The Greene County Democrat

Category: history

  • Newswire: Voting Rights activists, Civil Rights leaders
    vow to keep fighting to pass voting rights bills

    Nsé Ufot

    By Barrington M. Salmon


    (TriceEdneyWire.com) – Marc Morial said he, like much of the country, watched the tug-of-war between Democratic and Republican senators over passage of two critical voting rights bills with dismay last week.

    After 50 Republicans and two Democrats voted against a carve-out to allow a debate or a vote on passage of the bills, Morial – among other civil rights leaders – were left perturbed but resolved to keep on fighting until the upper chamber of the U. S. Senate passes both bills. The fate of African-Americans and this country hang in the balance, he added.

    “We’re working on precisely what happens next,” said Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League and former mayor of New Orleans. “We will not be defeated; we will not give up. I’m dismayed and disappointed by the actions of 52 senators who will not allow this to come to floor, allow debate. This issue is far more important than the filibuster rule. Advocates and activists have to take the fight to the streets to let the public know about the obstruction of the senators. It’s old-fashioned obstructionism.”

    The bills are crucial because they could override the damage already being done as dozens of state legislatures have already passed laws that are tantamount to voter suppression. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, “between January 1 and December 7 last year, at least 19 states passed 34 laws restricting access to voting. More than 440 bills with provisions that restrict voting access have been introduced in 49 states in the 2021 legislative sessions.”

    Morial said he expects President Joe Biden to use his executive powers and the Department of Justice to sue the states, while using the tools at its disposal to blunt voter suppression and Republican intransigence.

    Aided by the filibuster, Republicans had blocked debate on legislation that combined the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act four times prior to last week’s heated debate. After the more than 10-hour deliberations, Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Machin of West Virginia joined 50 Republicans to defeat a change to the filibuster rules 52-48. Democrats needed 10 Republican votes to break the filibuster. They also failed to secure the votes to unilaterally change Senate rules to override the filibuster and allow the bill to pass with 51 rather than 60 votes.

    Nsé Ufot, activist, community organizer, and the CEO of the New Georgia Project and the New Georgia Project Action Fund (NGPAF), agreed with Morial about the grave and consequential threat to democracy not passing both bills poses.

    She and other primarily Black female organizers and activists have been in the trenches fighting the Republican-dominated legislature in Georgia which passed a law last year that severely restricts the freedom of Black and brown people to vote, and which also gives Republicans the power to determine which ballots voters cast will be counted.

    “I’m a woman of my word and walk it as I talk it with friends, others and the trash Republican Party,” she said during a recent interview. “Republicans have been successful in framing it as a Black issue and the press has helped out by framing it as a partisan issue. But what we’re seeing is an existential threat to our democracy and our ability to govern. Bipartisanship is absolutely not a virtue. Republicans have changed the electoral infrastructure. I think Democrats get it: not being able to pass the Build Back Better Act might have been the wake-up call.”

    Ufot said she and other activists have said repeatedly that the right to vote is reflective and affects

    everything. “There is no Build Back Better, no student loan debt forgiveness, nothing moving,” she said. “You have to get people in the states accountable to communities. They stole seats, gerrymandered and consolidated power.”

    Ufot said she doesn’t like pretending as if she doesn’t see what’s real.

    “I’m greatly frustrated. The people we work with get it. When we’re hosting events, organizing, building, ordinary Americans get it,” she said. “The demand has come from ordinary people. Leaders in the House and Senate get it. The House has done its part and we’re waiting on the Senate to get it together.”

    The New Georgia Project was one of coalition of voting rights organizations that boycotted President Joe Biden’s speech in Atlanta on January 11, 2020. Leaders held a press conference to announce their boycott as a way to express their deep displeasure with the way Biden has mishandled and overlooked the issue.

    “Yes, boycotting this event (was) absolutely the right thing. We’re asking them to do something else with their time. Go somewhere else to Arizona or W. Virginia,” said Ria Thompson-Washington on the day of the speech. “We (Black women) brought out the vote, brought them two senators. The organizers are fine. Biden should be using his powers to ensure that these bills pass such as whipping up the Senate to ensure that the filibuster is removed, no longer allowed to influence the passage of these critical laws.”

    Thompson-Washington, an activist and independent consultant on voting rights and housing issues, said Biden’s visit to Georgia was widely rejected because they (activists) have already shown what they can do.

    “Every single Latinx and Black vote led to the two Georgia Senate seats. The time for Biden to come was when the Georgia legislature was passing those horrible laws. That’s when he should have been in Georgia. He should have been in Georgia on Jan 6 last year thanking people for holding the line,” she said.

    Republican legislators introduced bills in the legislative session following record turnout and a surge in Black and non-white voters in the 2020 presidential election last November and the senate races in January that propelled Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossof to the US Capitol and who helped Democrats gain control of the upper chamber. The GOP has pointed to voter fraud to justify the new restrictions, despite no evidence of wrongdoing.

    Former President Donald Trump and other Republican elected officials freely admit that if they allow everyone to vote, the GOP will never win an election again because they don’t have the overall numbers to do. So, under the guise of election integrity, Republicans in state houses introduced more than 500 bills to restrict voting.

    More than 1.3 million people voted by mail in the 2020 general election in Georgia and since then Georgia Republicans has led the way with wave after wave of voter suppression laws, voter subversion and gerrymandering. The bill signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp includes an end the right to vote by mail without having to provide an excuse, which Georgia Republicans made law across the state in 2005. Among the law’s provisions are new limitations on the deployment of ballot drop boxes; the reduction of polling stations in Black neighborhoods; and a requirement that voters submit their driver’s license or state ID number as part of their vote-by-mail application. Republicans have also criminalized the act of providing food and/or water to voters waiting in line to vote.

    But the most alarming part of the law, activists and advocates say, is the provision that gives state officials the authority to override county election board officials and allow Republicans to potentially disqualify voters in Democratic-dominated areas.

    Democrats and other critics have castigated Republicans for their willingness to destroy democracy in their desperate racist bid to hold on to power, with more than a few Democrats likening Republican efforts not just to a weaponization Trump’s Big Lie about a stolen election, but also as modern-day Jim Crow tactics reminiscent of the Jim Crow/segregation era.

    Ufot and Thompson-Washington said organizers will continue to do their work on the ground to bring greater numbers to the voting booth. They promised not to ease up on the pressure on Biden, Democrats or Republicans.

    “We gave them the votes, a governing trifecta of the White House, the House and the Senate. Forgive me for expecting them to govern,” said Ufot. “What’s the point of winning if you won’t govern? We want you to act like the house is on fire because it is. This country has a high tolerance for Black suffering. Because this is happening to Black people, you don’t care. I’m probably not going to get invited to anymore White House dinners but I’m good with that.”

  • School Board hears implementation of Alabama Literacy Act at Eutaw Primary; hires assistant principals for GCHS and RBMS

    Principal Brittany Harris describes reading programs at Eutaw Primary School

    At the Greene County Board of Education meeting, held Monday, January 24, 2022, Superintendent Dr. Corey Jones introduced Ms. Brittany Harris, Principal at Eutaw Primary School who had prepared a special presentation on the Alabama Literacy Act and its implementation at Eutaw Primary School. The Alabama Literacy Act was created to help improve reading in Alabama public schools. The goal is to ensure that students are reading on grade level by the end of the 3rd grade.
    Principal Harris began her presentation with the statement, “Eutaw Primary School is the place where learning begins.” She said that the mission of Eutaw Primary School is to provide a safe, caring and quality learning environment for all students.
    Ms. Harris noted that the Alabama Literacy Act, signed into law on June 10, 2019, determines that all students must read on the 3rd grade level before exiting the 3rd grade. “Commencing with the 2021-2022 school year, third grade students shall demonstrate sufficient reading skills for promotion to fourth grade.”
    The Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program (ACAP) is administered to scholars in grades 2-8. Harris stated that any second grade student who did not score above a 448 on the ACAP assessment will have a portfolio. Any 3rd grade student who scores below a 452 on the ACAP assessment will need an alternative path for promotion.
    Student Reading Improvement Plans (SRIP) are developed for any K-3 student who demonstrates a deficiency. If a consistent deficiency is found, parents are notified in writing no later than 15 days after identification.
    Ms. Harris emphasized that it is important that educators are sufficiently prepared. “All educators must become experts in the Science of Reading (SOR). Educators must incorporate SOR strategies into instruction.
    Eutaw Primary utilizes Reading Street as its core reading program. Spire is used for intervention.
    Ms. Harris noted that after school programs and summer school programs are also available to students for learning completion and enrichment. School transportation is available for students participating in these additional programs.
    Superintendent Jones presented recommendations for the assistant principal positions at Greene County High School and Robert Brown Middle School. The board approved Mrs. Janice Jeames Askew as Assistant Principal at GCHS and Dr. Rosalyn Robinson as Assistant Principal at RBMS.
    In other personnel matters, the board approved the following:
    Employment: Brenda Lawrence, School Nurse, Greene County School System; Sharron Martin, Literacy Coach, Robert Brown Middle School; Richard Cammon, 6th grade Social Studies Teacher, Robert Brown Middle School; MAJ James Barry Davis, James Barry, as ROTC Instructor at Greene County Career Center.
    Resignations: Brandi Eubanks, 6th grade Social Studies Teacher, Robert Brown Middle School, effective January 3, 202; Dre’Mail King, Physical Education Teacher, Eutaw Primary School, effective January 13, 2022. Burina Crispin, Cook, Robert Brown Middle School, , 2022, to sub position, effective February 1, 2022; Shannon Smith, Auxiliary Teacher, Eutaw Primary School, effective January 17, 2022.
    Supplemental Pay for Teresa Atkins and Mary Henderson, for assistance in CNP Program until CNP Director position is filled.
    Catastrophic Leave for Jessica Lake, Janitor, Robert Brown Middle School, starting December 20, 2021, for 6-8 weeks.
    The board approved the following administrative services.
    * Lease Agreement with Vision Financial Group, Inc. for Clear Tough Panels and Installation for Greene County Schools.
    * Agreement between Criterion Consulting and Greene County Board for Formative Administrator Evaluation Support Services.
    * Agreement between EBARA and Greene County Board for Installation of 15HP Sewage Pump at Greene County High School.
    * Agreement between Greene County Board and Greene County Nursing Home, for Education and Student Training.
    * Payment of all bills, claims, and payroll.
    * Bank reconciliations as submitted by Ms. Marquita Lennon, CSFO.

     

     

     

  • Rosie Carpenter, community leader turns 100 years old

    Rosie Carpenter, educator and a major civil rights and community leader in Greene County turned one hundred years old on January 25, 2022.
    She currently resides in Bowie, Maryland (a suburb of Washington, D.C.) with her daughter, Mrs. Joyce C. Dasher.

    Carpenter was one of the few Greene County teachers that actively participated in the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement in Greene County, actively encouraged Black people to run for office, and assisted Black people to register and vote, after passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

    With her sister, Annie Thomas, she courageously made their home on Greensboro Avenue in Eutaw, Alabama, available as a “Movement House”, which provided a place for group meetings, planning sessions, and strategic assessments of weekly activities. Civil rights leaders like Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Hosea Williams, James Orange and Ben “Sunshine” Owens were regular visitors during this period.

    Her home was also used as an after-school refuge for children during the period of school integration. A historical plaque was placed and dedicated in front of her house, during the 50th anniversary of the July 29, 1969 Special Election that placed a majority of Black officials on the Greene County Commission and School Board.

    Mrs. Carpenter was instrumental in the selection of Dr. Robert Brown as the first Black Superintendent of Schools in Greene County after the 1969 election. She served for many years in the Greene County Board of Education Central Office, under Dr. Brown and his successors.

    In an interview with Monty Thornburg, educational historian, Carpenter said, “When I first worked in the Greene County school system, Black teachers could not enter the front door of the building. We had to go to the back door and beg for things for our students. Teachers were assigned to grocery stores in town to cash their pay checks and buy groceries, it was like living on a plantation. Needless to say, all of this was changed when we were able to elect a board which represented the majority of people of Greene County.”

    Spiver Gordon said, “Mrs. Carpenter was a special kind of Black teacher who was also a grassroots community leader, willing to stand up for the people and make sure everyone was able to vote in Greene County. We all wish her a great 100th birthday.”

    The City Council of Eutaw passed a proclamation naming January 30th as 
“Mrs. Rosie Carpenter Day” in the city.

    Mrs. Carpenter family and friends are holding a zoom birthday celebration call on Sunday, January 30, 2022 at 3:00 PM (Central Time); the zoom call number is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/ 7801834623# . You can also connect to Zoom Meeting ID : 780 183 4623, by calling 1-312-626-6799 and adding the meeting number, when prompted.

  • County Commissioner, Lester “Bop” Brown
    dies suddenly at 61

    Lester ‘Bop’ Brown, Greene County Commissioner for District 1, representing part of Eutaw, Union, Mantua, Jena and Knoxville, in the northern part of Greene County, passed away suddenly on Saturday night, at age 61. The family is seeking a formal autopsy to explain the cause of death.

    Brown was completing his second four-year term as County Commissioner and planning to run for re-election this year. He was first elected to the County Commission in 2014, after serving several terms on the Greene County Board of Education.

    Brown worked closely with the state and county levels of the Alabama New South Coalition (ANSC) in electing Black people to important state and county positions. He was instrumental in the write-in campaign to elect Ison Thomas as Sheriff of Greene County in 2006.

    Brown was a grassroot political and community leader admired by his friends and constituents but feared and respected by his enemies. He spoke his mind and was often blunt in expressing his viewpoints. He was very generous with people throughout the county distributing sweet potatoes and other vegetables, providing coolers of water for funerals, and calling people on holidays with good wishes.

    On the Greene County Commission, Brown supported more funding for employees, the hospital and ambulance service but he clashed with Sheriff Jonathan Benison on funding for his expanded staff and urged that the Sheriff be accountable financially for additional employees retained beyond the budget.

    Commissioner Brown warned frequently about the fragility of counting on funding generated from electronic bingo for support of county agencies and programs. He wanted the County to develop more jobs to keep young people in the county and strengthen the tax base instead of depending on gambling revenues.

    The Memorial services for Lester Brown will be:

    Friday, February 4, 2022
    Viewing – 12 Noon to 5:00 pm
    Robert Young Community Center
    (Former Carver School)

    Saturday, February 5, 2022
    Greene County High School Gymnasium
    Lie in State 10 am – 12:00 pm
    Funeral Services 12 Noon

    Lester is survived by his wife Linette and his five children, as well as many other relatives and friends.

     

  • Hank Sanders announces candidacy for Alabama State Senate District 23

    Hank Sanders qualified today in the Democratic Primary for Alabama State Senate District 23. Below is his statement announcing his candidacy:

    “Senator Malika Sanders Fortier, who is my daughter, decided that she will not run again for Senate District 23. When I served in the Alabama Senate, expansion of Medicaid was a critical focus for me. While Senator Fortier was in the Senate, Medicaid Expansion was a great focus for her. That is unfinished business. So are other critical issues. Therefore, I have decided to run again for Alabama State Senate District 23. I have continued working on expansion of Medicaid outside of public office these past three-plus years. I will work on this and other critical issues from elected office if I am elected again. I want to thank all the citizens of District 23 and beyond who worked with me over the years and decades I served in this position. I will provide additional information in the near future.”

  • Newswire: Barrier-breaking Black-Native sculptor
    Edmonia Lewis is on USPS’ new Black Heritage Stamp

    Edmonia Lewis stamp

     

    The United States Postal Service is honoring the contributions of late pioneering sculptor Edmonia Lewis.
    This week, USPS will issue a forever stamp highlighting Lewis’ work as a 19th-century marble sculptor.
    In a media advisory, USPS noted that the stamp is a part of the agency’s Black Heritage series.
    “The 45th stamp in the Black Heritage series honors Edmonia Lewis, the first African American and Native American sculptor to earn international recognition. The stamp art is a casein-paint portrait based on a photograph of Lewis by Augustus Marshall made in Boston between 1864 and 1871,” USPS officials said in the media advisory, which noted that the stamp will be issued in panes of 20.
    “As the first African American and Native American sculptor to earn international recognition, Edmonia Lewis challenged social barriers and assumptions about artists in mid-19th century America,” USPS added.
    Born in 1844 in Greenbush, New York, Lewis took an interest in art at a young age.
    “Her father was Black, and her mother was Chippewa (Ojibwa) Indian. Orphaned at an early age, Lewis grew up in her mother’s tribe where her life revolved around fishing, swimming, and making and selling crafts,” the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC. said on her bio page.
    As an adult in Boston, Lewis “established herself as a professional artist, studying with a local sculptor and creating portraits of famous antislavery heroes,” the Smithsonian said. “Moving to Rome in 1865, she became involved with a group of American women sculptors and began to work in marble. Sculptors usually hired local workmen to carve their final pieces, but Lewis did all her own stonework out of fear that if she didn’t, her work would not be accepted as original.”
    In Italy, “her studio became a must-see attraction for American tourists,” USPS noted.
    Lewis died in London in 1907, but her work lives on in museums. The Smithsonian has eight of her famous pieces, including the sculptures “Poor Cupid” and “The Death of Cleopatra.”
    You can find the Edmonia Lewis stamp at your local Post Office.

  • Newswire: Supreme Court may end
    Affirmative Action at universities

    Howard University building

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    The Supreme Court said it will reconsider race-based affirmative action in college admissions.
    The Monday, January 24, announcement could eliminate campus practices that have widely benefitted African American and Hispanic students.

    Policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina are at the heart of the issue that the court has agreed to consider.

    At those schools, a student’s race counts among the criteria used to decide who enters class at those institutions. The Department of Justice late had urged the justices to reject the case against Harvard.

    “The filing from the office of US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar emphasized that lower US courts had extensively reviewed Harvard’s racial admissions practices and found them sufficiently limited to meet Supreme Court precedent as they furthered the school’s interest in campus diversity,” CNN reported.

    Admissions practices that take account of students’ race, first upheld in a 1978 Supreme Court decision, and reaffirmed in 2003, reportedly have boosted the admission of Black and Latino students for decades.

  • COVID-19

    As of January 26, 2022, at 10:00 AM
    (according to Alabama Political Reporter)

    Alabama had 1,172,660 confirmed cases of coronavirus,
    (84,790) more than last week with 16,948 deaths (192) more
    than last week)

    Greene County had 1,665 confirmed cases, (72 more cases than last week), with 47 deaths

    Sumter Co. had 2,117 cases with 42 deaths

    Hale Co. had 4,226 cases with 94 deaths

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

  • COVID-19

    As of January 19, 2022, at 10:00 AM
    (according to Alabama Political Reporter)

    Alabama had 1,088,370 confirmed cases of coronavirus,
    (83,748) more than last week with 16,756 deaths (115) more
    than last week)

    Greene County had 1,593 confirmed cases, (100 more cases than last week), with 47 deaths

    Sumter Co. had 1,862 cases with 42 deaths

    Hale Co. had 4,032 cases with 93 deaths

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

  • Greene Co. commemorates Dr. King’s Birthday with march, rallies and church programs

    Some of the participants at the MLK Birthday commemoration marched seven
    times around the Old Courthouse Square.
    Naomi Goodson Cyrus representing Valation Radio in Tuscaloosa presents award to Spiver Gordon for his lifetime
    of service and civil rights
    Spiver Gordon presents certificate to Rev. Kendrick Howell speaker at First Baptist Church, joined on podium by Rev. Joe Webb, Lester Cotton and Rev. Lynn Finch
    Spiver Gordon joined by Carol Zippert presents certificate to
    Sister Marta Tonon of the Guadalupan Multicultural Sisters
    Spiver Gordon and Lester Cotton (R) present certificate to Fred Stanton
    (L) of Panola, AL
    Spiver Gordon and Whitney Spencer

    Despite cold and rainy weather, Greene County citizens commemorated Dr. King’s Birthday with a weekend of programs, a march and rallies. The three days of activities starting on Saturday, January 15, 2022 were coordinated by Spiver W. Gordon, President of the Alabama Civil Rights Museum Movement, Inc., which has two locations in the county packed with photographs, documents and other memorabilia of the Civil Rights Movement in Greene County and west Alabama.

    Saturday’s program, on Dr. King’s actual birthday was held at Sandra Walker’s headquarters on Tuscaloosa Street downtown. After a spirited devotion, Commissioner Lester Brown of District 1spoke about the importance of grassroots peoples’ contributions to the movement. “Ms. Bessie Webb walked me to integrate Eutaw Primary School everyday when I was in second grade. Somebody made a way for me, so we have to make a way for the young people coming after us,” said Brown.

    Carol P. Zippert, Chair of the Greene County School Board, said we must select people to public office that have our children at heart. “Hold your public officials accountable; Dr. King joined the sanitation workers in Memphis, in his last days to help them win respect and better working conditions. He was always working with people and communities to advance their needs and goals,” she said.

    Spiver Gordon said, “My daddy died without the vote; I went to jail for helping people to vote absentee, what are we doing now to involve young folks in the struggle.” Lorenzo French, Chair of the Democratic Executive Committee reported on candidates qualifying for the May 24 primary.

    Sister Marta Tonon of the Guadalupan Multicultural Sisters, who have a mission to aid the poor in Greene County, gave some remarks on her work with people in the area to combat poverty and help people improve their conditions. Gordon presented her with an award for the group’s work.

    On Sunday, there was a program at First Baptist Church where Dr. King himself spoke during the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement in Greene County. The program consisted of singing and preaching. Rev. Kendrick Howell, Pastor of Little Zion Baptist Church gave a ringing sermon on the topic, “We all love Dr. King – But we do not support his agenda!”

    Howell, who also serves as Assistant Police Chief of Eutaw, said “We have gaming in our county, millions of dollars flow through, but we have no YMCA, with a real gym and swimming pool; we have no technology center to train our children to use computers.”

    He continued, “Do not remember Dr. King just one day a year. We must do more to stand with the poor and pursue his agenda for all of us.”

    On Monday, the program moved to the William M. Branch Courthouse, for a rally in the courtroom, which has a picture of Dr. King on permanent display above the judge’s seat. Spiver Gordon said, “ I live my life guided by these seven words – peace, freedom, justice, equality, unity, love and hope – which were also a part of Dr. King’s philosophy of life.”

    After more singing and personal testimonies from people who participated in the movement, the group walked around the old Courthouse Square, now named for Sheriff Thomas Gilmore, seven times to honor Dr. King and for the biblical significance of God’s people walking around the walls of Jericho, seven times, until they fell.