April 3, 2016

On Terrorist Attacks: History Did Not Begin Yesterday
By Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - "We - all of us representing countless nationalities - have a message for those who inspired or carried out the attacks here or in Paris, or Ankara, or Tunis, or San Bernardino, or elsewhere: We will not be intimidated…We will not be deterred. We will come back with greater resolve - with greater strength - and we will not rest until we have eliminated your nihilistic beliefs and cowardice from the face of the Earth." - Secretary of State John Kerry

On the morning of Tuesday March 22, 2016, three coordinated suicide bombings occurred in Belgium: two at Brussels Airport in Zaventem, and one at Maalbeek metro station in Brussels. In these attacks, 32 innocent travelers and three suicide bombers were killed, and over 300 people were injured.

On the evening of Friday, November 13, 2015, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks occurred in Paris and its northern suburb, Saint-Denis. Three suicide bombers struck near the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, followed by suicide bombings and mass shootings at cafés, restaurants and the Bataclan theatre in central Paris. The attackers killed 130 people, including 89 at the Bataclan, where they took hostages before engaging in a stand-off with police. Another 368 people were injured, 80–99 seriously.

Even though ISIS or ISIS affiliated groups claimed responsibility, it has now been determined that there are more direct links between the bombings in Belgium and the bombings in France. According to The New York Times, European investigators and the Belgian prosecutor’s office have determined that DNA matches show that one of the bombers who blew himself up at the Brussels Airport had been a bomb maker who helped produce two suicide vests used in the November Paris attacks.

As I listened to the news coverage of the most recent tragedy in Belgium I quickly concluded that these attacks were cowardly, reprehensible and immoral.  The killing of civilians to further whatever perverted “religious” and/or political agenda ISIS claims has no place in a civilized society.  From there my thoughts quickly turned to places like The Congo (formerly known as The Belgian Congo), Vietnam, Algeria (formally French Algeria) and Haiti.  Just some of the countries, former colonies and playgrounds for the global imperial hegemons of the world. I realized that in spite of the monotonous and myopic coverage of the Belgium attack by all the media outlets, history did not begin yesterday.

What has been lost in the Eurocentric coverage of this atrocity is the historic fact and context that King Leopold II of Belgium was responsible for the deaths and mutilation of between 5 million to 10 million Congolese during the late 1800’s. In the 27 years (1885-1912) Leopold II ruled the Congo he overworked, underfed and massacred Africans by cutting off their hands and genitals, flogging them to death, holding children ransom and burning villages. These atrocities were committed to control the land, its people and extract its resources (primarily rubber). The spoils of modern day Belgium owes much to the people of the Congo River Basin.

As the world cries and mourns for those who lost their lives and were injured in the Belgian bombings and their families and loved ones, I asked myself, “Who cried for Leopold’s victims; their families and loved ones?”  Has anyone tried to make them whole?  It is important to understand that Black lives really do matter; they always have. History did not begin yesterday.

As I think about the atrocities in France and pray for the victims and their families I think about the actions of France in the colonization of Vietnam, Algeria and Haiti.  All of these countries have been victimized by the colonial and imperialist forces of France.

Vietnam or what was formerly a part of French Indo-China was victimized by three waves of French genocide.  From as far back as 1850 France occupied Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.  From 1940-1946 the Vichy French Colonial Army aided in the confiscation of rice for export to Japan and starved up to a million Vietnamese during that period. From 1950 - 1954 fresh French troops, brought back into Vietnam in U.S. ships, murdered Vietnamese for eight years.

In what was known as French Algeria from 1954 through 1961, France slaughtered 960,000 - 1.5 million Algerians in the Algerian War for Independence.

In Haiti In 1791, the slaves revolted against French rule, and in 1804 they defeated Napoleon's armies and founded the world's first Black republic.  This victory was not without a cost.  Former French slave owners demanded reparations for their losses and petitioned the French government for payment. In 1825 King Charles X of France demanded that Haiti pay the French for the value of their lost slaves.  Haiti was also forced to finance this debt through the French bank.  France sent warships off the cost of Haiti to force the Haitian government into compliance.  This was similar to the tactic used by the United States to capture the Sandwich Islands or what is now Hawaii in 1893.

Despite many international calls for France to repay Haiti for the funds that were extorted, to this day France refuses to repay Haiti and Haitians continue to suffer.

This historical accounting and context is in no way an attempt to validate or justify the recent heinous attacks. However, all things must be examined within the broader historical context in which they exist as we search for answers to the question, “Why?”

In talking about the assassination of President John Kennedy in 1963, Malcolm X talked about a “climate of hate” existing in both the domestic and international spheres.  If America, France, Belgium and other allied countries are serious about solving the current scourge of terrorism, they are going to have to do some real soul searching and determine how they have contributed to this “cultural global warming” or “climate of hate”.  You cannot defeat an ideology with a military.  You can only defeat an ideology with a better ideology.

As the West has continued to flourish it cannot ignore its past. The damage and destruction perpetrated against entire peoples and cultures that contributed to the growth of America, France, Belgium and others, still resonates within those former colonized societies.

To find long-lasting solutions to this current situation, one must remember that history has a long moral arc and it did not begin yesterday.

Dr. Wilmer Leon is the Producer/ Host of the nationally broadcast call-in talk radio program “Inside the Issues with Leon,” on SiriusXM Satellite radio channel 126. Go to www.wilmerleon.com or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. www.twitter.com/drwleon and Dr. Leon’s Prescription at Facebook.com

April 3, 2016

A South African Leader Insists 'We are Not for Sale'

C. Ramaphosa

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from Global Information Network

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - South Africans are rising up against the outsized influence of corporate entities and wealthy individuals allegedly doling out contracts and jobs within the ANC. 

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, at a recent event, rebutted the charge, declaring the ANC was not for sale and anyone who wanted to capture the state should “go next door.”

Speaking to about 1,500 professionals and academics at the ANC event in Sandton last week, Ramaphosa declared: “Those who want to capture the ANC and influence it to advance personal or corporate interests, you have come to the wrong address. Try next door. We will not be captured.”

A South Asian family close to the president who allegedly peddled jobs within the government was not the only one exploiting their connections, he added. “There are a number of others as well, and we are saying to all and sundry, stop in your tracks, we will not allow that.”

But questions continue to be raised including at a seminar last week hosted by the Association of Public Administration and Management. Political influence by corporate entities and wealthy individuals is “at pornographic levels,” said businessman and policy analyst FM Lucky Mathebula. “That is why we hear calls of the removal of the president and regime change.”

Political analyst professor at the University of Pretoria, Tinyiko Maluleka, said state capture was “insidious,” and became entrenched over time. “The idea that two or three people capture the state in one day is useless,” said Maluleka.

Former African National Congress Youth League deputy president Ronald Lamola said the problem was not just corruption.

“This is about democracy where unelected people are able to influence the decision to appoint ministers… “This is kleptocracy,” he added, “where a few elites are able to control and direct the state, a serious subversion of democracy.”

Last week the group Equal Education released a statement calling state capture by the rich and powerful "a mortal threat to democracy" and pledged to join a “week of outrage” with other movement groups. "When our democratic state is put into the top pocket of a few rich people" then "the working class and the unemployed, the poor and the historically looted – the black majority – are attacked and further looted".

Meanwhile, President Zuma's daughter, Thuthukile Zuma, a recent graduate in anthropology, has been awarded a high profile tender as a supplier to a prominent local company involved in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas. Just prior to this, Thuthukile was the chief of staff in the Dept of Telecommunications and Postal Services.

At 27, she is the youngest of President Zuma's four daughters with his ex-wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. 

April 3, 2016

News Analysis

A Closer Look at Law Enforcement Inside Our Nation’s Public Schools
By James A. Gilmore

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Last month, the Civil Rights Coalition on Police Reform (CRCPR), co-convened by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the Civil Rights Roundtable on Disability met with leaders in the administration to discuss best practices and sound policies for maintaining school safety.  Among the reforms discussed was greater accountability for school resource officers (SROs) who serve inside public schools.  Use of force by SROs has a negative impact on students, particularly along lines of race and disability status.  

Notably, students of color figure prominently into the many stories of police brutality and excessive use of force that continue to make headlines. In October of 2015, a video emerged of a student being violently removed from her chair by a school resource officer (SRO) at Spring Valley High in South Carolina 2015.  In the same month, the Department of Justice filed a statement of interest in a Kentucky school case where eight and nine-year-old boys were handcuffed behind their backs, above their elbows and at their biceps for behavior that stemmed from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  And in March of 2016, the Washington Post reported that the Baltimore school system’s police chief and two officers have been placed on administrative leave after a video surfaced of officers violently beating a young man. 

The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing’s final report highlighted the need for law enforcement agencies and school districts to establish memorandums of understanding (MOUs) to limit police involvement in student discipline.   MOUs would delineate specific roles and responsibilities for SROs and limit their participation in non-criminal school discipline matters, and could require specific training and supervision.  The Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) office of the Department of Justice released a fact sheet outlining how to develop a successful MOU.  

In addition to defining roles, accountability measures are necessary for the federal government to ensure recipients of federal grants do not engage in discriminatory behavior.  Last year, the COPS office awarded $113 million in hiring grants giving special consideration to departments in need of SROs.   The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1698 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 strictly forbid discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex or national origin by law enforcement agencies receiving federal funds.  

Lastly, schools should rethink their approach to discipline in light of the documented racial disparities in suspensions and expulsions. The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights reported that while Black children represent 18 percent of preschool enrollment, they represent 48 percent of children who receive more than one out-of-school suspension and “black children are suspended and expelled at a rate three times greater than white students.”   For schools that rely on SROs, a disproportionate rate of discipline for students of color and students with disabilities may mean a disproportionate rate of contact with officers.

While many people believe SROs should be replaced with social workers or trained specialists with a background in child development or mental health, others believe SROs are necessary to prevent incidents like the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary.  Even so, advocates agree that the time for school discipline reform is now.  In his last term, President Obama is focused on improving our criminal justice system -- one that has traditionally worked against people of color.  One way to improve the criminal justice system and dismantle the school to prison pipeline is by limiting the use of police in school discipline, curing racial disparities in school suspensions and expulsions, and creating accountability for law enforcement in schools.

James Gilmore is policy analyst with the Public Policy Project of the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

President Obama Grants Clemency to 61 Inmates
More Than a Third Were Serving Life Sentences

President Barack Obama hugs Kemba Smith during a greet with formerly incarcerated individuals who have received commutations, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, March 30, 2016.
Following that meeting the President took the group to lunch at a local restaurant. PHOTO: Pete Souza/The White House 

President Barack Obama meets for lunch with formerly incarcerated individuals who have received commutations, at Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C., March 30, 2016. PHOTO: Pete Souza/The White House

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