Urban News Features

Change By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

April 23, 2016

Change
By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Change (verb): To make the form...of something different from what it is or from what it would be if left alone: ...to change the course of history. (Dictionary.com)

I accept as completely valid that all things will inevitably change – and that change isn't necessarily bad. Accordingly, I'm pleased with recent, little-known “culture war” changes that have been made and with the attitude shifts that have resulted from these changes. Some of these changes seem insignificant or too small to warrant broader consideration from the public, but we know that progress starts with a single step, often the smallest. I pray that these changes will spawn a new consciousness and outlook in bringing resolution to our national curse - our inability to honestly deal with race. Allow me to expand the thought.

Let’s begin in Prince William County, Virginia, a suburban area of Metropolitan Washington DC. In a recent action orchestrated and requested by a group of dedicated citizens, the local school board renamed the Mills E. Godwin Middle School in honor of local citizen, Dr. George M. Hampton.

The significance? Mills E. Godwin is an ex-Governor of Virginia and leader of the "Massive Resistance Movement" launched to thwart the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. His political cronies and he closed public schools and diverted tax-payer dollars to fund "white-only" private schools. Many African-American students were denied an education or had their studies delayed for years.

The alternative? Dr. George M. Hampton is an 87 year-old African-American philanthropist and educator who is politically and civically active for the betterment of his county and for citizens of color living therein. This "simple" act of name-changing represents the community's rejection of a legacy of racism and the establishment of a new, living image of character, conduct and academic achievement for the Hampton Middle School students who are predominantly African-American and Hispanic.

For the unfamiliar, Amherst College is a small, Massachusetts college which is ranked the 2^nd best liberal arts college in the country by U. S. News & World Report and 9^th of all U.S. colleges and universities by Forbes Magazine in 2015. Their original mascot was "Lord Jeff," named in honor of Lord Jeffery Amherst, for whom the town and college are named. Lord Jeffery's notorious claim to fame is that, as a senior British officer during The French and Indian War, he ordered the delivery of blankets laden with the smallpox virus to native tribes. The disease laid waste to innumerable natives who had no natural defenses to the disease.

An overwhelming vote by students and faculty to vacate the mascot was made official on January 26, 2016 after students at this majority-white institution protested the message of racism projected in honoring the genocidal acts of "Lord Jeff."

Now, we have learned that the image of Harriet Tubman, Moses of The Underground Railroad, will replace that of Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill and that images of notable suffragettes will adorn the back of the $10 bill.

The overall meaning of this change? In difference to his popular image, Jackson, through his actions and directing actions of others, represents a history of staggering brutality and savagery against native tribes. He was also an unrepentant slave-owner and supporter of that institution. By contrast, Ms Tubman's efforts to secure freedom for those held in slavery and her work for the Union Army are more consistent with the ethos of our nation.

Moreover, the images on the reverse of the $10 bill will enhance our appreciation of contributions of women to national development and prosperity. It's hoped these "visual reminders" will dispel stereotypes which limit the groups represented by these changes.

Change can be very good and, if lessons are learned, can lead us past intolerance to mutual respect.

(Dr. E. Faye Williams is President of the National Congress of Black Women. 202-678-6788. www.nationalcongressbw.org)

Still Bolstered by the Black Vote, Clinton Wins New York as Campaigns Head for the Home Stretch by Hazel Trice Edney

April 20, 2016

Still Bolstered by the Black Vote, Clinton Wins New York as Campaigns Head for the Home Stretch
By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The contest for the next president of the United States took a significant turn this week as Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton both trounced their opponents in a New York primary contest that had been widely viewed as pivotal.

Clinton, a former New York senator, secretary of state and first lady, beat Sen. Bernie Sanders handily despite large and excited crowds that cheered him in days leading to Tuesday’s primary. Clinton won 57.9 percent to Sanders’ 42.1 percent. Clinton now has 1,424 delegages to Sanders' 1,149. With super delegates who have committed to voting for Clinton, she actually has 1,893 if they remain loyal. It takes 2,393 to win the nomination.

Where Clinton and Sanders appeared to split the White vote right down the middle, Clinton clearly led with at least 75 percent of Black voters, according to widespread reports based on exit polls.

“The race for the Democratic nomination is in home stretch and victory is in sight”, Clinton joyously announced.

“Senator Cruz is just about mathematically eliminated,” proclaimed Trump, a native New Yorker and billionaire entrepreneur, who reaped a whopping 60.5 percent of the votes over 25.1 percent for John Kasich and only 14.5 percent of Sen. Ted Cruz. Cruz had been gaining significantly behind Trump in delegates. Trump now has 845 of the 1,237 it would take to win the nomination. Cruz has 559 and Kasich has 147.

After this presidential campaign that has been largely marked by scathing personal attacks and name-calling, political viewers will now watch closely as the candidates compete in the final states until June 14. And then on to the Republican National Convention July 18 in Cleveland and the Democratic National Convention starting July 25 in Philadelphia where the party nominees are slated to be selected. The following is the schedule of final primaries and caucus for both parties:

April 26 – Connecticut Republican and Democratic primaries, Delaware Republican and Democratic primaries, Maryland Republican and Democratic primaries, Pennsylvania Republican and Democratic primaries, Rhode Island Republican and Democratic primaries

May 3 – Indiana Republican and Democratic primaries

May 7 – Guam Democratic caucuses

May 10 – Nebraska Republican primary, West Virginia Republican and Democratic primaries

May 17 – Oregon Republican and Democratic primaries Kentucky Democratic primary

May 24 – Washington Republican primary

June 4 – U.S. Virgin Islands Democratic caucuses

June 5 – Puerto Rico Democratic caucuses

June 7 – New Jersey Republican and Democratic primaries, California Republican and Democratic primaries, Montana Republican and Democratic primaries, New Mexico Republican and Democratic primaries. North Dakota Democratic caucuses. South Dakota Republican and Democratic primaries

June 14 – District of Columbia Democratic primary

Our Future is on the Ballot in this Election Year By Elijah Cummings

April 18, 2016

Our Future is on the Ballot in this Election Year

By Elijah Cummings

NEWS ANALYSIS

Congressman Elijah Cummings

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - As I consider the consequences for our future during this critical election year, it is no overstatement to observe that our future will be on the ballots that will be cast on Election Day this November just as surely as will be the candidates for office.

The virtually nonstop television coverage of the presidential candidates has focused on their personalities and temperament, more often than on the policies that they are espousing.

Yet, even the less than comprehensive analyses of their vision for our country reveals the dramatic difference in their priorities.

For the Democrats, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders (each with an extensive history of standing with us in our efforts to build better lives) are vigorously competing for the votes of Americans of Color.

Like President Obama and Democrats in the Congress, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders understand that significant changes in the priorities and laws of our country are needed if we truly are to move toward liberty, justice and opportunity for all Americans.

Their major contrasts as candidates reflect their differing judgments regarding the speed and the extent of the transformation that our nation is prepared to accept.

In sharp contrast, however, for Republicans Donald Trump, Senator Ted Cruz and Governor John Kasich, it is as if Americans of Color do not exist.

In this absence of concern for our lives from their campaign talking points, the Republicans have been straightforward: They simply do not care about us, our families or our votes.

At their worst, two of the Republican candidates have attempted to scapegoat people of color for their own political gain.

When viewed in the context of recent political battles in Washington, it is clear that this divergence between Democrats and Republicans goes far deeper than the political calculations of presidential campaigns.

America has reached another crossroads in our national journey — and, as I have been arguing in recent months, Americans of Color can have a major influence upon which fork in history’s road our nation will choose to take.

If we register and vote in record numbers this year, we can win a central place for our objectives in the nation’s priorities — as well as elect the person most qualified to serve as President of the United States.

If, on the other hand, our votes are suppressed by what Dr. King once termed “conniving methods to deny our votes,” or if we disenfranchise ourselves by failing to register and vote, then our future will be far more daunting.

Voter suppression is a serious obstacle that we must overcome in this election year if our choices as American citizens are to be confirmed.

Whether the method of suppression is Voter ID laws, politically motivated purging of the voter rolls, restrictions upon early voting, or conscious decisions that result in hours-long lines at minority polling places, the clear objective of voter suppression is to deny America’s new majority the electoral victory that will advance our cause.

For example, according to a lawsuit filed by the Ohio ACLU this month, two million voters have been removed from the Ohio voter rolls during the last five years — including 40,000 largely low-income and minority voters living in Ohio’s largest county who were disenfranchised in 2015.

Our principles and self-interest as Americans demand that we continue to challenge attempts to limit our voting power in every arena where suppression raises its ugly head, whether in the Congress, our state legislatures, our polling places, or, as in the case of Ohio, in our courts.

Our determination to assure that every citizen can vote and that every vote is counted will be especially important here in Maryland and in the other states in which African American voters provided President Obama’s entire margin of victory in 2012: Florida, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

At the same time, in these states and across our great nation, we must take civic responsibility for ourselves and our communities.

Unlike those states that have attempted to suppress our voting power, Maryland legislators have made real progress in making it convenient for every Maryland citizen to register and vote.

For example, our state offers us the ability to initiate the voter registration process on the Internet through Maryland’s Online Voter Registration System (OLVR) — and those of us who wish to confirm our status as voters can do so at https://voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/votersearch.

Our future is on the ballot this year — and we have the power to choose the future direction that will best serve our families and the generations of Americans yet to be born.

Congressman Elijah Cummings represents Maryland’s 7th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.

- See more at: http://afro.com/our-future-is-on-the-ballot-in-this-election-year/?utm_source=AFRO+Weekly+News+E-Blast%2C+April+14%2C+2016&utm_campaign=weekly+eblast&utm_medium=email#sthash.u5wZQl6j.dpuf

Rescuers Search Afro-Ecuadorian Villages for Quake Survivors By Lisa Vives

April 18, 2016

Rescuers Search Afro-Ecuadorian Villages for Quake Survivors
By Lisa Vives

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from Global Information Network

(TriceEdneywire.com) - The death toll in Ecuador’s African coastal communities from a massive earthquake continues to rise as rescuers dig for survivors in the battered villages.

On Monday, reports from Esmeraldas, called the birthplace of Afro-Hispanic culture, estimated that 350 people died in the quake that sent buildings tumbling and roads buckling. Over one million African descendants reside in the area settled in the 1600s by escapees from Spanish slave ships.

Ecuador's seismological institute reported more than 135 aftershocks following Saturday's magnitude-7.8 quake that was felt as far away as Peru and Colombia. It was said to be 20 times greater than the quake that hit Japan early Saturday. Ecuador could see a greater loss of life and greater damage due to the country’s less stringent construction codes.

Heavy damage was reported in the cities of Manta, Portoviejo, Pedernales and Guayaquil, which are all several hundred miles from the epicenter of the quake that struck shortly after nightfall Saturday.

But the loss of life seemed to be far worse in isolated, smaller towns close to the center of the earthquake.

President Rafael Correa, who cut short a trip to the Vatican to visit the area, said he feared the number of fatalities would rise. Plus, "Reconstruction will cost billions of dollars," he said, as survivors around him pleaded for water.

The last earthquake of a similar magnitude took place in 1979. Fatalities reached 600 with 20,000 injured in the 7.7 magnitude quake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Firefighters led rescue operations, combing the area for people trapped in fallen buildings. The injured were transported to the town’s football stadium, which survived the quake. Red Cross workers carried supplies to the hilly zone next to Pacific beaches.

A power outage kept residents from using their cell phones to contact loved ones. On social media, a video of a baby girl being pulled from beneath a collapsed home in Manta went viral.

Afro-Ecuadorians were already dealing with neglect by the administration in the capital Quito, according to the director of Catholic Relief Services, in a radio interview. “Basically you're looking at adding insult to injury because this is a population that’s been marginalized. The area is poor and vulnerable with limited services. I'd say an inadequate infrastructure.”

Relief services director Thomas Hollywood observed: “We have roads that have been ripped up, that have been cracked, that are not passable. We have many homes that have either been completely destroyed or the damage has been so severe that they can no longer be habited. So it's a very difficult situation.”

Foreign aid workers in the area are also among the victims. Sister Clare Theresa Crockett, a 33-year-old Irish nun who worked at a school in in rural Playa Prieta, was crushed by a fallen staircase, Sky News reported.

The quake is doubly disastrous for Ecuador due to plunging oil revenues. The main refinery of Esmeraldas was closed as a precaution. Exports of bananas, flowers, cocoa beans and fish could be slowed by ruined roads and port delays.

"It's a very distressing and urgent situation we are dealing with,” said Renata Dubini, Director of the U.N.’s Refugee Agency Americas Bureau. “As well as hundreds of lives having been lost we're also seeing many people now rendered homeless, including refugees and asylum seekers."

Ecuador is the biggest refugee-hosting country in Latin America. Its people have generously welcomed over 200,000 Colombian refugees and others in need of international protection, many of whom had settled in the earthquake-affected areas.

Meanwhile, in Rome, Pope Francis offered prayers for the people of Ecuador affected by the violent earthquake.

He said, "May the help of God and of neighbors give them strength and support."

Unsold Food is ‘a Godsend’ for Many By Jeremy Lazarus

April 17, 2016

Unsold Food is ‘a Godsend’ for Many
By Jeremy Lazarus
bettyandjohnthombs
Betty and John Thombs display the fresh vegetables and fruits they collected from area stores on Tuesday. The food is given away in the social hall at Zion Baptist Church, 20th and Decatur streets, on South Side. The hunger-fighting couple has been quietly creating this pop-up food-giveaway stand daily for more than five years. PHOTO: Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

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

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Boxes of tomatoes, peppers and other fruits and vegetables fill four tables in the basement social hall at Zion Baptist Church on South Side Richmond, Va., creating the look of a small grocery store.

“This is a pretty small load,” said John Thombs, who had brought the cornucopia to the church at 2006 Decatur St., where his wife, Betty, set it up with a few helpers. Shortly, people stream in and take what they want without charge.

“It’s a godsend,” said Linda Conyers. “I’m on a fixed income and this is a big help to me.”

Conyers is one of hundreds of people benefiting each week from the almost unnoticed and selfless volunteer effort of the Thombses, 68-year-old retirees on a mission to spread fresh produce and bread to Richmonders needing help with groceries.

Six days a week, the Thombses collect unsold food from area Kroger grocery stores and Prairie Grain Bread Co. on Midlothian Turnpike and take it the church where it is given to anyone who shows up between 4:30 and 7 p.m.

On the seventh day, Wednesday, the food the Thombses gather is distributed at New Generation International Ministries, 1515 Chamberlayne Ave.

And if items remain, the husband-wife team calls a contact at Mount Tabor Baptist Church in Church Hill to come and get it to make sure no food is wasted.

“Our children wonder why we’re doing this,” Mrs. Thombs said, “but it’s our calling,” an outward manifestation of their faith.

The Thombses are not alone in the fight against hunger in Richmond. Many people and organizations are engaged, ranging from the Central Virginia Food Bank and various churches with food pantries, to food growers such as Tricycle Gardens and 31st Street Baptist Church and those who feed the homeless at Monroe Park on weekends.

However, the Thombses stand out for their dedication to ordinary people needing a helping hand. Mr. Thombs said he planned to do more fishing when he retired a few years ago, but instead the collection and distribution of food dominates his life. He got his start 15 years ago when he was still a city schoolteacher. A colleague who was picking up bread at Prairie Grains asked if he could take over.

For the first 10 years, he said he just picked up bread, though he said he often struggled to find places to deliver it.

He said a few years ago when he was feeling discouraged and thinking about giving up his effort, he said he heard a voice tell him, “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

Mr. Thombs believes God was speaking to him. Just a few weeks later, he was approached by the store’s produce manager about taking tomatoes and other produce. When the manager moved to another store, she asked Mr. Thombs to take produce from there, and so it went.

Seven days a week, Mr. Thombs travels in his 1998 Econoline van with 270,000 miles on it to pick up still-good produce that has been pulled from the shelves from four or five stores. Sometimes his wife is with him; sometimes it’s his neighbor and friend, John A. Puryear. And sometimes, he collects the food donations by himself.

“There is nothing wrong with the produce. It’s still fresh. It just doesn’t meet the store’s standards,” said Mr. Thombs.

The items used to be thrown away, but now Mr. Thombs is there each day to rescue the items for distribution to many appreciative people.
The floral departments at the stores now also have him take away flowers that have not sold that he distributes to several senior citizen apartment complexes, such as Guardian Place on North Hamilton Street.

In addition to the produce, he also collects up to 1,100 loaves of bread a week from Kroger and the Prairie Grain Bread Co., which he delivers mostly to senior housing communities.
Mrs. Thombs, a former schoolteacher who later worked for the state government for 10 years before retiring, is a full partner in the effort, he said.

She credits a small band of helpers who assist the couple, including Mr. Puryear, Candice Lacy, Jake Reed, Dorothy York and Connie Winston. Bessie Bartee also comes weekly to pick up some of the food to take to Buchanan County to help people there, Mrs. Thombs said.

Both also praise the Rev. Robert L. Pettis, pastor of Zion Baptist Church, and the congregation for allowing them to use the social hall.

How long will they keep doing this work? “As long as our health holds up,” Mr. Thombs said. “People depend on us, and we can’t let them down.”