June 29, 2014

To Be Equal 
20th Anniversary of  “Party with a Purpose”: Featuring NUL-powered Essence Festival Career Connections 
By Marc H. Morial

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - “We’re designed for greatness. No excuses. No apologies.” Lisa Nichols, CEO of Motivating the Masses and author

July 3-6 is the date.  New Orleans is the place.  Empowerment is the purpose.  Iconic thought leaders and musicians bring the message.  For the 20th year in a row, Essence Magazine is organizing the largest annual gathering of African American music, culture and inspiration in the nation.  Thousands of families across the country have marked their calendars and are making final plans to spend their July 4 weekend in New Orleans for the 20th anniversary of the Essence Festival.  

As then-Mayor of New Orleans, I served as founding mayor of the Essence Festival and was there when it began in 1995 as a one-time event to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Essence Magazine.  I am thrilled to see it blossom into more than any of us ever imagined – the largest, most exciting and purposeful gathering of African-Americans anywhere in the U.S.

The partnership of the Essence Festival and the City of New Orleans was ideal from the start.  Michelle Ebanks, President of Essence Communications, explains, “New Orleans has been just a tremendous home for the Essence Festival.  There’s not a better place.  Louisiana’s famous for festivals.  We believe there is a symbiotic relationship that we have here.”  The Festival has also been good for New Orleans.  Last year, more than 540,000 people come to New Orleans for the Essence Festival with an estimated $100 million impact.  According to Mark Romig, President and CEO of the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, “This has become sort of our kingpin, milestone event for the summer months.”  

The Essence Festival has played a significant role in the rebuilding of post-Katrina New Orleans and brings much more than music to the City.  For example, in addition to the Festival’s significant economic contribution, in 1995 Essence and the City of New Orleans co-founded the Louis Armstrong Jazz Camp, which exposes emerging jazz artists from all over the world to master jazz artists in New Orleans.  Today, it is a continuing, self-sustaining organization that is making a tremendous community impact.  This year, on Sunday, July 6, the Festival will hold its second “A Mother’s Prayer Vigil,” a gathering of mothers and grandmothers who come together to grieve and honor the children they raised whose lives were tragically cut short by gun violence.  

The Essence Empowerment Experience, featuring some of the most influential thought-leaders in America, has also become a high-point of the Festival.  It offers free workshops, lectures and seminars at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center designed to “give you the tools to better your world.”  I am proud to join such luminaries as Alicia Keys, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Rev. Al Sharpton and Bishop T.D. Jakes as part of this year’s Empowerment Experience. The National Urban League, in partnership with leading healthcare services provider HCA, is also running the Essence Festival Empower U Zone for Career Connections.  This is the ultimate networking lounge where attendees can meet industry leaders, network with entrepreneurs, get career advancement tips and attend recruitment sessions with some of the top companies in the country.  Special presenters include Lisa Nichols, CEO of Motivating the Masses, along with certified life coach, Dee Marshall.  If all of that is not enough to get your attention, the musical line-up this year includes Prince, Mary J. Blige, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Lionel Richie and many other premier performers.  

When the Essence Music Festival began in 1995, City officials did not fully understand the economic potential of the Black consumer – which now has a combined buying power approaching $1.1 trillion.  Twenty years later, the annual “Party with a Purpose” has become one of the major tourist attractions and economic infusions in New Orleans and one of the nation’s largest summer festivals.  Hope to see you there.

June 23, 2014
Clyburn to Black Church: ‘Let’s Rededicate Ourselves’ to Civil Rights Gains 
By Hazel Trice Edney

Congressman Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) speaks to congregation at Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church. PHOTO: Courtesy GMCHC

Copy of FBI flyer showing three missing civil rights workers who were found murdered during Freedom Summer of 1964.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - In a year with a string of civil rights anniversaries - including the 50th Anniversary of Mississippi Freedom Summer - one of the highest ranking African-Americans in the U. S. Congress, is warning commemorators to go far beyond simply recalling the pain and suffering.

U. S. Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), who also serves as assistant House Democratic Leader, told a Washington, D.C. congregation that with the 70th anniversary of the signing of the GI bill (veterans’ educational benefits) June 22; the 60th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education desegregation ruling March 17, and the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, signed into law on July 2, there is much opportunity for a civil rights revival of sorts.

“Whether you celebrate the 70th anniversary of a change in your life, the 60th anniversary of a change in your life or the 50th anniversary of a change in your life - whatever you celebrate - just remember that this year as we celebrate, let’s rededicate ourselves to the proposition that we will not allow those who lost their lives…and were beaten…Let’s rededicate ourselves to the proposition that we will not allow those lives to have gone down in vain.”

Clyburn was giving remarks at the Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church in North East D.C. as he prepared for a signing of his new memoir, Blessed Experiences: Genuinely Southern, Proudly Black. He told the mega-church congregation, led by Bishop Alfred Owens, that even his worst moments being jailed during civil rights battles in the 60s have come to be blessings and lessons to be passed on.

“I had experiences, and as I said in this book, all of them were not pleasant, but all of them were blessings,” he said. “Sometimes it required that I look back to see the blessings because many times when I was experiencing it, it felt like a curse.”

Clyburn’s remarks came as civil rights enthusiasts across America prepared to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of “Mississippi Freedom Summer” this week. It was during this summer in 1964 that three civil rights workers went missing as hundreds of volunteers – mostly young White northerners defying Jim Crow laws - converged on Mississippi to register Black voters.On June 21, 1964, it was discovered that the three men, Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney, had been arrested, released and then beaten and killed by a Ku Klux Klan lynch mob.

According to the NAACP, the murders led to the first successful federal prosecution of a civil rights case in Mississippi that had been investigated by the FBI.
In sync with the same sentiments expressed by Clyburn, NAACP President Lorraine C. Miller issued a statement saying the best way to commemorate this horrific tragedy of Freedom Summer is to take action for voting rights in 2014 by pledging to vote this November “to honor the sacrifices made by Freedom Summer activists for our right to vote.”

A string of speakers and a gala will take place during the Mississippi Freedom Summer commemoration June 25-29. Details are outlined on the official website, http://freedom50.org/.

Miller concluded, “The circumstances under which we fight may have changed, but our values remain constant. All Americans, regardless of income or the color of their skin, must be able to freely exercise their constitutional right to vote…The work of civil rights activists to protect this right did not stop when Freedom Summer ended, or even with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As long as there are legislators fighting to keep our most vulnerable populations away from the polls, our work and our struggle continues.”

Blackonomics

The Power of Power Talk    
By James Clingman            

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The recent gathering of serious, conscious, and intelligent brothers and sisters in Washington, DC on June 21, 2014, was so refreshing and stimulating.  The event was called Power Talk One, and it was organized by Carl Nelson, radio talk show host par excellence, whose show is carried from 4-7PM weekdays on WOL-1450, in the District of Columbia and across the nation.  Gatherings like this one are too few and far between, and I am so excited about its future plans, which will be shared in various circles very soon.

Some doubted the turnout would be significant, but there was standing room only at the Plymouth Baptist Church, as 1200 people showed up.  The sanctuary was filled, including the balcony and choir sections, as well as the overflow room where attendees could listen to the proceedings.  It was scheduled to end at 6PM but did not dismiss until 9PM.

Power Talk One was sponsored by a Black-owned corporation, Radio One, which is significant because too often Black event planners and organizers run to corporations owned by non-Blacks for financial support.  A few years ago I spoke at a Juneteenth celebration and said, “How can we celebrate our freedom if we cannot pay for our freedom celebration with Black dollars?”

My point is that we should not overlook the pleasant and rare fact that a Black company was the sole sponsor of Power Talk One, a Black event.  Props to Cathy Hughes and Radio One.

Power Talk One brought in men and women from Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, North Carolina, Detroit, Georgia, Illinois, Oklahoma, Maryland, Philadelphia, Virginia, Ohio, Florida, and points in between.  They came because of Carl Nelson’s powerful radio show and his many years of dedication and commitment to the unyielding pursuit of knowledge and commensurate action.  They came because they know Carl’s show informs Black folks (and anyone else who listens) of important issues that will have a positive effect on his audience.

They came because they know the Carl Nelson Show features a wide variety of guests, many of whom should be featured on TV news shows and national panels that deal with Black issues but are not included on the usual list of Black go-to guys and gals.  They came because the Power Talk One list of speakers comprised the likes of Dr. Claud Anderson, Dr. Francis Cress-Welsing, Dr. Tony Browder, Dr. Umar Johnson, Dr. Patricia Newton, and the venerable and indefatigable Dick Gregory.  Yeah, that was the icing on the cake; and those brothers and sisters turned the place out.

“The positive energy in the room was palpable,” said an ebullient and proud Carl Nelson.  Folks from every corner of this country were there, some having slept in their cars after driving hundreds of miles to be at this event,” Nelson continued, “they were eager not only to hear but to interact with our august group of speakers.  The meeting exceeded my expectations and I am so honored to have been involved.”

The Power Talk One gathering was certainly not unique, but it was necessary, timely, and significant as it relates to how we must not only “come together” but also “work together” on solutions so desperately needed for Black people to move in a positive direction toward economic empowerment, historical relevance, educational excellence, and social consciousness.  I applaud Power Talk One and Carl Nelson for bringing this event to fruition.

As we move forward, it is vital for us to do more to help ourselves with the tremendous resources, both financial and intellectual, that are available within our ranks as Black people.  In light of our people always looking for what we already have, it is refreshing to see a group of Black people, from grassroots to PhD’s, in one room, with no one trying to be the HNIC, and with so much positive energy, seeing and hearing what we have and being willing to utilize those resources.

One last but important thing: As I always say, everything we do takes money.  Radio One stepped to the front and sponsored Power Talk One.  I am calling on all those business owners who attended and those who could not, to buy advertisements on the Carl Nelson Show.  Ad revenues provide the opportunities to present these kinds of events to the public.  Let’s practice the Maát principle of Reciprocity to show our gratitude for Power Talk One.  I have already gotten one company (maybe two) to buy ads.  Do your part to support Power Talk, but not just by saying how great it was and how good it made you feel.  Help sustain it with your dollars.  This was not just a “rap and clap session;” there is action to follow but, as usual, we have to write some checks.

June 22, 2014

Fifty Years After Civil Rights Act: A Land of Opportunity 
By William Spriggs  

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Fifty years ago this week, the U.S. Senate passed the version of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that would be passed by the House and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The bill faced a filibuster of 14 hours and 13 minutes by the late Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia.

Between the passage by the Senate and debate by the House, three young civil rights workers—Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Earl Chaney—disappeared into the night on June 21, 1964, driving in the rural area near Philadelphia, Miss. Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney were later found dead, having been murdered for trying to register African American voters in Mississippi.

On Monday, this week,  the AFL-CIO supported a Moral Monday protest in North Carolina revisiting many of the issues America faced in 1964, and meant to be addressed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Many things have changed since then. Too many things have not.

The Senate debated the Civil Rights Act for 60 working days, including Saturday sessions. Rarely today does Congress meet to carefully craft legislation lifting the lives of people. An important purpose of the act was to ensure economic freedoms for African Americans, especially the right to hold a job. In the 1960s, major American newspaper want ads openly advertised for segregated job openings. Those cold hard lines denied access to earning a living. Today, Senate Republicans filibuster votes to raise the minimum wage, and House Republicans refuse to debate it. That cold hard line leaves more than 2.6 million Americans working full time, year round but living in poverty, and America’s poor families with workers are unable to earn enough to get out of poverty.
         
North Carolina is a state where a child born into poverty has less than a 6 percent chance of moving up to the top  20 percent of the income pile. In the Wilson area, a poor child has only a 3.9 percent chance of moving up above middle. This is not because of single parent households, individual irresponsibility or the water people in North Carolina drink. The problem is that North Carolina has policies that trap people who fall down into poverty.

Lose a job? In North Carolina, the average unemployment benefit will replace only 35 percent of your pay, ranking 30th out of 53 unemployment systems in the United States and its territories, and you only have a 35 percent chance you will get any benefit at all, ranking 51st out of 53. If you are a single mother, then your combined Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families benefit will just get you to the level of extreme poverty (50 percent of the poverty line), ranking 43rd out of 51 (the 50 states and the District of Columbia).

Hunt for a job, and you will be in one of the states where the minimum wage remains at the federal level of $7.25 an hour, making you a minority among American workers, since most now live in states where democracy is working to lift the minimum wage to more decent levels. Or, try landing a job that has paid sick days, health insurance and retirement benefits—meaning a union job; the share of jobs protected by a collective bargaining agreement in North Carolina stands at less than 4.8 percent, ranking 48th out of the 51.

At the August 1963 March for Jobs and Freedom, labor and civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph famously remarked: “Yes, we want all public accommodations open to all citizens, but those accommodations will mean little to those who cannot afford to use them.”

North Carolina and its radical Republican governor and legislature are hastily passing laws not to put government on the side of the people, but to put people at the servitude of the 1 percent. They have been limiting access to unemployment insurance, standing in the way of accepting federal support to extend access to health insurance to the working poor and in the way of lifting the minimum wage. And, to make sure that no one objects to their hijacking of democracy, they are taking actions to limit voting and to deny access to the state capitol for people to exercise their 1st Amendment “right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

So, while the Civil Rights Act of 1964 sought the end of race-based laws, the state of North Carolina is trapping people into poverty.