August 20, 2012

South Africa Labor Killings Hearken to Apartheid Era

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from GIN

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – Tension continues to seethe at a South African platinum mine where striking workers were shot point-blank last week in the worst case of government-sponsored violence since the apartheid era in 1994.

On Aug. 16, 34 people were killed when police opened fire on 3000 striking workers, some of them armed, after a week of violent protests. Another 10 people, including a shop steward from the National Union of Mineworkers, had by then been killed in violent protests at the mine.

The strike was started by rock-drill operators at the Marikana platinum-mining complex of UK-based Lonmin Plc, demanding pay raises from $648 to $1,500 a month (the minimum monthly wage for farmwork).

"You work so very hard for very little pay. It is almost like death," said a striking miner speaking to the press, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Thulani.

Ironically, among the company’s non-voting executive directors is the former secretary of the Africa National Congress, now billionaire, Cyril Ramaphosa. As strike talks broke down and violence loomed, ANC leader Jacob Zuma, Ramaphosa and others were out of town.

The shootings, which went viral on the internet, rocked the nation back on its heels. Pres. Zuma said the dead would be officially mourned for seven days. Nonetheless, the company ordered workers to return to their jobs by Aug. 20 or be terminated.

"Employees could be dismissed if they fail to heed the final ultimatum," warned Ian P. Farmer, Lonmin’s CEO.

But miners say they will press on with their demands, and called the order to return to work "an insult" to colleagues who were gunned down by police.

"Expecting us to go back is like an insult. Many of our friends and colleagues are dead, then they expect us to resume work. Never," said worker Zachariah Mbewu in a press interview.

Flags will be lowered to half mast and an official day for nationwide memorial services held on Thursday.

Meanwhile, former ANC youth leader Julius Malema attended a miners rally where he backed the call for higher pay and denounced Pres. Zuma for traveling to Mozambique as the crisis unfolded President Jacob Zuma has presided over the "massacre of the people of South Africa,” Malema said. “How can he call on people to mourn those he has killed? He must step down." 

August 19, 2012

GOP Spotlight on Democrat-Turned-Republican 

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

Former Democratic Congressman Artur Davis is now a Republican.

August 20, 2012

Blacks Advising Romney Against Obama 
By Hazel Trice Edney

Tara Wall

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – As the GOP prepares to meet in Tampa next week, Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney has been meeting with a team of politically diverse Black advisors as part of his growing campaign strategy against President Barack Obama, confirms a campaign spokesperson.

“There is a Black coalitions group that meets regularly with the Romney campaign,” says Tara Wall, senior communications and coalitions advisor for the Romney campaign. “This is not new. This is something that’s been going on for several months.”

Speaking guardedly about the advisors during an interview with the Trice Edney News Wire, Wall declined to give names of any Democrats who might be involved. “They are not just Republicans. They’re a diverse group,” she said.

She did mention the Rev. Jeff Brown as being someone to whom Romney listens. Brown is the African-American co-founder of the Boston Ten Points Coalition, who spoke highly of Romney during his appearance at the NAACP Convention in July. Brown said he was not endorsing Romney per se, but told the media how Romney had worked “in a bi-partisan fashion with inner city Black clergy” when he was governor of Massachusetts.

Wall said of Romney, “He has worked in a bi-partisan fashion; he had to have Democrats to help him pass legislation in Massachusetts. He’s not immune to that … At the end of the day, if he does become president, he does want to become president and will become president for all Americans and we have to have a seat at the table. Black America wants to have a seat at the table.”

President Obama, who won nearly 98 percent of the Black vote during his historic campaign in 2008, has come under significant criticism by Blacks who are dissatisfied with the steadily high jobless rate in the Black community. Despite the disparate economic impact on African-Americans, Obama is still expected to win heavy support among Black voters, though grassroots organizers are complaining about a lack of motivation.

For example, Baltimore Pastor Jamal-Harrison Bryant held what he called a “Code Red” conference, sponsored by his “Empowerment Movement” last week in an attempt to get African-American church leaders oriented to get out the vote.

Wall, a former CNN contributor and deputy editorial page editor for the conservative Washington Times, indicated that Romney will attempt to take advantage of every slip in support for Obama.

“Obviously a majority of Black Americans are going to once again vote for President Obama,” Wall said.  “But he doesn’t enjoy the large margins that he once enjoyed. I’ve seen polling numbers where those margins have been reduced to 85 and 90 percent among Black Americans. That alone is significant enough to put Mitt Romney in the win column.”

Wall says she has heard some Blacks who voted for Obama in 2008 saying they will not do so again. However, she stressed that Black support for Romney does not have to mean defecting Black Democrats. She acknowledged that some Black Republicans also voted for Obama the last time. Among Obama’s Black Republican supporters in 2008 was former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who has not yet endorsed anyone in the current campaign.

“I think we also want to get out our base of Black Republicans and conservatives and moderates and some folks who voted for President Obama the last time that we want to make sure they check the box for Gov. Romney this time,” Wall said.

She said in order to achieve that, Republican Party leaders must recognize and embrace the diversity even among Black Republicans.

“Republicans can’t be monolithic when it comes to Black Americans; not even Black Republicans. We are not monolithic-thinking and Black Republicans are not monolithic- thinking. Within Black conservatism there is diversity. There is diversity of viewpoints – moderate, liberal, conservative Black Republicans,” Wall said. “And I think anybody, whether it’s the [Republican] Party, Democrats or the President, runs a risk [when] painting a broad brush. You can’t cast everyone in one category.”

One example of a conservative Black Democrat is former Congressman Artur Davis, a former Obama supporter-turned Republican, who will be speaking at the Republican Convention in Tampa Aug. 27-30. Davis’ recent party switch comes as no surprise to political observers, particularly since he was the only member of the Congressional Black Caucus who voted against the President’s Affordable Care Act.

Wall says that Romney attempted to show his desire to dialog with Blacks when he accepted the invitation to speak before the NAACP.

“He said he would be back to the NAACP if they would have him. So, he is very open to that. He has made that known and will make no bones about it,” Wall said.

Despite Romney’s outreach to the NAACP, saying he desires to “represent all Americans”, the audience of civil rights leaders booed him heavily when he said he would “eliminate expensive non-essential programs like Obamacare.”

Apparently unfazed by the boos, Wall said, “There are going to be areas of disagreement. You’re not going to agree a hundred percent. But I think that the point is he’s also not going to pander and change his message because it’s a different audience.”

Wall expressed hope that the “business acumen” of Romney will appeal to African-Americans amidst racially disparate economic struggles. Romney is a multi-millionaire, mainly from his own businesses.

“I think they know that Gov. Romney brings some economic change and opportunity with his message,” she said. “At this point where it comes to economics and jobs and small business I think there are a lot of folks who believe this is an imperative and are willing to listen to Gov. Romney as to what the he brings to the table to help close the gap economically between Black and White…Romney – He has a strong record, he has business acumen. I think those are the principles that should apply to help bring this country back on track.”

August 19, 2012

The unveiling of the state historical highway marker honoring John Mitchell Jr., the legendary Richmond Planet editor, was greeted with enthusiastic applause at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Downtown. The unveiling participants are, from left: Jack Berry, president/CEO of the Richmond Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau; John H. Mitchell, Mr. Mitchell’s great-great-nephew; Raymond H. Boone, editor/publisher of the Free Press that sponsored the marker; and Kathleen Kilpatrick, director of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. PHOTO: Jerome Reid/Richmond Free Press

Black Press Editor John Mitchell Jr. Honored with Historic Marker 
By Joey Matthews

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Richmond Free Press

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - John Mitchell Jr. was nationally known as the Fighting Editor for his brave, heroic stands for freedom against Confederate-minded policies that stripped black people of their human rights during the post-Reconstruction era.

Now, a step has been taken to officially recognize his greatness in Richmond, the former Capital of the Confederacy that fought the Union to preserve slavery. Richmond-area residents and visitors to Downtown can view a prominently displayed state historical highway marker that recognizes, among other achievements, his courageous battles against lynching, his triumph against segregated streetcars in Richmond, his election to City Council and his economic justice accomplishments.

Location of the marker: At the Third Street entrance to the Greater Richmond Convention Center at the corner of North Third and East Marshall streets in Downtown. The center is the state’s largest exposition and meeting facility. An estimated, 300,000 visitors pass through it each year, according to Michael Meyers, the convention center’s general manager. The marker stems from efforts of Raymond H. Boone, editor/publisher of the Richmond Free Press, which underwrote the production and erection of the marker.

Mitchell’s family and other community supporters last month celebrated the unveiling of the large marker in the Jackson Ward community. The commemorative event was held during the week of Mitchell’s 149th birthday.

A dozen of Mitchell’s family members were joined by about 50 other celebrants in the inspiring unveiling ceremony sponsored by the Free Press in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, the Richmond Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau and the City of Richmond.

It began with an emotional tribute ceremony inside the center. It then moved outside for the unveiling and back inside for a reception.

“This is so wonderful,” John H. Mitchell, Mitchell’s great-great-nephew, said of the tribute and marker unveiling. “He grew up right here and any physical representation to remind people that know of him and teach those that don’t about what he did is so important for this city to recognize.”

Mitchell helped unveil the marker in a slight drizzle. He was joined in the unveiling by Boone; Jack Berry, president and CEO of the Convention and Visitors Bureau; and Kathleen Kilpatrick, director of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

“Our family is so grateful to Mr. Boone and the Free Press family for the time they put into making this recognition possible,” said Ida Mitchell, great-great-niece of Mitchell, as she and other family members admired the marker after its unveiling. “This is long overdue. This is not just black history, but history for everyone.”

Mitchell and Boone were among a parade of speakers who paid tribute to the history-making freedom fighter. Two larger-than-life posters of Mitchell framed the speakers’ podium near the convention center entrance.

Other program participants included Mayor Dwight C. Jones, City Council President Kathy C. Graziano, Kilpatrick and King Salim Khalfani, executive director of the state NAACP. Also, Stacy Burrs, board chairman of the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia; Jeffrey Bourne, deputy chief of staff to the mayor; and Dr. Ralph Reavis, president of Virginia University of Lynchburg, of which the famed editor was a founder.

VUL football coach Willard Bailey, who also is the CIAA’s winningest all-time football coach, offered an invocation to open the ceremony. Jean Patterson Boone, vice president and advertising director of the Free Press, presided at the event.

“On this beautiful day, I stand here to represent my family,” Mitchell, who works in the music industry, told the responsive audience.

He spoke of how his great-great-uncle “used journalism to change the landscape of America by exposing the truth of our dreams, hopes and the determination to do for ourselves.”

He said Mitchell carried “a fancy-handled six-shooter” to “let others know that he valued his life, so you had better value yours.”

He “was effective,” he added, “because he had a gun in his hand (especially against lynch mobs), the truth on his lips and an army at his back.”

The mayor was a late-show to the event for good reason after earlier indicating he could not make it because he had to tend to official obligations. He came midway through the event after welcoming President Obama on the tarmac at Richmond International Airport before the president went to a campaign rally at Walkerton Tavern in the Glen Allen area of Western Henrico County.

The mayor thanked Boone for the marker. He also compared him to the late, great crusading editor, saying, “You (now) carry on that mantle of leadership in this city.”

The mayor lauded the tribute to Mitchell, saying: “We are so happy we are unveiling this long overdue marker that should have been here much, much sooner than today.”

Council President Graziano also called Mitchell’s recognition “long overdue” and hailed him as “a man who fought for equality and justice.”

Burrs told his listeners, “It is impossible to tell the history of Richmond without telling the story of John Mitchell Jr.”

Sadly, he added, “For too long, African-American history has been treated as though it was somehow separate and distinct from American history. Men who are not accommodationists, men that do not yield, African-American men and women who are uncompromising often are not honored in this way.”

Kilpatrick called Mitchell “a hero in a quintessential American way. It takes heroes to fight for freedom and integrity” through “the power of the pen, the power of the word, and that’s what John Mitchell Jr. did. He bequeathed us a great legacy in that regard.”

Khalfani passionately referred to Mitchell as “a man amongst men” who was “an unashamed and unabashed race man with loyalty to his family and oppressed African-American masses.”

He challenged those in the audience “to emulate his work and his example. To do otherwise would be cowardice."

Reavis said he first learned of Mitchell’s legacy while doing his doctoral dissertation at the University of Virginia in the early 1980s.

“There was no more fierce editor or race-conscious African-American than John Mitchell Jr.,” said Reavis a former Richmond minister. “He was not afraid, and he never compromised his convictions and his integrity like some of his generation.”

Boone was the final speaker. He recalled Mitchell’s campaign at the Richmond Planet against the placement of the “treasonous statues” of Civil War villains on Monument Avenue, “correctly calling it “a legacy of treason and blood.”

“When we look at Monument Avenue, this is very perverted. Where else do you know a city, a country that would glorify villains, a country that would glorify people that would try to destroy this country and would try to keep Black people enslaved?”

He continued, saying, “Honoring John Mitchell Jr. is consistent with the American ideals of equality, justice and opportunity. It also is consistent with giving balance to history. Recognition of John Mitchell also would break Richmond away from its ugly past and eliminate its inferiority complex.”

Referencing the oversized posters of Mitchell, Boone said, “John Mitchell, the true patriot and champion of freedom is here. John Mitchell Jr. is here bigger than life as you can see. Let’s applaud him.”

The marker unveiling comes nearly six months after a grave marker was unveiled at Evergreen Cemetery in Eastern Henrico County at Mitchell’s previously unmarked gravesite.

Boone suggested that the best way to honor Mitchell is “to walk in his footsteps” for “the good of our city, our state and nation.”