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President Obama to Attend CBCF Phoenix Awards Dinner

President Obama to Attend CBCF Phoenix Awards Dinner

Four to Receive Prestigious Awards Recognizing Contributions to America 

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George Foreman

josephlowery

Rev. Joseph Lowery

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U. S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.)

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Lisa P. Jackson

(WASHINGTON) – The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation has confirmed that President Barack Obama is scheduled to attend the Annual Phoenix Awards Dinner Saturday, September 24. The dinner concludes the Foundation’s 41st Annual Legislative Conference (ALC).  President Obama is scheduled to address more than 3,000 expected attendees at the evening’s event.

ALC provides an outlet to highlight the mission of CBCF – to develop leaders, to inform policy and to educate the public - by providing more than 80-high level, thought-provoking forums to address the critical challenges facing the African-American Diaspora. This year, thousands are expected to reflect on the conference’s theme: iLead|iServe. ALC attendees will have many opportunities to share their thoughts and experiences on leadership and service – how and why they do it, the value of each, and the impact of each within their lives and their communities. The conference will use social media, a town hall meeting, brain trusts and personal interaction to further encourage discussions and follow-up conversations among attendees.

Four distinguished individuals will receive the prestigious Phoenix Awards at Saturday evening’s dinner. They are Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson; U.S. Representative and civil rights activist John Lewis; athlete and humanitarian George Edward Foreman, Sr; and civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery.

President Obama himself was the recipient of the Phoenix Award in 2008, which recognizes individuals for their efforts and accomplishments that have made significant contributions to society, and symbolizes the immortality of the human spirit and an eternal desire to reach its full potential.

In addition, the six surviving founders of the Congressional Black Caucus CBC will be honored during the evening, in recognition of the 40th anniversary of CBC. Actor and activist Hill Harper and WJLA veteran evening news anchor Maureen Bunyan will serve as co-emcees.

For more information about the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and the Phoenix Awards Dinner visit www.cbcfinc.org.

To register for ALC – http://www.cbcfinc.org/registration-2011.html

Media may register at http://cbcfinc.org/media-registration-2011.html

Twitter – www.twitter.com/CBCFInc (#41stALC)   Facebook – www.facebook.com/CBCFInc

Bowie State Stabbing Casts a Pall Over Homecoming

Sept. 18, 2011
 
Bowie State Stabbing Casts a Pall Over Homecoming
 
By DeRell Bonner and Brittney Hicks
Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Howard University News Service
 
 
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Dominique Frazier would have celebrated her 19th birthday on Sunday.  PHOTO: Maya Rhodan, Howard University News Service
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A bouquet of flowers expressed the grief at Bowie State as students coped with the violent loss of a fellow student.
PHOTO: DeRell Bonner/Howard University News Service
(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Some students at Bowie State University tried to focus on touchdowns over tragedy for a little while as their football team took on Livingstone College in their homecoming game Saturday. Since Thursday night, Sept. 15, the campus has been coping with the stabbing death of student, Dominique Frazier, allegedly at the hands of a roommate.
"I never thought the last time she said goodbye would be the last time she said goodbye," said Chidi Essinen, who had been friends with Frazier since last year. Essinen said that Frazier had her own style and was different than other young women on campus. 
 
"It's just crazy," said Jirae Foster, a senior from Charles County, Md., who lives on the fifth floor of the residence hall where Frazier was killed. "We don't have a lot of crime, you know, just a few cases of petty theft, a few fights, but never something like this."
 
Another student, Erika General, agreed. "I don't think the university should be judge on one act of a student," she said.
A Safe Haven 
Violent crime is highly unusual at this 146-year-old historically Black university. According to university crime statistics through 2009, the highest number of incidents occurred in 2007 with 46 burglaries, nine vehicle thefts and five robberies. In terms of personal violence, aggravated assaults averaged eight a year and three forcible sex offenses were reported in 2009. Categories involving death and those for many other crimes showed no incidents. 
 
Founded in 1865, the university sits on 295 acres on the northern edge of the Bowie, Md., a suburban community halfway between the state capital in Annapolis and the nation's capital in Washington, D.C. Bowie State has fewer than 6,000 students, only a fourth of whom live on campus. Commuters and non-commuters alike consider it a safe haven. Based on interviews and comments on Twitter, their biggest concerns lately ranged from homework to homecoming. All of that changed on Thursday night.
 
The next day, Maryland State Police charged Alexis D. Simpson, 19, with first-degree murder, second-degree murder and first-degree assault. Simpson is one of three students who shared a four-bedroom suite with Frazier on the second floor of the apartment-style Christa McAuliffe Residential Community. Originally from District Heights, Md., she is being held without bond at Prince George's County Detention Center.
Eyewitness Accounts 
According to District Court documents, witnesses told police that Frazier and Simpson had been arguing during the past week. Frazier was in her bedroom and playing music in one of the suite's two bathrooms as the students prepared to attend a comedy show as part of the homecoming activities. Simpson shut down the iPod and responded "no" when students asked her to turn the music back on, witnesses said.
 
Frazier began arguing with Simpson in the hallway, and then they started fighting. One witness told police she was assaulted as she tried to break up the fight, but she was able to push Simpson into her bedroom and close the door. The witnesses said Simpson returned, swinging a knife. Frazier grabbed her throat, staggered into the hall and collapsed.
 
"It took the police a really long time to get here," said Taylor Hamilton. a sophomore music tech major who also lived in Frazier's dorm. "I mean, she was just laying out."
 
Prince George's County Police received a 911 call "just after 8 p.m.," state police said. "University police officers were also notified and were the first to arrive on the scene." Frazier was pronounced dead at about 8:44 p.m. at Prince George's Hospital Center, police said.
Unaware of Tragedy 
Some students attended the comedy show Thursday night, unaware of the tragedy on campus. As word spread, however, Frazier's death dampened spirits and raised fears. Bowie State cancelled classes and a pep rally on Friday. Instead, the university made counselors available to help grieving students, who paid tribute to Frazier during an afternoon memorial and later that evening at a homecoming fashion show.
 
"As far as them canceling events, I don't think she would've wanted that," Hamilton said of Frazier. "She seemed pretty excited about homecoming in her tweets."
Police are still investigating the case, checking into various accounts of the women's relationship and incidents leading up to the altercation.
 
"There are so many versions of the story," said one student who declined to give her name. "They were having problems since they moved in."
 
"She stabbed her out of self-defense, because she was getting jumped," the student said of Simpson.
A Welcome Diversion
Frazier "was a victim of anger misdirection," said Elijah Harvey, who graduated from Bowie State in 2006 with a degree in communications. "The school needs a service that provides psychiatric help if they don't already have one."
 
The resumption of homecoming activities, including today's parade, game and step show, has been a welcome diversion, helping students take their minds off the stabbing, they said.
"Though it kind of brought down the spirit of homecoming in a sense," Foster explained, "it also brought on a little bit more unity." 

African-American Poverty Hits Highest Point in Years

Sept. 18, 2011

African-American Poverty Hits Highest Point in Years

More Than a Quarter of Blacks at the Poverty Level

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Afro American Newspapers
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Millions of African-Americans are lining up applying for unemployment benefits. COURTESY PHOTO
 
(TriceEdneyWire.com) -The poverty rate for African Americans has reached 27.4 percent, the highest level in four years, according to figures compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau this week.

“The figures are both startling and very telling,” said Rev. Derrick Boykin, associate for African-American Leadership Outreach at Bread for the World, said in a statement. “That the African-American poverty rate is twice as high as the poverty rate for whites reveals that African-Americans continue to suffer disproportionately from social injustices.”

This report comes as President Obama launched his push for passage of the American Jobs Act, the administration’s approach to turning around what Boykin and scores of other poverty analysts and African American leaders label the dire state of the economy. Obama is now on a nationwide tour talking up the merits of the legislation as he and legislators on Capitol Hill know that Americans need jobs.

“[The American Jobs Act] puts more people back to work, and it puts more money back into the pockets of working Americans,” Obama said at a speech at North Carolina State University. “Everything in this proposal, everything in this legislation, everything in the American Jobs Act is the kind of proposal that in the past, at least, has been supported by Democrats and Republicans. Everything in it will be paid for.”

According to the census, the 27.4 percent number for Blacks is higher than that for Whites at 13 percent, Asians at 12.1 percent and Latinos at 26.6 percent. Those numbers have some in the Congressional Black Caucus asking why Obama has taken so long to address the poor and specifically the plight of Blacks in America.

“The bottom line is if I can create jobs and I can get people employed, I want that very badly,” Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) told Loop 21.

In the meantime, poor people in America need to be taken care of and Boykin says it’s imperative that Congress supports social programs that will help people live somewhat comfortably.

“If it weren’t for safety net programs like WIC, SNAP, and others, many more African-American households would be suffering,” Boykin continued. “We urge the [Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction] to consider other alternatives to cutting programs that support vulnerable people as lawmakers work to reduce our nation’s deficit.”

Study Debunks Racial Minority Financial Aid Myth

Sept. 17, 2011

Study Debunks Racial Minority Financial Aid Myth

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Louisiana Weekly

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - A new report by financial aid and college planning author, Mark Kantrowitz, challenges the assumption that college grant money flows disproportionately to members of racial minority groups.

Kantrowitz, an ABD in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University, says his paper presents data concerning the distribution of grants and scholarships by race. It debunks the race myth, which claims that minority students receive more than their fair share of scholarships.

The scholarship advantage is also prevalent among colleges and universities that award merit scholarships. White students, according to the study, receive 76 percent of all merit scholarships from colleges even though they represent 62 percent of students. Minority students receive 24.4 percent of scholarships from colleges even though they represent 38 percent of the student population.

“The reality is that minority students are less likely to win private scholarships or receive merit-based institutional grants than Caucasian students. Adds Kantrowitz, “Cau­casian students receive more than three-quarters (76 percent) of all institutional merit-based scholarship and grant funding, even though they represent less than two-thirds (62 percent) of the student population. Caucasian students are 40 percent more likely to win private scholarships than minority students.”

Money flows to students of different races roughly in proportion to their representation in the overall postsecondary population: white students make up roughly three-fifths (61.8 percent) of all students, and they receive about that amount of all total grant funding (59.3 percent). Various minority groups also receive proportions of grant funding that track their representation among all students (Hispanic students make up 14.1 percent of students and receive that proportion of grant aid, etc.). Kantrowitz says hat’s more or less as it should be.

NAACP Fights for Life of Troy Davis as Georgia Sets Execution Date by Hazel Trice Edney

NAACP Fights for Life of Troy Davis as Georgia Sets Execution Date

By Hazel Trice Edney

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Troy Davis

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Despite significant doubt that he committed the crime, Troy Davis, convicted in the 1989 murder of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail, is set to be executed by the state of Georgia on Sept. 21.

The NAACP, which has fought long for a new trial in the Davis case, has escalated the campaign to save his life.

“This is our justice system at its very worst, and we are alive to witness it. There is just too much doubt,” said NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous, in a statement. “Time is running out, and this is truly Troy’s last chance for life.”

Here is the situation as outlined by the NAACP:

  • Seven out of nine witnesses have recanted their statements.
  • Several more have come forward to identify one of the two remaining witnesses as the actual killer.
  • Earlier this summer, the judge in his final hearing labeled the case against Troy as “not ironclad.”

Savannah police officer Mark Allen MacPhail was gunned down on Aug. 19, 1989 while he worked as a part-time security guard. Several of the people who recanted their testimonies cited police pressure to fabricate statements. To date, there is no physical evidence connecting Mr. Davis to the crime, says the National Coalition for the Abolishment of the Death Penalty.

Still, the state of Georgia is set to execute Davis in just days. A hearing by the Board of Pardons and Parole is set for Sept. 19 at 9 a.m. There, Davis’ life could be spared.

Calling the public ‘Troy’s only hope,” Jealous offered four ways that people can help:

1. Send a letter of support to Troy Davis, which can be posted at to action.naacp.org/letters of support.

2. Sign the petition to the board of pardons at action.naacp.org/name-Wall.

3. And spread the word on Facebook and Twitter so that his story will spread.

4. Urge others to take action in the case.

Jealous is appealing for a nationwide movement to save Davis’ life. Georgia grassroots activists are especially mobilized:

“I feel strongly that Troy’s execution on the twenty-first of this month should be given a stay and that he should be given an opportunity to have a second trial or granted clemency,” says David Williams, president of the Albany-Dougherty NAACP.

Williams said members of the community are moving strongly in support of the life-saving mission, including prayer services by pastors and several rallies, which have been scheduled by the Georgia State NAACP Conference.

Citing the passion behind the case, Williams said the Pastor of one Albany Church, Rev. James Bush of Pine Chapel, stopped their regular service on Sunday for an impromptu five-minute prayer service for Davis asking for mercy “from the Lord to prevail in this case and for justice to be served and not execute an innocent person.”

This moment comes after a number of twists and turns in the case. In 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered that an evidentiary hearing be held to examine the recantations by the trial witnesses. But, the conviction was upheld late last year by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.

Some of the activities on the calendar of events include the following:

  • Wednesday, September 14: Student Teach-In at College Campuses across state, including 7:00 pm Savannah State University.
  • Thursday, September 15: Petition Delivery to the Board of Pardons and Parole 10:30 am, Atlanta.
  • Friday, September 16: Savannah Solidarity Bus Send Off at 12 noon, Jackson Square, Bay Street, Savannah.
  • Friday, September 16: Also March and Prayer Service, 6:00 pm Woodruff Park; 7:00 pm Ebenezer Baptist Church 407 Auburn Avenue Northeast in Atlanta.
  • Saturday, September 17: Unity Prayer Service, St. Phillips Monumental AME Church, 1112 Jefferson Street, Savannah.
  • Sunday, September 18: Local church leafleting across the state.
  • Monday, September 19: Board of Pardons and Parole Hearing, Atlanta.

Among other the leading organizations involved in the campaign for justice for Troy Davis are Amnesty International USA,  People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, and the National Coalition for the Abolishment of the Death Penalty.

The execution is set for Wednesday, September 21, at 6 p.m. at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, Ga., where Davis has been incarcerated since his conviction in 1991.

“After reviewing the evidence, I am convinced that Troy Davis is an innocent man,” Jealous says in a release. “It is appalling to me that with so much doubt surrounding this case, Mr. Davis is set to be executed…Justice will never be served by the state-sanctioned murder of an innocent man.”

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