Greene County Democrat

Month: June 2022

  • New poll shows Black voters back
    effort to expand the Supreme Court

    By Anoa Changa, NewsOne

    According to a new poll, Black voters are more open to expanding the Supreme Court. Overall, 64 percent of Black voters surveyed at least somewhat supported the idea of adding more justices to the Supreme Court.
    The poll conducted by Navigator found that support for expanding the Court grew 19 points among Black voters. According to the findings, support for Court expansion increased after the leak of the draft SCOTUS decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
    Organizations like Demand Justice see the new poll as welcome news. In an interview with NewsOne Demand Justice’s Senior Advisor for Engagement and Outreach, Tamara Brummer called the Court’s conservative supermajority an “existential threat” to Black people.
    “People often pay more attention to the president and the Congress, but many of the most important decisions about how our lives look end up being made by the Supreme Court,” Brummed explained. “Republicans worked for decades to install far-right justices who would roll back voting and civil rights protections. Unless we make a change, people like Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett will be making many of the most important policy decisions about how we all get to live our lives for decades to come.”
    According to Brummer, many issues impacting people’s daily lives were at risk, including reproductive freedom, voting rights, civil rights, environment, health and safety. She said expanding the Court was needed to break the “chokehold” the ultra-conservative supermajority has over the future.
    “Right now, Republicans control 6 of the nine seats on the Supreme Court,” Brummer said. “Time and time again, this super conservative majority rules in favor of Republicans instead of the people or even the Constitution. Justice Jackson’s confirmation was historical, but as the leaked draft overturning Roe v. Wade reminds us, unless we change the math at the Supreme Court, we haven’t changed the fundamental dynamics.”
    As previously reported, adding more justices to the Supreme Court is within the purview of Congress. The current nine-justice formation was reached in 1869 when there were only nine judicial circuits. The proposed Judiciary Act of 2021 would expand the Court to 13 justices. The legislation is supported by a mix of legislators in the Senate and House.
    “The Constitution actually doesn’t say how many people sit on the Supreme Court; that’s a decision for Congress to make,” Brummer said. “Congress can decide to add justices to the Supreme Court and let the president add new justices who will help restore balance. That’s why we’re supporting the Judiciary Act, a bill in Congress with more than 50 supporters in the House.”
    In light of the current Court’s handling of voting rights, and the anticipated decision in Dobbs, Brummer said that expanding the Supreme Court is the only way to stop the assault on people’s fundamental rights.
    “Recent news about Republican justices voting to overturn abortion rights has rightly brought a lot of attention to the need to restore balance to the Court, but if you look at voting rights, you can see that the radical, anti-rights approach is nothing new,” she said. “The lesson from how the Court has treated the voting and civil rights of Black Americans is that they’re not going for half-measures, they’re coming for everything — unless we stop them by expanding the Court.

  • Despite apathy, activists and strategists urge
    Black voters not to sit out 2022 midterms

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    Sign-to-encourage-voting

    The failure of Congress to pass legislation like the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act have frustrated African Americans.
With new voter suppression laws, the leaked Roe V. Wade opinion, and the assault on many other rights, some question whether the voting bloc that allowed Democrats to take the White House and control both houses of Congress will abandon the polls during the midterm election.
“Black voters are understandably frustrated with the lack of reform around voter rights, but the lack of success with this is due to actions by Republicans, not Democrats,” insisted Dr. Michal Strahilevitz, the director of the Elfenworks Center for Responsible Business and marketing professor at Saint Mary’s College of California.
“Black voters are far more pragmatic than most segments of the Democratic voter base. I expect them to show up not so much to reward Democrats for their lackluster success as to limit the power Republicans have to stop the necessary reforms,” Strahilevitz continued.
“In short, black voters are not just a loyal part of the Democratic base, and they are a very practical one too.” Daniel Chan, chief technology officer at Marketplace Fairness, added that Black voters have several concerns that Democrats haven’t addressed adequately.
“These include police reform, voting rights, and economic inequality. If they do not turn out to vote in the midterms, the Democrats could lose control of Congress,” Chan offered.
“The party has plans to address some of these concerns, but more needs to be done. Black voters are an essential part of the Democratic coalition, and it is important that the party does more to address their concerns,” he concluded.
The Black Lives Matter co-founder who now leads Black Futures Lab, Alicia Garza, observed the strict voter requirements that include restrictions for returning mail-in ballots.
Noting the unique challenges faced by Black voters, Black Futures Lab partnered with other groups to look closer at vote-by-mail in three states, Alabama, Nevada, and Texas.
“The first solution and probably the only solution to turn the tide of the ongoing and multiple assaults on our rights is to build independent progressive Black political power,” Garza asserted. “We must equip Black voters with the tools necessary to be powerful. Unfortunately, black voters are targeted by misinformation and disinformation every day,” she determined.
“In 2020, Black voters were getting messages online telling them not to go to the polls, so we must make sure that our people can get to the polls and challenge the laws and policies that keep us from making important decisions. Black voters are kept from being powerful on purpose, by policies and the conservative movement has designed.”
Krystal Leaphart of Black Girls Vote said her organization begins engaging young girls as early as middle school with the mantra that “our vote is our voice.”
“We target all age groups and communities of Black girls, and we seek to educate and empower Black girls. However, we must make sure that those on the margins are fully engaged,” Leaphart stated.
“Many young people are shocked at the amount of power that we collectively have,” Leaphart continued. “When we engage young Black girls, they are excited to vote, and the earlier we get to people and get them excited about the process and get them civically engaged, the better we will be.”
Leaphart noted that issues affecting adults also bother the young.
“They are dealing with many the same issues that are not restricted to adults,” Leaphart asserted.
“They are dealing with reproductive justice issues, Black girl pushout, and overcriminalization. But hearing that those issues can be dealt with at the polls and talking to elected officials have them excited.”
In a radio interview, Democratic Strategist Karen Finney implored all to understand what was at stake during the 2022 midterms. “It’s very clear in terms of the GOP candidates who emerged – one of the big things we saw is that people who were peddlers of The Big Lie, deniers of the 2020 election, seem to do pretty well, regardless of Donald Trump,” Finney told radio personality Charles Ellison on his Reality Check show.
“That tells you a lot about what their agenda would be if they win. Voters came out in record numbers in 2020, and we did something extraordinary,” Finney recounted.
“We’re going to have to do it again in 2022 if we want to keep America moving away from what I saw as a very divisive destruction of the Trump years.”

  • A stunning Jan. 6 hearing removes any doubt
    about Trump’s role in the deadly insurrection

    U.S. Capitol under violent attack on Jan. 6, 2021

    The stunning revelations broadcast during the House Select Committee investigation of the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol included the laying out of a scheme by former President Donald Trump to retain power.
    While many have long understood that Trump did nothing to stop the deadly riots, the Committee laid bare his scheme that led to the death of at least nine people – including five law enforcement members – and left more than 150 officers injured.
    
“It was a sophisticated seven-part plan to overturn the presidential election and prevent the transfer of presidential power,” Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the chair of the House committee, remarked during the presentation.
Further, Cheney noted that several GOP members of Congress pressed Trump for pardons during the insurrection – the inference could explain why many Republicans have remained loyal to the former President and have shown a reluctance to participate in the hearings.
    
Cheney also reminded the Committee of a Tweet sent by Trump encouraging the attack. “Be there, will be wild!” Trump tweeted. Trump’s supporters responded, including the extremist groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.
    
One of the rioters read Trump’s tweet on a megaphone at the Capitol, and others, including one that criticized Vice President Mike Pence for denying a request to overturn the election loss to Joe Biden.
    
“Hang Mike Pence,” the supporters chanted. “Maybe he deserves it,” Trump allegedly said in response. Committee officials then displayed a photo of noose and gallows erected near the Capitol by the insurrectionists.
    
Capitol Police officer Caroline Edwards emerged during the June 9 public hearings and recounted for the first time her trauma. “It was something like I’ve seen in the movies,” the officer stated. “I couldn’t believe my eyes; there were officers on the ground. They were bleeding,” Edwards recounted. “I was slipping in people’s blood. It was carnage. It was chaos.”
    
Further, documentarian Nick Quested described his interaction with the Proud Boys, whose leader, Enrique Tarrio, recently was hit with sedition charges related to the attack. Quested had been embedded with the Proud Boys and shared never-before-seen footage of the members, including Tarrio’s meeting with the Oath Keepers.
Additionally, a new video of the deposition by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, revealed that Pence gave the orders to send National Guard troops to the Capitol. However, Milley said administration officials told Pence to falsely state that Trump gave those orders.
    
Testimony also came from Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, who served as an adviser for the Trump administration. Ivanka Trump testified that she accepted then-Attorney General William Barr’s declaration that Biden had defeated Trump in the 2020 election.
    
Several former White House officials from the Trump administration said the President refused to stop the insurrection and ignored his team of advisers who urged him to intervene.
    
“Our democracy remains in danger,” Committee Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) declared during the hearing. “The conspiracy to thwart the will of the people is not over. Unfortunately, there are those in this country who thirst for power but have no love or respect for what makes America great: devotion to the Constitution, allegiance to the rule of law, our shared journey to build a more perfect Union.”

     

  • King is candidate for school board District 2 seat in runoff

    I, Tameka King, am soliciting your vote on Tuesday, June 21, 2022, to become your next District 2 Board of Education Representative of the Greene County School System. I will represent this district with interaction, communication, and gratitude to help our students prosper in their educational studies. I will be an asset to students, parents, and teachers by bridging the parent-teacher relationship gap that exists in the school system today. I am a 1996 graduate of Paramount High School, 2001 graduate of Alabama A&M University (BS), and 2004 graduate of The University of West Alabama (MS).  I am employed at Greenetrack Bingo, a member of St. Matthew Baptist Church, Clinton, AL and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Again, I am the one you need to represent you, to have a voice for you and your children. Please elect me when you go to the polls and vote on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. 

  • Merriweather seeks school board District 2 seat in runoff

    I, Brandon Merriweather, a candidate for Greene County District 2 School Board, am asking for your support during our Runoff Election on June 21, 2022.  As a native of Boligee, AL, I have educated our youth as a teacher at Greene County High School, volunteered a number of years as a coach for our high school football program, worked several years with the Center for Rural Family Development Enrichment Program/after school tutorial, and volunteered many years at the James C. Poole Jr. Library serving our youth. I hope to receive your support on June 21 and help me fight to improve our school system. 

  • Newswire: California Reparations Task Force releases detailed ‘Report on the Harms of Slavery and Racism in the U.S.’; propose specific remedies

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    Federal and state governments, including California, failed to protect Black artists, culture-makers, and media-makers from discrimination and simultaneously promoted discriminatory narratives.
    Further, state governments memorialized the Confederacy as just and heroic through monument building while suppressing the nation’s history of racism and slavery.
    Government actions at every level across the country, including California, have directly segregated, and discriminated against African Americans at work. After intensive research, the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans reached those conclusions and made concrete recommendations to compensate those affected.
    The group issued its interim report to state legislators on June 1.Separate from the federal proposal pushed by Texas Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, the report surveyed ongoing, and compounding harms experienced by African Americans because of slavery.
    It also studied the lingering effects the slave trade had on America.The report includes a set of preliminary recommendations for policies that legislatures in the Golden State could adopt to remedy the harms.Officials plan to release a final report next year.
    “Federal and state policies like affirmative action produced mixed results and were short-lived,” Task Force members wrote in the report. “African Americans continue to face employment discrimination today in the country and California,” members wrote.They determined that the American government at all levels, including in California, has historically criminalized African Americans for social control and maintaining an economy based on exploited Black labor.
    “This criminalization is an enduring badge of slavery and has contributed to the over-policing of Black neighborhoods, the school to prison pipeline, the mass incarceration of African Americans, a refusal to accept African Americans as victims, and other inequities in nearly every corner of the American and California legal systems,” the report authors stated.
    “As a result, the American and California criminal justice system physically harms, imprisons, and kills African Americans more than other racial groups relative to their percentage of the population.”
    The authors continued: “The government actions described in this report have had a devastating effect on the health of African Americans in the country and California. “Compared to white Americans, African Americans live shorter lives and are more likely to suffer and die from almost all diseases and medical conditions than white Americans.
    “Researchers have linked these health outcomes in part to African Americans’ unrelenting experience of racism in our society. In addition to physical harm, African Americans experience psychological harm, which can profoundly undermine Black children’s emotional and physical well-being and academic success.”
    The Task Force has recommended several remedies, including:
    • Implement a detailed program of reparations for African Americans.• Develop and implement other policies, programs, and measures to close the racial wealth gap in California.• Provide funding, and technical assistance to Black-led and Black community-based land trusts to support wealth building and affordable housing.• Establish a cabinet-level secretary position over an African American/Freedmen Affairs Agency tasked with implementing the recommendations of this task force.
    They said the agency would identify past harms, prevent future harm, and work with other state agencies and branches of California’s government to mitigate the wrongs.
    The Task Force suggested policies to the Governor and the Legislature designed to compensate for the harms caused by the legacy of anti-Black discrimination and work to eliminate systemic racism that has developed because of the enslavement of African Americans in the United States.
    The authors recommended that the agency include the following:
    • A branch to process claims with the state and assist claimants in filing for eligibility.• A genealogy branch to support potential claimants with genealogical research and to confirm eligibility.• A reparations tribunal to adjudicate substantive claims for past harms.• An office of immediate relief to expedite claims.• A civic engagement branch to support ongoing political education on African American history and to support civic engagement among African American youth.• A freedmen education branch to offer free education and to facilitate the free tuition initiative between claimants and California schools.• A social services and family affairs branch to identify and mitigate how current and previous policies have damaged and destabilized Black families.• Services might include treatment for trauma and family healing services to strengthen the family unit, stress resiliency services, financial planning services, career planning, and civil and family court services.• A cultural affairs branch to restore African American cultural/historical sites; establish monuments; advocate for the removal of racist relics; support knowledge production and archival research; and provide support for African Americans in the entertainment industry, including identifying and removing barriers to advancement into leadership and decision-making positions in the arts, entertainment, and sports industries.• A legal affairs office to coordinate a range of free legal services, including criminal defense attorneys for criminal trials and parole hearings; free arbitration and mediation services; and to advocate for civil and criminal justice reforms.• A division of medical services for public and environmental health.• A business affairs office to provide ongoing education related to entrepreneurialism and financial literacy, offer business grants, and establish public-private reparative justice-oriented partnerships.
    A copy of the report is available on line from the California.gov site.

  • Newswire : Rev. Barber talks to the Black press about the upcoming ‘Moral March on Washington’ on June 18th.

    Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, president of the North Carolina NAACP called North Carolina’s restrictive voter law the worst in the nation since the ‘Shelby’ decision. Photo taken during a NAACP demonstration on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. in June 2015. (Freddie Allen/AMG/NNPA)

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent


    National Newspaper Publishers Association President & CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., and Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, President and Senior Lecturer at Repairers of the Breach and co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, examined voting rights and suppression, gun violence, and other concerns currently plaguing America, particularly people of color.
    
During a more than 35-minute discussion, broadcast live over the social media channels of the Black Press of America, the civil rights titans also discussed the upcoming Poor People’s Campaign March on Washington and broke down the current state of Black America.
    
“This is not a battlefield we can retire from; we’ve got to fight until it’s our time to be over,” Dr. Barber declared.
    
Low-wage workers, unions, and faith leaders are expected to join Dr. Barber and the Poor People’s Campaign for an assembly and march on Saturday, June 18, in Washington, D.C.
    
Dr. Barber said the assembly would begin at 9:30 a.m. EST at Pennsylvania and Third Avenue. “We need everyone to challenge this,” Dr. Barber declared. “Poor people and those impacted will be the ones on the stage, and this will happen in a location between Congress and the White House.”
    
As the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival mobilizes for that massive gathering, Dr. Barber and others have called on President Joe Biden to meet with poor and low-wealth individuals, religious leaders, and economists “to put a face on the 140 million Americans in this country who are poor or low-income while also calling for higher wages and union rights.”
    
“There are five interlocking injustices we have yet to address in this nation fully,” Dr. Barber asserted. “They include systemic racism, systemic poverty, where 60.9 percent of Black people are poor and, or low-wealth; 53 percent of our people make less than a living wage of $15 per hour, and 250,000 people die every year from poverty,” he remarked.
    
Dr. Barber reported that, during the pandemic, poor people died at a rate of 2 to 5 times higher than others. “It’s not connected to a lack of vaccinations. It’s connected to a lack of services,” Dr. Barber insisted. “The pandemic didn’t discriminate, but we did. The Black Press was the first to report this was airborne,” he said.
    
Further, Dr. Barber said that ecological devastation, the denial of health care, and the war economy have contributed to poverty in America.
    
“We are spending 54 cents on the dollar every day on the military,” he stated.
“If we cut the military budget in half, we’d still have more money in our military than Iran, Iraq, China, and North Korea combined. Also, we have the false moral narrative of religious nationalism and white supremacy.
    
“We have said that on June 18, it’s time for a declaration of all people. We won’t be silent anymore. We’re calling for a mass poor people, low-wage workers assembly, and a moral march on Washington and the polls.
    
“We’re doing this to put a face on all these numbers, put an agenda, and build power and shift this moral narrative because poor people represent 32 percent of the electorate in this country and 45 percent in battleground states.”

  • COVID-19

    As of June 8, 2022, at 10:00 AM
    (According to Alabama Political Reporter)

    Alabama had 1,322,957 confirmed cases of coronavirus,
    (10,520) more than last week with 19,676 deaths (28) more
    than last week)

    Greene County had 1,902 confirmed cases, 20 more cases than last week), with 49 deaths

    Sumter Co. had 2,629 cases with 52 deaths

    Hale Co. had 4,825 cases with 106 deaths

    Note: Greene County Physicians Clinic has testing and vaccination for COVID-19; Call for appointments at 205/372-3388, Ext. 142; ages 5 and up.