By Deniqua Campbell

Unarmed Wendell Allen was shot in the back, killed by a New Orleans Police officer.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Wendell Allen’s life came to an abrupt end on March 7 last year as he died shirtless, standing on a staircase, at his Gentilly home in New Orleans, La.

Unarmed, the 20-year-old basketball star was shot in his back by New Orleans Police Department officer Josh Colclough. For six weeks the Allen family believed their child was shot in his chest until the embalmer revealed that Allen was actually shot in his back.

Yet, newspaper readers in New Orleans noticed two starkly different news priorities on the stands and in the streets.  Louisiana Weekly, a Black-owned paper, had the Wendell Allen shooting on the front cover. Right beside it, was the Times-Picayune, a White daily newspaper that had no mention of the Allen shooting. Instead, the cover featured a Black male being charged with multiple counts of murder.

In interviews over the past year, seasoned journalists say the differences in coverage between White and Black-owned media - whether print or broadcast - continue to be clear.

News outlets like CNN, MSNBC, BBC and Fox News, all cover certain types of stories from a certain perspective. “Black press is the voice of the Black community,” said Ingrid Sturgis, journalism professor of new media and multimedia expert at Howard University. “Our story doesn’t always get heard in mainstream media.”

Award-winning Black press reporter Hazel Trice Edney agrees. “Both of these stories are important,” said Edney, editor/publisher of the Trice Edney News Wire. “It is typical across America that when Black newspapers come out they have distinctly different stories than White newspapers.”

On August 13, 1977 an article headlined A little About A lot—The Need for the Black Press, was featured in the Baltimore Afro-American that detailed former dean of the School of Communications, Dr. Lionel C. Barrow’s four reasons for Black press. According to Barrow the Black press functioned as a watch dog, answered attacks published in the White press, presented a view point different even from that of liberal whites and, the black press also served as the carrier and preserver of Black culture.

Marrow did not deny that there were still improvements that needed to be made, improvements on production, in investigating and in reporting, writing and editing. But considering other issues Black media has faced, its survival is incredible.

“The strength of the Black press would be that it always relied on context and providing perspective,” said George Curry, award-winning journalist who is editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service.

Curry reflected on when he interviewed the family of Trayvon Martin, the Florida teen shot dead by Neighborhood Watch captain George Zimmerman on Feb. 28, 2012, a highly publicized court case now set for court June 10.

“No one was doing a story on how the news broke to Martin’s father,” Curry said.

While reporters of White publications were sticking to the basics and investigating the case, Curry went for an intimate and personal story.

“Urgency is not such a big problem,” Curry said. “It’s worth the wait because we don’t come out with the same frequency as other newspapers.”

Today the Black press faces issues within its own agencies. Perhaps the biggest is technological advancement. According to the State of the News Media in 2007, an annual report by the Pew Research Center on American journalism, “the black press has been slow to technology, and its audience appears to be aging.”

Pew’s State of the Media 2013 reports a new Black press hurdle – how to attract the attention of new, younger readers.

“One of the broader challenges for African-American news media in general, and most notably the newspaper sector, is striking a balance between appealing to a younger generation with a contemporary product and fulfilling a mission to honor a history that includes the defining civil rights struggle of a half-century ago,” the report states.

‘“History has got to be a definitive weave in what we do,”’ said John J. (Jake) Oliver Jr., the publisher and chief executive of the Afro-American newspapers in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., was quoted in the Pew Study. ‘“We’ve got to redefine our personality from just a straight delivery of community news to helping people really educate themselves.”’

The Black press has an extensive history dating back to March 16, 1827. That is when the first Black newspaper, Freedom’s Journal, was founded in New York City by John B. Russwurm, a journalist, and Samuel Cornish, a minister. It's first editorial stated, "We wish to plead our own cause. For too long have others spoken for us."

Because of its longevity, now 186 years old, some find it hard to fathom why the Black press isn’t the biggest and most advanced among all media in the U.S. But, there are many reasons its numeric growth has been stunted.

“Technological advancement is an issue and it remains an issue,” Edney said. “But we’re working on that. There are many black newspapers that are online and there are many that are not.”

According to Sturgis, it has a lot to do with resources. “A lack of resources, reporters, funding to do in depth pieces, and training in new media hampers the ability to cover what needs to be covered as well as the ability to grow,” Sturgis said.

Financial struggles due to racial discrimination in advertising have also been a complaint by NNPA, a federation of more than 200 Black-owned newspapers, founded in 1940. The organization has launched many strategic campaigns calling on fair share in advertising from major corporations.

But the Black press isn’t losing its older audience. Curry admits that the older audience is a lot more appreciative of news and Edney agrees that there are faithful readers of Black newspapers that have strong contingencies within the community. The biggest concern Edney has with the black press is getting online and becoming more technology savvy.

“Because of the urgency of our issues, we must use every opportunity available to get our message out,” Edney said.

According to the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, 83 percent of U.S. adults own a cell phone. Of these adults, 35 percent of them own a smart phone and one quarter of them use their phone as their main source of internet access. This is a trend that is especially found among 18 to 29-year-old adults who identify themselves as Black.

Pew Internet research shows that “when someone has a mobile device connected to the internet, they are more likely to share, to forward, to create and to consume online information, from text to photos to videos.”

Curry said, “You’re not going to reach the younger audience through print…You have to reach them through a mobile platform.”

The Black press, aiming to play a vital role in the lives of African-Americans, has been serving the community to bring perspective and context for over 100 years. Black press continues to do its part in telling the story and keeping its readers loyal. “You have to give them something they can’t get anywhere else,” Curry said.

Two months into Wendell Allen’s death, the Allen family remained outraged at the slowness of the investigation.

“They feel that because their son is African-American, the police department is taking its time investigating the incident,” said the Rev. Raymond Brown, president and founder of National Action Now during a press conference at the Allen home.

According to Louisiana Weekly, the shooting took place inside the Allen’s home during an execution of a search warrant for marijuana. Since the shooting, Allen has not been linked to the marijuana allegedly sold in or near the home.

Eventually, Colclough was indicted by a state grand jury on one account of man slaughter regarding Allen’s death.

A year after the shooting Colclough awaits trial and no date has yet been set. Meanwhile, the family, early this month, filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against the City of New Orleans, accusing the New Orleans Police department of several civil rights violations.

Though the Times-Picayune has done extensive reporting on the case, the Louisiana Weekly – in keeping with the Black Press mission – has not only lead the way, but agitated for justice, Edney says.

“The White press [still] criminalizes and stereotypes us,” Edney said. “We need to bring a sense of fairness and balance to the media consciousness.”

March 26, 2013

Marie Johns receives "Beyond the Call of Duty" Award from the National Bankers Association
By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – It is a story that has unfolded all too often across America. The owner of a small business finds it simply impossible to pull through the torturous economy. The doors shut or the website shuts down and another business venture comes to a close.

Without incubation and support, the nation’s small businesses – including Black-owned businesses which are doubly vulnerable due to a history of racism and discrimination – would go under at alarming rates. In short, they need an advocate.

This is the reason that when the leaders of the National Bankers Association, an organization of 37 mostly Black-owned banks, began pondering prospective recipients of their annual “Beyond the Call of Duty Award”, its president says they did not have to look very far. No question, it was Marie Johns, deputy administrator of the U. S. Small Business Administration, he said.

“I think Marie Johns has an extraordinary record of serving the small business community in our country. She has shown a genuine interest in working with all small businesses. She’s been fair and inclusive, she believes in diversity, she’s shown a great sensitivity to the struggle of small businesses,” says Michael Grant, president of the National Bankers Association after bestowing Johns with the award during the NBA’s Annual Legislative/Regulatory Conference last week.

In prepared remarks, he said, “Ms. Johns has developed a reputation for being a good listener. She not only listened to community bankers and small business owners, she acted,” he said. In fact, Grant says Johns has served so well in the position that he believes she should be promoted to the top of the agency. “I think she would be an excellent candidate to be SBA administrator,” he said in an interview, noting that the agency has even greater potential.

An article by Claudio E. Cabrera, originally posted last fall on business website TheStreet.com and re-published this month on BlackEnterprise.com, is headlined, “Minority Businesses a Big Driver in the U.S. Small Business Economy.”

The article reports that “the number of black-owned businesses rose a noteworthy 60.5% to 1.9 million from 2002 to 2007, more than triple the 18% rate for businesses established nationally, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Business Owners.”

It continues, “During the most recent period for which there is Census data, black-owned businesses generated $137.5 billion in receipts, up 55.1%.”

But the down side is this: Most of the highly prosperous Black-owned businesses are concentrated in certain states.  New York, Georgia and Florida and cities like New York, Chicago, Houston and Detroit have the largest concentration of the nation's black-owned businesses, the article reports, based on Census calculations. Also, “of the 1.9 million black-owned businesses, little more than 100,000 had paid employees” and only “14,000 of those businesses had receipts of $1 million or more.”

Johns agrees that as Black and other minority businesses grow, the economy grows.

“In 2013, minority-owned small businesses are one of the fastest-growing segments of our economy, and an engine of opportunity for millions of hard-working men and women in our communities,” Johns said in a prepared statement issued after last week’s award. “Empowering these businesses, and embracing an inclusive view of entrepreneurship, is essential to our long-term economic growth and global competitiveness.”

She also agrees with Grant that more must be done. “We must ensure that more people across the country have access to the capital, technical assistance, and support networks they need to help them start businesses, create jobs, and grow our economy.”

Suring up Black banks in order to serve their communities is a part of that mission, she says. “Over the past four years, the U.S. Small Business Administration has been working hard to create more access for entrepreneurs and more opportunities for lenders to work with the small businesses in their communities. The NBA and our network of lending partners are on the frontlines of these efforts to revitalize our economy and communities.”

In her statement, Johns ticked off a list of services available to strengthen small businesses and “underserved communities”. They include the Small Loan Advantage (SLA) program and Community Advantage lenders, she listed.

In fiscal year 2013 alone, she reported, the SLA Program “has already surpassed total SLA loans and approved SLA dollars in FY 2012 and 2011 combined, with more than 1,000 loans approved for a total of nearly $150,000,000 since the start of the fiscal year.”

Deputy administrator Johns is already a presidential appointee, nominated by President Obama on December 17, 2009, and confirmed by unanimous consent in the Senate. Her bio on sba.gov boasts more than $30 billion in lending to more than 60,000 small businesses across the country.

“That is the most capital going to small businesses in the history of the SBA,” it states. She doesn’t have to convince Grant: “At a White House news briefing three years ago, President Barack Obama announced a number of new initiatives designed to streamline SBA guidelines and render the agency more user-friendly. Working in tandem with the Administration, Ms. Johns used her business savvy and exceptional executive skills to bring a more modern and less cumbersome SBA to community banks and small businesses, in general, and minority banks and minority-owned business enterprises in particular.”

"The State of Equality and Justice in America" is a 20-part series of columns written by an all-star list of contributors to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

The contributors include: U. S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) LCCRUL 50th Anniversary Grand Marshal; Ms. Barbara Arnwine, President and Executive Director, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (LCCRUL); Mr. Charles Ogletree, Professor, Harvard University Law School/Director, Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice; the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., President/CEO, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition; the Rev. Joseph Lowery, Co-founder, Southern Christian Leadership Conference; U. S. Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.); and 14 additional thought leaders and national advocates for equal justice.

Here's the 11th op-ed of the series:

Wade Henderson

The State of Equality and Justice in America:

The Federal Government Must Step Up

By Wade Henderson

Forty years ago, the Supreme Court created an unmitigated disaster for our nation's school children when it ruled on the case of San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez.

The 5-4 decision allowed Texas to fund school districts on the basis of locally raised tax dollars, confining children in poor communities to underfunded schools.  It was a triumph of states' rights over human rights, holding that education was not a fundamental right under our Constitution and that citizens could not sue in federal court to when states underfund their schools. This has led to decades of expensive, drawn-out litigation in most states on behalf of students, parents, and poor communities thirsting for better schools.

Rodriguez's legacy runs counter to the principles set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and in Brown v. the Board of Education in 1954, guaranteeing high-quality public education to all children on equal terms.  The result is nothing short of a national crisis.

Since Rodriguez, educational attainment in the United States has become even more inextricably tied to social outcomes like employment and earnings, incarceration, and civic engagement.   Yet as a result of inequities like persistent race- and class-based achievement gaps, unacceptably low graduation rates, and more than a million student drop outs each year, millions of people have become trapped in perpetual unemployment and underemployment. We know for a fact that educational outcomes are linked to resources, yet Rodriguez continues to thwart the possibility of a national solution to a nationwide problem

Even though the vast majority of courts have made it absolutely clear that state funding systems violate students' rights to public education, states have been unable or unwilling to remedy the violations. In fact, resistance to court orders on requiring greater equity in school funding is perhaps the one political position that has been uniquely bipartisan over the years.

In Colorado, a trial court ruled in 2011 that the state's public schools were both inadequately and inequitably funded. The judge ordered state officials to fix the problem. Despite this ruling, Governor Hickenlooper and a bipartisan group of public officials rejected the court order, took no leadership to craft a solution, and now litigation has resumed.

A few weeks ago in Texas, a district court judge held that the state's public school funding system is "arbitrary, inequitable and inadequate" under the Texas constitution. This victory follows a series of similar court decisions in Texas since Rodriguez. But Governor Perry immediately appealed the decision, which will likely have little impact on the education students receive in Texas.

In Kansas, the courts ordered the legislature to fully fund its inequitable public education system. Instead of complying with the order, the legislature proposed a constitutional amendment to block the courts from ruling in school finance cases.

This state-by-state, zip code-by-zip code approach fails to ensure that all children get the education they deserve. It jeopardizes the nation's ability to compete in the global economy and threatens its guiding principles of justice, fairness, and equality.

History makes clear that simply following the practices of the past will not lead us to the outcomes we clearly need as a nation. Despite right wing calls for more local control and so-called "states' rights," the inconvenient truth is that the federal government must be able to step up and assume a greater role in providing equitable funding to schools.

The legacy of Rodriguez is a messy patchwork of state policies that underfund schools in poor communities, resulting in a child's zip code having primacy over a Constitutional guarantee of equality under the law. For the last forty years, state-based solutions have failed our kids. Without an established national right to education, we risk seeing more of the same over the next 40 years.

Wade Henderson is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition for more than 200 national civil and human rights organizations working to build an America as good as its ideals. This article - the eleventh of a 20-part series - is written in commemoration of the 50^th Anniversary of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The Lawyers' Committee is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to enlist the private bar's leadership and resources in combating racial discrimination and the resulting inequality of opportunity - work that continues to be vital today. For more information, please visit www.lawyerscommittee.org.

By Dr. E. Faye Williams

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – I am comfortable with the fact that most of my friends come from varied and divergent backgrounds. The perspectives they bring to our relationships are based upon their many experiences. My friendships afford me the opportunity to develop a synthesized and broader understanding of life that would not be available to me within the simple confines of my own experiences.

In the face of the current culture wars related to the resolution of gun violence, I benefit from opinions that come from a friend who believes in nothing less than a total disarmament of the general public, as well as a friend who’s made a career in the military and who places personal self-defense and Second Amendment rights among his prime considerations and values. These opinions meld with those I developed from my upbringing in rural Louisiana and some of my socio-political experiences –like my exposure to the Deacons for Self-Defense or the non-violent teachings and activities of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others who share his philosophies.

Like most other Americans, I realize the answer to the question of gun violence is not a simple one. I’ve seen the acrimony that overwhelms this discussion and I wonder if it is reasonable to think that our society can reach a consensus in the resolution of this question. With millions of other Americans, I wait anxiously to see what opinions will prevail in the legal response to this problem of gun violence.

While uncertainty rules the legislative outcome of any resolution, I am certain, for effective change to take place, we must first address the normalization of violence within the lives and character of members of our community. For positive change, we must first acknowledge that, for many, violence is a first choice in their personal strategy for conflict resolution. We must reverse this “first choice of violence” with the introduction and acceptance of a personal belief system where violence becomes a last resort.

Among other acts of wanton national violence, this past week in Washington, DC, thirteen citizens were gunned-down in a drive-by shooting. As I write this, complete details of this event haven’t been released, but, it seems there is no rational reason for such an act. There’s no excuse for endangering human welfare on that scale. What’s more shocking than events like this drive-by is the tacit acceptance of such action as routine.

Although events like this drive-by receive the lion’s share of our attention, I believe they draw our focus away from the logical starting point for a change in our national ethic of violence. While focusing on the more dramatic, we minimize the significance and impact of the gateway violence of verbal abuse, child abuse, bullying, hazing, domestic abuse/sexual assault (of which I, like many women, am a survivor) or many other forms of violence that are commonly practiced.

For the Black community, some will speculate that the internal violence we experience results from the legacy of violence associated with slavery. History tells us of the belief that the best way to achieve compliance from a Black person was with a strap or beating. Although I don’t accept this as a good explanation of our current circumstance, I have seen sufficient evidence not to discount the desire for compliance or submission as a possible goal of violence.

I’m weary of seeing Black mothers on television lamenting the loss of a child. I long for days past when a main goal in our community was acting in a way that would protect us from violence. God knows we’ve suffered external violence for too long. I pray for a time when our community will renew the high regard we once had for the sanctity of life -especially our own.

Dr. E. Faye Williams is national chair of the National Congress of Black Women.