Author and graphic artist Mynecia (Mya) Steele engages children in art activities at Saturday’s festival.
The 47th annual Black Belt Folk Roots Festival, held Saturday and Sunday, August 27-28, 2022, in Eutaw, featured a Kids Tent providing art activities for children, designed and led by local author and graphic artists Mynecia (Mya) Steele.The youth enjoyed face painting and creating their own artistic designs.As producer of the annual festival, the Society of Folk Arts & Culture provided the art materials for the Kids Tent, including prizes and awards.“The intent of the Kids Tent was to help young people feel they are part of the festival as a community celebration; there is a place for them at the festival,” stated Dr. Carol Zippert, festival coordinator.
The two-day festival also featured the annual activities of the Ole Timey Blues stage on Saturday with musicians Clarence Davis, Terry “Harmonica” Bean, Lil’ Lee and the Midnight Blues Band and others. The Ole Timey Gospel stage on Sunday brought us Glory 2 Glory, Eddie Mae Brown, Dwayne Charleston and Company and many more.
Crafts and traditional foodways satisfied the music loving crowd. There was a noted transition among the craft artists.Where the festival once attracted many quilters and basket weavers, younger craft artists are joining the festival with handmade jewelry, organic items including soaps, scents and lotions; authored books, paintings and other home decorative items.
The annual Black Belt Folk Roots Festival continues as our signature community celebration.
The Greene County Commission held a Special Called Meeting on August 17, 2022, for the purpose of accepting and approving a settlement agreement between Greenetrack and the Commission.
The dispute goes back about ten years and concerns payment of rent by Greenetrack for use of the 53-acre site of the original dog racing track and ancillary buildings, which are now used for simulcast wagering on dogs and horses as well as electronic bingo.
When Bear Bryant Jr. ended his relationship as owner of Greenetrack. He gave his ownership rights in the property half to Greene County Commission and half to the employees of Greenetrack based on their position and seniority.
Greenetrack, represented by its CEO Luther Winn paid $250,000 in rental for the year 2012, but the Greene County Commission did not want to accept the check because Commission Chair, Nick Underwood, felt the county should receive more in rent. The check from Greenetrack was never cashed and clashing lawsuits were filed by both parties.
The agreement signed at the special meeting by Greenetrack CEO, Luther Winn, provides payment of $800,000 in back rent, over five years at the rate of $160,000 a year, payable April 1 of each year until April 2026. Greenetrack also agreed to a rental agreement to pay $100,000 a year rental each year for two years from April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2024, with a right of automatic lease renewals on an annual basis.
Winn signed the agreement and gave a check or $250,000, which was $10,000 less than the $260,000 required and said he would submit the rest at a later date.
The County Commission also officially approved the settlement, which includes provisions to dismiss lawsuits between the parties. This settlement also frees up a large escrow fund of over $200,000, held by the County Commission for the Greene County Water and Sewer Authority of funds paid by Greenetrack for water and sewer services during the dispute.
After handing the check to Greene County, Winn said, “Greenetrack is a major business in Greene County that employs 98 people and attracts people to visit the county. Greenetrack is currently facing a critical challenge to its existence from the Alabama Supreme Court and Alabama Revenue Commission requiring millions of dollars back sales taxes that will drive Greenetrack out of business. I had hoped the County Commission would ask us how you can help our business at this time.”
Winn went on to say that he is going to hold negotiations with the State Revenue Commission to reduce the amount of back sales taxes to a more reasonable figure representing actual income and considering a 1997 tax exemption and Tax Tribunal decisions affirming the exemption that Greenetrack received prior to the latest Alabama Supreme Court decision, which he characterized as “over-reach”.
The Commission also approved a resolution concerning bank accounts before adjourning the special meeting.
Rev Bernard Lafayette (center) receives Estelle Witherspoon Lifetime Achievement Award at Federation dinner; joined by L. To R. Cornelius Blanding, Federation Executive Director and Board members, Carrie Fulghum, Shirley Blakely, Helen Fields and Raymond Olds.Federation Attorney Dania Davy, Dr. Jewel Bronaugh, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Cornelius Blanding, Federation Executive DirectorCharles O. Prejean, first Executive Director of the Federation and his wife, Carmen Prejean speaking at Witherspoon award dinnerPart of crowd at Federation Annual Meeting at EpesCornelius Blanding giving his report at the Federation’s Business Meeting.
The Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund celebrated its 55th Annual Meeting this past weekend.
The program began on Thursday evening, August 18, 2022, with the 21st Annual Estelle Witherspoon Lifetime Achievement Award Dinner, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Birmingham, Alabama. Rev. Bernard Lafayette, veteran civil rights leader, and teacher of Kingian non-violence, received the award named for Estelle Witherspoon, former manager of the Freedom Quilting Bee and a founding member of the Federation.
In his remarks, accepting the award, Rev. Lafayette said,” I am honored to receive this award from the Federation which has helped Black farmers and poor people change and impact their communities for 55 years. I urge you to involve more young people in your movement like we did in the 1960’s. Young people and students will make the difference in internalizing and institutionalizing the cooperative movement.”
Earlier in the day, there was a press conference at the hotel, where Dr. Jewel Bronaugh, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, announced a $5 million Heirs Property Relending Fund allocation to the Federation, in conjunction with Shared Capital, a CDFI, which will used to make loans to Black families with heir property problems.
The Heirs Property Relending Program was included in the 2018 Farm Bill after vigorous advocacy efforts by the Federation, Intertribal Agriculture Council, and the Rural Coalition. The Trump Administration delayed writing regulations to implement the needed program. Secretary Vilsack, under the Biden Administration, completed the regulations and put our the first call for proposals this year. The allocation to the Federation and two Indian land organizations, were the first made from the program.
Secretary Bronaugh indicated that the Federation would also receive an augmented Cooperative Agreement to provide technical and legal assistance to families encountering heir property issues. In his remarks accepting the announcement, Cornelius Blanding, Federation Executive Director said,”60% of all Black land is now owned jointly by families in heir property status. The Federation and Emergency Land Fund have been working on this problem for 45 years and these funds will help us to do a more effective job for our members and others with heir property problems.”
Attorney Dania Davy, who heads the Federation’s Land Retention Program, said “We are pleased to receive these funds which will enable families to clear titles, deal with reluctant heirs, and access more USDA resources. This will impact Black landowners with over a million acres, with a conservative value of $15 billion across our nation.
On Friday and Saturday, the meeting shifted to the Federation’s Rural Training and Research Center, near Epes, Alabama. Over 400 people from the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Florida, and Texas attended the workshops, tours, demonstrations, prayer breakfast and business meeting held there over the next two days.
Friday began with a panel of USDA program representatives explaining their agency efforts at creating more equity and diversity in their staff and work.
Dr. Dewayne Goldman, Special Assistant for Equity to Secretary Vilsack, explained the Biden’s Administration’s equity efforts by saying, “Suppose you had three people standing outside a baseball stadium, with a six-foot fence, to see the game. One was 5 feet, one was 5 foot seven, and one was 6 feet tall. If each was given a one-foot stool stand on, this would be equality, everyone gets the same; but the smaller person would still not be able to see the game. Equity is needed to give each person the right size stool so they can actually see the game. Black farmers and other underserved farmers will receive equity in receiving and utilizing USDA resources.”
Goldman then explained the new sections in the just passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) which will benefit Black farmers and other underserved and financially distressed farmers. He was joined remotely on a zoom by Adam Zipkin with Senator Cory Booker’s office and Brandon Honeycutt from Senator Raphael Warnock’s office, who are on the Senate Agriculture Committee, and were influential in getting these provisions into the Inflation Reduction Act.
Goldman explained that the IRA, rescinds Section 1005 of the American Rescue Plan, which contained debt forgiveness for all BIPOC farmers. These provisions were challenged in Federal Court by white farmers, saying the provisions were discriminatory towards them and unconstitutional. These farmers and their right-wing allies stopped the program implementation.
The IRA contains $3.1 billion for loan modifications for farmers in financial distress and facing foreclosure. The IRA also contains $2.2 billion for farmers who suffered discrimination in receiving financial assistance from USDA.
Goldman asked for comments and assistance in drafting the regulations for implementation of these two sections in the IRA. He promised that “USDA would work expeditiously to get this relief to farmers who need assistance and to prevent foreclosures.”
On Friday afternoon workshops were held on Cooperative Development and Heirs Property issues. The day ended with a fish fry and auction.
Saturday’s program began with a Prayer Breakfast, with women wearing hats to honor deceased Kentucky Board member Mattie Mack. Rev. Wendell Paris preached a sermon based on Jeremiah 31.31, which deals with a new covenant with God. The prayer breakfast was followed by the annual business meeting, state caucus and the awarding of scholarship to four young people headed to college.
For more information on the work and programs of the Federation, go to the website: http://www.federation.coop, or call 205-652-9676 in Epes or 404-765-0991 in East Point, GA.
On Friday, August 19, 2022, Greene County Sheriff Department issued a listing of the bingo distributions for July, totaling $614,836.46 from four of the five licensed bingo gaming facilities. The July distribution reported by the sheriff includes $24,000 from Greenetrack, Inc. and $51,000 from the Sheriff’s Supplemental Fund distributed to the Greene County Commission. The bingo facilities regularly distributing through the sheriff include Frontier, River’s Edge, Palace and Bama Bingo. The recipients of the July distributions from bingo gaming include Greene County Sheriff’s Department, the cities of Eutaw, Forkland, Union, and Boligee, the Greene County Board of Education and the Greene County Hospital (Health System). Sub charities include Children’s Policy Council, Guadalupan Multicultural Services, Greene County Golf Course, Housing Authority of Greene County (Branch Heights), Department of Human Resources, the Greene County Library, Eutaw Housing Authority, Historical Society, REACH, Inc., Headstart Community Service and This Belong To US. Bama Bingo gave a total of $114,995.01 to the following: Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $48,070; City of Eutaw, $9,250; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $3,875; Greene County Board of Education, $10,500, and the Greene County Health System, $12,500. Sub Charities, each received $870.53, including REACH, Inc. Community Service received $395.69 and This Belong to Us received $79.14. Frontier (Dream, Inc.) gave a total of $114,995.01 to the following: Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $48,070; City of Eutaw, $9,250; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $3,875; Greene County Board of Education, $10,500; Greene County Health System, $12,500. Sub Charities each received $870.53, including the Historical Society and REACH, Inc. Community Service received $395.69 and This Belong to Us received $79.14. River’s Edge (Next Level Leaders and Tishabee Community Center Tutorial Program) gave a total of $118,288 to the following: Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $48,070; City of Eutaw, $12,543; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $3,875; Greene County Board of Education, $10,500; Greene County Health System, $12,500. Sub Charities each, $1,027, including the Historical Society and REACH, Inc. Community Service received $467 and This Belong to Us received $92. Palace (TS Police Support League) gave a total of $266,558.44 to the following: Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $111,426.26; City of Eutaw, $21,441.50; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $8,982.25; Greene County Board of Education, $24,339, and the Greene County Health System, $28,975. Sub Charities received $2,017.89, including the Historical Society and REACH, Inc. Community Service received $917.22 and This Belong to Us received $183.44. The sheriff’s supplement for July from four bingo facilities totaled $46,629.25.
Aug. 22, 2022 (GIN) – Government forces say they have put down a siege at the popular Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu that began Friday and has reportedly left over 20 casualties. It is the largest siege in the country since Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was elected president in May. The Hayat is an upscale hotel frequented by government officials, elders and people from the diaspora community. The director of Mogadishu’s main trauma hospital, Mohamed Abdirahman Jama, said the facility was treating at least 40 people wounded in the hotel attack and a separate mortar strike on another area of the capital. The founder and current chair of the Union for Peace and Development Party, President Sheikh Mohamud was previously a university professor and dean and was named in Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. The weekend attack comes as Somali forces have stepped up operations against al-Shabab, and as Somalia’s President Mohamud has promised to eliminate the armed group. The al-Shabab leadership has also promised to topple Mohamud’s government. Earlier this week, the United States announced that its forces had killed 13 al-Shabab fighters in an air raid in the central-southern part of the country as the group was attacking Somali forces. The US has carried out several air raids on the group’s fighters in recent weeks. Last May, President Biden signed an order authorizing the military to once again deploy hundreds of Special Operations forces inside Somalia — largely reversing the decision by President Donald J. Trump to withdraw nearly all 700 ground troops who had been stationed there, according to four officials familiar with the matter. In addition, Mr. Biden approved a Pentagon request for standing authority to target about a dozen suspected leaders of Al Shabab, the Somali terrorist group that is affiliated with Al Qaeda, three of the officials said. The decisions by Mr. Biden, described to Washington Post reporters on the condition of anonymity, will revive an open-ended American counterterrorism operation that has amounted to a slow-burn war through three administrations. The move stands in contrast to his decision last year to pull American forces from Afghanistan, saying that “it is time to end the forever war.”
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
American Airlines celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first Black woman to earn a pilot’s license – Bessie Coleman accomplished that feat in 1922. With an all-Black female crew, the airlines hosted the Bessie Coleman Aviation All-Stars tour, recognizing how Coleman bravely broke down barriers within the world of aviation and paved the path for many to follow. To help honor Coleman’s legacy, American Airlines hosted Gigi Coleman, Bessie’s great-niece, on a flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Phoenix. An all-Black female crew – from the pilots and flight attendants to the cargo team members and the aviation maintenance technician – took the reins for the special occasion. “American is being intentional in its efforts to diversify the flight deck,” airline officials wrote in a news release. “Black women have been notably underrepresented in the aviation industry, especially as pilots, representing less than 1% in the commercial airline industry.” Through the American Airlines Cadet Academy, the airline said it’s committed to expanding awareness of and increasing accessibility to the pilot career within diverse communities. Coleman earned a pilot’s license in 1921 and performed the first public flight by a Black woman in 1922. She traveled to France to obtain her license when the U.S. refused her. Coleman then performed air shows in and around Chicago, according to federal records. Captain Beth Powell and First Officer Charlene Shortte led the American Airlines flight to observe the centennial of Coleman’s history-making journey.
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
According to a report from The Sentencing Project, current jail-based voter programs that rely on absentee voting often experience various logistical challenges. Increasingly, advocates and officials recognize that establishing a polling location will improve voter access and turnout far better than jail-based absentee voting initiatives. Sentencing Project researchers pointed to when after the Cook County jail in Illinois was turned into a polling location, approximately 2,200 people were able to cast their ballot. “Every year, hundreds of thousands of eligible incarcerated voters are unable to cast their ballot due to misinformation, institutional bureaucracy, and de-prioritization among government officials,” said Durrel Douglas, author of the report, and Jail-based Voting Initiative Organizer with The Sentencing Project. “This [report] provides many case studies that can help advocates increase ballot access for incarcerated voters and help jail officials and lawmakers expand ballot access in jails,” Douglas stated. “Our democracy works best when everyone eligible to vote can make their voice heard.” Researchers observed that the vast majority of those incarcerated are eligible to vote because they are not currently serving a sentence for a felony conviction but are incarcerated pretrial or sentenced to a misdemeanor offense. However, incarcerated voters often experience significant barriers to voting because of misinformation, the institutional bureaucracy that varies from one county or city to another, and de-prioritization among government officials, the researchers concluded. They said most states have underdeveloped practices for people incarcerated in prisons and jails to register or access absentee ballots or polling locations. Further, the report noted that many incarcerated residents could not freely communicate via phone or email with election officials to monitor their voter registration or ballot applications. The authors insisted that voter education for justice-impacted citizens is often limited and varies across states, resulting in too many Americans being left behind each election season. They said recent reforms and a growing civic infrastructure offer opportunities to strengthen voting access and ensure the franchise for every individual, regardless of incarceration status. “We, as an organization, would hope that every jail would either support a polling location in their facility in partnership with the local Board of Elections and or enable and support absentee voting systems,” Kristen Powers, executive director of the Benevolence Farm. This rural North Carolina nonprofit supports formerly incarcerated women by providing housing, employment, and wraparound services. Benevolence Farm also co-operates a Bail Fund that serves individuals incarcerated in the local detention center on low-level bonds of up to $2,000. “Elected officials and the policies they implement affect incarcerated people every day. Incarcerated people are most proximate to the problem and, thus, should have input on the solution,” Powers wrote in an email. “Furthermore, they are taxpayers, and we firmly believe there should be no taxation without representation for all people in our country.” The Sentencing Project researchers said lawmakers and citizens could work with political candidates to host candidate forums at local jails. During the 2021 election cycle in Michigan, Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson and the IGNITE – Inmate Growth Naturally and Intentionally Through Education – program co-hosted a candidates’ forum for residents at the jail. More than 20 city council candidates attended the “Meet the Candidates’’ town hall, where residents at the prison and candidates discussed ways to improve public education and support reentry programs. According to the Sentencing Project’s report, America’s mass incarceration problem has led to record levels of disenfranchisement. However, researchers found that many justice-impacted residents, including those in pretrial jail detention, incarcerated in certain states on a probation or parole violation, or sentenced for a misdemeanor, are eligible to vote while in jail. “Yet even when the law permits certain individuals to vote while incarcerated, many remain unable to vote because of obstacles to electoral participation, including lack of polling places and an inability to register to vote,” researchers wrote. They noted that individuals in jail are also often reluctant to exercise the franchise due to fear and lack of awareness. Democracy advocates and stakeholders must include incarcerated voters in their democracy initiatives to improve voting in jail practices. “With the end of felony disenfranchisement in Washington, DC, and the introduction of similar measures to expand voting to all persons with felony convictions in other states, building the infrastructure for democratic participation in local jails not only expands voter access to strengthen our democracy, it can also help guarantee ballot access for all incarcerated citizens in the United States,” the researchers asserted.
President Biden signs IRA as members of U.S. Senate and House look on
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed the historic $750 billion Inflation Reduction Act into law, a major accomplishment for the administration and a Democratic Party that’s now looking with more optimism toward November’s crucial midterm elections. The bill represents the most significant climate investment in U.S. history. It includes strengthening critical provisions of the Affordable Care Act, providing Medicare with authority to negotiate certain prescription drug costs, and administration officials anticipate it will create jobs with family-sustaining wages. Additionally, the law will reduce the national deficit. Biden said new taxes would pay for the bill, including a 15% minimum tax on large corporations and a 1% tax on stock buyback. Overall, it’s projected that the measure would result in the government raking in more than $700 billion over ten years while spending about $430 billion to help reduce carbon emissions and securing the extension of subsidies in the health care law. “This legislation is a game changer. It will create jobs, lower costs, increase U.S. competitiveness, reduce air pollution, and, of course, tackle the climate crisis,” former Vice President Al Gore told The Climate 202. “We have crossed a major threshold, and it’s going to have significant impacts on international climate action,” said Gore, long a crusader of environmental justice and a Nobel Prize winner for climate activism. The new law should primarily assist African American families. According to a study published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Black households are more exposed to inflation fluctuations than their white peers. Researchers concluded that if prices paid by white households increase by 7 percent over a year, calculations suggest that one may expect them to increase by 7.5 percent for Black families. “In our research, we examine how this informs the trade-off between inflation and unemployment stabilization for White and Black households,” the study authors explained. “The result implies that when evaluating trade-offs between inflation and unemployment, one ought to keep in mind that the costs of inflation may be borne disproportionately by the more disadvantaged group.” With gas, food, and other prices rising, the authors concluded that necessities such as groceries, electricity, and wireless phone service make up a larger share of Black families’ budgets. The study said that Black households also spend a more significant portion of their income on goods and services with prices that change more often. The result, according to researchers, isn’t a mystery: “Black families will suffer the worst effects of rising inflation because they lag behind their White counterparts in income, wealth, financial savings and home ownership.” Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr, NNPA President and CEO, emphasized, “Black America will definitely benefit economically and socially from the enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act. “President Biden continues to keep his promise to our families and communities across the nation,” Chavis stated. “We also note that Black owned businesses including the Black Press of America will also have increased opportunities to expand economic development, innovation, advertising, and new workforce advances as a direct result of the Inflation Reduction Act.” “A large number of Black families live paycheck to paycheck and cannot easily escape the constantly increasing wealth gap between them and the other demographics, especially the white,” said Ellie Walters , CEO of Findpeoplefaster.com . “Inflation often makes this dilemma worse, since during inflation, wages are cut, and workers are laid off. These low-income earners, largely made up of Black community members, are trapped by an economic cycle that seems rigged against them.” Ronda Brunson, an expert in financial planning and credit restoration at Project Restore Bmore, agreed that Black households would continue to feel the impact of rising inflation. “Most Black homes with car notes are paying double-digit interest rates, same for credit cards. Yet, we are not conditioned to go for better but to be grateful for whatever approval without contesting,” Brunson asserted. According to the Brookings Institute, the median wealth of a white household is $188,200, which is 7.8 times more than the average Black household at $24,100. Two years ago, the homeownership rate for white Americans was about 73% compared to 42% for Black Americans.
