A Misstep, and a Reset: Kudos, Obama!
By Julianne Malveaux

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - I was apprehensive when I learned that President Obama would give the commencement speech at Howard University this year.  I feared a repeat of his Morehouse speech, his yammering and scolding of African Americans in a manner so objectionable as to repulse.  The Morehouse speech was, charitably speaking, a misstep.  Would Howard be a reset? I was reminded that Ivory Toldson, a Howard University professor, leads the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and understood that Dr. Toldson might have had an opportunity to review the President’s speech.   I desperately wanted President Obama to knock his speech out of the park. Guess what?  He did.

He hit all the right notes.  He told students to celebrate their blackness their way.  He offered sage, but not scolding advice and seemed nowhere as condescending as he did at Morehouse.  I didn’t have the privilege of attending Howard’s commencement, but I had the opportunity to watch the President on television.  He rocked.  This was one of the moments when I wish I could give him a high five.

Perhaps President Obama’s last year will be his best year.  Perhaps the work he is doing on offering clemency for nonviolent drug offenders will expand.  While he has embraced the principle of pardons, he has offered fewer than 400 so far, even though more than 9000 may be eligible.  The Justice Department says it is “red tape” and “bureaucracy” that hampers the process, but Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe managed to cut through a lot of red tape by restoring voting rights to more than 200,000 felons in his state.   Let’s see if President Obama can be as creative as the Virginia governor in issuing a blanket order to pardon nonviolent drug offenders.  That would be historic.

There have been several historic and transformative moments in these last months of the Obama Presidency.  Executive Order 13658 provided a minimum wage of $10.10 for federal contract workers, an important initiative given that federal contractors earn millions of dollars in profits but often pay their lowest-level workers little more than the federal minimum wage of $7.25.  When they bid on contracts, the contracts are often awarded based on minimum bid, but minimum bid means minimum wage.  Absent an executive order setting a wage floor, the most exploitative employer is the one who gets the contract.

Similarly, Executive Order 13706 provides paid sick leave for those who work for federal contractors.  Again, these contractors would not provide such leave unless they were mandated to do so by executive order.  President Obama has pushed the envelope in determining that an employer or contractor has the right to include terms and conditions of work in a contract.  A low-bid contract must now include adequate pay, not minimum pay.  It is a step forward.
A recalcitrant Congress made it impossible for President Obama to change the terms and conditions of work for more workers, but the Executive Orders he issued set a tone for what one could consider an ideal workplace. Workers should have fair wages, sick leave, and other benefits that federal contractors are not likely to offer without incentives.  All workers should have these benefits, but they cannot be mandated without the concurrence of Congress.  In the same way that President Obama has spoke from his heart to Howard University students, he seems to have spoken from his principles to some workers.  Kudos.

Still, it is challenging for me to be satisfied by actions that come so late in this administration, a speech that comes after President Obama’s team has slashed the money available to HBCUs.  The soaring rhetoric of the Howard University commencement speech must be balanced by the gritty reality that too many students are leaving school because they cannot afford to pay tuition, and that even as students were walking across the state during graduation, some fraction of them would not receive diplomas because of their unpaid bills.

President Obama recovered from his Morehouse misstep with a Howard reset, but he still has half a year to do more.  If he would restore the dollars he took from HBCUs, he would leave a lasting legacy about being comfortable in his blackness.

Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist based in Washington, DC. Her latest book, “Are We Better Off? Race, Obama and Public Policy” is available via www.amazon.com or www.juliannemalveaux.com

May 15, 2016

New Study Shows Advances in Higher Education Outcomes for African-Americans
By Zenitha Prince

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

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education and the University of Pennsylvania’s Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy recently released a study examining trends in higher education based on family income, race/ethnicity, and family socioeconomic status. The report, “Indicators of Higher Education Equity in the United State — 2016 Historical Trend Report” highlights some bright spots but also some less positive trends.

For example, the report shows that while bachelor’s degree attainment rates have increased for all family income quartiles, the distribution of bachelor’s degree attainment between family income levels has remained relatively unchanged since 1970, with students from the top two income ranges garnering a majority (77 percent) of all degrees in 2014.

“Whether we believe that higher education is a civil right, an essential element of a full democratic society, or a fundamental requirement to enabling all to achieve the American dream, the 2016 Indicators Report shows that higher education opportunity and outcomes are highly inequitable across family income groups,” the report read.

“Moreover, on many indicators, gaps are larger now than in the past.” The report purports that the disinvestment of state funds from public institutions and declining federal aid lent toward the income inequities. On a more positive note, the report does indicate that college enrollment and degree attainment rates among Black students have increased.

For example, in 1970, almost one-third of Black high school graduates enrolled in college and, by 2014, that figure rose to 58 percent.

May 15, 2016

Federal Grand Jury Indicts Former South Carolina Cop 
By Frederick H. Lowe

Michael Slager in prison clothes.

Walter Scott

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from NorthStarNewsToday.com

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Michael Slager, a former North Charleston, S.C., police officer, who is charged with murder in the 2015 shooting death of an unarmed black motorist, was indicted May 11 by a federal grand jury for the deadly shooting.

The grand jury charged that Slager used excessive force when he shot and killed Walter Scott without legal justification. Slager also was charged with obstruction of justice for making false statements to South Carolina Law Enforcement Division investigators with intent to impede the investigation into the shooting.

The indictment also charged that Slager intentionally mislead investigators when he told them Scott, armed with a laser, was running towards him when he fired his gun.

Scott was killed after he was shot five times in the back. The shooting was captured on cell phone video, turning Slager into a lair over the Internet. He was later arrested. Slager stopped Scott’s car for a broken brake light.

Scott, fearing he was about to be arrested for failing to pay child support, jumped out of his car and ran. Slager then fired eight shots at him.

Scott was shot to death on April 4, 2015. A year later, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund posted on its website “The First Anniversary of the death Walter Scott: Renewing the Call for Police Reform.”

Since Scott’s murder, city officials have not implemented any meaningful police reforms, civil rights officials report.

If Slager is convicted on the federal charges, he faces life in prison. He also faces state murder charges.

Slager had been released on bail, but he is expected to be arrested again on the federal charges.

May 15, 2016

Lupus’ Disproportionate Impact on Women and Minorities Must Be Known

Steven Owens

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - May is Lupus Awareness Month and on May 20^th specifically, health advocates and those directly or indirectly impacted by the disease called lupus will Put On Purple to raise awareness and to support the millions of people who are affected by the disease. For far too long, many Americans have remained unaware that more than 1.5 million people, mostly women, are affected by lupus, and that it is the leading cause of kidney disease, stroke, and heart disease. How many people know that women of color are two to three times more likely to develop lupus than Caucasian women?  Sadly, many in the communities most affected, and even those within the medical community, are far less educated about the signs and symptoms of lupus than other equally and less threatening medical conditions.

Lupus has been called “a mystery disease” by researchers and physicians. It is a chronic, autoimmune disease with no cure that can damage any part of the body, including skin, joints and organs. It can even lead to death. It can take up to six years to diagnose if the medical provider is not familiar with its symptoms. There is no cure for lupus but there is hope! With early detection, managed care, reducing stress, and following a healthy diet and exercise plan, individuals with lupus, especially women, can strive for optimal health.

The Directors of Health Promotion and Education (DHPE), along with other national and community-based organizations, is leading a campaign to increase awareness of the signs and symptoms of lupus, to improve rates of early detection and early treatment so that patients with this condition have a better chance of living long, healthier lives. The campaign targets women of color who are at an increased risk for lupus and focuses on educating public health professionals and primary care providers of the signs and symptoms of lupus as well. Individuals experiencing the following symptoms should discuss the possibility of lupus with their health care provider:

•           Achy, Painful or Swollen Joints;

•           Extreme Fatigue or Weakness;

•           Sudden, Unexplained Hair Loss;

•           Photosensitivity or Sensitivity to Sunlight;

•           Chest Pains; and

•           Anemia.

This May, DHPE and other partner organizations want to be sure that lupus doesn’t take the back seat but rather gets just as much attention as other chronic medical conditions that disproportionately affect women and minority populations. In the same way that we support awareness and the funding of research for other diseases that devastate families, we need many more community leaders, health care institutions, health educators and medical professionals to rally around this effort to raise funds and support lupus awareness activities. Secondly, there is a need for increased participation in clinical trials from within the African American, Hispanic/Latina, Asian and Native American communities so that we can better understand this disease and more effectively diagnose and develop treatment plans.

Especially in minority communities, it is well known that women are usually the backbone and the glue that keep their families together. So, there is even more at stake if we don’t bring lupus to the forefront of community health advocacy.  We must all play our part to increase funding and education about lupus, early diagnosis and treatment, and participation in lupus research in support of the people we love.

DHPE calls on women of color and health practitioners to join us on Put on Purple Day on Friday, May 20^th, to raise awareness about lupus and in particular how women of color are disproportionately impacted by this disease.  Encourage your organization, friends and loved ones to wear purple, in unity with and support of, those living with lupus.

Grab your camera, phone, or tablet and share your own “This is Why I Put On Purple” story with a photo!  Be sure to share your organization’s Put on Purple participation on social media and use the hashtags: #dhpePOP and #dhpelupus.  Whether you are living with lupus, caring for patients, researching a cure or know someone with the disease, it touches everyone. Join DHPE and the lupus community and learn the signs and symptoms of lupus today!

DHPE, a national public health association, was recently funded by the Office of Minority Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, to implement a national lupus health education program. To learn more about lupus, visit www.lupus.org. For more information on the DHPE LEAP Program, visit www.bit.ly/dhpelupus or email LEAP Program Manager Thometta Cozart, MS, MPH at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Steven Owens, MD, MPH, MA is director of Health Equity, Directors of Health Promotion & Education