March 12, 2017

March 12, 2016

Blackonomics

Let’s Hear It for the Ladies!
By James Clingman

Maria Stewart

Ida B. Wells-Barnett

Maggie Lena Walker

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - “Do you ask what we can do?  Unite and build a store of your own.  Do you ask where is the money?  We have spent more than enough for nonsense.”  - Maria Stewart

“When it comes to success the choice is simple. You can either stand up and be counted or lie down and be counted out!" - Maggie Lena Walker

“Let the Afro-American depend on no party, but on himself, for his salvation.  Let him continue toward education, and above all, put money in his purse.” - Ida B. Wells

Over the years many Black women have stood, spoken out, and fought against mistreatment; they have also advocated for Black people to use our economic resources to empower ourselves and propel us on to self-sufficiency.  Last week I selected three strong Black men; this week it’s three strong Black women.

Maria Stewart was an educator, abolitionist, and author; but she was also an advocate for Black self-sufficiency. A contemporary and personal friend of David Walker, (Author of David Walker’s Appeal), Maria spoke passionately to our people in attempts to guide us from dependency to independency.  “Her dedication to fighting Black oppression through teaching, writing, and speaking was relentless.”  (PBS.org)  It took strength to shoulder and promote the issues Maria fielded in the mid-1860’s.  She is one of many in the pantheon of Black women who were not timid when it came to espousing her beliefs in support of Black people.

Maggie Lena Walker was the first female to charter and successfully preside over a bank, the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank, in Richmond, Virginia.  Walker founded the St. Luke Herald newsletter, and she opened a department store for Black women in 1905.  She ran for Superintendent of Public Instruction on the Republican ballot but was defeated, and was instrumental in keeping her bank open through the great depression by merging it with two other banks in 1929.  Cooperative economics?  Strategic alliance?  Working collectively for the good of the whole?  Sound familiar?  Walker’s spirited and determined leadership takes a backseat to no one and should be held up as an example of what we must do, even today, to help ourselves.

Ida B. Wells, after enduring a horrendous childhood, losing both her parents - within 24 hours - and her youngest brother to yellow fever, went on to be one of the most feared journalists and bravest women in the history of this country.  This gun-toting original “sister souljah” wielded a pen with the aplomb of any expert in the field of journalism.  Long before Sister Rosa Parks did her thing, in 1884 this diminutive but strong Black woman refused to move from her seat in the “ladies” section of a train to one that was reserved for Negroes.  Wells, who was referred to in the Memphis newspaper as the “Darkey Damsel,” sued the train company and won, only to have her victory overturned by the state supreme court.

These are the kinds of examples we must share with our young people and hold in high esteem, especially when it comes to being conscientiously consciousness about what it means to be Black in America.  Too often, as Carter G. Woodson warned, we choose “mis-leaders” instead of authentic leaders.  We must do better because we have men and women of old that showed us the way.

Our women worked as housekeepers, journalists, teachers, bankers, and other occupations, but they understood, advocated, and practiced basic economic empowerment principles.  They knew that unless Black folks established a solid economic foundation, we would never have the power we need to become self-reliant.

What’s it going to take to get us organized and moving in the right direction? Will we continue to languish in meaningless rhetorical gymnastics espoused by talking heads, politicians, organizational leaders, and amongst ourselves?  Or, will we cast off the mundane, the nonsensical, and the time consuming back-and-forth that continue to keep us at status quo?

Maria, Maggie Lena, and Ida B. did not settle, sell out, or give in to the social pressures they faced in the 19^th century.  This is the 21^st century; we have tremendously more resources than they did, yet we are still allowing ourselves to go through much the same as they did.  They already paid the bill for what we should be enjoying today.  All we have to do is take our appropriate place in this society, despite any and all resistance, carve out a niche and control it, and not get caught in the snares of jealousy and selfishness.

After forty-five years of watching the selfishness of his brothers and sisters, W.E.B. DuBois said, “I assumed that with knowledge, sacrifice would automatically follow.  There were especially sharp young persons [at Fisk University] with the distinct and single-minded idea of seeing what they could get…for themselves, and nobody else.”

March 12, 2017

An Attack on Education
By Julianne Malveaux

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The effort to repeal and replace health care is generating headlines, and the attempt to investigate our 45^th President’s Russia connections is of high importance.  The specious claim that President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower, too, has generated interest, largely because it is unprecedented for one President to accuse another of a felony, and because 45 has absolutely no proof that President Obama has done any such thing. While President Obama, with a multimillion dollar book deal tucked into his pocket, is living his life like its golden, 45 has indulged in several public tantrums, with episodic moments of calm.  Too many of us have been riveted to the drama, while there is a more quiet revolution happening in Congress, with the approval of the White House.

There has been an attack on education, with legislation being introduced as early as January 23, 2017.  That legislation, HR 610, is titled the Choices in Education Act.  It would repeal the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, and limits the authority of the Department of Education so that it should only award block grants to states.  It also sets up a voucher system.  If states do not comply with the rules of this legislation, they would be ineligible for block grants.

The legislation would also repeal nutritional standards for the national school breakfast and lunch programs, which were set by the No Hungry Kids Act of 2012.  Schools would no longer be required, as First Lady Michelle Obama advocated, to increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods at lunch.  Are we going back to the days when Ronald Reagan declared that ketchup should be considered a vegetable?  Seems like it!

The 1965 legislation was passed as civil rights legislation, providing more opportunities to a broader range of children, including disabled children (with requirements to make provisions for disabled children).  It requires reporting around issues like the achievement gap, bullying, and underperforming schools.  All of these provisions would be eliminated if HR 610 were passed.   Actually, the entire public education sector could be eliminated if HR 610 is passed.

Not to be bested by legislation that would limit the reach of the Department of Education, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has introduce a sentence-long piece of legislation.  HR 899 reads, in total, “The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2018.”  Of course, Massie hasn’t put the thought into considering how things like Pell grants would be administered, or would he eliminate those, too?  HBCUs are part of the education budget.  What would that mean for us?  The bill has been cosponsored by several of Massie’s colleagues.  It speaks to a national antipathy to education, so that even as we hunger for jobs, and elected 45 so that he could “create” them, we are prepared to limit pathways to job preparation.  Efforts to eliminate the Department of Education are, at best, shortsighted.

Even though he nominated the extremely limited Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, 45’s pre-campaign policy book advocated the elimination of the Department of Education.  Is the hidden agenda to run the department into the ground to the point that elimination is the only option?  One-note Betsy, with her focus on school choice, must be gratified, especially by HR 610.

The Department of Education is one of the lowest-spending government agencies.  Eliminating it could save taxpayers more than $68 billion enough, perhaps, to “build a wall”.  Of course 45 is finding lots of other fund sources for the wall, with proposed cuts from the Coast Guard and The State Department.

The good news about this odious proposed legislation is that it has not passed.  It has been referred to the House Education and the Workforce Committee, and after vetted by the committee, must also be approved by the Senate.  But these bills need not even come out of committee if opponents are vocal.  Check out www.edworkforce.house.gov to find out who is on this committee.  Call and write them and tell them that you support the 1965 legislation, as most recently amended, and that the Department of Education should not be eliminated.  This is an opportunity to unleash our voices and resist Trumpism.

March 12, 2017

Dodge Ball
By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – There are few Americans over the age of 10 who have not seen or participated in a game of Dodge-Ball.  For those of my era, it was the quintessential hand-eye-body coordination game in which the "dodger," if skillful and athletic, could avoid being struck and disqualified by a ball hurled by adversarial throwers.  In my earliest memories, the game was played with a minimum of three players - one dodger and two throwers.  In a push, with a rubber ball and hard wall from which the ball could bounce, it could even be played with one dodger and one thrower.  This is Dodge-Ball 1.0.

In high school, when organized fitness activities involved larger numbers of participants, the numbers of dodgers and throwers were increased.  The object of the game changed somewhat.  While the number of throwers never decreased, the dodgers would eventually be eliminated as they were struck by the balls of the throwers.  Ultimately, the last dodger standing was declared the winner.  This was Dodge-Ball 2.0.

The common thread in both versions of Dodge-Ball was that the projectiles that would ultimately disqualify and knock you out of the game came fast and furious.  Only the strong and nimble survived.

Although less than two months old, the Trump administration reminds me greatly of both Dodge-Ball versions, especially Dodge-Ball 2.0.  In its inimitable fashion, the Trump administration has placed certain "targets" under fire for disqualification and elimination.  Trump and his cronies are simultaneously taking aim at so many essential government programs that only the most aware observers can keep up with the action or mount a defense for these programs.  Each of these targets has been forced into a struggle for survival, but, unlike Dodge-Ball 2.0, disqualification or elimination is a life-or-death matter for innumerable Americans.

At the recent CPAC gathering, Trump advisor Steve Bannon identified a primary goal of the Trump administration as the "deconstruction of the administrative state."  Thus comes the nomination of the Education Secretary without Public Education experience or affinity, the EPA Director who sued the EPA, the Secretary of Health and Human Services who demonstrates little or no concern for common Americans, and the Attorney General with a questionable history in the application of "blind justice."  Bannon praised Trump's cabinet picks and confirmed that "they were selected for a reason, and that is deconstruction."  Common to Dodge-Ball 2.0, the onslaught against the targets of deconstruction is coming at breakneck speed providing almost no opportunity for defense.

Deconstruction is the act of tearing down.  It is the undoing of established norms, principles and guidelines.  For those of us who care, it is a reversal of progress.  It is an about-face on providing a tangible safety net to the most vulnerable among us.

The most obvious objective of this deconstruction is evisceration of the the Affordable Care Act or as it's better-known, Obamacare.  For eight years, the nation has watched and/or participated in the Obamacare debate.  President Obama and other key Democratic leaders have stipulated the need to correct some of the flaws of this program, but what goes unquestioned is that 20 million (plus) citizens who were previously ineligible for medical insurance now have coverage.  That is 20 million Americans, who by current estimates will have inadequate or no health insurance under the current Republican offering.

Yet in the sound and fury of the Trump administration's efforts to reshape our government from the ground up, there is little forward motion in investigating the impact of a hostile foreign government on the integrity of our election process and security of our democracy.  It hardly seems fair or reasonable.  It is, however, what we can expect from those who value life by the size of one's bank account or one's political preference.

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

March 7, 2016

Revised Ban on Immigrants is 'Catastrophic', Critics Charge

(TriceEdneyWire.com/Global Information Network) – A revised travel ban by the Trump administration is already in trouble with a leading aid agency, with the travel industry, and with the Nigerian government which has urged its citizens to postpone making trips to the U.S. without “compelling or essential reasons.”

The new travel ban, which still targets majority-Muslim countries, slightly modifies an earlier order that sparked chaos at airports across the country as travelers – even those with green cards – were denied entry by local officers.

One of the harsher critics of the new ban, the head of the NY-based International Rescue Committee, labeled it an "historic assault on refugee resettlement to the United States, and a really catastrophic cut at a time there are more refugees around the world than ever before."

“There is there is no national security justification for this ‘catastrophic’ cut in refugee admissions,” declared David Miliband, adding that the ban singles out "the most vulnerable, most vetted population that is entering the United States."

The IRC provides humanitarian aid in five African countries, six Middle Eastern countries, six Asian countries, three European countries, and 22 cities in the U.S.

Trump's latest order suspends the U.S. refugee program for 120 days, though refugees already formally scheduled for travel by the State Department will be allowed entry. When the suspension is lifted, the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. will be capped at 50,000 for fiscal year 2017.

But the new and higher bars to entry to the U.S. have the tourism industry biting its nails. Travel analytics firm ForwardKeys tallied the fall-off in major tourism-dependent U.S. cities as 6.5 percent in the eight days after President Donald Trump's initial travel ban was announced on Jan. 27th.

In New York City, analysts foresee some 300,000 fewer visitors from abroad this year than in 2016, a 2.1 percent dip. It's the first time for such a fall-off since 2008, says NYC & Company, New York's tourism arm.

Even some African countries are sounding the alarm. In Nigeria, for example, special presidential adviser Abike Dabiri-Erewa, urged Nigerians to consider postponing visits to the U.S.

“In the last few weeks, the office has received a few cases of Nigerians with valid multiple-entry US visas being denied entry and sent back to Nigeria,” she said. “In such cases, affected persons were sent back immediately on the next available flight and their visas were cancelled.”

Planned trips should be delayed, she advised, barring compelling or essential reasons, until there is clarity on the new immigration policy from Washington.

The latest action by the Trump administration could spell trouble for the 2.1 million African immigrants living in the U.S., 327,000 of whom were born in Nigeria, according to the Pew Research Center, published in February.

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