Author: greenecodemocratcom
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Rosie Lee Carpenter dies at age 102
Rosie Lee Carpenter, educator and longtime civil rights and community leader in Greene County died peacefully, surrounded by family on August 31, 2024, at the age of 102, at her daughter’s home in Bowie Maryland.
Born January 25, 1922, in Mantua community of Greene County. Rosie Carpenter’s father, a sharecropper, died when she was two years old. Her mother died in a 1943 tornado. Rosie and her younger siblings went to live with her older sister, Annie Thomas in Eutaw. Rosie decided to pursue a career in education after leaving the plantation where she was born.
Carpenter started teaching at the Burton Hills School in Union, Alabama. During the summers of her teaching career, she attended Alabama State University, earning her undergraduate and master’s degrees in education. Later, Carpenter married Willie James Carpenter, her brother’s best friend. They had two children, Joyce Lynett Carpenter (Dasher) and Charles Earl Carpenter.
Throughout her life, Carpenter was passionate about fighting for civil rights. She and her sister, Annie Thomas, were pioneers in Alabama’s Civil Rights Movement. They assisted Hosea Williams and Ralph Abernathy in designing winning strategies for the special Greene County election on July 29, 1969. Williams and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) used Thomas’s and Carpenter’s home to conduct field Voter Registration and Get Out the Vote campaigns.
Greene County’s actions in civil rights afforded opportunities for many Black residents, including Carpenter’s close friend, Robert Brown, who served as the first Black school superintendent. Rosie Carpenter was one of the few teachers brave enough to participate in the civil rights movement despite constant attacks and efforts to get her fired.
Even as Carpenter and Thomas sustained their leadership roles and political activities in Greene County, they traveled throughout Alabama to assist other communities with boycotts and election strategies after the historic Greene County election in 1969, which gave control of the County Commission and School Board to Black citizens, who were the population majority in Greene County
In 2008, Alabama’s Congressman Artur Davis dedicated the Rosie L. Carpenter Haven apartment complex on Annie Thomas Circle based on the sisters’ courageous efforts during the Civil Rights Movement. As a result of Carpenter’s life of service, Greene County has African American representation at all levels of government. Carpenter also impacted her community through involvement in non-profit organizations that provide housing services and resources to young women and community organizing.
At the 50th Anniversary celebration of Freedom Day on July 29, 1969 (July 27, 2019), Elder Spiver W. Gordon’s Alabama Historical Movement, Inc. dedicated a monument for Justice and Voting Rights at the home of sisters Thomas and Carpenter for their tireless efforts in fighting for the rights of the disenfranchised in their community.
Mrs. Rosie Carpenter’s funeral is now set for Saturday, September 14, 2024, at 11:00 AM at First Baptist Church in Eutaw.
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Newswire : Suspected Boko Haram militants kill at least 37 in Nigeria attack
Trucks drive bodies through the streets of Nigeria
By Ahmed Kingimi, Reuters
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Suspected Boko Haram Islamist militants roared into a northeastern Nigerian village on motorcycles, opened fire on a market and set shops and homes ablaze, killing at least 37 people, according to a military official.
Residents said the death toll could be even higher, with villagers still missing and feared dead after fighters chased them into the bush.
The attack took place on Sunday afternoon in Yobe, one of three states at the frontline of an insurgency that has lasted 15 years. Thousands of Nigerians have been killed and more than 2 million displaced.Yobe police spokesperson Dungus Abdulkarim said the attack in Yobe’s Mafa village was apparent retaliation for the killing of two suspected Boko Haram fighters by local vigilantes.
After shooting at the market and torching buildings, the militants chased other residents into the bush and shot them, Abdulkarim added.
“The terrorists killed many people, but we are yet to ascertain the actual number of casualties,” Abdulkarim said.A military official who accompanied the army’s commanding officer for Yobe to Mafa on Monday evening said the route to the village had been rigged with explosives, which troops managed to defuse.
“We recovered 37 corpses and brought them to Babangida General Hospital,” said the official, who declined to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Modu Mohammed, a resident, said several more residents were missing and estimated the death toll at over 100. He said some corpses were still in the bush.
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Newswire : As a new school year starts, Black student enrollment is down at multiple elite colleges
By Kay Wicker, The Grio
The first freshman class is entering college since the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action last year — and multiple elite colleges have already reported a decline in Black student enrollment.
After the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced a decline in Black student enrollment, two more schools in the state are reporting the same. Amherst College and Tufts University, both in Massachusetts, as well as the University of Virginia, have reported drops in Black student enrollment to varying degrees. The schools in Boston have been hit harder, with Amherst’s Black student enrollment decreasing by a full 8%, according to the New York Times (NYT).
Initially enacted in 1965 and updated in 1968 to include gender, affirmative action ensured the equality of employment opportunity without regard to race, gender, religion, and national origin. Affirmative action in higher education ensured that all students received fair consideration for admission.
As the NYT further reports, many of the nation’s most elite and selective colleges have yet to release their data. The enrollment numbers across other races have also not been widely reported. However, the data that has been reported doesn’t bode well for what this could mean about Black student enrollment.
Meanwhile, according to a recent study by the American Institute for Boys and Men, historically Black colleges and universities are experiencing a decline in Black male enrollment. The report found that presently, Black men account for 26% of the student population at HBCUs, down from 36% in the mid-1970s.
According to the study’s authors, there are several factors that have led to the decline in Black male HBCU students, including a lack of proper K-12 integration. “Targeted interventions in K-12 education in Black communities, increasing the representation of Black male teachers and expanding funding opportunities for HBCUs and their potential students could all help increase Black male enrollment,” the authors wrote, adding, “Reforms in these critical areas could help HBCUs realize their full potential in supporting the educational and economic advancement of Black men.”
The study also noted many of the benefits of an HBCU education, including that HBCUs have a higher track record of enrolling lower-income students compared to non-HBCUs, and these students are more than nearly twice as likely to experience upward economic mobility.
As PWIs and other non-HBCUs continue to grapple with the lack of affirmative action, it will be interesting to see how HBCUs’ numbers are impacted. While more data is needed to fully understand the picture that is potentially being painted, college admissions have also been bracing for steep enrollment declines across the country for various reasons. Younger generations are choosing vocational programs over four-year institutions in greater numbers. Many are foregoing college and entering the workforce, citing the high costs of higher education. Not to mention, with declining American birth rates, there are simply going to be fewer younger adults.
When affirmative action was first placed on the chopping block last year, many Black leaders in higher education spoke up to warn against what could happen. Carlotta Berry, a Black professor based in Indiana, said at the time, “When I sit back and reflect on the amount of microaggressions and bias that I have seen students experience, even in a world with affirmative action, I just don’t want to imagine what Black and brown students may experience now when they go from [being] one of two or three to possibly one of one.”
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Newswire : Poll: Figures takes big lead in CD2 race
Shomari Figures and Carolean Dobson, candidates in the Alabama 2nd. Congressional District contest
The new SPLC Action Fund poll shows Figures with a lead among likely voters, thanks to a big boost from Vice President Kamala Harris.
By Josh Moon, Alabama Political Reporter
With a boost from Vice President Kamala Harris, Shomari Figures is pulling away in the race for Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, according to a new poll from the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Action Fund.
The poll, which collected information from 400 likely voters, found that Figures held a 51-39 lead over Republican challenger Caroleene Dobson. He also holds significant advantages over Dobson in both favorability and name recognition. Also, respondents were much more enthusiastic about voting for Figures.
“The enthusiasm is a big shift from the polling we did earlier this year,” said Brandon Jones, the director of political campaigns for the SPLC’s Action Fund. “Enthusiasm was down significantly with President Biden in the race, and we were very concerned about the turnout that we would see in this race. But it’s very obvious that (Harris) has sparked real enthusiasm and that has translated to more enthusiasm down the ticket as well.”
Alabama’s 2nd District will be one of the more closely watched races in the country, because of the voter dynamics within the district. Drawn by court order, and specifically by a special master, the district was designed to give Black voters an opportunity to elect a candidate of their choosing by joining like-minded white voters.
According to recent statistics from the newly drawn district, it would have elected a Democratic candidate in most of the recent elections, despite white voters holding a slight demographic advantage. Still, the district is very competitive, and a Republican blowout at the top of the ticket could spell doom for a Democrat in a House race on the same ticket. But that doesn’t seem like an issue now.
“Harris’ entry into the race really sparked a turnaround,” Jones said.
While that wasn’t really a surprise, given the national response to Harris’ campaign, there were some surprises within the polling, Jones said. For example, for all the talk of the border and abortion policy, they didn’t score highly on the list of top concerns for voters in the district.Respondents rated K-12 education issues, crime and gun violence as their top issues. Securing the border rated ninth-most important, while restoring abortion rights rated 11th, in the 11-item survey.
Also, respondents said their vote was important in both the presidential election and in determining control of the House.
“I think people sometimes forget that while Donald Trump on the ticket creates a lot of excitement for (conservative) voters, the same is true for those voting against him,” Jones said. “The numbers for those who felt their vote was important in determining control of Congress were very high, and that tells you that people realize what’s at stake. And even if their vote can’t stop Trump from becoming president, maybe they can have some say in stopping his agenda.”
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Newswire : In first major interview as Democratic nominee,VP Harris forcefully defends her record
Tim Walz and VP Kamala Harris
By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National CorrespondentVice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, made a strategic decision to sit down for her first major interview since President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, selecting CNN as the platform despite the network’s heavily criticized moderation of the controversial June debate between Biden and former President Donald Trump.
In that debate, CNN anchors were widely condemned for allowing Trump to spread untruths and disinformation unchecked. On Thursday, Aug. 29, Harris used that same network to set the record straight and present her vision for America alongside her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
The interview in Georgia during their ongoing bus tour marked a critical moment for Harris, who has lit a fire under a once stagnant Democratic Party and galvanized donors as she’s taken the lead in almost every national poll. Dana Bash, who conducted the interview, opened by questioning Harris about her priorities if she were to win the presidency.
Harris, clear and direct, outlined her immediate goals: “On day one, we’re going to bring down the cost of everyday goods, support small businesses, and invest in American families. We’re not going back—we’re moving forward.” Her response was a sharp contrast to Trump, who vowed that he’d be a dictator on day one.
Walz, seated beside Harris, praised the proposed agenda, highlighting its practical success in Minnesota. “The child tax credit, for example, reduced childhood poverty by a third in our state. With a federal partner, the impact could be even greater,” Walz said.
The discussion quickly pivoted to the economy, with Bash pressing Harris on why some Americans might, according to Bash, feel nostalgic for the economic conditions under Trump. Harris responded by highlighting the dire situation she and Biden inherited—a nation reeling from a pandemic, with millions of jobs lost and a collapsing economy. “We inherited a nation in crisis,” Harris said, recalling the early days of the Biden administration. “We’ve brought inflation down to under 3%, but we know prices, especially for groceries, are still too high. That’s why my agenda is focused on real solutions—tackling price gouging, investing in affordable housing, and providing a $25,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers.”Harris also addressed her past positions on fracking and immigration, clarifying that her views have evolved as she gained more office experience. On fracking, she stated clearly that while she once supported a ban, she now believes in a balanced approach that doesn’t jeopardize jobs in key sectors. “In 2020, I made my position clear and kept my word. My values haven’t changed, but my experience as vice president has shown me that we can achieve a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking,” Harris asserted.
When the conversation turned to immigration, Harris didn’t hold back in criticizing Trump’s handling of the issue, particularly his role in blocking bipartisan efforts to secure the border. “We had a bill that would have added 1,500 agents to the border and increased fentanyl seizures, but Trump killed it because it didn’t serve his political interests,” Harris said. She pledged to sign that bill into law if elected, underscoring her commitment to enforcing immigration laws with the experience she gained as California’s attorney general.
Bash also brought up Trump’s recent comment questioning Harris’s authenticity as a Black woman. Harris responded with a sharp dismissal, labeling it “the same old, tired playbook” and quickly shifting focus back to the issues.
Despite the network’s poor performance during the June debate, Harris’s choice to give her first major interview to CNN was calculated. CNN’s moderators were widely criticized for failing to challenge Trump’s flood of misinformation, a decision that cast a long shadow over the network’s journalistic credibility. By engaging with CNN now, Harris signaled a willingness to confront her critics and take control of the narrative as she moves toward Election Day.
In the interview’s more personal moments, Harris and Walz reflected on their families and the emotional support they received. Bash asked Harris about a viral photograph showing her grand niece watching her accept the Democratic nomination. Harris, visibly moved, said, “It’s humbling. This campaign is about what we can achieve together as a country. I’m running because I believe I’m the best person to lead this country forward—for all Americans.”
Walz, when asked about his son Gus’s emotional reaction during his speech at the Democratic convention, underscored the importance of setting a positive example for the next generation. “To have my son feel that pride in me, to know I’m trying to do the right thing for our country—that’s what this is all about,” Walz said.
As the interview closed, Harris made a powerful appeal to voters, framing the upcoming election as a critical turning point for the nation. “This election is about the kind of future we want to build,” she asserted. “Do we lift each other up, or do we tear each other down? I’m running because I believe in America’s potential to rise above division and hate. Together, we can turn the page on the last decade and write a new chapter in our nation’s history.”
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Federation of Southern Cooperatives/LAF Business Meeting shows strength and future direction of the cooperative association of Black farmers and rural low-income people
Board of Directors and Cornelius Blanding, Executive Director,
By John Zippert, Co-Publisher
In last week’s issue of the Greene County Democrat, we reported on the first two days of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund’s 57th Annual Meeting. This is a report on the third day, Saturday, August 17, 2024, which featured a prayer breakfast and business meeting.
The Mattie Mack Pretty Hat Prayer Breakfast was in honor of past board member from Kentucky, who used to fix the breakfast on the Saturday morning. Ms. Mack, a tobacco and cattle farmer, always wore a hat to the Board and Annual Meetings, hence the challenge and tribute to the Federation’s female membership, to wear their best hat.
Rev. Wendell H. Paris, who was the first Federation staff member on the grounds at the Federation’s Rural Training and Research Center and is now a minister in Jackson, Mississippi gave the prayer breakfast sermon. His address stressed the importance of voting in the upcoming November 5th election.
At the Federation Business meeting, the Board of Directors and Cornelius Blanding, Executive Director, reviewed the progress of the past year and discussed potential future developments for the organization in the coming year.
Shirley Blakeley, from Shuqualak, (Noxubee County) Mississippi, who is the Board Chair, gave a report highlighting the work of the Federation, as a ‘cooperating agency’ with the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), especially with the DFAP – Discrimination Farmers Assistance Program, and conservation, forestry, climate, and agricultural marketing projects. Carrie Fulghum, Federation Board Treasurer, from Gainesville, Alabama, reported that the organization had current assets of $10 million, including grants and contracts payable, land, buildings, housing and other assets. Current liabilities were $300,000, placing the organization in its strongest financial position in its 57-year history.
Cornelius Blanding, Executive Director, congratulated the Federation’s membership on ‘our 57th anniversary’ saying, “the Federation is a testament to grassroots community leadership, and the extraordinary things that ordinary people can do when they work together.” He repeated the figures from the Treasurers report indicating a historic net worth of the organization at $10 million.
Blanding cited the collective impact of the Federation’s membership, cooperatives and affiliated organizations in increasing the staff from 50 to 75 in the past year. The staff works from seven (7) offices in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, South Carolina, and Florida. Most of these offices are owned by the Federation. Our RTRC site has been recognized and designated a demonstration forestry and agroforestry site, by the U. S. Forest Service, to serve and train Black and underserved rural people with small forestry acreages.
“Our staff is committed and charged with assisting farmers to get a USDA farm identification number, needed to access USDA programs. We will assist members in applying for USDA credit, conservation, climate, and marketing resources to build their farms. We will help our members to have a business plan for their farm operations and an estate plan for the disposition of their land and assets at death. We also offer technical assistance, training and business management assistance to our member cooperatives,” said Blanding.
“We have directly assisted 2,000 of our members to participate in the DFAP process. We estimate that $160 million in benefits were delivered by this one USDA program to our farmer members. We plan to help those who are continuing to farm to invest these resources wisely in their farm operations, said Blanding.
He continued, “With the help of the Southern Black Farmer Community Led Fund, we have helped five agricultural co-ops in Alabama to acquire $500,000 each, in new infrastructure, to strengthen their ability to market and generate income from basic crop production. We are developing a Black Farmers Financial Institution, in collaboration with other groups to be funded from the Pigford lawsuit – ‘ci pres’ left over funds. We are also working to implement the Heirs Property Re-lending Fund, to assist families in clearing titles and fully utilizing their inherited land resources.”
Blanding also cited work on the Federation’s Memorial Legacy Project, which will be a “living memorial to the grassroots leaders and organizations that help to create and implement the self-help strategies of the Federation. The Memorial Legacy Project will be built on the RTRC land between Epes and Gainesville, Alabama, consisting of a memorial wall, walking trails, gardens, orchards, gazebos, fountains, benches, cabins and other structures to recognize these pioneering leaders and help tell their story. During the past year the Federation’s RTRC was recognized by the Alabama Historical Commission and the National Parks Service, as a National Historical Site.
Blanding indicated that the Federation was working on a new five-year strategic plan for the organization, which includes the following elements:
Board, Membership and Staff Development
Strengthen Cooperative Infrastructure
Rural Training and Research Center Upgrade
Renovations
New Construction
Memorial Legacy Project
Farm and Forestry Demonstration sites, increase
membership usages and trainingAfter the reports, members from each state met in state caucuses to elect Board members and discuss issues, ideas and program services to be added to the five-year strategic plan discussions.
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Newswire : Africa has almost 4,000 new mpox cases in a week, but the wait for vaccines continues
Patient in the Congo tested for mpox
By: AfricaNews and AP
Africa is seeing a rapid increase in mpox cases with nearly 4,000 reported in the past week, the continent’s public health body said Tuesday as it repeated a plea for long-awaited vaccines whose arrival this week in the most affected country, Congo, has been delayed.
Eighty-one deaths from mpox were reported in Africa in the past week, bringing the total cases and deaths to 22,863 and 622, respectively, Dr. Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told an online briefing.
About 380,000 doses of mpox vaccines have been promised by Western partners such as the European Union and the United States, he said. That’s less than 15% of the doses authorities have said are needed to end the mpox outbreaks in Congo, the epicenter of the global health emergency.
Following mpox outbreaks outside the African continent in 2022, wealthy countries quickly responded with vaccines and treatments from their stockpiles. However, only a few doses have reached Africa despite pleas from its governments.
At the earliest, the first batch of vaccine doses promised to support the new outbreaks in Congo will arrive on Sept. 1 after delays caused by documentation and emergency authorization issues, Kaseya said.
The batch would include 50,000 doses promised by the U.S. government and 15,000 from vaccines alliance GAVI, said Dr. Ngashi Ngongo, the Africa CDC incidents manager on mpox.
“It is just a matter of now waiting on the U.S. government on the transfer of those vaccines,” Ngongo said.Congo has also requested at least 2 million doses from Japan of vaccines that are particularly effective in protecting children, he said, with negotiations “quite advanced.” The new mpox variant first detected in Congo and blamed for the ongoing outbreaks is already triggering “significant” community-level transmission elsewhere, Ngongo said. For example, in neighboring Burundi, nearly 800 mpox cases have been recorded in the last month, he said.
The U.S. on Tuesday donated 10,000 doses of mpox vaccines to Nigeria, where the disease has been common. It is the first known donation to Africa since the current outbreaks. Nigeria has recorded 40 mpox cases this year, according to Nigeria’s CDC.
The Africa CDC said it is working on a unified response plan for the outbreaks which will be presented to African heads of state for consideration at a meeting in September. So far, African countries are promoting health measures and hygiene practices that would slow the spread of the mpox virus, Kaseya said.
Experts, however, have said such measures are difficult to enforce in Congo, where millions fleeing violence are crammed in displaced camps amid a decade long humanitarian crisis. “Humanitarian actors are struggling to control the outbreak due to insufficient resources,” said Heather Kerr, the International Rescue Committee country director in Congo, adding that children are especially vulnerable.
