By Barbara Reynolds

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - So, welcome to Romneyville, an evolving plutocracy where the super-rich have convinced itself by birthright or wealth-right that it is their manifest destiny to govern the rest of us by their self-indulgent rules.  Through outright insults or innuendoes they clearly have divided the nation into:  Makers vs.Takers, the counted vs. the discounted, the greater beings and the lesser beings and those not worth bothering with at all.

Romney’s inelegant language concludes that 47 percent of his fellow Americans are not worth bothering with because they don’t pay federal income taxes. That was not a gaffe, nor a misspoken phrase. It is a state of mind that sees the non-rich as belonging on the wrong side of the track and the government as the personal valet of the rich to transfer wealth by limiting the survival resources of the so-called weak and unfit—a cross between laissez faire and social Darwinism.

It is obnoxious that GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney made such selfish comments at a $50,000- a- plate dinner, an amount three times as much as millions of the working poor net in a year, if they are lucky enough to still have a job.  Moreover, the secretly recorded event was held at the tony Bridgehampton mansion of Marc Leder, who like Romney is known for heading a private equity firm with a reputation for taking over businesses, squeezing profits through closures which send workers into the unemployment lines, where they join the ranks of those criticized by the Romney crowd for not working.

I find it galling that Romney’s crowd who have played such a role in tanking the economy through lobbying for de-regulation, fueling the subprime housing crisis, the breaking up of corporations and outsourcing of businesses get on their high-horses and label us as a lesser species that somehow enjoy being dependent and needing help-- not for buying more yachts or private planes-- but for basic food, shelter and employment.

Why can’t this crowd understand that millions of those who they berate have made extraordinary contributions to this country?  Included in their unworthy “47 percent” are soldiers whose pay is exempted from federal income taxes while serving in or hospitalized while serving in active combat zones.  Some are students who are future taxpayers, those who work every day but don’t make enough money to pay federal taxes and seniors living on limited incomes.

I have worked two or three jobs since I was 16-years old, worked my way through college to earn three degrees.  So at 70 years old I receive Medicare and Social Security something I have paid into through payroll taxes for 50 years. I still work and constantly seek more work to fill in a substantial gap that Social Security does not cover.  I volunteer and serve without pay for many social causes. It is disheartening to see how Romneyville paints people like me as undeserving moochers.

I am angry not at the rich for being rich, but for the disdain people like Romney and side kick Paul  Ryan hold for those not in their country-club existence and their insistence of punishing the needy.  How else do you explain their zeal to kill Obama’s Affordable Care Act, which could be the difference between life and death for those who couldn’t afford health care?  They act like arsonists who burn down your houses and scold the occupants for being homeless, which eerily describes how a plutocracy operates. While the Right defines the left as socialists, the Left must examine the workings of a plutocracy.

In a 2010 lecture at Boston University journalist Bill Moyers described how a plutocracy is chocking out democracy.  He said that certain conservative groups have created a “shadow party” determined to be the real power in Washington just like Rome’s Opus Dei in Dan Brown’s “The DaVinci Code.” In this shadow party the plutocrats reign. “We have reached what former Labor Secretary Robert Reich calls ‘the perfect storm that threatens American democracy: an unprecedented concentration of income and wealth at the top; a record amount of secret money, flooding our democracy; and a public becoming increasingly angry and cynical about a government that’s raising its taxes, reducing its services, and unable to get it back to work. We’re losing our democracy to a different system’ It’s called plutocracy.”

Moyers said the  fraction of one percent of Americans who now earn as much as the bottom 120 million Americans includes the top executives of giant corporations and those Wall Street hedge funds and private equity managers who are buying our democracy.

What can make us whole again? Moyer warned: “Our government is being bought. Until we get clean money we’re not going to get clean elections, and until we get clean elections, you can kiss goodbye government of, by, and for the people. Welcome to the plutocracy.”

The problem with a plutocracy, the one percent does not have a welcome mat out  for the 99 percent or the 47 percent, the rebuked and the scorned outsiders. No one concedes power without a demand, abolitionist Frederick Douglass once said.  So it is up to the 1 percent to find a way to crash the party.

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from Target Market News

Cloves Campbell, NNPA Chairman

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - A consumer group which continues to experience population growth, has unique generational behavioral trends and characteristics, and a projected buying power of $1.1 trillion by 2015, African-Americans are still a viable market segment full of business opportunities, according to the African-American Consumers: Still Vital, Still Growing 2012 Report released by Nielsen and the NNPA last week.

Released during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's (CBCF) 42nd Annual Legislative Conference, the report is the second of three annual installments of a collaboration between Nielsen, a global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy, and the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), a 72-year-old federation of 200 Black community newspapers.

"Our collaboration with the NNPA has been successful," said Susan Whiting, vice chair, Nielsen. "NNPA's insertion of the report into its 200 publications allows Nielsen access to millions of African-American consumers, and allows us to share vital information that will help increase the awareness of Blacks' consumer power."

The 2012 report highlights important subsectors of the population, unique lifestyles, purchasing and viewing habits, and also sheds light on the disparities in advertising dollars spent with African-American media.

"Marketers underestimate the opportunities missed by overlooking Black consumers' frustration of not having products that meet their needs in their neighborhoods. And companies that don't advertise using Black media risk having African-Americans perceive them as being dismissive of issues that matter to Black consumers," said Cloves Campbell, chairman, NNPA. "This report demonstrates what a sustainable and influential economic force we are."

The number of Blacks in America has reached almost 43 million. With a healthy representation of today's population, coupled with an attractive collective buying power, businesses have opportunities to increase market share with Black consumers.

Keeping the Black community informed and educated is one of the goals of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

"By providing a resource that demonstrates how we can use our collective buying power, we are providing a service that is beneficial to the individual consumer and our collective communities at the same time," said Elsie L. Scott, president and CEO of CBCF.

Collaborations with community organizations helps Nielsen establish a corporate reputation that is valued and trusted among consumers.

"Nielsen's collaborative efforts with organizations such as the NNPA and the CBCF demonstrates unity and reinforces the company's credibility with Black consumers," said Rev. Jacques DeGraff, co-chair, Nielsen's external African-American Advisory Council (AAAC). "By engaging consumers in the conversation about economic power, the outcome can lead to improved products, more penetrating marketing messages and enhanced corporate/consumer partnerships in our communities," said Victor Bullock, co-chair, AAAC.

Key insights from the report include:

• Advertising spending in Black media totaled $2.10 billion in 2011, compared to $120 billion spent with general market media during the same time period.

• 91 percent of Blacks believe that Black media is more relevant to them.

• Brand name products represent 82 percent of Black households' total purchases compared to 31 percent for private labels.

• 81 percent of Blacks believe products advertised on Black media are more relevant to them.

• 54 percent of African-Americans own a smartphone, a 21 percent increase from last year's ownership.

• 54 percent of the Black population is under 35; compared to 47 percent of the general population.

• 48 percent of Black grandparents live with their grandchildren and serve as primary caregivers.

• African-American Baby Boomers (45-64) spend more time at the stores or grocers, fast food restaurants and the gym, and they prefer television and print as primary media sources.

• Generation Y (18-34) African-Americans are more likely to spend time at someone else's home and select radio, mobile phones and gaming consoles as their media of choice.

To download a copy of the report, visit www.nielsenwire.com or www.nielsen.com/africanamerican. 

Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and related properties. Nielsen has a presence in approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA and Diemen, the Netherlands. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

The National Newspaper Publishers Association, also known as the Black Press of America, is a 72-year-old federation of more than 200 Black community newspapers from across the United States. Since World War II, it has also served as the industry's news service, a position that it has held without peer or competitor since the Associated Negro Press dissolved by 1970. In 2001, the NNPA, in association with the NNPA Foundation, began building the BlackPressUSA Network the nation's premier network of local Black community news and information portals.

Sept. 21, 2012

By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) —Each year, immediately following the Congressional Black Caucus, the National Congress of Black Women, Inc. honors some of our own for their service to our communities and our nation every day.  Some of them hold really significant jobs and positions; yet, many don’t make the evening news. Why?  Well, somehow a lot of folks in mainstream media tend to overlook them no matter what they do, but we never forget our high achievers because they serve as an inspiration to young people who come after them.

Even though we don’t always draw the attention of cameras and reporters that come into the living rooms of the greatest number of people daily, we believe we still have an obligation to find the good in our communities and praise it. We thank God for Black press and media because we can rely on them to show up not just when the news is bad, but also when it’s good.

One of our honorees this year is Hazel Trice Edney who is president and CEO of Trice Edney Communications and Editor-in-Chief of Trice Edney News Wire.  She is an award-winning journalist and we are very proud of her.  I first met her when she was with the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service. She was always willing to give back by coming out to talk with our young 9-12 year old College for Kids students in order to help them understand what the job of a journalist is.

She serves as president of the Capital Press Club, and holds the distinction of being the first Black woman inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame.  She was one of the journalists awarded an exclusive interview with then-President-elect Barack Obama during his historic Whistle Stop Train. She has done so many highly significant things in her work, but she has never forgotten to lift up others who are doing significant things.

At the 28^th Anniversary Brunch of NCBW,  included among Hazel’s  co-honorees are Dr. Frances Cress Welsing, world renowned psychiatrist and author of The Isis Papers; Dr. Sakiliba Mines, Washington, DC integrative medicine specialist and owner of TIMMED Spa; Paula Reid, Secret Service Special Agent in Charge, who masterfully handled a major event surrounding the safety of President Barack Obama in Columbia the past year; the late Mildred Hemmons Carter, an accomplished pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen; and Dr. John Hope Bryant, recipient of NCBW’s Good Brother Award.

Every week, Hazel spreads the good news about others,  so I thought it was important to let her know how much we in the African-American community appreciate her for all she does to bring us the good news in the African- American community by highlighting the voices of so  many of our great leaders.

I am proud to be a regular contributor for the Trice Edney News Wire. But for the invitation nearly two years ago from Hazel, I would never have published my latest book entitled “THE TRUTH Shall Set You Free”.  It’s a compilation of articles I’ve written for Trice Edney News Wire over nearly a two year period and it covers a variety of subjects.

My salute this week is to Hazel and her accomplishments thus far, for succeeding in her chosen field, but never forgetting to look back to those who influenced her, while acknowledging their help.  For young aspiring journalists in search of a role model, look no further than Hazel Trice Edney who dared to do something few others have ever done—launch a news wire service to ensure that our communities have access to the truth!

(Dr. E. Faye Williams is Chair of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc. www.nationalcongressbw.org.  202/678-6788, and Board Chair for the Black Leadership Forum.)

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Six Black professionals were honored by the National Congress of Black Women during its Annual Brunch following the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference on Sunday, Sept. 23. Dr. E. Faye Williams, national chair of the organization, presented the recipients of the 2012 Truth Awards and the Good Brother Award before a packed audience of nearly 800.

Named for abolitionist and rights activist Sojourner Truth, the Truth Awards are given each year to women who display remarkable leadership in their fields. A Good Brother award is also given.

Pictured, Left to Right are: Good Brother award recipient John Hope Bryant, founder of Operation HOPE, America’s first non-profit social investment banking organization, and author of the book, Love Leadership; NCBW Chair Dr. Williams; and Truth Award recipients: Veteran Black Press journalist Hazel Trice Edney, president/CEO of Trice Edney Communications and News Wire, the first Black woman owner of a national news wire, and president of the Capital Press Club; Award-winning Secret Service veteran Paula A. Reid, Special Agent in Charge of the Miami Field Office of the Secret Service; nationally-renowned psychiatrist and race-theorist Dr. Francis Cress Welsing, author of the Cress Theory on Color Confrontation and Racism; Retired Air Force Pilot Monica Smith, accepting the posthumous award for Mildred Hemmons Carter, Alabama’s first Black female pilot and the first civilian hired for the Tuskegee air project; and integrative family physician Sakilibi Mines, MD, a prolific health educator and medical director at the Institute of Multidimensional Medicine and Medical Spa.