Greene County Democrat

Month: March 2022

  • Alabama New South Alliance makes local endorsements

    Last Saturday and Sunday, members of the Alabama New South Alliance (ANSA) the sister organization to the Alabama New South Coalition (ANSC) met to screen candidates for local offices in Greene County. ANSC develops a slate of candidates that the feel would do the best job and be accountable to the people of Greene County.

    All local candidates, in contested races, were invited by letter to the screening, which was held in the Renaissance Theater, since the Greene County Commission did not grant permission to hold a “political meeting” at the Eutaw Activity Center. Commissioner Corey Cockrell has requested that the County Attorney seek a State Attorney General’s opinion on whether a political meeting can be held on county owned property.

    It is a general rule of ANSA that candidates who do not attend the screening are not likely to be endorsed. District Judge Lillie Osborne presided over the screening process. Each candidate was given three minutes to introduce themselves and explain why they are they are the best person for the position. A ten-minute period for questions from the membership followed. Candidates for the same position were generally asked the same questions by the membership.

    For Commissioner for District 1, Garria Spencer was endorsed. Shelia R. Daniels, his opponent did not attend the screening.

    For District 4, incumbent Commission Chair, Allen Turner Jr. was endorsed. Neither of his opponents, Christopher Armstead or Malcolm Merriweather attended the screening.

    In District 5, for Commissioner, Marvin Childs was endorsed. Anikia Coleman Jones attended, however, incumbent commissioner Roshanda Summerville and Sharlene French did not attend.

    Incumbent Commissioners Tennyson Smith and District 2 and Corey Cockrell in District 3 are running unopposed and were not screened.

    For School Board District 1, incumbent School Board Chair Carol P. Zippert was endorsed. Robert Davis Jr. attended the screening, her other opponent Fentress ‘Duke’ Means did not.

    For Board of Education, District 2, incumbent Kashaya Cockrell was endorsed, neither of her two opponents, Brandon R. Merriweather or Tameka King attended the screening, although Merriweather called and said he had to attend some employment related training out of town.

    For Sheriff of Greene County, Jimmie Benison and Beverly Spencer attended the screening. Incumbent Sheriff Jonathan ‘Joe’ Benison and challenger Hank McWhorter chose not to attend the screening. Both candidates, who came to the screening, were questioned in depth about their positions on law enforcement and the operation of electronic bingo. Beverly Spencer received the ANSA endorsement.

    “We had an open, democratic and transparent screening process, over six hours on two weekend afternoons. All of the candidates, including myself, were questioned in detail on their thoughts, policies and programs. Now we need to go to work registering, educating and turning the people out to vote,” said District Judge Lillie Jones Osborne, Chairperson of the local ANSC/ANSA Screening Committee.

  • Stillman College: Concert Choir at First Presbyterian Church

  • Federal grant awarded to increase safety in Black Belt homes

    ADPH and the University of Alabama receive the $2 million grant to remove safety and environmental issues in Black Belt homes.

    The Alabama Department of Public Health and the University of Alabama were recently awarded a $2 million federal grant that will be used to remove environmental and safety hazards from homes in the Black Belt region.

    The Healthy Homes and Healthy Communities in the Black Belt Region of Alabama program aims to target 50 low-income homes in the Black Belt to remove environmental and safety hazards, according to a press release. The University of Alabama SafeState Program and the Alabama Life Research Institute will help manage the grant and the project.

    “This program not only allows us to identify health and safety issues in these underserved communities, but it also gives us the resources to solve some of the problems,” Michael Rasbury, director of the university’s SafeState Environmental Programs, said in a statement. “Qualifying participants can receive up to $10,000 for repairs designed to reduce or eliminate identified hazards.”

    The 24-month project will address problems including indoor air quality, mold and moisture, pests, carbon monoxide, lead-based paint, asbestos and radon, and indoor and outdoor structural issues, according to the release.

    The Alabama Department of Public Health and the University of Alabama are working on an application process for prospective homeowners to take part in the program, which will come at no cost to them.

    Goals for the project are:

    • Maximize both the number of vulnerable residents protected from housing-related environmental health and safety hazards and the number of housing units where these hazards are controlled.
    • Identify and remediate housing-related health and safety hazards in privately owned, low-income rental and/or owner-occupied housing, especially in units and/or buildings where families with children, older adults 62 years and older, or families with persons with disabilities reside.
    • Promote cost-effective and efficient healthy home methods and approaches that can be replicated and sustained.
    • Build and enhance partner resources to develop the most cost-effective methods for identifying and controlling key housing-related environmental health and safety hazards.
    • Promote collaboration, data sharing and targeting between health and housing departments.
    • Ensure to the greatest extent feasible that job training, employment, contracting, and other economic opportunities generated by this grant will be directed to low- and very-low-income persons, particularly those who are recipients of government assistance for housing, and to businesses that provide economic opportunities to low- and very low-income persons in the area in which the project is located.

  • Bingo facilities distribute $504,211.31 for month of February

    On Tuesday,  March15, 2022, Greene County Sheriff Department issued a listing of the bingo distributions for February, totaling $504,211.31 from four of the five licensed bingo gaming facilities.  The February distribution reported by the sheriff includes $24,000 from Greenetrack, Inc. and $51,000 from the Sheriff’s Supplemental Fund distributed to Greene County Commission.
    The bingo facilities regularly distributing through the sheriff include Frontier, River’s Edge, Palace and Bama Bingo.  The recipients of the February distributions from bingo gaming include Greene County Sheriff’s Department, the cities of Eutaw, Forkland, Union, and Boligee, the Greene County Board of Education and the Greene County Hospital (Health System).
    Sub charities include Children’s Policy Council, Guadalupan Multicultural Services, Greene County Golf Course, Housing Authority of Greene County (Branch Heights), Department of Human Resources, the Greene County Library, Eutaw Housing Authority. Newly added  sub charities include the Historical Society, REACH, Inc., Headstart  Community Service and This Belong To US.
    Bama Bingo gave a total of $114,995.03 to the following: Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $48,070; City of Eutaw, $9,250; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $3,875; Greene County Board of Education, $10,500, and the Greene County Health System,  $12,500. Sub Charities, each received $1,026.89, including REACH;  Community Service received  and $466.77 and This Belong to Us received $93.35.
    Frontier (Dream, Inc.) gave a total of $114,995.03 to the following: Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $48,070; City of Eutaw, $9,250; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $3,875; Greene County Board  of Education, $10,500; Greene County Health System, $12,500. Sub Charities each, $1,026.89, including the Historical Society and REACH.  Community Service received $466.77and This Belong to Us $92.
    River’s Edge (Next Level Leaders and Tishabee Community Center Tutorial Program) gave a total of  $118,288 to the following:  Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $48,070; City of Eutaw, $9,250; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee  each, $3,875; Greene County Board of Education, $10,500; Greene County Health System, $12,500. Sub Charities each, $1,027, including the Historical Society and REACH.  Community Service received $467 and This Belong to Us received $92.
    Palace (TS Police Support League) gave a total of $155.933.25 to the following: Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $65,182.92; City of Eutaw, $12,543; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $5,254.50; Greene County Board of Education, $14,238 and the Greene County Health System, $16,950; Sub Charities received $1, 392.46, including the Historical Society and REACH $1,392.46. Community Service received $632.94 and This Belong to Us received $126.59.
    In the Sheriff’s February distribution report, supplemental funds, totaling $62,181.20, were provided by the four licensed facilities.  Bama Bingo contributed $14,274.79; Frontier contributed $14,274.79; River’s Edge contributed $14,275 and Palace contributed $19,356.62 as sheriff’s supplemental funds.

  • The great Black Census undercount

    By: Blackmanstreet

    The 2020 U.S. Census Bureau undercounted the nation’s Black population by a wide margin. 

    The undercount of blacks was 3.30 percent, the bureau reported Thursday. 

    In 2020, the Black or African American population was 41.1 million, which accounted for 12.4% of all people living in the United States, compared with 38.9 million or 12.6% of the population in 2010. 

    The United States reported a 2020 population of 329.5 million people. The White population was 250.5 million, the Native American population, including Alaskan natives, was 4.34 million. The Asian population was 20.17 million, and the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population was 0.86 million. 

    The Census accurately counted White and Asian populations. At the same time, the Census also undercounted the Black, Hispanic, Native American and Alaska Native populations. 

    The Census Bureau reported that the Covid-19 pandemic and interference from Donald Trump’s administration affected the count.

    Trump attempted partisan influence over the census, the Brennan Center for Justice reported. Trump also worked closely with anti-immigrant groups so that the nation’s immigrant groups would not be counted accurately.

    While the Black or African American alone population has grown by 5.6% since 2010.

    Federal money from taxes is to be distributed an estimated $1.5 trillion each year for health care, education, transportation, and other services. The Census is also used to determine congressional seats, voter districts and electoral college votes. Any undercount results in federal funds being allocated disproportionately.

  • French nuclear test site in Algeria remains, 60 years after independence

     Algerian nuclear test site


    Mar. 21, 2022 (GIN) – Tucked away in the treaty that signaled Algerian independence from France was a “gerboise bleue” – a “blue desert rat” and a code name for the first French nuclear test on Algerian soil.
     
    In the independence pact, known as the Evian Accords, France reserved the right to test atmospheric and underground nuclear bombs in Algeria, helping to make France the fourth largest nuclear power in the world after the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom. 
     
    The first French bomb was larger than the American “Trinity”, the Soviet “RDS-1”  and the British “Hurricane”. The yield was 70 kilotons – bigger than the three bombs put together. By comparison, Fat Man, the Nagasaki bomb, was one-third as powerful. 
     
    More than 60 years have passed since the nuclear testing began, but the after-effects are still visible. Victims on both sides of the Mediterranean have not been properly compensated and the extent of the damage – cancers, blindness and birth defects – not properly assessed.
     
    No journalists were allowed to view the nuclear tests but an eyewitness had this to say: “The desert was lit up by a vast flash, followed by an appreciable shock-wave. An enormous ball of bluish fire with an orange-red center gave way to the typical mushroom cloud.”
     
    In France, news of the gerboise bleues success was met with national pride. President De Gaulle stated “Hurray for France! Since this morning, she is stronger and prouder.”
     
    Meanwhile, the ceasefire produced by the Evian Accords was followed by a particularly violent transition period. The OAS, a dissident far-right French paramilitary group that refused Algerian independence, stepped up its bombings and assassinations, leading to the departure of hundreds of thousands of French settlers from Algeria. 
     
    The Evian Accords consisted of 93 pages of detailed agreements that covered cease-fire arrangements, prisoner releases, the recognition of full sovereignty and right to self-determination of Algeria. They also permitted France to maintain its naval base at Mers El Kébir for another fifteen years and facilities for underground nuclear testing in the Sahara.
     
    Historians estimate some half a million civilians and combatants died during the “events in North Africa” which officially could not be called a “war.” The vast majority of the dead were Algerian although authorities insist the figure is three times higher.
     
    Documentation of the “blue rat” tests still remains heavily classified by the French government. 
     
    France has slowly begun to take stock of its brutal role in the war on Algerians. From Francois Mitterrand  (“France and Algeria are capable of getting over the trauma of the past”), to Francois Hollande who called it “brutal” to Emmanuel Macron who said it was time France “looked our past in the face. An apology – not yet given – could be in the works.
     
    The French government says it will open classified police files from the Algerian war 15 years ahead of schedule in order to “look the truth in the eyes”. The files cover judicial proceedings by the French police and military forces during the 1954-1962 war of independence. They are likely to confirm widespread use of torture and extra-judicial killings by French forces.
     
    “We have things to rebuild with Algeria,” said Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot. “They can only be rebuilt on the truth.”  

  • House passes CROWN act to end discrimination against natural Black hairstyles

    Black woman with a natural hairstyle

    By Stacy M Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    Connecticut Democratic Rep. Jahana Hayes sounded off to critics of legislation that would allow individuals freedom to express themselves by how they wear their hair.
    
“Natural hair should be worn without fear of discrimination,” Rep. Hayes asserted moments after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the CROWN Act, banning hair-related discrimination.
The measure passed in a vote of 235-189 along party lines.
    
Introduced by Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-New Jersey), the acronym CROWN stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.
    
The measure outlaws discrimination based on an individual’s texture or style of hair.
The bill will, which now heads to the Senate, states that “routinely, people of African descent are deprived of educational and employment opportunities” for wearing their hair in natural or protective hairstyles such as locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, or Afros.
    
Republicans strongly opposed the measure, and some used race-baiting words in expressing their opposition. “No to the nappy hair act,” Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Green railed.
Civil rights groups applauded the passage of the measure.
    
“Passage of the CROWN Act by the House of Representatives moves our nation one step closer to federal protection for Black women, men, and children from discrimination across the country simply because of their natural hair or hairstyle,” stated Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
    
“We urge the Senate to quickly take up this important legislation, which would ensure that Black students are not prohibited from attending or participating in school events because of their natural hair, that Black employees are not subject to pretextual firing or negative employment actions because of their hair texture or style, and that Black people are accorded dignity and respect in choosing to embrace a natural hairstyle.”
    
Hewitt said restrictions on Black hairstyles and textures in workplaces and school campuses are relics of white supremacy. “This explicit protection against racial discrimination based on hairstyles is long overdue,” he remarked.
    
In a statement, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) said Black women and girls face discrimination because of their natural hair each day at their workplaces and schools.
“So today, I proudly voted yes on the CROWN Act to finally end race-based hair discrimination once and for all,” Beatty insisted.
    
“It’s simple — discrimination against Black hair is discrimination based on race. I look forward to swift passage of this critical legislation in the Senate and standing with President Biden as he signs it into law.”
    
Rep. Beatty then delivered a message to Black youth. “To every young Black girl and boy, I say to you, your hair — from your kinks to your curls, from your fros to your fades, from your locs to your braids — is a crown,” she asserted. “Be proud of your hair and know the Congressional Black Caucus is fighting for you.”

  • Newswire: Judge Katanji Brown Jackson answers questions about her religion, sentencing habits, and dark money during day 2 of the SCOTUS confirmation hearing

    Judge Katanji Brown Jackson

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    Religious beliefs, child porn, dark money, and expanding the court were a big part of day 2 of the historic Senate confirmation hearings of D.C. Circuit Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as she seeks to become the first African American woman on the U.S. Supreme Court.
    The political posturing, unorthodox questioning, and even the egregious suggestion that Judge Jackson is soft on crime, reached even lower when Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina whined about his personal choice, Judge Michelle Childs, before storming out of the hallowed halls of the Hart Senate Building on Capitol Hill.
    
“In your nomination, did you notice people from the left were pretty much cheering you on?” Sen. Graham asked Judge Jackson.“A lot of people were cheering me on,” Jackson responded.
    
Sen. Graham then claimed that progressive groups and others led an effort to disqualify Judge Childs. He claimed individuals in those alleged groups called Judge Childs a “union-busting unreliable Republican in disguise.”
    
Unnerved, Judge Jackson told the senator that she wasn’t aware of that because, as a sitting judge, she’s remained focused on cases before her.
    
After an exchange with Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Sen. Graham stormed out of the room.
    
Judge Jackson also withstood criticism from Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who accused the judge of letting child porn offenders off the hook.
    
“As a mother and a judge who has had to deal with these cases, I was thinking that nothing could be further from the truth,” Judge Jackson remarked. “These are some of the most difficult cases that a judge has to deal with because we’re talking about pictures of sex abuse of children.
    
She continued: “We’re talking about graphic descriptions that judges have to read and consider when they decide how to sentence in these cases, and there’s a statute that tells judges what they’re supposed to do.”
    
Perhaps throwing the question back at Sen. Hawley, Judge Jackson reminded everyone that federal sentencing guidelines are established by Congress. “I’m imposing … constraints because I understand how significant, how damaging, how horrible this crime is,” Judge Jackson demanded.

    When Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) asked whether Judge Jackson would favor expanding the court from the current nine justices, she demurred. “Respectfully, senator, other nominees to the Supreme Court have responded as I will, which is that it is a policy question for Congress,” Judge Jackson stated.“I am so committed to staying in my lane of the system.”
    
Sen. Grassley persisted, asking if the Supreme Court has been bought and paid for by “dark money.” “Senator, I don’t have any reason to believe that that’s the case,” Judge Jackson replied.
    
Earlier, Sen. Graham pressed Judge Jackson about her religious beliefs. “What faith are you, by the way?” Graham railed. “Could you fairly judge a Catholic?” “How important is your faith to you?” he continued. “On a scale of one to 10, how faithful would you say you are in terms of religion?”
    
Judge Jackson asserted that she identifies as a nondenominational Protestant Christian.
She insisted that her faith counts as very important but noted that there’s no religious test to confirmation under the U.S. Constitution.
    
“I am reluctant to talk about my faith in this way,” Judge Jackson pushed back. “I want to be mindful of the need for the public to have confidence in my ability to separate out my personal views.”
    
During the afternoon portion of the hearing, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) attempted to bring decorum, asking Judge Jackson about the significance of her nomination.
Judge Jackson offered that her appointment and having diversity on the bench allows the opportunity for role models.
    
“I have received so many notes and letters and photos from little girls around the country who tell me that they are so excited for this opportunity,” Judge Jackson stated. “Because I am a woman, a Black woman, all of those things, people have said, have been really meaningful to them.”

  • Garria  Spencer is a candidate for District 1 commission seat

    I’m Garria Spencer and I am announcing my candidacy for County Commission District 1. My wife of, 47 years, is Althenia. We have three adult children, 11 grandchildren and three great grandchildren. 
    I retired from Phifer Wire Products and presently employed by the Greene County Board of Education as a School Bus Driver. 
    My vision for this office is to seek funding for Housing Rehab county wide; a sewer system that serves the community; better road conditions and the black topping of dirt roads. I will work with others for improvements throughout the county. Greene County is my home and I pledge use my experiences, my good will and dedication toward serving not only District 1 residents but all of Greene County.
    I am asking for your vote, your support and most importantly your prayers. 

  • Newswire : Teachers on strike across Africa for better salaries, benefits and contracts

    African teachers on strike

    Mar. 14, 2022 (GIN) – Hundreds of Moroccan teachers were on strike last month for permanent work contracts when they were attacked by riot police at a recent march while some of their peers received two month prison sentences for demonstrating without authorization.
    The jailed teachers were charged with “unauthorized assembly” and “violation of the state of health emergency,” according to the secretary-general of the National Federation of Education, Abderrazzak Drissi.
    Some 25 protestors are still being prosecuted, 44 have been jailed for up to three months and fined some 1,000 dirhams ($110) while the teachers’ mobilization continues. There are more than 100,000 “probationary” teachers in Morocco who do not receive benefits or guarantees of permanent jobs.
    Teachers have been fighting for employment security and full civil service benefits since 2016 when they began the strikes and walkouts. Their jobs actions were met with water cannons.
    The National Coordination of “forcibly contracted teachers,” an umbrella body of teachers working on temporary contracts, has been leading the protests. Other job actions around the continent include Zimbabwe where instructors earn $100 a month. Teacher unions have estimated the number of suspended teachers at 135,000 out of the roughly 140,000 teachers employed there in public schools.
    Raymond Majongwe, president of the Progressive Teachers Union (PTUZ), warned: “We are not going to back down on our wage and other demands.”
    In Cameroon, public school teachers have been on strike for three weeks. Despite the government’s promises to improve salaries and benefits, the promises have not been fulfilled. And in South Sudan, Kordofan, a primary and secondary teachers strike has entered its fifth day of protest. The Sudanese Teachers Committee announced a strike in all states of Sudan starting this week following the failure by the Ministry of Finance to meet the deadline set by the committee in fulfilling teachers’ demands.
    Specifically, teachers are owed back-payments from as far back as 2020 and a salary top-up which was meant to come in effect had also not been received, leaving the teachers in a state of complete financial insecurity.
    At the same time, professors at the Sudan University of Science and Technology took part in an open strike yesterday to protest the refusal of authorities to enact a new salary structure promised by former Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok. 
    Protests are now spreading across in towns and cities for the end to the military junta and a return to civilian government. Protests also erupted as a result of soaring prices for bread and basic commodities, as the Sudanese economy falters in the run-up to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
    Finally, Nigeria’s Enugu State Government has lost its bid to bar teachers from carrying out strikes over non-payment of the national minimum wage. Justice Oluwakayode Arowosegbe said the state could not stop the teachers from ventilating their grievances through industrial action.