Investing in Low Income Black Youth is the Key to Ending Black-on-Black Violence by A. Peter Bailey

Reality Check

Investing in Low Income Black Youth is the Key to Ending Black-on-Black Violence
By A. Peter Bailey

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Since the 1970s, we Black folks have resolutely refused to organize a national unity movement to promote and protect our cultural, economic, political, educational, health and legal interest in what is still basically a White supremacist/racist country. One of the most significant and very harmful results of our refusal is the much too high rate of homicides in too many urban areas throughout the country. The following four points are suggestions on how we can at least begin to deal with the extremely negative situation.

Point number one requires us to diagnose things accurately which is that the overwhelming majority of the killings involve low-income Black males killing other low-income Black males. If they were killing Whites of any income or social class at that rate, they would be stopped by the authorities by any means necessary.

If they were killing male members from Black middle and upper income families they would be stopped. If the authorities didn’t stop them, middle and upper income Black folks would create a way to stop them. Low income Black males should be told, “You're being allowed to kill each other and most people in this country don’t give a damn. In fact most of them probably say ‘good riddance.’”

Which brings me to the second point. Those low income Black males should be made aware that by doing what you are doing—wreaking havoc in your own neighborhoods - you have, for all practical purposes, become allies of those forces out to do us harm. I wouldn’t be surprised that when reading the monthly homicide statistics in places like Chicago, New Orleans and other urban centers, many Whites don’t slap fives and have parties celebrating the loss of so many Black lives taken by other Black people.

Point number three is that if the injustices of the system play a pivotal role in low income Black males killing each other at the rate they are doing then they should be told to direct their rage at those who control the system or at least look like those who control the system.

Finally, point number four is that we as a people must do much more than we are doing to guide and nourish our young people. As a group we have sufficient resources to set up a space where young people can do what young people, especially teenagers, are doing and always will do, which is hang out. Every major urban neighborhood should/must have a space where youngsters can relax, learn and grow under loving and nurturing adult supervision. Collectively, we have the resources to create such places. What is lacking is the will and the vision. We are now paying a steep price for not having both during the last 40 years.

The space doesn’t have to be lavish, just a safe comfortable space where they can socialize, be made cognizant of their worth to the community and taught marketable skills needed to take care of themselves, their families and their neighborhoods.

A. Peter Bailey, whose latest book is Witnessing Brother Malcolm X, the Master Teacher, can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Chicago is Desperate for Action By Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.

May 14, 2016

Chicago is Desperate for Action
By Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Chicago, America’s third largest city, is plagued by violence and poverty, made worse by racial and class divisions. A poll just released by the Kaiser Foundation and the New York Times depicts a city that is losing faith in its basic public institutions from the police to the mayor’s office. The vast majority think the city is on the wrong track, with the greatest unity found in their unfavorable opinion about the job Mayor Rahm Emanuel is doing.

Chicago has nearly equal numbers of black, Hispanic and white residents, but they live largely in separate sides of town and in separate realities. African-Americans and Latinos are far unhappier with basic aspects of their neighborhoods, from parks to public schools. Crime and violence is the biggest issue for all Chicagoans, but while 41 percent of blacks think their neighborhoods are not safe or not too safe, only 17 percent of whites share their fears. In the wake of the Laquan McDonald shooting — where a teenager was shot 16 times and killed by a white Chicago policeman, Chicagoans believe the police are biased, unaccountable and badly in need of reform.

On the poverty-ridden south and west sides of town, parents fear for the young. Among African-Americans, overwhelming majorities worry that it is likely or very likely that a young person in their neighborhood will end up in a gang (75 percent), abuse alcohol or drugs (83 percent), got to jail (81 percent) or be a victim of violence (86 percent). These are measures of despair.

The Kaiser/NYT poll only documents what we already knew. It details the “whereas.” Any statement of action begins with the whereas — whereas this is true, and this is true — detailing the conditions that demand action.

What is missing in Chicago isn’t evidence of the whereas, it is the plan for the “therefore.” Whereas these conditions are unjust and unsustainable, therefore we will take the following actions. On police reform, Chicago is beginning to see the first stirrings of reform, although nothing close to the comprehensive reforms demanded by the mayor’s own independent commission.

But on violence, crime, jobs, housing, public schools, parks, trash removal, violence and drugs, there is no plan for action, no “therefore” to address the wretched whereas. In Chicago, 60 percent of whites think their neighborhood is a good or excellent place to raise children. Seventy percent of blacks think their neighborhood is only fair or poor (nearly half — 44 percent — say poor). More than two-thirds would rather live somewhere else.

Blacks and Latinos in Chicago believe that the mayor does not care about people like them. While a majority of whites believe he cares, nearly two-thirds of black think he does not. The lack of action is assumed to express a lack of concern.

Look across the country at our major cities: Chicago is not alone. The problems of racial isolation, entrenched poverty, bad schools and lousy services, dangerous streets, guns and drugs plague many of our cities. The “therefore” ought to be a national initiative, driving state and local activity, on jobs and urban development. But Washington is dysfunctional, with even minor reforms held hostage by the obstructionist Congress. President Obama has chosen not to put this high on his priorities. And the rich and entrenched interests that dominate our politics continue to ignore the misery.

But a whereas without a therefore isn’t a stable reality. Trapped people with no hope are like dry kindling, susceptible to any spark. If the powerful don’t leave people with hope, people will express their despair. Real action — a serious plan for reform with the resources needed to provide it — is long past due.

Oprah Will Star in Movie About Henrietta Lacks, Whose Cancer Cells Launched Multimillion-dollar Bioscience Industry By Frederick H. Lowe

May 9, 2016

Oprah Will Star in Movie About Henrietta Lacks, Whose Cancer Cells Launched Multimillion-dollar Bioscience Industry
By Frederick H. Lowe

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from NorthStarNewsToday.com

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Oprah Winfrey will star in an HBO movie based on the 2010 nonfiction book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot.

Lacks was an African-American woman whose cancerous cells launched the multimillion-dollar bioscience industry that her family did not learn about until 20 years after her death.

Lacks’ cancerous cells were cultured without her knowledge or permission at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. The cells were given to Dr. George Otto Gey, a researcher there.

Gey discovered the first immortal cell line for medical research, which is known as HeLa (Henrietta Lacks). Unlike other cells that died after a few days, Lacks’ cells continued to grow.

Used for the Polio vaccine

By 1954, the HeLa strain of cells was being used by Jonas Salk to develop a vaccine for polio. To test Salk’s new vaccine, the cells were quickly put into mass production in the first-ever cell production factory. In 1955, HeLa cells were the first human cells successfully cloned.

Lacks’ family, however, couldn’t afford health insurance. The family never benefitted from the money made from the discoveries.

The story will be told through the eyes of Lacks’ daughter, Deborah, played by Winfrey. In addition to Deborah, Lacks’ other children were Lawrence, David Jr., Joseph and Elisie. Her husband was David Lacks, Sr.

Henrietta Lacks died on October 4, 1951. She was buried in a grave without a headstone. In 2010, Dr. Roland Pattillo of Morehouse School of Medicine donated a headstone, after reading Skloot’s book.

A historical marker memorializing her has been installed in Lackstown, Va., a section of Clover, Va., her hometown.

In 1996, Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta and the mayor of Atlanta recognized Henrietta Lacks’ family for her posthumous contributions to medicine and health research.

On September 14, 2011, the Board of Directors of of the Evergreen School District in Vancouver, Washington, named a new health and bioscience high school in her honor. The new school opened in the fall of 2013 and is named Henrietta Lacks Health and Bioscience High School.

George C. Wolfe, a veteran Broadway director and producer, will direct the HBO project, which is scheduled to begin filming this summer. Oprah is the film’s executive producer. The film’s release date has not been scheduled.

Jobless Rate for Black Men Jumps

May 10, 2016

Jobless Rate for Black Men Jumps

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from NorthStarNewsToday.com

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - April’s unemployment rate for Black men 20 years old and older jumped to 9.5 percent from 8.7 percent in March, but the reasons for the bad news on the jobs’ front were unclear.

Black men’s labor-participation rate was 68.1 percent in April compared to 67.2 percent in March, BLS reported Friday. The labor-force participation rate is the percentage of the population that is either employed or unemployed.

BLS reported that 858,000 black men were unemployed in April compared to 768,000 in March. A person is considered unemployed if he is scanning websites for job openings.

Black men continue to suffer from the nation’s highest jobless rate compared with men in other racial and ethnic groups.

The unemployment rate for white men 20 years and older was 4.0 percent, and the jobless rate for Hispanics was 5.0 percent. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Asian unemployment rate was 3.8 percent but it is not clear if that figure applies only to men 20 and over.

The jobless rate for blacks overall moved in the opposite direction when compared to black men. The unemployment rate for black people in April was 8.8 percent compared to 9.0 percent in March. Some 1.7 million African Americans were unemployed in April compared to 1.8 million in March.

The jobless rate for black women 20 years old and older was 6.9 percent in April, down from 8.0 percent in March. Some 665,000 black women were unemployed in April, down from 792,000 in March.

The nation’s overall unemployment rate stayed at 5.0 percent as U.S. non-farm businesses added 160,000 jobs in April. Job gains occurred in professional and business services, health care and financial services.

The Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D. C.-based think tank, called the payroll report disappointing. EPI noted that as the country reaches full employment, job growth is expected to slow down, but the nation is not close enough to full employment to view the slow down as a positive move.In the first quarter of 2016, job growth averaged 203,000 and in the last quarter of 2015, job growth averaged 282,000.

Ignoring Mandatory Sign Up for Selective Service Damages the Future of Thousands by Jeremy Lazarus

May 8, 2016

Ignoring Mandatory Sign Up for Selective Service Damages the Future of Thousands
By Jeremy Lazarus

jacquel parker2
Jacquel Parker

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

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Register for Selective Service. Otherwise, you could ruin your life. Jacquel Parker wishes he could tell that to every young man turning 18.

That’s because the Richmond, Va. resident knows firsthand about the dismal impact that can come from failing to register with the Selective Service System before age 26. Parker never did — one of the millions across the nation who fail to register for a military draft that will never take place.

So now at 35, “I can’t get any federal help to go to college,” Parker said. That includes Pell grants and federal student loans to help cover the cost of schooling. Parker also cannot qualify for a federal job or work for a company carrying out a federal contract. He is barred from job training services from the area Workforce Resource Center and other beneficial services. People like Parker could also go to prison. The Selective Service notes that failure to register is a felony that carries up to a five-year prison term and a $250,000 fine, though no one has been prosecuted in decades.

That’s the law, according to the Selective Service System, even though there has been no conscription for the military since 1973. The draft was eliminated and the military has been a completely volunteer operation since then.

According to the most recent Selective Service report, an estimated 95,000 Virginia men who currently are between 18 and a day shy of their 26 birthday have not registered.
That’s 21 percent of the 440,000 men in that age range who are required to sign up.

Nationally, about 17 million men are in the age range to register, the Selective Service reports. But at least 2 million, or 12 percent, likely will not, according to officials.

Registration can be done online at www.SSS.gov, or forms may be filled out at post offices across the country or at the young men’s schools.

The law requires that young men register within 30 days of their 18th birthday. Yet, among the 2.1 million young men who turn 18 each year, 23 percent do not register, records show. Some states like Delaware have ensured nearly 100 percent compliance by making registration for the draft a requirement to obtain or renew a driver’s license.

But Virginia has ignored that kind of easy fix. The Virginia Department of Education has never made draft registration a requirement for high school graduation for students who are 18. About 13 percent of high schools nationally never mention the draft requirement, the Selective Service notes.

So far, Congress has refused to lighten the penalties or consider shutting down the standby draft and the requirement that men register. While women never had to register, legislation has been introduced in Congress to extend the requirement to young women now that the military has opened all of its posts, including combat, to females. But the legislation has yet to pass.

Parker learned he had a problem when, at age 27, he sought to enroll at Virginia Commonwealth University to earn a degree in business administration.

“All the paperwork was done, and then I got a call telling me I could not get a student loan because I hadn’t registered for the draft. I was shocked, but there was nothing to be done. I’ve tried and tried.”

Parker remembers being advised by his high school guidance counselor to register before he graduated in 1998.

“She didn’t explain it very well. I thought she was telling me I would have to go into the military,” said Parker, a graduate of Lindenhurst High School in New York City. He said he had relatives who had served, including his dad, who served in the Air Force, but “that was not for me.”

Before Parker finished high school, he had obtained his barber’s license and was working in his father’s shop.

“I was making money, life was good and I didn’t want to have anything to do with military. I just didn’t understand what it meant to register.”

Today, he would change that decision if he could.

“I wish there was some way to appeal, to undo the mistake, but I’m too old,” he said. “I wish I could go back. But unless something changes, I will have to live with my situation the rest of my life.”