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A Black Friday Survival Guide...Or Maybe Black Thursday by Alexis Taylor

A Black Friday Survival Guide...Or Maybe Black Thursday
By Alexis Taylor

moneyphoto

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

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Turkey lovers everywhere will have to shake off that after-dinner drowsiness a little sooner than usual if they plan to take advantage of some of the best Black Friday deals this year. For the first time ever, electronics, clothing, and other hot commodities will go on sale in some stores as early as 9 p.m. Thanksgiving night.

A reference to the opening day of the season where store owners traditionally make most of their profits and go from a “red,” or negative balance to a positive “black” one, Black Friday will essentially become Black Thursday in 2011. While maddening crowds are unavoidable, a few simple tips can go a long way in making shopping for the holidays a stress free event.

“This time of the year people feel pressure from the advertisements to engage in shopping that, in many instances, they can’t even afford because of the recession,” said Dr. Terra Bowen-Ried, associate professor of psychology at Morgan State University. “It will be interesting to see the number of people who will succumb because this is the time of year people traditionally engage for pleasure.”

Make a List

To avoid being the customer that walks into a store looking for a toaster and walks out with two flat screen televisions, shoppers are encouraged to make a list before entering any stores. Having a list in hand will also expedite the shopping process because sales associates can readily help a customer who knows exactly what they are looking for. A list will also help curb overspending and help shoppers prioritize items worth standing hours in line for.

Research Return and Exchange Policies

Since a large part of shopping on Black Friday is done in preparation for the Christmas season, smart shoppers will familiarize themselves with the rules on returning and exchanging items for every store they plan to visit. Whether doing personal shopping or buying gifts for the family, once the rush from Black Friday subsides, some may find they need to swap items for a larger size, or request a refund. Knowing policies and procedures before purchasing an item in a chaotic store will eliminate surprises at the register two days or two weeks later.

Shop in Pairs or Groups

Taking friends or family members to navigate the crowds of the holiday rush also provides savvy shoppers with better Black Friday experiences. Not only are peers able to honestly gage when one has overspent, but they can also help mitigate and ward off conflicts that might arise from interactions with other shoppers who exhibit rash and confrontational behavior over the last toy on the shelf.

“I had a TV in my hand and was walking down the aisle when a guy pushed me on the ground and took the television away from me,” said Jalissa Sample, a native of Baltimore City, who has been both a victim and a facilitator of the Black Friday insanity. Now working in Towson Town Center, Sample says stores are preparing for the crowds by stocking up on popular items and providing express lines for customers who are looking to make specific purchases.

Shop Online

While it may seem like all of America will be stampeding the nearest Walmart or Target, shopping online is an option for those not looking to sleep in the parking lot of their favorite store to get twenty percent off a desired laptop. A spin off from Black Friday, Cyber Monday is an alternative for shoppers who are not physically able or willing to stand the crush of the crowd. Every year millions of dollars in profits are raked in by large companies who offer deals only available online the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Take Advertisements

To avoid haggling over prices at the register, shoppers will also be better off if printed advertisements and coupons are in hand when making purchases. By taking a printed copy of the store’s advertised sales, shoppers can calculate exactly how much they will need to spend and avoid being scammed out of valuable deals.

Compare Prices and Shop Around

An avid shopper both on and off the Fort Meade military base where she lives with her husband and two children, Sharita Muhammad takes advantage of the discounts given to military families as well as stores where civilians traditionally shop. “I might camp out in the parking lot because If you get there at five o’clock you’ll be at a lost. If you can grab a toy that would normally run you $60 for $30 you want to be first to get inside,” said Muhammad.

Before making any purchases, consumers should also compare prices of their desired items online with websites like Shopping.com, PriceGrabber.com and Blackfriday.com. By comparing prices and looking at sales in a variety of stores prior to making a purchase, shoppers can ensure that they are getting the best deal for their money at the right store.

Naval Vessel Named for Civil Rights Martyr Medgar Evers by Sarah Burford

Nov. 20, 2011

Naval Vessel Named for Civil Rights Martyr Medgar Evers

By Sarah Burford

 ussmedgarevers

U. S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus looks on as Dr. Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of civil rights martyr Medgar Evers and ship's sponsor, prepares to break the traditional bottle of champagne across the hull of the Military Sealift Command USNS Medgar Evers. Medgar Evers, a dry cargo and ammunition ship, is the 13th ship of the class of dry cargo-ammunition ships that General Dynamics is building for the Navy. PHOTO: Sam Shavers/U.S. Navy

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (TriceEdneyWire.com) - USNS Medgar Evers, the newest ship in the U.S. Navy's Lewis and Clark-class of dry cargo/ammunition ships, was christened Nov. 12 during a ceremony at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego.

With the traditional words, "I christen you USNS Medgar Evers," Myrlie Evers-Williams, the widow of the ship's namesake, broke the traditional bottle of champagne against the bow of the ship. The ship was launched Oct. 29, and is scheduled for delivery to the Military Sealift Command in spring 2012. 

The 689-foot ship continues the Lewis and Clark-class tradition of honoring legendary pioneers and explorers. The ship is named in honor of slain civil rights leader and Army veteran Medgar Wiley Evers, who is especially remembered for his efforts to end segregation at the University of Mississippi in the 1950s and for his opposition to Jim Crow laws in the 1960s.

Evers was appointed Mississippi's first NAACP field officer in 1954 and held the position until he was assassinated in the front yard of his Mississippi home the night of June 12, 1963, by White Citizens' Council and Ku Klux Klan member Byron De La Beckwith. The murder of Evers, which occurred only hours after then-President John F. Kennedy delivered a televised, pro-civil rights speech, was mourned nationally.

"This technological marvel will carry the strong name of Medgar Evers, as well as the amazing spirit and expertise of the American people, across oceans and seas to every corner of the world," said Navy Rear Adm. Mark H. Buzby, commander, MSC, to an audience of more than 1,000 people who braved the rainy morning to attend the event.

Ceremony attendees included the Evers family, NAACP and other civil rights leaders from around the country, California Gov. Jerry Brown, distinguished guests from the U.S. military, and maritime industry and NASSCO employees who built the ship.

"USNS Medgar Evers and its MSC civil service mariner crew will be indispensable to the Navy by daily performing the many tasks required to keep our combat fleets on station, ready to face any aggressor, anywhere in the world," said Buzby.

USNS Medgar Evers is the 13th of 14 projected dry cargo/ammunition ships built for use by MSC's Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force and Maritime Prepositioning Force. Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force ships deliver ammunition, food, fuel and other supplies to U.S. and allied ships at sea, enabling the Navy to maintain a worldwide forward presence. Maritime Prepositioning Force ships are continuously deployed to strategic locations worldwide, carrying U.S. Marine Corps cargo ready for rapid delivery to Marines ashore.

"This is truly a wonderful day, one that will go down in the history books and one that will remain in our hearts forever," said Evers-Williams in her remarks to the crowd.

MSC operates approximately 110 noncombatant, civilian-crewed ships that replenish U.S. Navy ships, conduct specialized missions, strategically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world and move military cargo and supplies used by deployed U.S. forces and coalition partners. 

Sarah Burford is a writer for the Military Sealift Command Public Affairs.

White House Report Outlines Obama Successes in Black Community by Hazel Trice Edney

White House Report Outlines Obama Successes in Black Community

By Hazel Trice Edney

presidentshakinghands

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - A 44-page report, compiled by the Obama Administration, for the first time seeks to outline all of the major successes the President has made in Black communities over the past three years. The report was released Nov. 10, during a White House conference on African-American policies.

In remarks at the conference, President Obama described it as a “compilation of everything we’ve done over the last three years that has not only lessened the severity of the crisis for millions of people, kept millions of folks out of poverty, made sure that millions of folks still had unemployment benefits, health care, et cetera, but also talks about the foundations that we are laying so that as the economy recovers, the African-American community and communities all across the country of every stripe are going to have an opportunity to finally begin to rebuild so that we are seeing good, solid, middle-class jobs with good benefits that families who are desperate for their piece of the American Dream, that they’re going to be able to achieve it.”

Though federal employees aren’t allowed to campaign in the White House, it was clear that the Administration hopes the information will spread into Black communities across the nation.

Melody Barnes, director of the President’s Domestic Policy Council, told the more than 200 Black leaders that she hopes the report “will be a guide for you as you go out and you talk in your communities about the work that we’ve done. And also know that it’s something that we’re building on,” she said, noting that Obama has “pushed all of us to think more boldly, more creatively about the work that we’re going to do to build on what we’ve been able to put in place over the past three years.”

The full report can be found at www.whitehouse.gov/africanamericans. Among the highlights:

  • Tax Relief for Virtually All Working Americans. The President secured the Making Work Pay tax credit in 2009 and 2010 and a payroll tax cut in 2011 that amounted to a 2 percent raise for working Americans through 2011. In addition, the President secured historic expansions in refundable tax credits Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit for low-income families. The American Jobs Act will extend and expand tax relief for every American family next year.  The American Jobs Act will extend and expand tax relief for virtually every American family next year, including nearly 20 million African American workers.
  • Subsidized Jobs for Low-Income Adults and Youth. Through the Recovery Act, 367,000 low-income youth received summer employment and over 260,000 adults and youth were placed in subsidized jobs. The American Jobs Act builds on the success of these programs by supporting summer jobs and pathways to work for unemployed Americans and youths. 
  • Support for African American-Owned Small Businesses. Since the beginning of the Administration, the President has enacted 17 tax cuts for small businesses, including billions of dollars in tax credits, write-offs, and deductions for Americans who start new businesses, hire the unemployed, and provide health insurance for their employees. In addition, through the Small Business Jobs Act and other measures, the President has taken steps to expand American American-owned small businesses’ access to credit –through programs like the Community Development Financial Institutions and the New Markets Tax Credit, which provided over $4 billion in capital to predominantly African American communities. The American Jobs Act would cut payroll taxes in half for every American small business, including more than 100,000 African American owned firms.
  • Reform K-12 and Early Education through Innovative, New Programs. President Obama created Race to the Top with a historic $4.35 billion investment. As a result of the initiative, over 40 states have raised standards, improved assessments, and invested in teachers to ensure that all of our children receive a high-quality education. A similar Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge has been developed to raise the quality of and increase access to critical programs that ensure our kids are entering school ready to learn. In addition to these historic investments, the President has also fought against Republican budget cuts to critical programs like Head Start. The American Jobs Act provides $30 billion for States to hire new teachers, rehire those laid off, and prevent as many as 280,000 teachers whose jobs are at risk next year from being laid off.
  • Increase College Access and Affordability. Since the beginning of the Administration, the President has dramatically increased Pell Grant funding to support an additional 200,000 African American students, created the American Opportunity Tax Credit to ease college costs, and championed bold and comprehensive reform of student loans that will save taxpayers $68 billion over the next decade. Together, these represent the largest investment in higher education since the G.I. Bill. The President also secured $850 million in additional funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and $150 million for Predominantly Black Institutions.
  • Keep Americans in Their Homes During a Housing and Economic Crisis. The Administration’s programs, both through their direct and indirect impact on the market, have helped more than 4 million families permanently modify their mortgages so they can stay in their homes. Through the Recovery Act, the President provided $1.5 billion for the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program to prevent homelessness for 1 million Americans. The American Jobs Act builds on the success of these programs with the new “Project Rebuild,” which will invest in the communities hardest hit by the housing downturn.
  • Create Economically-Sustainable Neighborhoods. The Administration has secured $40 million for Promise Neighborhoods and $126 million to Choice Neighborhoods that provide a continuum of services to combat the challenges facing communities most in need. The new Strong Cities, Strong Communities is helping strengthen cities and regions by increasing the capacity of local governments to execute their economic growth plans, while also delivering federal assistance tailored to the local government’s needs.
  • Expand Health Care Access for Families and Workers. Within a month of taking office, the President signed the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act into law, expanding health coverage to more than 4 million children who would otherwise go uninsured. And the historic Affordable Care Act, when fully implemented, will expand health coverage to about 34 million Americans, including as many as 7 million African Americans.
  • Protect Civil Rights and Promote Criminal Justice. The President has signed major legislation like the Fair Sentencing Act and the Claims Resolution Act, and worked to expand and enforce hate crimes prosecutions, reduce unfairness in sentencing, and counter employment discrimination.

 

 

Black Policy Summit Draws Hundreds to the White House by Hazel Trice Edney

Black Policy Summit Draws Hundreds to the White House

By Hazel Trice Edney

obama we cant wait signing

As a part of his "We Can't Wait" campaign, President Obama signs an executive order to reduce spending on travel and end the purchase of promotional items -- and speaks to four finalists for this year's SAVE Award. With repeated rejections of his Jobs Bill from the U. S. Senate, the President has used executive orders as a strategy to get around the bottleneck. Some Leaders at a White House African-American policy conference encouraged the President to continue the orders. PHOTO: The White House 

(TriceEdneyWire.com)-A day-long African-American policy conference drew hundreds of Black civic, religious, political, social and business leaders to the White House last week to hear Obama appointees and the President himself list the Administrations successes in the Black community.

The group, consisting of about 250 White house insiders and those who have frequently visited the Administration over the past three years, also gave feedback on what must be done to further progress. But, with a year left in the first Obama administration, how much impact can realistically be made? Black leaders in the room were hopeful.

“This particular event today, I wish it had been done earlier,” said Martin Luther King III, who has toured the country the past five years calling attention to poverty. “But like my Dad used to say, ‘The time is always right to do that which is right.’ This is important, yes, to the African-American community. But it’s also important to America.”

Cloves Campbell, chairman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the Black Press of America, says the forum was long overdue given that Republicans appear to dominate the airwaves with bitter criticism of Obama.

“We’ve been standing back and letting the extreme right frame the conversation. We need to take charge of the conversation. We’ve done a lot of good things in this administration, but we don’t hear about it,” says Campbell, publisher of the Arizona Informant. “I’d like to hear more about the platform, the agenda and how we’re going to aggressively move forward for the next term.”

Cabinet secretaries and high-ranking leaders from the Obama Administration, who attended the African American Policy in Action Leadership Conference, couldn’t talk election because of legal restrictions. But they rolled out their best successes, including a 44-page report that outlines programs and policies that the Administration says have directly impacted the Black community over the past three years.

“Over the last 30 months, HUD has been at the forefront of efforts to extend lifelines to our most vulnerable families while keeping middle class families from losing even more ground,” said Estelle Richman, acting deputy secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) during an early morning forum.

Richman credited Obama’s Recovery Act with saving a million people from homeliness, including three-quarters of which were families with children. She also said HUD worked with the Department of Energy to modernize a half million public housing units and provided permanent housing to 99 percent of the 40,000 gulf coast families who were about to lose their temporary housing assistance when President Obama took office. She topped off her list touting the investigation of 10,000 discrimination complaints and elimination of 1,600 predatory lenders as vendors with the Federal Housing Administration.

Political analysts have said a major void in the Obama Administration has been its apparent inability to blast its message of successes to supporters. Rather, Republican criticism on almost every issue and Black criticism of the persistently high unemployment rate have dominated the news.

White House representatives acknowledged that there is much pain in Black America; therefore much to be done.

“Obviously, we have enormous challenges,” President Obama said in a surprise speech to the crowd, which received him with rock star applause and cheers. “The unemployment rate in the African-American community has always historically been higher than the norm.  And since the unemployment rate generally is high right now, it is way too high when it comes to the African-American community.  Many of the challenges that existed before the crisis have been worsened with respect to opportunities for decent housing, with respect to making sure that our schools are equipped to prepare our kids for the 21st century. So we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

That work must include help for people in the very grassroots, said Gary Flowers, executive director of the Black Leadership Forum. Flowers – who has been to the White House more than 40 times over the past three years - says he is pleased with the level of access to African-Americans that the White House has offered, but it must now transfer to change for the better in the Black community.

“Many of our people are still hemorrhaging. They’re hemorrhaging from loss of home, loss of jobs, and loss of hope in some areas,” Flowers said. “And if we want to turn out this sector of the electorate, then we have to get people at the barber shop level. Policies are good, wherein they affect people in the middle class, but we have to boldly use the word poverty again...Until they are doing well at the barber shop and the grassroots level, there is still going to be an inordinate [amount]of pain in the Black community.”

Flowers said he would encourage the President to continue using his power to sign executive orders to go around the Congressional stalemate that slowed down his American Jobs Act.

Other Black leaders in the audience included Ralph Everett, president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies; Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter; and author and radio talk show host Michael Eric Dyson.

The conference was led by Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to President Obama, who in final remarks the Administrative had met its goal with the summit.

“We think it was a productive day. We did a lot of listening. We have some great ideas. Together, we are confident that we’re going to move our country forward,” she said. “But as we all know, we still have a long way to go.”

Michael Strautmanis, White House director of African American Outreach, said the participants at the conference were mostly people who had visited the White House frequently for briefings or to give input on policy. The only thing new about the gathering was that everyone came together at the same time, he said.

“I know it’s going to have an impact because we’ve done this since day one. We have not done it in a large setting where we’ve brought everybody together,” he said. “Ideas that come from community are ideas that we want to implement swiftly.”

He concluded that the purpose had been met. That was to “shine a spotlight on the successes and the work that we must continue to do now, together.”

Boxers; Even Former Opponents Mourn Smokin' Joe Frazier

Boxers; Even Former Opponents Mourn Smokin' Joe Frazier

joe_frazier_order_of_the_palmetto

Frazier was awarded the Order of the Palmetto in Beaufort, South Carolina in 2010. (Courtesy Photo/commons.wikimedia.org)

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

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Several boxing greats expressed their bereavement following the death of Smokin’ Joe Frazier including the former heavyweight champ’s most famous adversary. “The world has lost a great champion. I will always remember Joe with respect and admiration,” Muhammad Ali said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. “My sympathy goes out to his family and loved ones.”

Frazier died on Nov. 7 following a short battle with liver cancer. The 67-year-old was famous for the legendary Fight of the Century at New York's Madison Square Garden in 1971, where he took down Ali in the 15th round and became the heavyweight division champ.

Born in Beaufort, S.C. in 1944, Frazier received early success in boxing as an amateur fighter throughout the 1960s. After receiving the USA's Olympic boxing gold medal in 1964, he embarked on a professional career and set his base in Philadelphia.

Following his triumph against Ali, he lost his title in 1973 to George Foreman.

Ali and Frazier were pitted against each other two more times. Prior to the famous matches, Ali became notorious for his stinging verbal attacks against Frazier. He called him ugly, compared him to a gorilla and said he was an Uncle Tom.

The second fight took place in New York in 1974, where Ali won in a 12-round decision. Their third and final match was the 1975 "Thrilla in Manila" in the Philippines. Though Frazier appeared to have the upper hand during the middle rounds, Ali later dominated the match for four rounds and ultimately won.

In the '80s, he lost against Foreman in a rematch and retired after losing a fight against Jumbo Cummings in 1981.

In his later years, Frazier stayed active on the autograph circuit. In September, he signed autographs prior to the Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Victor Ortiz fight.

Fellow Philadelphia fighter Bernard Hopkins said Frazier was a "special person" who was often "taken for granted."

"There is no way in the world you should come to Philadelphia and not recognize who Joe Frazier is," Philly boxer Bernard Hopkins said in a statement, according to ESPN. "It's a perfect time to build the biggest statue in appreciation for all the heart and love he gave to Philadelphia. It's Just to say how we regret when it's not there to touch and see. I said this when he was living, I say this now."

Foreman also expressed his bereavement and issued a final message to his former opponent on Twitter.

“Good night Joe Frazier. I love you dear friend,” he tweeted.

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