By Joey Matthews

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Richmond Free Press

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the promise two years ago during a Black Press Week meeting of the National Newspaper Publishers Association.

It’s still unfulfilled, but Vilsack promised that he would look into the advertising situation related to the department’s commitment to fairness in procurement and the long-neglected Black community.

The promise: Vilsack pledged at the 2010 Washington gathering of Black-owned newspapers that he would advertise USDA events with their publications to reach out to the Black community and inform people of color of USDA programs.

The USDA has historically discriminated against Black farmers and other people of color. That has led to the government settlement of lawsuits brought by the Black Farmers Association, led by John Boyd Jr., a South Hill farmer. The settlements will provide more than $2 billion in redress to tens of thousands of black farmers.

Raymond H. Boone, Free Press editor/publisher, called Vilsack’s attention to his broken pledge at a recent press conference at the Virginia Farm Bureau headquarters in the West Creek Business Park in Goochland County. He did so during a question-and-answer period following the secretary’s announcement of a new nationwide small loan program for beginning farmers and ranchers.

Boone said he represented NNPA, a federation of more than 200 Black-owned newspapers nationwide. Boyd supports the NNPA’s advertising proposal.

Boone told Vilsack, “We got no direct responses” following the secretary’s promise, but instead “got press releases.”

Vilsack said he remembered the conversation at the NNPA event. When pressed to explain his inaction in fulfilling his pledge, the secretary said, “I honestly can’t answer that. I should be able to, but I can’t. I’ll be happy to personally makea call today and find out what the status of that is.”

He added he would have to “go back and ask our marketing folks about the ad situation.”

He also defended the USDA’s performance in improving upon its past discrimination practices against Black farmers. “There has been significant change at the USDA. Of that, I am certain.”

By Dr. E. Faye Williams

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – There is nothing soft about sugary soft drinks! Yet, with summer coming, many of us will, no doubt, consume more soft drinks than usual to stay cool during the heat. That’s not always the wisest decision. New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has warned us about the negative impact of sugary soft drinks on our health and has withstood a lot of grief for telling us about it and suggesting we drink smaller portions. He didn’t even ask us to give up drinking them altogether! I applaud the mayor for his efforts to make us a healthier nation.

I also applaud First Lady Michelle Obama for her efforts to make us healthier through not just recommending that we reduce our consumption of sugary sodas, but by giving attention to the food we eat and encouraging regular exercise.

In a recent discussion with Dr. Shiriki Kumanyika, Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania who has been involved in numerous national and international public health-related activities, I learned that sugary drinks are one of the biggest contributors to obesity and the resulting high price tag on long-term health. Just the health care cost related to obesity (See www.aacorn.org) totals 150 billion dollars per year! An astounding 90 million people are considered obese according to the Centers for Disease Control. Among the sugary drinks contributing to this epidemic of obesity to which Dr. Kumanyika refers are sweetened tea, non-diet carbonated beverages, sports drinks, energy drinks, flavored drinks, sugar sweetened lemonade, fruit punch, powdered fruit drinks and drinks with less than 100% fruit juice.

Dr. Nancy Appleton (Read more about her work at www.nancyappleton.com) has done research that tells us there are at least 146 reasons why we should limit sugary drinks—among them: hyperactivity in children that makes it difficult for them to concentrate, suppression of the immune system, risk of having gout, reduction in defense against bacterial infection, premature aging, weakened eyesight, obesity, feeding of cancer, can cause depression, can reduce learning capacity, can cause high blood pressure and headaches; can cause tooth decay, arthritis, asthma, and can contribute to diabetes and eczema! Do we really need to know the remaining 146 reasons in order to be motivated to watch our sugar intake?

The American Heart Association does not tell us to give up an occasional sugary drink, but does recommend reducing our consumption.

It is reported that we have witnessed a dramatic increase in sugary-drink consumption over the past decade. The problem with sugary drinks (See www.fewersugarydrinks.org) has become so significant that doctors, nutritionists, government officials, consumer groups, business leaders, insurers, faith-based leaders and others recently held a Sugary Drinks Summit in Washington, DC in an effort to pool their knowledge on what to do about the craze of Americans for sugary drinks that many of us know are detrimental to our health. Their goal was to interact with each other to come up with ways to broaden and strengthen the constituency working to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks and add momentum to a growing public health movement.

It seems that so many are concerned about our health and are offering ways for us to improve. At the annual awards brunch of the National Congress of Black Women on September 23rd of this year, we are bringing women together from all over the country. We have invited Surgeon General Regina Benjamin (not yet confirmed), Dr. Sandra Nichols, Dr. Sakiliba Mines and Dr. Frances Cress-Welsing to lead a discussion on what we in the African American community can do to improve our own health. We must end this health crisis brought on in large part by sugary drinks, poor nutrition, stress and inadequate exercise.

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

By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – The death of 47-year-old Rodney King, the man whose name has become synonymous with police brutality and excessive force, has shocked the nation.

Twenty years after the vicious beating of King by Los Angeles police officers, his sudden death by apparent drowning on Sunday shines a new spotlight on injustices that continue against African-Americans and recalls his resounding question, “Can we all get along?”

“Rodney King had become such a fixture in our lives, both the tragedy and the triumphs of his life,” said the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. in a telephone interview shortly after the announcement of King’s death.

Jackson drew a parallel between the March 2, 1991 beating of King and the February 26, 2012 shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. He reminded that what triggered national outrage in both cases was the fact that in both instances the killers were initially allowed to walk free – let off the hook by the criminal justice system.

“Rodney King would not have been believed without the film. And even with the field, those who beat him walked free. And that’s what created the corruption. And that’s what created the connection between Rodney King and Trayvon Martin because all these years later, Trayvon Martin was killed, but the killer walked away free. So, the blatant racial injustice continues.”

Rialto Police reported that King’s fiancée, Cynthia Kelly, called 911 after hearing a splash in the pool around 5:25 a.m. and finding King at the bottom of his swimming pool. She said they had been talking throughout the morning. Police said they tried to revive him after removing him from the pool, but were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead around 6:11 a.m. according to reports. The Rialto Police Department had begun an investigation and said there would be an autopsy, but said there was no initial evidence of foul play and no trauma to King’s body.

This was one of the houses that King bought with his share of a $3.8 million settlement from a federal civil rights lawsuit filed against the four officers who beat him viciously with batons after a high speed chase that ensued when police observed him speeding and intoxicated. He bought a second house for his mother.

In the state criminal case, a jury acquitted three of the officers and was hung on the forth. The acquittals on April 29, 1992, sparked violent rioting resulting in the deaths of 55 people, the injuries of 2,000 and more than a billion dollars in damages to homes and businesses, mostly by fire. It was King’s televised plea, “Can we all get along?” that was largely credited for ending the riots.

In the civil case, brought by the U. S. Department of Justice, two of the officers were convicted of violating King’s civil rights. Officers Laurence Powell and Stacey Koon were found guilty, and sentenced to 32 months in prison. Officers Timothy Wind and Theodore Briseño were acquitted of all charges. Cynthia Kelly, the lone Black juror in the civil case, befriended King after the trial and had become his fiancé after 16 years.

Just over a month since the 20^th anniversary of the beating, Civil rights leaders, this week, find themselves revisiting the significance of the case and the legacy of King.

“His life was a reminder of how voiceless, powerless and often nameless people can rise above their weakest moments,” said Harvard Law School Professor Charles Ogletree, director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Center for Race and Justice. “When King was beaten by Los Angeles police, it was a wakeup call to many. He made us focus on the role of police in powerless communities and push for reforms. He made us think about the ills of racial profiling and to seek an end to racial profiling. Rodney King will be sorely missed but his plea for peace will forever be remembered.”

Rev. Al Sharpton says King had become “a symbol of civil rights.”

Sharpton stated in a release, “He represented the anti-police brutality and anti-racial profiling movement of our time. It was his beating that made America focus on the presence of profiling and police misconduct. I recently spent time with him on the release of his new book just a couple of months ago and he did my radio and TV show. Through all that he had gone through with his beating and his personal demons he was never one to not call for reconciliation and for people to overcome and forgive. History will record that it was Rodney King's beating and his actions that made America deal with the excessive misconduct of law enforcement."

Rev. Jackson says he believes King’s death will heighten attention to all areas of racial profiling in America – including that exposed in the case of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed teenager who was shot dead by a neighborhood watch captain February 26. The shooter, George Zimmerman, walked free with no police charges until protests erupted across the nation. After an investigation by a special prosecutor, he was arrested April 11 and charged with second degree murder.

“It can only compound the Trayvon Martin season. We have to deal with the growth of racial profiling and violence upon Black people,” Jackson said. “Racial profiling by banks, home foreclosures, racial profiling in the judicial system – more time for the crime, the racial profiling and attacks on the President. There’s a strong undercurrent of racism that simply cannot be denied…So, the lesson to be learned and not ignored is that Blacks remain the weak link in the justice chain.”

National Urban League President/CEO Marc Morial agrees: "The beating captured on videotape and the subsequent acquittal of the four Los Angeles police officers exemplified criminal justice system inequities that continue to plague this nation. His words following the Los Angeles riots captured the sentiments of a nation and continue call to question: ‘Why Can't we all just get along.’”

By Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - This economy is in trouble. The jobs picture is getting worse, not better. Europe is headed into recession. China, India and Brazil are slowing. And here, even with record corporate profits, soaring CEO salaries and big banks back to making big bets, most Americans haven’t shared in the “recovery.”

Jobs are scarce, wages are declining, health benefits are being reduced and basic services — from teaching to policing to food safety inspection — are being cut. This thing isn’t working for working people.

Mitt Romney and Republicans say they have the answer: cut taxes and cut spending. But, as economist Paul Krugman has shown, we’re already essentially doing that. Republicans forced President Obama to sustain the top end Bush tax cuts to gain support for the payroll tax cut and extended unemployment benefits that have been vital in keeping the economy from tanking. And government spending — local, state and national — is going down, not up. Governments are shedding workers, not adding them. You can’t cut your way to growth.

There are common-sense things that should be done. Interest rates are now cheaper than free. (Interest on U.S. Treasury 10-year bonds hit a record low 1.45 percent last week, far less than inflation.)

That means the U.S. can now borrow money for no cost to rebuild its aged infrastructure. It will never be cheaper to do so. And with the construction industry flat on its back in wake of the housing collapse, there are skilled workers willing and ready to work. Roads, bridges, airports, sewers, mass transit and retrofitting public buildings for energy efficiency — all these will produce economic benefits with greater gain than the borrowed money will cost. As the conservative Financial Times editorialists concluded, “whatever is invested at these rates is likely to pay for itself in higher growth and revenues.”

That is but a first step. One easy way to generate jobs is revenue sharing with the states, first championed by President Richard Nixon. Providing the states with money to rehire laid-off teachers and cops would make sense for our children and our economy.

In addition, the federal government should pay for direct jobs programs in targeted areas. Obama has called for a jobs corps for veterans.

Congress should sensibly expand that to create an urban corps and a green corps that would hire young people under 25 and put them to work. There is no greater threat to this country than the mass unemployment of young people at the start of their working lives. To pay for these programs, we could sensibly end the top end Bush tax cuts for earners making more than $250,000 a year, and pass a bank speculation tax to limit computer-driven bank speculation that is about gambling, not investment.

The Financial Times is not a liberal paper. Yet, its advice falls on deaf ears among the right-wing Republicans. Conservative governors like Wisconsin’s Scott Walker and New Jersey’s Chris Christie are scuttling infrastructure projects, not championing them. House Republicans blocked virtually all of the jobs agenda that President Obama called for last fall. Their budget would require even deeper cuts in education, child nutrition, aid to the states, Medicaid and more. They obstruct action on the economy, and then blame Obama for not doing anything. They seem intent on blocking anything that might improve the economy before the November election.

In a time of national crisis, cynical partisanship is getting in the way of action.