The Greene County Democrat

Category: Celebrity

  • Annual festival celebrates 41 years

    The annual Black Belt Folk Roots Festival celebrated its 41st anniversary on the old courthouse square in Eutaw, AL on Saturday and Sunday, August 27-28. The festival, produced by the Society of Folk Arts & Culture, brings together bearers of the culture, lifting the folk traditions of quilting, basketweaving, jewelry and doll making and sundry other home decorative items. The foodways, including soul food dinners, barbecue, Polish sausage, fish, pork skins, cakes, pies, funnel cakes, shaved ice and more tasty eats, represent local delicacies. The festival goers are planted in their seats under the great tent enjoying the ole timey blues on Saturday and ole timey gospel on Sunday. Many groups schedule family and class reunions as well as vacations in the area to coincide with the annual festival activities. The photos above show Ms. Mattie Dunning with her homemade quilts and Burley and Liz Daniel with the Son of Zion Gospel group. S

  • State issued voter ID available at Black Belt Folk Roots Festival

    The Black Belt Folk Roots Festival will host a booth to accommodate voter registration and free voter ids for the local community. In an effort to ensure that all eligible Alabama citizens are afforded the opportunity to vote, Alabama’s Secretary of State John H. Merrill has asked the state’s election team to participate in as many festivals within the state of Alabama this summer to provide online voter registration and free voter IDs to eligible attendees.
    The Secretary of State’s office will set up its Mobile Voter ID Unit at the Festival activities on Sunday, August 28, 2016. The Unit will be set up behind the Greene County Industrial Development Authority’s office on the old courthouse square.Since June 3, 2014, to participate in an Alabama election, a citizen must be registered to vote and present a valid form of photo ID. Forms of photo ID accepted at the polls include valid:
    driver’s license; * Alabama photo voter ID card; * state issued ID (any state); * federal issued ID; * US passport; * employee ID from Federal Government, State of Alabama, County, Municipality, Board, or other entity of this state; *student or employee ID from a public or private college or university in the State of Alabama (including postgraduate technical or professional schools); * Military ID; or Tribal ID. To receive a free Alabama photo voter ID card a citizen must be a registered voter and must not have one of the valid forms of photo ID listed above.
    When applying for the free Alabama photo voter ID, a voter must show: a photo ID document or a non-photo identity document that contains full legal name and date of birth; documentation showing the voter’s date of birth; documentation showing the person is a registered voter; and documentation showing the voter’s name and address as reflected in the voter registration record. A citizen’s name, address, and voter registration status can be verified by Secretary of State staff, using the statewide voter registration system.
    Examples of non-photo ID documents that can be used in applying for a free Alabama photo voter ID card include a birth certificate, marriage record, Social Security Administration document, hospital or nursing home record, Medicare or Medicaid document, or an official school record or transcript.
    For more information on the process on how to receive a free voter ID, voters can call 1-800-274-VOTE or go to http://www.alabamavoterid.com. The mobile site schedule is also posted there.

  • Ethopian Marathon Silver Medalist fears death at home as representative of Oromo people

                                                          Feyisa Lilesa

    Aug. 22, 2016 (GIN) – Using every fiber of his being, track star Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia made a dash across the finish line at the just-ended Olympic Games in Rio but it wasn’t to be the end of his run.

    Lilesa used his high profile silver medal victory to make a sign of solidarity with the Oromo people who are locked in a decades-long struggle with the government of Ethiopia. In a photograph seen worldwide, 26-year-old Lilesa stands with his arms crossed over his head – a gesture of defiance used by Oromos in recent months.

    The gesture recalled an earlier protest by Olympic athletes John Carlos and Tommie Smith who gave the Black Power salute on the medal podium after winning gold and bronze in the 200 meter sprint in the 1968 games.

    Political statements are banned during the games, but Lilesa showed no fear of being sanctioned. “This was my feeling,” Lilesa said simply. “I have a big problem in my country. It is very dangerous to protest. The Ethiopian government is killing the Oromo people and taking their land and resources so the Oromo people are protesting and I support the protest as I am Oromo,” he said in an interview with USA Today.

    Oromos, the largest of Ethiopia’s 80 ethnic groups making up at least a third of Ethiopia’s 100 million population, were once a sovereign people but lost ownership of their land and become both impoverished and aliens in their own country. In 1975, all rural land was declared State-owned, leaving the Oromos in a “colonized” status.

    Last November, after the confiscation of a children’s playground and the selling off of an Oromo forest, a wave of mass protests began. Other issues – the expansion of the municipal boundary of the capital, Addis Ababa, into Oromia, land grabbing and the eviction of farmers, and the brutal repression of protestors – fed the fire, according to Human Rights Watch and other independent monitors.

    “If I go back to Ethiopia maybe they will kill me or put me in prison,” Lilesa said.

    A government spokesman denied any threat to Lilesa or his family. Yet state-owned TV station EBC Channel 3 blacked out the clips of Lilesa, focusing instead on the Kenyan winner Eliud Kipchoge.

    Meanwhile, a crowd-funding page was set up, saying the runner had become an “international symbol” for the Oromo protests. Initial pledges of $10,000 doubled within an hour.

    A legal team hired by U.S.-based Ethiopians is helping Mr Feyisa, who has a wife and two children in Ethiopia, with a request to seek asylum in the US.

     

  • Simone Biles is first woman U.S. gymnast to carry American flag in closing Olympic ceremony

     By Charise Frazier, Newsone

    Team USA selected the Rio Olympics’ “it-girl” Simone Biles to carry the flag into Maracanã Stadium during Sunday night’s closing ceremony.

    Biles is the first woman U.S. gymnast to carry the flag. She’s the second American gymnast to carry the flag in an opening or closing ceremony after Alfred Jochim marched with the American flag during opening ceremonies at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, according to The Huffington Post.

    Mary Carillo, a former Olympian and NBC commentator, called her “the most stunning athlete I’ve ever seen” as the U.S flag towered above Biles’ 4′ 9″ frame.

    Biles leaves Rio with tremendous accomplishments; she’s won a total of five medals – four gold and one bronze. She’s the first U.S. gymnast to win four gold medals in a single Olympics.

    “It’s an incredible honor to be selected as the flag bearer by my Team USA teammates,”Biles said in an interview with TeamUSA.org. “This experience has been the dream of a lifetime for me and my team and I consider it a privilege to represent my country, the United States Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics by carrying our flag. I also wish to thank the city of Rio de Janeiro, and the entire country of Brazil, for hosting an incredible Games.”

    Biles was a fan favorite on the floor as multiple athletes stopped the gymnast for photos and selfies during the closing ceremony.

     

  • Tuskegee Co-op Extension holds West Alabama Senior Olympics

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    crawford

    Thursday, July 28, 2016, Tuskegee  University Cooperative Extension program sponsored the Greene /Hale Senior Olympics at the Eutaw Activity Center.
    This year’s theme Seniors Striving for a Healthier Lifestyle drew a large crowd.
    Participants signed in and were presented with an Olympic t-shirt. Welcome /Greeting were delivered by Hon. Mayor Hattie Edwards.
    The purpose of Senior Olympics is to promote healthy lifestyles for senior adults through fitness, sports and active involvement in life. The Senior Olympics program offers senior adults the opportunity for competition and fellowship through various athletic recreation and social events.
    These activities and events encourage older adults to stay active, and gives them a reason to renew past skills or acquire new ones.
    A warm-up jazzercise was presented by Ms. Eloise Carey. Informational pamphlets and blood pressure checks were available. Numerous games and activities were enjoyed including cards, dominoes, checkers, arts & crafts, Wii bowling, musical chairs, basketball reach, and Mary Kay Facials. Fun was had by all, followed by a delicious meal.
    Senior County Agent Gwendolyn J. Johnson who presented the closing remarks was pleased with the turnout and stated the Greene /Hale Senior Olympics gets better and better each year.
    “We are looking forward to next year’s Greene/Hale Senior Olympics,” said Johnson. “We would like to thank everyone for their part in making the program a success.”

  • ANC, the party of Mandela in South Africa, losses several local elections

    Mmusi Maimane

    Mmusi Maimane, leader of Democratic Alliance in South Africa

    Zuma

    Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa

    Aug. 8, 2016 (GIN) – It was a long night for the African National Congress party faithful as a popular revolt in the cities of Tshwane (Pretoria) and Port Elizabeth upended the ANC’s long-held power base in those two key municipalities.

    The ANC was beaten in working-class “black township” areas such as Mamelodi in Tshwane, and Motherwell in Port Elizabeth.

    The party’s numbers fell even when they managed to eke out a victory. In ward 21 in Mabopane, north-western Tshwane, for example, ANC support fell from 82% at the last municipal elections to 59%. The opposition Democratic Alliance, on the other hand, doubled their vote total to just short of 20% and the Economic Freedom Fighters picked up 19% itself.

    Final results released by the Electoral Commission of South Africa on Saturday night confirm the ANC will need a coalition to govern Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Rustenburg.

    The ANC’s performance raises fears about the 2019 general election. Party officials have circled the wagons around their leader. ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe blamed voters: “Black people do not appreciate the value of voting,” he said in a radio interview, adding he saw a noticeable difference between the energy with which people in the “suburbs” and people in the “townships” went about things on Election Day.

    In the primarily white suburbs, he observed, long lines formed early Wednesday, while voters in the townships took their time getting to the voting stations.    Those who blame President Jacob Zuma cite his failure to rein in corruption including spending taxpayer dollars for upgrades at his private home and luxury cars for his four wives, allowing needs for basic services to go unmet, and generally failing to prioritize the needs of the poor.    By Monday, Gauteng ANC leaders were calling for Zuma to step down. Besides costing them votes because of the corruption allegations and many scandals associated with his administration, they fault him for racially divisive statements towards the Democratic Alliance (DA). “Confused Black people” voted for the DA but are now coming back to the ANC, Zuma said, adding that the DA is the brainchild of apartheid and does not have the interest of Black people at heart.

    Meanwhile, Mmusi Maimane, the first black leader of the Democratic Alliance, is being compared to President Barack Obama. Holding a Master’s degree in theology, his stirring oratorical skills and cerebral aloofness recall the U.S. president, writes Aryn Baker of Time magazine. “From the moment he entered politics, he proved an electrifying speaker.”Maimane vows to fight to fulfill Mandela’s vision of a “rainbow nation.” “It’s upon all of us as South Africans to fight for that ideal of non-racialism,” he says.  The ANC has two short years before presidential polls to turn the tide. Without taking action quickly, the party has little hope of reinventing itself. It is not a long road from 54% to 44% — just ask the dazed and confused ANC leaders in Nelson Mandela Bay, wrote an opinion writer in Business Day Live.

  • Michael Jordan speaks out on deadly police shootings of Black men

    By Frederick H. Lowe

     

    Michael-Jordan

    Michael Jordan

          Saying he can no longer remain silent in the wake of deadly shootings of unarmed Black men by police and the shooting deaths of police officers, NBA great Michael Jordan, who is also owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA, announced on Monday that he has donated a total of $2 million to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the Institute for Community –Police Relations for the purpose of building trust and promoting best practices in community policing.

    “To support that effort, I am making contributions of $1 million each to two organizations, the International  Association of Chiefs of Police’s newly established  institute for Community-Police Relations and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, ” Jordan said. “My donation to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, will support its ongoing work in support of reforms that will build trust and respect between communities and law enforcement. Although I know these contributions alone are not enough to solve the problem, I hope the resources will help both organizations make a positive difference.”

    “I am so pleased and honored that Michael Jordan will be making this donation to LDF in support of our policing reform efforts,” said Sherriyln Ifill, president and director counsel of LDF, which was founded by Thurgood Marshall.

    “It is an act of true leadership that Mr. Jordan has chosen to use his stature to highlight the importance to all Americans and by taking a personal stance in support of organizations directly engaged in addressing this crisis in our nation. We are grateful for this support, which will allow to deepen our engagement on the issue of policing reform at this critical time in our country.”

    Although Jordan, a member of the NBA Hall of Fame, donates money to various projects, he rarely speaks out on issues, but he said he was moved by the spate of deadly police shootings of unarmed black men and the deadly shootings of police.

    “As a proud American, a father who lost his dad in a senseless act of violence, and a back man. I have been deeply troubled by the deaths of African Americans at the hands of law enforcement and angered by the cowardly and hateful targeting of police officers. I grieve with the families who have lost loved ones, as I know their pain all too well,” Jordan said.

     

     

  • Omarosa Manigault named Trump’s Director of African-American Outreach

    Written By Charise Frazier

    Omirosa Manigualt and Donald Trump

    Omarosa Manigualt with Donald Trump at the convention

    Former Apprentice star Omarosa Manigault breathed new life into her career by announcing her title as Donald Trump’s campaign director of African-American outreach on live television.

    Manigault, a longtime supporter of the presumptive GOP nominee, and former Vice Chair of the National Diversity Coalition For Trump, solidified her position during a Monday interview with MSNBC‘s Craig Melvin.
    Melvin pressed Manigault on the recent polling in Ohio and her home state of Pennsylvania, where Trump’s support from African-Americans stands at an astounding zero percent. “I just spent an amazing weekend with African-Americans for Trump, about 300 of them,” she said.
    “I’m just wondering who they called because those numbers would be flawed according to the people who have come out to support, had an amazing faith-based service yet with African-Americans who support Donald Trump, had an amazing reception yesterday evening with African-Americans who support Trump,” she continued. “So I look at the data, but my reality is that I’m surrounded by people who to want see Donald Trump as the next president of the United States, who are African-American.”
    Well, the numbers don’t lie and if Manigault has any chance of sustaining success in her position, she now knows where she can start.
    Manigault pivoted to touting Trump’s economic prowess as a principle for his readiness to lead the country. Though the controversy with Trump University’s multiple lawsuits stands as a stain on Trump’s economic record, and considering the questionable tactics he’s taken with his personal finances (filing for bankruptcy, refusing to make his tax returns public when prompted), Manigault still believes her candidate has “an incredible vision for this country.”

  • Celebrate ‘Nelson Mandela International Day’ with service and volunteerism

     

    Graca Machel, Nelson Mandela's wife speak with students

    Graca Machel, Nelson Mandela’s wife speaks
    with students

    Jul 11, 2016 (GIN) – “Nelson Mandela International Day” – formalized by the U.N. General Assembly in November 2009 – recalls the former South African President’s contribution to the culture of peace and freedom on his birthday – July 18. It comes as Americans reflect on a wrenching week of race-related violence and the undeniable evidence of the persistence of intolerance that Mandela devoted his life to oppose.
    The Nelson Mandela Foundation promotes acts of service to humanity on that day in his honor.
    In December 2015, the General Assembly extended the scope of Nelson Mandela International Day to raise awareness about persons in detention and to call for humane treatment of the incarcerated.
    In South Africa, the 7th annual Bikers for Mandela Day will take the call for service to remote areas.
    “We have crossed over 12 000 kilometers since the inception of this initiative in 2010 and assisted over 20 charitable organizations through Bikers for Mandela day.  We look forward to paying tribute to Madiba’s unwavering legacy once again.  We believe that every small action of goodwill leads to a larger movement in the right direction,” said organizer Zelda la Grange, formerly Madiba’s personal secretary.
    In 2015, UN staff volunteers in New York, partnered with GreenThumb, East New York Farms, and the UN Food Garden, to plant seedlings, pull weeds, and water plant beds in community gardens across the city.
    In Geneva, the Permanent Mission of South Africa and Serve the City Geneva have mobilized volunteers to help the poor and marginalized in the city.
    Mandela’s wife, Graca Machel, speaking to students this month at the Dr Mathole Motshekga Primary School in Tembisa, said: “Mandela Day gives us a way to energize our collective commitment, and it helps to know you are not doing this alone – there are millions of us. This helps build the movement of doing something good for someone else, selflessly caring for others, and remind ourselves that we belong to a global, human family.”
    Also in South Africa, RACE (against time), a song against racism written and co-produced by Katlego Maboe, David Harmse and Ntokozo Mkhize will raise money for Anti-Racism Network South Africa (ARNSA).
    Developed by The Nelson Mandela and Ahmed Kathrada Foundations, it takes a thoughtful look at the roots of racism. Maboe explains the title of the single: “There is a deliberate play on words. The issue of race is a matter of urgency for all of us and we all stand to lose and suffer the consequences if we don’t solve the problem in time.”
    For more about the single, go to http://www.mitracks.fm/preorder/race-against-time

  • Dr. Roscoe C. Brown, legendary Tuskegee Airman, dead at 94

    Written By Charise Frazier

     

    Roscoe Brown Jr, Tuskegee Airman

     Roscoe Brown Jr. with model of ‘Red Tail’ fighter plane

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    Roscoe Brown, as a Tuskegee Airman

     

    Dr. Roscoe C. Brown, a legendary World War II hero and member of the historic Tuskegee Airmen, died over the weekend in New York, NBC4 reports. He was 94 years old.
    Brown flew in 68 combat missions for the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American pilots in U.S. history, but he was also committed to public service as an educator and university leader. He was part of the longest mission flown by the air force in World War II, traveling over 1,500 miles from Italy to Berlin to take down a slew of German jets.
    In a 2011 interview with NBC 4, Brown spoke fondly of his time as a pilot in the military.“I didn’t understand the brutality of the Civil War, but when I was a Tuskegee Airman, I knew that I was good, I knew that I had to challenge the system, and I loved to fly,” he said.
    Following World War II, Brown received his Ph.D. in education and taught at New York University, CBS New York reports. He held a lifetime commitment to public service as an educator.
    For 17 years he was president of Bronx Community College and was also a professor at CUNY’s Graduate Center where he held the position as director of the Center for Urban Education Policy.
    For many years he hosted a segment titled “African-American Legends,” on CUNY’s public affairs channel. CUNY released a statement on Monday paying homage to Dr. Brown:
    “It is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of Dr. Roscoe C. Brown, Jr, former President of Bronx Community College, who served his country with great distinction in World War II as one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen and later as a leading champion for civil rights. During his 17 years of exemplary service as president, Dr. Brown intensified the College’s outreach to New York City’s economic and educational institutions through partnerships with business and industry.  With his leadership, new programs were developed in high growth professions in the fields of health, technology and human services
    Dr. Brown was also very physically active — he participated in the New York City Marathon nine times, and enjoyed two hometown teams, the Jets and the Mets. But, during the winter he fell ill and had a pacemaker installed at Montefiore Medical Center, according to NBC 4.
    “If he wasn’t as healthy and in such great shape, he probably wouldn’t have made it through this,” Brown’s physician, Dr. Daniel Sims, told NBC 4 New York. “Most 94-year-olds are not this active, but Dr. Brown is just remarkable,” he said.
    Brown’s family posted a thank you message to supporters on Monday:
    Brown’s message of resilience to young people in a 2011 interview with NBC 4, spoke wisdom and insight. He told reporter Tracie Strahan the following:
    “My message to young people is to keep on working. You’ve got to be better, you’ve got to be disciplined, you’ve gotta believe. And if you believe you can overcome, you can overcome. That’s the story of the Tuskegee Airmen.”
    Rest in power, Dr. Brown.