April 13, 2015

Reality Check

Celebrating Black Troops Triumphant Entry into Richmond, the Former Confederate Capital
By A. Peter Bailey

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - On Sunday, April 3, 1865, according to Thomas Morris Chester, the only Black Civil War correspondent, “Brevet Brigadier General Draper’s brigade of colored troops, and Brevet Major General August Kautz’s division were the first infantry to enter Richmond. The gallant 36^th U.S. Colored Troops, under Lieutenant Colonel B.F. Pratt, has the honor of being the first regiment…”

That memorable, important, and neglected historic event was commemorated and celebrated in Richmond on April 3 and 4, 2015. For me personally, highlights of the two day were as follows:

• The re-enactment of the entry of Black Union Troops: As the re-enactors marched down Main Street, which was the center of Richmond’s highly profitable trading and selling of African people, tears flowed as I visualized what must have been an incredibly emotional event for those ancestors. A significant number of them had probably been sold in Richmond. I remember reading once that a Virginia legislator in pre –Civil War times described his state as a “slave raising state.”
• A joyous ceremony on the site of the African Burial Grounds where thousands of our enslaved ancestors are buried: For years the site was a concrete-covered parking lot. Only tenacious determination from concerned Black Richmonders (and some Whites) compelled public officials to remove the concrete so the site could live again. This movement was mainly led by former Richmond City Councilman Sa’ad El-Amin. With a mind and soul stirring combination of African-inspired drumming, music, dance, poetry, chants and shouts, the military victory over the enslavers in the former capital of the Confederacy was celebrated. It was educational and exciting.
• A walking tour of the area in Richmond called Shockoe Bottom: This was Richmond’s business district in pre-Civil War days and the main business was the trading and selling of many thousands of African men, women and children. In the book, “The Beleaguered City-Richmond, 1861-1865,” there is a passage describing how the vicious system worked. Potential purchasers would be urged to “Walk up, gentlemen. The sale of a fine likely lot of young niggers is now about to begin. All sorts of niggers sold for no fault but to settle the estate. Old ones, young ones, men and women, gals and boys…” According to the book, “Stripped to the waist, the young bucks would mount the block, show off their points and be knowingly pinched and prodded. With the display of young women went sales talk that did not spare their sensibilities. A girl, 17, who had borne a couple of children might hear herself described as ‘a rattlin’ good breeder…’ And when a sale separated ‘a likely chile-bearin’ woman from her husband and children, the skinflint purchaser might console her with the assurance that he would get her a new husband…”

Only a phenomenally strong group of people could have survived such White supremacist brutality and depravity. We are blessed to have had such ancestors. Journalist and historian Lerone Bennett, Jr. once wrote that the past is a bet that our ancestors placed that we must now cover. Unfortunately, too many Black folks today are not covering that bet. Thankfully the folks who pulled together the commemoration and celebration in Richmond contributed mightily to covering the bet placed by the Black troops and those buried in the African Burial Grounds.

A. Peter Bailey, whose latest book is Witnessing Brother Malcolm X, the Master Teacher, can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

April 12, 2015

Hopes Tempered With Realism Rise for a Boko Haram Defeat

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from Global Information Network

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – The Boko Haram insurgency is facing a new combatant in their war on the Nigerian people. He is a seasoned former general and now president- Muhammadu Buhari.

But if they’re worried that the new leader can swiftly turn around the dysfunctional Nigerian military that often failed to show up for battle, they’re not showing it.

On Sunday, militants in the guise of Islamic preachers called residents of Kwajafa, a remote village, together for ‘religious instruction.’ Instead, they opened fire, killing 24 and wounding others, a military source said.

In neighboring Cameroon, Boko Haram fighters have been seizing food and livestock from farmers and cattle ranchers along a long and porous border with Nigeria.

But Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of the region, said he saw difficulties afflicting the rebels who have been unable to organize a major attack for more than two months.  It’s an indication the combined forces of Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria have had some success, he said.

“Today, everyone can see that the end of the terrorist group is near,” he predicted.

Foreseeing a new and better relationship with its neighbor was Col. Toumba Mohamed of Chad. Together with Niger, the two countries had liberated a northern Nigerian town just as elections were taking place.

"Boko Haram no longer has a stronghold. But they are still a threat that must be cleaned up," General Seyni Garba, the head of Niger's army, said during a visit to the village, Malam Fatori, on Friday.

President-elect Muhammadu Buhari has given assurances to Nigerians that he would wipe away the “terror” the Islamists have spread around the country.

"I assure you that Boko Haram will soon know the strength of our collective will," Buhari said last week.

Meanwhile, leaders of central and west African nations will meet for talks to examine the region's campaign to defeat the terrorist group Boko Haram.

The April 8 talks in Malabo, capital of Equatorial Guinea, will be the first such meeting since President Buhari’s victory at the polls. The goal of the get together is the creation of a more concrete plan to eradicate the jihadist group, including the coordination of military strategy.

Nigeria’s famed writer Wole Soyinka commented upon the new president: “I criticized him for certain acts during his stint as a military dictator,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg TV Africa. “But I also insist that it’s about time we try our best to be mini-Mandelas, to learn there’s a moment when we must put the past aside.”

April 12, 2015

Should Race Matter in Endorsements?
By Dr. Julianne Malveaux

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Prince George’s County Executive (essentially the mayor) Rushern L. Baker III (an African-American) endorsed Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) over Congresswoman Donna Edwards (D-MD) in the race to replace retiring Senator Barbara Mikulski.  Edwards is African-American, Van Hollen , Edwards also lives in Prince George’s county, the county that houses our nation’s wealthiest African-Americans.  So far, she is the only African-American in the race, and faces the prospect of joining Kamala Harris, an announced candidate for the California Senate seat that will be vacated by Senator Barbara Boxer

This may seem like a local story, but it has national implications.  Both Edwards and Van Hollen are likely to seek contributions from all over the country.  Furthermore, the possibility of having an African-American woman in the Senate is an opportunity for African-American women’s issues to be raised on the Senate floor.  Finally, Edwards’ presence on committees dealing with work, health care, and banking will bring a much-needed perspective to a Senate that is overwhelmingly  (96 percent in 2014).

With an African-American female Senator, would Loretta Lynch’s confirmation for the cabinet position of Attorney General still be languishing? Or would Senator Edwards remind fellow senators that their treatment of African-American women has hardly been fair? Senator Edwards might also raise issues that impact all women, but African American women especially, given the fact that we have lower incomes, and a higher rate of single motherhood.  African-American women have also been the targets of disparaging remarks about public assistance and food stamps, as if no Caucasian’s participate in these programs.  An African-American woman senator would likely raise objections and stop senatorial trash talk about African-American women it its tracks.

Why, then, have the highest-ranking elective officers both African American men, chosen the Caucasian Van Hollen over Edwards.  Baker says he knows Van Hollen and has worked well with him.  He says he has made this endorsement “in the interest of the county.”  It has nothing to do with race, he says, but familiarity.  Yet Baker has not indicated what makes Van Hollen a better candidate than Edwards.  I won’t speculate whether the Baker pick has something more to do with gender than politics, but I do think his action raises national questions about race and endorsements.

Isiah Leggett, another Maryland county executive, has been a mentor and former professor to Baker.  Leggett posits that race shouldn’t matter as much as it used to, and that “freedom” includes the right to step outside racial lines to make the endorsements of one’s choice.  True.  Again, I wonder if these early endorsements would be different if there were an African-American man, as opposed to Van Hollen, were also running for this Senate seat.

When all else is equal, I choose to vote for the African-American candidate instead of the Caucasian one.  When the candidate is a progressive Democrat, I’d expect them to be far more sensitive to my issues than a candidate. Both Edwards and Van Hollen are likely to vote much the way that the liberal Barbara Mikulski did.  However, I expect that Edwards will be far more aggressive in advocating for the African-American community than Van Hollen.

Further, in light of the recent killing of Walter Scott in South Carolina, and the massacres of Eric Gardner and Michael Brown (among others), it seems specious to say that race doesn’t matter.  In light of the double-digit unemployment rates African- Americans experience (twice those of Whites), race still matters and the need for target employment programs have not been raised in this Senate, even when Democrats held it.  Edwards would be forceful in pushing these programs. Baker especially owes his county an explanation both because it is majority African-American (65 percent) and also because his count elected Edwards to Congress four times. Baker has used his position to go against the preferences of his county.

Julianne Malveaux is a writer and economist.  She can be reached at www.juliannemalveaux.com.