The Greene County Democrat

Category: Newswire

  • Newswire : Eric Holder former Attorney General calls for end to ‘racial gerrymandering’.

    Holder calls for Black voters to show up strong during the 2018 midterms.

    By Clarissa Hamlin, Newsone
     

    Eric Holdder

                                                                           Eric Holder

    Eric Holder is trying to get folks in formation — as the title of Beyoncé’s song said — to stop racist gerrymandering ahead of the 2018 midterms. But what’s gerrymandering?
    The practice of partisan and racial gerrymandering focuses on the re-drawing of voting district lines that basically pack Democrats or people of color into certain areas and push them out of others. Racial gerrymandering was fought by the Supreme Court years ago with the creation of majority-minority districts, or areas where the majority of voters are members of a single non-White racial group, The Washington Post reported.
    This majority-minority move allowed voters of color to elect their candidates of choice in some districts. However, the concentration of voters of color in those districts led to the loss of representation in several other White-dominated districts. Without representation in those districts, it’s hard for voters of color to pass state-wide legislation to represent their interests.
    Republican-led legislatures took advantage by using race to draw majority-minority district lines, experts said to the Post. But Holder, knowing that limiting the representation of Black voters means limiting that of Democrats, has a clap back plan against gerrymandering.
    Holder, chair of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC),wants to show folks of color that gerrymandered districts “have an impact on their day-to-day lives,” according to the Hill. Then, folks can go out and vote in a way that gets candidates elected that who will advocate for their interests, including the fair redistricting of voting areas without regard to race or political party.
    “The thought is to elect people in 2018 who will serve generally four-year terms,” the former Obama administration attorney general said. “These are the people who will be at the table, come ’20, ’21, and who will be responsible for the redistricting that’s [coming] after the 2020 census.”

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    Experts have said that packing people of color into districts has the same effect as packing Democrats, causing district maps to favor Republicans in the same way that it favors Whites. But if people of color vote in record numbers, things can change.
    “At the end of the day, this is all about the American people getting to have their voices heard, their votes count, and their representatives reflect what their desires are,” Holder said.

  • Newswire : Trump’s budget would hurt Black and Brown people

     

    By Rep. Cedric L. Richmond

    cedricrichmond
    Rep. Cedric Richmond (D. LA), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus

    NEWS ANALYSIS
    Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Richmond Free Press
    (TriceEdneyWire.com) – If you want to know how a president feels about your community, then all you need to do is look at his or her budget because it reflects their values — both what they value and what they don’t.If you look at President Trump’s proposed FY 2019 budget, it’s clear he doesn’t value low-income and Black and brown communities because he cuts programs that these communities disproportionately rely on, including the Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (the food stamp program), Medicaid, the Low-Income Heating Assistance Program and Community Development Block Grants, which provide funding for projects and programs including affordable housing, anti-poverty programs and infrastructure development that inner-city and rural communities need to survive.
    One of the most disgusting examples of this is President Trump’s proposal for the food stamp program, a program that serves close to 44 million Americans, 26 percent of whom are black. In addition to proposing to cut the program by $213 billion, which would leave 4 million low income people without these benefits, President Trump proposes to prevent families from choosing what type of food they buy for themselves.
    He wants to send these families Blue Apron-style boxes of perishable and non-perishable food items, including items produced by American farmers. Although the administration has characterized this proposal as a cost-savings measure that would help low income communities eat more nutritious foods and American farmers make a profit, it is demeaning and disrespectful because it’s based on a notion that low income people can’t and shouldn’t think for themselves. Under this proposal, SNAP beneficiaries wouldn’t be able to decide what they want to eat, including culturally appropriate foods for their family.
    And they wouldn’t know what foods they were getting, preventing them from planning meals for their family.Additionally, there are logistical problems with the proposal. Families may not have a car and be unable to pick up the box of food at the designated location in their community .On top of that, providing an over-abundance of fresh perishable foods to families where parents work two and three jobs and may not have time to cook them may make a bad situation worse.
    These concerns and others make it unlikely that this plan will save the federal government $130 billion over 10 years as predicted by the Trump administration. The food stamp proposal isn’t the only issue with President Trump’s FY 2019 budget.

    His budget cuts two critically important education programs for low-income students — GEAR UP, a grant program focused on increasing the number of low income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education, and Promise Neighborhoods, an Obama era grant program that provides cradle-to-college-to-career services for children living in low-income neighborhoods.
    In addition, his budget would cut a number of programs that help workers, especially workers who belong to unions. For example, his budget would cut Occupational Safety and Health Administration training grants that the agency uses to help employers better enforce workforce health and safety requirements. His budget also targets labor unions, whose membership is 14 percent African-American, by investing in more union focused investigations.
    President Trump’s budget also would insufficiently invest in our nation’s infrastructure, while also cutting grants that fund infrastructure development at the state and local level. President Trump proposes to invest $200 billion in repairing America’s roads and bridges even though there’s trillions of dollars of infrastructure work to be done across the country, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.
    This insufficient investment will force states to rely too much on the private sector for funding they need to start and finish projects, projects that will likely come with a cost for the very commuters they’re supposed to help: Toll roads.President Trump calls his budget “An American Budget.” But the Americans he has in mind aren’t those who are living paycheck to paycheck and aren’t those who are members of Black and brown communities.

  • Newswire: Parents and Black publishers discuss excellence in public education during ‘Black Press Week’

    By Stacey M. Brown, NNPA contributor

     

    nnpaessabreakfast_bpw18_2550_fallen_web120.jpgPanelists discuss the role of the Black Press in education during a breakfast session hosted by the NNPA ESSA Public Awareness Campaign, during Black Press Week in Washington, D.C. (Freddie Allen/AMG/NNPA)

    Educators and education experts discussed parental engagement, equity in education and teacher diversity, during a special breakfast session for the NNPA’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Public Awareness Campaign in Washington, D.C.
    The session took place during the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s (NNPA) Black Press Week, an annual celebration of the relevance and lasting legacy of Black publishers.
    Panelists included Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes; DNA Educational Solutions and Support CEO Dr. Robert L. Kirton Jr.; NAACP Washington Bureau Chief Hilary O. Shelton; Prince George’s County School Board Member Curtis Valentine; and Dr. Lannette Woodruff, an ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) taskforce member for the Office of the State Superintendent of Education in Washington, D.C.
    Dr. Elizabeth Primas, the project manager for the NNPA’s ESSA Public Awareness Campaign, served as moderator for the session titled, “Striving for African American Excellence in Public Education: The Role of the Black Press” at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, D.C. on Friday, March 16. “I’m pretty fired up about education,” Rolark Barnes said of the current state of education in the Black community. “As we celebrate 191 years of the Black Press in America, it’s important to remember that the education of Black people is rooted in the Black Press and the Black Church.”
    Rolark Barnes also reminded the audience that one of the founders of the Black Press, Samuel Cornish, graduated from the Free African School and became a minister, before he started the Freedom’s Journal.
    Shelton noted that the Black Press has been the voice of the Black community for a very long time; the NAACP Washington bureau chief also said that education is the bridge over troubled waters.
    Kirton recounted a false, yet familiar adage that suggested that “The best way to hide something from Black people is to put it in a book.” Kirton used the saying to shine a light on the paucity of high-quality education options in the Black community.
    “I got into the [education] fight, because I want to make a difference,” Kirton said.
    Valentine advocated for increased parental engagement in our schools at every level. “We need policies that are more welcoming for our parents to come in,” Valentine said.
    Woodruff agreed. “We want programs in our schools, so that children understand what [parental engagement] is all about,” Woodruff said.
    In 2017, the NNPA received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support a three-year, multi-media public awareness campaign focusing on the unique opportunities and challenges related to the implementation of ESSA, according to a press release about the campaign.
    Under the ESSA, states have more flexibility under federal regulations to design customized solutions to improve elementary and secondary education in the nation’s public schools. The law also ensures that every child, regardless of race, income, background, or where they live have the opportunity to obtain a high-quality education; ESSA received bipartisan support and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 10, 2015.
    The NNPA selected Primas, a decorated and award-winning educator, as program manager and she famously refers to all of her students as ‘her children’.
    “My children’” are all of the children in schools that have been underserved, undereducated, and for all intents and purposes, forgotten about,” Primas said.

     

  • Newswire : ‘Unequal Realities’ hold back rural women, says U. N. on eve of Women’s Confab

    international womens day.png

    (TriceEdneyWire.com/GIN) – On the eve of International Women’s Day, the United Nations is renewing its call for concrete actions to address the plight of rural women who make up over a quarter of the world population yet are being left behind in every measure of development.
    In an opening statement, UN Under-Secretary-General Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka applauded a new era for women displaying “a remarkable gathering of strength, speaking with one voice, calling for opportunity and accountability, drawing momentum from grassroots networks and coalitions that stretch right up to government leadership.”
    But rural women, “face unequal day-to-day realities because of entrenched socio-cultural norms and practices,” noted the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa. “There is an urgent need to step up efforts with concrete actions (to) fulfil the commitments made to rural women in Africa.”
    “Rural women account for a substantial proportion of the agricultural labor force,” affirmed a research and documentation center in Nigeria. “Yet they lack access to agricultural inputs and finance, they have less than 14 percent land holding rights, while culture, tradition and discriminatory laws deny women equal access to government programs at national and state levels. “
    In Nigeria, over 90 percent of land is held and controlled by men while women as wives or daughters in many communities have little control over such lands, added Ms Mimido Akchapa of Women Rights to Education of Benue (Nigeria).
    “They continue to suffer in silence due to discrimination on the basis of gender and not because they have less strength or intelligence to perform rural activities in the agricultural value chain,” the Benue women’s group said. “This has negative implications for basic food production and the eradication of poverty.”
    U.N. Secretary General António Guterres issued a statement: “Let me be clear: this is not a favor to women. Gender equality is a human rights issue, but it is also in all our interests: men and boys, women and girls.
    “Investing in women is the most effective way to lift communities, companies, and even countries. Women’s participation makes peace agreements stronger, societies more resilient and economies more vigorous.”
    The high-level side event, during the 62nd Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 62), is scheduled to take place from March 12 to 23 at UN Headquarters .The theme for this year’s commemoration is: “Time is Now: Rural and Urban Activists Transforming Women’s Lives”.

    GLOBAL INFORMATION NETWORK creates and distributes news and feature articles on current affairs in Africa to media outlets, scholars, students and activists in the U.S. and Canada. Our goal is to introduce important new voices on topics relevant to Americans, to increase the perspectives available to readers in North America and to bring into their view information about global issues that are overlooked or under-reported by mainstream media.

  • Commission approves $85,000 for engineering work on County Road 69

    In its monthly meeting held Monday, March 12, 2018, the Greene County Commission authorized preliminary engineering work to begin on the bridge on County Road 69 with an investment not to exceed $85,000. At the previous commission work session, county engineer Willie Branch informed the body that this particular bridge has to be inspected every month and warrants this engineering work to begin to replace the bridge. The school bus cannot travel this bridge as it is. The bridge is currently posted at 3 tons.
    The commission also gave its approval for the county engineer to sell all surplus equipment and/or surplus supplies.
    Opening advertisement for a part-time position in the Solid Waste Department was approved following the commission accepting an employee’s resignation from that position.
    The commission acted on the following:
    Approved having a public hearing on vacating a portion of Outland Road from the end of the pavement at the railroad to the North Gloria Street property line.Approved various staff travel requests for continuing professional development.
    In her financial report, CFO Paula Bird gave the various bank balances as of Feb. 18 as follows: Citizen Trust Bank, $3,109,438.69; Merchants & Farmers Bank, $2,157,243.70; Bank of New York, $363,933.28; total CD investments, $802,978.18. She noted that the Coroner’s office was over the amount budgeted for transportation, noting that it is difficult to estimate what will be needed for a given year. Bird also stated that the Sheriff paid $3,272.95 to cover overtime for his personnel.

  • Newswire : New EPI study shows no Black economic progress in 50 years

    By Lauren Victoria Burke (NNPA Newswire Contributor)

    noblackprogress-801789_1920_pixabay_web120

    Late last year, “The Washington Post” wrote that African Americans were the only group that showed no economic improvement since 2000. They based their conclusions on Census data. This year, there was even more sobering news in a report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). The new study issued found “no progress” for African Americans on homeownership, unemployment and incarceration in 50 years.
    Much of what was included in the EPI study was stunning data on African American economic progress. Fifty years after the famous and controversial Kerner Commission Report that identified “white racism” as the driver of “pervasive discrimination in employment and education” for African Americans, EPI concluded that not much has changed.
    The EPI study stated the obvious and pointed to glaring statistics.
    Regarding the justice system, the share of incarcerated African Americans has close to tripled between 1968 and 2016, as Blacks are 6.4 times more likely than Whites to be jailed or imprisoned. Homeownership rates have remained unchanged for African Americans, over the last 50 years. Black homeownership is about 40 percent, which is 30 percent behind the rate for Whites.
    Regarding income, perhaps the most important economic metric, the average income for an African American household was $39,490 in 2017, a decrease from $41,363 in 2000.
    A press release about the report said that, “Black workers still make only 82.5 cents on every dollar earned by white workers, African Americans are 2.5 times more likely to be in poverty than Whites, and the median White family has almost ten times as much wealth as the median Black family.”
    In 2017, the Black unemployment rate was 7.5 percent, up from 6.7 percent in 1968, and still roughly twice the White unemployment rate. In 2015, the Black homeownership rate was just over 40 percent, virtually unchanged since 1968 and trailing a full 30 points behind the White homeownership rate, which saw modest gains over the same period.
    President Trump has bragged about the Black unemployment rate has reached record lows and homeownership has reached record highs under his presidency. What Trump leaves out is the overall statistical data over many years.
    Much of what the data shows is connected to systemic policy problems that have been persistent for decades. In the press release about the EPI report, EPI economic analyst Janelle Jones said that it’s clear that structural racism is the root cause of the economic inequality between Blacks and Whites.
    “Solutions must be bold and to scale, which means we need structural change that eliminates the barriers that have stymied economic progress for generations of African American workers,” said Jones.
    Lauren Victoria Burke is a congressional correspondent for the NNPA Newswire. Lauren also works independently as a political analyst and communications strategist. You can reach Lauren by email at LBurke007@gmail.com and on Twitter at @LVBurke.

  • Newswire: The Black press honors Senator Kamala Harris with NNPA’s 2018 ‘Newsmaker of the Year Award’ during Black press week

    kamalaharris_official_web120.jpg
    Senator Kamala Harris (D CA)

    WASHINGTON, D.C.—(NNPANewswirePR)—The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) will honor Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) with the 2018 Newsmaker of the Year Award during the NNPA’s 2018 Black Press Week. The Newsmaker event will take place at the Rayburn House Office Building on Wednesday, March 14 at 7pm.
    “The Honorable Kamala Harris, the second African American woman and first South Asian American senator in U.S. history, is an outstanding choice for the NNPA’s 2018 Newsmaker of the Year Award,” said Dorothy Leavell, the chairman of the NNPA and publisher of the Crusader Newspapers in Chicago and Gary, Ind.
    The NNPA will also celebrate the senator’s efforts to raise wages for working people, reform the criminal justice system, and expand healthcare access for all Americans.
    “In all of my years of covering news in our community, Senator Harris has been one of the smartest, most fearless, steadfast and caring politicians that I have come to know,” said Amelia Ashley-Ward, the new NNPA Foundation chair and publisher of the San Francisco Sun-Reporter. “She has a lot to offer the world…we are so fortunate to have her advocating on our behalf.”
    The theme of this year’s Black Press Week is “Celebrating 191 Years of the Black Press of America: Publishing Truth to Empower.” Black publishers, media professionals, civil rights leaders and lawmakers from across the country attend the annual event, taking place March 14-16. On Friday, March 16, Democratic strategist and author Donna Brazile will deliver a keynote address on the state of the Black Press in America.
    “When John B. Russwurm and Samuel E. Cornish printed that first issue of Freedom’s Journal they sought to empower Black people to determine their own destiny and to define themselves,” said Leavell. “How iconic, that in 2018, our theme still rings true: ‘Publishing Truth to Empower.’”
    Black Press Week will also feature sessions on business development, education reform, and sickle cell disease. Outstanding leaders in the Black community will be honored during the Torch Awards Dinner.

    The Torch Award recipients are: Dr. Amos Brown, the pastor of the San Francisco Third Baptist Church; Rep. Barbara Jean Lee (D-Calif.); and James Farmer, a senior consultant for General Motors.
    Ken Barrett, the global chief diversity officer for General Motors, said that “Jim” Farmer dedicated his career to transforming the automotive industry through diversity and community service. “I am proud of the invaluable support Jim continues to provide GM and he is truly most deserving of this prestigious honor,” said Barrett.
    Chairman Leavell agreed. “The NNPA Foundation, under the leadership of Chairman Amelia Ward, the publisher of the Sun Reporter in San Francisco, Calif., has chosen some of the most outstanding leaders and trailblazers in the Black community to receive Torch Awards, this year,” said Leavell.
    The 2018 Black Press Week partners include the Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Reynolds American (RAI), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Pfizer, Inc. The 2018 Black Press Week sponsors include AARP, Amerihealth, Comcast, Koch Industries, Wells Fargo, AT&T, and Volkswagen.
    Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., the president and CEO of the NNPA, said that the NNPA and the NNPA Foundation have joined together to celebrate the 191-year anniversary of the Black Press in America. “This year, Black Press Week convenes at a time of profound opportunity and responsibility to ensure a record turnout for Black American voters in the upcoming midterm elections across the nation,” said Chavis. “The new strategic alliance between the NNPA and the NAACP bodes well to advance civil rights and the economic, political, and cultural empowerment of Black America.”

    ABOUT THE NNPA
    The National Newspaper Publishers Association represents more than 200 Black-owned media companies in the United States. The NNPA promotes the profession of journalism and the business of publishing, while celebrating the evolution of the Black Press in America.
     

  • Newswire: Bernard Simelton elected to NAACP National Board of Directors

    Bernard Simelton

    Bernard Simelton

    The Alabama State Conference of the NAACP is proud to announce that Benard Simelton who serves as President of the Alabama State Conference was elected to serve as a member of the National Board of Directors at their annual meeting in New York on February 17, 2018.
    Board member James Crowell who nominated Simelton, noted his work with the special senate election in Alabama, held on Dec 12th. Crowell also mentioned the dedication and tenacity during Simelton’s tenure as the Alabama State Conference NAACP president.
    After being sworn in as a National Board member, Mr. Simelton took his seat at the board meeting! “I am excited about moving forward in this new role as a National Board member and as I take the oath of office, I look forward to furthering the mission and goals of the NAACP,” said Benard Simelton.
    Simelton will also continue to serve as President of the Alabama State Conference.

  • Newswire: U. S. Secretary of State fired, cutting short long awaited Africa visit

    Tillerson with Chadian leader
      Secretary of State Tillerson meets with Chadian foreign minister

    Mar. 12, 2018 (GIN) – An extended visit to Africa this month by the U.S. Secretary of State to mend fences after the President’s crude description of African and Caribbean countries was cut short this week by the dismissal of the embattled Secretary Rex Tillerson.

    It was the first tour of the continent by the ex-Secretary who was the first high level U.S. representative to visit the continent since the President’s vulgar remarks. Tillerson has been replaced by the CIA director, Mike Pompeo.

    The President — who has long clashed will Tillerson— felt it was important to make the change now, as he prepares for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as well as upcoming trade negotiations, three White House officials said.

    “(The President’s) statements shocked almost all Africans,” Chadian Foreign Minister Mahamat Zene Cherif said at a press conference seated next to Tillerson, but added, “We made efforts on either side to move ahead and look at the future with optimism.”

    Quietly, however, Chadian President Idriss Déby made his anger known about his country being targeted in a Muslim travel ban despite close working relations between the two countries on anti-terrorism.

    Other planned activities that were called off included the laying of a wreath at the memorial to victims of the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, and a working luncheon with Kenyan leaders.

    A full day of meetings in Nigeria was reduced to a quick chat with President Muhammadu Buhari and his foreign minister before hopping a flight home.

    Among the responses to the State Department’s visit was a published piece by visiting professor of international relations at South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand, Joseph J. Stremlau, titled Three Reasons why Africa should treat the visit with scepticism.

    The Secretary was scheduled to visit just five of Africa’s 54 countries: Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria – the so-called “arc of instability,” noted Stremlau..

    “Evidently, counter terrorism is America’s main Africa concern,” he wrote. “If Trump and Tillerson were seriously interested in issues of trade, public health, and good governance, he would have at least included democratic South Africa on his agenda. Instead, Tillerson has prioritized repressive governments and ones under states of emergency.”

    Stremlau’s second reason for skepticism is that the US hasn’t shown much appetite for diplomatic engagement with Africa since Trump became president.

    “By contrast, the US military is already deeply engaged in the struggle against counter terrorism.”

    “Neither Trump or Tillerson has announced an overarching Africa policy. No assistant secretary for Africa has been named, important embassies, including in South Africa, lack ambassadors. This is in sharp contrast to the US’s active engagement on the military front,” he pointed out.

    “Finally, said Stremlau, “Tillerson has no credibility. He has been publicly criticized and even mocked by his commander-in-chief. Rumors persist that he will resign or be fired. And any claims that the government he represents means what it says is undermined by Trump’s own false or misleading statements.”

    Stremlau congratulated African leaders for setting a dignified precedent when Trump compared African countries to dirty toilets.

    Africans should also remind Tillerson of their appreciation of China’s increasing importance as their leading development partner, Stremlau urged.
    He added: “It’s worth recalling that since the 1990s, Congress has consistently supported expanding economic and political partnerships with Africa.

    “The reason for this is that congressmen have been pressed to do so by African-Americans as well as other sympathetic elements in America’s diverse civil society, business, and philanthropic sectors.

    “Networks such as these, as well as close ties at state and local government level that stretch throughout Africa may indeed be more important in the long run.”

  • Newswire : ‘Help Wanted’ at the White House as employment opportunities abound with nonstop resignations, firings

    Written By Bruce C.T. Wright, Newsone

    With all the bragging the president has done about how many people in the country have jobs, he may need to pay more attention closer to home as the White House resignation floodgates just can’t seem to stay shut.
    Yet another key White House insider was reportedly set to leave the Trump administration just hours after the president proudly proclaimed that he liked the “conflict” that has routinely led to the departure of dozens of others. The Tuesday afternoon announcement that Gary Cohn, the president’s top economic adviser, has apparently had enough of the madness followed the revelation that another Trump adviser had violated a rule surrounding Alabama’s special election, casting doubt on her future in the White House, too.
    The developments unfolded after the president hosted the Swedish prime minister in the White House and discussed the revolving door when it came to his staff.
    “It’s tough, I like conflict, I like having two people with different points of view – and I certainly have that – and then I make a decision,” Yahoo News reported the president said.
    Famous last words.
    Soon afterward, it was reported that White House senior counselor Kellyanne Conway has violated an election law known as the Hatch Act that says, according to CNN, “that with the exception of the president and the vice president, employees of the executive branch cannot engage in any sort of conduct or speech that might be construed as endorsing one party or one candidate over another.”

    She apparently crossed the line pushing the senate candidacy of accused pedophile Roy Moore.
    While the White House was licking those wounds with a steady stream of denials over the announcement by the Office of Special Counsel, Cohn was apparently plotting his escape over a disagreement – or, “conflict” – with the president’s plans to impose a controversial tax on steel and aluminum imports, according to the Associated Press.
    The White House has lost at least 32 key staffers either through firings or resignations. A full list of those people follow, according to MSNBC’s Kyle Griffin. Conway could make it 33, depending on the consequences for her alleged violation.