Urban News Features

Pope Francis Offers the World a Prophetic Voice By Jesse Jackson Sr.

Sept. 27, 2015

Pope Francis Offers the World a Prophetic Voice

By Jesse Jackson Sr.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Washington is girding itself for what will be an historic visit by Pope Francis this week. So many are expected to flock into the city that government employees are encouraged to work at home. The pope will address a joint session of Congress, celebrate mass, meet with the president and tend to the impoverished.

He may meet with the low-wage workers who serve food to the senators and not just with the senators. He will then go to Philadelphia and New York, give an address on climate change and possibly celebrate mass on Wall Street. Already the political crossfire has begun, with conservatives assailing the pope for not understanding modern markets. One columnist condemned him as a false prophet, standing against “modernity, rationality, science and … the spontaneous creativity of open societies.”

Republicans are outraged that at Laudato Si, the Pope’s stunning encyclical addressing our relationship to God’s creation of nature and calling on us to change our ways to meet the challenge of climate change. While the Republican presidential campaign has been fixated on building walls, the pope represents the voice of Jesus that calls for caring for the stranger on the Jericho Road.

While conservatives worship Adam Smith and the marketplace, the pope scorns the false idol of materialism, rejects the “magical conception of the market.”

“To claim economic freedom,” he wrote in the encyclical, “while real conditions bar many people from real access to it, and while possibilities for employment continue to shrink, is to practice a doublespeak which brings politics into disrepute.” Liberals, on the other hand, shudder at the pope’s embrace of life and continued commitment to the church’s rejection of abortion. This pope has called for a “jubilee” that, among other things, offers greater forgiveness for those who have divorced or had abortions.

Francis is the first pope to come from the South, from Argentina in his case. He named himself after Saint Francis of Assisi, who, the pope noted, “lived in simplicity and in wonderful harmony with God … (showing) us just how inseparable is the bond between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society and interior peace.”

Without question, the pope’s visit will spark major political disputes, as partisans pick and choose phrases to club their opponents with. But the pope has no party. He carries the message of the Gospel, of Jesus born into poverty, who dedicated his ministry to the poor. Jesus taught us to come to the aid of the poor, to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, care for the sick and visit the prisoner. We would be judged, he taught, for “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Jesus of Nazareth ministered to the poor, and that alarmed the rich and powerful, who reacted with fear and anger. Pope Francis now offers the world a prophetic voice. We must not sacrifice people at the “altar of money” or worship the “golden calf.” He calls on us to amend our ways so we can meet the challenges of climate change, poverty, war and division. The pope is grounded in the values of the Church, the teachings of Jesus. He is not a policy wonk or a political partisan.

Personal responsibility and charity are central to his teaching. And he knows that governments, institutions and markets created by man reflect their values. If distorted, they can have perverse effects and must be reformed. In a time of extreme inequality, with millions still in absolute poverty, with growing displacement of peoples stoking hatreds and fears, with climate change a clear and already present danger, Pope Francis calls us to change, to return to core values, and build anew.

His prophetic voice is badly needed in this troubled times. No doubt his message will be distorted and hijacked for partisan political purposes. But beneath that din, we should consider his words, weigh his wisdom and look into ourselves. He is summoning us to unleash our better angels. We would be wise to listen and reflect.

Straight from the Pope by Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

Sept. 27, 2015

Straight from the Pope
By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

williams2

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - As much as I wanted to sleep on the morning Pope Francis spoke to Congress, I forced myself to get up to go to the National Mall to hear what he had to say. What a treat! He spoke on nearly all the issues of concern to me. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to be there. He spoke inspiring words, and words about our obligation.

He talked about our common responsibility to care for one another and for our continent. To Congress he said, “You are called to defend and preserve the dignity of your fellow citizens in the tireless and demanding pursuit of the common good, for this is the chief aim of all politics. A political society endures when it seeks, as a vocation, to satisfy common needs by stimulating the growth of all its members, especially those in situations of greater vulnerability or risk. Legislative activity is always based on care for the people. To this you have been invited, called and convened by those who elected you.”

If even a little bit of that message rubbed off on the blockers of progress, one can only imagine how much progress we could make in unity! Surely this recalcitrant Congress needed that message.

The Pope spoke directly to the Congress, but he didn’t let the rest of us off the hook on our responsibilities when he said he was speaking to the entire people of the U.S. He spoke of the elderly as a storehouse of wisdom forged by experience as someone who should share their stories and their insights to build up this land. He addressed young people who are working to realize their great and noble aspirations.

He talked about men and women, for all their many differences and limitations who were able by hard work and self-sacrifice -- some at the cost of their lives -- to build a better future. “A people with this spirit can live through many crises, tensions and conflicts, while always finding the resources to move forward and to do so with dignity,” he said. He applauded the work of Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

He talked about our world being increasingly a place of violent conflict, hatred and brutal atrocities, committed even in the name of God. He said that our response must …be one of hope and healing, of peace and justice—that we should be about restoring hope, righting wrongs, maintaining commitments, and promoting the well-being of all. He said we should move forward together in a renewed spirit of fraternity and solidarity, cooperating generously for the common good.

He reminded us of the simple Golden Rule by which we should live: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," and challenged us to treat others with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated, to seek for others the same possibilities we seek for ourselves. He said, “The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us.”

He spoke of the fight against hunger and poverty and of protecting nature. He spoke about immigration stating that we all came from somewhere else! He concluded with the pronouncement that we can all make a difference with courageous actions and strategies aimed at implementing a "culture of care."

Lord, I pray that the Republicans and other Obama haters were listening! I pray that every evil doer was listening. I pray that all of us found inspiration to do better. So many people are willing to talk the talk, but few can be depended upon to walk the walk. Life is so much simpler when we take heed to what the Pope said.

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

Stories of Liberian Women in Time of War to Premiere in New York

Sept. 22, 2015

Stories of Liberian Women in Time of War to Premiere in New York

D.Gurira at left and L.Nyong’o

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from Global Information Network

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – While Liberia’s civil war is distant history to some, an African playwright has rescued the tale of five women, captive wives of a rebel commander, whose survival in a treacherous war zone still resonates today.

“When I first came upon the story of Liberian women, it was actually about women soldiers,” recalled writer-actor Danai Gurira. “And when I saw that image, with AK47s and tight jeans, I said I need to figure out that story, that portrayal of African women that we never get to see.”

“ ‘Eclipse’ is a story about a group of regular women motivated to end the war,” added director Liesl Tommy. “It’s about how they impact other women,” letting Gurira finished the thought: “…how they get through it, and what they become in order to survive.”

Starring in the theatrical performance which begins previews at New York’s Public Theatre on Sep. 29 and officially opens Oct. 14, is Kenya’s acclaimed actress and high fashion model Lupita Nyong’o.

In a recent interview with Variety magazine, Nyong’o described her attraction to the theatre piece. “It’s about how women end up creating freedom within themselves,” she said. “My character is wife number four. It’s about her grappling with the loss of her life.”

Ms. Gurira, born in America and raised in Zimbabwe, builds upon her reputation for hard-hitting drama on relevant themes involving African women. From the 2005 play “In the Continuum” about two females living with HIV, “Eclipsed,” is an unflinching treatise on the subjugation of women in war-torn Liberia. “It’s a gut-wrenching saga told with poignancy and wit, precisely the kind of niche today’s cutting-edge theater strives to fill,” writes Paul Harris of Variety magazine.

“These women in the story are amazing people with amazing potential,” says Gurira. “But they get eclipsed, there’s a blockage that happens to their lives against their will. But the blockage passes, it’s temporary.

“There are some amazing African women out there, people who we tend not to pay attention to in our global community, but we should,” she declared. “I’m excited to imagine that it could happen with this exchange of audience with performers.”

The production is scheduled to run through Nov. 8.

European Union Has Plan to Route African Asylum Seekers to Offshore Camp

Sept. 22, 2015

European Union Has Plan to Route African Asylum Seekers to Offshore Camp

African refugee and son

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from Global Information Network

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Not long after a 3 year old Syrian refugee child was found on a Turkish beach, the president of the European Commission declared belatedly: “We can build walls; we can build fences. But if it were you, your child… there is no price you would not pay, there is no wall you would not climb.”

Europe has now agreed to settle thousands of migrants fleeing war and terrorist attacks, but few believe the European Union has changed its long-term strategy to keep refugees out. In fact, plans are reportedly underway to process refugees offshore in a temporary migration center in the center-west African nation of Niger.

If the center, built to hold Africans seeking humanitarian visas in Europe, succeeds, more centers will be built in the Middle East and the Maghreb.

Around 90 percent of all West African migrants, roughly 100,000 people each year, pass through Niger on their way to reach Europe.

The center will be located in the Nigerien city of Agadez and run by the International Organization for Migration. Refugees would register and be profiled. Those who are refused EU entry will be helped to return to their country of origin if so desired.

In a recent Foreign Policy magazine article, the idea of using Agadez as a safe haven seemed questionable at best. Assistant professor of African Studies at the University of Florida, Sebastian Elischer, wrote: “Known as a hub for human and drug traffickers, weapon dealers, Tuareg rebels, Boko Haram fighters, among others, it hardly seems a suitable refuge for anyone. In fact, the Nigerien government has banned foreign citizens from entering all of northern Niger unless they are accompanied by a Nigerien military escort. Western embassies regularly advise their own citizens not to travel to Agadez and its surrounding areas. The EU has yet to explain why it thinks that an area like this is an appropriate place for offshore refugees to seek out.”

Under international law, a country cannot return migrants within their borders to a place where they might face persecution, torture, death, or irreparable harm. Some have asked whether the center in Niger can even meet that standard.

Finally, offshore processing has been a humanitarian disaster for the U.S. and Australia, given the examples of Guantánamo Bay and Papua New Guinea. Human rights organizations have condemned both nations for the harsh and humiliating conditions prevalent in their centers. Both facilities experienced riots and hunger strikes over abusive treatment after detainees were refused adequate legal and medical assistance. Australian and American facilities are run by private companies, which focus on making profits and operate without accountability.

“Perhaps that is why the EU chose a Nigerien site, where any emerging crises will remain well out of sight and thus, out of mind,” Elischer suggested. “An unfolding humanitarian crisis in Niger’s far-flung north will not provoke the same indignation as dead bodies on the shores of Italy and Greece. Donor-dependent Niamey will not ask too many critical questions or worry too much about whether the center meets international legal standards.”

African countries with the highest number of refugees include The Gambia, Senegal, Eritrea, Somalia, Nigeria and Mali.

At CBCF Phoenix Awards Dinner, President Obama Shifts Focus to Black Women by Hazel Trice Edney

Sept. 21, 2015

At CBCF Phoenix Awards Dinner, President Obama Shifts Focus to Black Women

By Hazel Trice Edney

President Barack Obama tells the audience at the Phoenix Awards Dinner that

Black women - without fanfare - have been a part of "every great movement in American history". PHOTO: Roy Lewis/Trice Edney News Wire

President Barack Obama greets the audience after his Sept. 19 speech at the CBCF-ALC Phoenix Awards Dinner. PHOTO: Roy Lewis/Trice Edney News Wire

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – With a backdrop of “My Brother’s Keeper” and nearly two years of focus on issues surrounding Black and Hispanic males, President Obama has signaled a shift to Black women, honoring how they have historically “helped carry this country forward.”

Those were his words at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual Phoenix Awards Dinner, which he has keynoted nearly every year since his election.

“Of course, Black women have been a part of every great movement in American history even if they weren’t always given a voice,” he said to applause at the Walter Washington Convention Center in D.C. “They helped plan the March on Washington, but were almost entirely absent from the program. And when pressed, male organizers added a tribute highlighting six women - none of them who were asked to make a speech.”

The President continued listing the maltreatment of women that took place on that historic day, on August 28, 1963:

He recounted, “Daisy Bates introduced her fellow honorees in just 142 words, written by a man. Of course, Marian Anderson and Mahalia Jackson sang. But in a three-hour program, the men gave women just 142 words. That may sound familiar to some of the women in the room here tonight,” he said to a trickling of applause and nodding heads throughout the audience. “The organizers even insisted on two separate parades - male leaders marching along the main route on Pennsylvania Avenue, and leaders like Dorothy Height and Rosa Parks relegated to Independence Avenue. America’s most important march against segregation had its own version of separation.”

Driving home his point, the President acknowledged that despite much attention on the plight of Black men and boys in America, including as it pertains to unemployment, criminal justice and incarceration rates, Black women also continue to have a long way to go.

“There’s no denying that Black women and girls still face real and persistent challenges,” he said, listing the modern day inequities: “The unemployment rate is over 8 percent for Black women. And they’re overrepresented in low-paying jobs; underrepresented in management. They often lack access to economic necessities like paid leave and quality, affordable child care. They often don’t get the same quality health care that they need, and have higher rates of certain chronic diseases - although that’s starting to change with Obamacare,” he said to applause.

The President stopped short of announcing specific policies on women that the White House might push in his final 15 months in office although he was emphatic about the need to help women overcome challenges in order to move the nation forward.

“The good thing about America - the great project of America is that perfecting our union is never finished. We’ve always got more work to do,” he said. “And tonight’s honorees remind us of that.”

Those honorees included the late Amelia Boynton Robinson, an organizer of the Bloody Sunday march to Montgomery, Ala., who was shown in a photo to have been beaten unconscious at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. President Obama recalled how he held her hand during the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Selma marches.

“And on that day, when we were celebrating that incredible march in Selma, I had Ms. Amelia’s hand in one of my hands, but Michelle had Sasha’s hand, and my mother-in-law had Malia’s hand - and it was a chain across generations. And I thought about all those women who came before us, who risked everything for life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness, so often without notice, so often without fanfare,” he said as the ballroom erupted in applause. “Their names never made the history books. All those women who cleaned somebody else’s house, or looked after somebody else’s children, did somebody else’s laundry, and then got home and did it again, and then went to church and cooked - and then they were marching.”

He credited those pioneering women for the advances of the millions of women currently across America. He included the successes of First Lady Michelle Obama, who was also at the dinner.

Another Phoenix Award honoree was Juanita Abernathy, the wife of Dr. King aide, Rev. Ralph Abernathy. Mrs. Abernathy helped to organize and lead the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott, which took place in her home state of Alabama in1955 to 1956. She still works to advance her husband’s legacy.

Other honorees were Rev. Dr. William Barber, II, president of the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, a champion for civil rights and voting rights; Fred Gray, pioneering civil rights attorney and activist who represented both Rosa Parks and Dr. King; the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity for its leading role in the dedication of the “Stone of Hope” statue of Dr. King; as well as the late civil rights icons Julian Bond, former NAACP chairman; and Louis B. Stokes, one of 13 co-founders of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971.

"The honorees this year embody the spirit of sacrifice, service and leadership to our country and underserved communities," said A. Shuanise Washington, president and chief executive officer of the CBCF.

The glitzy black-tie dinner, packed with elite community servants as well as the now 46 members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including 20 women, is the staple Black tie event of the annual CBCF-ALC which features power-packed issues forums during the day and parties and receptions in the evening.

In February 2014, President Obama announced his “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative, to assure the advancement of young men and boys of color in America. Although, the White House Council on Women and Girls has also been a staple of his administration, some pundits have pointed out that not enough attention have been given to the advancement of females of color.

President Obama implied there will be more work in that regard.

“So I’m focusing on women tonight because I want them to know how much we appreciate them, how much we admire them, how much we love them. And I want to talk about what more we have to do to provide full opportunity and equality for our Black women and girls in America today,” he said to applause. “Because all of us are beneficiaries of a long line of strong black women who helped carry this country forward.”