The Greene County Democrat

Category: Newswire

  • Newswire : Bahamas facing long road to recovery but cleaving to hope amidst devastation

    By Barrington M. Salmon

    Massive devastation in the Bahamas

    (TriceEdneyWire.com) – Chris Laville remembers looking out of the
    window of his apartment, thinking it might not turn out too bad.

    “It was early in the morning. It had rained and there was a light breeze,” Laville recalled in an interview with the Trice Edney News Wire. “I woke saying we could ride this out not knowing what a Category 5 storm was.”
    Over the next day and a half, Laville, his wife and nine co-workers learned much more about Dorian than he ever wants to again. Elbow Key, where they lived, bore the brunt of Hurricane Dorian, the strongest storm ever to hit the Caribbean archipelago of 700 islands.

    Laville, the 40-year-old head chef of the Sea Spray Resort, now says if he ever again hears a hurricane’s coming, he’ll be on the first flight out. Dorian made landfall and then sat for almost two days, lashing the islands with 185 mile an hour winds and gusts of up to 220 miles an hour.

    He said he’s never been more afraid in his life and has been left deeply traumatized.
    “… I met everybody running as the storm took off the roof,” he said. “I grabbed some things as the roof flew off my room. I looked and saw the veranda was gone, the stairs were gone and the railing took off. The only thing I could do was jump.”
    Laville said he caught his wife Indira who jumped out of the building and waited for the rest of the group to do the same. As they sought shelter, they were buffeted by fierce winds and driving rain and sand.
    Elsewhere on Abaco and Grand Bahama islands, Dorian – which traveled at a glacial pace of one mile per hour – tore through buildings, shredded objects in its path, tossed boats and other marine vessels onto land, obliterated homes and businesses and killed residents.

    Laville said 40 units on the resort are gone and he lost a co-worker and a friend who was a ferry boat pilot. Elsewhere, Bahamians are trying to comprehend obliterated communities, washed
    out roads and neighborhoods sitting under water.

    Dr. Paul Hunt, a pediatrician and allergy specialist, who has lived in the
    Bahamas since 1990, said he’s heartbroken. He’s fortunate, he said, because he and his family were in Nassau when the storm hit and his home is not damaged. His thoughts, he said, are on those who’re coping with loss and struggling to come to terms with the shocking devastation.

    “I’m just numb. The gut-wrenching thing is my patients. I have a patient who I looked after since he was two and I just heard that a storm surge swept away him and two of his children,” said Dr. Hunt, a husband and father of three. “He’s lost and presumed dead. Save for the surge, this wouldn’t have been a big thing. The surge doesn’t happen over time, it can occur in two or three minutes.”

    Dr. Hunt said on Friday morning, he spoke to a niece who works at CNN who told him the government just sent 200 body bags to Abaco.

    Official reports indicate that 43 people have been confirmed dead but that number is expected to rise astronomically as rescue teams finally reach islands and communities that have been cut off by flood waters. At least 70,000 are homeless, according to reports.

    The hurricane dropped 30 inches of rain and triggered a storm surge as high as 23 feet, leaving more than 13,000 homes damaged or destroyed, the Red Cross and government officials said. A video, which was shared widely, taken by a member of Parliament inside his home, shows dark water lapping against a second-story window 15-20 feet off the ground.
    Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis said in a press conference that although the storm targeted only a small section of the Bahamas, it still inflicted “generational devastation.”

    According CNN, Joy Jibrilu, director-general of the Bahamas Tourism and Aviation ministry, estimates that “… hundreds, up to thousands, of people are still missing.” Bahamas’ Health Minister Dr. Duane Sands told Guardian Radio 96.9 FM, that body bags, additional morticians and refrigerated coolers to store bodies are
    being transported to Abaco and other affected areas.

    Four morticians in Abaco are embalming remains because officials have run out of coolers, he added.
    “The public needs to prepare for unimaginable information about the death toll and the human suffering,” Sands said. “Make no bones about it, the numbers will be far higher. It is going to be significantly higher than that. And it’s just a matter of retrieving those bodies, making sure we understand how they died. It seems like we are splitting hairs, but not everyone who died, died in the storm.”

    Back at Elbow Key, Chris Laville said the group took refuge in a laundry room after breaking a window to get in. While gaining entrance, he gashed his hand but ignored it as everyone tumbled inside. It wasn’t long before the floor above them began to fall into the storeroom so they all set off to find another safe space.

    “I ran to the boss’s house and saw a boat parked in the room where he
    was,” Laville said. His boss joined the group, which went to another house.
    “We bent down low and reached the house, by the grace of God,” said Laville. “Amazingly, the door opened with a gentle kick. As soon as we got in, the wind slammed the door behind us.”

    Laville said this particular house was on stilts.
    “Actually the building moved four or five inches,” he said, referring to the wind’s power. “When the eye passed over, I went to look for food and snacks because we ran out of food and water. We slept with our clothes and shoes on because we were afraid that something else might happen while we slept.”

    Although he didn’t think of the wound to his hand, or his having stepped
    on a nail, Laville said his wife was concerned enough to encourage him to go to the Hopetown Fire Station. Surprisingly he said,
    he received 12 stitches and was put on an emergency flight to Nassau to
    receive additional medical care.

    “It was a minor cut, but they opened it up and stitched the tendons,” he said. “My wife couldn’t come with me. She just said, “Honey, just go.’ I’m still worried about her because she’s there with people but still by herself. She was at the ferry station ‘til 4:45 p.m. and didn’t get on. I’m not feeling good, it’s not a good feeling at
    all.”

    After Dorian’s arrival, Kevin Seymour said, he spent the worst 48 hours of his life.
    “My second daughter Keayshawn lives in Abaco. We lost track of her for two days. They got flooded out and had to find refuge somewhere else,” said, Seymour, director of health, safety and the environment for the Grand Bahama Power Company. “Not knowing – that was painful. It was the worst two days of my life. I last spoke to her on Sunday and told her she needed to go to Marsh Harbor which is higher ground. Good thing she didn’t go.”

    As he and his family rode out the storm with no electricity but with adequate food and water, Seymour said the hurricane sounded like airplane engines revving on the tarmac. While the sound didn’t bother him, he said it really bothered his wife.
    Corinne Laville, Chris’ aunt, said she’s most concerned about the trauma people have experienced and how that will affect them going forward. This hurricane offers yet another opportunity for the
    government and Bahamians to self-correct, she said.

    “I swear, if we don’t change our thinking … this is an opportunity to really do this right,” said Laville. “In Freeport people are taking care of one another. But in Abaco, Haitians have replaced White Abaconians as cheap labor while they stay on their yachts. We have to look at Haitian-Bahamian situation.”

    Laville said a few thousand Haitians live in two shanty towns, one called
    the Mudd, where the structures aren’t built to code and likely were not
    able to withstand the powerful hurricane.

    “We need to set standards on the islands,” she said. “And everything is too Nassau-centricity. That has to stop.”
    She said humor has been one way for Bahamians to cope. For example,
    people said Dorian couldn’t leave the Bahamas because it was too dark,
    referring to the constant electrical blackouts caused by load-sharing.

    Dr. Hunt said the Bahamas will rebuild. “Our beloved island of Grand Bahama took a pounding and there is a lot of hurting,” he wrote on Facebook. “My heart goes out to the families of those with loved ones who have lost their lives, several of who were well known to me. The destruction in Abaco was catastrophic and gut wrenching…I will be returning to Freeport shortly to do my part in trying to alleviate some of the suffering and help in the rebuilding of our Island. We in Grand Bahama have faced and conquered many obstacles that have been placed in our path. We will not be undone by Hurricane Dorian and we all will emerge from this collective experience stronger, wiser and more united.”

  • Newswire: Robert G. Mugabe, post-Independence leader of Zimbabwe died

    Robert G. Mugabe

    Sep. 9, 2019 (GIN) – There are two sides to every story and the same could be said of the legacy of Zimbabwe’s first post-independence leader, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, who passed away Sept. 6 at the age of 95.

    “Mugabe’s legacy will continue to be contested between those who revere him and those who revile him,” wrote lawyer and award-winning author Petina Gappah. “But what matters most now is how Zimbabwe’s new president handles that legacy.”

    “From one viewpoint,” she wrote in a published opinion piece, “he is Zimbabwe’s founding father, the man who led his comrades through an armed struggle for the liberation of Zimbabwe’s black majority from Rhodesian white-minority rule.

    “His achievements in those early, heady years of independence were exemplary, with emphasis on health, education and women’s empowerment. This opened up possibilities to many Zimbabweans, particularly the rural poor, who were shut out from Rhodesia’s opportunities.

    Yet from another viewpoint,” she continued, “he is the hero who became a villain, his 37-year rule characterized by massive human rights abuses, from the Gukurahundi massacres and persecution of supporters of the rival Zapu party of Joshua Nkomo just after independence, to the persecution of perceived enemies, both in the opposition and within his own party, whom he considered threats to his power.

    “Even the land reform program,” she added, “much admired across Africa for restoring land to its rightful owners, was implemented amid chaos and violence.”

    Among the many eulogies for the former president was one referencing Mugabe’s first wife, Sally. A “great feminist” who inspired many women’s rights activists around the world, she was secretary general of the Zanu-PF women’s league, founder of the Zimbabwe Child Survival Program and a backer of the pan-African consortium Akina Mama was Afrika. Born in Ghana’s Gold Coast, she fell in love with the future leader who was working there. She died in Harare in 1992.

    Mugabe’s second wife, Grace Mugabe, had political ambitions but was better known for shopping trips in European capitals. After side-lining vice-president Joice Mujuru, she opposed Mugabe’s right hand man, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who ultimately ousted the president in a military coup.

    Now there is reportedly a dispute over where Mr Mugabe will be buried. Some of his relatives want him to be buried at his rural homestead in the village of Kutama in Mashonaland West province. But government officials are pushing for burial at a shrine near Harare.

    Most of Zimbabwe’s national heroes – those who fought against white-minority rule – are buried at the Heroes’ Acre shrine just outside of the city.

  • Newswire: NAREB urges Black Americans not to defer their dream of homeownership

    By:WASHINGTON INFORMER, BlackPressUSA

    — “Statistics show that there are 1.7 million Black millennials making $100,000 or more and could improve their financial futures with homeownership or participation in real estate investment opportunities.
    NAREB is determined to reach them with messages that rebut, yet improve, some of their current lifestyle choices,” says Donnell Williams, the newly installed president of NAREB. What’s more, he adds, homeownership is critical. “One clear message to millennials: Think about a house before you buy the car.”

    According to the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) wealth building usually begins with that first investment in owning your own home. Whether you purchase a first-time “starter” home or inherit a property or residence, you start down the road to building wealth. But something has changed in the Black community. The U.S. Census Bureau’s latest statistics indicate that the Black homeownership rate has dropped once again.

    Now at 40.6%, the rate starkly signals a continual loss of wealth for Black Americans. By comparison, the non-Hispanic White homeownership rate for the same period was reported to be 73.1%, a nearly 30% difference. There’s a problem and NAREB is on point to stop the loss and return Black Americans to wealth building through homeownership of real estate investment.

    NAREB is aware that the Black community, particularly its local and national leaders, may need a clear, strong wake-up call to reverse this daunting downward trend.
    What are the causes? But more importantly, what are the solutions? What can the community of concern do to prompt home purchase and therefore, wealth building?
    These and other questions are slated to be addressed at NAREB’s annual “State of Black America” forum to be convened at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 2019 Annual Legislative Conference, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019, 2:00p.m.- 4:00p.m.
    Expert panelists, steeped in the issues, the disparities and likely solutions to raising Black homeownership are committed to working with NAREB on its mission to restore confidence in the real estate market, identify critical systemic blockages, and outline the concerted advocacy strategies that lawmakers at every level of government need to keep in mind to improve Black homeownership outcomes.
    During the forum, Donnell Williams, the newly installed president of NAREB, will announce an aggressive program to reach out and encourage Black millennials to consider, or re-consider, homeownership as a wealth building tool.

  • Newswire: BCRI gets 17 new board members with Angela Davis fiasco behind

    By Erica Wright, Birmingham Times

    Birmingham Civil Rights Institute


    Following backlash from a decision to rescind an invitation to civil rights activist Angela Davis, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) will get a dozen new board members.
    The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday confirmed the appointment of 17 members – 12 new — to the BCRI board. Two additional seats are pending Council approval on next week’s regular agenda.
    Earlier this year, several board members resigned following an outcry after the board rescinded the Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award to international activist and Birmingham native Angela Davis.
    “We’re delighted to bring forth the slate of names of board members who have been chosen in a period of some disruption that found us in a very awkward position as an organization and in search of new leadership to help us pursue our mission to promote and preserve human and civil rights for all people,” said Andrea Taylor, president and CEO of the BCRI.
    The BCRI reappointed five members, who will be serving their second term, in addition to new members.
    The five reappointed were Rosilyn Houston, a senior executive with BBVA USA; Danny Markstein, president of Markstein, a full service marketing and communications agency; John Oros, president of the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau; Jonathan Porter, vice president at Alabama Power and Reverend Thomas Wilder, pastor of historic Bethel Baptist Church.
    The new appointed members are Cassandra Adams, Samford University Cumberland School of Law; William Burgess of Burgess Fine Arts; Dr. Tamera Beasley, Pediatrics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham; Nyesha Black, Regional Planning Commission; Robert Dickerson, a local businessman and executive director of the Birmingham Business Resource Center; Daryl Grant, an executive at KPMG Advisory Services; Angela McKenzie, Regions Bank; Richard Rice, The Rice Firm, LLC; John Saxon, John D. Saxon P.C.; David Thomas, District Manager at Starbucks; Reverend Gwendolyn Webb, with Foot Soldiers International and Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church and Yolanda Clayton, who formerly served as a chief of staff for Jefferson County Commission District 1.
    In March, the BCRI received more than 50 nominations.
    “We narrowed that down . . . to a group of about 20 and we had three days of interviews with those 20 individuals to determine their qualifications, interests, skills and their willingness to serve and from that number we selected 12 new prospective board members for the BCRI,” Taylor said.
    A few days after the BCRI rescinded the award, three board members resigned which were Mike Oatridge, Walter Body and Janice Kelsey. As a result of that, two other board members subsequently resigned. After those five resigned, it left eight members on the board.
    The eight remaining board members were eligible for a second term on the board and encouraged to reapply, however two chose not to, leaving six current board members to reapply.
    Taylor appeared at the city council meeting with 18 appointments – six returning and 12 new- however, one of the returning board members, Isaac Cooper, name was taken off the slate to further amend his term appointment and his name will be on the slate next week for the council to confirm along with one other board member.
    Their bylaws allow for up to 27 members, but for now, 21 is ideal.
    Councilor Steven Hoyt applauded the BCRI for its diligence in selecting new board members.
    “I’m glad that you and the board found it necessary to have such diversity, you have to have it in order to be conscious of where we are and the climate we’re . . . and the more we can promote [diversity)] , I think the better we can expect our society to be.”

  • Newswires: Brennen Center report finds 17 million voters purged nationwide between 2016 – 2018

    By Stacy M. Brown, BlackPressUSA

    Voting stickers

    A Brennan Center analysishas found that at least 17 million voters were purged nationwide between 2016 and 2018, similar to the numbers discovered between 2014 and 2016.
    Using data released by the Federal Election Assistance Commission, the Brennan Center found that counties with a history of voter discrimination have continued purging people from the rolls at high rates.
    “This phenomenon began after the Supreme Court’s 2013 ruling in Shelby County v. Holder, a decision that severely weakened the protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965,” the report states.
    “Before the Shelby County decision, Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act required jurisdictions with a history of discrimination to submit proposed changes in voting procedures to the Department of Justice or a federal court for approval, a process known as ‘preclearance,’” the report’s authors wrote.
    The Brennan Center first identified this troubling voter purge trend in a major report released in July 2018.
    As the nation heads toward the all-important 2020 election cycle, many said they’re concerned with voter purging and the ever-present threat of voter disenfranchisement.
    “Automatic voter registration is a great way to be sure that every eligible American is registered to vote,” said Dr. Margaret Groarke, an associate professor of political science at Manhattan College in New York.
    “Whether this prevents voter suppression is complicated by the fact that there are many ways that people suppress the vote,” Groarke said.
    “Key strategies today are over-inclusive voter purges, strict voter ID laws, and making threats that people with unpaid fines or warrants shouldn’t come near the polls,” she said.
    “Automatic voter registration might counteract the effect of purges, but will do nothing to stop other strategies,” Groarke said.
    The Brennan Center report follows aCenter for American Progress analysis that examined how conservative lawmakers are suppressing the votes of people of color, young people, and those with disabilities.
    From discriminatory voter ID laws in places such as North Dakota, South Carolina, and Michigan to failures to provide early polling places in a majority-black neighborhood in Texas and the freezing of more than 50,000 voter registrations in Georgia, voter suppression is rampant in 2018, according to the CAP report.
    “Voter suppression is widespread again this year, and these efforts from conservative lawmakers largely target people of color, young people, and people with disabilities,” Connor Maxwell, a research associate for Race and Ethnicity Policy at the CAP, said in a news release.
    “Despite these efforts, there are many steps people can take to ensure their vote counts on election day,” Maxwell said.
    Voting is a fundamental right for all U.S. citizens, “so we encourage everyone to double-check their voter registration; determine ahead of time whether you need to bring certain materials to the polls; and take advantage of the many voter assistance hotlines if you run into problems,” said Danielle Root, a voting rights manager at the CAP.
    In its report, The Brennan Center noted why voter purges could prove problematic.
    “If a voter moves from Georgia to New York, they are no longer eligible to cast a ballot in the Peach State. As such, they should be removed from Georgia’s voter rolls,” Brennan authors said, as an example.
    The report continued:
    “Similarly, voters who have passed away should be removed from the rolls. Reasonable voter list maintenance ensures voter rolls remain up to date. Problems arise when states remove voters who are still eligible to vote.
    “States rely on faulty data that purport to show that a voter has moved to another state. Frequently, these data get people mixed up. In big states like California and Texas, multiple individuals can have the same name and date of birth, making it hard to be sure that the right voter is being purged when perfect data are unavailable.
    “Troublingly, minority voters are more likely to share names than white voters, potentially exposing them to a greater risk of being purged and voters often don’t realize they’ve been purged until they try to cast a ballot on Election Day – after it’s already too late.”
    The Brennan Center’s report authors said as the 2020 election cycle heats up, election administrators must be transparent about how they’re deciding what names to remove from the rolls.
    They must be diligent in their efforts to avoid erroneously purging voters, the report’s authors said.
    “And they should push for reforms like automatic voter registration and election day registration which keep voters’ registration records up to date,” the authors wrote.
    This post originally appeared in The Washington Informer.

  • Newswire : Gov. Kay Ivey says ‘Heavens no,’ she won’t resign over 1967 blackface skit

    By Mike Cason | mcason@al.com

    Gov. Kay Ivey made her first public appearance today since apologizing last week for wearing blackface during a racist skit when she was a student at Auburn University in 1967, an incident the governor says she does not remember.

    The governor spoke to reporters this morning after a ceremony about the state’s bicentennial at the Archives and History building in Montgomery.
    Associated Press reporter Kim Chandler prefaced the first question by saying that Ivey had told her last spring that she had never worn blackface. Today, Chandler asked Ivey today what she remembered and her reaction to the revelation about the skit.
    “I was shocked to hear the tape,” Ivey said. “I didn’t remember being at the Baptist Student Union for any kind of skit like that for sure. But I’ve apologized for it. I should not have done that. And I know it’s important to apologize to the people of Alabama. And since I took office in 2017, my goal has been to make Alabama as good as it can be and certainly better, or to leave the state better than when I found it.”
    On Thursday, Ivey’s office released a statement and a video apologizing for the skit at the Baptist Student Union, which came to light while Auburn University was converting archived records to digital format, including a 1967 interview on the Auburn student radio station during which Ivey and her then-fiance talked and laughed about the skit.
    The Alabama NAACP and two African American lawmakers – Reps. Juandalynn Givan and John Rogers of Birmingham – called on Ivey to resign because of the incident. Others said they were disappointed but accepted Ivey’s apology and said they hoped it could bring attention to improving race relations and issues important to African Americans.
    “Governor Ivey wants us to look at the record,” Bernard Simelton, President of the State of Alabama NAACP said, “Here it is. During Governor Ivey’s administration, she refused to Expand Medicaid, did not support Birmingham increase in minimum wage; Governor Ivey even signed a bill approving the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017. A law that upholds racism and the effects of racism. If you want to heal the land, or correct errors, or even make right the wrongs, you have the power to do that. You are the leader who can do away with the status quo, and you are in a key position to leave a legacy that heals the hearts of Southerners who got slavery and the confederacy wrong, heal Alabamians and lead Americans. We are better than honoring those who led us into darkness, calamity and shame. No, we don’t need to erase our history, but we do need to make right, what was done wrong.”
    The issues mentioned in the press release have divided black and white politicians in Alabama for several years.
    Democratic lawmakers have called for Medicaid expansion since it became available under President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Ivey has not supported expansion, nor has the Republican-controlled Legislature.
    Ivey’s office issued a statement last week indicating she has no intention of resigning. Ivey was asked today about her response to the calls for resignation.
    “Heavens no, I’m not going to resign,” the governor said. “That was something that happened 52 years ago and I’m not that person. And my administration stands on being inclusive and helping people. We’ve got a lot of good things going on with our rebuild Alabama and broadband access being expanded and improving our education, etc. So, no, I’m full speed ahead.”
    Ivey said she had heard positive comments since her apology.“Not only from African-Americans, I’ve heard a lot from them as well, but also most of the comments I’ve had have been very encouraging and very supportive and very understanding,” Ivey said. “And I’m grateful for that support and that understanding. It was a mistake when I was a student in college and I do apologize. And I’m grateful for everybody’s support, including African Americans.”

  • Newswire : Leader in women’s issues to head U. N. AIDS program

    Winnie Karagwa Byanyima

    Aug. 26, 2019 (GIN) – The U.N’s office on AIDS has named a longtime activist on women’s issues to head the global health agency.

    Ugandan humanitarian Winnie Karagwa Byanyima’s career began as a member of parliament in the National Assembly of Uganda. She became the Director of Women and Development at the African Union Commission and worked on the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa.

    “I am honored to be joining UNAIDS as the Executive Director at such a critical time in the response to HIV,” said Ms Byanyima. “The end of AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 is a goal that is within the world’s reach, but I do not underestimate the scale of the challenge ahead. Working with all its partners, UNAIDS must continue to speak up for the people left behind and champion human rights as the only way to end the epidemic.”

    Ms Byanyima, who also headed the development group Oxfam International, is the first woman Executive Director to lead the agency since its launch in 1996..

    She succeeds Michel Sidibйwho was appointed Minister of Health and Social Affairs of Mali.

    Dr. Penninah Iutung, Africa Bureau Chief of the AIDS Health Foundation, said: “With young women and girls being disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS, particularly in Africa, a strong UNAIDS leader can inspire them to pursue their dreams and stay healthy. We are excited and look forward to working with a new and transforming UNAIDS.”

    Ms. Byanyima is married to Kizza Besigye, a Ugandan opposition leader for many years.

  • Newswire: The U.N. could save the Amazon with one simple move

    By: Marjorie Cohn, Truthdig

    Amazon Rainforest Burning


    The Amazon is burning. Nearly 75,000 fires have started in the iconic Brazilian rainforest this year to date, an 84 percent increase from the year before. Since August 10, a spate of intentionally set fires have been raging in the Amazon. But Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro, who took office in January, let them burn for two weeks before sending firefighters to put them out following an international outcry.
    Fires ravaging the Amazon pose imminent peril to the 34 million people and 3 million species of animals and plants that live in the world’s largest rainforest, which covers 2 million square miles.

    Damage from the raging fires will change the face of the planet. The rainforest is home to 10 percent of the species on Earth, including many types of plants and animals that cannot be found anywhere else.
    “The loss of the Amazon’s biodiversity will be beyond devastating for the planet,” Dahr Jamail wrote in Truthout, noting that many scientists consider the Amazon to be the Earth’s most important site of biodiversity.
    ‘An International Crisis’

    French president Emmanuel Macron tweeted, “Our house is burning. Literally,” and exhorted, “Members of the G7 Summit, let’s discuss this emergency first order in two days!” Bristling at Macron’s exhortation, Bolsonaro wrote on Twitter, “The French president’s suggestion that Amazon issues be discussed at the G-7 without participation by the countries in the region evokes a colonialist mentality that is out of place in the 21st century.”
    In light of Bolsonaro’s refusal to provide resources to extinguish the fires, Macron threatened to block the Mercosur-European Union trade deal. Bolsonaro capitulated. He allocated $7 million and sent 44,000 troops and military aircraft to the burning areas.
    But that falls short of what is needed to put out the fires and save the Amazon. “We’re talking about battling what will be hundreds of fires burning simultaneously, beyond any road network, distributed across thousands of miles,” according to Douglas Morton, head of the Biospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “It’s quite a challenge to mobilize resources for one of these fires, but to simultaneously track down and put out a number of these sorts of fires … demands essentially a full press,” adding, “You really do need thousands of people.”
    The countries in the G-7 – the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada – donated $20 million to help fight the fires, but Bolsonaro refused to accept the money unless Macron apologizes. Bolsonaro is playing games while the Amazon burns.
    Donald Trump, who skipped the climate meeting at the G-7 summit, later said he hadn’t agreed to contribute to the $20 million because of lack of coordination with Bolsonaro.
    Moreover, even if accepted, this money would not be sufficient. Rick Swan, of the International Association of Fire Fighters, told The Washington Post that, by comparison, to extinguish the 2017 Tubbs Fire in Northern California, “the costs alone were $100 million.”
    In other words, a massive international effort is needed to end the Amazon fires.
    Bolsonaro’s Appeal to Anti-Colonial Politics Is Deeply Cynical

    Those who are critical of ongoing colonial and neocolonial dynamics but who are not entirely familiar with the context of the fires in Brazil may at first be skittish about backing international efforts to pressure Bolsonaro to end the fires. In truth, however, Bolsonaro’s appeal to anti-colonial politics is deeply cynical and should not deter progressives with anti-colonial commitments from backing international endeavors to end the fires.
    The cynicism of Bolsonaro’s anti-colonial appeal is evident in the context of widespread popular protests in which Brazilians have marched holding signs with messages, such as “The Amazon belongs to the world, and we need the world’s help right now” and “SOS.” Protesters took part in some 30 demonstrations across Brazil last weekend, and thousands of demonstrators marching in Rio chanted, “The Amazon stays, out with Bolsonaro.”
    Indigenous peoples in Brazil have also made clear that they hold Bolsonaro’s government responsible for the destruction of the Amazon. The Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB) issued a statement expressing “extreme concern about the rapid destruction of the Amazon rainforest, home to our families and to all the resources we need to live.” COIAB stated, “The related record rates of deforestation and outbreaks of fire are a consequence of the anti-indigenous and anti-environmental genocidal speeches of this government.”
    A group of Indigenous Huni Kuin leaders recently called for a stop to the fires, saying: “Nature is crying and we are crying. If we don’t stop this destruction of Mother Nature, future generations will live in a completely different world to the one we live in today. This is Mother Nature’s cry, asking us to help her. And we are working today so that humanity has a future. But if we don’t stop this destruction, we will be the ones that will be extinguished, burned and the sky will descend upon us, which has already begun to happen.”
    The U.N. Security Council Should Order International Firefighters and Economic Boycott

    As empowered by the United Nations Charter, the Security Council should find that the fires in the Amazon pose a “threat to the peace” and order measures to restore and maintain international peace and security. Those measures “may include complete or partial interruption of economic relations.”
    The Council should require that member states refrain from entering into trade agreements with Brazil unless and until it agrees to allow international economic and physical firefighting assistance. As Moira Birss, Amazon Watch’s finance campaign director said in a release issued by the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA), “Now that the world is finally paying attention, it’s important to also understand that governments and companies around the world are emboldening Bolsonaro’s toxic policies when they enter trade agreements with his government or invest in agribusiness companies operating in the Amazon.”
    In addition, the Council should order member states to contribute money and personnel to fight the fires raging in the Amazon.
    There is precedent for this type of resolution. In 1985, the Council passed Resolution 569, which condemned the South African government’s policy of apartheid. It urged UN members to adopt measures including suspension of all new investment in South Africa, prohibition of the sale of South African currency and coins, restrictions on cultural relations and sports, suspension of guaranteed export loans, prohibition of new nuclear contracts, and prohibition of sales of computer equipment that could be used by the South African police and army. The international boycott of South Africa led to the end of the apartheid regime.
    All UN member countries are bound by the resolutions of the Security Council. Article 25 of the Charter says, “The members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council.” And Article 49 states that the UN members “shall join in affording mutual assistance in carrying out the measures” upon which the Council decides.
    “Bolsonaro must take immediate, comprehensive steps to not only extinguish these fires but also address the root causes of this environmental catastrophe: the roll-back of environmental and indigenous rights protections and the recklessness of the profit-seeking agribusiness industry,” Christian Poirier, program director at Amazon Watch, said on the IPA release. But, he added, “This burden isn’t on the Brazilian government alone. We are all global citizens of our shared planet and must take shared responsibility for its preservation.”
    We must act internationally to save the precious Amazon rainforest. Citizens of the 15 member countries on the Security Council should pressure their governments to vote in favor of a resolution calling for an economic boycott of Brazil and the provision of resources to quell the forest fires. The future of our planet is at stake.

    Marjorie Cohn is professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and a former president of the National Lawyers Guild.

  • Newswire: IN MEMORIAM: Baxter Leach, 1968 Memphis Sanitation worker

    By Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell, Special to The New Tri-State Defender


    Baxter Leach and ‘I am a Man’signs


    Baxter Richard Leach used his voice to cry out for the respect and dignity of sanitation workers oppressed by unsanitary and unsafe working conditions and racist attitudes. It all came to a head on Feb. 1, 1968 when two friends and colleagues were crushed to death in a malfunctioning compactor on their truck.
    Mr. Leach and fellow sanitation workers rose up and in unison shouted to the world, “I AM A MAN.” They marched against the powers that be, earning a hard-won victory in a fight that brought Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis, where he was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
    On Tuesday (Aug. 27), Mr. Leach died after what longtime friend Calvin Taylor said was a bout with cancer. He was 79. Funeral arrangements were incomplete at The New Tri-State Defender’s press time Wednesday night.
    “Mr. Leach was very devoted to his local and to AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), to his community, and to his family,” said Gail Tyree, director of Local 1733.
    “We are going to miss him tremendously. He was an honorable man, a good man who shared his story with young people every opportunity he got. Mr. Leach knew that it was important for them to understand the great history of our 1733 and this city. And so he continued to reach out over the years, across the generations.”
    Henry Leach, his youngest brother, recalled the night the National Civil Rights Museum honored the sanitation workers with its prestigious Freedom Award. “We were all there that night,” Leach said. “It was like being on television or being on Broadway somewhere. Everybody who lives out of town came in for the presentation. My brother was so proud of receiving the award, and we were so proud of him. I am so happy he was still here to experience that night. That was a highlight of all our lives.”
    Baxter Leach was born Sept. 21, 1939 in Schlater, Miss. He often repeated a line he learned from his father: “Son, work hard and always keep at least a dollar in your pocket.” In 1960, he moved to Memphis, where he worked several jobs until he found employment in 1961 with the City of Memphis Sanitation Department.
    After the strike was settled, Mr. Leach and the other sanitation workers continued to be honored for their courage and history-making stand. He has been featured and interviewed by many newspapers, magazines and television and radio stations. His leadership and good citizenship netted numerous awards and honors.
    The documentary, “I AM A MAN: A LESSON IN LIFE,” features Mr. Leach and he’s a noteworthy figure in the National Civil Rights Museum.
    Mr. Leach would often share with friends and family that his most memorable event was being welcomed to the White House and inducted into the White House Hall of Fame by Barack Obama, the first African American elected President of the United States.
    After 44 years of service, Mr. Leach retired from the City of Memphis. He continued to be an avid speaker at many schools, universities and churches until his five-year battle with cancer prevented him, according to his brother, Henry.
    Among the many expressions of sympathy from across the country was this online message that the national office of AFSCME posted to the Local 1733 Facebook page:“The AFSCME family extends our condolences to the Leach family, and the entire Memphis Community. Baxter Leach was a soldier for labor, and he will be missed.”

  • Newswire: 400 Years in Virginia. 500 Years in Slavery.

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent
    @StacyBrownMedia


    In August 2018, the National Newspaper Publishers Association began a series on the transatlantic slave trade.

    The series started in conjunction with the annual United Nations International Day of Remembrance. With the observance of the first African landing in America, some question whether it’s the 400th or 500th anniversary.

    Historians point out that the 400th anniversary is the 400th year of the Anglo-centric history of Africans in the Americas.
    “Dating the history of Africans in North America to 400 years ago reinforces this narrative of English superiority,” Greg Carr, the Chair of the Department of Afro-American Studies at Howard University, told Time.com.“Remembering the Spanish and indigenous sides of the history is more important now than ever as the people are closing the borders to those who are descendants from people who were here when you came,” Carr said.

    In his 2013 PBS documentary, “The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross,”Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., said slavery was always an essential ingredient of the American experiment. Gates called slavery, “The supreme hypocrisy,” and “capitalism gone berserk.”

    The first African to come to North America was a free man who accompanied Spanish explorers to Florida in 1513 – or 106 years before the 20 Africans who were kidnapped and brought to Point Comfort, Va., in 1619, Gates said.
    “The father of our country was one of its largest slave owners,” Gates said in the documentary.
    “Because of the profound disconnect between principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and the simultaneous practice of slavery, we’ve had historical amnesia about slavery,” he said.
    Indeed, the slave trade began in the 15th century, said Boniface Chidyausiku of Zimbabwe. It was driven by colonial expansion, emerging capitalist economies and the insatiable demand for commodities – with racism and discrimination serving to legitimize the trade, Chidyausiku said.
    Chidyausiku, then the acting president of the United Nations General Assembly, made the remarks in 2007 during the UN’s observance of the 200th anniversary of the end of the transatlantic slave trade.
    “Fortunes were made, and financial institutions flourished on the back of human bondage…[so] today’s commemoration must encourage everyone to live up to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which says: ‘All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, and to redouble efforts to stop human trafficking and all forms of modern slavery,’” said Chidyausiku, who is now 69.
    Michael Guasco, a historian at Davidson College and author of “Slaves and Englishmen: Human Bondage in the Early Modern Atlantic World,” suggests it’s the 500th anniversary.
    “There’s a Hispanic heritage that predates the U.S., and there’s a tendency for people to willingly forget or omit the early history of Florida, Texas, and California, particularly as the politics of today want to push back against Spanish language and immigration from Latin America,” Guasco told Time.

    The fact that slavery was underway for a century in South America before introduction in North America is not widely taught nor commonly understood, Felicia Davis of the HBCU Green Fund told NNPA Newswire.
    “It is a powerful historical fact missing from our understanding of slavery, its magnitude, and global impact. The knowledge that slavery was underway for a century provides deep insight into how enslaved Africans adapted,” Davis said.
    Far beyond the horrific “seasoning” description, clearly generations had been born into slavery long before introduction in North America, Davis said.
    “This fact deepens the understanding of how vast majorities could be oppressed in such an extreme manner for such a long period. It is also a testament to the strength and drives among people of African descent to live free,” she said.
    Prior to 1619, “America had a system of discrimination and prejudice against all groups who were not identified as White Anglo-Saxon native,” said Walter D. Palmer, who started a Community Freedom School for children and adult learners in Philadelphia that would become the platform on which he built his social legacy.
    “By the mid-1600s, America created the slave codes,” Palmer told NNPA Newswire.
    During the country’s founding, many settlers learned from and lived close to Native Americans on the east coast, said author Cassie Premo Steele.
    For example, it wasn’t until resources like silver were found on what was Cherokee land that Andrew Jackson ordered the removal that became known as the “Trail of Tears,” Steele told NNPA Newswire.
    “Further genocides and removals took place in the West when similar resources and land were desired by white Americans,” Steele said.
    “Similarly, slavery was primarily an economic system that was based upon the dehumanization of Africans. Dehumanization is in some ways even worse than hate since it is a denial of the humanity of a people,” she said.
    The observance of the 400th anniversary of the first African landing at Point Comfort, Va., did bring about changes, according to Time. It was the type of race-based chattel slavery system that solidified in the centuries that followed was its unique American tragedy.

    “To ignore what had been happening with relative frequency in the broader Atlantic world over the preceding 100 years or so understates the real brutality of the ongoing slave trade, of which the 1619 group were undoubtedly a part, and minimizes the significant African presence in the Atlantic world to that point,” Guasco said in a History.com interview earlier this month.
    “People of African descent have been ‘here’ longer than the English colonies,” he said.