Oct. 12, 2015

A Feral Child? A Racist Fool!
By Julianne Malveaux

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - You can run but you can’t hide from racism.  I was preparing to write a column on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), the trade agreement that President Obama wants to fast track through Congress.  I considered tackling the Planned Parenthood kerfuffle, as Republicans are targeting a most important women’s health provider for political purposes.  But a friend sent me a link to a photo uploaded by Atlanta native Geris Hilton (also known as Gerod Roth), with a string of comments that simply turned my stomach, and I realized that the TPP would have to wait (it isn’t going anywhere until January anyway).

Hilton, whose legal name is Roth, worked at the Polaris Marketing Group in Atlanta; there he took a selfie of himself and a coworker’s child, and posted it on Facebook.  When one of his “friends” asked why the child was running around the office, Roth replied, “He was feral”.  The dictionary defines feral as “relating to, or suggestive of, a wild beast”, and “not domesticated or cultivated – wild”, or “having escaped from domestication and become wild”.   Excuse me? Roth’s own daughter hangs out at the office at the end of the day.  She plays with the adorable boy child whose innocent little face attracted the most “feral” comments from Roth’s intellectually challenged Facebook friends.

From one “friend”, “I didn’t know you were a slave owner”.  There were comments about selling enslaved people or “send him back” because they are “too expensive”.  Sydney Jade is three-year old Cayden’s loving, caring and hard working mother. Gerod Roth knew this, but he never corrected his “friends” who described the child as abandoned and worse.  Jade, started a twitter handle #HisNameisCayden to affirm her child’s humanity, and to reject the caricature Hilton/Roth put out there.  She has received an outpouring of love and support from cyberspace.

Thumbs up to the Polaris Marketing Group, who fired Roth about two weeks after his offending selfie, and wrote about the incident and subsequent firing on Facebook.  I am among those who think it should have taken less than two weeks, but they deserve credit for taking action instead of hiding behind the “free speech” argument that many make to defend their racist employees.  The Root reported that others who made offending comments were also fired from their jobs.  Yesssss!

Gerod Roth is one of those pouty little racists who has now described himself as the “victim” in this matter.  He “has been targeted”, he says.  He whines that his remarks have been taken out of context.  He posted an “apology” that was several paragraphs long attempting to “explain” how he happened to post the selfie in the first place, suggesting that young Cayden actually asked him to take the picture.  He had neither the grace nor the good sense to say, “I’m sorry and I’m out of order”, and then shut up.  Instead, he tried to cover his insensitivity up.  Next thing you know, there will be a group of folks rallying around Roth who can be described as nothing more than a child molester for his callous exploitation of his coworker’s son.  And next thing you know, those who have railed against this incident will be told this occurrence is “isolated”.

The late great writer Bebe Moore Campbell once wrote an essay about “race fatigue”, about the many ways she was tired of seeing, living, talking and writing about race.  She wrote about ignoring slights she might once have challenged, tamping down an anger that might once have been volcanic.  In that particular essay, she wrote about seeking a peaceful respite from race matters.  We all seek that respite, those days when we don’t have to think about the indignities of both institutional racism and the microagressions that are difficult to quantify.  We seek, but we don’t find the respite when cyberspace reveals life as both gritty and grand.

Julianne Malveaux is author and economist based in Washington, DC. Her new book “Are We Better Off? Race, Obama and Public Policy is available for pre order on www.juliannemalveaux.com

Blackonomics

Potential is Not Power
By James Clingman

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - This is a follow up to a Blackonomics article from several years ago.  It reemphasizes the importance of action over rhetoric, and as we consider this particular time in history and all the financial and intellectual resources among Black people in America, I figure it’s time to revisit the concept of “potential.”

Have you ever heard someone say, “Black people have the potential to be a force to be reckoned with,” or “The potential among Black people is off the charts?”  How about this one?  “Black folks have all of the potential in the world, to become, to achieve, to affect, and to change.” Sounds great, doesn’t it?

Some of us walk around with our chests stuck out bragging about how much “potential” we have.  But the real question is, “What about power?”  Potential is not power; having potential is not even close to having power.  If all we have is the potential to be powerful, we have nothing but a good feeling.

The definitions of potential are: “Having or showing the capacity to become or develop into something in the future; latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness.”  Other terms such as, possibility, capable of, latent, prospective, and would-be are also used to define potential.   To put it bluntly, a lot of potential has ended up in cemetery.

Like power, potential can only be brought to fruition, if it is utilized; otherwise, how do we know we have potential?  How do we know we have power, especially political and economic power, if we never use it to make our lives better?  Like a battery on a shelf, the potential within Black people could sit forever and never come to fruition.  Will our potential to be powerful ever be realized?

The words used to describe potential are not those upon which to hang our collective hat.  We must not continue to be content with having potential.   We must actualize our potential, not sit on it as though it’s some kind of honorable throne.  Potential leaves butt-prints; action leaves footprints.

We can convert our potential into action by supporting Black owned companies and by leveraging our votes in quid pro quo agreements that benefit Black people.  Three examples of Black owned companies that could use some of our “potential,” if it is converted into action, are Ice Supreme, in Atlanta, Blue Delta Water, and Freedom Paper Company, both located in Maryland.

Ice Supreme, in business for ten years, developed and sells the “world’s healthiest frozen treat,” a product that does not contain the kinds of ingredients that cause diabetes or exacerbates its effects. Who has more diabetes than Black folks?

Blue Delta Water has a PH value of 7.6 - 8, which makes it alkaline rather than acidic.  I am not a doctor but I am told by some who are that an alkaline environment is healthier for our bodies, making us less likely to succumb to various diseases.  To put it in an even simpler way, who does not drink water?

All that really needs to be said about Freedom Paper, a company that sells bathroom tissue and other paper products, is “Duh!”  Imagine if our churches, hotels, and restaurants bought their paper products from Freedom Paper.  Nuff said, right?

Turning our potential into real power simply requires practical action, not dialogues, speeches, or marches.  It requires a conscious commitment and maybe even some sacrifice, as W.E.B. DuBois said in reference to Black people supporting Black businesses.  It takes a willingness to run away from the Democrat plantation, not to the Republican plantation, but to our own plantation where only independent, informed, and critical thinking voters reside.

Finally, let me share with you an action-oriented group of individuals who are committed to doing away with our potential by working collectively and cooperatively toward a common goal of Black economic and political empowerment.   It is called The One Million Conscious Black Voters and Contributors (OMCBV&C).

The OMCBV&C, comprising thousands of members from 33 states, has and is currently working collectively to empower Black people by implementing practical solutions to the problems cited and recited by our people.  We are not “about to” start; we are not “fixin’ to start;” and we are not “gettin’ ready to start.”   The OMCBV&C is doing what many are just talking about.  In addition to recruiting what is just 2% of Black people in this country, this movement has pooled our dollars to pay our own way, written a political platform containing 15 relevant planks, and supports and works with other groups, organizations, and initiatives to create and sustain an even stronger political and economic base.

The OMCBV&C does not rely on potential; it is using real power to affect positive change for Black people.  Interested?  Go to www.iamoneofthemillion.com

Oct. 12, 2015

Farrakhan Calls for Economic Boycott During Upcoming Holidays
Anniversary Speech Has Many Topics, but One Goal of Justice

By Barrington M. Salmon 

Minister Louis Farrakhan, flanked by National of Islam Security behind security glass as he speaks to Saturday's crowd. PHOTO: Travis Riddick/Trice Edney News Wire

Beginning his speech, Minister Louis Farrakhan looks out over the vast crowd stretched out over the Washington Mall. PHOTO: Monica Morgan/Trice Edney News Wire © All rights reserved

Though the National Park Service no longer gives crowd estimates, some who attended in 1995 said the crowd stretched over the National Mall was comparable to 20 years ago. PHOTO: Travis Riddick/Trice Edney News Wire

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Two decades after 1.2 million Black men assembled in a blanket of humanity that spread across the National Mall from the U. S. Capitol to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the man who convened the largest ever gathering on the Mall reenacted the Million Man March of 1995 with a new message and largely for a new generation.

Saturday's ‘Justice or Else’ rally, featuring Minister Louis Farrakhan, drew a lineup of activists, people of faith, and families of police killing victims who, for eight hours, outlined the conditions under which African-Americans, Native Americans, Latinos and other oppressed and marginalized groups exist. To a crowd comparable to that of 20 years ago, Farrakhan - setting aside prepared remarks - spoke on a number of topics ranging from police shootings of unarmed Black people to the mistreatment of Native Americans to the manner in which many disrespect each other and themselves.

Mainly, he reminded the nation that America was built on the backs of Black slaves whose ancestors remain oppressed. He called for people of color to redirect the pain of oppression by withholding their money at Christmas in a massive economic boycott. He said Black people spend billions between Thanksgiving and Christmas, with the majority of the money handed to merchants on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

“Our people have been deprived of the precious essence of life,” Farrakhan said. “Down this Mall, there used to be slave pens. A little yellow house where the man depicted in [the movie] '12 Years a Slave’ was held and severely beaten.”

He continued, “I feel the pain of the ancestors, the pain of those on whose shoulders we stand. The young generation has arisen. I see the faces of the young. We who are getting older, myself and my generation, what good are we if we don’t prepare young people to take the torch the next step?” He told the youth, “We see you. We honor you.”

The march took place against the backdrop of persistent, youth-led protests against killings by police of primarily unarmed Black men, women and children. In what many are calling a new era of civil rights, millennial activists in states across the country, including those from the popular Black Lives Matter movement, have been agitating for broad, systematic changes in law enforcement and the criminal justice system.

National Action Network Executive Director Tamika Mallory, among the youth who spoke, said although the spirit of Saturday’s march – that of unity for justice – was basically the same as 20 years ago, she recognized that 20 years ago was also about “atonement, reconciliation and responsibility for the Black man.”

However, she stressed that the increasingly visible and heightened protests against the degrading of Black youth, vividly displayed through social media, has created unique circumstances that require an intensified demand of the powers that be.

“The time for games is over!” she said repeatedly. “Twenty years ago, Tamir Rice’s story would have fallen on deaf ears and would have been left to the pages of a falsified police report rather than broadcasted for the world to really know what happened to him. Twenty years ago, Sandra Bland’s bravery would have never been known to us. We would never have questioned what happened to that sister. Twenty years ago, Mike Brown’s body, being left on the street for four and a half hours, rotting in the sun, would only have traumatized that community instead of waking up the people as they did. Twenty years ago, Eric Garner’s last word would have just been whispered to his killers instead of shouted to all of us to make us wake up. We can’t breathe, brothers and sisters. Oscar Grant, Rekia Boyd, Freddie Gray, Ayana Jones, Maya Hall, Megan Hockaday,” Mallory listed the names of those killed by police. “Let us remember the words of Ida B. Wells: The ones who commit the murders write the reports!”

A string of clergy and civil rights leaders hammered similar points one after another. Despite the injustices that remain, some were also able to point to progress over the past two decades.

“There was a young state senator from Illinois out in the audience 20 years ago. His name is Barack Hussein Obama. Now he’s in the White House. So, we’ve made some progress,” Benjamin Chavis, NNPA president/CEO, told the crowd. “But you and I know we’ve got a lot more progress to make. There’s too much injustice. There’s too much inequality. There’s too much mass incarceration. There’s too much in our communities that need addressing. That’s why we’re here today.”

The day that started with ecumenical prayers and music at around 7 am, gradually built and culminated with the long-awaited speech by Farrakhan.

In an address that lasted about two hours, Farrakhan castigated White supremacists, state-sanctioned violence, police abuses and the sorry state of race relations in the America. He spared no one, criticizing elected officials, those in the church and others who have stood with hands at their sides while Blacks in America endure racial rancor, discrimination and a slate of behaviors designed to keep non-whites at the bottom of the social ladder. 

He not only spoke on behalf of African-Americans but Latinos, Native Americans, and all of the oppressed.

“Native Americans came in native dress. They’re not here as some mascots. They’re the original inhabitants of this earth and they’ve come seeking justice too,” said Farrakhan, 82. “Their suffering in this land is very great. No crime is greater than those who’ve suffered the most. They are indigenous people not just in this country but the Western Hemisphere.”

Diversity was a major focus of the 20^th anniversary. People from varying walks of life, ethnicities, cultures, religions and races were represented. But, they appeared unified behind the principled issues.

“An economic boycott is right up my alley," said Nana Makini Niliwaanbieni, a DC-based Akan priest, educator and activist. "I hope African Americans will heed Farrakhan’s call to action. I made the decision 25-30 years ago about spending money at Christmas,” said the Trenton, New Jersey native.

Elliott Carr, a Cleveland City employee said economic self-sufficiency is a vital way for Black people to balance the scales of injustice.

“I’m here for Black unity,” said Carr. “I love seeing Black people. It’s good to see us all together talking and doing something positive. Black people have to remember that the system is not for us. We’re economic slaves to debt, student debt and other things. A degree doesn’t guarantee anything. They’ll put a case against you and have you caught up in the courts and if you get convicted that will follow you forever.”

The atmosphere veered from somber to festive under the clear blue skys and 70-degree temperatures as speakers like Carmen Perez, a member of the Justice League New York City and executive director of A Gathering for Justice; Native American activist Jay Winter Nighthawk; Baltimore Pastor Jamal Bryant; The Rev. Willie Wilson; Ron Daniels, president of the Black World 21^st Century who called for reparations for slavery; Christopher Barry, son of the late DC Mayor Marion S. Barry; and Emma Lozano, executive director of Centro Sin Fronteras, an organization which works on defending day laborers in Chicago, all electrified the crowd.

“It’s been 50 years since Selma, 20 years since the first march and we’re still fighting," said Perez. "Twenty years from now, we’ll come back here again proclaiming victory. If we don’t get what we want, shut it down, shut it down!”  

Farrakhan, making it clear that economic sanctions are the “or else” of the gathering, promised to unfold a more specific agenda and instructions in days to come. He concluded, “You all with your tender hearts; you never understood what justice is. Justice for Pharaoh is not the same as justice for the children of Israel. Justice for the oppressed is not the same as justice for the oppressor. Mercy is for the oppressed. So Jesus said, ‘God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, the same shall he also reap.’ Oh my God. That’s a horror story for somebody.”

Trice Edney News Wire Editor-Publisher Hazel Trice Edney contributed to this story.

Oct. 11, 2015

Social Media Giant Unveils Internet Plans for Rural Africa

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from Global Information Network

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – A new satellite could soon be bringing remote parts of Africa onto the internet, according to Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg.

In an announcement this week, the social media giant said Facebook would be using aircraft, lasers and drones to beam internet access “down into communities from the sky.” A satellite, called AMOS-6 would be leased from the Israeli company Spacecom and shared between a French company, Eutelsat, and Facebook. Eutelsat will expand its paid broadband connections in the region for businesses and well-off individuals.

“Facebook's mission is to connect the world and we believe that satellites will play an important role in addressing the significant barriers that exist in connecting the people of Africa," said Chris Daniels, VP of Internet.org, in a statement.

The satellite could launch as early as next year and service would start in the second half of 2016.

The initiative is undertaken in partnership with Internet.org - a charity Facebook runs. Internet.org asks internet service providers (ISPs) to help provide “free basics” to countries where wired internet penetration is sparse or non-existent, touting the virtues of developing markets and appealing to the tech world’s charitable instincts.

Earlier this year, Facebook announced they had developed a gigantic solar-powered drone that could stay in the stratosphere for months at a time, beaming broadband internet to rural and hard-to-reach areas.

The drone, called Aquila, is the baby of Facebook’s year old Connectivity Lab. During the day it will cruise in circles at 90,000 feet, soaking up solar power. At night it will save energy by drifting down to 60,000 feet.

To get the Internet, a laser system will connect the ground and the drone. A Facebook team working on the laser technology in California, says it has achieved speeds of tens of gigabytes per second – enough to allow hundreds of thousands of people to access broadband Internet simultaneously;

Until relatively recently, internet in Kenya was largely provided by satellite through a large dish in the Rift Valley; four large submarine fiber-optic cables radically changed the way the country received the web beginning in 2009 under the acronym The East African Marine System (Teams), and now several multinational internet companies have a strong presence in the country, notably Alcatel-Lucent and Fujitsu.