By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia
Entrance to Mississippi State Penitentiary
The conditions at Mississippi’s Parchman prison makes it one of the worst detention facilities in the world, according to reform advocates and human rights organizations. Death and violence are rampant, many inmates are without beds, and electricity, plumbing, and fundamental human rights are absent. At the same time, mold, roaches, mosquitos, and rodents far outnumber the more than 5,000 inmates. On Tuesday, January 14, hip-hop superstar Jay-Z sued the head of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and the warden on behalf of 29 prisoners who have complained that officials have done nothing to stop the violence at Parchman. In the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Greenville, Mississippi, Jay-Z addressed the recent deaths at the prison. “These deaths are a direct result of Mississippi’s utter disregard for the people it has incarcerated and their constitutional rights,” the mogul said in the court filing. The suit names Department of Corrections Commissioner Pelicia Hall and Mississippi State Penitentiary Superintendent Marshall Turner as defendants. Earlier this month, hip-hop stars T.I., and Yo Gotti called on the governor to close the prison or to address the issues adequately. “This is unacceptable,” T.I. wrote on his Instagram page. “The conditions in the prisons operated by the Mississippi Department of Corrections are absolutely inhumane and unconstitutional,” Yo Gotti wrote in a letter to the governor Phil Bryant, a Republican. “To see this happen so close to my hometown of Memphis is truly devastating. That’s why we’re calling on Mississippi state leaders to take immediate action and rectify this issue. If they don’t right this wrong, we’re prepared to take legal action to provide relief for those that are incarcerated and their families,” Gotti stated. In an alarming 2019 report on Parchman and other Mississippi prisons, The Marshall Project found that gang activity isn’t limited to some of the people incarcerated. They discovered that some prison employees, including some high ranking officers and managers, are affiliated with one of two gangs, the Vice Lords or Gangster Disciples. The reasons vary. “Some staffers said gang loyalty gives some officers a measure of protection; since gangs have a lot of control, they can prevent certain attacks,” The Marshall Project reported. “Others say gang affiliation began before employment; according to lawsuits, testimony, and interviews, gangs directly recruit women to apply for correctional officer jobs.” In a tweet, Pro Publica officials stated, “Understaffed and underfunded, Mississippi’s #ParchmanPrison recently received media attention for its grisly violence, gang control, and subhuman living conditions. Lawmakers have known about these issues for years — and have done nothing to fix it.” Earlier this month, five inmates were killed after allegedly trying to escape. Video captured by cellphones, which are routinely smuggled into the prison, surfaced online this month appearing to show inside Parchman and the conditions in which inmates live. One shows individuals in orange and white prison uniforms walking through piles of trash and dirty water. Mold is apparent, and there’s no electricity, heat, plumbing, and many inmates sleep on concrete because there aren’t enough beds. “We sleeping on straight concrete. There are no mats,” one person on the video states. The individuals than demonstrate that there’s no running water by trying to flush toilets and opening faucets and showers. In another video, two inmates also complain about the lack of running water. “Please get us some help,” they plead.In still another video, an inmate appears to breakdown emotionally as he sits in an area where prisoners have disposed of their feces. In the heart of the Mississippi Delta, the prison, once a plantation that was home to hundreds of slaves, has a long history that’s intertwined with Mississippi’s racist past. In 1901, the state government of Mississippi established Parchman Penitentiary, taking advantage of an opportunity to continue to profit off of cheap Black labor, much like Whites had done for generations before, while also continuing to exercise violent control over the descendants of former slaves. Historians at the University of North Carolina said Parchman was modeled after a traditional southern plantation, for-profit prison in Sunflower County was segregated until 1971. “While a small farm held White convicts, Black inmates labored on Parchman’s massive, twenty-thousand-acre plantation, where they picked cotton, chopped wood, and plowed fields under the control of armed guards,” the historians stated. Today, of the more than 5,000 inmates at Parchman, more than 60 percent are African American. The prison has an 11-to-1 inmate to guard ratio, and no one is safe. “I will be requesting that the U.S. Attorney General launch an investigation into the ongoing failures in safety, security, health, and environmental standards within the Mississippi Department of Corrections,” stated U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.). “This is unacceptable,” Thompson wrote on Twitter.
(TriceEdneyWire.com) – Even if watching Perry Mason or Law and Order have been your only contact with the criminal justice system you would know real trials have witnesses and documents which the fraudulent Republican-controlled impeachment shenanigans are determined not to allow. But now there is a political hand grenade that could blow the lid off the GOP’s schemes to block important witnesses to provide testimony or documents that could shed negative light on the President. This new bombshell is the release of allegations in former national security adviser John Bolton’s book manuscript that President Trump had illegally tied military aid to Ukraine contingent on probes into vice president Joe Biden, Trump’s most feared political rival. In Bolton’s not yet published book, this account is not hearsay but allegedly first hand conversations that Bolton had with Trump and key advisers, such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Bolton’s lawyers have said their client is ready to testify in the Senate impeachment trial. And if he does, Bolton, who has a 40 year-career in foreign service, just might be that white knight in shining armor the Democrats are hoping for. In fact, the GOP Senators’ refusal to hear Bolton and other key White House officials will only add more credibility that the trial was a sham to hide a corrupt president and will not fare well with voters, which polls said 70 percent wanted the trial to include witnesses and documents. The mustachioed Bolton has been described potentially as the president’s worst nightmare. Trump has directed all executive-branch officials not to comply with congressional subpoenas. Most senior White House officials have complied with Trump’s gag order, but since Bolton has resigned his position, he could testify, but it is a safe bet the Senate won’t allow it. Here are some of the comments Bolton has already made that could boil up Trump’s already hot water; Bolton reportedly told some “all in the loop” Trump aides that he did not want to be part of “whatever drug deal” certain other officials were “cooking up” in Ukraine. Bolton has also described Rudy Giuliani as Trump’s personal bagman who spearheaded what witnesses have described as operating a backdoor channel in Ukraine, as a problem. Bolton was also reportedly opposed to the smear and intimidation campaign Giuliani and Trump carried out against Marie Yovanovitch, the US’s ambassador to Ukraine, who was trying to block some of the irregularities. Former senior administration officials have told news sources that people in Trump’s orbit were frightened over what Bolton might divulge, but others feel Bolton might pull back because he has much to lose depending on how he plays his cards. . First of all, billionaires and organized crime elements that reportedly are part of Trumps’ inner circle have the resources to buy loyalty, handsomely award their friends, and gravely punish their enemies. Bolton has a Political Action Committee that wealthy donors use to support Republicans who support Bolton’s hawkish foreign policy experts, according to the Washington Examiner. If Bolton turns on Trump all that cash will dry up and since Trump is certain not to be convicted by the GOP controlled Senate, why should Bolton damage his future by issuing a potentially damaging blow? We should have learned by all the hopes that were dashed by Robert Mueller’s probe which although important was undercut by Atty. Gen. Barr, which Mueller didn’t fight. The GOP top echelon are part of the same eco-system, sharing friends, funds and futures. Could Bolton really exist outside the GOP bubble? Furthermore, if the Senators refuse to allow Bolton to testify within the trial, Bolton’s book will be even more of a money-making best seller. And after the trial Trump will have free reign to continue his criminal activities to help him remain in office. So the only loser here is truth, which in the GOP climate really doesn’t matter.
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia
NNPA’s Ben Chavis speaks with Cuban delegation
National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. joined experts and academics from the United States and Cuba in Havana to seek strategies, solutions, and projects they hope would help rekindle relations between the countries. “The majority of the people of the United States want better relations with Cuba, and that is the will that must prevail,” stated Chavis, who counted among the delegation of 30 American scholars who attended the 18th edition of the Series of Academic Conversations on Cuba in the Foreign Policy of the United States of America. Sponsored by the Research Center on International Policies and the Raul Roa Higher Institute for International Relations, the conference highlighted how the Trump Administration has setback U.S.-Cuba relations after former President Barack Obama worked toward a more agreeable relationship. Here’s the text of Dr. Chavis’ full keynote address: On behalf of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the national trade association of the Black Press of America representing 225 African American owned newspapers across the United States of America, I bring to each of you our expressions of solidarity and comradeship in the ongoing international struggle for freedom, justice, equality for all of humanity throughout the world. Today’s conference is very important not only for the people of Cuba and for the people of the United States, but also this dialogue and these discussions over the next days here in Havana will have a positive impact, I believe, on improving the quality of life for all people throughout the world who especially cry out for freedom. I stand before you as a longtime freedom fighter, former U.S. political prisoner, journalist and as the President and CEO of the NNPA, but most importantly, I stand before you as your Brother and as your Comrade in our joint struggle and global movement for freedom and justice. The truth is if we all together can work to improve relations between the United States and Cuba, that success will bring benefits to all people in this region of the world and to all people in all regions of the world. Why is it that still in 2019, the United States is still imposing a “Blockade on Cuba?” Why? Whose interests are being served in this prolonged and unjust economic, political, and social blockade of Cuba by the United States? It is not in the interests of the people of Cuba for the blockade to continue. And it is not in the interests of the people of the United States for the blockade to continue. Therefore, my first point to emphasize today is that the most effective expression of international solidarity between the people of the Cuba and the people of the United States requires and demands an immediate end to the United States blockade of Cuba. The U.S. blockade of Cuba is a contradictory relic of the past, but it is a present day reminder of the awful, sinful, counterproductive, and devastating realities of international imperialism, exploitation and racism. I can state without fear of reprisal that the Black Press of America does not support the blockade of Cuba. We demand an end to the blockade immediately. We want to help improve relations between our two nations. I say “our” two nations because, as a descendant of Africa living, striving and struggling in the United States, whenever I am in Cuba, I not only feel at home, I know that I am at home here in Cuba because of what Cuba has done and continues to do for Africa and for all African people throughout the African Diaspora, as well as what Cuba continues to do today internationally to improve healthcare for all of humanity throughout the world. Several weeks ago, I spoke at the Embassy of Cuba to the United States on November 25, 2019 noting the anniversary when H.E. Comrade President Fidel Castro made his transition to eternal life. I noted then, and I want to repeat it here as part my intervention and statement to this outstanding gathering of colleagues and those who are interested in improving international relations. The Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro was one of the most important and effective revolutions of the 20th Century against imperialism, colonialism and racism. Today at the end of the second decade of the 21st Century, the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro’s enduring legacy, government, values, commitments, achievements and vast social and economic transformations continue to set a righteous and transformative ideal for the rest of the world to learn from and to follow. This past November 25th , I reminded the people gathered at the Cuban Embassy in Washington, DC, that when Fidel Castro dispatched thousands of courageous Cuban troops to Angola in southern Africa in the 1980’s, it permanently changed and reversed the tragic oppressive trajectory of imperialism, neocolonialism, and the brutal Apartheid South Africa’s quest to dominate and control all of southern Africa. My remarks today are not just from reading the books of history that are in fact important to read for all who stand for the liberation of humanity from the systems and structures of oppression. But my remarks are from being an actual firsthand witness to history being made and continuing to be made by the contributions and interventions of Cuban to the liberation of humanity. I witnessed and had fellowship with Cuban soldiers in Angola in 1988 in the aftermath of the heroic victory of the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale in southern Angola. I vividly remember as an African America Christian clergy going down into the fresh war-zone foxholes with Cuban soldiers who were deployed on the frontlines near Cuito Cuanavale. We broke bead together. We prayed together. We fought for freedom together against the imperialistic enemies. And we won an historic victory together against the racism and oppression of “apartheid” for the benefit of Angola, South Africa and Namibia that permanently changed the course of history in southern Africa. In fact, that strategic and consequential victory of Angolan, Namibian, and African National Congress soldiers fighting alongside Cuban troops against the apartheid armed forces inside of southern Angola at the battle of Cuito Cuanavale actually led to the eventual release of Comrade Nelson Mandela from prison in South Africa. That is a piece of history that sometimes does not get reported or appreciated in the so-called mainstream media in the United States. I am proud that the Black Press of America: African American owned newspapers, digital companies, social media channels, radio stations and other broadcast media does continue today to report and distribute the news about Cuba and about all of our people throughout the African Diaspora. And, of course, the Republic of Cuba is a nation that is a vital and strategic part of the African Diaspora that sometimes is misunderstood, undervalued, and at times not referenced sufficiently in the local, national, and international media. My point here, before moving on, is that history is important. We should learn from history. What are the lessons of history that we all have to remind ourselves of today with respect to success of the Cuban Revolution? What is the lingering relevance of White Supremacy and race in American foreign policy as well as its domestic policy when it comes to Cuba and the rest of the Diaspora? The purpose of this conference goes beyond the articulation of contemporary analyses, new research data, and the stated quest for overcoming the new and old challenges to improve relations between Cuba and the United States. I therefore state the following additional six points to further our dialogue and conversations about the current state of affairs, policies, challenges, opportunities and responsibilities for the conference to outline possible solutions to advance the interests of the people and government of Cuba in the wake of the continuation of the U.S. blockade, as well as the new sanctions and restrictions on this island nation. Cuba’s national and international contributions to improving healthcare and medical research, in addition to the academic and professional provision of free medical education for thousands of aspiring and evolving medical doctors and post-graduate medical researchers. Cuba has emerged as a world leader in the healthcare and medical education sectors. Thus, the U.S. embargo and new travel restrictions stand as an obstacle to advances in healthcare and medical education for Cubans, Americans and for all of humanity. Hight quality education in Cuba is accessible and affordable to all of its citizens from pre-K through post-graduate school. In the U.S. education is not accessible nor affordable for all of its citizens from pre-K through post-graduate school. Instead of imposing more economic sanctions and social restrictions on Cuba, the U.S. should try to learn from the success of the Cuban educational system. We propose that the Black Press of America and the Cuban Press Agencies find ways and means to work collaboratively to better mutually inform the people of the United States and the people of Cuba on the vital issues that are being outlined in this conference to enhance the policies and relations between the United States and Cuba. We call for the establishment of a Free Trade Zone and free trade policies the United States and Cuba, as well as the repeal of the Helms-Burton Act that targets and discriminates against the economic, political and social interests of the people and government of Cuba. We call for a bilateral focus between the United States and Cuba on the issues and challenges that millennials face with respect to youth leadership development programs and joint projects that have as a goal of increasing mutual understandings and affirmations of the interests of the youth of Cuba and United States to help improve overall bilateral relations. Last but not least, are the opportunities and responsibilities to foster, promote and coordinate cultural exchange programs between the United States and Cuba. Both nations are rich with cultural genius and talent that should be more forthrightly mutually shared and affirmed by both Cuba and the United States. Basta la repression! Basta la imperialism! Basta la racism! Viva Cuba and United States Relations! Viva Fidel! Viva la revolution! A luta continua! Victoria es cert! Thank you for listening. God bless.
Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from NorthStarNewsToday.com
Food stamp coupon
(TriceEdneyWire.com) – Fourteen states and the District of Columbia have filed a federal lawsuit to prevent the Trump Administration from cutting off nearly 700,000 Americans from participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program under new, more restrictive guidelines they have proposed that will take effect later this year. The lawsuit filed by the state attorneys general seeks a preliminary injunction to prevent the rule from going into effect on April 1, 2020. The lawsuit challenges a U.S. Department of Agriculture rule that would limit states’ ability to extend SNAP or Food Stamp benefits. The changes propose a three-month time limit for SNAP benefits for jobless individuals 18 to 49 who are not disabled or raising children. In addition, the coalition charges that the rule undermines Congress’ intent for SNAP and that the USDA violated the federal rule-making process. New York, California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and the District of Columbia are coalition members. The states sued the United States Department of Agriculture and George Perdue III, the department’s secretary, in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. On July 24, the Trump Administration proposed changing the way states calculate who is eligible to receive SNAP benefits. . The federal government pays the full cost of SNAP benefits but shares the cost of administering it on a 50-50 basis. According to the Department of Agriculture’s proposed rule, people with a gross income of $16,000 or with assets of more than $2,500, would no longer qualify for SNAP benefits. SNAP benefits provide the largest nutritional safety net, feeding 37 million Americans. People who are SNAP eligible receive $127 or about $1.39 per meal in SNAP benefits. Nearly 9 million African Americans receive food stamps each month, which is 25 percent of the black population, according the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington, D.C., progressive think tank that analyzes federal and state budget policies. “Denying access to vital SNAP benefits would only push hundreds of thousands of already vulnerable Americans into greater economic uncertainty,” said New York State’s Attorney General Letitia James. The states argued that the Trump administration’s proposed changes: § Contradicts statutory language and Congress’s intent for the food-stamp program § Raises health care and homeless costs while lowering economic activity in the states § Amends the law for arbitrary and capricious reasons § Violates the federal rule-making process The SNAP benefits program was established in 1964. Congress amended the program in 1996 to encourage greater workforce participation among recipients.
Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from NorthStarNewsToday.com
Homeless man sleeping on a park bench;
Homeless man holding sign
(TriceEdneyWire.com) – The total number of homeless is 567,715 and 40 percent or 225, 735 are African-American, although only 13 percent of the nation’s population is Black, according to “The 2019 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress.” The numbers are based on “Point-In-Time Estimates of Homelessness” taken one night in January 2020. The Point-In-Time Estimates reported that 27 percent of the 56,381 who were unsheltered were Black. Unsheltered homeless means they are sleeping in cars, on the streets or in parks or on buses, subways and elevated trains. “African Americans have remained considerably overrepresented among the homeless population compared to the U.S. population,” according to the report. Blacks represented 52 percent of the homeless population with children. About 48 percent or 270,607 of the homeless are White. They also comprised just over half of the unsheltered population or 57 percent of 119,487. Asians were 1.3 percent or 7,228 of the homeless population. Hispanics or Latinos were 22 percent or 124,615 of the homeless population. Native Americans were 3.2 percent or 17,966 of the homeless population. Men and boys comprise 343,187 or 60.5 percent of the homeless compared with women who comprise 219,911 or 38.7 percent of homeless.
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia
Rev. William Barber, Poor People’s Campaign
Rev. Dr. William Barber II believes that everyone has a right to live. Through his Poor People’s Campaign, Dr. Barber is continuing to build a movement to overcome systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation, militarism of the budget and the false moral narrative of white religious nationalism. In an exclusive telephone conference with the Black Press of America, Dr. Barber and his Poor People’s Campaign Co-Chair, Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharris, said America has a moral crisis. “Democrats run from poverty and Republicans racialize poverty,” Dr. Barber stated during the more than one-hour discussion. “We have invited both sides of the political fence. We’ve invited the White House to come and talk with us. They’ve refused,” stated Dr. Barber, the founder of Repairers of the Breach, a national leadership development organization, which expands upon his Moral Monday movement. “This administration has been virtually silent on the issue of poverty. The president talked about unemployment being down, but underemployment is up. The number of people that have dropped out of the workforce is up,” said Dr. Barber, who, along with Dr. Theoharris, and others launched the Poor People’s Campaign, spearheaded initially by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Campaign conducted what it said was a 50-year audit of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, and the war economy in the U.S. They said the findings have already helped to inform and build state and local, nonpartisan fusion movements that are committed to challenging laws and policies that are antithetical to the broad tenets of social justice. Dr. Barber and Theoharris, who is a pastor from New York, told the Black Press that the ranks of the Poor People’s Campaign would increase as they broaden their efforts. They noted figures that show 140 million poor and low-wealth people live in the United States – from every race, creed, sexuality, and place. “We aim to make sure these individuals are no longer ignored, dismissed, or pushed to the margins of our political and social agenda,” Dr. Theoharris stated. With 2020 counting as a pivotal election year, Dr. Barber pointed out that voter suppression laws in many states have only contributed to poverty. The Poor People’s Campaign has noted that, since 2010, 23 states have passed racist voter suppression laws, including racist gerrymandering and redistricting statutes that make it harder to register. Because of this, early voting days and hours have reduced, officials have purged voter rolls, and there have been more restrictive voter ID laws. Following the Shelby County v. Holder Supreme Court case, which gutted key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, 14 states had new voting restrictions in place before the 2016 Presidential election, and there were 868 fewer polling places across the country, according to the Campaign. While these laws have disproportionately targeted Black people, at least 17 states saw voter suppression cases targeting American Indian and Alaskan Native voters in 2016, Dr. Barber stated. “Thirteen states that passed voter suppression laws also opted not to accept expanded Medicaid benefits offered under the Affordable Care Act,” he added. “These attacks follow a broader pattern of restricting and curtailing democratic processes by drawing on legacies of racism to undermine local efforts to organize for better conditions,” Dr. Barber stated. As of July 2017, 25 states have passed laws that preempt cities from adopting their own local minimum wage laws. Most of these are in response to city councils passing or wanting to pass minimum wage increases. “We found that people can work a minimum wage job and can’t afford a two-bedroom apartment,” Dr. Barber said. “We found out that there are 2 million people who work every day for less than the living wage. Some of them live in their cars, and they go to work every day.” Dr. Theoharris spoke of Maria, a woman they met in El Paso, Texas, separated from her family because of immigration issues .“We waded into the Rio Grande River – the river that separates the U.S. from Mexico – with an action called “Hugs, not Walls.” Maria got to see her son for the first time in 16 years. And for those couple of minutes that Maria had with her husband and her son were the first and only two minutes that she got to see her family members because of unjust immigration policy,” Dr. Theohoarris stated. The Poor People’s Campaign is organizing the Poor People’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington, June 20th, during which Dr. Barber said they would rise as “a powerful moral fusion movement to demand the implementation of our moral agenda.” “The fact that there are 140 million poor and low-wealth people in a country this rich is morally indefensible, constitutionally inconsistent and economically insane,” Dr. Barber added. During the march, Dr. Barber said some of those living in poverty would attend and speak for themselves. He stated that it was essential to know that poverty comes in “all colors” and that it’s more than just African Americans who are struggling. He noted that the City of Flint was under emergency management when it decided to switch its water source from the Detroit Water System to the Flint River. That move poisoned a community of almost 99,000, with a 42 percent poverty rate and in which 56 percent of residents are Black, and 37 percent are White. Also, Dr. Barber noted that 6.1 million people had been disenfranchised because of felony convictions, including one in 13 Black adults. During the call, Dr. Barber continued to lash out at the current administration’s controversial immigration policies. The Poor People’s Campaign has found that undocumented immigrants contributed $5 trillion to the U.S. economy over the last ten years. They paid $13 billion in Social Security in 2010, but only received $1 billion in benefits. They also pay eight percent of their income in state and local taxes, while the wealthiest one percent pay just 5.4 percent. Yet undocumented immigrants and most lawfully residing immigrants are barred from receiving assistance under the major public welfare programs, causing hardship for many poor immigrant families. In fact, among the 43.7 million immigrants in the U.S., there are 19.7 million – undocumented and lawfully residing – who cannot vote, Dr. Barber noted. “So, we have to understand the history of systemic racism. And we have to see how systemic racism is impacting not just people of color, but also white people today,” Dr. Barber stated. “When Reverend Barber says that repressed voter suppression can create and further poverty amongst White people, amongst Black people, amongst Latinos, amongst young people and old people.”
I, William “Coach” Morgan, humbly announce my candidacy for re-election to the Greene County Board of Education – District three (3) in the March 3, 2020 Primary Election. I am a native of Greene County. I am a graduate of Greene County Training School (later became Paramount High School). After high school, I attended Alabama State University in Montgomery, AL, and graduated with a degree in History. The following summer, I enrolled in the graduate school program at Alabama State and later received a Master of Education degree in Guidance and Counseling. Several years later, I attended the University of Alabama, and received AA certification in Administration. I have faithfully served in the Greene County School System thirty-three (33) years and counting. I have served in many positions in the Greene County School System, proudly starting as a Social Studies teacher. Throughout my tenure in the Greene County School System, I have worked as a Junior High and High School Counselor, Assistant Principal, Principal, Head Girls Basketball Coach, School Bus Driver, Head Varsity Boys Basketball Coach, Assistant Boys Baseball Coach, Head Girls Softball Coach, Assistant Football Coach and Head Football Coach on the High School level. Upon retiring from the Greene County School System in 2011, I also had the opportunity to serve in the Kemper County School System in DeKalb, MS as a Social Studies Teacher and Head Girls Softball Coach. This was a great experience for me, nevertheless, I felt a greater passion to serve in a different capacity in Greene County. This passion led to me to seek the position as a member of the Greene County Board of Education. I am asking for the support of the citizens of District 3 to re-elect me because there is greater work to be done. I will continue to serve you, make sound and fair decisions based on local and state school board policies, and to treat everyone with dignity. I am a firm believer that “the dignity and worth of each individual is supreme.” I am a man of Faith, Fairness, Honesty, and Integrity and “A man for all the people.” I am married to the love of my life, Mildred Jolly Morgan. We have three children, Kimberly Harold-Graham, Precious Morgan-Hallman, and Major William O. Morgan. We are blessed to have two wonderful grandchildren, Omari and Khalil Hallman. I am a member of Pine Grove C.M.E. Church and serve as a member of the Steward Board.
At its regular monthly meeting on January 13, 2020, the Greene County Commission approved a proposal to request a 5-mil increase in the ad valorem property tax rate for Greene County. The 5 mil increase would support six specific agencies and programs of Greene County that would be designated in the proposal, as follows: • 3 mils for the Greene County Health System, for support of the hospital, emergency room, nursing home, physicians clinic and other health services • 1 mil for the Greene County Commission General Fund • .25 mil for Greene County Parks and Recreation Board • .25 mil for Senior Citizens nutrition and other programs • .25 mil for storm shelters • .25 for Greene County Public Works Department The proposal as passed contains approval of a one-cent sales tax for support of public housing activities in the county. The sales tax increase is independent of the 5 mils for a property tax increase. The 5-mil property tax increase will have to be translated into a piece of local legislation, advertised for four consecutive weeks in the newspaper and passed by the Alabama Legislature. Once passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor, the proposed increase will be voted on in a county-wide referendum, probably as part of the November 3, 2020 General Election. “We are pleased to see this tax increase proposal passed by the Commission. This is a beneficial first step toward generating new revenues, from Greene County residents, to support keeping our hospital operating and able to respond to community needs. We will work in a unified way with other agencies to secure passage of local legislation and the referendum to make these funds a reality for the future,” said Dr. Marcia Pugh, CEO and Administrator of the Greene County Health System. Currently Greene County residents are paying 40.5 mils toward the ad valorem property tax rate. The 5 mils would represent a modest 12% increase in the overall rate for county services including schools. This will be the first increase in over five years when the millage rate was increased to build the new high school. According to the Revenue Commission, one mil of property tax, in Greene County, generates $160,000 or more in new revenues. The amount of tax is based on the total value of property, less exemptions and abatements. For the Greene County Health System this will mean $480,000 or more annually for operation and improvement of the hospital and related health services. Paula Byrd, CFO for Greene County Commission presented the Financial Report for the county showing, as of December 2019, $2,680,817 in various accounts at Citizens Trust Bank, $4,462,859 in Merchants and Farmers Bank, as well as $1,055,048 and $617,239 in the Bank of New York investment bond sinking funds. She also reported that Greene County Commission had paid $ 740,686 in direct claims and $74,620 in electronic claims for the month of December 2019. Byrd reported that all agencies were operating within budget and had spent about 25% of their fiscal year allowances (based on a fiscal year that began October 1, 2019 and had run for three months) with the exception of the Sheriff’s Department at 38% and the Jail at 34%. Ms. Byrd indicated she used contingency funds to cover the Sheriff and Jail overages but that the contingency funds were now totally committed and used for those purposes. The Sheriff and the Jail receive 51% of the county’s total General Fund Budget and have agreed to supplement county funds, from bingo funds received by the Sheriff, for additional staffing, beyond the county’s budget. Commissioner Lester Brown raised the question of whether the Sheriff had paid any of the funds he agreed to send to cover his staff and jail expenses. Byrd and Commission Chair Allen Turner said the Sheriff had not as yet paid any of the additional monies that he promised. Brown said, “Things are getting out of hand. The Sheriff cannot buy a toothpick anymore until he pays us. We need to make plans to layoff additional staff, unless he pays the Commission what he owes us, before we go further in the hole on this.” Commission attorney, Hank Sanders of Selma, explained that he and Commission Chair Allen Turner had negotiated an agreement with the Sheriff to pay $240,000 owed to cover budget overages for the past three months and a monthly amount to cover the budget shortfall. “This final agreement did not have a specific date, so technically the Sheriff has until the end of the month to pay the Commission,” said Sanders. Commissioner Brown also pointed out that the Sheriff has negotiated an agreement with the pay telephone company providing phone service to the jail. The County Commission used to administer this contract and received $900 to $1,200 in monthly revenues from this contract. “Since June 2017, we have not seen the contract or the funds from the phone at the jail, “ said Brown. Commissioner Tennyson Smith reminded the commissioners that he had brought this to their attention when he was Chair of the Commission. Since September 2019, Sheriff Benison has also withheld $72,000 a month in electronic bingo funds, previously allocated to the Greene County Commission, from the bingo machine fee. The Sheriff said that the County Commission was not using the funds properly, under his rules, and that he was withholding them until the Commission can demonstrate that they were using the funds to benefit Greene County. Many political observers of Greene County feel the rift between the Sheriff and the County Commission must be healed or there will be serious negative consequences for the benefits of electronic bingo to Greene County residents. In other business, the Greene County Commission: • approved a resolution in support of the 2020 Census and making sure that everyone in Greene County is counted; • approved an ABC license for the Escape Lounge in Boligee; • approved extending the deadline for garbage fee waiver from February 3 to 14, 2020; • approved modifications in the Right-of-Way policies: • approved sale of dump trucks to Jeff Martin; • approved $17,417.61 for guardrails on three bridges, as a match for Federal funds to repair these bridges; • approved advertising and hiring temporary workers from the County Road Department; and • approved travel for employees for training.
Jan. 13, 2020 (GIN) – When Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo pronounced 2019 as the Year of Return, his words resounded with warmth and joy to all people of African descent. So began a year-long calendar of events including concerts, art shows, visits to heritage sites, fashion shows, movie premieres and creative economy and trade conferences, organized on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the arrival of African slaves in America. Thus far, Akufo-Addo’s call has been a great success, observed Ghanaian author and journalist Kwabena Agyare Yeboah in a recent online issue of African Arguments. Americans arriving in Ghana increased by 26% to their highest ever rate between January and September 2019. Similarly, the numbers of visitors grew from the UK (24%), Germany (22%), South Africa (10%) and Liberia (14%). All told, Ghana reportedly issued 800,000 visas this year and this week announced that all nationalities will be eligible to receive a visa on arrival for the next month or so due to the heavy demand. It was exhaustive, writes Agyare Yeboah, but could they have done more? Was the exclusive focus on the transatlantic slave trade, with the US at the center, a pardonable weakness? Or did it erase other crucially important aspects and legacies of Ghana’s history of slavery? Missing, he maintains, is the trans-Saharan slave trade in which an estimated 6-7 million people, including from the Sokoto Caliphate and Borno, were forcibly transported to North Africa, Europe and the Middle East, a period ranging over 1,250 years,” he says. “The legacy of this trade is still palpable in Mauritania where slavery is still a present-day reality,”Agyare Yeboah says. “The country only formally abolished slavery in 1981 and local activists estimate that 20% of the population – all black – are still enslaved. “Where are the calls for these descendants to return? Where are the African descendants outside of the US, the Jamaicans, Cubans and Brazilians?” he asks rhetorically. The failure to fully engage with the history of slavery and the focus on just a select portion of African descendants compromises its credibility, he charges. “The Year of Return campaign had the opportunity, and a whole year, to critically engage with the history of Africans and people of African descent in its entirety. On this, it must do more.”
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Calling preparations for the 2020 Census “conspicuously deficient,” the NAACP is suing the U.S. Census Bureau, demanding that the agency send more workers into the field and spend more money on encouraging people to participate in the once-a-decade head count. The civil rights group and Prince George’s County, a majority African American county in Maryland, filed the lawsuit last Friday in federal court in Maryland. It claims the Census Bureau wasn’t planning to put enough workers in the field and hadn’t opened up a sufficient number of field offices. The lawsuit also faulted the bureau for conducting limited testing, particularly when, for the first time, it is encouraging most respondents to answer the questionnaire online. The 2020 census will help determine the distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal spending and how many congressional seats each state gets. It starts for a few residents next week in a remote part of Alaska, but most people won’t be able to begin answering the questionnaire until mid-March. “These deficiencies will result in a massive and differential undercount of communities of color,” the lawsuit said. “Such a dramatic undercount will especially dilute the votes of racial and ethnic minorities, deprive their communities of critical federal funds, and undervalue their voices and interests in the political arena.” The Census Bureau didn’t immediately respond to an email for comment on Monday. The bureau plans to hire as many as 500,000 temporary workers, mostly to help knock on the doors of homes where people haven’t yet responded to the census. Although that is less than in 2010, the agency has said it doesn’t need as many workers this year because of technological advances, such as the ability of workers to collect information on their mobile devices. An earlier version of the lawsuit was first filed in 2018, but it was dismissed by the district court. An appellate court last month ruled some of the claims could be raised again in the amended complaint filed Friday. In previous court papers, the Census Bureau has called the lawsuit “meritless.””
