Jan. 12, 2014

The Simple Truth Is:
By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – Despite generalized protest to the contrary, there are many who would argue that one is rarely exposed to accidental circumstance – accidents just don’t happen!  In the contemporary lexicon of numerous professions, the term “accidental” has been replaced with the term “negligent.” 

The obvious difference between the two terms relates to the fact that, in one situation, control of circumstance has been relinquished to Fate and, in the other it is acknowledged that a measured evaluation of a situation would’ve allowed a reasonable prediction of its outcome.  The term negligent supports the belief that, with studied anticipation and appropriate avoidance, negative outcomes can be prevented.

Although I’m unwilling to accept the absolute correctness of either of these positions, in matters of public policy, I hold little belief in the occurrence of accidents.  Moreover, I believe that most of the circumstances that impact society – both positive and negative – are connected to past and current practices in such a way as to make them easily predictable. These outcomes aren’t accidental nor do they spring from the bowels of contemporary history as disconnected or independent events.  For us to digest the media misinformation and ascribe blame or cause as directed by the media or those who influence it is the height of civic negligence.

Although I take a great deal of personal pride as one whose judgment is rooted in objectivity, I’m not totally innocent of making subjective decisions.  In all of my decision-making processes, I do make a heartfelt attempt to weigh all of the information available and reach good, old-fashioned, common-sense conclusions.  Although “common-sense ain’t common,” numerous arguments presented in the public discourse will not pass the silly test.

While the US creates an environment where one family (the Waltons of Wal-Mart) holds wealth in an amount that equals the total wealth of the 125 MILLION poorest Americans, where billion dollars corporations receive Federal subsidies or tax exemptions that allow them to pay little, if any, taxes, and where millionaire Congressmen protect the greater interests of the wealthy, we’re told that unemployed Americans need to receive a boost in their self-esteem with a cut to their long-term unemployment benefits. This is the logic of some in the face of  three applicants for every available job!

The same folks who sling that self-esteem lie are working at light speed trying to convince us that a law that extends the protection and emotional security of guaranteed health care to most Americans is LESS preferable than a health care system in which most regulations, costs and distributions are controlled by insurance companies.  They would have us believe that our fellow Americans with “pre-existing conditions” aren’t worthy of the protections health insurance provides.  They’d also have us believe that an Emergency Room for Primary Care system that burdens all citizens with having to subsidize healthcare with tax revenues is preferable to the self-reliance of an Affordable Care Act.

While the wealthy and their legislative allies collaborate and conspire to defund or divert tax revenues away from public education, they simultaneously try to convince us that privatizing the system will make things better.  Instead of strengthening K-12 public education to realize more balanced outcomes with private schools, they wish to close “non-performing schools.”  But where, pray tell, will they put the students of those closed schools?  The SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE seems to be the obvious answer.

Most of us are aware of these problems.  The simple truth is that too many of us do not acknowledge the connection between them.  One week of each month in 2014, I’ll give my take on issues of importance to our community and attempt to connect them to the larger picture of our circumstance.  I encourage your feedback and comments.

(Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq. is Chair of the National Congress of Black Women. www.nationalcongressbw.org.  202/678-6788. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Jan. 7, 2014

To Be Equal
Mayor Bill de Blasio Promises Progressive Change for New York City

By Marc H. Morial

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - “We are called to put an end to economic and social inequalities that threaten to unravel the city we love.  And so today, we commit to a new progressive direction in New York.” New York Mayor, Bill de Blasio

A new year brought a new mayor and new hope for progressive change to America’s largest city. With the inauguration of Bill de Blasio on January 1, New York, a city recently viewed as an incubator of urban innovations in the fights against crime, terrorism and cholesterol, is returning to its roots as a leader in the fight against economic inequality. 

In his inauguration speech, Mayor de Blasio made it clear that he intended to pick up the mantle of former New York progressives like Franklin Roosevelt, Frances Perkins, and Fiorello LaGuardia “who challenged the status quo, who blazed a trail of progressive reform and political action, who took on the elite, who stood up to say that social and economic justice will start here and will start now.”

This is welcome news to the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers who swept the new mayor into office in November with 73 percent of the vote.  It is also good news to the National Urban League, which is headquartered in Manhattan and has been leading the charge across the nation for many of the progressive ideas championed by Mayor de Blasio.  These include his focus on job creation for all New Yorkers, proposals for more affordable housing, an expansion of community health centers, and reform of New York’s “broken” stop-and-frisk policy that has unfairly targeted young men of color. 

The new mayor also joins the National Urban League and a growing chorus of progressive voices in calling for an end to income inequality.  We are especially encouraged by his plan to ask those earning more than $500,000 a year to pay a little more in taxes to provide the city’s children with a critical educational foundation by funding full-day universal preschool and after-school programs for every middle school student.

A native New Yorker, de Blasio got his start in public service as an aid to New York’s first African American mayor, David N. Dinkins.  He also served in the Clinton Administration as a HUD Regional Director and managed Hillary Clinton’s 2000 campaign for the U.S. Senate.  He represented his Brooklyn neigborhood for eight years as a New York City Councilman, and from 2010-2013, he served as New York City Public Advocate, the City’s second-highest elected office.

Running a city the size and complexity of New York is a daunting challenge, made more so by the stark and often competing interests of Wall Street and Main Street.  But Mayor Bill de Blasio has rolled up his sleeves and hit the ground running.  He even shoveled his own walkway during the city’s first major snowstorm last week.  New Yorkers, hungry for leadership that understands the economic and social challenges they face every day, are hopeful they now have a special champion and kindred spirit in City Hall.  We look forward to working with the new Mayor on the progressive policies he shares with the Urban League movement.

Jan. 12, 2014

Blackonomics
South African Economic Freedom  
By James Clingman        

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - When NNPA News Service Editor-in-Chief George Curry went to South Africa to pay honor to Nelson Mandela and attend the memorial service, he saw a huge pile of flowers in front of Mandela’s home with a large poster on top. On the poster was written the following statement:

“Our world icon, the best way to ‘honour’ Madiba [Nelson Mandela] is Economic Freedom”. George sent me a photo and noted that as soon as he saw the poster he thought of me.

No doubt George thought of the many years I have been espousing the principles of economic empowerment for Black people, and I really appreciate his support over the past 20 years. Whoever laid that poster on Mandela’s memorial was exactly right. Interestingly enough, as I shared with George, a few years after Nelson Mandela was released from prison and elected as President our church hosted a group of South Africans, two of which I interviewed on my local radio show.

During that interview I shared my thoughts on the importance of economic empowerment versus political empowerment, and strongly recommended to my guests that people in South Africa not make the same mistakes that Blacks in America made when we received our so-called “civil rights” and voting rights in 1964-65.  Back then, we immediately began to think that all we had to do was elect Black politicians and things would be just fine for Black folks.  How wrong we were to follow such a ridiculous notion, and how wrong we were to have abandoned our economic base in total pursuit of holding political office.

My admonishment to my South African brothers was for their people not to accept merely holding political office, but also work to obtain a portion of the economic resources accrued from their labor for generations.  I shared that it made no sense to settle for political control when there is no sharing of economic power and control.  Sadly, South Africa did not learn from our lesson and now finds itself in a situation similar to ours in this country.  Less than 5 percent of the population in that nation controls and possesses 95 percent of the economic resources.  While Black people have politics, White people have economics.  Which would you rather have?

Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Amos Wilson, and many others warned us that without economic power there can be no real political power.  Now we see someone in South Africa laying a poster on Mandela’s memorial that says the same thing.  What a refreshing and encouraging sign!  It points out that redistribution of political power is not where South Africa’s freedom struggle should have ended; economic redistribution should and must take place if Blacks in South Africa are truly going to prosper.

African author, journalist, and former diplomat, Chike Onyeani, wrote, “You cannot achieve true political independence without at the same time achieving economic independence. The so-called political independence we think we have now is merely an illusion. It is meaningless. It is not supported by any solid foundation.  A house without a solid foundation is bound to crumple sooner or later.  Without economic independence, sooner or later we will be recolonized politically.”  What could be plainer and simpler for us to understand and to implement?

Folks are arguing now over the “what if” scenarios related to Mandela’s tenure as President; did he do the right thing? Could he and should he have done more?  I say the people should look at the lessons of the past and make moves to improve their lot, by executing practical solutions for economic empowerment, and not fight over “what ifs.”  Initiatives should be put in place that will redistribute South Africa’s wealth to the many Black people who continue to suffer from the vestiges of Apartheid. Even though the process was reversed (politics before economics) back in the 1990’s, it is not too late for Black South Africans to change their economic landscape.

No one can question Mandela’s sacrifice, his strength and endurance in the face of such hopelessness, and his resolve to help his people.  He did what he thought was right for his country.  Yes, there is more he probably could have done to gain a greater economic foothold just as our Black leaders could have done back in the 1950’s and 1960’s.  But that was then and this is now.  All we have is now, and we must finally, once and for all time, do what it takes to achieve economic freedom.  As the poster said, “the way to honour Madiba is economic freedom.”  I suggest the same is true for Black Americans.  The only way to honor those great men and women who fought for us is economic freedom—not merely holding political office.

Jan. 7, 2014

Emergency Jobless Benefits Lead 2014 Congressional Agenda This Week
By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - As millions of Americans returned to work from holiday vacations this week, at least 1.3 million others are glued to a congressional debate to see whether their emergency unemployment insurance will be extended.

No doubt, with the approximate 12 percent Black unemployment rate, double that of Whites, African-Americans are disparately affected by the pending decision.  

“This issue is particularly critical for our community. Although African-Americans make up fewer than 13 percent of the national population, we represent more than 22.6 percent of the long-term unemployed,” said Hilary Shelton, Washington Bureau director of the NAACP, which issued a statement pleading with Congress to restore the benefits.

Emergency unemployment, first enacted in 2008, makes 47 weeks of benefits available to people still looking for work when their state unemployment benefits end.

But, a bi-partisan budget deal struck in Congress in December did not include the emergency insurance, which ended Dec. 28. The scenario sparked new hardships for unemployed people who now face 2014 wondering how they will pay their bills, keep warm and feed their families without it. 

The debate comes down to a partisan standoff. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was correctly optimistic as the Democratic-led Senate moved to discuss the emergency relief bill on Tuesday. But, although a bi-partisan group is working on a three-month extension, it was not clear how the Republican dominated House of Representatives will vote. 

Democrats argue that denying the insurance not only hurts households, but puts a drag on the already beleaguered American economy. Republicans argue that continuing emergency unemployment insurance allows the Obama Administration and Congress to procrastinate on establishing new ways to build the jobs market. Republicans also say the $25 billion cost of the extension is too much.

Such is the familiar character of Washington politics in the second session of the 113th Congress. Meanwhile, President Obama, back from Christmas in Hawaii, is pushing for the extension of the emergency insurance. Saying it is “just plain cruel” to deny the continuation, he called for the same bi-partisan cooperation that led to the passage of the budget in December. He says he would sign the bill if it is passed.

“Just a few days after Christmas, more than one million of our fellow Americans lost a vital economic lifeline – the temporary insurance that helps folks make ends meet while they look for a job,” he said in his weekly address on Saturday. “Republicans in Congress went home for the holidays and let that lifeline expire. And for many of their constituents who are unemployed through no fault of their own, that decision will leave them with no income at all.”

The Senate was set to return to session Monday and the House of Representatives was to return on Tuesday – the same day the President has set a White House gathering with some who have lost their unemployment benefits. With mid-term elections coming up Nov. 4, 2014, it’s difficult to predict whether enough Republicans will heed the pleas to pass the emergency relief or whether they will stick to their partisan stances to win votes.

Obama indicates the unemployment insurance crisis could cause a setback just as America is in striking distance of financial recovery.

“After five years of working and sacrificing to recover and rebuild from crisis, we have it within our power, right now, to move this country forward,” he said.  “It’s entirely up to us.  And I’m optimistic for the year that lies ahead.”