CeaseFire: Tackling Violence Prevention by Zoe Sullivan

Nov. 18, 2012

CeaseFire: Tackling Violence Prevention

By Zoe Sullivan

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Louisiana Weekly

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The football field at the Samuel Green Charter School on Valence Street was abuzz with playing children, media crews, and blue-shirted sports heroes. Football legend Marcus Allen ran drills with boys and girls, while Wimbledon winner Monica Seles talked with others. As he remarked on her athleticism, Allen introduced one girl to Olympic gold medalist Dr. Edwin Moses, Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy.

Allen, whose mother hailed from New Orleans, explained that the youngster dreams of becoming a track star. “She doesn’t even try to run and she runs,” Allen told Moses. This scene preceded a more formal presentation in the school describing how sports can reduce community violence. While the emphasis was on the positive role sports can play in young people’s lives, the message was clear that this is a strategy aimed at reducing violence. As such, it joins another high-profile violence prevention initiative launched this spring, CeaseFire.

In April, at the behest of the community group Solutions not Shootings, Mayor Mitch Landrieu and the Urban League of Greater New Orleans launched CeaseFire. The program originated in Chicago, and it uses a public health approach to “interrupt violence.” The program trains people to act as “violence interrupters” and actively works to diffuse violence and solve conflicts in high-crime areas. Ryan Berni, spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office, told The Louisiana Weekly that the program not only aims to prevent shootings from happening, but that it also urges community members to respond when shootings do occur “to say that the shooting must stop, and that shooting is not acceptable in the community.”

The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation USA uses a different approach to violence reduction, focusing on involvement in sports as a way of offering young people mentoring, positive goals, and, often, “a safe haven,” Moses told The Louisiana Weekly. Funded by Mercedes-Benz, Laureus USA partnered with Coaches Across America to bring additional coaches into schools and neighborhoods. A press release about the Green event stated that 3,250 New Orleans-area children would benefit from the coaching support. 30 communities will participate including Gentilly, Algiers, New Orleans East, Broadmoor, Gretna and Marrero.

Both programs have research to back up their claims of efficacy. The Department of Justice commissioned a study of CeaseFire, which was conducted by academics from Northwestern University. The Laureus Foundation co-funded a study with the Ecorys Research Programme on the outcome of sports initiatives in the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. The Italian segment of the program features midnight basketball in a low-income, remote neighborhood of Milan. “The report shows that on average across the four programmes analysed, sport provides a return of 5.02 Euros for every 1 Euro invested through savings related to reductions in crime, truancy, and ill health.”

While the coaching program is just getting under way and has no results to report yet, CeaseFire, although only fully operational for approximately four months, can cite outcomes. Johnetta Pressley of CeaseFire told The Louisiana Weekly that roughly two-thirds of the people who have gotten involved in the violence interruption work are now employed, thanks to her organization’s efforts. “And two-thirds of them are in some kind of school. One of them actually went to college,” she went on. “We are taking folks who otherwise might be contributing to this disease and helping them do something different,” Pressley said.

Along with these outcomes, Pressley explained that approximately 1,500 people in the Central City area have participated in events that CeaseFire has organized. Asked whether these are one-time occurrences, Pressley told The Louisiana Weekly that several community members have become regular volunteers and some have requested signs for their property to show their disapproval of violence.

CeaseFire focuses on a very specific area within Central City. The area’s boundaries are Claiborne Ave., Thalia St., O. C. Haley/Dryades, and Washington. The Mayor’s Office supplied The Louisiana Weekly with statistics showing a clear drop in shootings and killings between April 2012, when the program was launched, and October. No data was included that preceded the start of the program, making a comparison impossible, however. Additionally, Berni acknowledged that there was no evidence to confirm that CeaseFire was the cause of the decrease. Asked about stability in the program’s funding, Berni said that the program was funded through the end of 2013 and is a priority as part of the Mayor’s NOLA for Life initiative.

The Department of Justice study into Chicago’s CeaseFire program found that while crime rates fell overall in Chicago and across the nation starting in 1991, CeaseFire had a clear impact. “In summary,” it reads, “the hot spot centered in CeaseFire beat 612 remained visible during the two years following implementation of the program, but it grew smaller, and the cooler areas of the CeaseFire beats grew more quickly than they did in the comparison beats. While the level of shootings before and after implementation was higher in the CeaseFire beats than in the comparison beats, the decline was greater in the program area by several measures.”

The report also acknowledged, however, that pressure for results from policymakers often trumps the kind of longitudinal study that provides greater certainty about program impacts.

After Elections, Crises Abound by Barrington M. Salmon

Nov. 18, 2012

After Elections, Crises Abound

By Barrington M. Salmon

Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Washington Informer

(TriceEdneyWire.) - For months before the Nov. 6 presidential election, Sandra Fleming's agitation grew about President Barack Obama's prospects for a second term.

"I was so worried because my impression was that they were going to get away with stealing this election," Fleming said of the Republican Party. "When I heard that Taggart [which makes voting machines] was bought by [Tagg] Romney, I was like 'Oh God, they're really going to steal it.'"

So she decided to be proactive and volunteered to work at an Obama campaign office in Maryland on a phone bank. It was only after several television stations called the race for Obama on the night of Nov. 6 that she finally exhaled.

As satisfied as Fleming and her husband James are about the outcome, Republicans are in a state of shock at the sound thrashing Obama inflicted on GOP challenger Mitt Romney. Obama swept the Electoral College, amassing a final total of 336 votes and he garnered 50.3 percent of the vote to Romney's 47 percent. It wasn't supposed to turn out this way and all that was left to make their joy complete was Romney's coronation.

Now, instead of Romney measuring the windows of the White House, Republicans are left to contemplate the reasons why they fared so poorly.

Political commentator Armstrong Williams said Republicans can't blame anyone but themselves for the stunning election loss.

"To put it mildly, many in the GOP were not pleased with the outcome of [Tuesday's] elections," said Williams. "This represents a national repudiation of reality: we have tossed out the doctor because we don't like his prognosis. The spending addict does not want an intervention; he wants more spending, no matter what."

"...The Democrats have a mandate to govern, and Republicans are now in an uncomfortable position everywhere. The policies of the last four years have been not only affirmed but, with these ballot initiatives, shown to now be mainstream," he explained. "Our nation's culture has shifted to the Left, validating that self-fulfilling epithet of 'Republican extremism.'"

Lee Saunders, president of the 1.6 million strong American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, was exultant.

"This is a good day for the working middle class, the Main Street movement and the American Dream," he said following Obama's victory. "The American people sent a clear message that we will stand with a president who stands with all Americans ... the voters have given a mandate to protect vital programs like Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid and strengthen the middle class."

Republicans on the whole are shell shocked, Newt Gingrich is dumbfounded by Obama's win, Karl Rove refuses to accept it; and the finger-pointing, accusations, and infighting is in full tilt.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal [R], said some candidates had damaged the party's brand with their intemperate statements and he chastised the GOP for being too beholden to the rich and powerful.

"We've got to make sure that we are not the party of big business, big banks, big Wall Street bailouts, big corporate loopholes, big anything," he said. "We cannot be, we must not be, the party that simply protects the rich so they get to keep their toys."

Meanwhile, Obama met with liberal and progressive supporters Tuesday, with members of the business community Wednesday, and on Friday, Nov. 16 was scheduled to meet House Speaker John Boehner [R-Ohio] to begin negotiations on averting the crisis of the country falling off the "fiscal cliff." On December 31, automatic spending cuts and tax increases will be triggered if Congress and Obama fail to seal a deal. According to the Congressional Budget Office, families would pay an average of about $2,000 more next year, an estimated three million jobs would be lost and unemployment would ratchet up to nine percent. Also, America could fall into another recession.

Boehner has indicated a willingness to talk but he is opposed by anti-tax Tea Party members.

In an hour-long teleconference Monday morning, former Clinton White House Counsel Lanny Davis and former GOP Chairman Michael Steele discussed the election and the way forward.

Steele castigated the Republican Party and said it needs to be overhauled or face the prospect of being the minority party for the foreseeable future.

"This is perhaps the most tortured experience I've ever seen a party go through," said Steele, a lawyer who served as Republican National Committee Chairman from 2009-2011. "It becomes painfully obvious that there's an internal struggle as to identity and ideas."

"You realize that something different is happening in American politics," he added. "Now we begin the recriminations and finger-pointing. My estimation: Cut the crap out and recognize your message is tone deaf for many voters and your brand isn't as strong as it once was. The country is moving in a different direction. Fifty thousand Hispanics are turning 18 every month. What is the party prepared to do?"

Davis, who with Steele is co-founder of Purple Nation, a bipartisan public affairs firm, credited Obama's formidable ground game, the broad coalition of support and a campaign which executed "the best media, political and grassroots campaign in eight states."

Davis, former White House counsel in the Clinton administration, said the Simpson-Bowles plan is the only one that can get bipartisan support. Simpson-Bowles was a commission appointed by Obama which advocates a combination of spending cuts and tax increases to balance the budget. Steele, who said he hates the word 'bipartisan,' said he wants Republicans to seek consensus without sacrificing their principles and values.

Far from the political fray, Fleming, a 40-year-old mother of one, said practical considerations such as Obama's health care plan fueled her support.

"I had a fear not just for my child but also for my husband that they'd be kicked off our health plan because of their asthma," she said. "I would always be nervous when the provider called. I was extremely grateful when the Affordable Care Act became law. Asthma medication is extremely, extremely expensive."

Man Accused of Threatening to Assassinate Obama Arrested in Colorado By Zenitha Prince

Man Accused of Threatening to Assassinate Obama Arrested in Colorado

By Zenitha Prince

Mitchell Kenneth Kusick (Courtesy Photo/Facebook)

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

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - A Colorado man was arrested after his therapist reported his threats to assassinate President Obama and shoot children on Halloween.

Mitchell Kenneth Kusick, of Westminster, Colo., is a student at Colorado Mesa University in western Colorado and, acquaintances said, the last person they’d expect to make such threats.

One of Kusick’s peers at Broomfield High School, from which the two graduated in 2011, told KUSA-TV in Denver that the would-be assassin came from a nice neighborhood and seemed normal.

“Of all the people I knew from that school he's probably one of the last people I would have suspected of planning something like this,” said his classmate, who asked not to be identified.

“He was always a really nice kid. He was respectful to the teacher. He liked learning. He was athletic. People liked him. So, I just didn’t see this coming at all,” she said.

But according to KUSA-TV, court records show that under that placid exterior was a potential mass killer, who told Secret Service investigators that he had been harboring his murderous plans for about six years.

Kusick had allegedly contrived a plot to shoot students at a trick-or-treat event at Standley Lake High School. And, as part of the plot, had stolen a shotgun from his aunt’s house, hidden it and tried to purchase ammunition.

On Oct. 29, the suspect told his therapist the plan, including his hopes that he would gain infamy as the “guy who killed Obama,” the Associated Press reported. The alleged statement came just days before the president held a campaign rally in Boulder.

His plans to kill the president were not prompted by personal or ideological biases, Kusick—a registered unaffiliated voter—told investigators. In fact, he thought Obama had done a good job.

According to court records, Kusick had admitted to a fascination with the Columbine and Virginia Tech shooting sprees. He also supposedly studied this year’s theater shooting in Aurora, dissecting where the alleged gunman, James Holmes, went wrong.

“I share an understanding of [Holmes'] situation,” he said, according to the television station.

The admitted bomb enthusiast also added, “Some people just want to watch the world burn down, and I’m one of them.”

After the therapist reported Kusick’s alleged statements to police, he was placed on a psychiatric hold at Lutheran Hospital. A detention hearing was set for Nov. 16.

Post Massacre: South African Miners Reject Low-Ball Return-to-Work Offer

November 18, 2012

Post Massacre: South African Miners Reject Low-Ball Return-to-Work Offer

Amplats strike

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – At a weekend rally, thousands of miners formerly employed by the metals giant Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) turned down a one-time return-to-work payment of $500 offered by the company and vowed to keep the strike alive.

"Nobody is going back to work, the strike is still carrying on," said Amplats Workers' Committee representative Evans Ramokga.

The world's biggest platinum mining company fired 12,000 workers in October after failing to reach a settlement for wage increases.

Amplats is one of a handful of mining companies still hobbled by a massive walkout. Some 50 people have died in the unrest, including 34 people shot point-blank by police in the so-called Marikana massacre, named for the mine.

A new outbreak of labor unrest was reported at the Kroondal chrome mine where South African police arrested 37 workers for public violence on Tuesday after firing rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters who barricaded a road leading to the mine.

South Africa produces 75 percent of the world’s platinum used in jewelry and automobiles.

Elsewhere in the country, some 51 houses in Lenasia, south of Jo’burg, were demolished by government agents who claimed the land, owned by the municipality, was sold fraudulently to low-income people. The buyers were given forged deeds of sale with the department's logo. Another 115 are slated for demolition later this week.

Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane said the removals were in the best interests of the poor and sent a strong message to fraudsters who continued to sell land illegally in Gauteng.

'Rising Tide' Theory Will No Longer Work for Obama by Hazel Trice Edney

Nov. 12, 2012

'Rising Tide' Theory Will No Longer Work for Obama
By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous, a leader of the movement largely credited for the Black voter turnout in last week’s election, says the Presidents’ ‘Rising tide lifts all boats’ theory will not be acceptable the next four years and that President Obama will be pressed for policies to specifically forge Black progress.

“Four years ago, the entire nation was finding themselves in a situation that Black Americans had found themselves in for generations. We were wise to say, ‘We’re all in the same boat now. Let’s figure out how to make this tide rise for everybody,” Jealous recounted in an interview. “Now that it has risen for some faster than for others, we owe it to our nation as a whole to figure out how to actually get those boats that are stuck unstuck and to get the tide to rise for every community.”

During a White House Press Conference in January 2010, President Obama answered that “A rising tide lifts all boats” when asked what he would do about the high level of Black unemployment. This year, months before re-election, he told Black Enterprise Magazine that he is the President of all of America, not just Black America.

Looking at the consistent Black vote for President Obama, Jealous is clear:

“This is a mandate for Black leadership and for Black communities to assert the value of our vote and to say, ‘We didn’t just make this moment possible once. We did it twice. And we need all hands on deck to overcome this deficit of job creation in our communities, to overcome this high tide of discrimination against our communities, and to turn the ship of state around – not just for America overall, but for Black communities specifically.’”

Black leaders realize that President Obama was elected to be President of all of America. But some also believe Black America and its specific pains have largely been neglected by his administration while other minority groups have received benefits based on their specific problems.

This includes:

Women with the Lilly Ledbetter Act for equal pay.
Gays with the ending of the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy for the U. S. military and President Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage earlier this year.
Latinos with Obama’s change in deportation policies to stop the deportation of illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. at a young age, and who meet certain other criteria.
Veterans by President Obama’s open appeal for Americans to hire veterans and his push for a Veterans Jobs bill.

Many African-Americans have waited patiently while arguing that President Obama needed to get to his second term before taking on specifics pertaining to the Black community. Meanwhile, unemployment in the Black community has in fact gone down from its highest peak of 16.7 percent where it was when he made the “rising tide” statement to a current 14.2 percent. But it remains nearly twice that of Whites, which currently stands at 7.0 percent and was at 8.8 percent when President Obama spoke of the rising tides. The White unemployment rate has never soared above the national average and has never reached double digits.

Because of the economic crisis, African-Americans have also disparately suffered in housing foreclosures, in health care statistics and educationally.

Like Ben Jealous, the Rev. Jesse Jackson also says it’s time for Blacks to receive a greater return on their vote.

“Blacks should expect equal protection under the law and protections from patterns of racial discrimination,” Jackson says. “The foreclosures that disproportionately target Blacks, our health care is at the bottom, our businesses were targeted and of course poverty and education…The most prevailing issue going forward is growing poverty, race disparities and violence.”

African-Americans have benefitted generally from President Obama’s Affordable Health Care Act; his increase in Pell Grants and other economic initiatives, such as Obama’s saving the auto workers industry. But in order to receive the impactful benefits, leaders say there must be specific initiatives like those for veterans, Latinos, gays, women.

“What we’ll see going forward is a very frank and frankly more public conversation about the need for all of us – from the front line community organizer in the smallest community to the most powerful person in the world himself - President Obama,” says Jealous. “We ought to do everything we can to ensure that his legacy is one of definitive improvement in the financial situation for the Black middle class and the Black working class that makes up for all that we have lost in our recent years.”

The initial strategy will be to talk it out, says Jealous.

“It means that we have to be willing to have very hard conversations about what it’s going to take to turn things around for the long-term unemployed; not just the recently jobless. And it means that we’re going to have to have a strategy – not just on how to incorporate college graduates into our economy – but how we actually create an economy like the economy this country had for centuries where unskilled laborers can still support their families.”

Jackson agrees: “The last time around, we chose pride and fear over policy - pride that we finally got a Black guy elected president and fear. We tried to bargain…In the mean time we sacrificed some pressing issues and policies. We must objectively address our worsening condition. We must have some policy, the urban reconstruction.”

Jackson predicts a growing moving in the months and years to come: “I think scholars and journalists will grow freer to express themselves. That doesn’t necessarily mean negatively. It’s just that we are the third rail. We’re the voice of conscience. The third rail must come alive.”