Baltimore in 'State of Emergency' by Hazel Trice Edney

April 28, 2015

Baltimore in 'State of Emergency'
Massive Fires and Looting after Funeral of Black Man Killed by Police

By Hazel Trice Edney

CNN aerial video of the Southern Baptist Church's high rise after being set afire Monday night.

Some protestors wore bullseyes on their backs representing police killings of Blacks. Photo: Hazel Trice Edney

Young man yell frustrations at police in riot gear. Photo: Hazel Trice Edney

BALTIMORE - (TriceEdneyWire.com) - Protests gave way to chaos, looting and burning this week as 25-year-old Freddie Gray was laid to rest on Monday. He died April 19, a week after receiving a severe spinal cord injury while in the custody of Baltimore police.

A state of emergency has been declared after hundreds of high school-aged students, joined and assisted by some adults, set fire to buildings and cars. At least 27 people were arrested and 15 police officers were injured. The partial construction of a high rise for senior citizens built by a local Black church was burned to the ground; a CVS was born and other store fronts were shattered, rocks and bottles were thrown at the police and apparently thousands of dollars in merchandise were taken from local stores.

Despite attempts of police, local pastors and peaceful protestors to stop the chaos, the looting and burning continued in the aftermath of yet another police killing of a Black man - a scourge that has plagued American cities for decades. The tragic and often unjustified police killings are now amplified by cell phone video tapes and the protests are being fueled through social media.

Thousands of additional law enforcement officers have been called in to help the Baltimore police. They include Maryland State Police and the National Guard.

“This is one of our darkest days as a city. And I know that we’re better than this,” said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who announced a 10 pm curfew starting Tuesday this week. Calling the looting group “thugs”, she announced that she had contacted Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan for help. He in turn declared the city of Baltimore in a “State of Emergency”. He also obtained permission from President Obama to request the assistance of the National Guard.

But, Rawlings-Blake has also vowed to get to the bottom of what happened to Gray April 12 when he was first running from the police; then was arrested and ultimately taken from a paddy wagon unable to walk or speak. He died seven days later. The only police admission so far is that they refused to get him timely medical attention and they failed to buckle him in to the paddy wagon.

New Attorney General Loretta Lynch issued her first statement after swearing in:

“I condemn the senseless acts of violence by some individuals in Baltimore that have resulted in harm to law enforcement officers, destruction of property and a shattering of the peace in the city of Baltimore. Those who commit violent actions, ostensibly in protest of the death of Freddie Gray, do a disservice to his family, to his loved ones, and to legitimate peaceful protestors who are working to improve their community for all its residents.”

Her statement continued, “The Department of Justice stands ready to provide any assistance that might be helpful. The Civil Rights Division and the FBI have an ongoing, independent criminal civil rights investigation into the tragic death of Mr. Gray. We will continue our careful and deliberate examination of the facts in the coming days and weeks.”

“I want you all to get justice for my son, but don’t tear up the whole city,”

But these actions came too late for the Rev. Donte’ Hickman, pastor of the Southern Baptist Church in East Baltimore. A high rise for senior citizens that his church was building was burned to the ground.

“I haven’t lost my focus. I haven’t lost my sense of resiliency, I haven’t lost my hope,” Hickman told reporters at the scene. “I’ve been a little heartbroken. My eyes have been filled with tears because someone didn’t understand that we exist in the community to help revitalize it.”

Dr. Jamal Bryant, pastor of Baltimore’s Empowerment Temple, joined by other pastors, repeatedly appealed for calm and against violence. However, he empathized with the peaceful protestors saying he believes all police officers must be retrained “on racial sensitivity and we’ve got to reevaluate how there is a shield around police officers, but no protection for citizens.”

One of the frustrations is how long it has taken to investigate the death of Gray. Because of a so-called Law Enforcement Bill of Rights, the Baltimore officers involved have up to 10 days before they can even be debriefed.

As of Tuesday morning, the looting and burnings had ended, but the anger is far from over.

The National Action Network’s Rev. Al Sharpton, on MSNBC, announced that he will be going to Baltimore at the request of local pastors and activists.

“One of the things I think we have to address is that if the objective is justice and changing the accountability of law enforcement; then we cannot do it in a violent way or becoming like what we’re fighting,” Sharpton said.

Reflecting on the Watts riot of 50 years ago, Sharpton said, “You’ve always had people that, out of frustration, act in a way that ends up adding more [problems] than it does solving the problems. And it usually is police incidents that bring this on. When people feel that they have no kind of way of redress with law enforcement, they explode. That is not to excuse it, that is not to rationalize it, but to acknowledge it.”

The uprisings followed a weekend of mostly peaceful protests after Gray died from what was reportedly an 80 percent severed spinal cord and a crushed larynx after he was arrested by police. It is still unclear why the police arrested Gray in the first place. They cite the fact that he ran as they approached him. They later found a small knife clipped to his pocket, but even the mayor said the knife was not an illegal size.

Protests began to grow tense and near a breaking point on Saturday night when police in riot gear blocked intersections to restrain marchers to particular areas to prevent the blocking of traffic. Some protestors, attempting to articulate their frustrations to police, appeared to become agitated when an officer told them they could not hear them while wearing their riot helmets.

What appeared lost in the midst of the uprising was the question of the status of those six police officers on paid leave while investigations continue in their arrest of Freddie Gray. The conclusion of the investigation, the final autopsy report on the cause of Gray’s death, and whether the officers involved in Gray’s death will be held accountable are the key questions that will determine the mood and movement of the community.

Lynch concluded: “As our investigative process continues, I strongly urge every member of the Baltimore community to adhere to the principles of nonviolence. In the days ahead, I intend to work with leaders throughout Baltimore to ensure that we can protect the security and civil rights of all residents. And I will bring the full resources of the Department of Justice to bear in protecting those under threat, investigating wrongdoing, and securing an end to violence.”

Meanwhile, Pastor Hickman, whose church was burned, says he sees beyond the destruction: “Now we’re are calling on resources to come back. To see this as an opportunity to revive East Baltimore and the city of Baltimore.”

Who Voted For, and Who Voted Against First Black Female Attorney General By James Wright

Editor's Note: Swearing in story will be posted tomorrow morning by 9 am.

April 27, 2015

Who VoteD For, and Who Voted Against First Black Female Attorney General

By James Wright

loretta lynch

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Afro American Newspaper

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Loretta Lynch, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, won confirmation as the next attorney general of the United States by a vote of 56-43.

All of the Senate Democrats were joined by the chamber’s two independents, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Angus King (I-Maine) in voting for Lynch along with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and his party members Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.).

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a 2016 presidential candidate, didn’t vote. South Carolina’s Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the chamber, voted against Lynch.

NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks applauded the Senate for its “historic confirmation” of Lynch. “She will serve as a relentless defender of the rights of all Americans,” Brooks said. “She will lead in situating the U.S. Department of Justice as our country’s enforcer of our civil rights, voting rights, employment rights, housing rights and human trafficking laws. Ms. Lynch will lead the U.S. Department of Justice, and the United States, with an integrity and strength that is sorely needed at this time.”

Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said that Lynch’s confirmation, which took a record 166 days, was an overtly political and flawed process. “Lynch faced this unprecedented obstruction not because of her fitness for office, but because her nomination was inappropriately used in a proxy war against President [Obama] and his allies,” Henderson said. “While we applaud those senators who chose to judge Lynch on her merits to be attorney general, congressional Republicans have a long way to go in proving that they can provide the necessary leadership to govern.”

The Congressional Black Caucus, Delta Sigma Theta and various civil and human rights organizations led the effort to get Lynch confirmed, urging their constituents and members to contact their senators to vote for her. The Lynch debate often took on politically partisan overtones, and Michael Tyler, spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, said that should not have been the case.

“Instead of working to ensure that our justice system serves its citizens to the best of its ability by swiftly confirming Lynch, Republicans chose to delay her confirmation for longer than any attorney general in over three decades for pure political purposes,” Tyler said. “Moving forward, Americans deserve leaders who will get things done for the American people, leaders like Loretta Lynch-not more of this obstructionist nonsense that we’ve seen from the likes of [Sen.] Marco Rubio, Rand Paul and Ted Cruz; all of whom voted against her confirmation.”

Cruz voted against sending Lynch’s nomination to the floor in a Feb. 28 Senate Judiciary Committee meeting.

Swearing in was set for Monday, April 27.

President Calls Loretta Lynch Confirmation Process ‘Embarrassing’ By Hazel Trice Edney

April 20, 2015

President Demands Vote on Loretta Lynch, Calls Process ‘Embarrassing’
Vote Expected As Early as This Week

By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com)- President Barack Obama has called the Republican block of his attorney general candidate Loretta Lynch ‘embarrassing’ and demanded that Senate Republicans bring it to an end.

The Senate was expected to finally vote on Lynch’s nomination this week. But not before President Obama lambasted the political body on Thursday, April 17.

“Enough. Enough. Call Loretta Lynch for a vote. Get her confirmed. Put her in place. Let her do her job. This is embarrassing, a process like this,” said Obama, briefly responding to a question during his joint press conference with Prime Minister Renzi of Italy.

Though he said he’d seen “some outbreaks of bipartisanship and common sense in Congress over the last couple of weeks,” the Loretta Lynch issue appeared at a stalemate despite her qualifications.

“What we still have is this crazy situation where a woman who everybody agrees is qualified, who has gone after terrorists, who has worked with police officers to get gangs off the streets, who is trusted by the civil rights community and by police unions as being somebody who is fair and effective and a good manager -- nobody suggests otherwise -- who has been confirmed twice before by the United States Senate for one of the biggest law enforcement jobs in the country, has been now sitting there longer than the previous seven Attorney General nominees combined,” Obama railed. “And there’s no reason for it. Nobody can describe a reason for it beyond political gamesmanship in the Senate on an issue completely unrelated to her.”

Republicans have held up vote on the nomination more than three months while trying to force Democrats to compromise on language in a bill pertaining to immigration.

Obama, himself a former U. S. senator, knows how politics work.

But, “I have to say that there are times where the dysfunction in the Senate just goes too far. This is an example of it. It’s gone too far,” he said.

Lynch would succeed Attorney General Eric Holder, who wants to leave, but has remained in the office while awaiting Lynch’s confirmation. The attorney general is a cabinet position in the Department of Justice, which serves as America’s top law enforcer.

Obama did not mention the issue of race as being a factor. But, some activists and members of Congress point to a correlation between the fact that Lynch would be the nation’s first Black woman attorney general and the fact that it has taken her confirmation longer than any attorney general nomination since the Reagan Administration.

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) joining persistent protests with members of the Black Women’s Roundtable, was clear on the part race plays.

"This is a group of women representing thousands of women, thousands of African-Americans, who are appalled and outraged that Loretta Lynch, a qualified African-American woman, who's been confirmed twice by the Senate, hasn't even gotten a date [for a vote] and it's been five weeks since she was confirmed out of the Judiciary Committee," said Jackson Lee. "We can't think anything other than she has been discriminated against."

NYT Report: 1.5 Million Black Men Missing from American Society

April 27, 2015

NYT Report: 1.5 Million Black Men Missing from American Society

More than 1 million African-American men are missing from daily American life.

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from NorthStarNewsToday.com

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - There are 1.5 million African-American men between the ages of 24 and 54, the critical earnings age range, missing daily from American life because of mass incarceration, higher death rates and overseas military deployment, according to a report released by The New York Times.

The study, headlined “1.5 million Black Men, Missing From Daily Life,” notes, however, the gender gap doesn’t exist in childhood: “There are roughly as many African-American boys as girls, but the imbalance begins to appear among teenagers and continues to widen through the 20s and peaks in the 30s. It persists through adulthood.”

The report, on the front page of Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times, indicates that higher imprisonment rates account for the loss of almost 600,000 black men, which is the equivalent to 1 in 12 black men being locked up compared to 1 in every 60 nonblack men behind bars.

There is also a higher mortality rate among black men, leading to 900,000 fewer prime-age Black men than women.

Homicide plays a significant role. It reportedly is the leading cause of death for young Black men. They also die from heart disease and accidents more often than other demographic groups, the report stated.

The newspaper published the study a few weeks after Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, reported that most college-educated Black women will never marry.

The studies follow a period in the 1980s and 1990s when some Black women claimed they never wanted to marry. That attitude has changed as some have gotten older.

The largest proportions of missing Black men is in the South, parts of the Midwest and in East Coast cities. The smallest proportions are in the West.

In New York, there are 118, 000 fewer black men, in Chicago, there are 45,000 fewer men and in Philadelphia, there are 36,000 fewer men, according to the NYT.

The Times began looking at this issue following last year’s deadly shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. The St. Louis suburb has become a laboratory showing how police, prosecutorial and judicial racism affect Black men. In Ferguson, there are 60 men for every 100 black women, the report found.

The study, however, doesn’t address the issue of triage, which is pervasive in the black community. Women who are heads of home push out their teenage sons to make it on their own while at the same time, raising their daughters by keeping them at home, making sure they see physicians, finish school and get jobs.

That’s what happened to Calvin McCloud, who grew up in Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighborhood on the city’s near North Side. His mother kicked him out of the house at 19 over a rent dispute.

McCloud, who suffered a heart attack when he was five and who was a disability recipient, was homeless for four months and went without eating for 22 days at one point.

In desperation, he would go to his mother’s house when she wasn’t home and begged his younger sister, who still lived home, to give him cans of food to take with him so he could eat.

It is not known how much these parental practices exacerbate the disappearance of black men, but licensed mental health practitioners know this familial phenomenon exists though it may not have been formally studied in those exact terms.

The Daily Mail, a London newspaper, published a report in 2009 that found that boys who are abandoned by their parents join street gangs so they have some sort of a family and protection. Street gangs, however, can be dangerous as many members are hunted by rival gangs and by the police and are beaten, shot and murdered.

There is, however, a bright note. Since the 1990s, death rates among black men have dropped more than rates for other groups for both homicide and HIV-related deaths. Yet the prison population continues to soar as does the unemployment rate for Black men 20 years old and older.

There are more missing men in the U.S. then there are African-American men living in New York City — or Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Detroit, Houston, Washington, D.C., and Boston combined, the report said.

Reparations Activists Ready for New Phase in Long Struggle By Linn Washington Jr.

April 20, 2015

Reparations Activists Ready for New Phase in Long Struggle
By Linn Washington Jr.

jacksonandmirellephoto

Rev. Jesse Jackson and Mirelle Fanon-Mendes-France, Frantz Fanon’s daughter,
spoke at the National/International Reparations Conference last week in New York.
PHOTO: Linn Washington, Jr.

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from NorthStarNewsToday.com

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Racism is a topic that usually divides black and white Americans. However, iconic civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson said there is one contentious race-mired issue where blacks and whites seemingly share a similar posture.

“Blacks and whites have one thing in common. They will not discuss reparations,” Jackson said, defining reparations for slavery and post-slavery institutional racism as “repair for damage done.”

This common aversion among blacks and whites to address reparations comes from “different reasons” Jackson noted.

“On the topic of reparations, whites are in denial and blacks think reparations cannot be attained.”

Rev. Jackson offered his assessment of America’s reparations-denial-dynamic during his keynote address at the opening session of the International Reparations Summit held recently in New York City. Participants for that three-day conference came from three continents. The Institute of the Black World 21st Century, a research, policy and advocacy organization based in the United States convened the Summit.

Dr. Ron Daniels, President of the Institute, stated, “We are delighted that the Institute of the Black World can be a clearinghouse for ideas and strategies on how to pursue reparations for historical crimes and injustices against people of African descent in the U.S. and across the Americas.”

One participant at that Summit was Mirelle Fanon-Mendes-France, the daughter of the legendary intellectual-activist-author Franz Fanon. She is president of the Franz Fanon Foundation. The writings of Franz Fanon have provided inspiration for legions of reparations advocates.

“Apologies cannot compensate for the injustices of slavery and colonialism. The time is now for concerted progress on economic and political compensation,” the internationally respected human rights activist Fanon-Mendes-France said during her remarks at the opening session of the Summit.

An action in 2013 reenergized reparations activities already operative in the U.S., throughout the Americas, in Africa and in Europe. That year CARICOM, the organization of Caribbean nations, announced its plans to mount actions against former European colonial countries for the slave trade, colonialism and genocide against indigenous peoples. CARICOM’s announcement was the first time that a collection of countries formally agreed to mount coordinated action for reparations.

“We have a just cause. And we have a duty to right the wrongs done during the slave trade, slavery and colonialism,” CARICOM representative Dr. Douglas Slater said during the opening session of the Summit. “Today, racism continues to impede development of African peoples all over the world.”

The Summit featured a special event honoring U.S. Congressman John Conyers (D., Mich.) who, in January 1989, introduced a measure in Congress to establish a national commission to study the issue of reparations in the United States. However, Congressional leaders — Republicans and Democrats — have persistently refused even to allow a vote on Conyers’ measure that would simply study the issue of reparations, not directly allocate monetary or other compensation.

The historic Mother AME Zion Church in Harlem hosted the opening session of the Reparations Summit. Members of that church, founded in 1796, have included the legendary Paul Robeson, a supporter of reparations.

Efforts by African-Americans to obtain some form of reparations for slavery began in the mid-1800s, initially with demands for land for the freed slaves as compensation for their unpaid labor.

Members of the recently established National African American Reparations Commission participated in the Summit. That African American Commission is composed of 15 people who are respected academic, community, labor, legal and religious leaders.

Members of that Reparations Commission will expand existing strategies within the U.S. and coordinate with CARICOM and the European Reparations Commission on activities.

CARICOM Reparations Commission chair, Sir Hilary Beckles, said, “One purpose of the reparatory moment is to rebuild the inner-core of humanity” during his keynote speech at the Summit’s closing session.

“This movement is about cleansing the world of the toxic effects of slavery that continue into our time,” Beckles said. “Plantation overseers have become policemen. There is a transfer of that plantation mentality into police precincts.”

Beckles, the in-coming President of The University of the West Indies, declared that the efforts for reparations from slavery, colonialism and institutional racism “is not a movement” for Blacks only.

Beckles is the author of “Britain’s Black Debt: Reparations for the Caribbean Slavery and Native Genocide,” which is considered a blueprint for the reparations movement.

“We did not commit this crime. Those that committed the crime must ‘uncrime’ it,” Beckles said, lightheartedly asking the audience to forgive his new twist on the word crime.