The Greene County Democrat

Category: history

  • Long awaited verdict handed down for murder of Thomas Sankara, leader of Burkina Faso, who was known as ‘Africa’s Che Guevara’

    Miriam Sankara, widow of Thomas Sanka

     

     
    Apr. 11, 2022 (GIN) – In what appeared to be a “cold case” after a standstill of over 30 years, a military tribunal has finally ruled in the case of Thomas Sankara, one of the youngest presidents in modern African history, whose life was brutally ended in 1987 by a one-time close friend and ally.
     
    Blaise Compaore, who grabbed power upon Sankara’s death, was sentenced for the killing in absentia. Toppled by public protests in 2014, he fled to the Ivory Coast where it is believed he continues to hide out. The tribunal found him guilty of an attack on state security, complicity in murder and concealment of a corpse after his body was found buried in an unmarked grave.
     
    As the verdict was read, the heavily protected courtroom in the capital, Ouagadougou, erupted in applause, bringing an end to the six-month trial that came after years of campaigning for justice by his family and supporters, BBC West Africa correspondent Lalla Sy reported.
     
    Sankara’s widow, Mariam Sankara, who attended the trial throughout, said the verdict represented “justice and truth” after a 35-year wait.
     
    A firebrand Marxist revolutionary in a military red beret, Sankara was known to many as the African “Che Guevara”. He led the nation for four years from 1983, campaigning against corruption while authorizing huge increases in education and health spending.
     
    He cut his own salary and that of top civil servants and sold off a range of luxury cars.
     
    He promoted pan-Africanism, self-sufficiency, real independence from former colonial power France and gender equality by banning female circumcision, forced marriage and polygamy. He rolled out mass vaccination campaigns against polio and was one of the first African leaders to publicly recognize the growing AIDS epidemic as a threat for the continent.
     
    Saying “he who feeds you, controls you”, he opposed foreign aid, denounced  “the neocolonialist penetration of Africa through Western trade and finance,” and called for a united front of African nations to repudiate their foreign debt. He argued that the poor and exploited did not have an obligation to repay money to the rich and exploiting.
     
    He changed the name of his country from its colonial one, Upper Volta, to Burkina Faso, meaning the Land of Honest People.
     
    In their closing statement on April 2, the prosecution recounted in grim detail how Sankara and his closest followers were ambushed at a meeting of the ruling National Revolutionary Council.  His body was riddled with bullets, according to ballistics experts who testified during the trial.
     
    Compaoré’s security chief Hyacinthe Kafando and Gilbert Diendere, were also sentenced to life in prison.
     
    Sankara’s spirit was also behind a protest movement known as “the citizens’ broom” or Le Balai Citoyen, which opposed efforts by Campaore to extend unlawfully extend his time in power. Of the 14 men prosecuted, three were acquitted while the others received sentences ranging from three years to life in prison.

  • Newswire: Elon Musk buying Twitter: 5 reasons why Black people should be wary

    By Bruce C.T. Wright, NewsOne

    The sale of Twitter to Elon Musk has prompted a number of questions about what will become of the popular social media platform once the ultra-billionaire gains complete control of the micro-blogging app. Both sides closed the deal on Monday afternoon to allow the world’s wealthiest man agreed to buy Twitter for a whopping $43 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.
    Black Twitter, a group of influential users whose tweets spotlight issues affecting Black people, is among those who have reason to be concerned about the direction in which Musk could take the app now that the sale is official.
    Musk’s intentions for Twitter remained unclear. But if his past commentary and the way he’s run his other businesses are any indications, Black people who use Twitter — and there are millions of them — have reasons to be wary.
    Twitter moderation
    There are fears Musk could change the way Twitter moderates content from its users, whose words have been policed more aggressively in recent months and resulted in permanent suspensions, like former President Donald Trump. (More on that later.)
    The Washington Post described Musk’s social media ambitions in part as wanting “a free speech utopia,” but that could mean allowing misinformation, lies, racism and threats of violence with impunity.
    “What Musk seemingly fails to recognize is that to truly have free speech today, you need moderation,” said Katie Harbath, a former Facebook public policy director and CEO of consultancy Anchor Change, recently told the Post. “Otherwise, just those who bully and harass will be left as they will drive others away.”
    Racial discrimination
    Musk’s main company, automaker Tesla, has been accused and sued by its workforce of and for racial discrimination for years now in a situation that has not been corrected. The implication for Twitter is that same administrative approach that prompted accusations of racism against Tesla will come to Twitter, which already has a disproportionately white workforce. At worst, that suspicion could become true as Musk —  allows racists like Marjorie Taylor Greene to not only regain access to their banned accounts but also resume spewing their white supremacy drivel.
    Social media accountability
    The free press and other groups have been pushing for accountability on social media platforms for a while now to no avail. But making any inroads in that area with Twitter is not likely to happen if Musk takes over, a prospect that is especially concerning since we are just months away from the pivotal midterm elections.
    Political implications
    Building off the above sentiment, without any accountability in place, the potential for the aforementioned misinformation could run rampant. Twitter is a major part of the political infrastructure now, but without any accountability for misinformation that has been proven effective, it could revert back to its former Wild Wild West-like environment that fostered the type of propaganda that helped hand Trump his presidency. Conversely, Black Twitter and its attempts to highlight political issues affecting people of color could be censored.
    Donald Trump
    And speaking of Trump, it’s no secret that his own social media endeavor has been a spectacular flop. If Musk buys Twitter, chances are likely that the racist narcissist and accused traitor will be handed the keys back to his shuttered account that was banned two days after the deadly Capitol Riots for what Twitter called “the risk of further incitement of violence.”This is America.

  • Newswire: Study: Race Is central to identity for Black Americans and affects how they connect

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    
No matter where they are from, who they are, their economic circumstances or educational backgrounds, significant majorities of Black Americans say being Black is extremely or very important to how they think about themselves.
    A new Pew Research poll revealed that a significant share of Black Americans also says that when something happens to Black people in their local communities, across the nation or around the globe, it affects what happens in their own lives, highlighting a sense of connectedness.

    “Black Americans say this even as they have diverse experiences and come from an array of backgrounds,” the authors of the poll noted.
    “Even so, Black adults who say being Black is important to their sense of self are more likely than other Black adults to feel connected to other groups of Black people,” the authors discovered. “They are also more likely to feel that what happens to Black people inside and outside the United States affects what happens in their own lives.”
    The Pew Research Center conducted an analysis online between Oct. 4, 2021, and Oct. 17, 2021. The organization surveyed 3,912 Black U.S. adults and explored differences among Black Americans in views of identity such as between U.S.-born Black people and Black immigrants; Black people living in different regions of the country; and between Black people of different ethnicities, political party affiliations, ages, and income levels.
    Most non-Hispanic Black Americans (78 percent) reported that being Black is very or extremely important to how they think about themselves. This racial group counted as the largest among Black adults, accounting for 87 percent of the adult population, according to 2019 Census Bureau estimates. But among other Black Americans, roughly six-in-ten multiracial (57 percent) and Hispanic (58 percent) Black adults reported the same.
    According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the nation’s Black population stands at 47 million, or 14 percent of the country’s population. The survey authors reported that while the vast majority of Black Americans said their racial background is Black alone (88 percent in 2020), growing numbers are also multiracial or Hispanic.
    Most were born in the U.S. and trace their roots back several generations in the country, but a growing share are immigrants (12 percent) or the U.S.-born children of immigrant parents (9 percent).
    Geographically, while 56 percent of Black Americans live in the nation’s South, the national Black population has also dispersed widely across the country, researchers reported.
    The report noted that Black Americans also differ in significant ways in their views about the importance of being Black to personal identity. While majorities of all age groups of Black people say being Black shapes how they think about themselves, younger Black Americans are less likely to respond the same.
    Black adults ages 50 and older are more likely than Black adults ages 18 to 29 to say that being Black is very or extremely important to how they think of themselves. Specifically, 76 percent of Black adults ages 30 to 49, 80 percent of those 50 to 64 and 83 percent of those 65 and older hold this view, while only 63 percent of those under 30 reported that belief.
    Black adults who identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party are more likely than those who identify with or lean toward the Republican Party to say being Black is important to how they see themselves – 86 percent vs. 58 percent.
    And Black women (80 percent) are more likely than Black men (72 percent) to say being Black is important to how they see themselves.
    However, not all Black Americans feel the same about the importance of being Black to their identity – 14 percent say it is only somewhat important to how they see themselves while 9 percent say it has little or no impact on their personal identity, reflecting the diversity of views about identity among Black Americans.
    Among the main highlights from the report include:
    About half of Black adults say their fates are strongly linked with other Black people in the U.S.
    Most Black adults say being Black is very important to how they see themselves
    Black Americans who say being Black is important to them are more likely to feel connected to other Black people.
    Black adults who say being Black is important to them are more likely to learn about their ancestors from relatives.
    Black adults under 30 years old differ significantly from older Black adults in their views on the importance of Blackness to their personal identity.
    However, Black adults also differ by age in how they pursue knowledge of family history, how informed they feel about U.S. Black history, and their sense of connectedness to other Black people.
    Black Democrats more likely than Republicans to say what happens to other Black people in the U.S. will affect their own lives.
    Half of Black adults say where they currently live is an important part of their identity.
    Majorities of Black adults say their gender and sexuality are very important to them.
    Black women are more likely than Black men to say their gender is very important to them.

  • Newswire: Mississippi NAACP questions constitutionality of Congressional redistricting plan

    By Bobby Harrison, Mississippi Today News Service

    The state chapter of the NAACP is asking a three-judge federal panel to rule on whether the U.S. House redistricting plan recently approved by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Tate Reeves is constitutional.
    The judicial panel will hear further arguments on the issue before ruling.
    Carroll Rhodes, a Hazlehurst attorney and veteran of many redistricting litigation battles, maintains that the plan approved by the Legislature with a Black majority 2nd District that runs nearly the length of the state along the Mississippi River is not constitutional. He maintains the sprawling district will make it more difficult to elect an African American when Bennie Thompson, the state’s sole Black U.S. House member and the 2nd District incumbent, opts not to seek re-election.
    Rhodes made his argument Wednesday in front a three-judge federal panel that has had jurisdiction of the state’s congressional redistricting process since the early 2000s when the Legislature could not agree on a plan. The Legislature also could not agree on a plan 10 years later to redraw the districts to adhere to population shifts ascertained by the 2010 U.S. Census.

    This year the Legislature did pass a plan, and during Wednesday’s status conference in Jackson the panel of judges appeared ready to end its oversight of Mississippi’s congressional redistricting.
    But Michael Wallace, a Jackson attorney representing the Republican Party, agreed with Rhodes that the three-judge panel should maintain jurisdiction long enough to hear the complaints of Rhodes and the NAACP. He said the panel could end its involvement, but it would not prevent Rhodes from filing a new lawsuit, necessitating the convening of a new three-judge panel comprised of members who would not have the background on the issue that the current judges have.
    “It would be prudent for you to finish what you started,” Wallace told the panel, though he stressed he believes the plan approved by the Republican majority Legislature is constitutional.
    Rhodes agreed that the panel should maintain jurisdiction. He argued that the panel should hold a hearing and allow depositions and other fact-finding.
    He said there are questions about whether “the intent” of the Legislature with the plan it passed was to prevent African Americans from winning future congressional seats.
    Rhodes argued that the Legislature violated one of the primary principles put forth by the panel of ensuring the compactness of the districts. He suggested that the judges could “tweak” the plan it adopted in 2011 to adhere to population shifts found by the Census while it heard the arguments of the NAACP.
    Rhodes added the NAACP had proposed a plan that made those tweaks by adding all of Hinds County and a small portion of southern Madison County, a Jackson suburb, to the majority Black 2nd District. The plan approved by the Legislature instead added four counties in southwest Mississippi to the 2nd District, meaning the district encompasses almost the length of the state on the western border.
    “The question becomes whether a Black candidate can raise the funds to campaign in a district that runs the length of the state,” Rhodes said.
    The 2nd District was the only one of the state’s four congressional districts to lose population — about 65,000 people, according to the 2020 Census.
    Appeals Court Judge E. Grady Jolly, a member of the three-judge panel, seemed skeptical of the claim that an African American candidate might not prevail in a district that has a Black population of more than 60% like the 2nd in the plan approved by the Legislature.
    Rhodes indicated that Black voters in the four counties in southwest Mississippi added to the district might not turn out at the same level as those in some other parts of the state.
    Wallace told the panel that it should allow the legislative plan to go into effect while hearing Rhodes’ arguments.
    Both sides will present additional written arguments to the panel during February. The judges will have to make some type of ruling quickly since the qualifying deadline for candidates to run for Congress is March 1.
    There is a similar Congressional redistricting case in Alabama, where lawyers are arguing that if the plan had distributed the Black population in the state more fairly, two of the districts may be able to elect Black candidates to Congress. The Alabama case was postponed until after the November election but will still be heard for future elections.

  • Newswire: Vice President Harris and husband test positive for Covid

     Vice-President Kamala Harris

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    Vice President Kamala Harris has tested positive for Covid.
    Harris and First Gentleman Doug Emhoff returned this week from traveling across the country. They attended a fundraiser hosted by Walt Disney Television’s Dana Walden and producer Matt Walden. Held at the Walden’s home, officials said about 30 people attended.
    “Today, Vice President Harris tested positive for COVID-19 on rapid and PCR tests,” said Harris’ press secretary Kirsten Allen.
    “She has exhibited no symptoms, will isolate and continue to work from the Vice President’s residence. She has not been in close contact with the President or First Lady due to their respective recent travel schedules.”
    Allen said Harris and her husband would follow guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The couple also plan to follow the advice of their doctors, Allen stated.
    The Vice President is fully vaccinated and boosted. Harris completed her two dose regiment of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine in January of last year and has received two boosters. The first in late October and a second just a few weeks ago on April 1.
    “The Vice President will return to the White House when she tests negative,” she said.

  • FOGCE Federal Credit Union dedicates board room to former manager, Willie Carpenter, Mr. Credit Union

    Shown Lot R standing before the photo and plaques honoring Mr. Willie Lee Carpenter:
    Mrs. Bobbie L. Carpenter, wife; Mr. Cheyenne Moore, friend; Ms. Kimberly Carpenter, daughter; Carol P. Zippert, FOGCE Board President.
    Mrs. Joyce Pham, FOGCE Credit Union Manager and Mr. Rodney Pham are shown unveiling the photo and plaques at the dedication of the credit union’s board room to Mr. Willie Lee Carpenter.

    The Federation of Greene County Federal Credit Union (FOGCE) dedicated its board Room to the late Mr. Willie Lee Carpenter, who served as manager and board treasurer of the credit union for over thirty years. Mr. Carpenter’s wife Bobbie J. Carpenter, his daughter Kimberly and friend Cheyenne Moore were present for the dedication held Thursday, April 21, 2022. Members of the credit union’s board, supervisory committee and credit committee, who worked very closely with Carpenter over the years, were also present.
    The signage on the wall of the Willie Lee Carpenter Board Room displays a photo of Mr.
    Carpenter; a circular plaque identifying the room as well as a photo plaque depicting the credit union’s office and a summary of Carpenter’s contributions.
    During the dedication, credit union officials extended their deepest appreciation to Willie’s family for their sacrifices relative to the long hours of service in those 30+ years he gave to the credit union.
    The dedication was followed by a reception which afforded all present more time to share
    personal stories of how Willie affected their lives and participation in the credit union.
    During Willie Carpenter’s managerial tenure, the FOGCE Federal Credit Union became a
    Million Dollar Credit Union, with current assets of $1.4+ million. He also witnessed the credit union securing its own facility, after borrowing space to operate with various local organizations during its first 20 years of operation.
    Mr. Carpenter’s remarkable service to the credit union and the community was evident during the more than thirty years he led the organization as Manager. He was active in recruiting individuals to join the credit union from his place of employment, Winchester Carton (now West Rock), as well as from the various institutions and businesses in the county, including the county government, the county school system, the county hospital and Greenetrack,. Inc.
    In the 1990’s, Mr. Carpenter was a lead organizer in developing a Youth Credit Union Project in Greene County. The young people involved were trained in operating a credit union, including forming their own board of directors, credit committee and supervisory committee. They learned the value of saving by pooling their resources together and depositing as a group in the FOGCE credit union. He accompanied the members of the youth group to various workshop trainings to enhance their understanding and appreciation of a community based credit union.
    Willie Lee Carpenter was known as the man who operated the FOGCE Federal Credit Union from his pocket. He carried membership cards with him, (and some say loan applications as well) always ready to enroll new members and serve them. In the county where he was loved so well, he was affectionately referred to as Mr. Credit Union.

  • Greene County High School -Hair Show

    Are you ready to be WOWED and AMAZED?  Well if so come out and support the cosmetology department as they present Hair Show 2022.  This show will consist of three categories: candyland, the 90’s, and fantasy as well as other entertainment. This event will be held Friday, May 6th at 5p.m, at Greene County High School.  The admission is $10.  There will also be a silent auction for a barbeque grill constructed by the welding department under the instruction of Mr. Zachary Rutledge.
    Bidding will start at $100.00 and the grill will be on display in the foyer of Greene County High School from May 4th – 6th for bidding.
    The winner will be announced at the end of the hair show.
    Thank you for your support.
    Ms. Paula Calligan, Cosmetology Instructor
    Greene County Career Center
    14223 US Hwy 11 South
    Eutaw, Al 35462

  • Advocates call for Student Debt Forgiveness despite new pause on loan repayments

    By Charlene Crowell


    (TriceEdneyWire.com) – In recent days, student loans and other higher education programs have been the focus of multiple initiatives. On April 6, President Biden extended the current pause on federal loan repayment through August 31. That announcement brought obvious appeal to the 44 million consumers who together owe an estimated $1.7 trillion.

    “I’m asking all student loan borrowers to work with the Department of Education to prepare for a return to repayment, look into Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and explore other options to lower their payments,” said President Biden.

    Days earlier on March 28, the Biden Administration submitted to Congress its FY2023 budget proposal with a promise to “grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out”, including more funding for the Education Department’s higher education appropriations.

    For example, an estimated 6.7 million students from low- and middle-income backgrounds eligible for Pell Grants would benefit from increasing maximum awards by $2,175 in the 2021-2022 academic year. Similarly, an increase of $752 million over the 2021 enacted level would enhance institutional capacity at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs). Another $161 million for the Department’s Office for Civil Rights – a 23 percent increase compared to the 2021 enacted level – would strengthen the agency’s capacity to protect equal access to education through the enforcement of civil rights laws, such as Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

    Increased higher education funding was predictably welcomed by HBCU stakeholders.

    “[T]he request for the Pell Grant to be increased by $2,000 in the upcoming year is nothing short of landmark,” said Lodriguez V. Murray, United Negro College Fund (UNCF) senior vice president for public policy and government affairs. “If Congress follows through on President Biden’s UNCF supported request, it would be the largest single year increase to the Pell Grant, putting us on course to double the Pell Grant this decade, and be one of the biggest game-changers for low-to-moderate income students in our country in modern times.”

    Also noting the importance of Pell Grants as the “primary vehicle to make college affordable” for 75 percent of HBCU students, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) that includes both publicly supported HBCUs – over 80 percent of all students attending HBCUs – and Predominantly-Black Institutions (PBIs) — also called upon Congress to support the request to double the maximum Pell Grant award.

    “TMCF looks forward to working with Congressional leadership, the Congressional Black Caucus and the Bipartisan HBCU Caucus to adopt these historic proposals for the betterment of our institutions and their students,” said Dr. Harry L. Williams, the organization’s President and CEO.

    Yet other advocates raised other issues beyond annual budget appropriations.

    “While we applaud the Administration for allowing borrowers who were in delinquency or default to receive a ‘fresh start’ on their repayment plans and reenter repayment in good standing, their debts remain the same,” noted Jaylon Herbin, Outreach and Policy Manager with the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL). “Extending the payment pause once more is not enough to ensure financial fairness for the millions of Americans who were disproportionately affected by the burdens of the pandemic.”

    Herbin’s reaction repeated CRL’s earlier calls for debt forgiveness as well as reforms to income-driven repayment (IDR). This same goal is also shared by other consumer advocates.

    Months earlier CRL along with the Student Borrower Protection Center, and the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Division jointly issued a policy brief entitled, Restoring the Promise of Income-Driven Repayment: An IDR Waiver Program Proposal, that calls attention to the unmet need to correct key players and programs that also share responsibilities for the nation’s student debt dilemma.

    “The historical failure of student loan servicers to keep low-income borrowers in over the long term presents an immediate policy problem,” states the brief. “Because of these failures, millions of borrowers remain trapped in the student loan system for decades on end. For many, their only prospect for relief is to begin again and spend additional decades awaiting debt cancellation as if they had just entered repayment.”

    “[O]ut of a total of 4.4 million borrowers in repayment for more than two decades, fewer than 200 student loan borrowers will benefit from debt cancellation under IDR between 2020 and 2025—or a 1-in-23,000 chance,” the paper continues. “Borrowers also report that they have encountered an array of problems arising from servicer incompetence, including processing delays and extensive periods in administrative forbearance, inaccurate denials, lost payment histories, lost paperwork, and insufficient information or guidance. These barriers have profound and long-lasting implications for millions of families.”

    In other words, to resolve unsustainable student debt, increased higher education funding must be matched by corrective efforts that hold loan servicers accountable, and finally makes true the promise to manage IDR as originally intended. Actions such as these would make real the dreams of a college education as the bridge to a middle-class life and financial independence. Without these reforms, higher education will continue to bring deepening debts and loan defaults.

    “The Administration should provide student debt relief in the form of $50,000 in student loan cancellation per borrower, an amount that would eliminate or significantly reduce the debt burden for lower income, Black and Latino borrowers, provide a critical boost to the national economy and help bridge the racial wealth gap,” concluded Herbin.


    Charlene Crowell is a senior fellow with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at Charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org.
    ​

  • Newswire: Florida bans 41% of math books because of CRT

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent


    The Florida Department of Education said the state has rejected more than 50 math textbooks ahead of the 2022-2023 school year. The department cited references to critical race theory among reasons for the rejections.
    Officials said they would not accept about 41 percent of the books – 54 out of 132 – to Florida’s adopted list because the works didn’t adhere to the state’s standards.
    
“Today, Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran approved Florida’s initial adoption list for mathematics instructional materials properly aligned to Florida’s Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) Standards,” the department wrote in a news release.
    “The approved list followed a thorough review of submissions at the Department, which found 41 percent of the submitted textbooks were impermissible with either Florida’s new standards or contained prohibited topics – the most in Florida’s history.
    Despite rejecting such large percentage of the materials submitted, the department claimed that every core mathematics course and grade is covered with at least one textbook.
    The names of the rejected books were not included in the release. Florida’s new law states that instruction in schools must be factual and objective.
    Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ mandate specifically prohibits “theories that distort historical events” – which includes the teaching of Critical Race Theory.
Florida has banned such works as the Pulitzer Prize winning 1619 Project, which tackled the transatlantic slave trade.
    “They won’t tell us what [the banned books] are or what they say because it’s a lie,” Florida Democratic Rep. Carlos Smith wrote on Twitter.
“DeSantis has turned our classrooms into political battlefields, and this is just the beginning.”
    Added State House Member Anna Eskamani, “I get it. The goal of math is to solve problems which the Republican Party of Florida doesn’t like to do.”

  • More than 40 homes destroyed by
    tornado in Branch Heights; No fatalities,
    but more than 100 people displaced

    Mrs. Eula Lanier with Congresswoman Terri Sewell on the front of her damaged house.

    On Wednesday night, April 13, 2022 between 10:00 and 10:30 PM, an EF0 tornado, with winds of 65 to 85 miles per hour, passed through Eutaw and Greene County, Alabama. It did the greatest damage in the William M. Branch Heights community, which is a part of the city of Eutaw.

    “More than 40 homes in Branch Heights were visibly damaged and we are still discovering less obvious damage to bricks and foundations which may have been loosened and shifted,” said Anita Lewis, Greene County Housing Authority Executive Director.

    Lewis continued, “We have had more than 100 people displaced, made homeless, by this storm. Some have found shelter with family and friends but we have placed 24 families in a nearby hotel, near Greenetrack, which is  8 miles from their homes. Senator Bobby Singleton and Representative A. J, MacCampbell are seeking state resources to extend hotel stays as needed.”

    Branch Heights was built with HUD funds in the 1970’s as a major project of the newly elected African American controlled Greene County Commission. It contains over two hundred single family homes. Most of the homes are still rental units, under the control of the Greene County Housing Authority, but about a third of the homes have been purchased by the homeowners, as part of a special program, where people who had rented for 15 years, were able to purchase their units.

    Lewis said that the Greene County Housing Authority’s insurance company was still evaluating the damages but that 12 homes have only roof damage and these will be the first to be repaired, so families can return to their units. She said at least four families that owned their own homes did not have insurance to rebuild.

    Congresswoman Terri Sewell who was in Greene County, on Tuesday morning, April 19, 2022 for a town hall meeting in Boligee, said, “My team and I toured the devastating storm damage in Branch Heights which has displaced over 100 residents. It was important to me to see this damage for myself and to join with the local community as they begin to rebuild. While it won’t bring back the homes and belongings that were lost, I was honored to buy lunch for some of my constituents who were affected. We all have a role to play when our community is in need. Now is the time to lend a helping hand.”

    Earlier at the Boligee meeting, Sewell in answer to a question from Commission Chair Allen Turner, on the need to secure a FEMA disaster declaration for small areas like Branch Heights, affected by storms, said, “Congress will have to change the FEMA designation but we will work to secure SBA long term low interest loans for rebuilding homes and businesses. We will also work to identify other state, Federal and private resources that can help with rebuilding.”

    In an interview on Monday, Lewis said, “The City of Eutaw, their police and street department are involved and helping us; the County, the Sheriff’s Department are also here and working very diligently on getting things put together and assessed and also assisting with our residents. This storm has been a challenge to all of our government and private aid agencies, including the Red Cross.”

    “We had to put displaced people in hotels because we have no vacant public housing units in the area. We may have to seek help from adjoining cities like Tuscaloosa, to house our residents. Now we have to arrange food, clothing, transportation, clothes washing and other services for our people,” said Lewis

    School Superintendent Dr. Corey Jones announced at recent board meeting that he will re-route school buses to accommodate students who have been placed at local hotels and other locations. Other assistance from the school system may also be available.

    Lewis said, “We need all the help we can get for our residents here in Branch Heights, especially the children. We also need volunteer manpower to clear debris and help with rebuilding. We are at the Greene County Housing Authority are willing to accept any assistance and donations. You can call us at: 205-372-3342 or by email at:gchauth@bellsouth.net