July 22, 2019

NY Times Pummeled Over Job Posting Called Offensive by Africans

(TriceEdneyWire.com/GIN) – The New York Times is still recovering from the verbal bashing it received from Kenyan writers shocked and angered by the paper’s outdated references to Africa in a recent ad for the job of Nairobi Bureau Chief.

Has far has Africa come, wondered educator Alice Wairimu Nderitu since the day when posters portrayed wild animals with the title “The Highlands of British East Africa as a Winter Home for Aristocrats”?

The Times job opening is described as an exotic African assignment – “from the deserts of Sudan and the pirate seas of the Horn of Africa, down through the forests of Congo and the shores of Tanzania.”

“It is an enormous patch of vibrant, intense and strategically important territory with many vital story lines,” the ad continues, “including terrorism, the scramble for resources, the global contest with China and the constant push-and-pull of democracy versus authoritarianism.”

At this point, Wairimu Nderitu said the Times job description sounded like a call for a colonial settler, not a professional journalist.

Twitter buzzed with reactions: "If you are rearing to apply for this Bureau Chief job you should know what kind of stories New York Times is looking for. The darkness of Africa!" declared computer forensic guru George Njororge.

“Hard to distinguish this nytimes ad from a call to join a 19th Century expedition with Livingstone & Stanley," proclaimed Travis L. Adkins, lecturer on African & Security Studies at Georgetown University.

“A reminder that the NYTimes already has a dubious reputation in Kenya,” Prof. Ken Opalo, recalling the furious debate over the Times printing a photo of two dead men slumped over their seats at a cafe.

"The biggest losers from this sort of madness," Opalo said, “would not be Eastern Africans, but the daily's American audience who "continue to be fed [and believe] myths and as a result are increasingly economically [and] geopolitically uncompetitive in the region".

"When someone sent me this New York Times ad, I had to read it twice just to confirm that the kind of journalist they are looking for is one who would just focus on the negative news in this region," added Oliver Mathenge, digital editor at Radio Africa.

Kayode Ogundamisi, anti-corruption campaigner, said: "Requirements to work as @nytimes journalist in Africa. You have the ability to focus on the negative and "occasional good news".

"Unexpected stories of hope. That is how much @nytimes despise Africa."

In a belated response, international editor Michael Slackman owned up to approving the ad that was full of clichéd descriptions of the continent.

The ad was the result of taking a short cut, he said. Rather than write a new job description, a posting from about 18 months ago went out. Still, he insisted, The Times “was "committed to covering Africa, not as if it were some stereotype, but because it matters".

Global Information Network creates and distributes news and feature articles on current affairs in Africa to media outlets, scholars, students and activists in the U.S. and Canada. Our goal is to introduce important new voices on topics relevant to Americans, to increase the perspectives available to readers in North America and to bring into their view information about global issues that are overlooked or under-reported by mainstream media.

July 22, 2019

No More Mary Turners
By Julianne Malveaux

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Mary Turner was lynched on May 19. 1918 because she dared raise her voice. Her husband, Hayes Turner, was among 13 people lynched in two weeks in and around Valdosta, Georgia. The lynchings took place because one brutal white man, who was known to abuse workers so severely that he was only able to attract workers by getting them through the convict labor system, beat the wrong Black man too many times. Sidney Johnson shot and killed the brutal Hampton Smith, and in response the white people of the area started apprehending, beating, and lynching Black men believed to be associated with Sidney Johnson (even though many of those lynched were not). Mary Turner was nineteen years old and eight months pregnant, and her husband was lynched. She openly denounced the lynchings and threatened to have the men who killed her husband arrested.

After Mary Turner's lynching, an investigative reporter stated that Turner was lynched because she made "unwise remarks." The mob, it was reported, "took exception to her remarks as well as her attitude." Her "defiant voice" was the impetus for mob retaliation. The mob action was particularly brutal. Mary Turner was hung by her ankles, lowered face down from a tree. Her clothing was set afire while she was alive. When she was dead, one of the mobsters slit her belly open, and her fetus came out, landing in a pool of blood. Then the sick and brutal white men crushed the infant's skull.

Black women have been, too often, cautioned to be silent, to be demure, not to rock the boat. And Mary Turner's lynching reminds us that mouthy Black women often suffer the consequence of their vocality. The 45th President of the United States stands in the shadow of the men who silenced Mary Turner with his vicious and vile attacks on Black women. From Congresswoman Maxine Waters to Congresswoman Fredricka Whitfield, to journalists April Ryan, Abby Phillips and Yamiche Alcindor, this man neither has the grace or the gravitas to interact with these brilliant and amazing Black women. Now, here he goes again, spewing his filth. He suggested that four fresh women members of Congress, the self-described "Squad" of Congresswomen Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, "go back to where they came from." He amplified and attacked the women so vociferously (and inaccurately, but that's another story) that one of the mobs, I mean crowds, that attended one of his rallies began to chant "Send her home."

Three of the four members of the Squad were born in the United States. Ilhan Omar is a naturalized citizen and member of Congress. The President is out of line and out of order, but that's nothing new. What is new is that he's stopped dog-whistling his racism and now just shouts it out. And sometimes retreats. Five days after his offensive tweets, he claims he did not incite his crowd and instead tried to shut the racist chants down. Films of the mob at his rally shows otherwise.

Ilhan Omar and the other members of the Squad have had their lives threatened, sometimes by identifiable Trump supporters. We can't expect 45 to repudiate the threats. After all, he thought there were "good people on both sides" in Charlottesville when Heather Heyer was killed. So we aren't surprised that he let the vitriolic chants of "send her back" to go on for more than 13 seconds before they died down naturally (he did nothing to stop them, nor did he comment at the time).

If something happens to Ilhan Omar, our 45th President will be responsible. If something happens to any of the Squad, it will be the result of our putrid President and the silent Republicans who are reluctant to tell this man he is wrong. It took a full day after his offensive "go back" tweet for a handful of Republicans to speak up and say something.

Like the white men who lynched Mary Turner, our President "takes exception to her remarks as well as her attitude." Without accusing Mr. Trump of lynching, one can accuse Mr. Trump of being a racist and hostile to Black women. Ilhan Omer isn't the first he went after, and she won't be the last.

Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist. Her latest project MALVEAUX! On UDCTV is available on youtube.com. For booking, wholesale inquiries or for more info visit www.juliannemalveaux.com

July 22, 2019

To Be Equal 

NYPD Must Terminate Officer Who Used Excessive Force
Marc H. Morial 

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - “It was Eric and my family five years ago, but it could be you and yours today or tomorrow. They want all of us to believe that we didn’t see what we saw on that video, but our eyes do not deceive us … Eric is no longer able to speak so I will be his voice and you will hear me.” – Gwen Carr, Eric Garner’s mother.

Eric Garner died pleading for his life on a New York City sidewalk. 

The chokehold that triggered his fatal asthma attack was illegal. 

Eleven times, Eric Garner said he couldn’t breathe, and Officer Daniel Pantaleo did not loosen his strangling, illegal grip on Garner’s neck. 

The world saw Pantaleo’s deadly assault. The world heard Garner’s pleas. But there will be no justice for Eric Garner. 

When U.S. Attorney General William Barr abandoned the civil rights case against Pantaleo, it sent a devastating message from an administration whose hostility toward civil rights protections is unprecedented in the last 50 years. 

Astonishingly, Pantaleo remains a member of the New York Police Department, pending a decision by an administrative judge who is expected to rule within a few weeks.  His continued employment by the NYPD diminishes the institution, and he should be terminated. 

It is difficult to imagine the grief of Garner’s family. To lose a father, a son, a brother, to an untimely death is painful enough. To have been dragged through five years of injustice after injustice, to see the person responsible for that death escape accountability seems almost too much to bear. 

Not only has Pantaleo escaped accountability, he has received a substantial raise in his pay since Garner’s death. 

Sadly, police officers are rarely held accountable when unjustified brutality – local prosecutors are predictably reluctant to bring charges. That’s precisely why the federal government has a special responsibility to seek justice in such cases, and why Attorney General Barr’s failure to do so in the Garner case cuts so deeply. 

In the wake of the death of Garner and other unarmed people of color who died violently at the hands of police officers, the National Urban League promulgated a 10-Point Plan for Police Reform and Accountability, elements of which were incorporated into the final report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. One of the key recommendations is “external and independent investigations and prosecutions of officer-involved shootings and other use of force situations and in-custody deaths.” 

In the Eric Garner case, as in many others, the Department of Justice’s civil rights inquiry was arguably the only hope for an external and independent investigation. 

But this is an administration that is intent on weakening enforcement of civil rights laws. Under Barr’s predecessor, Jeff Sessions, the Justice Department abandoned all efforts to work with local police departments to address discriminatory practices. Consent decrees historically have been a crucial tool in the Justice Department’s efforts to ensure constitutional and accountable policing. 

The department also tried, unsuccessfully, to block a federal court in Baltimore from approving a consent decree between the city and the Baltimore Police Department to rein in discriminatory police practices that the department itself had negotiated over a multi-year period. 

The Department of Justice’s failure to seek justice in the Eric Garner case is just the latest in a series of missteps with regard to civil rights. Our hearts go out to Garner’s family as they suffer yet another blow in the ongoing tragedy of Garner’s untimely death.

July 22, 2019

Don't Take Trump's Bait!
By Dr. E. Faye Williams

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – If you truly want to make America great, you must turn down Trump’s help to divide us. We were working toward being a better America for all before Trump became President. America was never her greatest for our Native American brothers and sisters, nor for much of America’s diverse population. It’s necessary to remember how people like Trump came to be in charge of this country—mostly on the backs of Black people, then misusing brown people and yellow people.

You must think about how America treated Black people by enslaving our ancestors, then constantly telling us to get over it and love America without question. It’s not that easy when our ancestors have been robbed, killed, beaten, cheated, lied to, and we’re still too often pushed back when we try to rise up to enjoy what America professes to be. So many like Trump have made it clear that every time we begin to enjoy a little bit of America the Beautiful, there’s somebody like Trump wanting to send us back to some place most of us have never been.

I want to thank Speaker Nancy Pelosi for turning down Trump’s help to criticize her Party members while they are having a family dispute about the pace of change for those of us for whom America has a long way to go to give meaning to the words “justice for all.” She made a mistake in her response to young women who refused to be silenced. Caught off guard, she took the bait, but these young women reminded all of us what Democrats stand for. It’s fair to ask Party members not to publicize Party differences—but Party differences are not Trump’s business. So, Democrats, don’t take the bait.

Who is Trump to tell Congresswomen Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came? Three of the women were born in the country he’s trying his best to make a crime infested country! Yes, Congresswoman Omar, came to this country as a refugee when she was just 17, became naturalized, and became a far more productive citizen than Trump has ever been. She has done pretty good through all of her challenges. She’s achieved what many who’re born here haven’t come close to achieving with better opportunities.

Isn’t there anyone who can teach him a few facts to use when trying to criticize others? With the resources he claims he has, he should’ve learned something about American History. Somebody must’ve told him the Wright Brothers didn’t give us airplanes that fly until 1903. Before that we had no need for airports! He should’ve learned proper English and a little about the laws of our country. I’m tired of hearing, “No one is above the law” when Trump thrives on living high above our laws. He constantly stirs up the worst behavior in others. God bless those who resist Trump’s racism.

Who else could get away with at least 10 charges of obstruction, allegedly raping many women, praising enemies of our nation, having a vulgar mouth, violates basic human rights, telling over 10,000 lies in office, having no respect for anyone who doesn’t bow down to and defend his bad behavior?

Speaker Pelosi is right in saying, “When …Trump tells four American Congresswomen to go back to their countries, he reaffirms his plan to ‘Make America Great Again’ has always been about making America white again. Our diversity is our strength and our unity is our power.”

The four lawmakers who fired back at Trump in a press conference were brilliant. They’re obviously the grown-ups representing American values.

(Dr. E. Faye Williams is President of the National Congress of Black Women and host of “Wake Up and Stay Woke” on WPFW-FM 89.3)