July 29, 2018

Sister Power!
By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – I cannot count the times I have heard that Black women don’t support each other. I always thought that was wishful thinking for those who wanted to play down our unity and our work for our people that ultimately benefits all people without regard to race, creed, color, religion and all the other things that often divide us. In order to succeed, Black women have persisted for success against the greatest of odds.

We who are Black women know that all anybody has to do is tell us what we can’t do, and the game is on! While we welcome the help of others who want to see the change we need to make our nation a more livable one for all of our people, others are slowly beginning to see that Black women are serious, and when we’ve got our eyes on the prize, nothing will stop us from doing our part to make a difference.

Charlotte, North Carolina is named for Queen Charlotte who meets the “One Drop Rule”—meaning that if you have one drop of Black blood, you are Black! Since Charlotte was so successful as Queen of Britain and Ireland from 1761-1818 in which her mixed ancestry is convincingly revealed, there are still some who want to deny her Black blood and question the legitimacy of her race! Dr. Stephanie Myers recently wrote a well-researched book called “Invisible Queen” and she dispels any notion of Charlotte being anything other than a Sister! Charlotte married into the British Royal Family at the age of 17, and history tells us that Charlotte understood her obligation to protect our people. It was no secret that she worked against slavery. For anyone who does not accept her as our Sister should read Dr. Myers’ book. (http://myerspublishing.com.) By the way, Charlottesville (VA) is named for Queen Charlotte and so are the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in NC named in her honor, as are many cities across the country and around the world. This Sister used her Sister Power to do so many great things, despite the fact that she was only 17 years old when she became queen!

Let us look at my home state--Louisiana. I was speaking with Dr. Lue Russell, Chairperson of my organization in LA recently. She told me the number of Black women Mayors has risen since we celebrated19 a few months ago. Louisiana just added one more, so there are twenty Black women Mayors in the state now! This includes the three largest cities of New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport!

We’re everywhere running things as Mayor. There’s Charlotte (NC); Atlanta (GA); Baltimore (MD); San Francisco, Fontana and Compton (CA); Toledo (OH); Washington (DC); Rochester (NY); Tacoma (WA); Baton Rouge, Shreveport, New Orleans, Ville Platte, Boyce, Maringouin, et.al (LA); Flint (MI), Gary (IN) and the list goes on. These sisters are representing a lot of people of all backgrounds and we haven’t heard a single uncouth word from any of them as we hear daily from the White House!

In Alabama, Sister power showed up and elected Senator Doug Jones. In Georgia, Sister Power played a big role in getting Stacey Abrams the Democratic nomination to become Governor of Georgia. Even the nomination is historic!

In the last Presidential election, Sister power voted 98% against this chaos we are now experiencing. Too bad more people didn’t vote like Black women. If everybody voted like Black women, we would be well on the road to resolving so many problems for so many people. Let’s pray that on November 6, 2018, more people will recognize Sister Power and follow our lead!

(Dr. E. Faye Williams is National President of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc. and Host of WPFW-FM 89.3’s “Wake Up and Stay Woke.” Call-in number is 202/588-0893) 202/678-6788. www.nationalcongressbw.org.)

 

July 18, 2018

In South Africa: Former President Obama Denounces Trump Without Using His Name

President Barack Obama in Johannesburg, South Africa

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from NorthStarNewsToday.com

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Former President Barack Obama spoke at the centennial celebration in Johannesburg, South Africa, of Nelson Mandela’s birth by denouncing President Donald Trump without mentioning his name.

A day after Trump met in Helsinki, Finland, with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Obama criticized strongmen politics.

“The politics of fear, resentment is on the move at a pace unimaginable just few years ago,” Obama told thousands at Wanderers Stadium. The audience gave him a standing ovation.

He added that the free press and other values are under threat. Obama noted that there is a loss of shame when political leaders are caught in lies and they double down and lie some more.

Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, was elected to office in 1994. He was born July 18, 1918. He was 95 when he died in 2013.

Obama praised Mandela's style of leadership and encouraged the youth to emulate it. 

"Every generation has the opportunity to remake the world," Obama said, speaking directly to the youth in the audience. "Mandela said, 'Young people are capable, when aroused, of bringing down the towers of oppression and raising the banners of freedom.' Now is a good time to be aroused. Now is a good time to be fired up."

He continued, "And, for those of us who care about the legacy that we honor here today – about equality and dignity and democracy and solidarity and kindness, those of us who remain young at heart, if not in body – we have an obligation to help our youth succeed. Some of you know, here in South Africa, my Foundation is convening over the last few days, two hundred young people from across this continent who are doing the hard work of making change in their communities; who reflect Madiba’s values, who are poised to lead the way."

July 23, 2018

Cops Involved in Eric Garner’s Death to Face Internal Police Department Charges
By Frederick H. Lowe

Eric Garner

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Daniel Pantaleo, a New York City cop, who choked to death Eric Garner on camera for the high crime of selling untaxable-loose cigarettes as Kizzy Adonis, his supervisor, a Black woman New York City police sergeant, who stood and watched and did nothing to intervene, will face internal police disciplinary charges, several news outlets are reporting.

The New York City Police Department has not posted on its website what charges Pantaleo, a patrolman, and Adonis will face and when the department will bring them. CNN said the department will bring the charges early next year if the U.S. Justice Department does not object.

Both have been stripped of their badges and guns since the July 17, 2014, after the incident occurred. The department had assigned them to desk duty. Last year, Pantaleo made $120,000, a $20,000 increase over the year before, according to the Daily Mail, a British newspaper.

Pantaleo used an illegal chokehold to kill Garner, 43, as he repeatedly screamed ‘I can’t breathe.’ A Staten Island, New York,  grand jury refused to charge Pantaleo with Garner’s death. His murder sparked demonstrations against the police nationwide. Chokeholds were banned by the New York City Police Department in 1993, but they weren’t illegal under New York City law.

The federal government has been studying whether or not to indict Pantaleo. The recommendation to indict Pantaleo reached the desk of Rod Rosenstein, the deputy U.S. attorney general who is now in a battle with the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans over other issues.

Pantaleo had a reputation for brutalizing black men after they were handcuffed.

In a photograph taken the day Garner was murdered, Adonis is shown standing behind Pantaleo with her back to the camera as he placed Garner in the illegal chokehold.

In 2015, New York City agreed to pay Garner’s family $5.9 million for his brutal death.

July 3, 2018

 

 

AME Church and Black Banks Launch New Partnership for Black Wealth

By Hazel Trice Edney

AME Church Bishops pose with Black bankers and business leaders after announcing historic partnership.

PHOTO: Klarque Garrison/Trice Edney News Wire

Bishop Reginald Jackson, president, Council of AME Bishops PHOTO: Klarque Garrison/Trice Edney News Wire

Bishop Reginald Jackson, president, Council of AME Bishops PHOTO: Klarque Garrison/Trice Edney News Wire

 

Preston Pinkett, chairman, National Bankers Association PHOTO: Klarque Garrison/Trice Edney News Wire

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The Black church, among the most prosperous institutions in America, has long led movements for the spiritual, social and civic uplift of Black people. When the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, he had just launched the Poor People’s Movement, which quickly fizzled after his death.

With this historic backdrop, the African Methodist Episcopal Church – with a legacy of leadership in its own right – has announced an innovative economic partnership with Black-owned banks across the country. The partnership aims to be a catalyst to spur business development, homeownership and wealth in the Black community.

“We are now pleased to announce a partnership with the presidents of the nineteen (19) Black banks in the United States, with the goal of increasing Black wealth,” said Bishop Reginald T. Jackson, president of the Council of AME Bishops. “This initiative will strengthen Black banks across the United States and increase their capacity to lend to small businesses, to secure mortgages, to provide personal lines of credit, and to offer other forms of credit to AME churches and our members. This, of course, includes enabling members and their families to become homeowners.”

Bishop Jackson made the announcement during a press conference held during the 2018 Council of Bishops and General Board Meeting in Atlanta June 26. The specific details of a memorandum of understanding are being formulated and will be announced this summer. But the goals are as follows:

·         Increase deposits and loans with Black banks;

·         Increase Black homeownership to over 50 percent nationwide. This means 2,000,000 more Black homeowners than now exist; and

·         Grow the number of Black businesses from 2.6 million to 4 million and total gross receipts from an average of $72,500.00 to $150,000.00.

“The spirit in which you all have shared the commitment to the community, to the banks and to what we can do together is outstanding,” responded Preston Pinkett, III, chairman and CEO of the City National Bank of New Jersey and chairman of the National Bankers Association. “Thank you for your willingness to step outside of the norm to do something that I would say is extraordinary here in America and extraordinary in the world.”

Pinkett says the church-bank partnerships are already beginning around the nation. “It is safe to say that this kind of commitment; this kind of demonstration will go a long way in supporting our banks and the banks to be able to support the community…With God’s blessings, we will accomplish great things.”

Amidst an atmosphere of excitement, the bankers, bishops and supporters of the movement packed into a meeting room in a Downtown Atlanta hotel. Jackson was surrounded by all 20 Bishops of the 231-year-old denomination as well as supporters of the movement. They included principals of the growing economic movement, Black Wealth 2020, which Jackson credited as inspiration for the idea.

“This partnership grows out of an initiative formed in Washington, DC in 2015, called Black Wealth 2020 which is providing an economic blueprint for Black America,” Jackson said.

Michael Grant, one of the founders of Black Wealth 2020, presided at the press conference. He connected the new partnership directly with the movement begun by Dr. King.

“The great civil rights movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others has now morphed into a full-fledged movement for economic empowerment,” Grant said. “The offspring of African slaves and their unrewarded labor have catapulted a small Colonial outpost into the greatest industrial giant the world has ever known. Now, as a people, we are turning our efforts toward our own enrichment. We must now create those economic opportunities for ourselves.”

Opening the press conference, Grant underscored the historicity of the moment. “For those of you who are students of history, you would not be surprised that the Church of Richard Allen would be leading an effort to close the wealth gap across the United States of America.” Allen, among America's most influential Black leaders, founded the AME church in 1794. It was the first independent Black denomination in the U. S. “And we do this with malice towards none,” stressed Grant.

Bishop James L. Davis, of the Second Episcopal District,  likened the partnership to a marriage – a marriage between a church and its community.  “It is a marriage that says a church that is concerned about its people, concerned about the good and the bad, all of the things our people have had to go through.”

The prophetic voices of Black church leaders not only articulate ideas, but strategies.

“In the next decade in the global church and in the AME church and in Black banking, we will see both evolution and revolution. Banks must reinvent themselves, not just to respond to the pressures of the day, but to be flexible enough to adapt to the world of tomorrow. The ecclesia, the church, must also evolve its business knowledge, educational platform, and its missional thrust without losing its stance in the Word of God,” said General Board Chair Bishop Vashti Murphy Mckenzie. “Both of our institutions are dealing with increasing assertive governmental intrusion, higher membership and customer demands along with increasing change in the wider world.”

The announcement of the new partnership was met with applause from national civil rights leaders.

"Thank you and your fellow bishops for making economic development a priority of your denomination," wrote civil rights icon Georgia Congressman John Lewis in a letter to Bishop Jackson. "Hopefully, your visionary leadership will inspire other denominations to replicate your efforts nationwide."

National Urban League President/CEO Marc Morial also weighed in with a letter: "I want to express the support of the National Urban League for your leadership and initiative in addressing the challenges of Black homeownership and the need to increase the support, viability and profitability of our African-American businesses," he wrote.

Morial is among economic leaders who have determined that among the reasons homeownership among African-Americans is disparately low is, in part, because of discriminatory lending practices.

Mortgage Banker Lois Johnson, president/CEO of Salt Lake City-based United Security Financial, said she takes “great pride in our HUD designation as a fair practice lender. We provide loans to all who meet the minimum criteria, especially people of color who have been denied the opportunity to have their own homes.”

Johnson, who is licensed to operate in 49 states, says she intends to travel to each of the AME church's episcopal districts to “create hope and opportunities.”

The principals agreed that the key to the success of the partnership must be mutual respect for Black spending power and mutual support of Black businesses.

“We hear about Black folks have a trillion dollars in spending power," said Ron Busby, president/CEO of the U. S. Black Chamber, Inc. and co-founder of Black Wealth 2020. "But that's usually White folk talking about our dollar sand how can they get their share of it. We came together to say how can we deal with the Black wealth, the gap of it and really to move our agenda forward inside our own community."

Busby pointed to the USBC's new AP called the USBC Mobile Directory with 109,000 Black-owned businesses in order to help consumers make targeted purchases inside the Black business community.

Robert James, CEO of the Carver State Bank in Savannah discussed how the movement will be sustained. “There was a time that no church got financed in Savannah Georgia unless we financed them at Carver State Bank,” James said to applause. “This program will get us back on the path.”

James says he knows the relationship can be sustained because the bishops have authority to oversee and encourage AME church leaders to do business with Black-owned banks.  “We can talk to the Bishops about those local churches. And you can talk to your elders and your preachers," he said.

Bishop Jackson underscored the fact that the U. S. partnership is only the beginning. He indicated that the movement will also expand abroad. “The possibilities extend throughout the Diaspora. The African Methodist Episcopal Church has over 4,000 churches in Africa, the Caribbean, West Indies and Europe. These churches and members can also benefit from this partnership,” he said.

To augment this expansion, Her Excellency Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao, ambassador for the African Union, spoke to the Bishops the day before the press conference, promising to encourage Africans in America to also put their deposits in Black banks. She stressed the need for Black-owned institutions to unify, cooperate and not turn on one another.

“I hope we will all come together and support the idea of putting all of our money in Black banks. I have already taken the initiative and listed all of the Black banks in the country on our website. I’m already encouraging all Black people when I do presentations to say we’ve been stupid for too long. We drive past Black banks to give our money to people who don’t give a hoot about us. And they take our money so they can get rich; not only here, but in Africa. We’ve got to change this.”