Dec. 19, 2017

Billionaire Cyril Ramaphosa Picked as New African National Congress Leader

(TriceEdneyWire.com/GIN) – After a bruising battle for votes within the governing African National Congress, billionaire tycoon Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa edged out his rival in the final minutes of the ANC’s 54^th national elective conference in Johannesburg, opening the prospect of his winning the presidency in 2019.

Ramaphosa, 64, won in a squeaker against Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, one-time minister, doctor, and former chair of the African Union Commission who campaigned on a platform of youth development and “radical economic transformation” aimed at transferring more wealth to the black majority. In the final days before the vote, President Zuma also added his pledge to make higher education free for all South Africans.

There were 2,440 votes for the business-friendly Ramaphosa to Dlamini-Zuma’s 2,261, indicating not only the closeness of the race but also the deep divisions within the party after 10 years under President Jacob Zuma.

Ramaphosa was briefly Nelson Mandela’s choice for deputy president but overlooked in favor of Thabo Mbeki, he left politics in 1997 to devote himself full time to business. In 2015, Forbes estimated his net worth at $450-million.

Ramaphosa’s victory this week thrilled the business sector who heard his reassuring call for “partnership” and “improved investor confidence.” The rand soared to its highest level against major currencies in months as news broke of Ramaphosa’s election.

A former labor leader, he must now renew his negotiating skills to win back the party’s main constituency which has grown increasingly skeptical of the promises of racial and economic equality that swept the party into power in 1994.

Mr. Ramaphosa’s election deals a blow to the 75-year-old Mr. Zuma, who is battling the reinstatement of charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering linked to a 1999 arms deal that were dropped before he was elected president in 2009.

Last week, a court ordered the creation of a commission of inquiry into separate allegations that the president allowed one of the country’s most prominent business families to hold undue sway over his government and steal hundreds of millions of dollars from state-owned enterprises.

Mr. Zuma and the prominent Gupta family have denied wrongdoing.

Finally, claims of alleged extramarital affairs with eight women have brought Ramaphosa supporters to his defense. Faisal Suleman of the South African Muslim Network called the behavior “a human frailty” that “Cyril is working on with his wife.” Dr. Thamsanqa Ngcana, a bishop with the Council of African Independent Churches said they did not condone immorality but “These things happen to the best of us.”

“There is forgiveness and we pray for Cyril. No doubt God will forgive him.”

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Dec. 17, 2017

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Glaring down at us from the truck were five white men, armed to the teeth with shotguns ... All five sprang from the truck and surrounded the car. ‘Get out,’ the huskiest one snapped. ‘Who are you n*****s and where are you going?’  I couldn’t think of anything but the truth so I told them, 'We’re reporters down here to cover the [Emmett Till] murder trial.  We took the wrong road and got lost.' 'You n*****s have no business around here,' he sneered. 'You’re just stirring up trouble.' Directing us to keep our hands above our heads, they frisked both of us then searched the car … After what seemed like a lifetime, the 'hunters' were satisfied with having scared the hell out of us and having ended their search ordered us to 'get the hell out” of there.'– Simeon Booker, Shocking the Conscience, A Reporter’s Account of the Civil Rights Movement

For many decades, including during my years as Mayor of New Orleans, Jet magazine ran a column of happenings from around the country, called Ticker Tape. I was honored that my work often attracted the notice of the columnist, Washington Bureau Chief Simeon Booker. Memorably, it was through Booker’s column that my engagement to my wife, Michelle Miller, was announced to the nation.

Booker, by then, was a civil rights legend, having chronicled far more momentous events. We join the nation in mourning his passing this week at the age of 99.

In person, Simeon Booker appeared the epitome of a bookish wordsmith, with his heavy eyeglass frames and natty bowtie. But his mild-mannered looks belied his ferocity as a journalist and a civil rights warrior.

He gained fame as “the man from Jet” during his coverage of Emmett Till’s murder, funeral and his murderers' trial. His description of Emmett’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, at the funeral became instantly iconic: “Her face wet with tears, she leaned over the body, just removed from a rubber bag in a Chicago funeral home, and cried out, ‘Darling, you have not died in vain. Your life has been sacrificed for something.'"

Perhaps more than any other journalist of his time, Booker most comprehensively chronicled the impact of the Urban League Movement on civil rights and racial equality in the nation. He covered President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s  historic 1958 meeting with the “Big Four” civil rights leaders,  Rev. Martin Luther King., Jr., of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, A. Phillip Randolph of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, Roy Wilkins of the NAACP, and my predecessor as head of the National Urban League, Lester Granger. He rode a bus with the Freedom Riders in 1961.  He covered not only President John F. Kennedy’s 1962 summit with the “Big Six” – having expanded to include the leaders of the Congress of Racial Equality and the National Council of Negro Women – but also the frustration that followed and led to the 1963 March on Washington.

To create a realistic picture of the economic status of Blacks in 1960 for the 5th anniversary edition of Jet’s sister publication, Ebony, Booker relied on the National Urban League’s research “to tell black audiences what they already suspected: that the masses of Negro citizens were actually farther removed, relatively speaking, from the mainstream of American life than they were twenty years earlier.”

Before he found his own office space in Washington, Booker often worked out of the Greater Washington Urban League – and even hired away a staffer, E. Fannie Granton, as his first employee when he opened Jet’s Washington Bureau.

In his autobiography, Shocking the Conscience, A Reporter’s Account of the Civil Rights Movement, Brooker wrote about the tragic death of National Urban League Executive Director Whitney M. Young, who drowned in Nigeria in 1971. A friend, Brigadier General Daniel "Chappie" James, then the highest ranking Black officer in the Air Force, tearfully confirmed the news.

“He’s my hero,” he choked. “He’s my kind of guy because he gets in there and proves what a black cat can do – with his head instead of a brick.” Chappie could probably write a list as long as both of his massive arms of the people who might not be where they were in their careers if it weren’t for the work of the Urban League, whose focus was jobs, jobs, jobs. While other civil rights organizations hammered away at school desegregation, voting rights and public accommodations – all of which were important – the Urban League had its own niche – and it was economics – the economics of having a job, and after that a better job, until a lback man or woman reached his or her fullest potential.

We are grateful now, as then, for Booker’s clear-eyed and fearless reporting. At a time when reckless accusations of “fake news” threaten to undermine the vital role of the Fourth Estate, we should honor his legacy by defending  freedom of the press.

Dec. 18, 2017

Deadline Looms for Scam Victims to Get Money Back from Western Union
By Khalil Abdullah

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from New America Media

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - If you, a friend, or a relative, were scammed by a con artist and sent hard-earned money by a Western Union wire transfer, there is a real chance of getting that money back -- but only if you act quickly.

February 12, 2018 is the final date to submit a claim form to the Federal Trade Commission. Western Union has set aside $586 million dollars to repay consumers who used their wire transfer service.  However, only those who sent and lost money between January 1, 2004 and January 19, 2017 are eligible to receive a refund.   (For information on how to file a claim: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2017/11/getting-your-money-back-western-union)

The repayment fund results from a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice and the FTC. Among other counts, Western Union was charged with not supervising employees and not sufficiently educating customers about the various schemes that con artists use to successfully scam the public. The essence of the lawsuit, explained Todd Kossow, the director of the FTC’s Midwest Region who also supervised the litigation, is that Western Union “did not do enough to protect people.”

In a teleconference briefing for ethnic media sponsored by the Federal Trade Commission, Kossow was joined by Lois Greisman, the FTC’s Associate Director, Division of Marketing Services.

Kossow walked attendees through the “how to” of filing a claim. That information is readily available on the FTC website with clearly marked options to assist those who have already filed a claim and those who will be rushing to meet the February deadline.

There are a few important things to note. While the Department of Justice will seek to verify each claim, it will also check with the U.S. Treasury Offset Program to see if the claimant owes money to the U.S. government.  In addition, the actual amount paid out to each claimant will not only depend on verification, but also on how many valid claims are received.

Most individuals filing a claim in the United States will likely have an SSN (Social Security Number) or an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number), but even non-U.S. citizens who have neither can file a claim.

One reporter sought assurances that individuals with an unresolved immigration status would not be putting themselves at risk to actions by other federal agencies.  Kossow explained that the Department of Justice “operates the [claim} website” and that the customer information provided is “used only for this purpose and not shared with ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) or for any other purpose.” Ultimately, Kossow said, “It is their choice whether they want to file a claim.”

Both Kossow and Greisman addressed the nature of various scams. For grandparents, it may have been an e-mail from a grandchild that said: “I’m in trouble. I’m in a foreign country. I need money.” For those who thought they had won a sweepstakes, a scam artist may have convinced them to wire money to pay the taxes due before they could collect the non-existent prize.

And the scammers are scattered across the globe. Jamaicans have become associated with the sweepstakes scam; Nigerians with the romance scam, where long-distance love affairs may result in multiple transfers of money.

Western Union has a huge international footprint and offers other financial services as well. The settlement with the FTC and DOJ is limited only to the use of the company’s wire transfer services. The opportunity for consumers to get reimbursement from wire transfer frauds is rare, Kossow noted, because the money can be digitally moved so quickly it is hard to trace and recover. “Most people will lose their money with no chance of getting it back.”

Ethnic communities are prime targets for fraud, according to the FTC’s 2016 data, compounded by the fact that fraud is an under-reported crime. Greisman said continuing consumer education is the key to combatting it. Victims need to call the FTC with complaints so the agency can build fraud profiles as well as detect emerging and ever shifting trends in scam techniques.  (For fraud complaints, call the Federal Trade Commission: 877-FTC-HELP.)

Greisman said she is sure that scammers’ “eyes opened wide” when they heard or read about the pot of $586 million. “Be wary of anyone who says they can assist you in filing a claim ‘so you can get your money back,’” she cautioned, because nobody has to put up any upfront money to go through the claims process. “Say ‘no’,” Greisman reiterated, to requests of this nature. “All they want is your money.”

For information on the settlement, go to: FTC’s settlement with Western Union

Dec. 17, 2017

Black Women Making Us Proud
By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) — We're not so far from a time when Black people were denied the right to vote.  These dismal times perpetuated slave-era subjugation of our community and foretold of a future without opportunity.  I'm not sure whether those who conspired to deny the vote to Black people, Black women particularly, understood how we'd use our vote, but they couldn't have been happy guessing we'd vote in our own interests.

This couldn't be truer for Black women.  Recently, including 2008 and 2012, Black women have participated in increasing numbers and solidarity against persons/policies that erode social gains made in the last half-century and reverse racial/gender equality and justice.

In the recent high-profile Alabama Senate race, despite efforts to elect alleged pedophile, Roy Moore, Black women, casting 98 percent vote for Doug Jones, led to victory and a 96% Black repudiation of Moore.  Combined with other recent elections, we understand the significance and power in our vote, especially that of Black women.

Let's look beyond elections under national scrutiny.  My home state, Louisiana, is a case-in-point.  When I ran for Congress, few women ran for office, but, look at Louisiana now!  A long list of cities, towns and villages now have Black female mayors. They don't just serve in smaller jurisdictions. The state's 3 largest cities—New Orleans, Shreveport and Baton Rouge—have Black women mayors.  Having run for office in Louisiana and knowing the dangers and challenges of doing so, I'm naturally ecstatic about this progress.

It's not hyperbole to state that no women have ever had to endure what this nation’s Black women have had to endure. Yet, despite the rigors of our circumstance, we enthusiastically strive for the betterment of ourselves, our children, families, and our nation.

Like all women, Black women have faced sexism, sexual harassment/abuse, domestic abuse and even rape. We've also faced the struggles and violence of racism and classism, but we still rose to the challenge of strengthening our communities.

When Sojourner Truth spoke of her trials and asked, “Ain’t I A Woman?" her question was relatable to nearly every Black woman. When Rosa Parks refused to rise on that Alabama bus, uncertain about the consequences, she shared the uncertainty and concerns of every other Black woman.  When Fannie Lou Hamer was chastised by her plantation owner for her audacity to register to vote, she demonstrated the courage of millions of Black women as she replied, “I didn’t register for you; I did it for myself.”  We honor these women and the long list of famous and not-so-famous Black women who endured to make our lives better.

As we look to the future, let's not forget our past. On Saturday, December 16, 2017, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the National Congress of Black Women, Inc., Baton Rouge, Louisiana Chapter said "Thank You" to the late Dessie Lee Patterson, Louisiana's first Black woman mayor.  Mayor Patterson is the wind beneath the wings of current Black women mayors of Louisiana.  I celebrate this new generation of mayors and pledge continuing support.

They are: Mayor/President Sharon Weston Broome (Baton Rouge), Mayor-Elect LaToya Cantrell (New Orleans),  Mayor Ollie Tyler (Shreveport), Mayor Lori Bell (Clinton), Mayor April Foulard (Jeanerette), Mayor Irma Gordon (Kentwood), Mayor Rose Humphrey (Natchez), Mayor Shaterral Johnson (Grand Couteau), Mayor Donna Lewis Lancelin, (Baldwin),  Mayor Erana Mayes (Melville), Mayor Wanda McCoy (Rosalind), Mayor Alma Moore (Boyce), Mayor Trashier Keysha Robinson (Village of Tangipahoa), Mayor Dorothy Satcher (Saline), Mayor Johnnie Taylor (Powhatan), Mayor Josephine Taylor-Washington  (Clayton),  Mayor Erana Mayes (Melville), Mayor Jennifer Vidrine (Ville Platte), and Mayor Demi Vorise, (Maringouin).

They’re all to be commended.  The rising tide of their success floats the boats of us all.  Their stories and ours tell the importance of our achievements and steel us against  future challenges.

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