March 27, 2018

We Must Revive King’s Campaign Against Poverty
By Jesse Jackson Sr.

NEWS ANALYSIS

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - April 4 will mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., shot down on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

At the time, we had come to Memphis to support striking sanitation workers seeking a living wage and a union. Dr. King was focused on organizing a Poor People’s Campaign, an effort to bring people together across lines of race, religion and region to call on the country to address the grinding poverty of the day.

Fifty years later, poverty remains unfinished business. In Memphis, according to the authoritative 2017 Memphis Poverty Fact Sheet compiled by Dr. Elena Delavega of the University of Memphis, nearly 27 percent of the population – more than one in four – is in poverty. A horrifying 45 percent of children live in poverty. They suffer from inadequate food, health care, insecure housing and impoverished schools.

Poverty has been going up among all races, except for people over 65, protected a bit by the earned benefits of Social Security and Medicare. Memphis is the poorest metropolitan area with a population over 1 million in the United States.

In the last years of his life, Dr. King turned his attention to the plague of war, poverty and continued racial injustice. He understood that the war on poverty had been lost in the jungles of Vietnam. The Civil Rights Movement had successfully eliminated legal segregation and won blacks the right to vote.

Now it was time to turn to this unfinished business. We should not let the trauma of his death divorce us from the drama of his life; nor the riots that came in reaction to erase the agenda that he put forth for action. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. took up residency on Chicago's West Side in the summer of 1966, carrying his movement to the North.

At the center of that agenda was a call grounded in the economic bill of rights that President Franklin D. Roosevelt put forth coming out of the Great Depression and World War II. Americans, he argued, had come to understand the need for a guarantee of basic opportunity: the right to a job at a living wage, the right to health care, to quality public education, to affordable housing, to a secure retirement.

Now, 50 years later, we should revive Dr. King’s mission, not simply honor his memory. In the course of those years, African-Americans have experienced much progress and many reversals. Over the last decades, Blacks have suffered the ravages of mass incarceration and a racially biased criminal justice system.

In 2008, African-Americans suffered the largest loss of personal wealth in the mortgage crisis and financial collapse. Schools have been re-segregated as neighborhoods have grown more separated by race and class. New voter repression schemes have spread across the country. Gun violence wreaks the biggest toll among our poorest neighborhoods.

Through his life, Dr. King remained committed to non-violence. He sought to build an inter-racial coalition, openly disagreeing with those who championed black separatism or flirted with violence. He would have been overjoyed at the young men and women organizing the massive protests against gun violence, building a diverse movement, making the connection between the horror of school shootings in the suburbs and street shootings in our cities.

And he would have been thrilled to see his 9-year-old granddaughter, Yolanda Renee King, rouse the crowd with her presence and her words: “My grandfather had a dream that his four little children would not be judged by the color of their skin, but the content of their character. I have a dream that enough is enough and this should be a gun-free world, period.”

Now as we mark the 50th anniversary of his death, let us resurrect the mission of his life. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland set the tone, when he announced that the city would offer grants to the 14 living strikers from that time, and establish a matching grant program to subsidize the retirement savings of active sanitation workers. He hopes to expand this to all city workers not covered by the public pension plan.

At the national level, we should act boldly. Social Security and Medicare have dramatically reduced poverty among the elderly. With a jobs-guarantee policy, a Medicare for All program, a $15 minimum wage, debt-free college and affordable child care, we could slash poverty, open up opportunity and lift hope across the country. We have the resources; the only question is whether we have the will. That will take organizing, non-violent protests, voter registration and mobilization — a modern-day poor people’s campaign.

“We will not be silenced,” said the young leaders at the March for Our Lives. That surely is a necessary first step.

March 20, 2018

Draylen Mason, 17 (Courtesy)

Anthony Stephan House, 39

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The NAACP is issuing a call for “vigilance, diligence and caution” to its members and communities in Austin, Texas after two men were killed and four injured by four bombs, two of which appeared to target the homes of Black people.

“Due to the horrible acts of domestic terrorism now occurring in Austin, this is a time to be cautious about any packages being left at homes,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson. “We are asking our membership to be vigilant and to pay attention to anything out of the ordinary in their communities and avoiding picking up any unexpected packages left at their homes. We are working with our NAACP State President Gary Bledsoe and the NAACP Austin President Nelson Linder to help communities stay aware of potential for danger during this uneasy time.”

Two Austin men, 39-year-old Anthony Stephan House, a senior project manager at Texas Quarries; and 17-year-old Draylen Mason, a bass player and student at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas, were killed by the first two bombs, both of which arrived in packages. Mason’s mother was also injured. House was killed by the first bomb March 2 after a package exploded on his front porch. Mason was killed and his mother injured in a similar incident March 12. A hispanic woman, Esperanza Herrera, 75, was also injured when a package bomb exploded March 12. The race of the first four victims prompted police to speculate the bombings could be racially motivated.

The fourth bombing injured two White males March 18. Police say they came into contact with what appeared to be randomly placed trip wire, according to reports. On March 20, a bomb that exploded at a Fedex facility appeared to have been headed for Austin, the Washington Post reported. At first reports, there were no injuries in the Fedex blast.

The NAACP Austin branch has been working very closely with the Austin Police Department, the FBI and ATF to "monitor these devastating and criminal acts," the NAACP statement said. Austin Police, FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) have announced a $100,000 reward  for anyone providing information toward an arrest in the case. 

“We are urging our members to pay attention in their communities and to exercise caution when around any packages, said NAACP Austin President Nelson Linder. “We are asking parents to inform their youth to stay away from anything left on their doorsteps or at their homes. This is a time for us to communicate and keep in other informed regarding any type of strange behavior in our neighborhoods.”

March 21, 2018

Urgent Impact of Climate Change on Black Communities Should Cause Republican Defeat, Black Congressman Says
By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – More than a million African-Americans live within a half mile of existing natural gas facilities and that number continues to grow.

Because of this, many predominately Black communities “face an elevated risk of cancer due to air toxic emissions from natural gas development,” according to a recent report by the NAACP and the Clean Air Task Force (CATF). “Over 1 million African Americans live in counties that face a cancer risk above [the Environmental Protection Agency’s] EPA’s level of concern from toxics emitted by natural gas facilities.”

The report, titled, “Fumes Across the Fence-Line”, concludes, “The air in many African American communities violate air quality standards for ozone smog…And, as a result of ozone increases due to natural gas emissions during the summer ozone season, African American children are burdened by 138,000 asthma attacks and 101,000 lost school days each year.”

It also quotes a 2016 CATF study that “found that ozone smog from natural gas industry pollution is associated with 750,000 summertime asthma attacks in children and 500,000 missed school days. Among adults, this pollution results in 2,000 asthma related emergency room visits and 600 hospital admissions and 1.5 million reduced activity days.”

These health hazards and other environmental atrocities in Black communities around the nation are just some of the reasons that U. S. Rep. A. Donald McEachin (D-Va.) declares that there is a “sense of urgency” as America nears November’s mid-term elections. That urgency, he says, warrants a Democratic takeover of the Republican majority House of Representatives. And, he says, it requires a repudiation of regressive environmental policies by President Donald Trump.

“There’s just no beating around the bush. Our sense of urgency started the day President Trump was sworn in and as he began his assault on the EPA and our environment in general,” McEachin said in an interview with the Trice Edney News Wire. “Whether it was withdrawing from the Paris Accord to the reversal of regulations that affect our water, affect our air, to the attacks on the Clean Power Plan, that’s when our sense of urgency began.”

McEachin is a co-founder of the House Environmental Justice Caucus, which was formed to protect the environment and to call attention to actions and policies that could damage the environment and impact disparately on people of color. For example, President Trump and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt have proposed cutting the EPA’s budget by 31 percent and cutting the EPA’s environmental justice office. In addition to supporting the cuts, Pruitt has worked to dismantle protections like the Clean Power Plan and the clean car standards, which have significant financial and health benefits for African-American communities.

Meanwhile, Black children are at serious risk simply because of where they live. They are 4.5 times more likely to be hospitalized for asthma, and 10 times more likely to die from asthma than White children. Eighty-three percent of African-Americans support the Clean Power Plan that Trump proposes to abolish. More than 10,000 Black clergy members from around the country signed a statement supporting the Clean Power Plan, calling climate change a “moral issue.”

“We need an administration that understands the impact of environmental injustice on communities of color,” McEachin says. “Our asthma rates from being in the inner cities are higher than the national population elsewhere. We tend to live in urban areas and because heat gets trapped in urban areas and pollutins get trapped in urban areas the effects of climate change and global warming are more acute in our communities. And without an administration that’s sensitive to those needs, we have a lot of problems.” The best way to deal with it is to “win some elections,” he said.

McEachin is not alone in his “sense of urgency.” Rev. Lennox Yearwood, founder/president of the Hip Hop Caucus, has launched a weekly radio show and podcast to “counter attacks on our environment and communities, and advance solutions to climate change”, according to a press release. The show, co-hosted by Mustafa Santiago Ali launched on March 13^th on D.C.-based 89.3 FM WPFW, a Pacifica Station.

“From Flint, to Standing Rock, to Puerto Rico, our planet and communities are under attack from environmental injustices, deadly policy decisions, insufficient action on climate change, and an Administration that is moving us backwards,” said Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. in a statement. “All people must benefit from the fight for clean air, clean water, and a sustainable planet.”

Ali says the radio show will feature “stories from communities facing deadly impacts from pollution and climate change, and conversations with celebrities, artists, activists, youth leaders, Congressional Members, issue experts, and more, the show will break down barriers between issues within the movement for justice and a sustainable planet for all.”

The climate change issue has not specifically been a bread and butter issue as part of the traditional issues of concern to African-Americans. But it appears to be now rising swiftly to the top of the environmental and economic justice agendas.

Late last year, the U.S. Black Chambers (USBC) met with McEachin and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus for a roundtable discussion to address growing concerns about the impact that the repeal of the Clean Power Plan would have on Black-owned businesses and the Black community at-large.

"It's crucial that Black business owners and community leaders amplify their concerns about the proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan,” said Ron Busby, USBC president/CEO. “By moving to repeal the Clean Power Plan, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is helping big corporations put profits before the health of our communities.”

McEachin indicated that a key will not only be educating the Black community on the effects of climate change, but on the need for their vote to influence who makes the decisions in Congress and the White House.

“We’ve got the ability to undo some of this damage, but we’ve got to have majorities at least in the House, but also in the Senate to begin that reversal process,” he says. “This is going to take a minute. So people have to remain vigilant. People have to remain energized. What you saw in Alabama, what you saw in Virginia – what I believe you’ll see this year – has to continue at least through 2020 if we’re going to reclaim the ability to protect our environment and protect our communities of color.”

March 18, 2018

Trump's Budget Would Hurt Black and Brown People
By Rep. Cedric L. Richmond

NEWS ANALYSIS

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

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - If you want to know how a president feels about your community, then all you need to do is look at his or her budget because it reflects their values — both what they value and what they don’t.If you look at President Trump’s proposed FY 2019 budget, it’s clear he doesn’t value low-income and Black and brown communities because he cuts programs that these communities disproportionately rely on, including the Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (the food stamp program), Medicaid, the Low-Income Heating Assistance Program and Community Development Block Grants, which provide funding for projects and programs including affordable housing, anti-poverty programs and infrastructure development that inner-city and rural communities need to survive.

One of the most disgusting examples of this is President Trump’s proposal for the food stamp program, a program that serves  close to 44 million Americans, 26 percent of whom are black. In addition to proposing to cut the program by $213 billion, which would leave 4 million low income people without these benefits, President Trump proposes to prevent families from choosing what type of food they buy for themselves.

He wants to send these families Blue Apron-style boxes of perishable and non-perishable food items, including items produced by American farmers.Although the administration has characterized this proposal as a cost-savings measure that would help low income communities eat more nutritious foods and American farmers make a profit, it is demeaning and disrespectful because it’s based on a notion that low income people can’t and shouldn’t think for themselves.Under this proposal, SNAP beneficiaries wouldn’t be able to decide what they want to eat, including culturally appropriate foods for their family.

And they wouldn’t know what foods they were getting, preventing them from planning meals for their family.Additionally, there are logistical problems with the proposal. Families may not have a car and be unable to pick up the box of food at the designated location in their community.On top of that, providing an over-abundance of fresh perishable foods to families where parents work two and three jobs and may not have time to cook them may make a bad situation worse.

These concerns and others make it unlikely that this plan will save the federal government $130 billion over 10 years as predicted by the Trump administration.The food stamp proposal isn’t the only issue with President Trump’s FY 2019 budget.

• His budget cuts two critically important education programs for low-income students — GEAR UP, a grant program focused on increasing the number of low income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education, and Promise Neighborhoods, an Obama era grant program that provides cradle-to-college-to-career services for children living in low-income neighborhoods.
• In addition, his budget would cut a number of programs that help workers, especially workers who belong to unions. For example, his budget would cut Occupational Safety and Health Administration training grants that the agency uses to help employers better enforce workforce health and safety requirements. His budget also targets labor unions,  whose membership is 14 percent African-American, by investing in more union focused investigations.
• President Trump’s budget also would insufficiently invest in our nation’s infrastructure, while also cutting grants that fund infrastructure development at the state and local level. President Trump proposes to invest $200 billion in repairing America’s roads and bridges even though there’s trillions of dollars of infrastructure work to be done across the country, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. 
• This insufficient investment will force states to rely too much on the private sector for funding they need to start and finish projects, projects that will likely come with a cost for the very commuters they’re supposed to help: Toll roads.President Trump calls his budget “An American Budget.” But the Americans he has in mind aren’t those who are living paycheck to paycheck and aren’t those who are members of Black and brown communities.

Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), who represents Louisiana’s 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives, is chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.