Feb. 10, 2013

President, First Lady Focused on Street Violence This Week
By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle, for the first time in the Obama Administration, has now targeted street violence as part of the President’s political focus.

The President was scheduled to head for his home town of Chicago on Friday where, in less than 40 days, more than 40 people - 42 as of Monday this week - have been homicide victims this year. His visit comes on the heels of First Lady Michelle Obama’s who attended Saturday’s funeral of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, a majorette, who performed in the Obama’s Inaugural Parade Jan. 21. White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and Education Secretary Arne Duncan were also slated to attend the Pendleton funeral at Greater Deliverance Temple Church of Christ.

The First Lady did not speak publically, but reportedly comforted Pendleton's family friends privately with the words, “Hang on” and “Stay strong”. The President reportedly sent a letter to Hadiya’s immediate family, promising to work hard to "end this senseless violence."

In Chicago, he is slated to speak about the issue of gun violence in that city and across the nation, a topic that was also strongly included in his preparations for the Station of the Union Address on Tuesday this week. Pendleton’s mother, Cleopatra Cowley, was also expected to attend the President’s State of the Union Address as a guest of honor.

President Obama has advanced new proposals for dealing with gun violence in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre of 20 first grade children in Newtown, Conn. Dec. 14. Those proposals include universal background checks as well as bans on high-capacity ammunition magazines as well as military-style assault weapons similar to those used at Sandy Hook, the movie theatre shooting that killed 12 people and injured 58 in Aurora, Colo. on July 12 last year among other mass shootings in recent years.

The President is also scheduled to visit Asheville, N.C. and Atlanta, Ga. this week on his tour on gun violence. This is the first time the President has directly spoken to and legislatively targeted street violence, which are usually the result of hand guns.

Hundreds of thousands of Black men and women have been killed by gun fire in cities across the U. S. over the past four decades since the Federal Bureau of Investigation began charting gun violence by race in the mid-1970s. Such shootings are often marked by a code of silence afterward during which even eye witnesses refuse to come forward because of fear of retribution.

Chicago police have reportedly spoken to “persons of interest” in the Pendleton homicide, but had made no arrest as of Monday this week, nearly two weeks after the killing Jan. 29. A gunman is said to have opened fire on a group of young people, killing the majorette as they gathered in a public park only blocks from the Obamas’ home. The youth were under a shelter, shielding themselves from rain when they came under fire. The shooting is said to be gang-related and that she was not an intended victim.

An anti-gang advocate in her own rite, Hadiya Pendleton, is still posted on a YouTube video she made in the Sixth Grade, telling friends: “It is your job as students to say no to gangs and yes to a great future.”

Obama, Democrats Defend Voting Rights
Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Richmond Free Press

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - There’s a new battle looming between Republicans and Democrats at the U.S. Capitol, and this one doesn’t have to do with guns, immigration or debt reduction — it’s about voting rights.

President Obama and Democratic leaders want to make voting easier for Americans as several recent studies suggest long lines at polling places and onerous voter registration procedures cost the Democrats hundreds of thousands of votes in November— particularly among African-Americans and Hispanics.

The president has been signaling his intentions since election night, when he made mention of the long queues to vote and intoned: “We have to fix that.” He reiterated that sentiment in his second inaugural address two weeks ago.

“Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote,” said President Obama, a one-time community organizer who once helped register impoverished Chicago voters.

The president’s State of the Union address this week was expected to address the issue. Congressional Democrats are behind him. They’ve already submitted bills that would require states to provide online voter registration and provide for at least 15 days of early voting. Those bills aren’t likely to pass, however, given Republicans control the House of Representatives.

Nonetheless, several states are currently considering expanding early voting, including the critical battlegrounds of Virginia, Ohio and Florida. The Sunshine State was particularly plagued with problems on Nov. 6, when some voters in minority neighborhoods waited as long as six hours to cast their ballots.

Voting rights are in the national spotlight just as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear a challenge to the 1965 Voting Rights Act, legislation that was passed at the height of the Civil Rights Movement to prevent African-Americans from being denied the right to vote in the South. Civil liberties watchdogs point out those changes often include stricter voter ID requirements that can serve to disenfranchise minorities and the poor — many of them Democratic voters.

The Voting Rights Act requirement, known as Section 5, applies to Virginia and all or part of 16 states that have a history of civil rights abuses at the ballot box. A number of civil rights groups will be at the Supreme Court on Feb. 27 to argue against Shelby County’s arguments.

Many on the far right of the Republican Party are dead set against any efforts to modernize voter registration. At a recent Heritage Foundation panel in Washington, moderator Hans von Spakovsky decried calls by some voting rights advocates to implement universal voter registration, saying it will invite “fraud” and permit non-citizens to vote.

Despite Republican claims to the contrary, there’s scant evidence that voter fraud is a chronic problem in the United States, although Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach told the panel that “aliens” stealing votes and invading voter lists was a pervasive, genuine problem. Republicans also have been griping in recent weeks about the electoral college, the controversial institution that officially elects the president and the vice president every four years.

When voters go to the polls on Election Day in the U.S., they choose which candidate receives their state’s “electors,” and the electors then select the president and his No. 2. The electoral college has occasionally permitted a candidate who received fewer popular votes to win the election, most recently George W. Bush in 2000. Nonetheless, 13 years and two crushing electoral defeats later, some Republicans apparently have had enough of the current day electoral college.

Republican proposals in states that include Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania would see electoral college votes assigned based on the winners of congressional districts, a setup that benefits Republicans. If the system had been in place in Virginia in November, for example, Republican Mitt Romney would have won nine of 13 electoral votes, even while losing the state by 150,000 votes.

Reince Preibus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, threw his support behind those proposals recently, even though Virginia Republicans killed the Electoral College change last week.

The Associated Press contributed heavily to this article.

Feb. 10, 2013

For Many, Black History Not Enough from Obama Administration
By Jacquelyn Williams and Bianca Brown

Pastor Byron Craig of Norristown, Pa., hopes street violence will also be dealt with during the second four years of the Obama Administration. America's gun problem is one of a litany of issues that people across the nation want fixed.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – As millions prepared to watch President Obama's State of the Union Address on Tuesday, interviews in recent weeks reveal that the historical significance of the first Black President has given way to a string of high expectations.

“The thrill is gone,” said 32-year-old postal worker Keith Reid of Landover, Md. “We need to move away from our fixation on the history President Obama made by becoming our first Black president and focus more on his execution of the platform he ran on.”

Expectations have risen for President Obama as he enters his second term in office, with many supporters seeking solutions to unresolved issues. This week’s State of the Union Address was expected to lay out President Obama’s economic plan. But supporters and critics alike are looking for significant change as the unemployment statistics of his most loyal constituents - African-Americans - remain in double digits.

“President Obama has done a lot for the economy but I think he needs to focus more on struggling communities that were suffering long before and well after the recession,” said 27-year-old banker Stacy Warner of Los Angeles.

Anticipation is especially high because many political observers argued that the President was limited in his first term for fear of losing his re-election bid.

“He’s done a phenomenal job so far, but now that he does not have to worry about getting [re-elected], I want him to be a little tougher on issues that he feels strongly about, like automatic gun restrictions,” said 24-year-old fourth grade teacher Josephine Brown of Palo Alto, Calif.

The gun control issue has landed squarely in the laps of the White House and Congress since the Dec. 17 mass killings of 20 first graders at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The debate now rages between some, like Brown, who want major gun restrictions and others who want more controls on the people who are allowed to buy them.

Either strategy raises a question about how to end gun violence that has raged in inner city neighborhoods for decades.

“I’m hoping to see him reduce the number of assault weapons available on the streets,” said Pastor Byron Craig of Macedonia Baptist Church in Norristown, Pa.

Some civil rights leaders, including Marc Morial, president/CEO of the National Urban League, say fighting gun violence alone won’t help city streets. Like Morial, many believe the socio-economic atmosphere of poor communities must also be strengthened along with any form of gun control - including, jobs, housing and education.

“I would really love to see Barack Obama focus on education reform,” said Ndidi Obasi, a sophomore in media studies and production at Temple University in Philadelphia. “He often speaks about working hard to make sure that our children have a better future, but that future starts now in the classroom. It's insane to think that in 2013 our zip codes still determine whether or not we get a good education.”

The second inauguration of President Obama was filled with references to the historic anniversaries in 2013, including the 150^th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 50^th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington. But, there was no direct reference to the modern day racial disparities endured by African-Americans.

This was a disappointment to some. “By no means is the President weak. But there’s time when the bulldog in you needs to come out in order for things to get done especially when dealing with those who aspire to hold you back,” expressed 81-year-old Korean War veteran Wendell Merritt.

There are other issues that are not as prominent as race, gun violence and education. But they are equally important, points out Norristown, Pa. resident, James Brown.

“I would like to see President Obama do something about the environment,” says Brown. “If we keep digging it up and poisoning the earth, the soil won’t be able to produce crops and I want to stop breathing polluted air.”

At the beginning of President Obama’s first term he pushed one of the hardest hitting attacks on air pollution in US history using his executive powers. This legislation would have brought carbon dioxide limits to power plants, imposed new fuel efficiency laws for cars and put billions of dollars into clean energy projects. But, in 2012 the Republican controlled House of Representatives passed the “Stop the War on Coal Act”, affectively reversing President Obama’s efforts.

Randall Dottin, a New York film maker, says he “would like to see him work on energy again.” But Dottin’s reason has little to do with air pollution.

“Coming up with ways to harness the new opportunities for energy will create jobs, which I think is obviously incredibly important to the economy,” he said.

That is the recurring issue, an economy that has left many with a feeling of hopelessness that they least expected under a Black president.

“All I want is for Obama to be a little more vocal,” explained Judy Butler, a retired 64-year-old of Washington, D.C. “He has to speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves.”

Though the nation is led by the President, the First Lady also plays a major roll in the White House. Dorothy Wilson, a retired resident of Prince George’s County, Md., is First Lady Michelle Obama's next move.

“I’m excited to see what Michelle Obama has in store this term also. She did a good job at creating awareness to obesity and supporting the troops,” Wilson said.

Vietnam War veteran Michael Lyes also applauded the First Lady’s support of the troops and is also comforted by the President’s promise to bring home the troops from Afghanistan.

“I almost jumped for joy when Obama talked about ending war. It is something so traumatizing to be put in the front line of war, it’s time to come home,” said Lyes, who was tearful after explaining his war experience.

In a nation overrun with controversial issues, all of which appear to be priorities, there are some who simply want to see the President succeed in being a good family man.

“Even though I don’t agree with many of his policies, I do think he is a good father and a good person,” said Shannon Gibson. “I would like to see him continue his devotion to his family in his second term.”

Writer Mignon Hemsley contributed to this article.

Feb. 10, 2013

Congressional Black Caucus Outlines Agenda for 113th Congress
By Zenitha Prince

The 43-member Congressional Black Caucus at the beginning of the 113th Congress. Seated front
right is CBC Chair Marsha Fudge (D-Ohio) and former chair Emmanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.). PHOTO: Courtesy/CBC Foundation

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

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The Congressional Black Caucus will continue its fight to reverse policies adversely impacting communities of color during the first session of the 113th Congress.