manningmarable
(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Manning Marable, a scholar, writer, lecturer, and civil rights activist who founded the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University, died April 1 at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City after a long illness. He was 60.
A native of Dayton, Ohio, Marable earned his undergraduate degree at Earlham College in 1971, followed by a master's degree in American history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Maryland.
Dr. Marable taught at Cornell University, Fisk University, Colgate University, Ohio State University and the University of Colorado before coming to Columbia. Additionally, Dr. Marable for many years has been a columnist widely published in Black newspapers throughout the country.
Dr. Marable, who just-completed a biography of Malcolm X that was set for release April 4, wrote, lectured and was involved extensively in public affairs, largely about—but not limited to--African Americans.
“Dr. Marable's contributions to the struggle for freedom of African Americans will never be forgotten,” said NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. “Dr. Marable brought one of the keenest intellects of our age to the contemporary conversation on race in America. As an academic he was never afraid to speak his mind, and as an activist his words carried the gravitas of a published author. His life was dedicated to the struggle, and he will be sorely missed.”
Dr. Marable, a self-described adherent supporter of Marxism, had devoted 10 years to the Malcolm X project.
He is survived by his wife, Leith Mullings, two stepchildren and three grandchildren. A memorial service is tentatively sent for May 27.
Is There Really a Deficit Crisis?
By Julianne Malveaux
TEWire) - In the wake of the State of the Union Address there is likely to be much partisan conversation about the direction of our nation. President Obama will address the economy and jobs, and Republicans will talk about the health of the economy, and about cutting budgets in their rebuttal. Citing growing deficits, both parties are concerned that spending is out of control. Yet some spending is absolutely needed to create jobs, just as $700 billion of spending was needed to bail out banks. It intrigues me that the same folk who eagerly bailed banks out have not suddenly discovered the concept of budget cuts and are pushing them, even as they have added to the deficit by insisting on extending Bush tax cuts.
President Obama has furthered the notion that there is a budget crisis by appointing Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson to make suggestions to manage the federal budget deficit. The Bowles/Simpson commission would trim about $4trillion from the federal budget in the next decade by increasing the Social Security retirement age, freezing federal pay, leveling Pentagon spending, and making other cost-cutting suggestions. There were 18 people on the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, and 14 had to approve the suggestions for them to be accepted, but only 11 went along with some of the draconian plans that were announced, so the suggestions are only suggestions.
It is important to raise questions about the nature of the deficit crisis. Is this a cyclical crisis, connected to the economic downturn? Is it more structural, something that would have occurred with our without the downturn? How should it be managed, and will there be equal pain around curtailing the deficit, or will only one or two sectors pay for the challenges the deficit creates.
For example, there has been talk of raising the social security retirement age for years, and always we have looked at an across the board age increase, whether workers are high income or low, whether they have pensions or not, whether their work is physical or not. It’s entirely different to ask a professor to work until 70 than it is to ask a waitress to do so, but these plans increase the social security retirement age do not seem to take these things into consideration, thus continuing a class based economic inequality that also creates racial inequality. Is this our goal? To widen gaps instead of narrowing them? Increasing the social security retirement age indiscriminately will do this.
Similarly, the attack on federal employees is an attack that has a differential impact by race and gender. Women and people of color are both more likely to be employed by the federal government, but also more likely to get more equal pay in the public sector than in the private sector. United for a Fair Economy released their annual State of the Dream report last week. Entitled, Austerity for Whom, the report explores the ways that so-called budget cutting measures actually hit women and people of color more severely.
White women earn 82 cents for every dollar white men earn in the public sector, compared to 71 cents in the private sector. Black men earn 80 cents to the white male dollar in the public sector, but a scant 57 cents for every dollar in the private sector. Black women earn 73 cents to the white male dollar in the public sector, but 56 cents in the private sector. Latino men earn 86 cents to the white male dollar in the public sector but just 48 cents to the dollar, while Latina women earn 71 cents to the dollar in the public sector, but just 46 to the white male dollar in the private sector.
The solution may not be to maintain a large public workforce, but any solution will include an awareness of these differences and, perhaps, a strong Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to enforce anti-discrimination laws. Who wants to bet that the EEOC will be another of the budget cutting casualties? In an anti-regulatory climate, the combination of federal employment cuts, and an indifference to enforcement of anti-discrimination laws is designed to increase the racial unemployment gap.
It makes sense that the deficit should rise during an employment crisis. While we should be careful with our resources, we should certainly not budget and employment significantly in a recession. The so-called deficit crisis could be a more complex crisis if we don’t put people back to work, no matter what it costs.
Dr. Julianne Malveaux is President of Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, NC . Here latest book, surviving and thriving: 365 Facts in Black Economic History can be ordered at www.lastwordprod.com.
Urban Radio 2000
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2012 Election Begins: Legislative Initiatives Target Vulnerable Voters
by Barbara R. Arnwine
(TriceEdneyWire.com) - With the 2012 election less than two years away, voter suppression efforts are already in high gear across the nation. There is a persistent and well-coordinated effort in state legislatures to deter certain voters from access to the ballot.
These voters are viewed as liberal voters who some assume would vote adverse to the mainstream political agenda. Extreme measures are being taken to prevent certain populations from voting while Americans are distracted by natural disasters, wars and a dismal economy. The right to vote is fundamental to our democracy and is under great attack.
This “campaign” takes several forms, including voter identification and proof of citizenship laws, voter intimidation and suppression and “election integrity” squads who challenge voters at the polls. In addition to state legislative attacks, there are also attacks in the courts to challenges the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. These efforts, not only threaten to further prevent certain eligible Americans from voting, but distract from the proactive reforms needed to fix inefficient, unequal and outdated election administration practices. What we need is a modern accessible system of elections.
Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, a vital provision in advancing equal access to the ballot box is being threatened. The U.S. Supreme Court recently signaled that the provision – preventing jurisdictions with the worst histories of voting discrimination from making election changes without federal approval – may no longer be needed. At present, two additional challenges to the constitutionality of Section 5 are before the courts.
Impact on Low-Income, Minority, Elderly and Student Voters
Identification requirements imposed by many states are particularly burdensome on minority and low-income voters. Time and resources needed as well as lack of easy access to a certified birth certificate and other forms of ID documentation pose significant challenges. A 2006 nationwide study of voting-age citizens found that 78 percent of African-American males aged 18 to 24 lacked a valid driver’s license and 24 percent of Black households are without automobiles, compared to 7 percent of White households.
In Ohio, proposed requirements in House Bill 159 would mandate that voters present government-issued Identification at polling places. This serves as an example that would disenfranchise eligible voters –especially elderly, minority, youth and low-income populations. Consistently, studies estimate that more than 20 million individuals lack a government-issued photo ID.
In addition, Photo ID laws disproportionately affect those who are least able to afford it. The aforementioned 2006 survey concluded that voting-age citizens earning less than $35,000 in annual income were more than twice as likely to lack a government-issued ID as those earning more than $35,000. Although HB 159 has a provision which allows Ohioans to obtain a free ID, the steps in acquiring one are stricter than those afforded by Georgia and Indiana (the only other states currently requiring government-issued photo IDs).
In Colorado, HB 1252 would allow the secretary of state to check the statewide voter database to determine whether registered voters are in fact citizens. The unreliable system could affect 11,000 people who were not U.S. citizens at the time they obtained a driver's license, but may have later become citizens.
Students are increasingly targets of voter suppression laws. Recently, in New Hampshire the legislature thankfully failed to pass restrictions on student voting. The bill died after a YouTube video surfaced showing the state’s Republican House speaker stating that he wanted to target “foolish” college students who vote liberal because “they don’t have life experience and they just vote their feelings.”
Persons with Felony Convictions
A vestige of Jim Crow, felony disenfranchisement, looms. For example, Florida Governor Rick Scott and other officials voted to change the rules of the Florida Clemency Board, revising four-year-old state rules that made it easier for ex-offenders to reclaim the right to vote. Non-violent offenders must wait a period of five years after the completion of their sentence to “apply” for the civil rights restoration.
What You Can Do
Ø SSpeak Out - Let your elected representatives, the media and Lawyers’ Committee (1-888-299-5227) know how these laws and practices would affect you.
Ø EEducate Yourself - To learn more, visit www.866OURVOTE.org.
Ø UUse Election Protection as Resource - Keep the Election Protection Hotline number handy as you prepare to vote for the 2012 election, 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683).
Bar Barbara Arnwine is executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
Protesters Take to the Streets in the Reginald Bailey Case
Photo: Roy Lewis/Trice Edney News Wire
Rev. Anthony Evans, president of the National Black Church Initiative, leads a March 23 protest, pressing the Cerberus Capital Management Company to hear the case of Reginald Bailey, who lost his company, Worldwide Network Solutions, due to race discrimination by DynCorp, a company that Cerberus has acquired.
Protesters from the National Black Church Initiative, led by the Rev. Anthony Evans, prays before picketing the Cerberus Capital Management headquarters in New York late last month. Cerberus owns DynCorp, the company found guilty of race discrimination that financially destroyed a Black-owned telecommunications firm – Worldwide Network
Solutions (WWNS). WWNS’ owner, Reginald Bailey, an HBCU grad pictured in the black trench coat and necktie, says he has requested meetings with the company’s principals to discuss amicable solutions. Cerberus lawyer Mark Neporent has, in a letter, declined a meeting, arguing that the business relationship between DynCorp and WWNS ended years before Cerberus acquired DynCorp. Evans says the protests will continue.
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The State of Black America: Washington Are you Listening?
By Marc H. Morial
TriceEdneyWire.com) - “Welcome to America in the second decade of the 21st century. An army of long-term unemployed workers is spread across the land, the human fallout from the Great Recession and long years of misguided economic policies.” From Bob Herbert’s final column for the New York Times
Last week, the nation’s leading historic civil rights organization, the National Urban League, came together with the nation’s leading historic Black university, Howard University, to hold the first ever State of Black America town hall meeting focusing on the jobs crisis in urban America. The Town Hall, hosted by Howard President, Sidney Ribeau, culminated two days of meetings with Congressmen and Senators on Capitol Hill where Urban Leaguers from across the country made the case: There can be no complete economic recovery as long as already too high unemployment for African Americans continues to go up even as the overall unemployment rate gradually ticks down.
Yes, we were pleased to learn last week that the unemployment rate has fallen to 8.8 percent, the lowest level in two years. And we applaud the actions by the Obama Administration – the Stimulus bill, Health Care Reform and Bank Reform – that have kept the mighty titanic of the American economy from sinking to the bottom of the sea. But this is no time for a victory party. As the National Urban League’s 2011 Equality Index reveals, there remain large and widening gaps between the status of African Americans and whites in this country, particularly in the areas of economics and children’s health. For Hispanics there are big gaps too, especially in the area of college enrollment. And with Black unemployment now at 15.5 percent and Hispanic unemployment at 11.3 percent, clearly, it is time to declare war on inequality and unemployment in urban communities of color.
As we stated at the Town Hall, we must not let other major concerns, including war and partisan fights about deficit reduction, distract us from the number one issue facing the American people – jobs, jobs, jobs. The National Urban League’s nearly 100 affiliates across the country haven’t lost that focus. We remain economic first responders for millions of Americans desperately seeking to rebuild their lives, families and communities in the wake of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. We highlighted three outstanding examples at our Town Hall.
Lonnie Grayson, President of Environmental & Safety Solutions, Inc. has been able to win new contracts and double his workforce with the help of the Entrepreneurship Center of the Urban League of Cincinnati. The Urban League of Philadelphia helped David Simms, owner of Eatible Delights Catering, develop new branding and marketing tools that have boosted his business. And Donna Hodge Harper of Newark, an unemployed casualty of the great recession, said that were it not for the job training and job placement assistance she received from the Urban League of Essex County, she doesn’t know where she would be today.
Lonnie, David and Donna show us how to dig urban America out of the great recession: Training for 21st century jobs. Putting investments in people over the politics of deficit reduction. Summer jobs for teens. All of these solutions are part of the National Urban League’s 12-points jobs plan. Washington, are you listening?
To view the town hall webcast and find out how you can obtain a copy of the 2011 State of Black America Report log on to www.nul.org
Marc Morial is president/CEO of the National Urban League.
Testimony Unfolds at Trial of Alleged Killers of Black Newspaper Editor
(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The confessed killer of Oakland newspaper editor Chauncey Bailey testified March 24 against two other men implicated in the case, one of whom he claimed was the mastermind behind the murder.
Devaughndre Broussard, 24, pleaded guilty to killing the journalist in exchange for 25 years in prison and his testimony against Yusuf Bey IV and Antoine Mackey, both 25.
Bey is the former leader of the controversial Your Black Muslim Bakery in which Broussard was a janitor.
In Alameda County Superior Court March 24, Broussard detailed how he was recruited to work for the bakery after his release from jail on unrelated charges in 2006. Once employed, he said the shop’s workers referred to themselves as “soldiers” ready to “take action” on behalf of the Black community, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.
He testified that, soon after joining the bakery, Bey ordered him and other workers to shoot bullets at an unoccupied car that belonged to a foe of Bey’s.
“I fired it until it [his weapon] was empty, five or six times,” Broussard said, according to The San Jose Mercury News. After shooting the car, Broussard said he approached Bey about the incident, who responded, “We got to stick up for our brothers and sisters--that's what unity is.”
Prosecutor Melissa Krum told reporters that the tale demonstrates how Bey commanded his employees to commit crimes.
Broussard’s testimony is expected to span several days, and defense attorneys for Bey and Mackey have vowed to aggressively cross-examine Broussard.
“I don’t think he’s going to be found credible,” defense lawyer Gene Peretti told the Mercury News. She noted that Broussard has consistently recanted testimonies in the past. “He is a liar, that’s my opinion-- he is an admitted liar.”
If convicted, Bey and Mackey face life in prison without the possibility of parole for their roles in Bailey’s death and the unrelated murders of Michael Willis and Odell Roberson. They both pleaded not guilty.
Although Broussard did not detail Bailey’s murder during his first day of testimony, he has admitted to shooting the Oakland Post editor three times, as Bailey walked to his office in downtown Oakland in August 2007.
Broussard has alleged that Bey ordered him to murder Bailey, 57, because the journalist had been working on a story about the bakery’s criminal history and financial woes, according to the Chronicle.
The murder prompted a group of California-area journalists to launch the Chauncey Bailey Project, an effort to continue the veteran editor’s work and help crack the case in his unsolved killing.
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