercise and have rejuvenating rest for better healthcare that we can take responsibility for ourselves.”
    The panel on Criminal Justice and Economic Development featured three speakers including Rep. Chris England of Tuscaloosa, County Commissioner Sheila Tyson of Jefferson County and Robert Avery of Gadsden.
    Rep. England said, “Conditions in Alabama’s prison system are so overcrowded and bad that inmates are condemned to cruel and unusual punishment worse than the death penalty.” He said, “ The solutions lie in reducing the use of the system as a debtors prison, for those who cannot pay fines; more restorative justice, where prisoners are taught a skill in prison that they can use to make a living when they come out of prison, pay correction officers a fair wage, to attract better people and building more prisons to replace existing out of date and overcrowded prisons.”
    Commissioner Tyson spoke to removing barriers to people to get workforce training and jobs with new industries. She said that she worked to change bus routes to go in low-income neighborhoods to increase participation by poor people in workforce training for new jobs coming into her district.
    The third panel on Voting Rights was moderated by Faya Rose Toure and included: Robert Turner of Bullock County who stressed that a voteless people are a helpless people; Sam Walker of the National Voting Rights Museum in Selma; Senator Bobby Singleton, who spoke to the issue that half of the registered Black voters in Alabama, do not turnout to vote; and Rev. Kenneth Glasgow, who spoke on his efforts to encourage people in jails, prior to trial and conviction, who are eligible to vote, to vote absentee and helping to restore the voting rights of previously incarcerated felons, under Alabama’s new Moral Turpitude Law.

  • University of West Alabama holds Summit on Rural Workforce Development; announces $2.5 million dollar grant from DOL and DRA for 10 county workforce development effort

    Panel speaking at UWA Summit on Rural Workforce
    Development

    On Friday, November 1, 2019, the University of West Alabama held a Summit on Rural Workforce Development at the Bell Conference Center in Livingston. As part of the program, Dr. Tina Jones, UWA Vice-President for Economic and Workforce Development announced a $2.5 million grant from the U. S. Department of Labor and the Delta Regional Authority for a regional workforce development program serving ten counties in the western Alabama Black Belt.
    The three hundred attendees at the Summit heard from three panels of industry, education and state government officials with responsibility for basic education, job training and workforce development in the state and in our west Alabama area. There was also an interesting luncheon keynote from Jay Moon, President of the Mississippi Manufacturers, on future trends in work and preparing people to work in the future economy.
    Nick Moore, Governor Ivey’s advisor on Education and Workforce stressed, “there is no wrong door to enter the state’s workforce development program. No matter your entry point, the state’s education and workforce agencies and programs will assist you where you are, with the education you have, and the skills and experiences you have and want to develop to go to work with any industry and employer.”
    Donny Jones with West Alabama Works followed this up by saying that the workforce system will help you no matter your literacy and math skills. “We will help you get a GED. We will help you get basic skills; we will work with you to overcome barriers of transportation, childcare, and other problems. We are looking at people now that were previously incarcerated and trying to give them the skills and awareness they need to be productive members of the state’s workforce.”
    Fitzgerald Washington, Secretary of the Alabama Department of Labor indicated that unemployment in the state is at a record low level of 3%. We still have 66,000 people who are officially unemployed. We also have 41.6% of our eligible adult population that have opted out of the labor force. “We need to use these workforce and training initiatives to bring more people back into the labor force and give them the education, attitudes and skills necessary to work in to our growing economy.”
    Nick Moore said, “We must be aware of the ‘benefit cliff’ that some persons who have opted out of the workforce will experience when they come back into the workforce. Some people loose so much in SNAP, Medicaid, childcare and other benefits when they move into a job that they are reluctant to make the transition. We have to find ways to ease this ‘benefit cliff’ for people and seamlessly transition them into the workforce.”
    The Summit provided important insights into the current status and position of workforce development in the state. The announcement of the $2.5 million grant to UWA will help enhance the practical follow-up to this meeting.
    “We are immensely appreciative of this grant award from the U.S. Department of Labor and the Delta Regional Authority that will allow UWA the opportunity to expand our economic and workforce development efforts for a 10-county rural area that we serve,” said UWA President Ken Tucker.
     “As a regional university whose mission includes improving the quality of life for the region, we have long seen education as an engine that drives economic and workforce development, and this nearly $2.5 million will have a transformative influence on the people of west Alabama and beyond for many years to come. We have an outstanding team in UWA’s Division of Economic and Workforce Development working daily to establish the partnerships and innovative initiatives that will strengthen the impact of this generous investment for our region and rural Alabama.”
    The grant will fund a UWA Division of Economic and Workforce Development initiative known as LINCS: Leveraging Interconnected Networks for Change and Sustainability.  LINCS is designed to help develop a regional workforce based on industry-recognized standards, credentials and identified needs in order to strengthen the economy and skill levels in a 10-county west Alabama rural region.
     “We are grateful for the many partners who have come together to assist UWA with the development of the LINCS proposal,” said Dr. Tina Jones, vice president of the UWA Division of Economic and Workforce Development. “By tapping into existing workforce systems that have a proven record of success, our goal is to address current barriers and gaps in the workforce pipeline.”
     “We want to improve remote delivery and access to relevant workforce training in our rural areas, strengthen connections to employment opportunities, and yield a workforce ready to step into Alabama’s growing advanced manufacturing environment,” Jones said.
     “We believe that offering customized, economic-responsive curricula designed around the needs of regional commerce through a University-industry partnership will help create a region rich in jobs, with better educated citizens earning more at their jobs, thereby improving lifestyles and bringing in more resources for our region and the State,” Jones explained.
    The stated goal of the LINCS project is to increase advanced manufacturing employment skill sets in the underserved rural counties of west Alabama. The awarded grant will implement a three-pronged approach to address current barriers and gaps in the workforce pipeline in collaboration with other existing agencies and employer-driven organizations.  These include: 1) development of employer-driven curriculum and fast-track certificate programs; 2) recruitment and placement of new entrants into the workforce and promotion of incumbent workers to retain or advance current employment; and 3) establishment and expansion of rural apprenticeship initiatives.
    LINCS will be designed to be a customized development program in advanced manufacturing skills and technologies in concert with existing partners, employers, and stakeholders.  The project will: 1) fill identified gaps by connecting all levels of education and skills with training and employment opportunities; 2) increase accessibility to training; 3) deliver a better prepared workforce; and 4) provide systemic change yielding a higher level of economic impact for the region.
     “This is collaborative effort built on partnerships,” Jones said.  “We are excited that UWA will be joined by major industry groups, and key essential workforce development groups throughout the region and Alabama to make LINCS a reality, including existing regional workforce development councils such as West Alabama Works, Central Alabama Works and Southwest Alabama Works.”

     For more information on the LINCS initiative or other projects of UWA’s Division of Economic and Workforce Development, call 1-833-UWA-WORK.
     

  • Newswire: British Museum – the World’s largest receiver of stolen goods, says author of new book

    Nov. 4, 2019 (GIN) – An outspoken human rights lawyer in a new book is calling for European and US institutions to return treasures taken from subjugated peoples by “conquerors or colonial masters.”

    In the new book by Geoffrey Robertson, the British Museum is accused of exhibiting “pilfered cultural property” and urged to ‘wash its hands of blood and return Elgin’s loot’.

    “The trustees of the British Museum have become the world’s largest receivers of stolen property, and the great majority of their loot is not even on public display,” Robertson charges.

    His views appear in the book, “Who Owns History? Elgin’s Loot and the Case for Returning Plundered Treasure.”

    Along with a distinguished career as a trial lawyer, human rights advocate and United Nations judge, Robertson has appeared in many celebrated trials, defending Salman Rushdie and Julian Assange, prosecuting Hastings Banda and representing Human Rights Watch in the proceedings against General Pinochet.

    In his just released book, he scores the British Museum for allowing an unofficial “stolen goods tour”, “which stops at the Elgin marbles, Hoa Hakananai’a, the Benin bronzes and other pilfered cultural property”. The three items he mentioned are wanted by Greece, Easter Island and Nigeria respectively.

    “That these rebel itineraries are allowed is a tribute to the tolerance of this great institution, which would be even greater if it washed its hands of the blood and returned Elgin’s loot,” he wrote.

    He accused the museum of telling “a string of carefully-constructed lies and half- truths” about how the marbles “were ‘saved’ or ‘salvaged’ or ‘rescued’ by Lord Elgin, who came into possession of them lawfully.”

    He criticized “encyclopedic museums” such as the British Museum, the Louvre in Paris and the Metropolitan in New York that “lock up the precious legacy of other lands, stolen from their people by wars of aggression, theft and duplicity”.

    “This is a time for humility,” he observed, “something the British, still yearning for the era when they ruled the world do not do very well. Before it releases any of its share of other people’s cultural heritage, the British Museum could mount an exhibition – ‘The Spoils of Empire’.”

    Advocating the return of cultural property based on human rights law principles, Robertson observes that the French president, Emmanuel Macron has “galvanized the debate” by declaring that “African cultural heritage can no longer remain a prisoner of European museums”.

    “Politicians may make more or less sincere apologies for the crimes of their former empires, but the only way now available to redress them is to return the spoils of the rape of Egypt and China and the destruction of African and Asian and South American societies,” he writes.

    “We cannot right historical wrongs – but we can no longer, without shame, profit from them.”

  • Newswire: Gwen Ifill immortalized with Postal Service Forever Stamp

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent
    @StacyBrownMedia

    Stamp honoring Gwen Ifill

    The 43rd stamp in the United States Postal Service’s Black Heritage series honors Gwen Ifill, one of America’s most esteemed journalists.
    The stamp features a photo of Ifill taken in 2008 by photographer Robert Severi and designed by Derry Noyes, according to the Postal Service.
    Among the first African Americans to hold prominent positions in both broadcast and print journalism, Ifill was a trailblazer in the profession.
    Ifill was born on September 29, 1955, in New York.
    Her father, O. Urcille Ifill, Sr., served as an African Methodist Episcopal minister who hailed from Panama. Her mother, Eleanor Husbands, was from Barbados.
    According to Ifill’s 2012 biography and interview with The HistoryMakers, her father’s ministry required the family to live in several cities in different church parsonages throughout New England.
    Those stops also included Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York, where the family resided in federally subsidized housing.
    Ifill’s interest in journalism was rooted in her parents’ insistence that their children gather nightly in front of the television to watch the national news, according to The HistoryMakers.
    In 1973, Ifill graduated from Classical High School in Springfield, Massachusetts. Four years later, she received her B.A. degree in communications from Simmons College in Boston.
    “During her senior year, she interned at the Boston Herald American newspaper,” the biography reads. She later worked at the Baltimore Evening Sun, the Washington Post, and the New York Times before moving over to NBC News.
    In 1999, Ifill became the first African American woman to host a prominent political talk show on national television when she became moderator and managing editor of PBS’s Washington Week and senior political correspondent for The PBS NewsHour.
    Ifill died at the age of 61 on November 14, 2016.
    “She was the most American of success stories,” Sherrilynn Ifill, a law professor, director of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and Gwen Ifill’s cousin told NBC News. “Her life and her work made this country better.”

  • Newswire : Black teen suicide reaches historic highs

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent
    @StacyBrownMedia

    Black teen walking along train tracks
    Suicide prevention workshop

    African American teenagers in the United States historically have had lower suicide rates than their white counterparts – until now.
    A new study analyzing suicide among American teens by a team led by researchers at the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at New York University have uncovered several troubling trends from 1991 to 2017, among Black high school students in particular.

    Researchers discovered that between 1991 and 2017, there has been an increase in the number of African American teens who said they had attempted suicide in the past year. Suicide rates for teenagers of other races and ethnicities either remained the same or decreased over that period. The researchers did not cite a reason for the trend.
    Bill Prasad, a licensed professional counselor with Contemporary Medicine Associates in Bellaire, Texas, cited what he believed are some reasons. “Lack of accessibility to mental health care, the inability to pay for medications and healthcare coverage, the lack of acceptance of mental illness among some members of the Black community, and the availability of firearms,” Prasad stated. Prasad was not among the researchers involved in the study.
    Frank King, the so-called “Mental Health Comedian,” called the problem a ‘cultural phenomenon. “Young people in these groups are less likely to share their issues surrounding depression and thoughts of suicide with friends and family than youth in other racial and ethnic groups,” King stated.
    Among the answers is starting the conversation on depression and suicide in high-risk groups,” he said. “A partial answer is giving young people permission to give voice to their experiences and feelings, without recrimination, such as ‘If you were stronger in Christ this wouldn’t be happening,’ or ‘What do you have to be depressed about, we’ve given you everything. Your father and I started our life with nothing,’ and so forth,” King stated.
    Researchers in the NYU study noted that suicide is the second-leading cause of death for teens from all demographics. They found that only accidents kill more young people than suicide.
    The study also revealed that, in 2017, approximately 2,200 teens between the ages of 15 and 19 died by suicide.
    Researchers gathered information provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 198,540 high school students from 1991 to 2017.
    Among high school students of all demographics, 1 in 5 said they were thinking about suicide, and 1 in 10 said they had made a plan to end their lives.
    CNN Health reported that the study is in line with earlier research that has shown African American boys, especially younger boys between the ages of 5 and 11, have experienced an increase in the rate of suicide deaths. In black children ages 5 to 12, the suicide rate was found to be two times higher compared with white children, according to CNN Health.

    The study authors found “an increased risk in reported suicide attempts among African-American teens between 1991 and 2017, and boys saw an increase in injuries related to those attempts. That might mean that black teens were using more lethal means when attempting suicide.”
    They found a decline in attempts overall among teens who identified as white, Hispanic, Asian American, or Pacific Islander.
    Reasons for suicide explored
    “As an African American woman, suicide is prominent in our community for two reasons: we often do not know how to handle it amongst our families, and the pressures on our culture are rising,” said Sabriya Dobbins of Project Passport LLC, a company that encourages getaway retreats centered around three mental wellness areas: reflection, community and personal.
    “Oftentimes when a black family member says they want to take their life, the family may resort to church, belittle their response and tell them to stop overreacting, or simply assume it is not a big deal,” Dobbins stated.
    “African American families are taught to be tough and to hold it together because it is already ‘us against the world.’ We are taught to put our heads down and work hard to get those degrees and move up in our careers.
    “This causes expectations to be too high, then depression and anxiety are heightened. Not only are black youth trying to satisfy their families and be strong, but they are trying to fight their way through a world that is not always accepting. A world where they are dying in alarming numbers in senseless crimes. It is a double edge sword.”
    Parents should be on the lookout for risk factors, such as a recent or severe loss like death or divorce, said Dr. Fran Walfish, a Beverly Hills family and relationship psychotherapist, author of The Self-Aware Parent.
    Dr. Walfish also counts as a regular expert child psychologist on CBS Television’s “The Doctors,” and she co-stars on WE TV’s, “Sexbox.”
    “Parents should take heed when they observe specific warning signs like changes in behavior, including difficulty concentrating, difficulty focusing on school or following routine activities, researching ways to kill oneself on the internet, increasing the use of alcohol or other drugs, and acting recklessly,” Walfish stated.
    Included among other signs are changes in personality, appearing withdrawn, isolating to their room, irritability, extreme mood changes that are more than typical moodiness, exhibiting rage or talking about seeking revenge, Walfish added.
    Other alarms include changes in sleep patterns, insomnia, oversleeping, nightmares, talking about dying, going away, or different types of self-harm, she said.
    “Teaching problem-solving and conflict resolution skills, building a strong connection to family, friends, and community support are ways to help,” Walfish stated.
    “Restrict access to highly lethal means of suicide, such as firearms, and provide access to effective mental health care, including substance use treatment. Talk to your child. Many people are fearful that talking to their children about suicide will increase their risk of suicide. This is a myth,” Walfish said.
    How to get help: In the US, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, or 1-800-432-8366. You can also visit http://teenlineonline.org.

  • Newswire: Rep. Chris England of Tuscaloosa elected new chair of Alabama Democratic Party at Saturday meeting; infighting likely to continue

    By: Associated Press and Montgomery Advertiser

    Rep. Chris England

    Rep. Christopher England, of Tuscaloosa, received 104 of 171 ballots cast at the Saturday, November 2 meeting of the State Democratic Executive Committee, the state party’s governing body. This comes after months of in-house bickering about the party’s leadership.

    But the election may not settle the ongoing battle between two factions of the party over governance and leadership, as the previously elected chair said she would not step down.

    “Elected officials had to stand in the gap and create the platform the party did not have,” England said before the vote. “You’ve seen me stand for the issues that matter to us.”

    The vote came after the approximately 175 members of the SDEC voted 172 to 0 to remove Chair Nancy Worley and Vice-Chair Randy Kelley.

    After the vote, Worley said she was reelected in 2018 and she intends to continue leading the party.“The true SDEC members did not elect two new officers in our places today,” Worley said in a statement. “Randy and I look forward to continuing our leadership roles.”

    But the meeting represented a win for a group of Democrats opposed to Worley, who has chaired the state Democratic Party since 2013, and the Democratic National Committee, which ordered the state party in February to hold new elections and revise its bylaws to provide greater diversity on the SDEC.

    England, 43, a city attorney for Tuscaloosa, has served in the Alabama Legislature since 2006. He has been at the forefront of attempts to change the leadership and direction of the party and pledged before the vote to work to “leave no stone unturned” in rebuilding the party. He promised to rebuild local county organizations and staff up the state party.

    “As we kick the old folks out, the new folks are coming in,” he said. “We want to seize on that energy. We’re going to raise money, money like you’ve never seen.”

    Former Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, was elected vice-chair.
    Worley has previously accused the DNC of sending contradictory instructions and of trying to dilute the strength of African American voters in the party. The DNC said Worley missed deadlines and was nonresponsive to instructions.

    Without the orders implemented, the DNC refused to ratify the state’s delegate selection plan and warned that inaction by the state party could prevent Alabama from being seated at next year’s Democratic National Convention. That would effectively invalidate votes cast in next March’s Democratic presidential primary.
    A group of SDEC members, backed by U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, drafted a new set of bylaws that were approved by the DNC in September. The members then got a majority of the SDEC to vote to hold a meeting to ratify those bylaws on Oct. 5. At that meeting, the members set leadership elections for Nov. 2.

    Worley proceeded with her own meeting on Oct. 12, which ratified a second set of bylaws — not approved by the DNC — and set elections for Nov. 16. On Wednesday, Worley and Kelly sued to stop the meeting of the Democrats.

    Montgomery Circuit Judge Greg Griffin blocked the meeting in a decision late Friday, ruling that it would cause “chaos and confusion.” But the Alabama Supreme Court stayed the order about two hours later, allowing the gathering to proceed.

    The new party bylaws preserve the Minority Caucus to nominate African Americans to the SDEC. But they also create new caucuses to nominate Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, LGBTQ individuals, youth and those with disabilities. Approximately 68 people were seated from the youth, Hispanic, Native American and Asian/Pacific Islander caucuses on Saturday.