Nov. 8, 2015

Truth Will Set You Free
By Dr. E. Faye Williams 

(TriceEdneyWire.com)  — A wise sage once said, "A lie can run around the world before the truth has gotten its shoes on."  Assessing the performance of Republican presidential candidates in the current campaign, I can only assume that those responsible for their coaching used that quote as foundation for their last preparation because the lies were flying fast and furious!

As with the quote of Lady Gaga who said, “I'm telling you a lie in a vicious effort that you will repeat my lie over and over until it becomes true", numerous people have used words to that effect. Over the past 7 years we’ve seen this strategy successfully used by the "Republican Right" to diminish confidence in President Obama’s Administration, while approving no initiatives to spark economic recovery in our nation.

Arguably, the most fact-checked and refuted claim made during the debate came from Carly Fiorina.  She asserted that 92% of the job losses in President Obama’s first term belonged to women.  Unfortunately, she was using a flawed and dated talking point from Mitt Romney’s unsuccessful 2012 campaign.  While it was true that job losses from the recession continued to increase during the early period of President Obama's first term (and women lost a higher percentage of those jobs), by the end of President Obama’s first term, both men and women gained jobs.

The most obvious effort to obfuscate and distort the truth with double-talk came from the mouth of Ben Carson who denied a "relationship" with Mannatech, a manufacturer of nutritional supplements.  It's easy to understand Carson's reluctance to acknowledge a relationship or involvement with the company since it had paid a 7 million dollar settlement to resolve a deceptive marketing lawsuit.  Mannatech's claim that their supplements could cure autism and cancer couldn’t be substantiated with empirical data and, accordingly, the company was discredited in the marketplace.  Carson's only admission was that he made a couple of speeches for Mannatech and that he believes their product to be a good product.  He also called allegations of a connection beyond the speeches "Total Propaganda!"

Yet allegations from the National Review and Wall Street Journal of a more complicated and involved relationship between Mannatech and Carson persist.  These publications describe a relationship that is, at least, 10 years old and which has visual evidence of Carson endorsing and promoting Mannatech's products.  Other allegations have Mannatech funding an endowment in Carson's name at Johns Hopkins University.  Merely propaganda, you decide!

Not to be outdone, "The Donald" offered his own take on how to fool yourself into thinking your lie is working.  He lied about a criticism he made about Marco Rubio and an unseemly connection with Facebook founder and billionaire, Mark Zuckerberg.  Quick thinking moderator, Becky Quick, did an on-broadcast fact check that showed Trump for the liar he is.  Of course, Trump ignored his lie and never directly addressed her question.

Trump has also claimed that his campaign is 100% self-funded, but facts show that more than 50% of his campaign funds come from contributors.

The danger of these lies is that the uninformed will take them as fact.  Even in the face of contradicting evidence, some will never question or investigate beyond the statement.  Our first task as informed political observers and voters is to learn to, at least, overcome the lies.

In a 1962 commencement address to Yale University graduates, President Kennedy said, “The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie--deliberate, contrived and dishonest--but the myth--persistent, persuasive and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the clichés of our forebears...We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."  Or as my dear mother would say, "They told lies and the truth ain't in them.

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

Nov. 4, 2015

Bahar Munir talks to reporters after marching from Baltimore to Washington, DC. He believes Black America
has accepted defeat when it comes to the national homicide rate. PHOTO: Roy Lewis/Trice Edney News Wire

Bahar Munir leads a group representing the 300 Men March in a recent trek from Baltimore to
Washington, DC. The goal was to send a signal in the heart of the nation's capital that there are
responsible Black men who are working to lower the homicide rate. PHOTO: Roy Lewis/Trice Edney News Wire

This police tape in the 5500 block of Baltimore's Reisterstown Road is an all too familiar scene across America.
This photo was taken Oct. 3, the morning after five people were shot on this block. One died. PHOTO: Hazel Trice Edney/Trice Edney News Wire

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake gave this reporter a blank stare in response to a question. To be asked whether she is familiar with the Baltimore-based group called 300 Men March was apparently baffling to her. 

She explained, "That's like asking me if I've heard of the Baltimore Orioles. I'm from Baltimore. I get it."

As indicated by the Mayor's response, this group of men, known for their patrolling the Baltimore streets as a display of positive force and responsible manhood amidst an often violent backdrop, have made quite a name for themselves. But as police violence against African-Americans has dominated the media air space, the support needed to help those doing the work against street violence appears stagnant - despite rising homicide rates across the country.

"You certainly get a whole lot of activity from people when it comes to police brutality - every time something goes on with the police and the Black man," says the group's founder and president, Munir Bahar, in a recent interview with the Trice Edney News Wire. "But, yet, there's not enough support and involvement on a day-to-day basis of men of color especially, but all men around the country with regards to community violence."

The surge in national homicide statistics has been well-documented by local and national media:

This week, a heart-breaking national news story focuses on the Chicago police investigation of the multiple shooting of 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee. The boy, killed Nov. 2, while walking through an alley near his grandmother's house, is believed to have been the target in a feud involving one or more of his relatives. 

The indiscriminate killings of Black people - including babies, children, teens and adults - is a scenario that has become all too common, says Bahar.

At this writing, in Baltimore, the count has long surpassed 235 - well more than last year's total of 211; in Chicago, it's now more than 300, 20 percent up from the 244 all of last year. It's the same story in cities across the country. For example, in Washington, DC, homicides are up 36 percent; New Orleans, up 19 percent; St. Louis, up 60 percent; and Detroit, up 50 percent since last year.

And despite a season of decline during the past decade, the numbers have continued to mount for years. In fact, since 1975, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation first began keeping homicide statistics, the combined national numbers of street homicide deaths surpass a half million. That's enough to populate several entire cities.

As the protests and outrage over the killings of Black men and women by police officers continue around the country, this one group of Black men - 300 Men March - have decided that African-American street violence against each other is what they are called to fight. Winning the respect of their peers, they have proven to be a different kind of warrior.

To make that point nationally, Bahar, in August, led about 50 men in a march all the way from Baltimore, 35 miles South to Washington, DC.

"We wanted to take this straight to our capital, straight to the door steps of our President under the banner of the My Brother's Keeper Initiative," said Bahar, 35. "We announced ourselves as that group of men that have been active, that are still active, and pledge ourselves to continue to be active until we end this genocide in the country of young Black men."

But, of course, it's not that simple. Though he hopes to establish 300 men strong over the next five years, Bahar says they currently have about 60 faithful participants.

"We have a large amount of Black men who are literally sitting aside watching our race be destroyed from the inside. Guys who would rather go to happy hour at an all White party or a cocktail party or a whatever party than to spend that time mentoring some young people in this city," he says.

Bahar's nearly 12-year-old non-profit organization, COR Health Institute, which birthed the 300 vision two years ago, mentors young men in fitness, martial arts, and health programs. On the streets, the 300 Men March is symbolic of the small group of warriors in the movie, 300, who "went up against an army that everybody thought they would lose," Bahar describes. "There was pessimism from day one. And that's kind of what we're dealing with the murder rate and these murders that are not only happening in Baltimore but across most urban Black cities across America. We have this sky rocketing, this insane level of violence and I feel - to be honest and I'm out there every day - I feel that a lot of people have given up. I feel that a lot of people in the Black community especially, have just accepted this. A lot of Black people have accepted defeat."

But, the 300 men have inspired many, including Mayor Rawlings-Blake.

"I can say that level of engagement, that grass roots level is helpful because 300 Men movement speaks directly to these men that are victims of men that are perpetrators," she said. "And really trying to speak to their hearts to let them know that there's something different out there; and that the community needs them to stand up as men; not as violent offenders."

Bahar says his vision is to expand nationally and to help other groups with the same goals. But resources are limited.

"There are a lot of people from Baltimore to Chicago to Los Angeles who are addressing community violence. We want to rally those individuals. We want to rally and show our support and encouragement to everybody who's fighting the genocide of young Black men in this country," he says.

Gaining a national reputation, the group has won the attention of the National Bankers Association and its president, Michael Grant, a key supporter who has helped to raise funds for their mission.

"So, you got this young leader, and a visionary leader who has stepped out here and who is totally committed to this cause. And he struggles to get attention from people who can help him financially. He struggles to get the support that he needs. And the question is why. Why would the Black community, especially the Black middle class and those who have resources; why would they not enthusiastically embrace this type of leadership?" Grant questions. "We're going to leave all this on the shoulders of young people without giving them financial support and moral support or even going sometimes to march with them?"

Other community leaders have also expressed support.

Civil rights activist the Rev. Jamal-Harrison Bryant, pastor of Baltimore's Empowerment Temple, says some of his male members are a part of the group, which he describes as "redefining what Black male imaging looks like...For Black men to stand and let their voices be heard, this is so significant when we've had more than 237 homicides in Baltimore and they are overwhelming majority Black males."

Though the 300 group may feel isolated, anti-street violence activity appears back on the rise. For example, the National Week of Non-violence, sponsored annually by the Washington, D.C.-based Black Women for Positive Change in mid-October, drew support from mayors, legislators and activists around the nation; including Ben Crump, the attorney for the family of Trayvon Martin, who is now president of the National Bar Association.

But the battle is up hill, says Bahar. Despite the rising death tolls, he doesn't appear discouraged.

"I'm not worried about measuring my success," he says. "This is a movement. Dr. King, when they were building their movement, they were not worried about measuring their success. They were just doing something that God inspired them to do. And when you 're moving with the Spirit of God, you don't have to evaluate that."

Nov. 8, 2015

What’s Wrong With the Truth?
By Julianne Malveaux

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Award-winning film director Quentin Tarantino gets high props for stepping up to tell some truth about the many murders of African Americans at the hands of misbehaving police officers.  How, after all, can you justify the killing of a baby boy, Tamir Rice?  Or the illegal choking of Eric Garner?  Michael Brown stole some cigarillos.  Does that deserve the death penalty?  We can call the roll and then we can describe a murder.  That’s all Tarantino did. 

Here’s what Tarantino said – “I’m a human being with a conscience, and if you believe there’s murder going on then you need to rise up and stand up against it. I’m here to say I’m on the side of the murdered.”

Tarantino isn’t a “cop hater”.  He is, as he said, a human being with a conscience.  Too bad we can’t say the same thing about Patrick Lynch  (ironic last name), the president of the New York City Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, who called for a boycott for the Tarantino film “The Hateful Eight”, scheduled for release in December.  I’m not a huge Tarantino fan, but if the police are going to boycott his film, I will see it at least twice (or buy tickets for somebody) just to have his back.

What is wrong with the truth?  Quentin Tarantino didn’t say that every police officer is a murderer.  He called out those who are and said that he stood with those killed – the Eric Garners, Michael Browns, Tamir Rices of the world.  Patrick Lynch and those who share his opinion have so embraced the “thin blue line” that they refuse to decry unacceptable police behavior or even express remorse for the unnecessary killings of citizens.  There is an attempt to justify every killing, an attempt to say it is all right to use a chokehold, deemed an illegal maneuver; to massacre a soon to be married Sean Bell; to turn 41 bullets on an unarmed Amadou Diallo (19 of the bullets hit him), to sodomize Abner Louima.  In the Louima case, several “officers of the peace” were tried and convicted, but they are among the very few who pay the price for their rouge activities.

Any human being ought to shudder at these extreme police killings.  Too many human beings, too many police officers, seem to think this behavior should not be decried.  The police officers that I know speak among themselves about rouge police officers and their unacceptable behavior, but they don’t speak up.  So, there are police officers that choose to rape some of the women they stop for traffic violations.  There are police officers that coerce delinquent young girls into prostitution.  There are police officers that take the drugs confiscated in drug busts for their own use or to sell.  There is silence from police unions regarding these actions.

Police unions with integrity would uplift good officers and criticize bad ones.  They’d assert, and then enforce, a code of conduct.  They’d say there is zero tolerance to illegal police behavior, and then they’d enforce it.  Unions are supposed to defend their members, and that makes sense.  Even as they defend those that are unjustly accused, they must also be quite clear that they oppose illegal behavior.

Officer Randolph Holder, a Guyana native, whose application to the police academy included an essay that said he wanted to be a role model, was killed in late October by a criminal who was fleeing him.  His death was a tragedy. His family, by the community, and by his fellow officers, mourns him.  We who are human must mourn him.  We who depend on law enforcement officers to maintain order in our communities must condemn the culture of violence that led to his death.  And we who are human and object violence must also object the police violence that left Eric Garner dead. We must also criticize the grand jury that decided that his murderer, “Officer” Daniel Pantaleo, did nothing wrong.  We must decry the folks who said that Garner was complicit in his own death because he was overweight.

Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist based in Washington, DC. Her latest book “Are We Better Off? Race, Obama and Public Policy” will be released in November 2015.

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Nov. 3, 2015

President Obama Backs ‘Band the Box’ to Help Former Prisoners Get Jobs
By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - President Barack Obama, who this week enacted the largest release of prisoners at one time in 30 years, has announced that he is “taking action to ‘ban the box'’ for the most competitive jobs at federal agencies.”

That means he is pushing to remove all job application questions about a person’s prior criminal record in order to make it easier for the former inmates to get jobs. Those questions have often ended with rejection slips; especially for convicted felons.

“Now, the federal government is a big employer, as you know, and like a lot of big employers, on many job applications there’s a box that asks if you have a criminal record.  If you answer yes, then a lot of times you’re not getting a call back,” the President told the audience during a criminal justice forum at Rutgers University in Newark, N.J. “We’re going to do our part in changing this.  The federal government, I believe, should not use criminal history to screen out applicants before we even look at their qualifications.  We can’t dismiss people out of hand simply because of a mistake that they made in the past.”

Obama’s announcement quickly won resounding applause from civil rights, criminal justice and labor groups.

“Unfortunately, too many hardworking and highly qualified men and women are finding their path to success blocked by a system that is rigged against them,” said Richard L. Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO. “Measures such as Ban the Box are the right approach to ease the job hunt for working people with prior convictions.”

“President Obama’s move to ban the box will benefit everyone: families, employers, communities, and of course people with records. The facts are clear: returning citizens who find jobs are far more likely to stay out of prison,” said Kevin Gay, CEO of Operation New Hope and creator of Ready4Work, a nationally recognized reentry program for the formerly incarcerated. “And we can’t rebuild families and communities destroyed by incarceration if people who leave prison end up right back behind bars when they are released. Banning the box is an essential step to reducing incarceration rates in the United States.”

Civil rights groups have long called for the removal of such questions from job applications.

In July, Wade Henderson, president/CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, called for President Obama to “take the next step in helping the formerly incarcerated re-integrate by issuing an executive order to ban the box and implement fair chance hiring practices for federal jobs and contractors. The 700,000 people released from American prisons every year are met with innumerable obstacles to successfully re-entering their communities.”

The President’s push for a better life for former prisoners comes as the Justice Department releases about 6,000 inmates early from prison. The prisoners, released between Oct. 30 and Nov. 2 account for the largest mass release of prisoners in three decades – in order to reduce overcrowding and give fair treatment to non-violent drug offenders who received sentences that were too long.

While some were released to halfway houses or home confinement, some are on supervised released and most will need jobs.

In his speech on Monday, the President stopped short of saying he will use executive order to establish the Ban the Box measure. So far, he has called on Congress to pass legislation to establish the policy.

The announcement came after a year of meetings between President Obama and stake holders in criminal justice; including prisoner advocates; inmates; police and correctional offices among others.

“I've met with prisoners, corrections officers.  I've met with families of fallen police officers and families of children who were killed by gun violence,” he recalled. “I've met with men and women battling drug abuse, and rehab coaches, and folks working on new solutions for treatment.”

He’s also spent hours talking with former Newark Mayor Corey Booker, now a U. S. senator, who was in the Rutgers audience, as well as

The point is to develop ways to “break the cycle that has young children somehow on that pipeline where they end up incarcerated,” he said.

The White House has issued a fact sheet to outline the main steps the President is taking to deal with the criminal justice system as well as reintegrating former prisoners back into society. Among them are:

• Called on Congress to pass criminal justice reform that reduce recidivism for those who are reentering society.  They include the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, which recently received a strong bipartisan vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. That Act would reduce extreme sentences for nonviolent drug offenses, provide additional resources for reentry services, help for mental illness and addictions as well as for state and local law enforcement.

• The Department of Education will award up to $8 million (over 3 years) to at least nine communities to support educational programs and the reentry success for individuals.

• Expanding technology training and jobs for individuals with criminal records.  As a part of President Obama’s TechHire initiative, over 30 communities are taking action – working with each other and national employers – to expand access to tech jobs for more Americans with fast track training like coding boot camps and new recruitment and placement strategies.

Obama has assured that criminal justice will remain a priority during his final year in office.

“Now, right now, there are 2.2 million Americans behind bars…We incarcerate people at a rate that is unequaled around the world. We account for 5 percent of the world’s population, 25 percent of its inmates.  They are disproportionately black and Latino,” he said. “More than 600,000 inmates are released each year.  Around 70 million Americans have some sort of criminal record - 70 million.  That’s almost one in five of us. Almost one in three Americans of working age… It’s bad for the communities that desperately need more role models who are gainfully employed.  So we’ve got to make sure Americans who’ve paid their debt to society can earn their second chance.”