Blackonomics

Do Black Organizations Really Have Our Backs?                                 
“Nonstop Aiding and Abetting in Corrupt Practices”

By James Clingman

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - While Black people are bogged down in shallow and meaningless political discourse, our vaunted Black organizations continue to be M.I.A. except for their time in front of the cameras with Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. They say they cannot endorse candidates, but we all know that’s a sham.

In an article written by Freddie Allen of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, Marc Morial said the nine Black organizations that met with the candidates wanted to “provide to every candidate who is running for president of the United States, be they Republican or Democrat, the opportunity to hear from us on issues of civil rights, social justice, and economic justice in America, today.”  Any real demands made on our behalf?

Al Sharpton said, “For the first time in American history, we will watch a Black family leave the White House and we do not want to see the concerns of Blacks leave with them.”  So that’s where our concerns have been hibernating for the past seven years; and all this time I thought Sharpton and the POTUS were taking care of them.

And, I suppose to give comfort to Clinton and Sanders, Morial said the nine historic civil rights organizations represent tens of millions of Americans and that all of their organizations were “multicultural and multi-ethnic.”  Multi-cultural and multi-ethnic?  That’s strange; I thought they were Black or at least “colored.”

Speaking of colored, let’s look at one of these “Black” multi-cultural/ethnic organizations.  In case you missed the cryptic message at the beginning of this article, “Nonstop Aiding and Abetting in Corrupt Practices,” think about the NAACP.  You may know it as the group whose answer to the Ferguson issue was to walk 130 miles to the Missouri Governor’s office, followed up by a 1,000 mile stroll from Selma to the steps of the U.S. Capitol in search of justice.  Guess they didn’t find it when they got there.

This is the group that practices outright hypocrisy by railing against voter suppression and voter ID laws, while accepting and even promoting those corrupt practices within their own ranks.  More specifically, this is the group that has wreaked havoc in Ohio by conducting four elections for State President, two of which were legitimately won by Jocelyn Travis over Sybil McNabb, and two of which were do-overs by the national office via its henchman, Gill Ford, to keep their chosen candidate, McNabb, in office.

In the first corrupt election over which the national office presided, children were allowed to vote for McNabb—yes, children!  In the second corrupt election, which just took place on March 12, 2016, again under national supervision, the same corrupt practice used in Cincinnati was used by Gill Ford in Columbus.  He suspended Travis three days prior to the election, just as he did the Cincinnati president, whom he suspended the day before the election in an obvious effort to have his chosen candidate run unopposed.

The NAACP’s “Nonstop Aiding and Abetting in Corrupt Practices” is shameful, especially in light of holding themselves up as the national champion for fairness in the voting process.  Even more shameful is the fact that only a relative few members, among those who have actually seen these shenanigans take place, are willing to stand up against the NAACP’s corruption.

The good news is that a group of members throughout Ohio have followed the lead of the Crittenden County (Arkansas) and Cincinnati branches by seeking and winning a Temporary Restraining Order against the NAACP’s continued interference in local elections.  The results of the March 12^th election are being held in abeyance by a Columbus, Ohio judge, who will conduct a hearing on April 7, 2016.  You can be sure that all evidence of corruption, voter suppression, and election-rigging will be brought forth at that time.

Aside from the obvious hypocrisy displayed by the national leadership of the NAACP, not only in this case but in several other branches across the country, their corrupt practices also point to a larger problem.  So-called Black organizations like the NAACP, despite their implied social contract with Black folks, can be swayed, bought, rented, or leased with nothing expected in return except a few dollars under the table, a political photo-op, or a nice hotel suite.  The NAACP needs to stop abusing its members’ rights before purporting to speak on our behalf.

As for nine Black organizations suggesting they are the repository of Black power, here’s a question:  If they have power, why after nearly eight years of a Black President are we, as cited in Morial’s State of Black America Report, worse off now and in “crisis”?  As the heads of those organizations now intercede on our behalf, by meeting with presidential candidates, what would make us believe Blacks will get anything specific from the next administration?

March 20, 2016

From Mary Church Terrell to Barbara Lee: Black Women in the Peace Movement
By Julianne Malveaux

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Some words seem rarely mentioned in this highly toxic political season. We’ve heard about bombs and walls, but very little about peace. One is almost tempted, when some of the candidates are speaking, to burst into song – give peace a chance. In this Women’s History Month, it makes sense to reflect on women and the peace movement, and especially on the African American women who have been peace activists and have played a significant role in this movement.

The Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom (WILPF) was founded in 1915 in the midst of World War I. Its first chair, Hull House’s Jane Addams, cared deeply about world disarmament. Early on, though, there were criticisms of WILPF and the peace movement because African American were too often invisible. In a book poignantly title, No Peace Without Freedom, Race and WILPF, Joyce Blackwell writes about tensions within the path breaking peace organization. In a similar book,

A Band of Noble Women: Racial Politics in the Women’s Peace Movement, Melinda Plastas writes that African American women combined the effects of race, gender and war, and “demanded a place for Black women in the international peace movement. Mary Church Terrell was involved in WILPF almost from its outset, serving on its board for a time. The DC doyenne, who was one of the first African American women to earn a college degree, was involved in the civil rights and social justice movements.

A teacher by profession, she was one of the first women to serve on the DC Board of Education. She played founding roles in many justice organizations, including the NAACP, the International College of Women, the National Association of Colored Women (NACW), and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Some of her dealings with WILPF were not smooth – she was not re-elected to serve a second term on the Board of the organization, to the chagrin of many of the white women who felt that black women’s voices needed to be heard on peace matters. Terrell as not the only woman who worked with WILPF during its early days. Addie Hunton came to activism, early, working as an organizer for NACW in the early twentieth century. She worked with servicemen in France during the war.

Those war experiences perhaps influenced her to work as a peace activist during the 1920s. In 1926, she wrote a report condemning US occupation of Haiti. Bertha McNeill was another of the African American women involved in WILPF. She led the Washington, DC chapter, and also served as a vice president of the organization for two terms. These women – as do some of our non-African American sisters like Media Benjamin and Arandhati Roy – come to mind in the middle of this raucous political season. Sane, calm voices are missing in these presidential debates. We are also missing a future focus that takes the futility of increasing militarism into consideration.

With the immigration crisis sparked by conflict in Syria, the violence maintained by ISIS, unrest in the Middle East, and tension with Russia, not to mention the number of US troops still in Afghanistan and Iraq, wouldn’t it be appropriate for us to hear about alternatives to militarism. That brings me to California Congresswomen Barbara Lee, the only person who had the courage to oppose President George Bush’s push for military action after September 11, 2001. She appropriately asked whether our country was rushing into war. Subsequent events suggest that we did rush – “weapons of mass destruction” were never found. Many of us are quite familiar with Barbara Lee’s peace activism, but far fewer of us know much about Mary Church Terrell and Addie Hunton.

While African American peace activists were few in the WILPF early days, their contributions were significant and, more importantly, they paved the way for activists like Barbara Lee to advocate a peace agenda and a peace budget. Those who profit from the military industrial complex seem so welded to the notion of war that they won’t give peace a chance. And they’ll take war however they can – at home, as police departments are increasingly militarized (do we really need tanks in city streets), or abroad, where it is easy to create an enemy. Black women’s history of peace activism should be lifted up this month, especially the work of Mary Church Terrell and Barbara Lee.

Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist based in Washington, D.C. Her latest offering “Are We Better Off? Race, Obama and Public Policy is available for purchase at www.juliannemalveaux.com

March 20, 2016

To Be Equal
Women’s History Month: Contributions and Past and Present
By Marc H. Morial

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - “From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this Nation. Too often, the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength, and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.” – President Jimmy Carter, “National Women’s History Week Statement,” February 28, 1980

There is no arena in American life, or beyond the borders of this country, where a woman’s presence can neither be noted nor celebrated. Women have played—and continue to play—a major role in our nation’s culture, politics and economy. The traditionally held belief of a “woman’s place” has long created obstacles for women who have ventured into the business arena.  It was a notion that dictated that a woman’s natural place was in the home, and when women worked outside of the home, it largely dictated what kind of work was appropriate for her. From the late 1800s and its initial boom of female workers and entrepreneurs in America, to Maria Contreras-Sweet, the founder of ProAmerica Bank and current head of the Small Business Association, and Oprah Winfrey’s media empire, we know that a woman’s place is quite simply where she makes it.

My own respect for strong, accomplished women was instilled by my mother, a highly-respected educator and civil rights activist who has recently published a memoir, "Witness to Change," about her own remarkable life.

Despite issues of gender parity and gender equity that continue to plague our boardrooms, conference rooms and banks, women have long contributed to the economic vitality of our country. Yesterday’s entrepreneur laid the groundwork for today’s businesswoman, who continues to defy odds, break glass ceilings and produce much-needed jobs and revenue. This is especially true in the case of women of color, who are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs in the United States.

Women own nearly 10 million of the businesses in America—making up 36 percent of the nation’s businesses. These businesses generate more than $1.4 trillion in annual revenue and employ 8 million people, according to the National Business Women’s Council. Women are starting businesses at record rates, exceeding the national average, and there has been remarkable spike in small business ownership by women of color. In 2002, there were fewer than one million businesses owned by women of color, representing 14 percent of women-owned firms. As of 2012, there are nearly 3.8 million firms owned by women of color, comprising 38 percent of women-owned businesses. That represents more than 190 percent growth in ownership since 1997 for African American women and 130 percent increase in small business ownership for Latinas. Today, women of color own four in ten businesses and their businesses can be found in any conceivable industry.

There are many factors that can be attributed to this historic growth in business ownership for women—and particularly women of color. The gender pay gap, and the glass ceiling above the ladder of success that is littered with cracks but has yet to be shattered, surely plays a motivating role for many women who have decided to invest in themselves and their talent. The Great Recession and the slow start, especially for communities of color to recover from the immense loss of capital and employment, is likely another motivating factor. The ever-widening gap between the haves and the have nots has also played a part in women of color tapping into their entrepreneurial spirit.

The growth in businesses owned by women of color belies the ugly reality that African American and Latina business owners struggle to fund their startups. Women tend to start their businesses with half as much money as men, they are more likely to use their personal savings, and are less likely to access bank loans, funding and venture capital. To foster the growth and long-term survivability of businesses owned by people of color, the National Urban League has created Entrepreneurship Centers that provide management counseling, mentoring and training services geared toward the development of management skills that enable minority entrepreneurs to obtain financing that support job creation and preservation.

Entrepreneurship plays a vital role in our economy and the National Urban League will continue to play a vital role in shoring up the efforts and success of all businesses that create the jobs that save our cities. The small businesses owned by women of color are helping to bring jobs to struggling neighborhoods, creating new economic pathways in underserved communities and deserve their fair share of recognition—every month of the year.

March 13, 2016

Norton to Push for Investigation Into Federal Government Spending With Black and Hispanic Press
Group Seeks Answers on Advertising Dollars  
By Barrington Salmon

(TriceEdneyWire.com) The federal government, through its various agencies, spends considerable sums of money every year on advertising and representatives from two prominent newspaper organizations are pushing to find out exactly how much of these dollars flow to Hispanic and Black newspapers.

Leaders of the National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP) and the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) are convinced that federal agencies aren’t fulfilling their mandate to direct advertising dollars to their member newspapers and businesses. An investigation, they assert, will provide concrete evidence of their suspicions and allow them to push hard for their fair share.

The publishers were in the Nation’s Capital March 9-11 attending Black Press Week activities. The annual Black Press Week, led by NNPA, celebrates the founding of the first Black newspaper, Freedom’s Journal, in 1827 and the legacy of the modern Black Press.

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) held a press conference on the front steps of the US Capitol announcing that she would call for an investigation by the Government Accounting Office (GAO).

She said she wasn’t aware of this issue until it was brought to her attention by a group of representatives from both organizations which worked out the terms of a strategic alliance prior to the press conference.

“I’m requesting a report from an objective arm of the federal government, the GAO. We’re asking them to conduct a study of the federal agencies whose outreach is to people of color,” said Norton on Friday, March 11. “We don’t want our federal agencies to forego their mandate and responsibilities. There is a mandate to engage small businesses. We want to discuss if that is, in fact, taking place. There’s no more authentic or trusted way to do so than to engage the Black and Hispanic press.”

Norton and other publishers said no one can accurately pinpoint a dollar figure of what the federal government spends.

“We have no sense of the numbers,” Norton explained. “If you don’t even know what they do, you can’t know what they spend. We want to know how much they spend and with which press. We don’t even know if they (the federal government) have a strategy.”

Despite this blind spot, Norton and several other speakers estimate that the federal government spends billions in advertising each year with little of that reaching Hispanic and Black media outlets or advertising agencies.

The implications of securing additional ad revenue is clear. According to the Pew Research Center’s State of the News Media 2013, “the story about how African American-oriented news media coped … was a difficult one at best.”

Many historic African-American-owned publications both lost circulation and struggled to find advertising revenue, the report’s authors said. On top of circulation challenges, declining advertising revenue is a problem for every African-American newspaper examined. Decreased revenue has caused many publications to cut staff and reduce publication schedules.

“We’ve been saying it and writing about this. We’ve done all we can to this point. What the report is going to show is an outrageous disparity affecting all our publications,” said Denise Rolark Barnes, NNPA Chair and publisher of the Washington Informer. “Our organizations have a combined readership of 40 million people. We want to do and continue to carry out our mission and I think this report will make a great difference for us.”

NAHP Vice President Martha Montoya faults Black and Hispanic newspapers for not staying on top of the issue and demanding both accountability and constant feedback on a matter so crucial.

“Then-Sen. John Kerry had a meeting in 2006 and requested a report. The only three agencies on the list were NASA, the Department of Defense and one other,” Montoya, publisher of El Mundo in Seattle, Washington, recalled. “We have to also blame ourselves because we should have demanded the report every year. It should be standard compliance because it’s data everybody needs.”

Norton said it’s also unclear how long it will take for the GAO to complete the report, saying that the NAHP/NNPA request will join the queue. During a subsequent meeting in the Cannon House Building with Congressional staffers, the Rev. Benjamin Chavis informed publishers and staff that U. S. Reps. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Congressional Black Caucus Chair G.K. Butterfield had joined Norton calling for the GAO investigation.

This joint initiative seeking answers from the federal government is the result of the coming together by both parties. The NNPA represents 205 African-American-owned community newspapers nationally, and NAHP, also a non-partisan trade advocacy organization, represents America’s largest Spanish language publications. Both have a combined reach of 43 million readers each week across the United States.

“With close to 97 million African Americans and Hispanics in the US today – representing 33 percent of the total population – this consumer segment demands attention,” Montoya said. “The buying power of the African-American and Hispanic communities, currently at more than $2.3 trillion combined, continues to outpace the national average.”

Chavis, NNPA president and CEO, hailed what he characterized as a monumental partnership.

“This historic media alliance is a gigantic step for our two organizations,” he said. “We believe our working together has tremendous potential mutual benefits in today’s marketplace. We are grateful that Congresswoman Norton will ask the GAO to conduct timely research and to issue a report on advertising contracting and subcontracting with African American and Hispanic American-owned newspapers and media companies by all federal agencies. We salute and appreciate her leadership and service to our communities.”

Chavis said he looks forward to seeing what the report produces.

“Calling for the report is itself hugely significant because the call presupposes that there are legitimate questions that need to be raised,” he said. “The federal government should practice what it preaches. We have very lofty language about freedom and equality. The GAO report will put facts on the table. We expect to see inequities, unfairness and wide disparities in how the government procures and does business with businesses, large and small, majority and minority owned.”